THOUGHTS ON PREACHING
BEING
CONTRIBUTIONS TO HOMILETICS.
BY
JAMES W. ALEXANDER, D.D.
NEW YORK:
CHARLES SCRIBNER, 124 GRAND STREET.
1863.




Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1860, by
CHARLES SCRIBNER,
In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for the Southern
District of New York.
Jo=n F. Taow,
Printer, Stereotyper, and Electrotyper,
50 Greene Street,
Between Grand & Broome, New York.




PREFACE.
IT had long been the cherished wish of Dr. Alexander to prepare a volume on Homiletics, for the use
of young ministers and students; and with this object
in view, hewas in the habit of jotting down in his
private journals, in the form of paragraphs, such
thoughts as occurred to him on the subject. In one
of his later journals I find the following entry: "If
the Lord should spare me below, it will be well for
me some day to look over all my dailies, and collect
what I have written from time to time on ]Ministerial
Work. It is already enough for a volume. It might
do good when I am gone." But death defeated his
plans.
To carry out his purpose as far as it is now possible, I have collected these paragraphs, and print them
just as they occur in his journals, without any attempt to arrange them in the order of subjects. I




iv                 PREFACE.
have also added to them several articles on the same
subject, contributed by him to the Princeton Review,
and a series of letters to young ministers, published
in the Presbyterian, thus giving to the public in a
permanent form all that he has written upon these
important topics. In addition to these I have introduced some paragraphs on miscellan&us subjects from
the same journals, most of them bearing upon ministerial life and experience. Although deeply sensible
of the inadequacy of this work to convey fully the mat
tured experience of the author, I am not prepared to
withhold its publication; believing that incomplete
as it is, it may yet be of advantage fo all who are
looking forward to the sacred office.
In such a collection there must necessarily be
some repetition of thoughts, and some opinions which
were afterwards modified by the author; but I have
concluded to give the whole as it stands, rather than attempt an elimination which might weaken rather than
give strength to the subject.
S. D. A.
NEw Yomx, November, 1860.




CONTENTS.
HOMILETICAL PARAGRAPHS.
Formalism of Sermons, 1. —Avoid Abstractions, 2.-Memoriter Discourse, 2.-How to write Sermons, 2.-Diction, 3. —Reading the
Scriptures, 3.-On Composing Sermons, 3.-Discuss some important
point in every Sermon, 4.-Dwell on good Thoughts, 4.-Concio ad
meipsum, 5.-On Sermon-writing, 6.-Off-hand Writing, 7.-Earnest Preaching, 8.-New Sermons, 10.-Great Subjects, 10.-Themes
for Preaching, 11.-Two Methods of Sermon-writing, 12.-The
Power of the Pulpit, 14.-Self-repetition in Preaching, 17. —Scripture citation in Preaching, 20. —Uninvited Trains of Thought, 21.
-Not to be sought in Public, 22.-Where they come to us, 23.We must live apart to gain these results, 24. —Thoughts on extempore Preaching, 25.-Overhaul Sermons, 26.-On Writing down
one's Thoughts, 26.-Give Scope to Freedom of Thought, 27. —Mode
of Making a Brief, 28.-Trial of the above Rules, 29.-Hampered
by a Skeleton, 29.-Sermons, 30. —Eloquence, 31.-Dividing Sermons, 32.-Examples, 34.-Application of Sermons, 34.-Fresh Writing, 35.-Genesis of Thought, 36.-Massillon's Method of Citation, 37.
-Subjects for Sermons, 38.-Choosing Texts, 39.-Theological
Preaching, 40. —Dr. Channing, 41.-Preaching on Great Things, 42.
-Theological Sermons, 43.-Be Yourself, 43.-Collect Texts, 44.Free Writing, 44.-Writing by a Plan, 45.-The Pulpit Sacred, 47.
-Study of Scripture, 47.-Preaching on Politics, 47.-Excess of Manner, 47.-Feeling; Animation, Mock Passion, 48.-Reading Good Authors Aloud, 48. —Oratory does not make the Preacher, 46.-Eloquence may be Overrated, 49.-Individual Type of Thought, Diction,
and Delivery, 49. —The" Utterance "which Paul craved, 49.-Attraction of the Modern Pulpit, 49.-Apostolical Preaching 49.-Doctrine
rather than Speaking, 50.-Warmth of Feeling Necessary, 50.-A




Vi                       CONTENTS.
Thought for Expansion, 51.-Mingle Doctrine and Practice in due
proportion, 51.-Method of Preparing Notes, 52.-The Bible to be
Studied, 52.-We go Astray when we go from the Bible, 5~. —My
father, 54.-Familiarity with the Scriptures, 55.-Way of Studying the Bible, 57.-Textual Knowledge the best Preparation for
extempore Discourse, 59.-All the Powers to be devoted to the
Work, 60.-A Minister not to be known by Works outside of his
Profession, 61.-Great Topics, 62.-Rules for Self, 63.
LETTERS TO YOUNG MINISTERS.
LETTER I.
Devotion to the Work of the Ministry, 65.-Lack of Devotion among
Young Ministers, 66.-Enthusiasm necessary, 67.-Study of Science
and Literature subordinate, 68.-Their Dangers to the Young
Minister, 68.-Who are the most successful, 69.-Effects of such
Pursuits upon the. tone of Preaching, 70. —We are to hold our
Studies only as Means to an End,'71.-Recognize the Sublimity of
the Work,'72.-Opinion of John Brown, of Haddington, 72.-Of
John Livingston, 73.-The true Source of Pulpit Strength,'4.
-Relaxation, 75.
LETTER II,
The Cultivation of Personal Piety, 76.-The best judges of Preaching,'77.-True Piety alone able to sustain the Minister, 78.-Temptations, 79.-Keep under the Body,'79.-Opinion of Owen, 80.-How
to prevent Declension, 81.-Examples of Eminent Preachers, 82.Extract from Life of Carus, 83.-Extract from Life of Flavel, 84.Pascal, 87.
LETTER III.
The Happiness of Christ's Ministry, 88.-Constituents of this Happiness, 89.-The private life of a Christian Minister should be a happy
one, 90. —There is Happiness in Preaching, 91.-rThe Glow of Public
Discourse as a source of Happiness, 92.-Love is what moves the
Hearer, 93.-This Happiness not dependent upon Great Assemblies
or Fine Churches, 94.-Parochial Work and Social Communion
sources of Happiness, 95.-The Joy of Harvest, 96.-Happiness in
Contemplation of the Reward, 97.




CONTIENTS.                        vii
LETTER IV.
Clerical Studies, 99.-Ministerial Learning recommended, 100.-Luther, 101.-Extract from his Address at Coburg, 102.-His Panegyric on Clerical Learning, 103.-Make sure of the Solids, 104.Difficulty of obtaining time for Private Study, 105.-Melville, 106.
-A  Mistake guarded against, 107.-Close Study essential, 108.Habitual and actual Preparation, 109.-Evil of not Preparing at
all, 110.-The End of Preparation to be kept constantly in view,
111.
LETTER V.
How to find time for Learning, 112.-Make the most of your Time, 113.
-Contemplate all your studies as the Study of God's Word, 114.Lop off all rrrelevant Studies, 115.-Especially such as require great
expense of time in order to proficiency, 116.-Some degree of
Knowledge of Collateral Sciences necessary, 117.-The Minister's
Study, 118.-Punctuality and Order, 119.-Economy of Time, 120.
-Habits of Living Ministers as to hours of Study, 121.-Studies
of Itinerants, 122. —Advantages of a Small Charge, 123. —Much
Learned on this subject from men of other professions, 124.
LETTER VI.
Learned Pastors, 125. —Robert Bolton, 126. —Owen, Baxter, and
Howe, 127. —Charnoc, Calamy, 128.-Pool, Tuckney, Flavel, 129.
-Caryl, Goodwin, 130.-Peter Vinke, John Quick, 131. —George
Hughes, Jessvy, 132. —John Rowe, John McBirnie, 133.-Melville,
Bruce, Dickson, 134.-William  Guthrie, 135.-Rutherford, 136.George Gillespie, 137. —Halyburton, Boston, the Erskines, Maclaurin, Witherspoon, 1l8.-Bochart, 139.-American Divines, 140.
LETTER VII.
Extempore Preaching, 140.-Begin at Once, 141. —Not easily combined with Reading, 142.-Premeditation Essential, 143.-Choose
your Topics wisely, 144. —Revivals of Religion train Off-hand
Preachers, 145.-Method of gaining Extempore Power, 146.-Don't
Prepare your Words, 147.-Things that perplex the Speaker, 148.
-The Wesleyans, 149.
LETTER VIII.
Extempore Preaching continued, 150.-Argumentative Discourse consistent with Extempore Address, 151. —Instances cited, 152.-Read



Viii                      CONTENTS.
ing not common among Continental Divines, 152.-Ebrard's Propositions, 153.-Opinions of other Germans, 154.-Beware of Undue
Length, 155.-Favourable Schools of Practice, 156.-Some Practical Rules, 157. —Ebrard's Comic Advice, 158.
LETTER IX.
Extempore Preaching continued, 160.-God accomplishes his Ends in
various Ways, 161.-Previous Discipline necessary in order to ensure Order, Correctness, and Elegance, 161.-Opinions of Cicero,
162.-Example of Fenelon, 163.-Adolph Monod, 164.-Extract
from his Lecture on " Self-possession in the Pulpit," 165.-Some Important Rules, 167.
LETTER  X.
Diligence in Study, 168.-Superficial Preachers, 169. —The Evil Rebounds upon Themselves, 170.-Inevitable Results of Superficial
Preaching, 170.-Ministerial Study a sine qua non of Success, 171.
-General Studies, 172.-These Sub-divided, 173.-Non-professional
Studies, 174.-The Study of Law as an Example, 175.
STUDIES AND DISCIPLINE OF THE PREACHER.
Forming Habits of Study, 177.-Errors in respect to Parochial Studies
and Discipline,. 178.-Mistaking Erudition for Culture, 179.-Examples, 180.-Reading to be Properly Directed, 181.-The mind
must have time for Reflection, 182.-Dangers of coming in Contact
with Error, 1S3.-Instance of Coleridge, 183.-How Truth is to be
Discovered amidst conflicting Error, 184.-The Truth of Scripture
the Grand Topic of Life, 185.-Application of the Principle, 186.The Foundation of Valid Belief to be kept in mind, 187.-The Truths
of the Bible such, 188.-Value of the statement of a Great Truth,
189.-Exegesis the Great Work of the Student, 190.-Danger of
Commentaries, 191.-The Duty of Studying the Text for ourselves,
192.-Danger of our Explaining, 193. —The Modern German Press,
194.-Of Little Value to the American Pastor, 195.-Value of Original Meditation, 196.-Early Advance in True Reasoning adds Confirmation to the General System, 197.-A Caveat against Reading




CONTENTS.                        ix
not intended, 198. —Iow to be Directed, 199. —Danger of much
Quoting, 200. —Irdependent Thinking, 201.-Attention, 202.-How
to Think, 203. —Good Books Auxiliary, 204.-Lord Eldon's Opinion,
205.-The Value of the Scriptures in-the Process of Thought, 206.
-Manner of Inferior Minds, 207.-True Discipline, 208.-A Minister's Sermons show the Character of his Thinking, 210.-Advantages of the Country Pastor, 211.-Cecil's Opinion of the Minister's Studies, 212.-Ministers as Authors, 213.-Authorship among
Working Pastors, 214. —Authorship in England and on the Continent, 215.
THE MATTER OF PREACHING.
Discussions as to the Matter and Manner of Preaching, 217. —There
can be no Difference as to the Matter among the Reformed, 219.What is to be Preached, 220.-God the Great Object, 221.-Truths
relating to God, 223.-This may be considered a Truism, 224.-The
Attitude in which Man should be put by the Preacher, 226. —The
Law to be Preached, 227.-For what purpose, 228.-Wrong Way of
Preaching it, 230. —The Right Way, 231.-Danger of being more
Righteous than God's Law, 232.-These Principles applied to the
whole sphere of Evangelical Duty, 233.-Prejudices against Didactic
Preaching, 234. —-Anecdote of Prof. Stuart, 235.-Wherein the Life
and Power. of Preaching consists, 237.-God must be set forth
pre-eminently in Christ, 239.-Little Danger of Excess in setting
Christ forth Objectively, 241.-Way and Grounds of Vital Union
especially to be set forth, 242.-.-The Subject often Obscured by
making Love the Spring of Faith, 245. —Tendency of this to
Generate Error as to the Sinner's Inability, 248.-Views of Doctrinal Preaching, 249.-Views of Controversial Preaching, 252.Abstract and Metaphysical Preaching, 253.-True Method to Proceed from the Known to the Unknown, 255.-How far Prudential
Considerations and Expediency are to determine the Nature of
Preaching, 257. — Application of the Principles, 258.-Much left to
Christian Prudence, 259. —Moral and Worldly Virtues, 261.-Social
and Civil Relations, 264.-Worldly Interests not to be made prominent in Preaching, 265.-The Effect of the Opposite Course, 266. —
How far they should be Inculcated, 268.-Politics, 269.




X                        CONTENTS.
EXPOSITORY PREACHING.
The Custom of Preaching, 272.-Disuse of Expository Preaching, 273.
-It is the most Obvious or Natural Way of conveying Truth, 274.Has the Sanction of Age, 275.-Deduction of Bingham and Neander,
276. —Method of.Augustine and Chrysostom, 278.-Preaching in
England in the 13th Century, 279. —Opposition to Expository
Preaching, 280.-Method of the Non-conformists, 281.-Expository
Method secures the Greatest Amount of Scriptural Knowledge, 283.Its Advantages to the Minister, 285. —Its Advantages to the Hearers,
286.-Opinion of Chrysostom, 287.-Expository Method gives Truth
in its Connections, 289.-Evils of the Textual Method, 296.-The
Scotch Educate by Expository Preaching, 292.-It Affords Inducement and Oocasion to Declare the whole Counsel of God, 293.-It
admits of being made Interesting to Christian Assemblies, 295.The effect of mere Ethical Preaching in Germany, 297.-Sympathy
and Attention of the Hearer secured by Exposition, 298.-Expository Preaching tends to Correct and Preclude the Evils of the
Textual -Method, 299.-Sermons sometimes Devoid of Scriptural
Contents, 300.-The abuse of wresting Texts, 301.-The Desire for
something New sometimes Seduces the Preacher, 302.-Examples
of this Abuse, 303.-Emptiness Incident to the Modern Method,
304.-Evils of Diffuseness, 306.-Novel and striking Texts, 307.Exposition demands Method and Assiduity, 308.-Undigested Discourses, 809.-Leighton, 310.-Summerfield, 311. —Dr. Mason, 312.
THE PULPIT IN ANCIENT AND MODERN TIMES.
Origin of Preaching, 314.-Public Reading of the Scriptures, 315. —
Manner of Reading, 316.-Early Preaching without Manuscripts,
317.-Preaching of Augustine and Origen, 318.-Gregory the Great,
319. —Sermons were taken down by Reporters, 320.-Examples of
the same in Modern Times, 321.-Simplicity of Apostolical Times
giving place to Grecian Rhetoric, 322.-Preaching not confined to
the Lord's Day, 323.-Sermons of Early Fathers, 324.-Example of
Augustine's Preaching, 325.-Great Decadence in the Middle Ages,
326.-Whippers and Preaching Friars of the Fourteenth Century,
327.-Modern Pulpit dates from Reformation, 328.-Characteristics




CONTENTS.                         xi
of Scottish Pulpit, 329.-Sermons of the Scottish Church, 330. —The
English Pulpit, 331.-Examples of Preachers, 333.-Barrow, 333.Jeremy Taylor, 334. —Extract from his Sermon (Note), 336.-South,
337.-Quotations from him, 339.-Tillotson, 342.-Other English
Preachers, 345.-Foster's Opinion of Blair's Sermons, 346.-Preaching of the Non-Conformists, 348.-Owen, Bates, Flavel, Charnock,
Howe, 350.-Watts, Doddridge, 352.-The French Pulpit, 353.Bourdaloue, 354.-Bossuet, 357. — Massillon, 358.-Fenelon, Flechier,
Bridaine, 360.-French Protestant Pulpit, 360.-A Selection of Sermons recommended for Publication, 361.-Pulpit Larceny, 362.-A
Snare of the Pulpit, 363.-What are the Best Sermons, 364.
ELOQUENCE OF THE FRENCH PULPIT.
State of France under Louis XIV., 366.-Bossuet, 368.-Character of
his Eloquence, 369.-Extract from his Sermon on "The Truth and
Perfection of the Christian Religion," 371.-Extract from his Sermon on "The Crucifixion," 376. —On " The Name of Jesus," 377.His Contrast between Christ and Alexander, 381. —Specimen of his
Address to the King, 382.-How he applied Truth to the Conscience,
384. —Extract from his Sermon on "The Sufferings of the Soul of
Jesus," 386.-His Funeral Orations, 388.-On Henrietta, Queen of
England, 390. —Henrietta, Princess of England, 391. —Her deliverance out of the Hands of her Enemies, 392.-His Sermon on the
Prince of Conde, 395.-Bourdaloue,, 398. —Extract from his Sermon on the "Passion of Christ," 401.-A Circumstance illustrating
the Power of his Preaching, 408.-Massillon, 409.-Character of his
Preaching, 410.-His Funeral Orations, 411.-Extracts from his Sermons, 412.-The Manner of Delivery of the French Preachers, 415.
MISCELLANEOUS PARAGRAPHS.
Do Good to Men, 419.-Beneficence, 419.-Byron, 420. —God in Nature, 421.-See God in Nature, 422.-On the late Cloudy Weather,
423.-Converse with God, 424.-God is the Portion, 425.-Writing
Books, 425.-Be Careful for Nothing, 426.-How shall Mankind be
made Happy? 426.-Against Solitude, 428.-Dying Evidences, 430.
-Pain, 430.-Blessings of Trial, 431.-Look Forward, 431.-Influ



Xii                      CONTENTS.
ence of our Actions, 432.-Evils of Musing, 433.-True Poetry, 435.
The People, 435.-Religion as Excitement, 436.-Books and Solitude, 437.-Daily Conflict, 438.-Microcosm, 439.-Thy Word is
Truth, 440. —Modes of Self, 441. —How to View Nature, 442.-Apothegms for the Time, 442. —Thoughts on Reading Kant, 443.-The
Scriptures, 444.-Maxims, 445. —Goethe, 445. —John Howe, 447.On Reading the Epistles, 448.-Characteristics Qf the New Testament, 449.-0One Truth, 449. —Central Truths, 450.-Truth in Trains,
450.-Rules often Constrain, 450.-An Active Mind never Idle, 451.
-Diversities of Religious Opinion, 452.-Reflection, 454.-Regulate
the Heart, 455.-The Power of the Will, 455.-Aphorisms bn SelfDenial of Appetite, 456.-God Overrules, 457.-More Maxims, 458.
-Think for Yourself, 459.-Physical Discipline, 459.-A Simple
Rule, 460.-A Settled Plan for Life impossible, 461.-Use of Knowledge, 461.-What it is to Abandon the World, 462.-Philosophical
Studies, 462.-Take no Thought for the Morrow, 463.-A Student's
Sabbath, 464.-Variety in the Bible, 465.-Argument the Basis of
Devotion, 466. —Thought of the Day, 467.-Influence of Christianity,
468.-Take Time to Decide, 468.-Thoughts for the Time, 469.Wait for Uncommon Grace, 472. —Great Christians, 473. —Great'
Results from Little Acts, 475.-The Influence of the Spirit, 476.Song in the Night, 477.-Real Knowledge and Book Learning, 47'8.
-The Manifestation of God, 478.-Death-Bed Repentance, 481.Operation of Christianity upon the Church, 482.-Dr. Green, 482.Likes and Dislikes, 483.-Idle Days not always Lost, 486.-Consecration of Learning, 487. —Evils of Unsanctified Learning, 490.Thoughts as we Grow Old, 491. —Moral Education, 492.-Morality
without Religion, 493.-Mental Acts of Devotion, 493.-A Wisdom
not in Books, 494.-Love, 494.-Anxiety about the Morrow, 495.True Way of Living, 496.-Avoid Harshness, 497.-A Batch of
Maxims, 497.-Christian Love, 498. —Owen on the Sabbath, 500.Voice Training, 501.-A Class of Authors recommended, 502.Value of Verbal Propositions, 503.-Deduction, 504. —Each Proposition suggests the Next, 505.-.Fixing Attention, 506.-All Times
not equally good for Production, 507. —Thoughts on making Maxims,
508.-Generalization, 512.-An Ephemeris or Journal recommended, 513.-Think long and deeply on a Subject, as if nobody had ever
investigated it before, 514.




THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
HOMILETICAL PARAGRAPHIS.
FROM THE AUTHOR'S PRIVATE JOURNALS.
~ 1. Formalism of Sermogs.-Without flattering
myself with the notion that I was ever eloquent, I
am persuaded that the most effective discourses I
ever delivered, were those for which I had made the
least regular preparation. I wish I could make sermons as if I had never heard or read how they are
made by other people. The formalism of regular
divisions and applications is deadly. And as to
written sermons, what is written with weariness is
heard with weariness.
~ 2. Avoid Abstractions.-If you would keep up
attention, avoid abstractions in your sermons, except
those of mere argument. Come down from generals
to specifications, and especially to individual cases.
Whenever possible, give name and place, and inter1




2.         THOUGHTS ON PREACHING,
sperse anecdote. By this means the Puritans, even
when they were prolix, were vivacious. They subsidized every event of Old Testament history, and
talked of David and of Judas, instead of royalty and
treason.
~ 3. JMemoriter Discourse.-W-hen Pompey the
Great was going from the vessel to be murdered, he
spent his time in the little Egyptian boat, in reading
a little book in which he had written a Greek oration, which he intended to speak to Ptolemy. Vol.
13, p. 257.
~.4. Suggested by my -Last Sermon. —Unless a
sermon is amazingly long, one must not write an
analysis, or brief, of many members. You will, find
that on each you have hardly more than a couple of
pages, in which short space you cannot get a-going
on any of the topics.
Again: There is a greater force and condensation
in the rapid first draughts which I write as a basis,
than in the sermons which I make on them: why?
Because in writing the second time I try to expand
each of the points. How shall the weakness consequent on this be avoided?  By writing a rapid,
warm, percussive, cordial basis, at a glow —and then
doing little more than to put this into shape; turning
the hints into propositions.




HIOMILETICAL PARAGRArHIS.        3
~ 5. Diction.-The great fastidiousness of the House
of Commons is often mentioned, but it is nothing to
that of the Greek Demos. The standard which Aristotle assumes, and which was evidently that of the
times, was so severe as to exclude from oratory every
thing in the diction which betrayed the slightest
artifice. Read particularly on this subject what is
written, Chap. 2, Book iii. of the Rhet., especially
10.
The third chapter of the third book, about Frigid
diction, is capital. The four sources of the Frigid are
flowing perpetually among our Americans.  He
speaks admirably of the tendency to make prose run
into poetry.
~ 6. Reading the Scriptures.-To-day I took up
my Greek Testament, and, as I walked about the
floor, read the 2d Epistle to Timothy, pausing in
thought on1 certain striking places. I saw many new
excellencies-had some new rays of light-and was
more than ever convinced of the excellency of this
way of Scripture study. Especially when, after a
number of rapid perusals, one goes over the ground
with more and more ease every time.
~ 7. On  Com posing Sermons.-N-otes on  Conversations with J. A. A. —My father says a maan
should not begin with making a plan. Should not




4           THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
wait until he is in the vein. Begin, however you feel;
and write until you get into the vein-however long
it be.'Tis thus men do in mining. You may throw
away all the beginnings. Men who write with ease
think best pen in hand. This applies to sermons, and
also to books. It might be well to write a sertnon
currente calamno, and then begin again and write
afresh (not copying, or even looking at the other,
but), using all the lights struck out in the former
exercise.
~ 8. Preacling.-The sermon I have last written,: on Gen. 49, 4, is the least evangelical I ever
made; yet this did not once enter into my head until
I had finished. Let me learn to be careful how I
censure others. Further, let me learn the importance
of making all my written sermons discussions of some
important' point of doctrine.'The times need this,
and my mind needs it, both in regard of theological
knowledge and ratiocinative discipline. Treat doctrines practically, and experience argumentatively.
Avoid technicalities, avoid heaping up of texts, like
stones without mortar.
~ 9. Dwell on Good Thoughts.-Very important.
This seems something more than what is hackneyed.
Think it out. If it occur in reading, pause, raise your
eyes from the book, and follow it out. Thoughts which




HOMILETICAL PARAGRAPHS.           5
come up -first are naturally trite. This is especially so
of illustration. If one occurs, pursue it, follow it into
the particular parts of the resemblance. If a metaphor or similitude, carry it forth in all its lesser resemblances. If it seem hackneyed, take some analogous
one-take several. All these processes of thought
will be useful at some other time, for our good trains
of thought are seldom entirely lost. No man could
ever speak extempore, if every thing he said was literally the fruit of the moment. No; in many instances
by some association, a whole train of thoughts which
had been forgotten for years will be brought up.
~ 10. On Sermon-writing. (Concio ad metpsum.)Thle last Lord's day of the year has arrived, and, on
reviewing your labours, you must feel that you have
not stirred up the gift that is in you. Your talent,
quali,scunquesit, has been too much laid up in the
napklin. Especially in the matter of writing you
have been delinquent. Many things you have written,
and even printed; but few sermons. You have bestowed your time and labour on secondary and inferior
things. One thing is needful.
You have been favoured by Providence with a degree of acceptance as a writer which you had not
dared to expect, and for which you cannot be too
thankful; but the same little attractions might have




6           THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
been cast around the great things of the kingdom.
Consider these hints.
1. If your life be spared, you will never see a
time in which, better than now, you can lay up a store
of sermons. Eyesight, manual dexterity, memory,
and vivacity must necessarily be on the wane.
2. Consider in what manner you have produced
those things which have gained a little popularity.
They have all been written currente calamrzo; especially those which have most life in them were so written. Not so most of your sermons. Turn over a new
leaf. Do not lay out new plans too carefully. Write
while you are warm. Do not be avaricious of your
best thoughts, nor reserve warm ideas for the last.
This is like flooding the stomach of guests with Soups,
before dinner. Much of Jay's excellence arises from
this. Try your father's recommendation of writing
with great rapidity what first occurs to you. This
you may methodize afterwards.
3. You study much of the Scriptures, and sometimes warm over the sacred page. Avail yourself of
these moments, and let your discoveries and suggestions flow into the channel of a sermon.
4. Be willing to write even part of a sermon. Perhaps you will do the whole. If not, remember how
few of these fragments have ever been lost to you; is
there one, the time spent on which you regret?




HOMILETICAL PARAGRAPHS,           7
5. You have prayed to have your tastes, feelings,
and pursuits more concentrated on divine things; and,
for a short time past, you have felt as if this grace
had in some degree been granted to you. Cherish
this feeling, and make it available towards pulpit
exercises.
6. God has granted you better health. Be tenderly
thankful for such a benefit, and keep your harness
always bright, that you may be ready as soon as God
shall cause the trumpet to sound, to go out into the
regular ranks.
7. You have a text-book. Use it. Spend more time
on it. Collect your scattered fragments. Mortify that
procrastination which keeps so many plans in petto.
~ 11. Offhand Writing. —If I have ever written any
thing acceptably, it has been with a free pen, and from
the full heart; not from compiled stores, though I have
done much of the latter also. One who has preached
in so many fields, and exactly surveyed so few, had
well confine himself to this sort of offhand and discursive composition. What is the reason that, having
plainly shown a turn for a lively, superficial, easy kind
of chat, enlivened by a few out-of-the-way stories,
&c., &c., I have never perpetrated any thing like a
book of this kind, save the two books for the workingfolks, which were mere strung beads? A d why have




8           THOUTGHTS ON PREACHING.
I, contrary to my natural turn, always preached in
the commonplace humdrum manner, instead of giving
free vent to the things that come into my head? I
have been gathering long enough; it is time for me
to write more, and to write something which may attract attention to the things of God, and do good to
people who will not read heavy, learned books. I have
penned a great deal, but mostly under some constraint,
which has pent me up and hampered me. It is high
time that I followed nature, and let out the stream.
without constraint. Sometimes I have written for
children, and this was of course a great restraint; at
other times for newspapers, where I had to be very
short, or very careful not to offend; and in the case
of the Sunday-School Journal, for which I have done
a good deal, I have had to avoid every thing sectarian. When I wrote for the Review, which pieces
have been most laboured, I have necessarily tied myself up to the formal paces demanded in such affairs.
And as I said, my sermons have never got clear of the
formality with which I unfortunately began to write.
I am conscious of a great desire to use my poor, and
almost single talent of writing for the people, in some
way which may recommend religion more than I have
ever done yet.
~ 12. Earnest Preaching. —I have been reading an




HOMILETICAL PARAGRAPHS.          9
article on the Eloquence of the Pulpit in the Montauban " Revue Theologique " for the present month,
written by Adolphe IMonod. It is one of the best
things I ever read on the subject. He makes elocution to depend on the inward conception and feeling.
The work must begin from within.
The great reason why we have so little good
preaching is that we have so little piety. To be eloquent one must be in earnest; he must not only act
as if he were in earnest, or try to be in earnest, but
be in earnest, or he cannot be effective.
We have loud and vehement, we have smooth and
graceful, we have splendid and elaborate preaching,
but very little that is earnest. One man who so
feels for the souls of his hearers as to be ready to
weep over them-will assuredly make himself felt.
This is what makes --— effective; he really feels
what he says. This made Cookman eloquent. This
especially was the charm of Summerfield, above all
men I ever heard. We must aim therefore at high
degrees of warmth in our religious exercises, if we
would produce an impression upon the public mind.
Two or three such preachers in our Old School Church
as -- is, would make themselves felt throughout
the country. Oh! that we had them! Oh! that
those we had were inspired with greater zeal!
Without any increase of our numbers, the very
1*




10          THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
men we now have, if actuated with burning zeal
for God, might work a -mighty reformation in our
country.
~ 13. New Sermons.-Philip Henry used to love
to preach sermons which were'newly studied."
It is a crying sin of mine that I am so ready to go to
my old store. Even when I preach to the blacks, I
ought, for my own sake, no less than for theirs, to
prepare a plan, and study it out. If I daily had on
hand some sermon on an important passage, I should
be daily learning more Scripture and more theology.
~ 14. Great Subjects. —Again I am  impressed
with what I have already mentioned in this book,
viz., the importance of choosing great subjects for sermons; such as Creation, the Deluge, the Atonement,
the Last Things. This is the more important considering that I preach only occasionally, and write
seldom.* These discourses ought to be highly elaborated. I have no sermons such as I ought to preach,
and such as I think I have preached extempore.
Humphrey's remarks on easy engraving have given
me new thoughts on easy writing. I have often intended to write out a discourse which I liave preached
with some sense of doing better than common; but
as far as I remember, I have never yet done it.
* He was at this time Professor in the College of New Jersey.




HOMILETICAL PARAGRAPHfS.        11
~ 15. Themes for Preaching.-They should be
great themes-the great themes. These are many.
Evil of dwelling on the smaller themes. They are
such as move the feelings. The great questions which
have agitated the world-which agitate our own
bosoms-which we should like to have settled before
we die-which we should ask an Apostle about if he
were here. These are to general Scripture truth,
what great mountains are in Geography. Some, anxious to avoid hackneyed topics, omit the greatest.
Just as if we should describe Switzerland and omit
the Alps.
Some ministers preach twenty years, and yet
never preach on Judgment, Hell, the Crucifixion, the
essence of Saving Faith-nor on those great themes
which in all ages affect children, and affect the common mind, such as the Deluge, the sacrifice intended,
of Isaac, the death of Absalom, the parable of Lazarus. The Methodists constantly pick out these striking themes, and herein they gain a just advantage
over us.
A man should begin early to grapple with great
subjects. An athleta (2 Tim. 2, 5) gains night only
by great exertions. So that a man does not overstrain his powers, the more he wrestles..the better,
but he must wrestle, and not merely take a great
subject, and dream over it or play with it.




12          THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
Evil of seeking new and recondite subjects. All
the great subjects are old and often treated. False
refinement and wire-drawing. Analogy of the great
sculptors and painters. Many took the same themes.
Greek tragedians. No two men will treat the same
subject alike, unless they borrow from one another.
~ 16. Sermon-writing.-As I consider sermonizing a great art, and one of the chief employments of
a minister, I think it good from time to time, to set
down the results of my experience; though I have a
painful consciousness of my own want of proficiency.
In the early part of my ministry there were two
methods of preparation, which I highly valued, both
of which I now reject.
I. It was my manner to take some doctrinal head,
such as Justification, and carefully to read the best
authors on it, such as Calvin, Witsius, Markius,
Dwight, making notes as I went along, and then endeavouring, when I wrote, to introduce the best
things I could remember from these authors. I had
not then learned, that the only way to profit from
such authors, is to let their matter digest in the mind,
and then to write freely, with a total forgetfulness of
them. Only in this way, does it become our own.
Only in this way does it take a natural method, and
have a natural liveliness. It is difficult to reject the




HOMILETICAL PARAGRAPHS.           13
things remembered, and the effort at recollection is
itself an incumbrance. I would advise a preacher, in
preparation, to take no notes. I would advise him to
take no schedule of arrangement from  another. If
one thinks at all for himself, his train of thoughts will
be his own, and this will suggest its own arrangement. There is something Unreasonable in setting
out with a preadjusted method. It is to attempt a
classification, before we have that which is to be
classified. It produces a stiffness, hardness, and want
of continuity, which are great faults. The true way
is, be full of the subject, and then write with perfect
freedom, beginning at any corner of the subject.
2. Another method which I pursued, was to
choose a text, and then having written out in full all
the parallel passages, to classify them, and found my
divisions on this classification. Then to correct all
these passages, interweaving them with my own remarks. I flattered myself that this was a happy
method, because it made my sermon scriptural. It
did so indeed, but it had great disadvantages. The
nexus between the texts was factitious; often refined
and recondite; and always more obvious to the
writer than it could be to the reader. It prevented
the flow of thought in a natural channel. It was like
a number of lakes connected by artificial canals, as
compared with-a flowing natural stream. The dis



14          THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
course was disjointed, and overladen with texts, and
uninteresting. I am convinced that those passages of
Scripture which suggest themselves unsought, in
rapid writing or speaking, are the most effective;
nay, that one such is worth a hundred lugged in collo
obtorto. To be Scriptural in preaching, we must be
familiar with the Bible at common times. Hence
one of the great advantages of preaching without
notes, even in regard to method. Such is the sympathy between soul and soul, that a connection of
thoughts which is easy, agreeable, and awakening
to the hearer, will always be found to be that which
has been natural and unconstrained, in the mind of
the preacher. The best way is, to study the parallel
places exegetically, perhaps as they lie in the Scripture, and then to let them come in or not, as they
may suggest themselves during preparation.
~ 17. The Power of the Pulpit.-I fear none of
us apprehend as we ought to do the value of the
preacher's office. Our young men do not gird themselves for it with the spirit'of those who are on the
eve of a great conflict; nor do they prepare as those
who are to lay their hands upon th springs of the
mightiest passions, and stir up to their depths the
ocean of human feelings. Where this estimate of the
work prevails, men even of inferior training accom



HOMILETICAL PARAGRAPHS.         15
plish much; such as Slmmerfield, and even —.
The pulpit will still remain the grand means of affecting thetmass of men. It is God's own method, and
he will honour it. The work done by Wesley and by
Whitefield, and by Christmas Evans in Wales, could
not have been accomplished by any other human
agency-the press, for instance. In every age, great
reformers have been great preachers; and even in the
corrupt Roman Church, the most wonderful effects
have been produced by preaching. Bourdaloue and
Massillon were successively brought to Paris from the
Provinces; and when the former, late in life, most
pathetically entreated that he might go into retirement, and at first was gratified, his Jesuit superiors
used means with the Pope to have him restored to the
metropolis.
To be a great preacher a man must be nothing
else. The daily exercises of Demosthenes and Cicero
may give us a hint of the devotion which is necessary.
The analogy of all other arts and sciences may instruct. There are among us preachers who may be
considered good, and in a certain sense great ones,
who spend their principal strength during the week
upon other pursuits. They write essays, systems,
and commentaries. It may be observed of them all,
that however useful they may be, these are not the
men who move and warm and melt and mould the




16          THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
public masses. Indeed, I think, to be a great preacher, a man must lay his account to forego that reputation which comes fiom erudition and literature. The
channel must be narrowed, that the stream may flow
in a rapid current, and fall with mighty impression.
Even the learning of the schools must undergo a great
process of transmutation and assimilation, before it is
suitable to be produced in the pulpit. Great is the
difference, though little apprehended, between a theological dissertation and a sermon, on the same subject.
The crude matter falls heavily upon the popular ear.
Only the last exquisite results of mental action are
proper for public address. Not that the truth of doctrine is to be neglected; this is the very substance of
all good sermons, and of every sentence of them, even
in their most impassioned parts; but it must have undergone a great change in the mind of the preacher,
and present itself in a more popular form, with more
of colour of imagination and warmth of passion, before it can reach the deep places of the heart with due
effect.
The power of the preacher is not to be attained by
rhetorical studies. These have their place, but it is an
inferior and subsidiary one; and the result of undue
attention to them is beautiful debility and cold polish.
Let the imbecile elegancies of Blair be an everlasting
beacon to the student of homiletics. It has been ob



HOMILETICAL PARAGRAPHS             17
served, that the age of elegant criticism follows that
of poetry and eloquence. It would seem that the
creative and critical spirit cannot coexist. The scruple
and hesitation of rhetorical criticism are deadly foes
to passion, the true source of effective discourse. To
be powerful in pulpit address, the preacher must be
full to overflowing of his theme, affected in due measure by every truth he handles, and in full view, during all his preparation and all his discourse, of the
minds which he is to reach.
~ 18. Self-repetition in Preaching.-I- has been
often observed, that preachers who rely on their extemporaneous powers, are very apt to fall into a great
sameness. They repeat the same thoughts and the
same trains of thought, and at length almost the same
sermons: and this they do without being conscious of
it. The same thing occurs to them which happens
to some story-tellers: who remember the anecdote
perfectly, but forget that they have told it before.
Mere writing is not a certain preventive of this evil,
but it has an excellent tendency to prevent it; as insuring an excellent amount of fresh study, and by
keeping the mind, for longer periods and with greater
deliberation, in view of the truth.
The evil is so disastrous, that there should be a
constant effort to avoid it. Without this struggle, the




18          THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
preacher, on arriving at certain topics, which are familiar, will, by the simple influence of association,
hitch into the old rut, and treat them exactly as he
has treated them before. We observe this in extemporaneous prayers, which with some good men become
as stereotyped as if they had been committed to memory: as, indeed, though unconsciously, they have
been. Wo observe the same thing in that part of
sermons, on which least of new meditation has been
bestowed, namely, the conclusion. This accounts for
the familiar fact, that some very fluent extemporaneous preachers are quite popular abroad, while at
home, among their own flocks, they have lost all
power, and seem to the people to be preaching the
same discourse over and over.
The only remedy for this evil is the obvious one
of devoting the mind to the origination of new trains
of thought, which may vary, complete, or supersede
the old ones. There may be superficial reflection and
even superficial writing; but the meditation which is
intended must go deeply into thorough investigation,
and follow out the thoughts into new relations. It
must be the habit of the preacher to be continually
opening new veins, and deeply considering subjects
allied to those on which he is to preach. This habit
is greatly aided by judicious reading on theological
topics. A man will be as his books. But of all




HOMILETICAL PARAGRAPHS.          19
means, none is so effectual as the perpetual study of
the Scriptures. Let a man be interested in them day
and night, continually labouring in this mine, and,
whether he write or not, he will be effectually secured
against self-repetition.  There is such profundity,
comprehensiveness and variety in the Word of God,
that it is a library of itself. There is such a freshness
in its mnode of presenting truth, that he who is perpetually conversant with it can scarcely be dull.
The liveliest preachers are those who are most familiar with the Bible, without note or comment; and
we frequently find them among men who Save had no
education better than that of the common school. It
was this which gave such animation to the vivid books
and discourses of the Puritans. As there is no poetry
so rich and bold as that of the Bible, so he who daily
makes this his study, will even on human principles
be awakened, and acquire a striking manner of conveying his thoughts. The sacred books are full of
fact, example, and illustration, which with copiousness
and variety will cluster around the truths which the
man of God derives from the same source. One
preacher gives us naked heads of theology; they are
true, Scriptural, and important, but they are uninteresting, especially when reiterated for the thousandth
time in the same naked manner. Another gives us
the same truths, but each of them brings in its train




20           THOUGHTS ON PREACIING.
a retinue of Scriptural example, history, a figure by
way of illustration; and a variety hence arises which
is perpetually becoming richer as the preacher goes
more deeply into the mine of Scripture. There are
some great preachers who, like Whitefield, do not appear to bestow great labour on the preparation of
particular discourses; but it may be observed, that
these are always persons whose life is a study of the
Word. Each sermon is an outflowing from a fountain which is constantly full. The Bible is, after all,
the one book of the preacher. He who is most familiar with it, will become most like it; and this in respect to every one of its wonderful qualities; and will
bring forth from his treasury things new and old.
~ 19. Scripture Citation in Preaching.-Do not
cite many Scripture references in your notes. You
often find them less available than those which occur
inter logquendum. The best way of preparing for
prompt quotation, is to be daily conversant with
Scripture, and to.commit large portions to memory.
I regret more than I can express, my neglect of this
in former years. The next best way, and a means of
getting the facility just mentioned, is, in preparing
for a given performance, to read attentively and with
meditation all the pertinent Scriptures, committing as
many as possible to memory, but not referring them




HOMILETICAL PARAGRAPHS.         21
to particular places, or determining to use this or that
without fail; it is enough to imbue the mind with
them, and leave the use of any or all to be prompted
by the impulse of the moment. The best effect of
many Scripture texts on a sermon is often that which
does not lead to a direct rehearsal of them. They
suggest new thoughts and illustrations, and afford the
very best preventive of that sameness and routine,
into which most extempore preachers fall. The tendency in all, is to be contented with a narrow stock
of texts. Take almost any extemporaneous preacher,
whom you hear often, and observe how seldom he
quotes a new text, one which you have not heard him
quote before. How many noble incidents in the Old
Testament history, touching emblems in the Levitical
ritual, and poetic strains of the Prophets, are never
introduced into the pulpit! All which commends
the daily interested study of the Bible.
~ 20.  Uninvited  Trains of Thouggt. — The
thoughts which come to us unasked, and the trains
which float in the twilight of our careless hours, are
often those which are most precious, longest remembered, and most deep in their influence on future life.
They are sometimes the result of long studies pursued
at irregular intervals during previous years, the distillation from many gathered flowers, and therefore




22          THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
they cannot be looked for as daily visitations. As
they will not come for being called, so they will not
stay for being courted. And when they give the first
intimations of their approach, we should lay aside
lesser employments and joys; as we open our windows
when the fragrance of orchards is wafted on the breeze.
Yet there is a posture of soul, better fitted than all
others for the reception of these revelations; and
there are pursuits and habits so alien to them as to
be almost prohibitions.
We must not look for them in the crowd of mammon-mongers, or amidst the clangour of political
array, or the mining drudgery of technical study.
They steal over us rather when we close the eye at
nightfall, listening to the drowsy music of the
autumnal insect-tribe; when we walk alone in the
sight of mountains, or on the sea-shore; or when we
kneel before the open Bible, and meditate on the
oriental usages of inspiration. Enthusiasts of various
sects have taken these goodly visions for direct revelations of new truths: and mystics have deemed themselves inspired. But they are, after all, only higher
manifestations of the Reason which is common to us
all. We deny not that a Divine agent is sometimes
at work, but the operation follows the laws of our
rational humanity, and conforms itself to the conditions of all influence from- above upon free creatures.




HOMILETICAL PARAGRAPHS.        23
The mind though elevated is not overborne. The
free-thinking principle is the same as before, though
raised to a loftier point of observation. God, who
speaks in this silence, speaks by the word which was
recorded hundreds of years ago; and though chapter
or verse or textual phrase may not always be recognized, the truths which ring in the ear are echoes
from Sinai or from Zion. That word of the Lord
which abideth forever, has an infinite variety in its
combinations and suggestions. It is a well whose
sources are hidden in infinite wisdom, and whose
flow is fresh and abundant and sparkling to everlasting periods.
We place ourselves in the way of such favoured
contemplations, when we linger long and often over
the holy pages, and imbue our thoughts with the
lessons of Apostles and Prophets. To be inspired
like them, we may not pray for, in this world, but
we may catch' a kindred glow from their heavenly
rapture, sympathize with their affections, carry out
the trains which they have begun, harmonize the
scattered propositions which they have announced,
and live over again in our experience the divine
happiness of their sanctification. Though our circumstances may be unlike theirs, in the proportion in
which the new world is unlike the old, our faith and
love may be essentially the same, and may at some




24          THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
favoured moments realize to us glories of religious
awe or fruition, which after many years of Scriptural
study, shall still be new and unwonted. It is thus
that Christian experience is a book, of which the
page we are turning over to-day, is unlike all that
have filled the volume before.
To gain these results, a man must in some degree
live apart. He must leave the beaten track, and
converse less with earth than heaven. There are
meditations which the common talk and worldly
reading of our busy day do not prompt and cannot
represent. They are beyond the scope of science,
and unwhispered in the halls of letters, and the galleries of art. But as little should we seek them in the
cell of the ascetic.  True love and true humility,
which are the nurses of such a progeny, are closely
connected with familiar converse with our kind.
Best thoughts are those which spring up under the
shower of tears that falls over the ills of distressed
fellow-creatures. Jesus Christ is still present by his
Spirit where broken hearts are to be bound up. The
house of mourning and the house of prayer are the
places where the heart is made better.
~ 21. Preaching, Remarks struck out in Talk
with J. A. A.-1.  Almost all extemporaneous
preachers have this fault; they talk about the way




HOMILETICAL PARAGRAPHS.          25
in which they are preaching-Thus: "After a'few
preliminary remarks, I shall proceed to," &c.; or,
"'What I lay down shall take the form of general
principles."  " I come with hesitation," &c. " I shall
be more brief on this point." " You will observe
that in this discussion I do so and so." Avoid all
such observations.-iMore generally still, avoid all
that brings the speaker's personality before the hearer.
A better model than our honoured father, in this,
there could not be.
2. Whenever I write down heads, from which to
preach extempore, I always find myself disappointed,
by not having as much to say under each as I thought.
But whenever I premeditate a subject and take my
pen to write on it, I always find myself disappointed
in a way exactly opposite.
3. Addison says truly, there is this difference between him and me. I am more warm and ornate
when I do not write; he, when he does.
4. As men who strut in walking, sometimes find
it difficult to get out of it, and step in the ordinary
way, so in writing men get into a measured, rhythmical, ornamental flow of diction, and find it hard,
even when the subject demands it, to come down to
the pedestrian style.' Hence a great argument for
simplicity. What a wonderful simplicity in Goethe!
It is his characteristic in regard to style. Even Vol2




26          THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
taire, simple as his structure of sentence always lies,
has a mannerism: so has Macaulay. The reader
comes to look for a certain pungent apodosis. In
Goethe, nothing leads you to expect any particular
bringing up of the period, or antithesis of the thought.
~ 22. Overhacul Sermons.-It strikes me as a
great neglect that I have scarcely ever looked over
my pulpit MSS. except.when I was going to preach.
There is much work to be done in this field at other
times.
~ 23. On Writing down One's Thoughts. —I mean
such writing as I put in this book.
1. Writing does good to one's thinking.
2. It has the same effect in part as animated conversation.
3. Many good thoughts are lost that might have
been preserved in this way.
4. Many good trains are carried to greater length
by this means.
5. Style is improved, especially by promptness and
facility. Earnestness and impressiveness in writing
grow as one advances.
6. Write till you feel a glow.
7. Write when you feel a glow. You will otherwise
lose the very best things that ever occur to you. Re
member Pascal (vid. Bib. Rep. Ap. 1845).




HOMILETICAL PARAGRAPHS.           27
8. This is one of the chief exercises of mind;
therefore embrace every occasion.
9. Choose topics which will excite you in the
greatest degree. Choose the most important subjects,
difficulties but not niceties, fundamentals, cardinal and
central points, those which touch the heart of systems.
10. Often give full scope to freedom of thought
and style. Thought creates style. If you write down
to your readers, you lose this particular advantage
of writing, as exercising thought.
Even in sermons to intelligent audiences there
will be much of this, necessarily. It is desirable,
therefore, to have some outlet for thoughts more free
and unobstructed. The reflex influence of perfectly
free composition is very great. What we so write,
even in fragments, is remembered by us, goes to establish opinions, lays up arguments, gives matter for
extemporaneous discourse, and moulds the character.
11. Devotional writing and prayer are of the
highest moment.
12. It matters comparatively little whether you
ever read over what you have written or not.
~ 24. iode of making Brief.-I follow a brief
penned at my table during a short interval. I made
it thus: mere catch-wobls —took a general thought to




28          THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
start with, let the next come of itself, then the next,
and so on without effort. It served well. The thing
to be noted is, that in a few moments, by letting the
mind flow, and not interfering with the flow, one may
jot down materials for a long discourse. It was not
merely heads: these are barren, they are disconnected;
it was concatenation, it was genesis.
I consider this a little new, but Nevins showed me
something like it for Sabbath lectures; I have done
too much in the way of naked skeleton. I wish I
could embody my thoughts in a formula; try it thus:
1. Write rapid sketch, the faster the better.
2. In first draught omit all partition, and do not
force your mind to method.
3. Let thought generate thought.
4. Do not dwell on particulars; leave all amplification for the pulpit.
5. Keep the mind in a glow.
6. Come to it with a full mind.
7. Forget all care of language.
8. Forget all previous cramming, research, quotation, and study.
9. In delivery, learn to know when to dwell on a
point; let the enlargement be, not where you determined in your closet it should be; but where you feel
the spring flowing as you speak —let it gush. Let contemplation have place whilejoz speak.




HOMILETICAL PARAGRAPHS.         29
For this, pauses are all important. Thus Rob.
Hall preached. Thus my beloved honoured father,
above all men I ever heard; his eye kindled, his face
was radiant; he forgot the people; and as he was rapt
in contemplation, he touzght aloud.
All this is connected with the subject of gifts in
preaching; and the operation of the Holy Spirit aiding the speaker.  Holy emotions are indispensable.
Hence the best sermons can never be exactly reproduced-much less written. The best written discourse
of my father is no more to his best preaching, than a
black candle is to a burning fiame.
~ 25. Extemnpore Preaching.-Tlhis afternoon I
made another trial of the method mentioned above.
I found it good as far as tried. The fault was, that I
used an old skeleton, and used my method only in the
application.
Nota bene. It would be all the better if I made my
brief early in the week.
~ 26. Sernzonizing.-I have just finished a sermon
on Isa. 59, ult. I am not pleased. I was "hampered " throughout, by a preconcerted skeleton. Thus
it worked. Things would arise in my mind, and flow
into my pen just at the right place, but I could not
use them, because they belonged to another head. The
result was, the articulation was broken, the flow was




30          THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
interrupted;' the work became a mosaic. I perceive,
my father was right, when he advised ihe to write my
first draught currente calamo, without any plan, with
absolute abandon; giving free scope in every direction whenever a vein was struck, and reserving the
particulars for the copy.
N. B. The best time for noticing emendations in a
sermon, is just when you are done. They should be
jotted down, even if you have no time to rewrite.
~ 27. Sermons. —I sometimes think I never acted
out my inner man in a sermon. The nearest approach
has been extempore. Causes which prevent: —fear
of being too learned; fear of being too sentimental;
fear of being too decorative; fear of being obscure;
fear of being too vehement: all this is fear of being
myself.
Ireconsider some of my conclusions about simplicity; and doubt, more than doubt, whether a man may
not aim at overperspicuity. The thought makes tlhe
language. High thoughts will make high language.
Some men of study and research are called upon
to preach in a strain above the common level, even
if some do not understand thiem. There are enough
who cannot rise above average minds. A man's best
and loftiest meditations should go out of him in the
shape of sermons.




HOMILETICAL PAR.GRAPHS.         31
I love to write, yet I have a repugnance to write
sermons. This arises partly from constitutional trammels-skeletons-plans-traditionary modes.  Why
do I not break out. I read Vinet or Howe, and feel
Io ancheson pittore " I
~ 28. Eloquence. —In physics there are forces which
operate not mechanically, but dynamically; not by
the conveyance of new matter, but by the production
of a new state or contact. Such is now believed to
be the mode of producing vision in the human organ.
Something analogous to this occurs in operation
of mind on mind. Over and above the truth conveyed,
I believe there may be an operation. When I go to
see a poor widow, and take her by the hand, the
words which I speak to her are for the most part such
as she has known before; and yet she is comforted.
The same truths uttered from the pulpit by different
men, or by the same man in different states of feeling,
will produce very different effects. Some of these
are far beyond what the bare conviction of the truth
so uttered would ordinarily produce. The whole mass
of truth, by the sudden passion of the speaker, is
made red-hot and burns its way. Passion is-eloquence.
Hence the great value of extempore discourse.
Demosthenes' discourses'read coldly sometimes;
but who can restore on paper the whirlwind and




32          THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
earthquake power of the passion with which they
were delivered! [No man can be a great preacher,
without great feeling. Hence the value of devotional
preparation. You should seize, for writing, moments
of great feeling. Record the outflow of these, and you
will perhaps have some measure of them in delivery.
~ 29. Dividing  Sermons. —My  opinion  has
changed a little within a few months, about formality
of Division. I mean I incline more to Fenelon's
judgment after having been very much the other
way.
I am perhaps in more favourable circumstances
for a judgment than I was, because I am constantly
experimenting.
The -principle from which I set out, is one which
grows in my esteem every day, as a canon of composition: it is tliis-In writing or speaking throw of
all restraint.
Technical Divisions are a restraint. I am familiar
with their effect in trammelling the thoughts. Writing from a precomposed skeleton is eminently so. It
forces one to parcel out his matter in a forced, Procustean way. There is a feeling like this: " I must have
five pages for this. branch, and five for that." The
current is often thus stopped, at the very moment
when it begins to gush.




HOMILETICAL PARAGRiAPh S.         33
The ideal of a discourse is that of a flow from first
to last. The'Writing should begin when the mind is
full. If then a division suggests itself, it may be followed; it may even be written down; but great care
should be taken to prevent the mechanical partition
of matter, so much here and so much there. Let the
thoughts go on.
—, a veteran and able sermonizer, has formed the
habit of casting every subject into a certain mould;
two or three principal heads, followed by a series
of reflections. The result is stiffness and sameness.
I am not opposed to the strictest method, nor to the
enunciation of it; but to the laying down beforehand
of arbitrary arrangement. The matter to be arranged
must precede legitimate arrangement.
In a sermon on Sanctification, I proceeded well
till the application; when I went astray by making
several topics of inference, which divided the stream
instead of enlarging and quickening it.
It is impossible to close a sermon well, that is
warmly, unless the train of thought has been so conducted as to bring the heart into a glow, which increases to the end. Having chosen a subject, it is
well to think it over deeply, day and night, and to
read on it carefully before putting pen to paper.
Take few notes, but as far as may be let the matter
digest itself in the mind. The result will be facility,




34          THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
fluency, close contexture, natural articulation of parts,
vivacity, abundance of material, and as much'origin.
ality as belongs to the author's genius. In this way,
sermons will have each a separate, individual physiognomy, and sameness will be avoided.
I do not see why a sermon should not have all the
freedom and fulness and progress of an oration. Consult in regard to this Demosthenes and Cicero.
Though Augustine's sermons are very faulty as models, and abound in the false point of his time, they
have their excellency. It belongs, moreover, to Fenelon, Howe, Chalmers, and Foster. Incomparable as
Robert Hall is, in regard to argument, greatness and
devotion, I am sensible in reading him, that he was
clogged by the conventional manner of partition.
Be not prevented from indulging a flow which
opens, even though it makes the sermon or any particular part of it, too long. You need not preach all
that you have written; and the matter may be available for another occasion. This applies particularly
to perorations, in which thoughts often overflow.
In a pathetic part, never write invitta Jlinervd.
Never spin out coldly, or force the language of emotion. Rather be content with a single sentence: it
way find enlargement in the delivery.
~ 30. Application of Sermons.-I still find myself




HOMILETICAL PARAGRAPHS.     5
trammelled, whenever I undertake to go in any of the
regular harness of sermonizers. To be worth much,
a sermon must begin like a river, and flow, and
widen, and roughen, and deepen, until the end; and
when it reaches this end, it is hurt by every syllable
that is added.
Ordinary'Applications' mar the unity of a discourse. They are often doctrinal corollaries; often
commonplaces; often generalities, which equally fit
a score of topics. When three or four heads of application are appended, the mind is first drawn one way
and then another, and frequently altogether away
from the body of the discourse. Every sermon tends
in some direction: let it take that direction; it is the
proper ending.
The superstitious reverence for an application of
several points, cuts up this part of our sermons, short
enough at best, and does not allow time to rise upon
the wing, or to kindle with a flame.
It would be well, if we could grow hotter and hotter without intermission, from beginning to end.
The true way is to have an object and be full of
it. Grace does more than rules.
~ 31. Fresh WVriting. —There is a certain kind of
writing on religion which greatly affects me, but
which I find it hard to describe.




36           THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
It is fresh, unscholastic, and awakening. It has
little to do with quotation or erudition.
It proceeds from a mind full of thought and of
feeling, and strikes as original even while the subject
is familiar.
Examples: Pascal and Foster. Such an author
reads the Bible, as if no one had ever read it before.
It has a fresh impression. I-Ie meditates deeply, even
on the smallest particular, and sees what has escaped
others. He deduces reflections, which are at once
natural and new. Nothing can produce such writing,
but a constant and profound study of the original documents. And for this there must be a certain exclusion of other books and reading.
~ 32. Genesis of TZiought. —Reading Mozart's life.
What wonderful precocity! wonderful genius! Yet
such a life seems frivolous, and his death was sad; no
religion. What most strikes me is the spontaniety of
his genius.  -Iis compositions caine to 1idm, unsought,
whether he would or no. The parts filled his mind,
not successively, but all at once. Htaving bestowed
much time on music, I see the wonder of this. I am
totally destitute of the slightest musical conception of
this kind. I believe, however, in exactly such a genesis of thought and feelings. We are more passive
than is thought in our trains of thinking. Often have




HOMILETICAL PARAGRAPHS.         37
I been forced to say, " My best sermons make themselves."  I fully believe in this kind of poetry. It is
plain that Ovid wrote so: he says so somewhere in a
verse, of which I only remember the last words,
-. Versus erat."
What dependent beings we are! iHow awful the
thought, that we may be sometimes guided by spiritual agency above our own.
Waiting upon God is often the most we can do.
If the experiment were more believingly made, we
should doubtless have more results. To fix attention
is often all we can do, if, indeed, we call do this.
Look in a given direction, and the train of thought
will have a certain character. Look towards God,
and the effect will sometimes be wonderful.
~ 33. Mlassillon introduced a new method of not
citing so many passages verbatim from the Scriptures
and the fathers. In preparations I am  constantly
violating my own rules, and perplexing myself lest I
should not remember to use all the texts which I have
looked out; and this even when it is not a subjeet requiring proof.
~ 34. Preaching.-Sermons should be written on
subjects which thoroughly interest the mind of the
writer. Those are seldom such, which he takes up




38          THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
by a sort of constraint, in a series, or invita Mfinerv6;
nor those on which he is unprepared, and for which
he has to make collection. Sometimes, though rarely, it happens, that during the process of collation a
view is opened, in which the mind goes on con amore.
For an approximation to the right kind of study,
one must have a permanent theological and religious
interest. Something on these topics must always be
uppermost. It must be the natural tendency of the
mind when left to itself.
Here opens to our view a new value in the Scriptures. He who constantly reads them will be constantly awakened to trains of new thought. The best
sermons are so suggested. No man can be uniformly
a good preacher, who is not habitually perusing the
Scriptures as his book of delights. There is no special
preparation for the pulpit which can take the place
of this general preparation. No man can lack subjects who is thus commonly employed.
The best subject is commonly that which comes of
itself. I never could understand what is meant by
making a sermon on a prescribe& text.
The right text is the one which comes of itself
during reading and meditation; which accompanies
you in walks, goes to bed with you, and rises with
you. On such a text, thoughts swarm and cluster,
like bees upon a branch. The sermon ferments for




HOMILETICAL PARAGRAPHS.          39
hours and days, and at length, after patient waiting,
and almost spontaneous working, the subject clarifies
itself, and the true method of treatment presents itself
in a shape which cannot be rejected.
Those texts of Scripture which come up, of themselves, or by the laws of mental suggestion, are the
right ones, and are very different from those which
are sought out. But observe, in order that this should
take place largely and fully, and that the citations
should be rich and pertinent, the mind must have a
large stock of Scripture reading. Hence again the
great value of close, enlarged, perpetual Bible-reading; reading with delight. There are various models
of Scripture quotation. Some search out the texts
with a concordance or similar helps. These are often
the greatest quoters. But their citations are like
strangers and foreigners. Or they may be likened to
stones put together loosely with mortar.  Others
seldom go beyond a certain routine of stock texts; a
hundred such writers shall give you the same texts
on a given topic. They are so many dead branches
on a living tree.:The excerpted verse deadens the
discussion instead of enlivening it. But one whose
mind is full of a subject, will have abundance of passages flowing in, without opening the volume; they
will be his own, suggested by peculiarities of his own
thinking; so that nothing in his discourse will have




40          THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
more the air of originality, than the familiar passages
of Scripture which he quotes. The jewel will shine
with double lustre from its setting. The word fitly
spoken will be "as apples of gold in pictures of
silver." Striking instances may be found in Robt.
Hall, and especially in Jay.
~ 35. Theological Preaching.-Better far to take
a theological topic, and popularize it, than the reverse,
namely, to take  -ortatory topic and thicken it by
doctrine. Argument made red-hot, is what interests
people.  Generally speaking, nothing interests so
much as argument. People are accustomed to argument, in such a country as ours. Argument admits
of great vehemence and fire. Argument may be
made plain. Argument may be made ornate. Argument mnay be beaten out and thinned down to any
degree of perspicuity.
It is a shame for a minister not to be acquainted
with all the heads of theology, all the great schools
of opinion, and all the famous distinctions: and he
will not learn them well, unless he preaches upon
them.
Theological study brings along with it other important and interesting branches; as doctrine, history,
church history, symbolical history, dogmatics, metaphysics, ethics, homiletics.  All these are of high




HOMILETICAL PARAGRAPHS.          41
value. They are all best approached from the side
of theology.
Theology is superior, because it is the grand result.  That is greatest, which is nearest the end.
Exegesis is only a means to that end. Theology includes all the other things.
Theology, as inferring close and logical reasoning,
is suited to the strength of middle life. As age advances, imagination and memory decay: not so the
reasoning faculty. It may be going on and increasing in vigor to the latest day of life.
The stimulus to this pursuit will be best kept up
if a man accustom himself to give a doctrinal tinge to
all his preaching. Then he will read on these subjects. It is a great matter for a preacher to have the
habit of deriving his entertainment day by day from
the perusal of argumentative theology.  Let him
continually advance into new fields, and attack new
adversaries. Let him continually revolve the terms
of former controversies.
~ 36. Dr. Canning. — " Gradual change of tone
in-Dr. Channing's address..  it was constantly
becoming less ministerial and mzore manly."  (Biography.) I think I know what this means —coming out
of the homiletic tortoise-shell-not leaving humanity
at the foot of the pulpit-stairs-talking like other.




42          THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
men-as any profoundly thinking thoroughly, agitated
man would talk on a great subject to a casual group
of waiting persons also deeply interested. Effect of
such a'Xe'tL on style, divisions, quotations, &c.
A little before, the biographer tells of Dr. Channing's leaving off much ceremonious dignity in the
pulpit. This, also, I know. I am getting to feel the
evils of the academic manner-primnness, &c.-Also
meditate on the tendency of clergy to be much with
the rich and the lettered, instead of being lights to the
world. I should have understood this less, if I had
remained at Princeton. The Democracy must be
reached-people must be made to feel that the heart
of the minister is with them. Common people require this.  Age requires it.  Young men require it.
~ 37. Preaching on Great Things.-Differing as
I do from Channing, and protesting as I do against
him, I can never cease to honour and admire him for
this; that he alwvays wrote and preached on those
things which he considered the great things. Let me
explain my thought. I have written a good deal and
published some; it has been too much off at one side.
I have not seized hold of the main things. All topics
which I treat are regarded by me more historically
than philosophically; more with reference to books




HOMILETICAL PARAGRAPHS.         43
and authors than reasons. How different my father
-Dr. Hodge-Vinet-and (in error) Channing.
Yet I am constantly meditating on the great
points. Is it that I never come to any results? Do
I prove nothing?  Attain nothing?  Am  I ever
to be retailing what this man says, and that man
says 
~ 38. Theological Sermons. —Dr. Thornwell appears to me to show some greatness in devoting his
preaching powers to the making of great theological
sermons. Those who do this successfully leave their
mark on their generation. It is not the turn of the
age however. The young ministers who are coming
out seem to me to preach sentimental, rather than
argumentative sermons.
I have written a whole sermon to-day, the first of
two on 1 John iv. 18. I am less and less in favour of
quotation in sermons. My tendency used to be very
much that way. As my manner becomes warmer,
directer, and more practical, I let these brilliant
patches alone.
~ 39. Be Yourself.-In the making of sermons I
have never so well succeeded as when I haye forgotten all models, and consented to be myself. Every
man has his own way, in which he is better than in
all others. Those sermons have turned out the best




44           THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
in which I have turned the matter over in my mind
several times, and then written without predetermined skeleton.
~ 40. Collect Texts. —There are particular times
in which a man is better disposed and better able
than at others, to seek out texts, and arrange plans of
sermons. Such moments should be embraced; and
if the result sh6uld be an accumulation of texts and
plans, it will be well; for often the great difficulty is
to get a text: as soon as one is lighted on, the matter
goes easily on.
It has occurred to me as useful, to sit down and
plan a series of discourses, not in any theological
order, but with reference to some given effect on the
people; as for example, to promote a true revival of
religion.
~ 41. Free Writing.-It seems to me that some
of the best writings are those which men have made
for themselves; *. that is, without having other people
in view; without any end but to discharge the mind
of its thoughts. In this posture the mind works most
naturally and simply, and hence more strongly. Voltaire somewhere says the reverse, for he thinks the
writer should always have both judge and audience
See Vinet in his account of Vannargues.




HOMILETICAL PARAGRAPHS.          45
in view; for such writing as Voltaire's, this is doubtless. the best way. But there is always some interruption, some diversion, and some cramping of the
thoughts in this mode.  It -is true, when a writer
seeks only this natural overflow of his thoughts, that
he is apt to be destitute of that method which prevails in the schools. The numerical partitions of discourse are sometimes forced, and when they are read,
they partake more of aggregation than of growth.
There is as real an order in the evolution of parts in
a tree as in the successive additions which build a
house: and if a discourse proceeds by an inward law
which disregards symmetrical plans, it may have more
coherence and vitality than could be produced by
rule and square.  The noble master-pieces of the
ancients possess this easy flow, which often defies the
analysis of the commentator; but they are not therefore less pleasing or less great.
To write by a plan, is in some degree to bind the
thoughts to a given track.  HIe is most likely to
arrive at what is original and new who like the river
C" wanders at his own sweet will."
It is constraining and so injurious to thought,
where one has some end constantly before him other
than the prosecution of the trains on which he has
entered. These ends may be various and some of
them may be very good; they may even be neces



~41          THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
sary: but so far as the full and independent unfolding
of the mind is concerned, they are injurious. The
writer may seek the entertainment or profit of a
particular class of readers. IIe may seek fame or
emolument, or the elevation of sect or party. He
may write as an exercise for proof of his powers or to
strengthen them. So doing he may produce much
that is excellent; but he does this in a less degree than
when he gives full scope to the inward prompting.
Hence the ill effect of writing for the public only;
never encouraging those expatiating processes which
take no note of readers and critics. Free writings of
the kind just mentioned, are after all those which
most interest the reader, and produce least weariness,
even where the subject is a trifling one, as is exemplified by Montaigne. On higher subjects the same
holds true, as in the case of Pascal's Thoughts.
A singular elevation is given to writings which
are devotional in such a sense as to be addressed to
God. Such are the Confessions of St. Augustine.
There are also discourses, which in form are addressed
to an audience, but which nevertheless have this
character of meditational flow; such as the writings
of Leighton and Scougal. The inspired books of
the sacred canon, though they cannot properly be
brought into comparison, have this quality of unconstrained flow and ample digression, which makes it




HOMILETICAL PARAGRAPHS.           47
hard to parcel them into regular divisions. This
is true equally of the Psalms, the Prophecies, and
the Epistles.
~ 42. The pulpit is too sacred to be turned into a
place for exchanging clerical civilities, or into a space
for ceremonious etiquette.
~ 43. Study of the Scripture.-Constant perusal
and re-perusal of Scripture is the great preparation for
preaching. You get good even when you know it
not. This is one of the most observable differences
between old and young theologians.
"Give attendance to reading."
~ 44. Preaching on Politics.-A minister may well
be absolved from preaching, or even forming opinions
on politics. He has the common right of all citizens
so to do; but his proper work is enough for all his
time and powers. The great themes of religious truth
are enough to occupy more time than he can get.
Statesmanship is a science by itself. If a preacher
excels in it, he must do so by sacrificing some of his
sacred hours.
~ 45. EXcess of ilanner.-Every excess of manner over matter hinders the effect of delivery, on all
wise judges. Where there is more voice, more em



48          THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
phasis, or more gesture, than there is feeling, there is
waste, and worse; powder beyond the shot.
~ 46. Feeling.-Feeling is the prime mover in
eloquence; but feeling cannot be produced to order;
and the affectation of it, however elegant, is powerless.
~ 47. Animation. —Every man may be said to
have his quantum of animation, beyond which he
cannot go without forcework and affectation. Hence,
to exhort a young man to be more animated, is to
mislead and perhaps spoil him, unless you mean to
inculcate the cultivation of inward emotion. It is
better therefore to let nature work, even though for
the time the delivery is tame, than to generate a
manner only rhetorically and artificially warm, which
is hypocrisy.
~ 48. Uttering a chain of reasoning with the mock
tones of passion, is the crying sin of second-rate
Southern orators. The true orators of the South are
really eloquent, from natural inward heat.
~ 49. Reading good authors aloud, after full mas.
tery of the sense by careful study, is a better exercise than declaiming one's own compositions from
memory.
~ 50.'No good preacher was ever made such by
exercise in oratory.




HOMILETICAL PARAGRAPHS.          49
~ 51. Eloqunce, as a ministerial accomplishment,
may be overrated. Only one man in a million can be
eloquent. Now it is evident, Christ could not have
intended that a work so universal should be dependent on a means so rare.
~ 52. Some of the greatest effects have been produced by men who had no external graces of style and
elocution.
~ 53. There is a certain type of thought, diction,
and delivery, which is proper to each individual; and
he accomplishes most who hits on this. But all
straining, all artifice, and all imitation, tend to prevent the attainment of this manner.
~ 54. The " utterance" which the Apostle Paul
craved, and which is often mentioned in the New
Testament, is very different from worldly eloquence,
being a spiritual gift.
~ 55. The attraction of the modern pulpit is something altogether different from any spiritual quality.
It indicates a sickly mind in the Christian public.
Under such preaching a morbid state is produced.
~ 56. If Apostolical preaching could reappear,
while it would be mighty in its effects upon the assembly and on multitudes, it would probably answer
no demands of the schools or the stage; but would
3




50         THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
be unartificial, expository, simple, paternal, brief,
natural, varied, gushing, and eminently spiritual.
~ 57. The day was when churches were much
more concerned than we, about the truths conveyed,
and much less about the garb of the truths.
Doctrine, rather than speaking, was what drew
the audience.
~ 58. Let every preacher despair of delivering
that discourse with true, natural, and effective warmth,
which he has prepared with leisurely coldness.
~ 59. No rhetorical appliance can make a cold
passage truly warm. If, for any cause, an inanimate
sermon must needs be uttered, it ought to be delivered with no more emotion, than its contents engender in the speaker's soul. Every thing beyond this
is pretence; and here is the source of all mock-passion, which is the fixed habit of many speakers.
~ 60. There can be no high eloquence without inward feeling, naturally expressed. Hence he who
begins his discourse on an ordinary topic, with the
elevated voice and manner of great emotion, convinces every just critic that he is acting a part.
~ 61. A Thought for 7Expansion.-Occupy your
mind, since life is so short, on the following, viz.:




HOMILETICAL PARAGRAPHS.          51
1. True rather than False. —Truth always good
— food —safe-consistent —propagative.
Falsehood, even when conversed with fbr good
ends, is perturbing, paining, defiling, misleading, and
wasteful of time.
2. Positive rather than Negative. —lot negation
-not refutation-not mere defence.
3. Great rather than Small.-Great truths-great
subjects-the most important-comprehensive of the
lesser-elevating-discipline the understanding-not
minutie -not trifles.
4. Divine rather than Ifuman.-Revealed, not
found out-inspired —the Bible above all.
He that should observe these rules for the conduct of his understanding, would save much time and
escape many troubles.
~ 62. I find it hard to mingle doctrine and practice in due proportion in my preaching. Latterly I
fear there has been too much exclusion of doctrinal
discussion. ~The following hints will not be out of
place:
1. To open some point of doctrine, or some portion of Scripture needing explanation, at least in one
discourse of each week.
2. To select for this purpose, very frequently,
those doctrines which are most vital; those which




52          THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
concern the salvation of the soul; those about which
an inquirer or believer would seek information.
3. To treat these doctrinal points warmly, with a
perpetual reference to Christian experience.
~ 63. Preaching. —Iy morning sermon was written and preached with more flow and animation than
usual. I ascribe this to my having meditated somewhat on the history, and then written straight on,
without the slightest reference to a logical analysis or
programme, though I had actually formed such a
one. I am persuaded, that as much as a discourse
gains in method and articulation, by such a plan, so
much it loses in rapidity, richness, and anilmation. I
also found comfort in my method of preparing notes
for an expository lecture, thus: 1. Study the exegesis. 2. Write rapid and pretty full notes on the
successive parts, numerically, as so many observations. It is not always necessary to take them up in
the order of the text.
~ 64. The Bible. —As the Bible is the best of
books, so the next best is that which is most like it,
that which teaches the same thing-or explains the
Bible. Instead of studying and writing about Austin
and Luther, do what Austin and Luther did, namely,
tell whllat the Bible teaches. Go straight to the Law
and the Testimony, instead of all subordinates and
substitutes.




HOMILETICAL PARAGRAPHS.          53
~ 65. In every age people have gone astray, by
going away from the Bible. The statements of Scripture are positive truths, given on divine authority,
and faith is as necessary as obedience; for it is as
much our duty to believe what God says, as to do
what he commands. If we received in its true mneaning every proposition in the Bible, we should have a
sufficient body of divine truth. But this is far from
being the case. Some receive more and some less,
but none receive the whole. One reason of this is,
that we preposterously mingle our own reasonings
with the conclusions of revelations. Having accepted
as true a certain number of the plain declarations of
Scripture, -we use those as so many premises with
which to connect trains of reasoning. We do not
wait to see whether the conclusions at which we
would thus arrive are not asserted or denied in other
plain Scriptural declarations. Sometimes we arrive
at conclusions from positive Scriptural declarations.
This is an inevitable result of the weakness of human
reason; and as there is nothing to which we have a
more overweening attachment than the fruits of our
ratiocination, we cling to these erroneous conclusions. In order to do this with any show of reverence
for inspiration, we find it hereupon necessary to explain away those plain declarations of the Word,
which are opposed to our conclusions. Thus our per



54           THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
verse deduction, even from Bible truths, leads to corrupt interpretation of the Word of God. ~It is analogous to overhasty generalization in natural philosophy, from a narrow basis of facts or phenomena.
The practical rule to be derived from these remarlys is, to go to the Bible as a fund, not so mu/ch of
]prerises as of conclusions; to enlarge as far as possible the field of positive assertions; to prefer the
plain sense of the record; to distrust our own reasonings from Scripture, in the way of logical inference;
and to discuss every conclusion which wars with clear
Scripture definitions.
Hence also the importance of being much engaged
in the simplest study of the Word, in its plainest
sense; heaping up this golden ore just as it comes
out of the mine.
~ 66. By Father. — fy dear and honoured father
has some excellencies as a writer, which I did not
value at a proper rate when I was younger. IIe goes
always for the thought rather than the word; and is
never led along by the bait of fine language or the
course of figures. I am led to think that a man must
early in life make his election between these two kinds
of writing, and that I have fallen into the inferior one:
though I am regarded among my friends as a simple
writer.




HOMILETICAL PARAGRAPHS.           55
Another remarkable quality of my father, is his
going for truth and reason, rather than for authority.
This is the more remarkable, as he has been one of
the greatest and most miscellaneous readers I ever
knew; has had the most extensive knowledge of
books, and the most wonderful memory of their contents, so that I have often known him to give a clear
account of works which he had not seen for forty
years; and yet how seldom does he make citation.!
The train of his thoughts is all his own, with a
thorough digestion in his own mind, and reference of
all things to theit principles. Hence he is original in
the best sense; which superficial readers would not
admit, because his style had no salient points, or overbold expressions.
I attribute this in some degree to the fact that
almost every day of his life, known to me, it was his
habit to sit alone, in silence, generally in the twilight,
or musing over the fire, in deep and seemingly pleasurable thought. At such times he was doubtless
maturing those trains of reasoning, which he brought
out in his discourses; and this may account for his
extraordinary readiness at almost any time, to rise in
extemporaneous address.
~ 67. Come ministers seem to be familiar only with
such and such passages and parts of Scripture.




56          THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
The Puritans derived much of their liveliness from
their minute acquaintance with the Old Testament,
and their apposite citation of it. Another kind of
familiarity with the Word is apparent in such a writer
as Hengstenberg. It amazes me. What extensive
and at the same time profound knowledge of the original.
At times it is useful simply to turn over the pages
of the Scriptures, touching here and there, as a man
walks among the rows of his vineyard, receiving general imnpressions, or learning where to go again.
~ 68. Cut off superfluous studies. Come back
to the Bible. This rings in my ears as years go on.
Consider all past studies as so much discipline, to fit
you for this great study. Make Scripture the interpreter of Scripture. Seek practical wisdom, rather
than learning, and as tending to holiness and eternal
happiness. Make the Bible your book of prayer.
~ 69. My greatest acquisitions in Scripture come
from no commentaries or expositors.  The perusals
of many former years, turned over in the meditations,
left to brew in the mind, yield their ripe results in new
readings, and often make that clear which was formerly dark, and that fruitful which was once dry.
~ 70. Bible Study. —As Bible study is the best
study, so I find it the most delightful. It, is a good




HOMILETICAL PARAGRAPHS.          57
way to read large portions, and with much repetition,
but always avoiding weariness. Having lately read
over the Epistle to the Hebrews in Greek, I read it
over this evening in the English version. Occasionally I looked out the Old Testament quotations; I
compared the Greek, wherever I had a suspicion about
the English; and here and there looked in a lexicon,
or another version; but my chief view was to the scope
and connexion; and on this I found greater lights than
common. Some verses held me long, and I walked up
and down the floor meditating upon them. I omitted
some separable parenthetic passages, reserving them
for another perusal. By this means I got an unusual
view of the lucid unity of the book. No method of
Scriptural study gives me so much satisfaction. It
unites reading with meditation. It is the best preparation for preaching. It scatters a thousand doubts.
It familiarizes the English text, no inconsiderable
part of a preacher's furniture. Doctrines so derived
are more firmly grasped, than when received from the
ablest systems. Texts so learnt are better understood
and more available, than such as are gathered from a
concordance or marginal bible. They are taken into
the system and assimilated. They become constitutional parts of one's mind. Even a human composition, when valuable, is an organized whole, united by
a pervading principle, and with every part in its right




a58         THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
place. Still more true is this of an inspired composition. Each proposition is not only truth, but truth in
the right place, and in sacred connexion with what
goes before and follows after. In this divine connexion, truth is best learned. And he who learns it thus,
has a knowledge of it superior to that of one who
learns even the same propositions, rent asunder, or
forced into the technical connexion and arrangement
of a system; as far superior, as the knowledge of the
human frame derived from examining a subject, over
that which is acquired by a tabular view of all the
chemical elements which go to constitute the vital
fabric, however fully and accurately they may be
stated. It is, therefore, all important to study the Bible
in its due connexion; and, for this end, to read over
large portions, and even whole books, carefully and
repeatedly.
~ 71. Bible Study.-I cannot revert to this subject too often. Reading what I wrote at the beginning of this book, has revived my interest in it.
Experience shews me more and more the value of
studying the pure text.  Reading the account of
the Scottish mission to Palestine has had the same
effect. The mere hearing of a husband and wife, devoting themselves to the research of the Scripture,
without comment, has also been awakening. Recur



HOMILETICAL PARAGRAPHS.         59
rence to my morning task, of committing a few verses
to memory, has kept up my interest. This evening I
read the book of Ruth in Hebrew, which confirmed
my resolution. Late preaching experiments corroborate my opinion, that the very best preparation for
extempore discourses is textual knowledge. Luther
says truly, Bonus textuarius est bonus theologus.
What can I set before me more obligatory, useful or
pleasant, than to spend my life in making the blessed
word plain to others? If I were able to have a
charge, how entirely might I give myself to the Word
of God, and prayer, by the aid and impulse of the
HIoly Spirit. Twenty years ago, I had a great ambition to be extensively acquainted with the classics. I
have, in rather an irregular way, acquired more of
that knowledge than is perhaps common with our
clergy, but I can truly say, I account it but stubble
and dross in comparison with the Bible. Tlie study
of thAe text is the thing I mean. I have pored over
many commentators, but life is too short for this circuitous method. If an hour is to be spent, either in
reading and collating more of the text, or in reading
human comments, surely the former is the way which
gives more light. What is acquired in this way makes
a peculiar impression, and is more truly one's own.
It also carries with it a savour of divine authority.
Sometimes going slowly over verse by verse, and med



S0           THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
itating on each-a delightful employment-I learn
more than by turning over volumes. Especially is
this useful as a preparation for preaching. I can say
with dying Salmasius, I wish I had devoted myself
Imore to the study of the Scriptures!
N. B. Regular times are indispensable to proficiency in these researches.
~ 72. The Christian, and above all the minister, is
bound to devote all his powers to the glory of God,
in the good of mankind.
This is a work which requires great diligence and
earnestness, and may well occupy the whole man all
his life.
Man may be called to labour in different spheres,
but always with the same devotion and singleness of
purpose.
The studies and authorship of a Christian are to
be directed to this end.
Science and literature may be used as among the
greatest in this work; but they are not to be used so
as to usurp the time and heart of the Christian scholar
as to make him distinctly a man of science or letters.
The same remarks apply still more clearly to other
pursuits, such as art, politics, agriculture, and trade.
Instances: Swift, Sterne, Robertson, Howe, many
English university scholars.




HOMILETICAL PARAGRAPHS.          61
An exception is to be made in favour of those pursuits, or even publications which are for recreation, in
intervals of labour. Lord Bacon has said that every
man owes a debt to his profession. A clergyman's
work should be governed by this rule. It is seemly
that a man's pen should utter the abundance of his
heart, and that his books should bear the impress of
that which is most in his thoughts.
It is unseemly for a minister of Christ to be
known chiefly by works beyond the line of his calling, however valuable in themselves. Especially unfortunate is it, when his strength is dispersed among
petty learned elegancies. No works of the pen are
more honourable than those which evince a profound
interest in the good of one's generation, church, and
country. These betoken earnestness, patriotism, and
-a public spirit, and are far higher in the scale than
even great treatises on scientific theology.  Even
though from their nature they have an interest that
does not extend to coming generations, and thus do
not become part of universal literature, they are of
great value; sometimes in the very proportion in
which they are confined to time and place.
~ 73. Any man is excusable, to say no more, for
employing himself about the great questions of the
age and country.




62.         THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
It is a just reproach to any man to be indifferent to
that Which concerns the welfare of his people, and,
while their interests are at stake, to spend his days in
delicate trifles. Such was the fault of Goethe. How
different the case of Milton, though he was wrong in
many points. Be earnest. Be up and doing. Rust
is worse than work. There is an excitement which is
bad, ruinous; there is also an excitement which is good,
healthful, and corroborative. To be really in earnest
is consistent with great care of health and strength.
Htusband your faculties, your acquisitions, your time.
Husband them!  Therefore give yourself more to
great topics, especially to Christian topics; national
topics  topics that promise good to the world. After
a man has been a great reader for many years, he
ought to repose. He ought to distil his accunlulations. He ought to write from his own mind. True,
much of what he does so write will be the result of
his previous reading, but it will be without rehearsal or
quotation. If he belongs to the better order of minds
he will quote little, except in those cases in which the
very matter of the argument lies in the very words
of another. He will think for himself. He will give
the results of his learning rather than the learning
itself. He will advise himself thus:
" Why should you be so careful to remember what
others have said? Of all you have read much has




HOMILETICAL PARAGRAPHS.          63
slipped. Well, most of such thoughts are of no value.
It were a pity to retain all. The mind acts not as a
coffer, but partly as a sieve, and more as an alembic.
Your book-knowledge, even if not increased, would
furnish abundance for many works. Do not give way
to the error of being afraid of saying plain and simple
things, so they are true, reasonable, and logically
knit. Consider Daniel Webster. The greatest and
most useful sayings are simple. Your thoughts seem
more commonplace to others than to yourself, for an
obvious reason.
"Try every day to repeat to yourself some solid
truth, if possible some new one. But true rather than
novel. Fix the truth in your mind, as something
really attained and imnmovable. Deduce from it other
truths, but with caution. Shun haste and paradox.
Go to the highest principles. Be not so much concerned about the laws of thought as about truths, the
matters of knowledge.
" Avoid vexing, plaguing cogitations. Those are
often the best thoughts which have been wrung out
with the knit brow. There is a spontaneity in thinking. We do not so much create the stream as watch
it, and to a certain extent direct it. This is the reason
why great thinkers do not always draw themselves
out; rather the contrary. Placid, easy philosophising
brings the abundant fruit. Let the thread sometimes




64          THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
drop; you will find it again and at the right moment.
In this meditation differs from book-learning, which
is necessarily wearing.
"The Scriptures furnish the best materials for
thought. They stimulate the soil. They secure the
right posture of mind for calm judgment and even for
discovery. They correct error. They give positive
conclusions. They promote holy states which are favourable to truth. They prevent trifling reasonings,
by keeping the mind constantly in the presence of the
greatest subjects."




LETTERS TO YOUNG MINISTERS.
LETTER I.
ON DEVOTION TO THE WOIRK OF THE MINISTRY.
WHEN I look back on the years which I have
spent in the ministry, I cannot but think that much
benefit would have arisen from such honest and plain
advices as most of my elder brethren could have given
me. It is this which induces me to offer you the
hints which follow. These must be somewhat like
personal confessions; since the rules which I have'to
propose are derived in several cases from my own delinquencies. You know the old similitude. Experience is like the stern-lights of a ship, which cast their
rays on the path that has been passed over. It will
be some little consolation if others shall be benefited,
even by our failures. May God of his infinite mercy,
give his blessing to these suggestions!
You have lately entered on the work of the ministry: my solemn advice to you is, that you devote




66          THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
yourself to it wholly. You remember the expression,
Ev 7o6TotF i'&0t: 1 Tim. iv. 15. The complaint is becoming common, respecting young men entering the
ministry, in every part of the Church, that many of
them lack that devotion to their work, which was fre~quently manifested twenty or thirty years ago. It is
vain to attribute the alleged change to any particular
mode of education. In this there has been no such
alteration as will account for the loss of zeal. The
cause must be sought in something more widely operative. The effect, if really existing, is visible beyond
the circle of candidates ahid probationers. Nor need
we go further for an explanation, than to the almost
universal declension of vital piety in our Churches,
which will abide under every form of training, until
the Spirit be poured out from on high. The fact,
however, remains. Here and there are young ministers, visiting among vacancies, and ready to be employed in any promising place, who are often well educated persons, of good manners, and irreproachable
character: but what a want of fire! There can be no
remedy for this evil, but a spiritual one; yet it is of
high importance that the young man should know
what it is he needs. He has perhaps come lately
from his studies, in the solitude of a country parish,
or from some school in the mountains; or fromn some
sound but frigid preceptor, who, amidst parochial




LETTERS TO YOUNG MINISTERS.       67
cares, has afforded him few means of stimulation.
His thoughts are more about the heads of divinity,
the partitions of a discourse, the polish of style, the
newest publications, or even the gathering of a library, than about the great, unspeakable, impending
work of saving souls. He has no consuming zeal with
regard to the conversion of men, as an immediate
business. Let us not be too severe in our judgments.
It cannot well be otherwise. None but a visionary
would expect the enthusiasm of the battle in the soldier who, as yet, has seen nothing but the drill. Yet
this enthusiasm there must be, in order to any greatness of ministerial character, and any success; and
he is most likely to attain it, who is earliest persuaded
that he is nothing without it. It is encouraging to
observe, that some of the most useful and energetic
preachers are the very men whose youthful zeal was
chiefly for learning, but who, under providential guidance, were brought at once into positions where they
were called,pon to grapple with difficulties, and exert all their strength in the main work. Such were
Legh Richmond and Dr. Duncan.
In the sequel, you will be fully relieved of any
apprehensions that ( mean to deter you from study,
or even from elegant literature; but this must be subordinated to the principal aim; its place must be secondary.  Some who have been most successful in




68           THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
winning souls have been men of learning; Augustine,
Calvin, Baxter, Doddridge, Martyn; but they laid. all
their attainments at the foot of the cross. As Leighton said, to a friend who admired his books, " One
devout thought outweighs them  all!"  This is not
peculiar to matters of religion. No man can reach
the highest degrees in any calling or profession, who
does not admire and love it, and give himself to ithave his mind full of it, day by day. No great painter ever became such, who had it only as a collateral
pursuit, or who did not reckon it the greatest of arts,
or who-did not sacrifice every thing else to it. Great
commanders have not risen from among dilettante
soldiers, who only amused themselves with the art of
war. The young minister, who is evidently concentrating his chief thoughts on something other than his
ministry, will be a drone, if not a Demas. Look at
the books on his table, examine his last ten letters,
listen to his conversation, survey his companions:
thus you will learn what is uppermost in his heart.
And if you find it to be poetry, aesthetics, classics, literary appointments, snug settlement, European travel,
proximity to the great; be not surprised if you find
him ten years hence philandering at soirees, distilling
verse among the weaker vessels of small literature,
operating in stocks, or growing silent and wealthy
upon a plantation. It is a source of deep regret to




LETTERS TO YOUNG MINISTERS.       69
many in review of life, that they have scattered themselves over too many fields; let me entreat of you to
spend your strength on one. When we call up in
memory the men whose ministerial image is most
lovely, and whom we would resemble, they are such
as have been true to their profession, and who have
lived for nothing else. Some there are, indeed, who
have had a clear vocation to the work of teaching,
which is really a branch of the ministry, and one of
its most indispensable branches, and who have served
Christ as faithfully in the school-room or the university, as in the pulpit; such were Melancthon, Turrettine, Witsius, Witherspoon, Dwight, Livingston, Rice,
and Graham. But our concern is with ordinary ministers, called to no other public station; and of these
it is unquestionable, that the most successful are those
who have lived in and for their spiritual work. Call
to mind the chief Nonconformists; also of later date,
Newton, Cecil, Brown, Waugh, Simeon; the Tennents, Rodgers, McMillan, McCheyne, and of our own
acquaintance the " greatly beloved " William Nevins.
In these men, the prominent purpose was ministerial
work. If at any time they wrote and published, it
was on matters subservient to the gospel. This accounts for the holy glow which, even amidst human
imperfections, was manifest in their daily conversation. They might have been eminent in other pur



To          THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
suits, but they had given themselves to the work of
Christ.
In another letter, the subject may be more appropriately discussed, but I cannot forbear calling your
attention to the bearing of this on the tone of preaching. Suppose a man kas been all the week with
Goethe and de Beranger, or with Sue and Heine, or
even with the Mathematicians or Zoologists, not to
speak of prices-current, stock quotations, or tables of
interest; how can he be expected, by the mere putting on of a black gown or a white neckeloth, and
entering the pulpit, to be all on fire with Divine love!
No wonder we preach so coldly on the Sabbath, when
we are so little moved on week-days, about what we
preach. You have perhaps met two or three clergymen lately; what did their conversation turn upon?
The coming glory of the Church? the power of the
Word? the best means of arousing sinners? even the
most desirable method of preparation? or some high
point of doctrine? Or were they upon the last election, the last land speculation, the last poem, or the
price of cotton and tobacco? According to your answer, will be the conclusion as to the temperature of
their preaching. There is indeed a sort of pulpit fire
which is rhetorical-proceeds from no warmth within,
and diffuses no warmth without; the less of it the better. But genuine ardour must arise from the habitual




LETTERS TO YOUNG MINISTERS.               71
thought and temper of the life.  He with whom the
ministry is a secondary thing, may be a correct, a
learned, an elegant, even an oratorical, but will never
be a powerful preacher.
You must allow me to give prominence to this devotion of heart to your work, here at the threshold,
because it is my desire hereafter to enlarge more on
your theological studies; and I earnestly charge you
to hold all studies as only means -to this end, the glory
of God in the salvation of souls. The day is near
when your whole ministerial life will seem to you
very short in retrospect. Let our prayer be that of
the sweet psalmist of early Methodism:
"I would the precious time redeem,
And longer live for this alone,
To spend, and to be spent for them
Who have not yet my Saviour known;
Fully on these my mission prove,
And only breathe to breathe thy love.
"My talents, gifts, and graces, Lord,
Into thy blessed hands receive;
And let me live to preach thy word,
And let me for thy glory live,
My every sacred moment spend,
In publishing the sinner's Friend."
That which we all need is to magnify our office,
to recognize the sublimity of our work There would




'72         THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
be more Brainerds, and more Whitefields, if such
views were more common; and there would be more
instances of great men stuggling on for years in narrow, remote situations, but with mighty effects. The
observation of good Mr. Adam is striking and true:
" A poor country parson, fighting against the devil
in his parish, has nobler ideas than Alexander had."
My dear young friend, if there is any thing you would
rather be than a preacher of the gospel; if you regard
it as a ladder to something else; if you do not consider all your powers as too little for the work; be
assured you have no right to hope for any usefulness
or even eminence. To declare God's truth so as to
save souls, is a business which angels might covet:
acquire the habit of regarding your work in this light.
Such views will be a source of legitimate excitement;
they will lighten the severest burdens, and dignify
the humblest field of labour, in.the narrowest valley
among the mountains. They will confer that mysterious strength on your plainest sermons, which has
sometimes made men of small genius and no eloquence
to be the instrument of converting hundreds. Think
more of the treasure you carry, the message you proclaim, and the heaven to which you invite, than of
your locality, your supporters, or your popularity. It
is recorded of the excellent John Brown, of Haddington-and'I regret that I have forgotten his very words




LETTERS TO YOUNG MINISTERS.        73
-that to a former pupil who was complaining of the
smallness of his congregation, he said: " Young man,
when you appear at Christ's bar, it will be the least
of your anxieties that you have so few souls to give
account of." And the same good man said: " Now,
aftera forty years' preaching of Christ, and his great
and sweet salvation, I think I would rather beg my
bread all the labouring days of the week, for the opportunity of publishing the gospel on the Sabbath, to
an assembly of sinful men, than, without such a privilege, enjoy the richest possessions on earth. By the
gospel do men live, and in it is the life of my soul." *
On this subject the opinion of such a man as John
Livingston will have weight with you; for you know
he was honoured of God to awaken five hundred by
one sermon at the Kirk of Shotts. IIis life and remains, as published by the Wodrow Society, show
that the secret of his strength lay in his devotion to
the work. " Earnest faith and prayer," says he, " a
single aim at the glory of God, and good of people,
a sanctified heart and carriage, shall avail much for
right preaching.  There is sometimes somewhat in
preaching that cannot be ascribed either to the matter
or expression, and cannot be described what it is, or
from whence it cometh, but with a sweet violence, it
pierceth into the heart and affections, and comes imn* See Waugh's Life, p. 53
4




74          THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
mediately from the Lord. But if there be any way to
attaine to any such thing, it is by a heavenly disposition of the speaker." *  And again: "I never
preached ane sermon which I would be earnest to see
again in wryte but two; the one was on ane Munday
after the communion at Shotts, and the other on ane
Munday after the communion at Holywood; and
both these times I had spent the whole night before
in conference and prayer with some Christians, without any more than ordinary preparation; otherwayes,
my gift was rather suited to simple common people,
than to learned and judicious auditors." t
Here you have indicated the true source of pulpit
strength. It is closely connected with the subject of
this letter; for the more you are swallowed up in the
vastness of your work, the more will you be cultivating spiritual-mindedness. You will agree at once,
that it is a sign we are taking the right view of our
vocation, when the means which we employ for our
personal growth in grace are the same which most
conduce to the power of our ministry. Such an estimate of our work as is here recommended, can be
maintained only by a constant contemplation of the
great end of all our preaching and pastoral labournamely, the glory of Christ, the building up of his
* Sel. Biogr. Wodr. Coll. p. 2857 &c.
t Ibid. 194.




LETTERS TO YOUNG MINISTERS.       75
kingdom, and the salvation of souls. This should be
always in your mind. When you go to bed, and when
you are awake, it should be as a minister of Christ;
not, surely, in the way of professional assumption, but
with a profound sense of your dedication to a mo-mentous work, for which one lifetime seems too short.
There are legitimate occasions, on which a minister
may deliberately and thoroughly relax himself, by
entertaining books, music, company, travel, or even
athletic sports, to an extent far more than is common
among sedentary men: and I hope you will despise
the canting and sanctimonious proscriptions of those
who would debar clergymen from any summer repose,
or resorts to the springs or seaside. Nevertheless, in
the ordinary ministerial day, there should be no hour
not devoted to something helpful towards the great
work. This should give direction to all your reading, writing, and conversation. The volume which
you have in your hand should be there for some good
reason, connected with your ministry. It will appear
hereafter, that the territory from which ministerial
auxiliaries are to be levied, is exceedingly wide, and
embraces all that can strengthen, clear, beautify, and
relax the mind; but the animus of all this must be a
single eye towards the finishing your course with joy,
and the ministry which you have received of the Lord
Jesus. Acts xx. 24. Holding it to be a disgrace to




s6           THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
a young clergyman not to be familiar with the Greek
Testament, I add, Tx)v &aicovitv o-ov 7r'qppo4pqqo-ov.
Each instant of present labour is to be graciously repaid with a million ages of glory.
LETTER II.
THE CULTIVATION OF PERSONAL PIETY.
IT is scarcely possible to treat of some subjects
without running into commonplaces: their very importance has made them trite, just as we observe
great highways to be most beaten. The question has
been much discussed, whether a minister should ever
preach beyond his own experience. In one sense,
unquestionably, he should. He is commissioned to
preach, not himself, or his experience, but Christ Jesus, the Lord, and his salvation; he is a messenger,
and his message is laid before him in the Scriptures;
it is at his peril, that he suppresses aught, whether
he has experienced it or not. He is, for example,
not to withhold consolation to God's deeply afflicted
ones, till he has experienced deep affliction himself.
Yet every preacher of the gospel should earnestly
strive to attain the experience of the truths which he




LETTERS TO YOUNG MINISTERS.      77
communicates, and to have every doctrine which he
utters turned into vital exercises of his heart; so that
when he stands up to speak in the name of God, there
may be that indescribable freshness and penetrativeness, which arise from individual and present interest
in what is declared.
In every Church there are some aged and experienced Christians. These are specially regarded by
the Master, and require to be fed with the fihiest of
the wheat. The ministry is appointed with much
reference to such; and they know when their portion
is withheld. They may be poor and unlettered, and
incompetent to judge of gesture, diction, or even
grammar; but they know the "' language of Canaan,"
and the " speech of Ashdod:" I hold them to be the
best judges of the ministry. How little does the
starched and elegant, but shallow young divine suspect, that in yonder dark, back pew, or in the outskirts. of the gallery, there sits an ancient widow, who
was in Christ before he was born, and who reads him
through and through. Mr. Summerfield once related
to me, that Dr. Doddridge, when other more learned
helps failed, used to consult a poor old woman, living
near him, upon hard passages in his commentary, and
that he generally acquiesced in her conclusions.
There is no teacher like the Paraclete; and the promise is," All thy children shall be taught of the Lord."




78           THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
Isaiah liv. 13. To be able to feed such sheep of Christ,
if for no other reason, the young minister should seek
to attain high degrees of piety.
The truth is, such are the discouragements of
genuine cross-bearing ministry, and so repugnant to
the flesh are many of its duties, that nothing but true
piety will bold a man up under the burden; he will
sooner or later throw it off, and begin to seek his
ease, or preach for " itching ears," or phonographic
reporters. It is an easy thing to go through a routine,
to " do duty," as the phrase of the Anglican establishment is; but it is hard to the flesh, to denounce
error in high places, to preach unpopular doctrine, to
labour week after week in assemblies of a dozen or
twenty, to spend weary hours among the diseased
and dying, and to watch over the discipline of Christ's
house. Nothing but an inward enjoyment of divine
truth, and a reference to the final award, will stimulate a man to constancy in such labours.
You will be called, as a minister,.to spend much
time in laborious study, the tendency of which is to
draw the mind off from spiritual concerns; and sometimes in the perusal of erroneous, heretical, and even
infidel works, that you may know what it is you have
to combat. Your condition in this is like that of the
physician, who ventures into infection, and makes
trial of poisons. You will need much grace to pre



LETTERS TO YOUNG MINISTERS,      79
serve your spiritual health in such perils. The freedom with which you must mingle in society will expose you to many of the common temptations of a
wicked world; and it will require the extreme of
reserve, caution, and mortification, on your part, to
prevent your falling into the snare. In the present
day, out of opposition to the ascetic life, we all probably act too much as if we were " children of the bridechamlber," and too much neglect the subjugation of
the body. That a man is a minister is no token that
he shall not be cast into hell-fire. The instances of
apostasy within our own knowledge stare at us, like
the skeletons of lost travellers, among the sands of our
desert-way. No temptation bath befallen them but
that which is common to man. The apparitions of
clerical drunkards, and the like, should forewarn us.
"Let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he
fall! The apostle Paul expresses his view of this, in
terms of which the force cannot be fully brought out
by any translation: " But I keep under my body,"
vVrrwrEo. I strike under the eye, so as to make it
black and blue, a boxing phrase, indicative of strenuous efforts at mortification; as who should say, "I
subdue the flesh by violent and reiterated blows, and
bring it into subjection," &ovXaywyci; "I lead it along
as a slave;" having subjugated it by assault and beating, I treat it as a bondman, as boxers in the Palaestra




80          THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
used to drag off their conquered opponents. And
the reason for this mortification of the flesh is, " lest
that by any means, when I have preached to others,
I myself should be a castaway." 1 Cor. ix. 2T.
Dreadful words! but needed, to deter us from more
dreadful destruction. The tophet of apostate ministers must be doubly severe. It is the " deceitfulness
of sin " which hardens so many of us into carelessness
about so great a danger. -Pride goeth before destruction, till suddenly, like Saul, the careless minister
finds himself inveigled into some great sin. This
may never be known to the world, yet it may lead to
his ruin. "I am persuaded," says Owen, " there are
very few that apostatize from a profession of any continuance, such as our days abound with, but their
door of entrance into the folly of backsliding was
either some great and notorious sin, that blooded their
consciences, tainted their affections, and intercepted
all delight of having anything more to do with God;
or else it was a course of neglect in private duties,
arising from a weariness of contending against that
powerful aversation which they found in themselves
unto them. And this also, through the craft of Satan,
hath been improved into many foolish and sensual
opinions of living unto God without and above any
duties of communion. And we find that after men
have, for a while, choked and blinded their con



LETTERS TO YOUNG MINISTERS.         81
sciences with this pretenice, cursed wickedness or sensuality hath been the end of their folly."
Of all people on earth, ministers most need the
constant impressions derived from closet piety. If
once-they listen to the flattering voice of their admirers, and think they are actually holy because
others treat them as such; if they dream of going to
heaven ex officio; if, weary of public exercises, they
neglect those which are private; or if they acquire
the destructive habit of preaching and praying about
Christ without any faith or emotion; then their
course is likely to be downward. Far short, however,
a minister of Chlrist may be of so dreadful doom, and
yet be almost useless. To prevent such declension,
the best advice I know of, is to be much in secret devotion; including in this term the reflective reading
of Scripture, meditation, self-examination, prayer,
and praise. And here you must not expect from me
any recipe for the conduct of such exercises, or rules
for the times, length, posture, place, and so forth; for
I rejoice in it as the glory of the Church to which we
both belong, that it is so little rubrical. Iow often
you shall fast or sing or pray, must be left to be
settled between God and your conscience; only fix
in mind and heart the necessity of much devotion.
It is good, sometimes, to recall the examples of
eminent preachers. John Welsh, the famous son-in4*




82          THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
law of Knox, was, during Tis exile, minister of a
village in France. A friar once lodged under his
roof, and on being asked how he lad been entertained
by the HIuguenot preacher, replied, " Ill enough; for
I always held there were devils haunting these ministers' houses, and I am persuaded there was one with
me this night; for I heard a continual whisper all
the night over, which I believe was no other than the
minister and the devil conversing together." The
truth was, it was the Huguenot preacher at prayer.
Welsh used to say, "lie wondered how a Christian
could lie in bed all night, and not rise to pray; and
many times he prayed, and'many times he watched."
Such cases are not altogether wanting in our own
days: MIr. Simeon, of Cambridge, in more than one
instance is known to have spent the whole night in
prayer. Let me seriously commend to your notice a
paper contained in his Life by Mr. Carus, page 303,
entitled, Circumstances of mny Inward Experience.
Almost every word of it is golden, and among other
passages you will note the following: " I have never
thought that the circumstance of God's having forgiven me, was any reason why I should forgive myself; on the contrary, I have always judged it better
to loathe myself the more, in proportion as I was assured that God was pacified towards me. Ezek. xvi.
63. Nor have I been satisfied with viewing my sins,




LETTERS TO YOUNG MINISTERS.       83
as men view the'stars in a cloudy night, one here and
another there, with great intervals between; but
have endeavoured to get and to preserve continually
before my eyes, such a view of them as we have of
the stars in the brightest night; the greater and the
smaller all intermingled, and forming as it were one
continual mass; nor yet, as committed a long time
ago, and in many successive years; but as all forming an aggregate of guilt, and needing the same
measure of humiliation daily, as they needed at the
very moment they were committed. Nor would I
willingly rest with such a view as presents itself to
the naked eye; I have desired and do desire daily,
that God would put (so to speak) a telescope to my
eye, and enable me to see, not a thousand only, but
millions of my sins, which are more numerous than
all the stars which God himself beholds, and more
than the sands upon the sea-shore. There are but two
objects that I have ever desired for these forty years
to behold; the one is my own vileness, and the other
is the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ; and
I have always thought that they should be viewed together; just as Aaron confessed all the sins of all
Israel whilst he put them upon the head of the scapegoat." Such exercises as these, you will admit, may
well give occasion for more than usual persistency in
prayer.




84          THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
But lest you think only of sorrowing exercises, let
me recall a passage which Flavel gives concerning
one whom he modestly calls " a minister," but who is
well understood to have been himself; offering it not
so much for imitation, as to show how deep were the
experiences of one who was busied in various learning, and in all the scholastic argumentation of his day.
He was alone on a journey, and determined to spend
the day in self-examination. After some less material
circumstances, he proceeds thus: "In all that day's
journey, he neither met, overtook, or was overtaken
by any. Thus going on his way, his thoughts began
to swell and rise higher and higher, like the waters
in Ezekiel's vision, till at last they became an overflowing flood. Such was the intention of his mind,
such the ravishing tastes of heavenly joys, and such
the full assurance of his interest therein, that he
utterly lost the sight and sense of this world and all
the concerns thereof; and for some hours knew no
more where he was, than if he had been in a deep
sleep upon his bed." Arriving, in great exhaustion, at a certain spring, " he sat down and washed,
earnestly desiring, if it were the pleasure of God, that
it might be his parting-place from this world. Death
had the most amiable face, in his eye, that ever
he beheld, except the face of Jesus Christ,. which
made it so; and he does not remember (though he




LETTERS TO YOUNG MINISTERS.       85
believed himself dying,) that he had once thought of
his dear wife or children, or any other earthly concernment." On reaching his inn, the same frame of
spirit continued all night, so that sleep departed from
him. " Still, still, the joy of the Lord overflowed
him, and he seemed to be an inhabitant of the other
world. But within a few hours, he was sensible of
the ebbing of the tide, and before night, though there
was a heavenly serenity and sweet peace upon his
spirit, which continued long with him, yet the transports of joy were over, and the fine edge of his delight blunted. Hle many years after called that day
one of the days of heaven, and professed he understood more of the life of heaven by it, than by all the
books he ever read, or discourses he ever entertained
about it." *
Even if you should be disposed to treat this as
one of the anomalies of religious experience, you will
nevertheless do well to remark that the subject of
these exercises is John Flavel, a man remote from
enthusiasm, and whose extensive writings are characterized by regular argument and sound theology; and
also that this very narrative was thought worthy of
republication by the cool-headed Jonathan Edwards.
The mention of which name reminds me of an instance given by him, of high religious joy, which has
* Flavel's Works, fol. ed. vol. i. p. 501.




86          THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
since his death been ascertained to be that of his own
wife.* The narrative is long, but is worthy of your
perusal. Among other traits were these: the greatest, fullest, longest continued, and most constant assurance of the favour of God, and of a title to future
glory; to use her own expression, " the riches of full
assurance;" the sweetness of the liberty of having
wholly left the world and renounced all for God, and
having nothing but God, in whom is infinite fulness.
This was attended with a constant sweet peace, and
calm and serenity of soul, without any cloud to interrupt it; a continual rejoicing in all the works of
God's hands, the works of nature, and God's daily
works of providence, all appearing with a sweet smile
upon them; a wonderful access to God by prayer, as
it were seeing him, and sensibly, immediately conversing with him, as much oftentimes (she said) as if
Christ were here on earth sitting on a visible throne,
to be approached to and conversed with. All former
troubles were forgotten, and all sorrow and sighing
fled away, excepting grief for past sins and for remaining corruption, and that Christ is loved no more,
and that God is no more honoured in the world; and
a compassionate grief towards fellow-creatures; a
daily sensible doing and suffering every thing for
God, and bearing trouble for God, and doing all as
* Edwards's Works, vol. iii. pp. 304, 899.




LETTERS TO YOUNG MINISTERS.       87
the service of love, and so doing it with a continual
uninterrupted cheerfulness, peace, and joy. This was
exempt from any assuming of sinless perfection, the
claim to which was abhorrent to her feelings. Now,
though these are the experiences of a woman, will
any one say there is any thing in them which would
be unreasonable or undesirable in a minister of
Christ?  True, we are by no means to make piety
consist in transports, as is irrefragably proved by the
great man who recorded these things: yet there are
hours or days in every life of long continued piety,
which are remembered for years, and shed their light
over all the remaining pilgrimage. And who should
covet these Pisgah views, if not ministers of the
word? There is among the posthumous papers of
the incomparable Pascal, one, which he long carried
about his person, and which contains the record of a
particular visitation of divine love. It is one of the
most seraphic productions of human language: in
some places the joy and rapture and dissolving love
seem to defy all ordinary expressions, and he can only
write down such broken phrases as, joy-joy-tearstears; "joie —joie-pleurs! pleurs! "  The greatest
scoffers will hardly reckon Pascal and Edwards among
unreasoning devotees.
Our age is disposed to sneer at high religious passions: it is perhaps the reason why the pathos of the




88          THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
pulpit has to such a degree departed. It is not, however, as a homiletic instrumentality, that I would
urge you to grow in grace, but for more momentous
reasons, which, as a preacher, you have long since
learned.
LETTER III.
THE HAPPINESS OF CHRIST'S MINISTRY.
THERE is a romantic view of the clerical office,
which may induce a man to assume it, without any
religion; which regards only its social and literary
appendages, and the'status in society which it secures, even where there is no establishment. Younger
sons in England are frequently educated for the Church,
as it is called, and spend their lives in a service for
which they have no heart. Even though they may
not follow the hounds, or belong to the "dancing
clergy," they may look no higher than the literary
accomplishments of their place. Coleridge has somewhere given an exquisite picture of a secluded, peaceful rectory, seen in this light. Look at the Memoir
of Cary, the translator of Dante, by his son, and you
will see what I mean. Both were clergymen: yet
there is as little religion in the work, as if it had been




LETTERS TO YQONG MINISTERS.         89
the life of an ancient Greek. The contributions of
this man td letters were vast, but to religion insignificant. Now let us beware lest some thoughts kindred
to these creep into our minds, and make is look rather
at the repose, than the work, of the ministry. He
grossly errs, who considers the life of an evangelist as
other than a conflict. Yet it is happy; indeed I
hesitate not to express my conviction, that the life of
a faithful minister is the happiest on earth. Some
there are, it is true, who are dragged into it, like a
reluctant witness into court, collo obtorto, and who
never possess any of its rewards: but there are many
who have found it a heavenly service.
In seeking the constituents of this happiness, you
should not look at the accidents of the ministry, but
at its substance; not at the quietude, respectability,
emolument, or refining culture, but at the lifelong
embassy from the Redeemer to lost men. The truest,
safest, most abiding ministerial pleasures are those
which come from delight in the genuine object of the
ministry, the salvation of men. But there is a collateral blessedness, which we may not despise, since
God has deigned to bestow it on his servants. Even
this you will be most sure of attaining, if you have
much love of Christ, love of the gospel, and love of
souls.
The private life of a Christian minister ought to




90          THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
be a happy one. The apostles inform us in what it
should be spent, to wit, the word of God and prayer.
Acts vi. 4. I should account it lost time to go about
persuading you, that there is a happiness in the study
of great moral and religious subjects, especially of the
word of God. To have this made the business of
your days; to find your chosen solace enjoined as
your duty to be shut up for life with prophets and
apostles, nay, with Jesus Christ himself, speaking in
the " living oracles," to be perpetually drawing water
from the wells of salvation; this is but a part of the
minister's joy. While others must snatch time from
exacting toils, for communion with God, he may devote whole days uninterruptedly to such contemplations and delights as we find recorded in the lives of
Augustine, Edwards, and Brainerd; and may live
among, those gardens of spices, the odours of which
hang about the pages of Binning and Rutherford.
Catch but one strain from the experience of the latter,
and tell me whether he were happy or not; it is from
one of his letters: " O glorious tenants and triumphant householders with the Lamb, put in new psalms
and love-sonnets of the excellency of our Bridegroom,
and help us to set him on high! O indwellers of
earth and heaven, sea and air, and O all ye created
beings, within the bosom of the utmost circle of this
great world, O come, help to set on high the praises




LETTERS TO YOUNG MINISTERS.         91
of our Lord! 0 fairness of creatures, blush before
his uncreated beauty! O created strength, be amazed
to stand before your strong Lord of hosts! O created
love, think shame of thyself before this unparalleled
love of heaven! O angel of wisdom, hide thyself
before our Lord, whose understanding passeth finding
out! O sun, in thy shining beauty, for shame put on
a web of darkness, and cover thyself before thy brightest Master and Maker! "  Though these are not professional flights of soul, yet who should enjoy them,
if not those who are called to dwell in the house of
the Lord all the days of their life, to " behold the
beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in his temple? "
Psalm  xxvii. 4. None of the private studies of the
minister are absolutely peculiar; yet the opportunity
for them is more remarkably his.
There is happiness in preaching. It may be so
performed as to be as dull to the speaker, as it is to
the hearers; but in favoured instances it furnishes
the purest and noblest excitements, and in these is
happiness. Nowhere are experienced, more than in
the pulpit, the clear, heavenward soaring of the intellect, the daring flight of imagination, or the sweet
agitations of holy passion. The declaration of what
one believes, and the praise of what one loves, always
give delight: and what but this, is the minister's
work?  He is called to converse with the highest




92          THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
truths of which humanity can be cognizant, and, if
God so favour him, to experience the noblest emotions; and this most, while he is standing " in Christ's
stead."
I am persuaded, that previously to trial, no young
man can duly estimate the glow of public discourse
as a source of pleasure. When the soul is carried by
the greatness of the subject, and the solemnity of the
occasion, above its ordinary tracts, so as to be at once
heated and enlarged by passion, while the kindled
countenances of the hearers, and the reflected ardour
of their glance, carry a repercussive influence to the
speaker; or when the tear twinkles in the eye of penitence, and weeping throngs attest the power of truth
and affection; then it is that preaching becomes its
own reward. This is more than rhetorical excitement and stage-heat; it is caused by Christian emotion. Call it sympathy, if you please; I am yet to
learn what harm there is in this: it is legitimate
sympathy. If a Christian minister ever has deep
impressions of truth, we may expect it to be in
the pulpit; there, if anywhere, we may hope for special gifts from above; and these gifts are dispensed
for the sake of the hearer, and are reckoned on,
as graces, or tokens of individual piety. Yet they
constitute a great part of the preacher's happiness.  They are not dependent on eloquence, in




LETTERS TO YOUNG MINISTERS.       93
its common meaning; for they fall equally to the
share of the humblest, rudest preacher, provided he
be all on fire with his subject, and bursting with love
to his people. No scholarship, filing, or varnish, can
compass this; it comes from the heart: and many a
minister has chipped at the edges of his sermon, and
veneered it with nice bits of extract, only to find that
its strength had been whittled away. There may be
more awakening or melting, in a backwoodsman's
improvisation, than in all the climacteric periods of
Melville, or all the balanced splendour of Macaulay.
Certainly the delight of soul is on the side of him
who is most in earnest. It is especially love that
moves the souls of hearers, and love, in its very
nature, gives happiness. It cannot be, that a man
can be frequently the subject of those feelings which
belong to evangelical preaching, without being for
that very reason a happier man.
The better moments of Andrew Gray, Hall, and
Chalmers, must have been snatches of heaven. But
be not discouraged when I mention these great names:
the more you refer the joy of preaching to its legitimate and gracious causes, the more you will see that it
may exist independently of what the world calls eloquence. It is not only in the vast assemblies of a
Chrysostom, a Bridaine, or a Whitefield, that the service of Christ brings its sacred pleasures, but in Philip




94         THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
Henry's little parish of Worthenbury, which never
numbered eighty communicants; or in the early
morning-lectures of Romaine, when two candles lighted
all the house. Nor is this happiness restricted to
great and decorated edifices; it belongs to the itinerant missionary, who dismounts from his tired horse,
and gains refreshment by dispensing the word to the
gathering under the ancient oaks; or who meets his
circuit of appointments in regions where the truth
has scarcely ever been heard. I exhort you to seek
your highest professional delight in preaching the
gospel, so as to be looking forward to the blessed
hour during all the week.
Little space is left for me to say that the minister
of the gospel has a source of happiness in his parochial
work and social communion. It is this, indeed, which
distinguishes his calling, and is its grand prerogative.
This brings him near to the hearts of his people, and,
unless he betrays his trust, embraces him in their
affections. The ministry may indeed be so discharged,
as that the pastor shall have none of this: he sits
with his hat and stick in his hand, makes a morningcall, or leaves a card: he is only a ceremonious visitor,
from whom the children do not run and hide, only
because they see him every day in the high-place.
But the genuine bond is as strong and tender as any
on earth, and as productive of happiness. Think of




LETTERS TO YOUNG MINISTERS.       95
this, when you are tempted to discontent. What is
it that really constitutes the happiness of a residence?
Is it a fine house, furniture, equipage, farm, large
salary, wealthy pew-holders? Nay, it is LOVE. It is
the affectionate and mutual attachment. It is the
daily flow of emotion, and commingling of interest in
common sorrows and common joys; in the sick-room,
and the house of bereavement, at the death-bed and
the grave, at baptisms and communions. These
things may be in the poorest, humblest charge: then
the " dinner of herbs" is better than "the stalled
ox." Growing old among such associations, the pastor becomes like "Paul the aged."  Let us strive
after a happier, that we may have a more fruitful,
ministry.
There is one occasion of joy, which is by no means
rare in pastoral experience, and which ought in another of its aspects to be laid before you more at
large; it is the season when souls are awakened and
converted in great numbers. The revival brings with
it the joy of harvest. Too commonly we are content
to be like those who "glean and gather after the
reapers among the sheaves." IHow different is the
case, when the wide fields are covered with golden
ears! Then it is, that "he that reapeth receiveth
wages, and gathereth fruit unto life eternal." John
iv. 36. Where there have been several such ingath



96          THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
erings, the pastor looks around upon the larger part
of his church, as seals of his ministry, and in their
turn they regard him with an inexpressible tenderness
of filial attachment. Growing old, in such circumstances, he is the patriarch of all the younger generation; and, even when the fire of his prime has departed, can fix the attention and reach the heart, by
means of this very relation. See what strength this
tie may acquire, even where the pastor is young, in
the account of McCheyne's return to Dundee, after
his mission to Palestine. It was a time of revival,
-and though he had not been himself the proximate
instrument, he rejoiced in the fulfilment of the saying,
"that both he that soweth and he that reapeth may
rejoice together." This was only the repetition of
scenes which occurred among our Presbyterian ancestors in the seventeenth century. Ministers and people must have rejoiced together in uncommon degrees, to have endured the fatigue and protracted services of such occasions as are recorded. Under the
preaching, for examiple, of Mr. William  Guthrie,
author of the " Great Interest," hundreds of his hearers had walked miles to be present. It was their
usual practice to come to Fenwick upon Saturday,
spend the greatest part of that night in prayer, and in
conversation on the state of their souls, attend on the
Sabbath-worship, and on Monday return cheerfully




LETTERS TO YOUNG MINISTERS.         97
to their distant homes. Those long sacramental services of our forefathers, comprising several days, and
attended by thousands, sometimes excite a smile; but
they remain on record, as monuments of the elevated
affections of those who joined in them, and enjoyed
them. Not only the people, but the ministers-may
I not say especially the ministers —were happy in the
fellowship thus enjoyed. We know from experience
the blessed fraternity and mutual affection, cemented
by holy joy, which prevail in those parts of our
church, where the meetings of ecclesiastical courts are
still made seasons of religious service.  Such community of interest in the highest good tends, beyond
every thing. else, to heal dissensions, and to exhibit
ministers of Christ to his people in that union which,
unfortunately, is not seldom  interrupted.  The expectation of such gratifications may be lawfully indulged.
After all, what is the scriptural statement of ministerial happiness? "What is our hope, or joy, or
crown of rejoicing  " asks Paul; and answers, " Ye
are our glory and joy! "  1 Thess. ii. 19, 20. Seek
happiness, my dear young friend, in contemplation of
this reward. That moment will indemnify the minister for the losses of a whole life.'" And is this the.
end," he will exclaim,' of all my labours, my toils,
and watchings; my expostulations with sinners, and




98           THOUGUTS ON. PREACHING.
my efforts to console the faithful! And is this the
issue of that ministry under which I was often ready
to, sink! And this the glory of which I heard so
much, understood so little, and announced to my
hearers with lisping accents and a stammering tongue!
Well might it be styled the glory to be revealed. Auspicious day! on which I embarked in this undertaking, on which the love of Christ, with a sweet
and sacred violence, impelled me to feed his sheep
and to feed his lambs. With what emotion shall we,
who, being intrusted with so holy a ministry, shall
find mercy to be faithful, hear that voice from heaven,'Rejoice and be glad, and give honour to him; for
the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath
made herself ready!' With what rapture shall we
recognize, amid an innumerable multitude, the seals
of our ministry, the persons whom we have been the
means of conducting to that glory! " "
When you asked me for some advice respecting a
course of ministerial study, you probably did not expect a series of letters so much like sermons as these
have been. In due time, if your patience should hold
out, I hope to fulfil my original intention; but I desire that we may both feel more and more deeply that
none of our studies will be directed aright, unless we
begin with just views of the great object of our call* 1 Hall's Works, p. 151.




LETTERS TO YOUNG MINISTERS.       99
ing. For this reason, I have ventured to spend some
time in setting forth considerations, which may serve
to awaken the true ministerial zeal, and to turn your
wishes and hopes towards the right quarter.
LETTER IV.
CLERICAL STUDIES.
WHEN learning in the ministry is mentioned, some
are ready to think of a purely secular erudition, suchas withdraws a man from his duty, or unfits him for
it. Of this there have been too many instances, especially in countries where rich benefices have been
afforded by an established religion. Even in a very
different state of things, the clergyman may become
a mere savant or litterateur, and rob his spiritual
charge of the time which he spends in his researches.
Such scholars may be very useful to society, yet most
unfaithful to their vows, and it is under their auspices
that evangelical warmth has commonly died out in
Protestant Churches. Without going to the extreme
of Sterne, who was a licentious trifler; of Swift,
who was a Cynic, in both the senses of misanthropy
and filth-; and of Robertson, who was scarcely a believer, one may sacrifice Christ to the muses. The




100          THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
Church of England continues to furnish some brilliant examples of this from the prizes held out to
men of learning, and the rich livings and fellowships
which support clergymen without the necessity of
parochial labour. Where the vocation of such a man
is to the instruction of youth, we surely will not complain, if Providence allot to him a high distinction in
science or letters, along with faithful discharge of
ministerial duty, even though the latter should not
absorb all his care: you will remember such men as
Isaac Milner, Jowett, and Farish. Yet I beg you to
observe, that the ministerial learning which I am recommending is none of these, but is solely the discipline and accomplishment whereby you shall be better
fitted for your appropriate work, and is therefore
subordinated to your professional activity. This circle indeed is much vaster than some people think,
and may in its sweep, comprise, in certain circumstances, and by turns, every part of the field of
knowledge; yet the particular aspect under which it is
viewed is that of an auxiliary to the preacher and the
pastor. The study is not a place for lettered luxury,
nor for ambitious lucubration, with views fixed on
secular authorship or academical promotion; but the
sacred palaestra in which Christ's soldier is supposed
to be forging his armour, and hardening his muscle,
and training his agility, for the actual combat of the




LETJTERS TO YOUNG MINISTERS.     101
ministry. And you must allow me to tell you plainly,
that the danger is not that you will have too much
of this preparation, that you will be overeducated,
or extravagantly learned, but all the reverse. You
may get great learning, with a bad motive; you may
get little, with the same: but all you will ever get,
multiplied ten times, will not be too much for your
work, or more than the Church and the times demand.
Neither devotion, nor active labour, will furnish you
an excuse for the neglect of knowledge. This is a
question where examples are worth more than reasons. Look at Luther. Who was more devout?
who was more active? Yet who was more devoted
to learning, or more profoundly anxious, to the very
close of life, that literature and religion should, never
be divorced, in the ministry of the Protestant
Churches? This it was which occasioned his famous
sermon on the education of children: he perceived as
early as 1530, that in the fervours of reformationpiety there was a disposition to neglect refined cultivation; he therefore penned this address, during a
sojourn at Coburg. There is in it a passage so truly
Lutheran, that I must give it you, even at risk of not
sticking to my text. You will see in it the very presence of the Brother Martin of Goethe's Goetz von
Blerlichingen, as knitting his brow against the hardfisted barons of his day. It shows, moreover, that he




102          THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
thought of labour, and not amusement. "There be
some who think that the writer's office is a light,
trifling office, but that to ride in armour, and bear
heat, cold, dust, drought, and the like, is labour indeed. Aye, this is the old, trite, every-day proverb,
No man knows where his neighbour's shoe pinches.
Every one feels his own disquiet, and gapes after the
quiet of his fellow. True it is, it were toil to me, to
ride in armour; but then, on the other hand, I would
fain see the knight who could join me in sitting still
all day, looking on a book. Ask of any chancery
scribe, preacher, or orator, what sort of labour there
is in writing and speaking; ask the schoolmaster,
what toil there is in teaching and training boys. A
pen is a light thing, that is true; and there is no tool
more easily obtained, among all handicraft, for it asks
only the wings of geese, of which there is abundance;
but there must be added to this the best part of man,
the head, and the noblest member, the tongue, and his
highest work, discourse. All these must work together, in the writer; whereas in the other it is only
the fist, foot, and loins, for he can sing and joke all
the while, which the writer must let alone.'It is
three fingers' work,' (so they say of writing;) but it
takes the whole body and soul to boot. I have heard
say of the noble dear Emperor Maximilian, when the
great Jacks (Hansen) about him used to grumble, be



LETTERS TO YOUNG MINISTERS.       103
cause he employed writers so much in embassies, and
otherwise, that he spoke thus:-' Well, what must I
do?  You would not let yourselves be useful, so I
had to take writers.' And again:' Knights I can
make, but not doctors.' So I have heard of a clever
nobleman that he said:' My boy shall go to studies;
it is no great art to hang two legs over a horse, and
be a rider; that he has already learnt with me.' It
was well and cleverly spoken. I say not this out of
contempt for the knightly order, or any other order,
but against the losel troopers (losen Scharrhansen)
who contemn all letters and art, and boast of nought
but wearing harness, and bestriding horse; though
this they do but seldom, and have for it lodging, ease,
mirth, honour, and well-being all the year round. It
is true, as the saying goes,'Harness is heavy, and
learning is light;' yet on the other hand, to learn
to bear harness is easy, but to learn, practise, and exercise art and science is hard."  Perhaps no one, not
even Melancthon, ever uttered a higher panegyric on
clerical learning than Luther in one of his letters to
Eobanus HIess. " Ego persuasus sum," says he, " sine
literarum peritia prorsus stare non posse sinceram
theologiam, sicut hactenus ruentibus et jacentibus
literis miserrime et cecidit et jacuit. Quin video,
nunquam  fuisse insignem factamn verbi Dei revelationem, nisi primo, velut preecursoribus baptistis,




104           THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
viam pararit surgentibus et florentibus linguis et literis." *
But do not imagine from these remarks, that what
I recommend to you at present is only, or chiefly,
literature, in the popular acceptation of the word, and
as distinguished from professional study. It is this
last which should awaken your chief interest, and the
rest may be more safely left to take care of itself.
There is no need of solicitation or stimulation, to bring
a man in our day to acquaint himself with the lighter
material; it floats on the surface, and is carried by
the tide to his very doors.  Make sure of the solids,
and I have small fear of your suffering for lack of
novels, fugitive poems, magazines, and young-lady
literature. Familiarize yourself with master-pieces;
you will find in them relaxation enough, and may afford
to look on the perishing nothings of the hour; as you
do on the drift that plays along the edges of your
river. I do not, of course, exclude the master-pieces
of our own day; but truly great works are so numerous, that you need no more debauch your taste by
reading them, than you need drink Oberlin breadcoffee instead of Mocha.
These things are true, even of simple literature;
but how the subject rises, when you look on yourself
as called of God to live for his glory, to labour for
* Vol. x. ed. Berl. 1841, p. 159. Ep. cccclxxviii.




LETTERS TO YOUNG MINISTERS.     105
souls, to expound his word! One lifetime is very
little for the attainment of the objects which seem
indispensable, and some of which I hope shortly to
table before you. Who, for example, even of the
Chalmerses, Dwights, and Masons, could say that he
had travelled round the entire curriculum of tlleology?  Who is the perfect historian?  I am sure it
Vill be claimed by any rather than the Schroeckhs,
Gieselers, and Neanders. WAho is omnibus nurneris
complete in Hebrew, or even in Greek? Thus might
I go through the encyclopaedia, and each would say,' It is not in me."  So that the difficulty will not be
to find out what a minister shall fill his time with in
the study, Lut how, amidst his sacred and importunate engagements, he can obtain any time for private
labours. Looking at the greatness of the harvest,
and the shortness of life, one is tempted at the first
blush to say, Let the study alone; go forth and save
souls. And this has been so much the tendency in
every era of church revival, that it would have been
the settled policy to multiply unlettered preachers, if
God, in his wonderfill providence, had not, at the
forming periods, raised up men to hold fast by the
immovable maxims of sound learning. Such was
{Melancthon in Germany; such was Melville in Scotland. To the second of these, who can tell how much
Presbytery is beholden? When, in 1574, he returned
5*




106          THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
to his native land, from a -five years' attendance on
the prelections of such men as Turnebus, Ramus, and
Beza, deeply read in Hebrew and Syriac, able to declaim fluently in Greek, and a fit comrade for Buchanan, the great latinist of his day, Melville set up
a standard at Glasgow, which may well surprise us.
"He taught usuallie twise in the day. Beside his
ordinar professioun of divinitie and the oriental
tongues, he taught the Greek Grammar, IRamus's
Dialectick, Taleus's Rhetorick, Ranus's Arithmetick
and Geometric, the Elements of Euclide, Aristotle's
Ethicks, Politicks, and Physicks, some of Plato's Dialogues, Dionysius's Geographie, -Iunterus's Tables,
and a part of Fernell. The schollers frequented to
the Colledge in suche numbers that the rowmes were
skarse able to receave them." * Thorough learning in
the ministry was builded into the very foundation,
and has continued to characterize the structure. In
the earliest struggles of our Church in this new country, Presbyterian ministers were constantly seen uniting the self-denying ardours of the mission with the
toils of the school and college. And when, under
temptations almost irresistible, it was sought to
change the demand of qualification, the General
Assembly chose rather to suffer the loss of a valuable
limb, than to swerve from principles which were nec* Calderwood, pp. 111, 339.




LETTERS TO YOUNG MINISTERS.       107
essary to the healthful integrity of the body. If our
brethren are unanimous in any thing, it is, in Luther's
judgment, that sound and varied learning must be sustained, if we would preserve the Church.
You will mistake my meaning, if you fancy that
the learning which I am holding up as suitable for
the minister of the gospel, is such as might be demanded in a professor of the sciences, or a writer on
classical and philological literature. It may be as
great as these, but it differs in kind, and excludes a
multitude of details, on which the other must expend
labour. It is ministerial, or in its widest sense theological learning, which is pleaded for: but this is
enough for all the powers. No man need ever expatiate beyond the metes of divine science, from any
want of room in the latter, or any excess of faculty
above what may be consumed on the Scriptures.
Lightfoot and Marckius, and other voluminous original commentators, doubtless were ready to acknowledge that they had touched these waters only prinoribus lctbiis. It is therefore with no extenuation
of the work, that I say the clerical student is to pursue clerical studies: yet it may prevent misapprehension, and remove objection, by showing the perfeet harmony of the discipline proposed, with the
daily incumbent duties of the sacred calling.
There is such a thing as maintaining a transient




108          THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
popularity, and having a little usefulness, without
any deep. study; but this fire of straw soon burns
out, this cistern soon fails. The preacher who is constantly pouring out, and seldom pouring in, can pour
but a little while. I need hardly caution you against
the sententious maxim, prevalent among freshmen,
concerning those great geniuses, who read little, but
think mnuch. They even cite, as of their party, one
of the greatest readers who ever wrote, as every work
of his goes to prove; to wit, Shakspeare! The greatest thinkers have been the greatest readers, though
the converse is by no means true. In reading the
writings of those most remarkable for originality and
inventioni —and mark, it is in reference to these qualities only the reference is now made —we know not
whether most to admire the adventurous flights of
their own daring, or their extensive acquaintance
with all that has been written before, on their chosen
topics. You will see this remark strikingly verified
in the productions of Descartes, Leibnitz, and Hegel.
While, however, I say thus much for reading, I own
that reading is but a part of study; and that he cannot be admitted to the title of learned, who has not
the habit of concocting, methodizing, and expressing
his own thoughts. The great point is this: there must
be perpetual acquisition. This is the secret of preaching. What theologians say of preparation for death,




LETTERS TO YOUNG MINISTERS.       109
May be said of preparation for preaching; there is
habitual, and there is actual preparation: the current of daily study, and the gathering of material for
a given task. It may be compared with what is
familiar, in another faculty, that of Law: the lawyer
htas his course of perpetual research, in the great principles of general jurisprudence, or the history of statutory enactment, or the systematic arrangement of
practical methods, and he has his laborious and sometimes sudden reading-up for an emergent case. Should
he confine himself entirely to the hatter, he must become a narrow, though perhaps an acute, practitioner.
So likewise, the clerical scholar, however diligent,
punctual, and persistent, who throws his whole
strength into the preparation of sermons, and who
never rises to higher views, or takes a larger career
through the wide expanse of scientific and methodized
truth, must infallibly grow up stiff, cramped, lopsided, and defective. His scheme of preaching may
never take him through the entire curve of theology
and Scripture; or the providential leadings of his
ministry may bring him again and again over the
same portions. These are evils which can be preVented only by the resolute pursuit of general studies,
irrespectively of special pulpit performance.  Such
habits will tend to keep a man always prepared; and
instead of getting to the bottom of his barrel as he




110         THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
grows older, he will be more and more prepared, as.
long as his faculties last. But the grand evil to be
warred against by the younger preacher, is not that
of confining himself to pulpit preparation, but that of
not preparing at all: and by preparation I mean
study. To seize a pen, and dash off a discourse, on a
subject heretofore not familiar, and with such thoughts
as occur while one is writing, may insure ease and
fluency of manner, but is little better than the delivery
of the same thoughts without writing: indeed, the
latter possesses some great advantages, from the elevation of the powers by sympathy, passion, and attendant devotion. Engrave it upon your souls, that
the whole business of your life is to prepare yourself
for the work, and that no concentration of powers can
be too great. The crying evil of our sermons is want
of matter; we try to remedy this evil, and that evil,
when the thing we should do is to get something to
say: and the laborious devotion of some young
clergymen to rhetoric and style instead of theology,
is as if one should study a cookery-book when he
should be going to market. I yesterday listened to a
sermon, (and I am glad I do not know the preacher's
name,) which was twenty-five minutes long, but of
which all the matter might have been uttered in five.
It was like what the ladies call trifle, all sweetness
and froth, except a modicum of cake at the bottom.




LETTERS TO YOUNG MINISTERS.      11i
It was doubtless written extempore. When a young
clergyman once inquired of Dr. Bellamy, what he
should do to have mlatter for his discourses, the
shrewd old gentleman replied, "Fill up the cask,
fill up the ccwk, FILL UP THE CASK! Then, if you tap
it anywhere, you will get a good stream; but if you
put in but little, it will dribble, dribble, dribble, and
you must tap, tap, tap; and then get but little after
all."
If in this daily pursuit of knowledge, you keep
constantly before your mind the end for which you
seek it, there need be no fear of excess: it is studies
which divert us from the evangelic work, that are to
be deprecated. To the last day of life, regard your
mental powers as given you to be kept in continual
working order, and continual improvement, and this
with reference to the work of preaching and teaching.
You will find all great preachers to have lived thus;and though neither you nor I should ever become
great, we shall sink the less by reason of such struggles. The whole of what we have to learn is, substantially, in one volume; for by this, it is declared,
the man of God may become Ap'og'rpoPs'rasv epov
a6yaSov?7pTwtc/LevoS




112          THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
LETTER V.
HOW TO FIND TIME FOR LEARNING.
ALL ministers are not called to be equally learned:
it would be idle to expect such a result, amidst the
marked differences of talent and circumstances. There
is a gradation in this respect from the young pastor
who has almost all his time at his command, to the
itinerant who thinks he can do no more than read his
pocket Bible. The objection to regular studies which
meets us most frequently is, that there is no time for
labour in the closet, from the pressure of parochial
cares. You need no prompter as to this: indeed, I
fancy I hear you exclaiming, Itow is it possible for
one situated as I am, to find hours for learning? I
desire, in the present letter, to answer this very question, and to suggest a few considerations which will,
perhaps, clear the path, and open some'light through
the seeming forest. After having had the same perplexities, I think I perceive certain principles by which
a life of faithful pastoral and pulpit labour may be
made compatible with sedulous application.
First of all, if you would make the most of your
scanty hours, keep the one sacred object in view in
every study you undertake. This is the way to se.




LETTERS TO YOUNG MINISTERS.        113
cure unity of plan. You bear in mind the twentieth
proposition of Euclid's first book: the straighter your
line, the shorter. I trust it is no wresting of the
apostle's words to say, One thing I do; or more
laconically still, in the four letters of the original, ev
Be. Let your intentions branch out in every direction, undetermined whether you mean to be a great
linguist, or an elegant classic, or a mathematician, or,
peradventure, a botanist, or a master of English literature, and it is plain enough that you will find all
your time too little. There is such a thing as being
very idly and unprofitably engaged in one's study.
Far from loving restriction, or from wishing to coerce
the mind in pursuing its bent, I would, nevertheless,
beseech you, when you go among your books, to
know what you are after. Your end in life is sufficiently obvious; and the studies by which it is to be
attained are enough to occupy your time, if you are
but faithful. It is of deliberate and stated application that I now speak: you certainly will not expect
me to plan ways and means of gaining time for the
annuals, monthlies, or weeklies.  In your regular
professional studies, you will find the whole field
brought more clearly under survey, and the whole
process simplified, by looking on every part of it with
reference to your main work of expounding the Scriptures and preaching the gospel.




114         THOIUGHTS ON PREACHING.
This leads to a second suggestion, of a particular
under this general head. Form the habit of contemplating all your study as the study of the word of
God. In a large, but just sense, it is undoubtedly so.
All your discipline and all your acquisition, all your
reasoning power and all your taste, all your library
and all your eloquence, are only so many means for
learning God's word, and for teaching it. Exegesis,
theology, controversy, church history, are only portions of the apparatus for learning and teaching.
With this in your mind, you may go much further
than many think. and yet return safe. As Scott, the
commentator, used to say, "The bee may range
widely, so that it brings all to the hive." Say to
yourself daily, En codicenm sacrum!  "Here is my
hive; hither all my gatherings must be brought."
The range of some men has been wonderful, and their
powers of assimilation have been so great, that they
have laid every department under contribution, and
filled their discourses with the digested results of
multifarious and almost incongruous reading: take
as instances Baxter, Saurin, and Chalmers.  But
common minds need a strong centripetal force, and
this is to be found in reverential love for Holy Scripture. No method known to me is so likely to keep
you in the right state of mind, in this respect, as the
practice of devoting the first and best part of every




LETTERS TO YOUNG MINISTERS.      115
day to the perusal of the Bible in the original tongues..
Few will the days be, in which you will not discern
the directive influence of this on the researches of the
subsequent hours; and the influence will be there,
even when not discerned.
From what has just been said, you will deduce the
all-important rule, to lop off all irrelevant studies.
Observe, we are not talking now of amusements, but
of dogged labour. And if you mean to succeed, and
to save precious time, see to it, that you rid yourself
of all impertinent matters. In this age of books,
tempting studies will grow rank around you, and creep
into your windows, as a great vine has been doing into
the chamber where I write; but you must be unrelenting, and make short work with their pretensions.
The blue and yellow flowers among the corn must be
plucked out, and you must be doing it every day. It
is not a bad remark of Helvetius, though a bad man,
that in our day the secret of being learned, is heroically to determine to be ignorant of many things in
which men take pride. Keep, as Fenelon says, the
pruning-knife in hand, to cut away all that is needless: "On a besoin d'etre sans cesse la faucille en
main, pour retrancher le superflu des paroles et des
occupations." * Especially must this resolution be exercised towards such branches of study as require a
* Ep. 338.




116         THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
great expense of time, in order to any proficiency.
There are some arts which are so jealous as to usurp
the whole life. iElian tolls of a young Greek who
took up a famous philosopher into his chariot, and,
driving round the stadium at full speed, showed him
that his wheel had never deviated from a given line:
the philosopher replied, " Now you have demonstrated
o me that you are fit for nothing else." There are,
indeed, cases in which a strong tendency of taste and
genius, toward some foreign branch of knowledge,
as for example mathematics or geology or language,
may break through all rule, and force the clergyman
to eminence in his chosen or destined pursuit. But
these are exempt cases, and we are treating of those
persons who avow their determination to live and die
in the work of the ministry. If you, my dear friend,
have other intentions, express them frankly, and save
me the pains of any further disquisitions. But he
who chooses the service of God in his sanctuary is
called to great subjects, which are sufficient to fill.up
all his thoughts. Whatever a man may do as subsidiary to these, or as a healthful diversion from
them, it is still true that scriptural or theological
learning is the peculiar domain of the clergyman.
Lest this should be thought too exclusive, I must
add, that some degree of acquaintance with collateral
sciences is absolutely necessary to a full understand



LETTERS TO YOUNG MINISTERS.           117
ing of our own; for, as Lord Bacon says, large prospects are to be made not from  our own ground, but
from  contiguous towers and high places.*  But another sagacious observer says:  "It is in my opinion,
not any honour to a minister, to be very famous in
any branch that is wholly unconnected with theology;
not that knowledge of any thing, properly speaking,
is either a disadvantage or ground of reproach; but
for a man to show a deep knowledge of some particular subject plainly discovers that he hath bestowed
more time and pains upon it than he had to spare
from necessary duty." t  There is more self-denial in
acting on this maxim than is commonly thought, and
you will often be called upon to lay aside darling entertainments that you may more fully make proof of
your ministry.  Whatever will enable you to preach
better, though it were a fable or a ballad, you may
legitimately include in your plan; but when you lay
out your chief strength on matters purely secular, you
so far abuse the golden vessel of the sanctuary. Observe this rule, and your will find it more easy to accomplish study, even in your limited time.
It is not unworthy of statement, that there is such
* " Prospectationes fiunt a turribus aut locis prmealtis; et impossibile est ut quis exploret remotiores interioris scientiva alicujus partes,
si stet super piano ejusdem scientiae, neque altioris scientiae veluti
speculum conscendat."-N-ov. Org.
t Witherspoon's Works, vol. iv. p. 20.




118         THOUGHTS. ON PREACHING.
a thing as making the line of your studies coincide
with the tenor of your preaching, even without the
wearisome formality of a declared series. The subject of the sermon ought somehow to be included in
some recent course of study, though much of the
latter may never be brought into the sermon. If,
for example, you should be going into those heads
of divinity which relate to the Person of Christ, you
might easily draw material for all your morning discourses from subjects allied to this: in this you will
find great economy of timle.
You cannot well overrate the benefit to be derived, in these respects, from carrying always with
you a high estimate of your study-labours, in coinparison with other men's labours, and other labours
of your own. The clergyman's study, which some
people regard as they would a pantry, or a genteel
appendage to housekeeping, is the main room in the
house, and (if consistent with IJeb. xiii. 2) ought to
be the best. It is the place where you speak to God,
and where God speaks to you; where the oil is beaten
for the sanctuary; where you sit between the two
olive-trees, Zech. iv. 3; where you wear the linen
ephod and consult Urim and Thummim. As you
are there, so will you be in the house of the Lord.
A prevalent sense of this will do more than any thing
to procure and redeem time for research, and will




LETTERS TO YOUNG MINISTERS.      119
cause you to learn more in an hour, than otherwise
in a day. That upper-chamber is also the spot where
you will enjoy one of the most valuable means of
learning and preparation, which we too much neglect
-I mean conference with brethreni about your work,
and especially your preaching. And it will be your
duty to impress on your people the truth, that you
are as really serving them, when you are in your
study, as wheni you are in their houses. But to
render these views efficacious, you must, from the beginning, look on all your meditation, reading and
writing, as a tribute to God, and a free-will offering
in his holy temple. This will lead you to pray over
your researches, and to handle every topic as in the
presence of Christ.  It will tend to prevent your
lucubrations from lapsing into a selfish, solitary,
anchoretic abstraction from your charge. The more
you are occupied upon the simple text of Scripture, the more remarkably will this temper prevail
in you.
In this, as in every thing else, there is economy
of time in punctuality and order: as Hannah More
says, "It is just as in packing a trunk; a good packer
will get twice as much in as a bungler."  The example of Dr. Doddridge on this point, as recorded in
his life, is worth looking at.'Lay before yourself
some scheme, and have a distinct notion of what you




120         THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
are going to attempt. This is like the builder's working-model; how sadly would he waste his timber
and his time, if he should fall to hewing, squaring,
and sawing, without any clear conception of what he
was going to erect! Allow me to bring this matter
a little more closely to you, by proposing the following questions, to be frankly answered by you on the
spot, in foro conscientice. 1. What part of the week
do I devote to study; and, of this, how much to the
original Scriptures? 2. What part of Scripture am
I engaged in studying critically?  3. What head
of theology has lately been under investigation?
4. What work of research have I lately mastered?
5. What is my plan of study for the coming day? I
think it likely that there are some young pastors
(and in none of these letters do I address myself to
any others) who may find in these queries a key to
their meagre attainments. One of the highest objects
proposed in this correspondence, is to afford you some
assistance in chalking out your work, and rendering
manageable the great business of clerical study.
But after all, it cannot be concealed that there
will be need of vigorous and unceasing efforts, to secure time for application, and to cut off all occasions
of sloth and waste. You will be under a perpetual
attraction to leave your study. The obviously pressing claims of your parish will pull you by the sleeve.




LETTERS TO YOUNG MINISTERS.     121
You will find it indispensable to have some certain
times consecrated to the word of God and prayer.
The best proof that time can thus be rescued, is the
fact that so many clergymen engaged in laborious
charges, do actually spend much of their life in
study. If propriety would sanction the disclosure, I
could easily go into particulars, and give the names
of eminent living pastors, with the laudable devices
by which they compass the end proposed.  One
would be found to trench largely on the hours of
sleep; a method scarcely to be recommended. Another would be seen rising, year after year, a long
time before day. Some are known to me, who accomplish all their heavy study before noon. A distinguished preacher in one of the largest churches,
allows no interruptions during the last three days of
the week. Two others have chambers attached to
their churches, where they do not encourage visits,
until certain hours. It is not for me to choose among
these methods, nor to hold up my own as equal or
superior. In nothing is it more important for a man
to open his own path, than in habits of study. As
a general thing, it would seem to be well (using
Scott's words) "to break the neck of the day's
work," as early as possible. There have been clergymen of great eminence, who observed no certain
hours. Dr. Payson never denied himself to visitors;
6




122         THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
his motto was, " The man who wants to see me, is
the man I want to see."  Such was also the practice
of the late Dr. John H. Rice. There are situations
where the young minister is constrained to act in this
way. Where we cannot get the whole we must make
vigilant use of a part. Even itinerants may gain
knowledge; and I have heard eminent scholars say,
that nothing they ever read made so deep impression
on them, as volumes which they found in their chamber window, and which they devoured with the
greater avidity, because they doubted whether they
should ever see them again. Great concentration of
mind is produced by such traits. John Wesley, as
his journals show, perused hundreds of volumes on
horseback; you will find his notices of books in
French, Latin, and Greek. Reading on horseback,
though from no such necessity, was a favourite practice of the late Dr. Speece, who was a helluo librorumn;
and also of Dr. Campbell, of IRockbridge, whom I
may name, though not a clergyman.  More than
twenty years ago, when I was much in the saddle, I
was on a tour of preaching with the Rev. Abner W.
Clopton, of the Baptist church. He was a man of
much learning, and of such ministerial earnestness,
that it was commonly said that he preached at least
three hundred and sixty-five sermons in the year. It
was summer time, and I observed, that after-anearly




LETTERS TO YOUNG MINISTERS.      123
breakfast, he would take his saddle-bags and retire
into the shade of the woods for about three hours.
For this purpose he always carried a volume or two of
solid reading; and at that time was making a second
forest-perusal of Dwight's Theology. By such decision and self-denial, some men counteract all the
dissipating tendencies of itinerancy, while they are
enjoying its unspeakable advantages. But it is to be
observed that such self-control is seldom found, except
in those who have been previously subjected to most
vigorous scholastic training. Where there is a will,
there will be a way; and the resolved purpose to be
well furnished for the work is scarcely ever frustrated.
But to carry out such a purpose, you must avoid a
thousand things, to which, at your age, you will be
tempted, and which consume time and preclude habits
of application.
Providence so orders it, that generally speaking,
the young pastor has a small charge. This is sometimes mortifying; but it affords invaluable opportunities for study, and so fits him for subsequent labours, where he can scarcely call an hour his own.
There are many other respects, in which it is of vast
moment to let the character grow up and take its
settled form, in the shade of retirement. The danger
is (and it ought to be fully before your mind) that
you will use no more study than is necessary to meet




124         THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
the moderate demands of your little rural congregation; if you yield to this, it may be safely predicted,
that you will never rise above the stature you have
already attained.
On these subjects, much is to be learned from
men of other professions; and I have frequently been
struck with the'analogy between the busy lawyer's
life and ours. In this respect, the maxims of the late
Charles Butler, Esq., of Lincoln's Inn, are worthy of
being transcribed; especially as in addition to large
practice, and copious legal authorship, he published
a number of works on general literature and religion.
You will make the necessary modifications to adapt
it to clerical life.  Butler ascribes his saving of time
to these rules: " Very early rising —a systematic division of his time-absence from all company and
from all diversions not likely to amuse him highlyfrom reading, writing, or even thinking, on modern
party-politics-and, above all, never permitting a bit
or scrap of time to be unemployed —have supplied
him with an abundance of literary hours. His literary acquisitions are principally owing to the rigid
observance of four rules: 1. To direct his attention
to one literary topic only at a time; 2. To read the
best book upon it, consulting others as little as possible; 3. Where the subject was contentious, to read
the best book on each side; 4. To find out men of




LETTERS TO YOUNG MINISTERS.              125
information, and, when in their society, to listen, not
to talk."  "It is pleasant to  him  to reflect, that
though few have exceeded him  in the love ot literature, or pursued it with greater delight, it never seduced, or was suspected by his professional friends of
seducing him, for one moment, from professional
duty." * Here lot me leave you for the present, convinced that nothing impracticable is required of you,
which I hope will be still more fully sustained by my
next letter, which will be one of facts.
LETTER VI.
LEARNED PASTORS.
THE early Reformers and later Nonconformists
were fond of dwelling on the distinction between the
Pastor and the Doctor; and the early;New England
churches had both: as early indeed as the Second
Book of Discipline, the proper place was assigned to
the schoolmaster and the professor.t  It ought to be
* Butler's Reminiscences, p. 8.
t "Under the name and office of a doctor, we comprehend also
the order in schooles, colledges, and universities, quhilk hes bene from
tyme to tyme carefullie maintainit, als weill amang the Jewes and
Christians, as amangs the prophane nations."-See Book of D. ch.
v. ~ 4.




126         THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
a matter of devout thankfulness that God has in
every age dispensed to his Church both kinds of gifts;
and that while some have been eminent for the cure
of souls, others have been as signally fitted for the
didactic part. Yet the error would be egregious, if
you should think that the ordinary duties of the laborious pastor are incompatible with the pursuit of
learning. It is my present purpose to name some
men who have remarkably united the two: out of
a great number, I am forced by economy of space to
select a few.
Passing by Augustine and the early Reformers,
as instances familiar to you, let me come to later
times. I have before me the works of ROBERT BOLTON,
in five quartos. They are purely theological, practical, and experimental, and full of masculine eloquence. The margin is studded with citations from
classics, fathers, and scholastics, in the ancient
tongues.'Bolton is often quoted by Baxter and
Flavel. HIe was probably the most powerful and
awakening preacher of his day, and greatly blessed
to the conversion of sinners. He wore himself out
with almost daily preaching, and the same patience
which led him to transcribe the whole of Homer and
comment on the whole of Aquinas was manifest in
the perpetual labours of his parish. BATES needs no
commendation of his piety, his eloquence, or his




LETTERS- TO YOUNG MINISTERS.      127
learning: the point to be observed is, that he spent
his life in ministerial duty; in his later years at Hackney, where he was a predecessor of Matthew Henry.
His works evince as well his erudition as his pastoral
zeal. JOHN OWEN and RICHIARD BAXTER, whose works
by themselves make a library, were working pastors,
through as much of their life as was allowed to them
from persecution. Owen was about five years ViceChancellor of the University of Oxford, but was even
then by no means without charge. But his great
ministerial attainments were made while he was constantly exercising his ministry. The name of Baxter
is inseparably associated with his parish of Kidderminster. To look at his controversial worls, overladen with enormous quotations from Chrysostom,
Jerome, Hales, Scotus, the Reformers, and the very
Jesuits, you would say he was never out of his study:
to look at his preachings, catechizings, visits, and imprisonments, you would say he was never in it. His
" Reformed Pastor " shows his standard in regard to
pastoral fidelity; he probably came as near to it'as
men ever do to their standards. JOHN HowE, the
least scholastic and most philosophic, if not angelic,
of the Puritans, carried on his amazing researches
pari passu with his pulpit and parish routine. He
was very early settled at Great Torrington, in Devonshire, where he remained until his ejectment. You




128        THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
perhaps remember his Latin correspondence, his manner of keeping fast-days with his people, the favour
which he had with Cromwell, and his trials. Late in life
he preached in the metropolis. He was extraordinary
as an extemporaneous speaker, even in a day when
that mode was prevalent. Nlotwithstanding his persecutions and frequent removals, he managed to accumulate vast learning, without being any thing but
a preacher of the gospel. CHAsNOCK deserves to be
named here. Less popular as a preacher, he was
equal as a scholar to those just mentioned; being
versed in every part of learning, especially in the
originals of the Scripture. He was indefatigable with
his pen, and was one of those who confined himself
almost entirely to his study. But he still preaches
by his works. EDMUND CALAMY is famous, as one of
the authors of Smectymnuus, written in answer to
Bishop Hall's Divine Right of Episcopacy: the title
indicates the writers' names, by their initials, viz.,
S. Marshal, E. Calamy, T. Young, M. Newcomen,
W. Spurstow. No London preacher was favoured by
greater crowds, and that for twenty years: as many
as sixty coaches were sometimes drawn up at his
church. But he had not attained his fulness of preparation, without some pains.  While chaplain to
Bishop Felton, he studied sixteen hours a day; read
over all Bellarmine and his answers; read the school



LETTERS TO YOUNG MINISTERS.      129
men, particular Thomas Aquinas; and perused the
works of Augustine five times. Need I assert the
diligence or erudition of MxATTHEW POOL? Look at
his tall folios, especially his Synopsis Criticorurm,
the fruit of ten years' toil, during which he used to
rise at three and four o'clock. Yet in the evenings,
he could be " exceedingly, but innocently merry, very
much diverting both himself and the company."  He
was pastor of St. Michaels', London, fourteen years,
till the Bartliolomews' Day, and was a laborious
preacher. TUCKNEY is memorable as the principal
writer of the Shorter Catechism. He was for a time
in Boston, as Mr. Cotton's assistant, and afterwards
in St. Michaels', just named. When ejected, he had
become master of St. John's, Cambridge. Calamy
relates, in regard to the college elections, that Tuckney used to say, " No one shall have greater regard
to the truly godly than I; but I am determined to
choose none but scholars: they may deceive me in
their godliness, but in their scholarship they cannot."
I-ow could I have postponed to this place dear
JOHN FLAVEL? No one needs to be told how pious,
how faithful, how tender, how rich, how full of
unction, are his works. In no writer have the highest
truths of religion been more remarkably brought
down to the lowest capacity; yet with no sinking of
the doctrine, and with a perpetual sparkle and zest, be6-,




130         THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
longing to the most generous liquor. It has always
been a wonder to me, how Flavel could maintain
such simplicity and naivet6, and such childlike and
almost frolicksome grace, amidst the multiform studies
which.he pursued. I can account for it only by his
having been constantly among the people, in actual
duty as a pastor. Opening one of his volumes, at
random, I find quotations, often in Greek and Latin,
and in the order here annexed, from Cicero, Pope
Adrian, Plato, Chrysostom, Horace, Ovid, Luther,
Bernard, Claudian, Mlenander, and Petronius. HIis
residence at Dartmouth would afford a multitude of
pastoral instances, if this were our present object.
JOSEPH CARYL, the voluminous commentator on
Job, was a preacher in London, as far as the intolerance of the times permitted. The same church was
served by Dr. John Owen, David Clarkson, Dr.
Chauncy, Dr. Watts, and Dr. Savage. TrIoMAs GooDWIN was one of the greater Puritan divines; recorded in the University-register at Oxford, as'ill
scriptis in re theologica quamplurimis orbi notus."
Living in days of tribulation, he was more migratory
than he could have wished; but the preaching of the
gospel was his great work. At first he sought the
praise of learned elegance, but " in the end," says he,,
"this project of wit and vainglory was wholly sunk
in my heart, and I left all, and have continued in that




LETTERS TO YOUNG MINISTERS.      131
purpose and practice these three-score years; and I
never was so much as tempted to put into a sermon
my own withered flowers that I had gathered, and
valued more than diamonds, but have preached what
I thought was truly edifying, either for conversion of
souls, or bringing them up to eternal life."
Other less noted ministers there were among the
Nonconformists, known on earth for their learning,
and in heaven for their converting of sinners from the
error of their ways. Such a man was PETER VINKE,
of London, memorialized in a funeral sermon by John
Howe.  Ile was a universal scholar. His latinity
was celebrated, and he kept constant journals in the
Latin tongue. But yet more remarkable was he for
humble, painful, affectionate, gospel labour. "From
his memorials, it appears that he was much in admiring God for what he had done for him and his,
especially for assisting him in his ministerial work,
and particularly at the Lord's Supper." Some place
ought to be given to JOHN QUICKE, author of the
Synodicon, which is even now one of the best repositories of facts, respecting the Reformed Lhurch
in France. IIe was a good scholar and an animated
and successful preacher. In his days of health, he
used to be in his study at 2 o'clock in the morning.
He was greatly concerned for the persecuted Huguenots, and zealous for the upholding of a learned minis



132         THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
try. He loved preaching so well that he was seized
in the pulpit, in 1663, and made long trial of prison
fare. Yet when a cavalier-justice threatened him
with a distant gaol, Quicke replied, " I know not
where you are sending me, but this I am sure of, my
heart is as full of comfort as it can hold."  GEORGE
HUGHES, of Plymouth, was one who united successful
study with constant evangelical activity. He was
indefatigable in his ministerial work, and much devoted to the private exercises of piety. He preached
twice the Sabbath before he died, being sixty-four
years of age. In a period, when learned men were
not scarce, Mr. Hughes had the reputation of being
an admirable critic and expositor, and well acquainted
with every part of theology. Baxter considered his
Aaron's Rod Blossoming, as one of the best books on
affliction. -Here might be mentioned Gouge, Truman,
Williams, the Henrys and the Mathers; but I will
close my list of Puritans, properly so called, with the
name of good Mr. JESSEY, the Baptist, whose quaint
visage, with beard, bands, and Geneva-cap, adorns
the Nonconformist's Memorial. Besides constant labours in the ministry, he was much concerned about
bringing out a new translation of the Bible; for he
was a proficient in Hebrew, Syriac, and the Rabbins.
For the age in which he lived, it is a singular fact
that Mr. Jessey had such regard for the poor Jews at




LETTERS TO YOUNG MINISTERS.     133
Jerusalem, that he collected for them, and transmitted
to Palestine ~300, and with this sent letters to win
them over to Christianity. The inscription which he
put over his study-door has often been copied:
AMICE, QUISQUE HUC ADES;
AUT AGITO PAUCIS; AUT ABI:
AUT ME LABORANTEM ADJUVA.
The grace of God did not leave our Scottish forefathers without some striking examples of parochial
studies and successes. The value which they set
upon ministerial learning is inscribed on the constitution of our Church. It could not be otherwise, where
the foundations were laid by such hands as those of
Knox, Buchanan, and the Melvills.  There is no
modern satiric verse in Latin, more resembling the
most biting of Catullus, than the Franzciscanus of
Buchanan, and sundry memorable epigrams of Andrew Melvill. JOHN Row, of Perth, lived in times
of disquietude, and is chiefly remembered for his uncommon experiences; yet we must not forget, that
the youth who boarded with him, spoke nothing but
Latin, and that the lesson of Scripture read before
and after meals, was always either Hebrew or Greek.
JOIN McBIRNIE " used aways to have, when he rode,
two Bibles hanging at a leathern girdle about his
middle, the one original, the other English." When




134         THOUGHTS ON PREACHING,
JAMnES MELVILL was dying, he repeated a number of
the Psalms in Hebrew. ROBERT BRUCE, that saintly
preacher, favoured beyond most with near approaches
to God in prayer, and marvellous power in awakening sinners; and whose life you ought to examine in
detail, thus speaks of himself in old age: —" I have
been a continued student, and I hope I may say it
without offence, that he is not within the isle of
Britain, of my age, that takes greater pains upon his
Bible."  But he understood Luther's bene ordsse.
John Livingstone was one morning at Mr. Bruce's
house, when he came out of his closet with his face
swollen with weeping; he had been praying for Dr.
Alexander Leighton, who was pilloried in London,
and for himself that he had not been counted worthy
to suffer. In his public prayers, " every sentence was
a strong bolt shot up to heaven." Of his success,
Didoclavius says, "Plura animarum millia Christo
lucrifecit."  DAVID DICKsoN's name is a precious
ointment in Scotland. He was exceedingly blessed
in an age of wonderful revivals. Multitudes were
convinced and converted by his means while he was
at Irvine, to which place they flocked from a great
distance around.  He was an active and fearless
member of the General Assemblies of that stormy
time. The Su&n  of Saving Knowledge was dictated
by him and his friend Mr. Durham. He was the




LETTERS TO YOUNG MINISTERS.      135
author of the hymn, " O Mother dear, Jerusalem,"'
which has since suffered so many garblings and
transformations.  When dying, he was asked by Mr.
Livingstone, how he found himself. IIe replied, " I
have taken all my good deeds, and all my bad deeds,
and cast them through each other in a heap before
the Lord, and fled from both, and betaken myself to
the Lord Jesus Christ, and in him  I have sweet
peace."  Dickson was the author of several learned
works; one of these, Therapeutica Sacra, is a quarto
volume, in the Latin language. In his latter years,
he was professor of theology at Glasgow.*
UWILLIAM GUTIHRIE, author of the Christian's Great
Interest, was one of the most graceful, elegant, accomplished, and commanding preachers that Scotland
ever possessed. He belonged to a small class of men
who have blended eminent devotion with charms of
manner. Far from being a recluse, he excelled in
manly exercises, induged in angling, fowling, and
hurling on the ice, by which he maintained vigorous
health. To say that he was admired and loved by
Rutherford, is almost enough.  His prayers were
such that whole assemblies were melted into tears.
Of his authorship, Dr. Owen once said, pulling out a
little gilded copy of the Great interest, " That author
* Select Biog. Wodrow Soc. vol. ii. p. 114.




136         THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
I take to be one of the greatest divines that ever
wrote; it is my vade-mecum, and I carry it and the
Sedan New Testament, still about with me. I have
written several folios, but there is more divinity in it
than in them all." Guthrie laboured most of his life
in one place, and with such success, that there were
hardly any in his charge who were not brought to a
profession of faith and the worship of God in their
families. HIis favourite employment was the study
of the Scriptures, which he read much in the original.
Next to Guthrie I must mention SAMUEL RUTHERFORD;
but how shall I mention him?  Christians of the
present day, ]nowing him  chiefly by his letters,
which glow with heavenly love, scarcely remember
that he was one of the most learned men of his age.
Indeed, it is hard to say whether he was greater as a
pastor or an author. IHe was professor as well as
preacher. IIe commonly rose about three in the
morning. Ile spent all his time either in prayer, or
reading and writing, or visiting families. His works
are numerous, learned, and argumentative, both in
Latin and English. Read his Letters; they will
prove to you that great study need not quench the
flame of devotion. " Rutherford's Letters," says Mr.
Cecil, " is one of my classics. Were truth the beam,
I have no doubt, that if Homer, and Virgi], and
Horace, and all that the world has agreed to idolize,




LETTERS TO YOUNG MINISTERS.        137
were weighed against that book, they would be lighter
than vanity. - Ie is a real original." *
The whole space allotted to this letter would be
little enough for speaking of GEORGE GILLESPIE. It
is the common opinion of Presbyterians, that taking
his learning and eloquence in connexion with his
youth, Gillespie must be regarded as a prodigy. He
accompanied Henderson and Baillie to the Westminster Assembly, in which body, notwithstanding
his youth, he shone as a distinguished light. His
learning was extraordinary, for exactness as well as
compass, and in debate he joined the highest inspiration to the most complete scholastic training. Still
he was the humble, pious preacher, relying on his
God, as well in the disputation as the sermon. The
members of the Assembly usually kept little books,
in which to note the arguments to be answered, and
the heads of their speeches; but when Gillespie's
book was looked into, it was found to contain only
such entries as these: "Lord, send light! Lord, give
assistance! Lord, defend thine own cause! " If you
would be convinced of his learning, read his masterly
and famous work against the Erastians, entitled
Aaron's Rod Blossoming. It is no vain boast, when
he says of this book in his preface:' As I have not
* Rutherford was called to a professorship in Utrecht, as Ames
had long before been to one in Franeker.




138         THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
dealt with their nauci, but with their nucleus, I have
not scratched at their shell, but taken out their kernel,
(such as it is,) I have not declined them, but encountered, yea, sought them out where their strength was
greatest, where their arguments were hardest, and
their exceptions most probable; so no man may decline or dissemble the strength of my arguments, inferences, authorities, answers, and replies, nor think
it enough to lift up an axe against the outermost
branches, when he ought to strike at the root." He
speaks of the time bestowed on this most weighty and
seasonable work, as gained with difficulty from his
parochial cares. This list might be easily increased.
There was HALYBURTON, noted as a deeply experienced
believer and a devoted preacher, as well as a student,
theologian, and author. There was TiHolAs BOSTON,
thought of generally, in connexion with his sermons
and his Fourfold State, but who also wrote the Tractatus Stlimologicus, a quarto on the Hebrew accents,
and was a consummate biblical scholar. In later
days we have had the ERSKINES, MACLAURIN, and
WITHERSPOON, whose reputation as a man of learning
was formed before he left his pastoral charge.
If my knowledge extended a little more into the
Reformed Churches of France and Holland, I might
doubtless add to these examples. One thing is certain, the great scholars and great authors of these




LETTERS TO YOUNG MINISTERS.      139
countries, whether professors or pastors, were men
laden with the burden of preaching. If my memory
fails me not, the celebrated BOCHART, a polyglot of
erudition, was the minister of a small church. At and
after the time of the Synod of Dort, (the most brilliant era of Reformed theology,) learning was diligently cultivated by private pastors. The late Dr.
LIVINGSTON, a pupil of DE MOOR, may be taken as a
specimen, in this respect, of what was considered
ministerial training in Holland, a century ago.
Our own country abounds in examples of ministerial learning. We speak of President Edwards;
but how short a time was he president! His stores
of knowledge were treasured while he was at Northampton and Stockbridge; where, as a descendant related to me, he did not know his own cows, and was
so stingy of his time, as to wait in his study till the
very instant when dinner was served in the adjoining room, and always retired to his books the
moment he had finished his sparing meal: a practice
to be condemned without hesitation. I need not recall to you the men whose names are familiar, as
having lived nearer to our own times, such as DICKINSON, WADDEL, MASON, WILSON, GREEN, RICE, SPEECE,
HOGE, and MATTHEWS. If it were proper, I could
still more easily record the names of clergymen still
living, who add to the constant labours of the minis



140         THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
try, regular and persistent efforts to discipline the
understanding and enrich the heart by private study.
It is with the humble hope of stimulating you to attempt the like that I have collected the materials of
this somewhat fragmentary letter.
LETTER VII.
ON EXTEMPORANEOUS PREACHING.
YOu desire some information from me about extemporaneous preaching. Before I throw on paper
my desultory thoughts, I beg leave to premise that
you must expect nothing from me in the spirit of
those censors who, in the language of King James's
translators, "give liking unto nothing but what is
framed by themselves, and hammered on their own
anvil." After about thirty years of talking for my
Master, often in a method ex tempore enough to satisfy
the most rigorous, I cannot forget that there have
been other anvils before mine, and that their work
has been turned off by such workmen as Edwards,
Davies, and Chalmers. I am not ready to say that
their " reading " was no " preaching." This prefatory
disclaimer will embolden me to use some freedom in
recommending the method of free utterance.




LEITERS TO YOUNG MINISTERS.     141
You have expressed fears as to your ever becoming an extemporaneous preacher, and I shall confine
myself to practical advices. Many who have excelled
in this may have had fears like yours. MIy counsel
is, that you boldly face the obstacles, and begin ex
abrupto. The longer you allow yourself to become
fixed in another and exclusive habit, the greater will
be your difficulty in throwing it aside. Some of the
authors whom I respect and shall quote below, recommend a beginning by gradual approaches; such
as committing to memory a part, and then going on
from that impulse. This is what Cicero illustrates
by the fine comparison of a boat which is propelled
by its original impulse, and comes up to the shore
even when the oars are taken in. Others tell you to
throw in passages extemporaneously amidst your
written materials; as one who swims with corks, but
occasionally leaves them. Doubtless many have profited by such devices; yet if called on to prescribe
the very best method, I should not prescribe these.
Again, therefore, I say, begin at once. When a friend
of mine, who was a pupil of Benjamin West, once inquired of the celebrated Gilbqrt Stuart, then at work
in London, how young persons should be taught to
paint, he replied: " Just as puppies are taught to
swim —cIUCK THEM IN!"  No one learns to swim in
the sea of preaching without going into the water.




14:2        THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
Such observation as I have been able to employ
suggests the following reason for the advice xwhich I
am giving you. The whole train of operations is different in reading or reciting a discourse and in pronouncing it extempore. If I may borrow a figure from
engines, the mind is geared differently. No man goes
from one track to the other without a painful jog at
the " switch."  And this is, I suppose, the reason
why Dr. Chalmers, in a passage which I reserve for
you, cautions his students against every attempt to
mingle reading with free speaking. It is not unlike
trying to speak in two languages, which reminds me
of what a learned friend once observed to me in Paris,
concerning the Cardinal MIezzofanti; that this wonderful linguist, when he left one of his innumerable
tongues to speak in another, always made a little
pause and wet his lips, as if to make ready for going
over all at once. It requires the practice of years to
dovetail an extemporaneous paragraph gracefully into
a written sermon.
As I am perfectly convinced that any man can
learn to preach extempore who can talk extempore,
always provided thatthe has somewhat to say, my
earnest advice to you is that you never make the attempt without being sure of your matter. Of all the
defects of utterance I have ever known the most
serious is having nMthing to utter. You will say. that




LETTERS TO YOUNG MINISTERS.     143
is not extemporaneous which is prepared, and, etymologically, you are doubtless right. But the purely
impromptu method, or the taking of a text ad aperturam libri, is that towards which I shall give you
no help, as believing it to be the'worst method possible; for however suddenly you may ever be called
upon to preach, you will choose to fall back to a certain extent, upon some train of thought which you
have previously matured. In all your experiments,
therefore, secure by premeditation a good amount of
material, and let it be digested and arranged in your
head, according to an exact partition and a logical
concatenation. The more completely this latter provision is attended to, the less will be. the danger of
losing your self-possession or your chain of ideas. I
lay the more stress on this because it must commend
itself to you as having a just and rational basis.
Common sense must admit that the great thing is to
have the matter. All speaking which does not presuppose this is a sham. And of method, the same
may be observed with regard to the speaker which is
enjoined by all judicious teachers with regard to the
hearer, namely, that even if divisions and subdivisions
are not formally announced, they should be clearly
before the mind, as affording a most important clue
in the remembrance of what has been prepared.
Early extemporaneous efforts are frequentlylmade




144          THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
futile or injurious by the unwise selection of a topic.
The opprobrium  of this mode of preaching is the
empty rant of some who use it. Preachers there are
who have mighty vociferation, extreme volubility,
highly coloured diction, and glorious pageantry of
metaphor, but who prove nothing, teach nothing, and
effect nothing. Inexperienced speakers fancy that
they shall have mnost to say upon a sentimental, an
imaginative, or a hortatory topic. There is a snare in
this. The more special the subject, the richer will be
the flow of thought: let me recommend to you two
classes of subjects above all others, for your early attempts —first, exposition of the Scripture text, and
secondly, the proof of some theological point. Argumentative discourse is best fitted to open the fountains
of speech in one whose words flow scantily. There is
no one fit to speak at all who does not grow warm in
debate. And still more specially confutation of error
is adapted to promote self-possession, which, as we shall
see, is a prime quality in extempore speaking.
It is hardly possible for any man to produce valuable matter in a purely academical exercise. IHence
it is all-important to practise bona fide preaching before a real audience. All pretences there vanish;
there is an object to be gained; and the true springs
of preaching are unsealed. This is the discipline by
which all great extemporaneous speakers have reached




LETTERS TO YOUNG MINISTERS.      145
facility and eminence. You cannot do better, therefore, than to seek some humble by-place where souls
are desiring salvation, there to pour into their uncritical
ears the truths which, I trust, burn in your heart. I
can warrant you that a few weeks of exhortation to
awakened sinners will show you the use of yoftr weapons in this kind.  Revivals of religion always train
up off-hand speakers.  It was my privilege to be
early acquainted with the late Dr. Nettleton. I
heard him in most favourable circumstances in Pittsfield, four-and-thirty years ago, and again at two later
periods. Though one of the most solid, textual, and
methodical speakers, he usually laid no paper before
him. His speaking in the pulpit was exactly like his
speaking by the fireside. I introduce his name for
the purpose of reciting his observation that in the
great awakenings of Connecticut, in which he laboured with such amazing results, he scarcely ever
remained in any parish of which the minister did not
acquire the same extemporaneous gift.
If you press me to say which is absolutely the
best practice in regard to " notes," properly so called,
that is, in distinction from a complete manuscript, I
unhesitatingly say, USE NONE. Carry no scrap of writing into the pulpit. Let your scheme, with all. its
branches, be written on your mental tablet. The
practice will be invaluable. I know a public speaker




146         THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
about my own age, who has never employed a note
of any kind. But while this is a counsel for which,
if you follow it you will thank me as long as you
live, I am pretty sure you have not courage and selfdenial to make the venture. And I admit that some
great preachers have been less vigorous. The late
hMr. Wirt, himself one of the most classical and brilliant extempore orators of America, used to speak in
admiration of his pastor, the beloved Nevins of Baltimore. Now, having often counselled with this eloquent clergyman, I happen to know that while his
morning discourses were committed to memory, his
afternoon discourses were from a "' brief." A greater
orator than either, who was at the same time a friend
of both, thus advised a young preacher: " In your
case," said Summerfield, "I would recommend the
choice of a companion or two, with whom you could
accustom yourself to open and amplify your thoughts
on a portion of the word of God in the way of lecture.
Choose a copious subject, and be not anxious to say
all that might be said. Let your efforts be aimed at
giving a strong outline'; the filling up will be much
more easily attained. Prepare a skeleton of your
leading ideas, branching them off into their secondary relations. This you may have before you.
Digest well the subject, but be not careful to choose
your words previous to your delivery. Follow out




LETTERS TO YOUNG MINISTERS.       147
the idea with such language as may offer at the moment. Don't be discouraged if you fall down a hundred times; for though you fall, you shall rise again;
and cheer yourself with the prophet's challenge,' Who
hath despised the day of small things?'"  If any
words of mine could be needed to reinforce the opinion of the most enchanting speaker I ever heard, I
should employ them in fixing in your mind the counsel not to prepare your words. Certain preachers, by
a powerful and constraining discipline, have acquired
the faculty of mentally rehearsing the entire discourse
which they were to deliver, with almost the precise
language. This is manifestly no mlore extemporaneous preaching than if they had written down every
word in a book. It is almost identical with what is
called m.ernoriter preaching. But if you would avail
yourself of the plastic power of excitement in a great
assembly to create for the gushing thought a mould
of fitting diction, you will not spend a moment on the
words, following Horace:
" Verbaque provisam rem non invita sequentur."
Nothing more effectually ruffles that composure
of mind which the preacher needs, than to have a disjointed train of half-remembered words floating in the
mind. For which reason few persons have ever been
successful in a certain method which I have seen pro



148          THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
posed, to wit: that the young speaker should prepare
his manuscript, give it a thorough reading beforehand, and then preach with a general recollection
of its contents. The result is that the mind is in a
libration and pother, betwixt the word in the paper
and the probably better word which comes to the tip
of the tongue. Generally speaking, the best possible
word is the one which is born of the thought in the
presence of the assembly. And the less you think
about words as a separate affair, the better they will
be. My sedulous endeavour is then to carry your
attention back to the great earnest business of conveying God's message to the soul; being convinced
that here as elsewhere the seeking of God's kingdom
and righteousness will best secure subordinate matters.
No candid observer can deny to the Wesleyans
extraordinary success in extemporaneous preaching.
While the lowest class of their itinerants are all rant
and bellow, their mode of gradual training, in classmeetings, in societies, and finally in immense outdoor gatherings, is one of the best for bringing out
whatsoever natural gifts there may be among their
young men; and hence they have from the very days
of the Wesleys, had an unbroken succession of eloquent men in their first rank. You will call to mind
Newton, Summerfield, and other familiar names. A




LETTERS TO YOUNG MINISTERS.       1'49
traditionary manner of elevated discourse, at once
colloquial and passionate, has.no doubt been handed
down from the origin of the society. There is an account of Charles Wesley's debut, which cannot fail to
interest you. It was in the year 1738, and in the
little church of St. Antholin, Watling street, originally
founded in the fourteenth century that he first attempted to fly from the nest. "Seeing so few present," says he, " I thought of preaching extempore;
afraid, yet I ventured on the promise,' Lo, I am with
you alway,' and spoke on justification, from Romans
iii. for three-quarters of an hour without hesitation.
Glory be to God, who keepeth his promise forever! "  Which reminds me to quote Mr. Monod
in another place, and to assure you that the true way
of being raised above the fear of man in your early
services is to be much filled with the fear of God;
and that the only just confidence of the preacher is
confidence in the promised assistance of God. Until
you cease to regard the preaching of the word as in
any sense a rhetorical exercise, it matters little whether
you read or speak, or what method'of preparation is
adopted; you will be " as sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal."
Contrary to my supposition when I began, the
sequel will demand at least one letter more.
* Life of Charles Wesley, p. 147.




150         THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
LETTER VIII.
ON EXTEMPORANEOUS PREACHING.
You will have observed that in my remarks on
this topic, I have not directly approached the question touching the comparative excellence of this
method. One must have lived in a very narrow
glen and drawn few lessons from observation, not to
have discovered long ago that there are different
ways of accomplishing the same great ends in Providence, and that a beautiful variety of methods is used
in the dispensation of the Spirit. MIuch that is written
on these matters is a covert self-laudation; or, as was
harshly said of Reynolds's Lectures on Painting and
Sculpture, " a good apology for bad practice."  But
while you allow your brethren to write and even to
read their discourses, you nevertheless desire some
hints as.to your own discipline in the freer method.
If long experiment, innumerable blunders, and unfeigned regrets, can quality any one to counsel you,
I am the man; for all my life I have felt the struggle
between a high ideal and a most faulty practice.
But what I offer with an affectionate desire for your
profiting is derived rather from the successes of others
than from my own failures.




LETTERS TO YOUNG MINISTERS.        151
Argumentative discourse, the most methodical,
connected, orderly, close, and finished, may be conveyed without previous writing. The forum and-the
deliberative assembly afford the demonstration. It is
not true that writing insures ratiocinative treatment;
it is not true that what is loosely called extemporaneous speech necessitates incoherent declamation. A
few of us remember with pleasure that great but singular man, James P. Wilson, of the First Church,
Philadelphia. His spare figure, his sitting posture,
his serene, bloodless countenance, his gentle cough,
his fan, all rise to make up the picture. There was
no elevation of voice, there was no appeal to sensibility. All was analytic exposition, erudite citation,
linked argument. Yet, from the beginning to the
end of his long ministry, he never brought any manuscript into the pulpit.   As this has been questioned,
his own words may be cited as testimony valid up to
the year 1810; they are otherwise valuable in regard
to their exemplary candour. Speaking of himself as
a preacher, he says:-" He never committed to memory, nor read a sermon or lecture in public since he
began the ministry. This statement is designed as
an apology both for the shortness and other defects of
these preparations, which were composed chiefly for
private use." * The late President Dwight-certainly
* Lectures on some of the Parables. Phil. 1810. Preface.




152         THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
not from any incapacity to handle thee pen-during
the latter years of his life, when his eyes were failing,
preached ex tempore those great sermons which afterwards, at his dictation, were written down, and so
constitute his System of Theology. The excellent
Commentary of McGhee on the Ephesians was taken
down in short-hand from his extemporaneous lectures.
The same is true of Gaussen's Lectures on the Apocalypse. But why cite recent instances, when we know
that all the sermons of Augustine, and a great part
of Calvin's expositions were thus prepared? Let this
fully rid your mind of the conceit of Freshmen, that
to preach ex tempore, is to preach what is empty,
loose, or turgescent. Let it further conduct you to
what is the puppis et prora of the whole matter,
namely, that. every thing in a sermon is secondary to
its contents.
Among continental divines the reading of sermons
may in general terms be said to be unknown. The
normal method is that of pronouncing from memory what has been carefully written. This is so admitted a point, that special rules are laid down, in all
homiletical instructions, concerning the time and manner of getting the concept (a most convenient term)
by heart. Yet many Italian, French, and German
preachers, and among them some of the greatest,
easily slide into the way of premeditative discourse.




LETTERS TO YOUNG MINISlRS.       153
Where a particular method has had some prevalence
for centuries, it is natural to expect useful maxims.
Let me, therefore, quote the recommendations of a
few judicious writers. Consider then what is proposed by Ebrard, Consistorial Councillor in Spire;
but take it on his great authority, not on mine:"Committing to memory should be a renewed ineditation of the expression. When the sermon has been
concocted, let the preacher, on a quarto sheet (no
more is needed) draw off a mnegmonical sketch; that
is, indicate the thoughts or those clusters of thought,
accordingly as his memory is strong or weak, by a
single phrase, or mnemonic catchword. Let him set
down these in a tabular way, strikingly, so that the
lines may fall into shapes to seize the eye. Now let
him throw aside his manuscript and try, by the aid
of this paper, to reproduce the sermon; that is, to
invent afresh equivalent expressions." I have already
advanced reasons against all such cumbering of the
mind; but my zeal for unbounded liberty and development of subjective peculiarities, leaves me to offer
it to you for what it is worth. The remarks of an
equally celebrated man, Professor Hagenback of
Bale, are less exceptionable: "Whether a sermon
shall be written and committed to memory, or shall
be elaborated only in the mind, must be determined
by individual peculiarity, and is a question on which
7*




154:        THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
theory has not much to say. In every case,'this process of memory must be regarded as a transient one,
from which nothing goes over to the actual delivery.
Even where the sermon has been written, it must be
conceived by the mind as something spoken, and not
as something composed." Schleiermacher, who always extemporized, is reported to have said that this
was the proper method for tranquil natures, while
those less equable should fix the thought and expression by careful writing. On the other hand, Rosenkranz observes: —" Our early familiarity with books
and writing and our small acquaintance With thinking, especially among the learned class, may account
for our making so little of extemporaneous discourse."
And the enthusiastic and eloquent Gossner characteristically says:-" The Holy Ghost at Pentecost distributed fiery tongues, and not pens." The motto of
the great and pious Bengel was, " Much thinking,
little writing; " yet he wrote down his divisions.
These gleanings will suffice to disclose to you the
German mind on this subject. What you may gather
fromn all these eminent preachers is, that whatever be
your particular method, nothing can be accomplished
without laborious thought.
There is a caution, derived from personal misadventure, which I would seek to impress upon you,
with reference to your early trials. Beware of undue




LETTERS TO YOUNG MINISTERS.      156
length. Do not undertake to say every thing, which
is the secret of tiresomeness. Oh, the grievousness
even of calling to memory the exhaustive and exhausting teachers of patience! Avoid the notion of
those who think they must occupy up a certain time,
as by hour-glass. Fifteen minutes, well and wisely
filled, can insure a better sermon than two hours of
platitude and repetition. Touch and go in these early
attempts. Only be on the watch for moments when
the thought unexpectedly thaws out and flows, and
give the current free course. Beginners, who apprehend a paucity of matter, and have small power of
amplification, will be much relieved by carrying out
the scheme or plan of their sermon into more numerous subdivision. On each of these, something can
certainly be said, especially if, after the Scotch method, each particular is fortified with a Scripture passage. Neither in these exercises, nor in any other,
act upon the mean policy of reserving your good
things till afterwards.  Believe, with Sir Walter
Scott, that the mind is not like poor milk, which can
bear but one creaming. Therefore, always do your
best. It is unfair in some who lament the decay of
extemporaneous preaching to assume that it has gone
altogether into desuetude in the Northern States.
This is so far from being the case that there is scarcely
a settled pastor of my acquaintance who does not fre



1~5         THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
quently, if not every week, address his smaller audiences without what, in Scotland, are called "the
papers." Some of the happiest efforts I have heard,
were made by preachers who elaborate their more important discourses by thorough writing. It is in such
meetings, then, as these that the young preacher will
find his most favourable school of practice.  Iere he
will be sustained by the sympathy of pious and loving
fellow-Chrstians, who, with minds remote from every
thing like critical inquisition, will seek from the pastor's lips the word of life. I strongly advise you to
seek out and delight in such assemblages. If they.
interest you, they will interest those who hear you;
and the more you forget the scholar and the orator,
the more will you attain the qualities of the successful
preacher. It was in such free gatherings, where formalism was excluded, and discourse was colloquial,
that Venn, HIouseman, Cecil, Simeon, Scott, Martyn,
Richmond, Scholefield, Carus, and other blessed servants of God in the English Church, learned to break
through the trammels of the age. It was my great
privilege to hear Professor Scholefield preach a warm
extempore discourse to a crowded assembly in St.
Andrew's Church, Cambridge. The theme was the
repentance of Ahab; and as I listened to the plain,
evangelical, ardent utterance of this simple-hearted
Christian. I could hardly persuade myself that I had




LETTERS TO YOUNG MINISTERS.     157
before me the celebrated Greek editor and accomplished successor of Porson.  Who can calculate the
blessings conferred on Great Britain- and the world
through the labours of Charles Simeon and his
school?
In order to give a turn still more practical to my
advices, I will throw them into hortatory form. Single out some service among the most serious of your
neighbours, and where you can be undisturbed "in
your sincere endeavour to do them good. Aim honestly at having the devotional sentiment uppermost.
Blpock out your matter with much care and exactness,
and assure yourself of perfect acquaintance with the
entire order. Set about the work with an expectation of being very short. Do not allow yourself to
dally long with any single point. Be simple, be natural, be moderate, and use no means to pump up
fictitious emotion; above all, use no tricks of voice or
gesture to express emotion which you do not experience. On this point I will copy for you ~lab?'s
comic advice, which may suggest something even by
its exaggeration and caricature:-" The preacher
should not seek to make the thing finer than it really
is.  He should not prank common-place thoughts
with rhetorical ornaments. He should not attempt
by verbal artifice a pathos which is foreign to his
heart. Let him say what he has to say clearly and




158'THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
naturally. This is what is meant by the rule-Not a
word more than the thing itself carries along with it.
If the preacher's heart is warm and excited, this movement and animation will find natural expression in
words. Pectus facit diserta?,. In like manner individual colouring will take care of itself; so that if
two preachers treat the same text, and in the same
view of it, the proverb shall still hold true of them,'If two do the same, it is not the same they do;' Duo
sifaciunt ideqn, non est idem.  One will unintentionally speak more warmly and nobly than the -other.
These two constituents, to wit, warmth and individual
colouring, enter of their own accord; the latter we
need not seek, the former we ought not. The desire to
preach a fine sermon is a sin."  And in regard to the
vicious amplification of slender minds he thus writes:
— " Instead of saying in plain terms,' Every thing on
earth is transitory,' and clenching it by a verse out of
the Psalms, [such a preacher] says: —' Let us cast our
eyes upon the flowers of the field, the slender lilies in
their silver lustre, the glow of the rose, the blossoming decoration of the trees, which gladden us with
their fruits-Oh, how refreshing to our eyes are these
sights in the vernal season! But, alas! that which
was blooming yesterday, droops withering to the
earth to-day! A mortal breath sweeps over the
scene, and the frail flower sinks weak and sickly to




LETTERS TO YOUNG MINISTERS.       159
the ground!' How beautiful! —Nay, more, it is wonderful, among these flowrets of amplification, that not
only a simple thought, but sometimes the veriest negation of thought, a mere logical category without contents, may be dressed up in pompous words.'Every
man has proof already of God's goodness and providence.' Here proceed to inflate the' every man' thus:
-' Go and ask the aged; ask the young; go to the
man of hoary hairs, whose silver locks tend towards
the earth; go to the children gambolling amid the
grass; the sprightly boy; the aspiring youth; abide
in the circle of friends, in the faithful home, or speed
away in the distance; traverse the foaming flood of
the perturbed ocean; fly to the north, the south, the
east, or the west; go, I say and ask where thou wilt
and whom thou wilt; the sage and the fool; inquire
of his experience, and thou shalt find in the history of
each and every one traces of divine providence and
proofs of divine benevolence, &c." X  The American
variety may differ from the German; but you recognize in this a familiar mode of beating the matter out
thin, which disgraces such extempore haranguers as
attempt " to split the ears of the groundlings; who,
for the most part, are capable of nothing but inexplicable dumb shows and noise."  The consideration of
this will, I am very sure, guard you against striving
* Ebrard Prakt. Theologie, p. 341.




160         THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
after protraction of talk and grandiloquent blowing
up of common thoughts. Therefore content yourself
for some time with being true, intelligible and earnest, without any remarkable flights of eloquence; for
I wish to see you fairly established on your skates before you essay pirouettes and double-eights upon the
ice. But manure de tabuZla.
LETTER IX.
ON EXTEMPORANEOUS PREACHING.
IF the least thought had crossed my mind that
familiar advices on a point which interests you would
have grown from one letter to three, I should certainly have attempted a more formal disposition of
these desultory remarks. Take them, however, as
they rise and flow. I have written in earnest, because I
know your solicitude and augur your success. Do me
the justice to believe that I am not exalting my own
little method as the only one in which excellence may
be attained. I should painfully doubt my enlargement of view and maturity of judgment, if 1 felt myself sliding into such a pedantry. From our own
poor pedestrian level let us look up at the mighty
preachers of the past-the Bossuets, Whitefields,




LETTERS- TO YOUNG MINISTERS.    161
Wesleys, Chalmerses, and Masons, and own that
God accomplishes his gracious ends not only by a
variety of instruments, but in a variety of ways.
If there is any maxim which you might inscribe
on your seal-ring and your pen, it is this, Be yourself. As Kant says, every man has his own way
of preserving health, so we may assert that every true
servant of the gospel has his own way of being a
preacher; and I pray that you may never fall among
a people so untutored or so straitened as to be willing
to receive the truth only by one sort of conduit.
Every genuine preacher becomes such, under God, in
a way of his own and by a secret discipline. But
after having reached a certain measure of success, it
will require much humility, much knowledge of the
world, and much liberality of judgment, to preserve
him from erecting his own methods into a standard
for even all the world.
When you resolve to attempt preaching ex ternpore, in the qualified sense of that phrase, you by no
means renounce order, correctness, or elegance. Of
all these we have repeatedly known as great examples in those who did not write as in those who did.
All these qualities will be found to depend less on
writing or not writing, than on the entire previous
discipline. As well might you say that no one can
speak good grammar unless he has previously written.




162          THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
Whether he speaks good grammar or not depends on his
breeding in the nursery, in school, and in society. IIe
who has been trained cannot but speak good English;
and so of the rest. You have read what Cicero says
concerning the latinity of the old model orators-they
could not help it: " Ne cupientes quidem, potuerunt
loqui, nisi Latine."'* Madison, Ames, Wirt, Webster,
or Everett, could not be cornered into bad English.
Cicero goes aside even in his great ethical treatise to
relate with gusto. how delicious was the Latin speech
of the whole family of Catulli.t  And in regard as
well to this as to flow of words, he lays down the
grand principle when he says: "Abundance of matter begets abundance of words; and if the things
spoken of possess nobleness, there will be derived from
that nobleness, a certain splendour of diction. Only let
the man who is to speak or write be liberally trained
by the education and instruction of his boyish days;
let himn burn with desire of proficiency; let him have
natural advantages, and be exercised in innumerable
discussions of every kind, and let him be familiar
with the finest writers and speakers, so as to comprehend and imitate them; and (N/e ille' haud sane)
you need give yourself no trouble about such a one's
needing masters to tell him how he shall arrange or
beautify his words!" t
* De Oratore III. 10.  f De Officiis I. 37.: De Oratore II. 31.




LETTERS TO TOUNG MINISTERS.      163
Your own observation will predispose you to accept the testimony of all competent persons, that
method, closeness of thought, and the utmost polish
may exist where there has been no use of the pen in
immediate preparation. Fenelon, Burke, Fox, Robert
Hall, and- Randolph, are cases in point. Let me dwell
a feiv moments on the first-named, for these two reasons: first, that he is unsurpassed in correctness and
elegance; and secondly, that he is the most celebrated
advocate of ex tempore preaching. His remarks are
too long to be fully cited, but they furnish a qualification which is needed just in this place, to show you
what degree of rhetorical elegance should be craved.
The extemporaneous preacher (says Fenelon) on the
supposition that, " as Cicero enjoins, he has read all
good models, that he has much facility, natural and
acquired, that his fund of principles and erudition is
abundant, and that he has thorouglily premeditated
his subject, so as to have it well arranged in his head,
will, we must conclude, speak with force, with order,
and with fulness. His periods will not amuse the ear
so much: all the better; he will be all the better orator. His transitions will not be so subtle: no matter;
for-not to say that these may be prepared even when
they are not learned by heart-such negligences will
be common to him and the most eloquent orators of
antiquity, who believed that here we must often imi



164        THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
tate nature, and not show too much preparation.
What then will be wanting? He may repeat a little;
but even this has its use: not only will the hearer,
who has good taste, take pleasure in thus recognizing
nature, who loves to return upon what strikes her
most; but this repetition will impress truth more
deeply. It is the true mode of giving instruction." *
But read and ponder the whole of these matchless
"Dialogues on Eloquence."
You will have observed my disposition to cite
authorities on this difficult subject, rather than to
vent opinions peculiarly my own; authorities, let me
add, who have themselves exemplified what they
taught. Among all contemporary preachers whom I
have had the good fortune to hear, I cannot hesitate
to give the palm of oratory to Adolphe Monod. And
with what solemnity and tenderness do I write this
beloved name, as fearing lest, even before these lines
reach you, he should have departed to that world of
which he has spoken so much, and for which he is so
graciously prepared. The point to which I ask your
attention is, that the mostt elegant pulpit writer in
France is equally elegant in extemporaneous discourse. But then it is the elegance of a Grecian
marble; it is beautiful simplicity. It is nature-nay,
it is grace! What a lesson is contained for you in his
* D'ceuvres de Fenelon. Paris, 1838. Ed. Didat. Tom. II. p. 674.




LETTERS TO YOUNG' MINISTERS.      165
remarks on self-possession in the pulpit! I will quote
them from a lecture which Mr. Monod delivered to
his theological class at Montauban, sixteen years ago.
Observe that he has been speaking on the incompatibility of perfect eloquence with " self-observation," or
thinking how one is doing it; and he has been showing that such constraint is not confined to those who
get their sermons by heart, but may exist in extempore preaching.
" Suppose," says he, " you have the finest parts;
of what use will they be to you unless you have presence of mind? On the other hand, he who is at his
ease says only what he means to say; says it as he
means to say it; reflects; stops a moment, if need
be, to cast about for a word or a thought; borrows
even from this pause some expressive tone or gesture;
takes advantage of what he sees and hears; and in a
word, brings all his resources into play; which is saying a great deal; for' the spirit of man is the candle
of the Lord, searching all the inward parts.'"'You
will perhaps tell me," adds this delightful writer, "that
this self-possession which I recommend is rather a
boon to be wished for than a disposition to be enjoined; that it is thle happy result of temperament,
of previous successes, of talent itself, and that it is not
in a man's power to be at ease whenever he chooses.
I admit that it depends partly on temperament, and




t66          THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
this is a reason for strengthening it when timid; partly
on previous successes, and this is a reason why a young
man should apply all his powers to take a fair start in
his course; and partly, also, on talent itself, and this
is a reason for diligently cultivating that measure
which has been received. But there is yet another
element which enters into the confidence which r at
the same time desire for you and recommend to you;
IT IS FAITI. Take your stand as the ambassador of
Jesus Christ, sent of God to sinful men. Believe that
he who sends you will not have you to speak in vain.
Seek the salvation of those who hear you, as you do
your own. Forget yourselves so as to behold nothing
but the glory of God, and the salvation of your hearers. You will then tremble more before God, but
you will tremble less before men.  You will then
speak with liberty, according to the measure of facility and correctness which you possess in other circumstances of life. If our faith were perfect, we
should scarcely be in any more danger of falling into
false or declamatory tones in preaching, than we
should in crying out to a drowning man to lay hold on
the rope thrown to him to save his life." *
It is in perusing such passages as this that I begin
to comprehend the source of power in this writer and
* * Discours prononce a l'ouverture d'un cours de debit oratoire, a
la faculte de Montauban, le 26 Novembre, 1840.




LETTERS TO YOUNG MINISTERS.       167
other great masters of pulpit eloquence, and discover
at the same time why such treatises on extempore
preaching as those of Ware are cold and inoperative.
The study of unapproachable exemplars must not
stimulate us to experiments like that of /Esop's frog.
According to our measure, we may succeed here as
elsewhere. I would most earnestly counsel you to
throw aside, by every possible effort, all that resembles
self-critical observation, while you are speaking in the
name of the Lord. If your tendency should be towards scantiness of vocabulary, broken sentences, or
involuntary gaps, halts and pauses, by all means
encourage a flow. The advice which might be fatal
to a voluble loquacity is all-important for you. Keep
up the continuity. Let trifles go. WVhat Dr. Johnson
says to a young writer, to wit, " It is so much easier
to acquire correctness than flow, that I would say to
every young preacher, Write as fast as you can," is
even more necessary for a young speaker: —Speak as
uninterruptedly as you can. Let little things go.
Return for no corrections. The wise will understand
your slips and forgive them. Whitefield's rule was,
" Never to take back any thing unless it were wicked."
This is very different from rapid utterance or precipitancy. Deliberate speech is, on the whole, most favourable. Good pastor Harm's three L's are worthy
of being applied to delivery, but are poorly repre



168         THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
sented in English by the alliteration; Lengthened
-Loud-Lovely.* Luther's maxim for a young
preacher is still more untranslatable; but the sense is
-" Stand up cheerily-speak up manfully-leave
off speedily."  Tritt frisch auf, thu's maul auf, hir
bald auf.
It is high time I obeyed the last direction by leaving off. As I do so, let me again remind you that
great eloquence is not necessary to great success; that
there may be great power of discourse where there is
little elegance: that the mighty works of Divine grace
have not been always or chiefly wrought by the popular preachers who draw vast assemblies; that no man
can be always great, and no wise man will seek to be
always so; and that, after all, a man can receive nothing except it be given him from heaven.
LETTER X.
ON DILIGENCE IN STUDY.
IN what was said to you about Extemporaneous
Preaching, I sought to draw away your attention from
the manner to the matter. He can never preach well
who has nothing to say. The all-important thing for
* "Langsam, Laut, Lieblich."




LETTERS TO YOUNG MINISTERS.       169
a messenger is the message. Of all the ways of
preaching God's word, the worst, as has been admitted,
is the purely extemporaneous-where a man arises to
speak in God's name without any solid material, and
without any studious preparation. A thousand-fold
better were it to read every word of an, instructive
discourse, in the most slavish and uncouth manner,
than to vapour in airy nothings, with suavity of mien,
fluency of utterance, and outward grace of elocution.
It is this which has become the opprobrium of extempore preachers; and it must be admitted that the
danger is imminent. As all men dislike labour in itself considered, the majority will perform any task in
the easiest way which is acceptable. And as most
hearers unfortunately judge more by external than
internal qualities, they will be, for a certain time,
satisfied with this ready but superficial preaching.
The resulting fact is, that in numberless instances, the
extemporaneous preacher neglects his preparation.
If he has begun in this slovenly way while still young,
and before he has laid up stores of knowledge, he will,
in nine cases out of ten, be a shallow, rambling ser-.
monizer as long as he lives. Immense gymnastic action and,fearful vociferation will probably be brought
in to eke out the want of theology; as a garrison destitute of ball, will be likely to make an unusual pother
with blank cartridge.
$




170         THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
Omitting, for the moment, the unfaithfulness of
such a ministry, the man who thus errs will find the
evil consequences rebound upon hiruself. It is only
for a time that the most injudicious or partial congregation can be held by indigested and unsubstantial
matter, however gracefully delivered. - They may not
trace it to the right cause, but they know that they
are wearied, if not disgusted. The minister, having
rung all the changes on his very small peal of bells,
has nothing for it but to repeat the old chimes.
" Somehow or other, Dr. Windy seems to hitch into
the old rut. He gives us the same sermon. Especially le wears us out with the same heads of application."  While this is going on among the hearers, it
is wonderful how long the offender may remain ignorant of the reason; just as we old men do not know
how often we repeat the saime story.
Another inevitable result of unstudied preaching,
is the habit of wandering or scattering. ZNothing but
laborious discipline, unintermitted through life, can
enable a man to stick logically to his line of argument.
Discerning hearers know better than the careless
preacher, why, after stating his point, he constantly
plays about it and about, like a boat in an eddy, which
moves but makes no progress. " Skeletons," as they
are ludicrously called, however good, do not prevent
this evil, unless they be afterwards thought out to




LETTERS TO YOUNG MINISTERS.        171
their remotest articulations. The idle but voluble
speaker will flutter about his first head, and flutter
about his second, but will mark no close ratiocinative connexion, and effect no fruitful deduction. Evidently he who is continually pouring out, and but
scantily pouring in, must soon be at the empty
bottom.
Indolent preachers fall upon different devices for
concealing the smallness of their staple, and for
preaching against time. I have alluded to the bringing in of irrelative matter; kindred to this, and generally accompanying it, is undue amplification. The
minute bit of gold must be beaten out very thin;
hence wordiness, swoln periodicity, and Cicero's cogplementa numerorurn. Such ministers seldom remain
long in a place. The Presbytery is not, indeed, informed that Mr. Slender has preached himself out;
some reading elder, or surly Scotch pewholder is
made the scapegoat; but the fact is, that the preacher
goes away to fascinate some new people with his soft
voice and animated manner.
Ministerial study is a sine qua non of success. It
is absurdly useless to talk of methods of preaching,
where there is no method of preparation. Ministerial
study is twofold-special and general. By special
study, I mean that preparation for a given sermon,
which is analogous to the lawyer's preparation of his




172         THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
case. If faithful and thorough, this may lead to high
accomplishment; but, as in the instance of case-lawyers, it may be carried too far, and if exclusively followed must become narrowing. The man who grows
old with no studies but those which terminate upon
the several demands of the pulpit, becomes a mannerist, falls into monotony of thought, and ends stiffly,
drily, and wearisomely. At the same time, he wants
that enlargement and enriching of mind derived from
wide excursions into collateral studies, of which all
the world recognizes the fruits in such preachers as
Owen, Mason, Chalmers, and Hall. Yet even this inferior way of study into which busy and overtasked
men are prone to slide, is infinitely better than the way
of idleness, oscitancy, and indecent hiaste. For thus
the student who begins betimes, manages to pick up
a great deal more than is necessary for his special task.
In premeditating one sermon, he often finds hints for
three more. By tunnelling into the rock of a single
prophetic passage, he comes upon gems of illustration,
nuggets of doctrine, and cool springs of experience,
all which go into the general stock. Yet no wise student will restrict himself to the lucubration asked by
next Sunday's sermon.
By general study I mean that preparation which a
liberal mind is perpetually making, by reading, writing, and thinking over and above the sermonizing, and




LETTERS TO YOUNG MINISTERS.      173
without any direct reference to preaching. Such
studies do indeed pour in their contributions to every
future discourse with a continually increasing tide;
but this is not seen at once, nor is this the proximate
aim. No man can make full use of his talent, who
does not all his life pursue a high track of generous
reading and inquiry.
Your general studies will again subdivide themselves into those which are professional and those
which are non-professional. Both are important and
mutually advantageous. But the first claim is that
of biblical and theological literature and science, upon
which, at present, my remarks shall be brief, and
respecting only the point in hand. Let Theology
afford us an instance; though every word I write.
may be just as well applied to History and Interpretation. Besides all your sermon making, Theology, as
a system, mnust be your regular study. Neglect this,
and your pulpit theology will be one-sided; many
topics will never have due consideration. I shall
augur badly for your career, if you are found uninterested in great theological questions.  Some established work should be daily in your hands; and of
such works a few should be often re-perused. Find a
clergyman who knows nothing of such pursuits, and
you will observe his preaching to be unmethodical,
and little fitted to awaken inquiry among deep




174:        THOUIGHTS ON PREACHING.
thinkers in his flock. He will soon attain his acme,
and will continue to dispense milk where he should
give strong meat. The analogy of other professions
will occur to you; the lawyer or physician who reads
law or physics only for this or that case, can never
take high rank.
Non-professional studies open a wide field, and
every minister must be governed by the indications
of Providence. Extremes are perilous, and I know
too well how, under the pretext of cultivating general
literature, and even art, a servant of Christ may almost alienate himself from what should be the darling
studies of his life. WVitherspoon has observed, that it
is not to the credit of any gospel minister to be famous
in any pursuit entirely unconnected with theology.
Yet he who is a mere theologian, is a poor one. Bacon said, long ago, that no mall can comprehend the
canton of his own science, unless he surveys it from
the heights of some contiguous science. Take Law
for instance, though this is only one example out of a
hundred. An acquaintance with jurisprudence is
of the greatest value to the minister. No man can
understand the practice of our Church Courts who
does not discern their connexion with the Civil, rather
than the Common Law. Our very terms, especially
in the older forms of process, savour of Justinian and
the Code; and ignorance of this has frequently led to




LETTERS TO YOUNG MINISTERS.         175
the substitution of English for Roman modes, altogether subversive of the unity of our system. This
will be more clear if you compare the progress of a
Scottish ecclesiastical action with that of one in America, and observe how utterly we have lost all reference
to the libellus, and other civil forms of trial. Matthew
Henry was sent by his father to Holborn Court, Gray's
Inn, that he might study law, as a preparation for
theology; and every part of his commentary shows
familiar acquaintance with the terms of this science.
This was not a rare opinion among the old Presbyterians.  "I must be so grateful as to confess," says
Baxter, "' that my understanding hath made a better
improvement of Grotins' De Satisfactione Ckristi, and
of Mr. Lawson's manuscripts, than of any thing else
that I ever read. They convinced me how unfit we
are to write about God's government, law, and judgment, while we understand not the true nature of government and law in general; and he that is ignorant
of politics, and of the law of nature, will be ignorant
and erroneous in divinity and the Sacred Scriptures."
Half the disputes about Imputation could have been
precluded, if the combatants, instead of acquiescing
in definitions of Webster, had familiarized themselves
with the usage of genuine English writers in regard
to the word guilt.* But this is only a single specimen.
* Take one example out of many. " But concerning the nature or




176            THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
The times demand that a well-furnished  preacher
should draw  both  argument and  illustration  from
every science. Tell me how you spend your forenoon
in your early ministry, and I shall be better able to
predict how you will preach. If you idle, stroll, or
even habitually visit, before noon, your mental progress may be divined.
proper effects of this spot or stain, they have not been agreed: some
call it an obligation, or a guilt of punishment; so Scotus." —Jeremy
haylor, Apples of Sodom, Part II.




REMARIKS ON THE STUDIES AND DISCI
PLINE OF THE PREACHER.
THE habits of a young minister, in respect to
mental culture, are very early formed, and hence no
one can begin too soon to regulate his closet-practice
by maxims derived from the true philosophy of mind,
and the experience of successful scholars. Early introduction to active labour, in an extended field, partaking of a missionary and itinerant character, may,
amidst much usefulness, spoil a man for life, in all
that regards progress of erudition, and productiveness
of the reasoning powers.  Such a person may accomplish much in the way of direct and proximate
good; but his fruit often dies with him, and he. does
little in stimulating, forming, and enriching the minds
of others., On the other hand, a zealous young
scholar, captivated with the intellectual or literary
side of ministerial work, may addict himself to books
in such a manner as to sink the preacher in the man
of learning, and spend his days without any real sym8*




178          THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
pathy with the affectionate duties of the working
clergy.. The due admixture of the contemplative
with the active, of learning with labour, of private
cultivation with public spirit, is a juste milieu which
few attain, but which cannot be too earnestly reconmmended.
We assume it, without the trouble of proof, that
every young minister, whose manner of life is in any
degree submitted to his own choice, will strive after
the highest Christian learning.  But here there are
diversities in the conduct of studies and the regulation of thought, which demand the most serious discrimination.  We are persuaded that grave errors
prevail in respect to what should be the aim of the
pastor, in his parochial studies and discipline. For
this cause, we would venture a few suggestions, not
altogether without previous experiment and careful
observation.
Let us suppose a settled minister, after the usual
career of academic and theological training, to be
seated in his quiet parsonage, with a sufficient and
increasing apparatus of books around him.  His
tastes and predilections dispose him to account the
hours blessed which he can devote to reading; and
many a man, under this early impulse, makes his
greatest attainments during the first ten years. Yet
hundreds go astray from the outset. It is not enough




THE PREACHER'S STUDIES.       179
to turn an inquisitive mind loose among an array of
great authors. The error against which we would
guard such a one, is that of mistaking a large and
various erudition for wise and thorough culture of the
faculties.
The knowledge of authors, however great and
good, is an instrument, not an end; and an instrument which may be misdirected and abused. There
is much to be attained from other sources than books;
and all that is gained from these, must, in order to
the highest advantage, be made to pass through a
process of inward digestion, which may be disturbed
or even precluded by indiscriminate reading. The
attainment of truth demands more than what is termed
erudition.  One may have vast knowledge of the
repositories of human opinion, of what other men,
many men, have thought upon all subjects, what in
modern phrase is known as the literature of science;
one may have a bibliographical accuracy about the
authors who have treated this or that topic in every
age, about systems, and schools, and controversies;
and yet be vacillating and undecided as to the positive truth in question.  We meet with men —and
they are not the least agreeable of literary companions —who never fail, whatever topic may be started,
to display familiarity with all the great minds who
have treated it, to cite author after author, and to




180         THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
pour out reminiscences the most curious concerning
the history of opinion in the Church, but who seldom
strike us by the utterance of a single original conclusion, and never evince a rooted firmness of private
judgment. Such are they who amass libraries of
their own, and flutter among great public collections;
who dazzle by quotation after quotation in sermons
and treatises; who deck the margin of their publications with a catena of references to volume, page,
and edition of works often inaccessible to ordinary
scholars; but who discover or settle no great principle. They are felicitous conversers, walking indexes
to treasured lore,- and sprightly essayists, but not investigators, in the true sense, not producers, not solid
thinkers. Indeed it would seem as if in the very proportion of such encyclopmedic knowledge, there was
an incapacity for the mental forces to work up the
enormous mass of superincumbent information. All
this we believe to be true, while we scorn the paltry
self-conceit of those who would denounce learning as
injurious to originality, or would contrast readers and
thinkers as incompatible classes.  Our position is
only that care must be taken that the great reader be
also a great thinker.
The clerical student will of course add to his
knowledge of books every day; but these accumulations of knowledge must be governed by some law;




THE PREACHER'S STUDIES.         181
must be directed, nay, must be limited. There is
surely some point beyond which the acquisition of
other men's thoughts must not be carried. This we
say for the sake of those helluones librorum, who read
forever and without stint; browsing as diligently as
oxen in the green herbage of rich meads, but, unlike
these, never lying down to ruminate. Life is too
short, Art is too long, for a human mind to make
perpetual, accretion of book-learning, without halt.
Suflaminandum  est. There must be some circumscription of the range; for if a hundred volumes, in a
given science, may be read, why not a thousand; and
why not, supposing so many extant, ten thousand?
At this rate, no scholar could ever find his goal. And
as uninterrupted research shuts out continuous reflection, it is observed that those who go astray in this
road become the prey of never-ending doubts, even
if they do not fall into. latitudinarian comprehension
and indifference to truth. The faults of some truly
great men appear to have had this origin; we
might adduce as instances, Grotius, Priestley, and
Parr.
The mind must be allowed some periods of calm,
uninterrupted reflection, in order to librate freely,
and find the resting-point between conflicting views.
That time is sometimes expended in learning, examining, and collating arguments of all kinds, on different




182         THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
sides of a given question, which might, by a much
more compendious method, have served to discern
and embrace positive truth, or to make deduction
from acknowledged truth. Nio wise counsellor would
proscribe the perusal of controversies. Yet he who
reads on different sides, must necessarily read much
that is erroneous; and all tampering with falsehood,
however necessary, is, like dealing with poisons, full
of danger. If we might have our choice, it is better
to converse with truth than with error; with the
rudest, homeliest truth, than with the most ingenious,
decorated error; with the humblest truth, than with
the most soaring, original, and striking error. The
sedulous perusal of great controversies is often a duty,
and it may tend to acuminate the dialectical faculty;
but none can deny that it keeps the thoughts long
in contact with divers falsities, and their specious
reasons. Now these same hours would be employed
far more healthfully in contemplating truths which
in their own nature are nourishing and fruitful.'To
confirm this, let it be remembered, that truth is one,
while error is manifold, if not infinite; hence the true
economy of the faculties is, wherever it is possible, to
commune with truth. Again, while error leads to
error, truth leads to truth. Each truth is germinal
and pregnant, containing other truths.  Only upon
this principle can we vindicate the productiveness of




THE PREACHER'S STUDIES.        183
solitary meditation. Link follows link in the chain,
which we draw from unknown mysterious recesses.
A few elementary truths are the bases of the universal system.
If it should be urged, that defenders of sound doctrine must be acquainted with all diversities of opposition, we admit it, with certain limitations. But we
must be allowed to add, that lie who thoroughly
knows a truth, knows also, and knows thereby, the
opposite errors. Let any one be deeply imbued with
the Newtonian system of the material universe, and
he will be little staggered by denials of particular
points, however novel and however shrewdly maintained. But the converse is not true. There may be
the widest acquaintance with forms of false opinion,
while after all the true doctrine may elude the most
laborious search.  And therefore we believe that
the reading of error, known to be such, for whatever
cause, just or unjust, never fails, at least for a time,
to have bad effects; producing pain and dubiety,
collecting rubbish in order that it may be removed,
and inflicting wounds which it is necessary to heal.
Without rushing, then, to any extremes, we may employ these incontestable principles in the regulation
of our studies.
There is a sort of independence and adventure
which leads inquiring and sanguine minds to con



184         THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
temn the thought of using any special precautions in
the handling of error. They feel B'ong in their own
convictions, and fully exempt from all danger of being
seduced. But they neglect the important principle
that the very contact of what is false tends to impair
the mental health. Hence we are not ashamed to
avow it, as a canon of our intellectual hygeine, that
we will not, except from necessity, read books which
contain known error.  WVe would advise youthful
students especially not to be inquisitive about such.
As in regard to morals, prurient curiosity leads to
concupiscence and corruption, so in regard to the pursuit of truth, eager desire of knowing bad systems
undermines the faith. This is the weak place in some
truly excellent minds. They spend a whole literary
life in acquiring the knowledge of strange, conflicting,
heterogeneous systems.  There is no infidelity or
heresy, from Epicurus and Pelagius, down to Spinoza and Comte, into which they have not groped.
The perpetual oscillations of Coleridge's great understanding are due, in some degree, to this morbid
penchant; hence his delight in Plotinns, B6hm, and
Schelling; and hence his long gestation, resulting in
no definite faith, and no completed work. Continual
wandering in the mazes of theories which after all are
not adopted, ends only in dissatisfaction and pain.
It is a trial to converse with mistaken minds, even




THE PREACHER'S STUDIES.         185
for the purpose of refutation; but to make such commerce the habit of life, is to court disappointment and
weakness, if not to be betrayed and supplanted.
With no common earnestness of entreaty we would
therefore exhort the enterprising student to devote his
days and nights to the search of verity, rather than
the discovery, or as a first object, even the confutation of error. Offences must needs come, and must
needs be removed; the Church must still have its
controvertists; but in regard to the actor in these
scenes, unnecessary polemics do harm.
We have thus prepared the way for a view which
we have kept before us from the beginning, and
which we trust will elucidate both the object and
method of ministerial study. Granting that positive
and unadulterated truth is the sole result to be sought,
the question is natural and just, how such truth shall
be discovered, amidst the multitude of varying opinions. To the Christian inquirer the problem  need
cause little hesitancy. If there is a revelation from
God, this is to be the capital object of meditation.
The truth of the Scripture stands forth at once as the
grand topic for life; and this one book is at once the
professional guide and the chosen delight of the sacred.
student. He need no longer ask what shall be the
principal aim of his inquiries, or what his line of direction in the research of knowledge. Reason and




186          THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
truth are correlative; and only what is true can afford
nutriment and growth. In our mingled state, we receive truth with additions of error; but all the benefit
is from the truth, and all falsehood is poison, which
overclouds, pains, and weakens the mind. It is not
too much to affirm, that even the momentary inhalation of such miasma works some lesion of the. inward
powers. Who can say how many of our prejudices,
distresses, and sins, arise from this single cause?
In the conduct of mental discipline, it will not be
difficult to see the applications of this principle,
though it may call for constraint and self-denial.
There is occasion for circumspect walking in the
study of opinion. We desire the knowledge of good
and evil; but let us be cautious; let us employ a
wise reserve; let us distrust our own strength of
judgment; let us be sparing in our familiarity with
seducers. It were well, in all cases, to take our stand
on the firm ground of divine verity, and thence to
make our survey of all that is opposed. Instances
may be given of men long trained in the best schools,
who from  a sickly taste for strange opinions, have
fallen from  soundness of faith, and landed in the
bigotry and superstition of popery, or the delirious
ravings of Swedenborg. Amidst conflicting judgments respecting the doctrinal contents of revelation,
there is a just presumption in favour of those which




THE PREACHER'S STUDIES.          187
are catholic, those which are prevalent among good
men, those which are obvious in the record, those
which tend to sobriety and holy living, those which
are least allied to enthusiastic or fanatic innovation,
those which grow out of first truths, and those which
are consistent with themselves.
In the investigation of truth, it is important to
bear steadily in mind the great foundation of valid
belief. All argumentation runs back into certain
propositions which sustain the entire structure of
argument, and which commend themselves to the unsophisticated mind, as light to the healthy organ of
vision. This is especially important in our study of
the Bible. It is less observed than it deserves to be,
that while the sacred writers sometimes argue, they
oftener assert the truth. This is, above all, true of
Him who spake as never man spake; and it became
Him, as the authoritative Teacher, the Source of truth,
yea, the Truth itself. The samle declarations, even
now repeated by mortal lips, have, we believe, a
penetrative force, greater than is commonly acknowledged. We may accredit reason, without going over
to rationalism. The first truth and the first reason
are coincident in God. Here subject and object are
identical. Even in fallen man, as a reasonable being,
truth is fitted to reason. Like light, it makes its own
way, is its own revealer, and, to a certain extent, car



188         THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
ries its own evidence. However fully we may consent to receive whatever is divinely revealed, there is
a previous point to be settled before opening the
volume, which is, that God is to be believed; and
this is a discovery of natural light. There are truths,
the bare statement of which is mighty. The repeated
statement of truths propagates them among mankind; most of our knowledge is thus derived. These
propositions may be made the conclusion of ratiocinative processes, of processes differing among themselves, and indefinitely multiplied; for men have various ways of proving the same thing. But many a
man believes that which he cannot prove to another.
It is shallow to deny or doubt a proposition, simply
because he who holds it is unable to bring it within
logical mood and figure. Thought is very rapid.
Middle terms are often faint in the mind's vision, so as
to vanish, while yet the conclusions remain. Nay we
are sometimes sure of that, on the mere statement of
it, which, so far as consciousness reports, has not come
to us as the result of linked reasoning. This seeming intuition may extend to a greater sphere of objects, than those which are usually denominated First
Truths.
From these considerations we may be encouraged,
both in private inquiry, and in the teaching of others.
We are not to be deterred from stating the truth, be



THE PREACHER'S STUDIES.        189
cause we have not time to argue, nor even because
it is denied. Assertion propagates falsehood; how
much the rather should we use it to propagate truth?
The statement of a great truth conveys to the hearer
a form of thought, which, although he deny, he may
come to believe. Therefore let it be stated. The
medium of proof may come afterwards, Truths confirm one another, and become mutual proofs. In this
way our studies of Scripture perpetually build up our
knowledge and faith. THERE IS A GOD: here is the
sublimest asseveration which human lips can utter.
It is declared to the babe, and he receives it. Shall
no man enjoy the great conception, but one who has
mastered the arguments? The arguments are multiform,' unlike, perhaps sometimes insufficient; yet the
truth abides. There are a thousand arguments, and
a thousand are yet to be discovered, just as there are
a thousand radii, all tending to one point in which to
centre. There is no truth which the mind so readily
receives; and we adopt it as a palmary instance of
the use of declaring a truth, as the Scriptures often
do, independently of ratiocination.
But that which settles the mind as to the real
warrant for believing Scripture, is that all inspired
teaching is authoritative and triumphant.  In the
baffling search of truth, the weary mind needs such a
resting-place and acquiesces in it. The Word of God,




I90          THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
considered as a body of religious truth. and morals, is
the chief fund of those who receive it, and the treasure-house of the instructed scribe. It has made the
wisest philosophers and the happiest men; and the
true business of the Christian philosopher is to subject the sacred text to a just interpretation. This
suddenly defines and lightens the territory of the
clerical student.  His work in a certain sense is
wholly exegetical. His function, in regard to the
divers declarations of the Bible, is like that of the
natural philosopher in regard to the complete phenomena of the universe. And here is task enough;
for life is too short for even the united powers of
Christian interpreters to. exhaust all the meaning of
the Scriptures. The prophetic word alone seems to
lie before us as a great continent, concerning which
as great mistakes have been made as by the early
Spanish discoverers about the new world they had
touched, and of which only one here and there has
taken any safe bearings. The same may be said
concerning the border-land between revelation and
physical science; many lucubrations must ensue, before the obscure equivocal voices of science, antiquities, and seeming discovery, shall be duly corrected by the everlasting sentences of God's word.
So truly are perverse methods founded in an evil
nature, and so prone are we to abuse the best prin



THE PREACHER'S STUDIES.        191
ciples, that with the Bible in our hands, as a chosen
study, we may slide into the old blunder of undigested
and impertinent erudition. The text may be swallowed up of commentary. Indeed, we know not a
field in which pedantic erudition careers with more
flaunting display, than this of interpretation. Young
clergymen there are, whose proudest toils consist in
the constant consultation of a shelf of interpreters,
chiefly German. We protest against this pretended
auxiliary, when it becomes a rival. The commentary,
like fire, is a good servant, but a bad master. The
state of mind produced by sitting in judgment to
hear twenty or fifty different expounders give their
opinions on a verse, is morbid in a high degree; and
cases are occurring every year, of laboriously educated weaklings, rich in books, who are utterly destroyed for all usefulness by what may be called their
polymathic repletion.  No: —more knowledge of
Scripture is generally derived from direct study of
the text, in the original, with grammar and lexicon,
than from examining and comparing all the opposite
opinions in Pool's Synopsis, De Wette, or Bloomfield.
Again we say, commentaries must be used, and
thankfully, but just as we use ladders, crutches, and
spectacles; the exception, not the rule; the aid in
emergency, not the habit of every moment. There
are times when what we most of all need, is to open




192         THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
the eye to the direct rays of self-evidencing truth;
and at such times every intervening human medium
keeps out just so many rays from falling on the retina. Holy Scripture cannot make its true impression, unless it be read in continuity; a whole epistle,
a whole gospel, a whole prophecy at once; and with
repetition of the process again and again; but this is
altogether incompatible with the piecemeal mode of
leaving the text every moment to converse with the
annotator. The best posture for receiving light is
not that of an umpire among contending interpreters.
So far as the text is understood by us, our study of
it is converse with positive truth.  Suppose some
errors are picked up, as they will be, in individual
cases: these will be gradually corrected by the confluent light of many passages. The sum of truths
will be incalculably greater than the sum of errors.
The healthful body of truth will gradually extrude
the portion of error, and cause it to slough off. The
analogy of faith will more and more throw its light
into dark places. All these effects will be just in
proportion to the daily, diligent, continuous study of
the pure text. Generally it will be found, that the
more perusal of the text, the more acquisition of
truth. And in application to the case of preachers,
if we have learnt any thing by the painful and mortifying experience of many years, it is, that of all




THE PREACHER S STUDIES.        193
preparatives for preaching, the best is the study of
the original Scripture text. None is so suggestive of
matter; none is so fruitful of illustration; and none
is so certain to furnish natural and attractive methods
of partition. If we did not know how many live in
a practice diametrically opposed to it, we should almost blush to reiterate, what indeed comprehends all
we are urging, that God's truth is infinitely more
important than good methods of finding i'
We have sometimes thought that over-explaining
is one of the world's plagues. There are those.things
which, even if left a little in enigma or in twilight, are
better without being too much hammered out. Who
ever failed to be sick of the prating of the cicerone in
a foreign gallery? Why should we deluge an author's
inkhorn with water?  Wherefore should iEsop and
John Bunyan be diluted with endless commentary?
And all this applies itself to the young minister's private study of Scripture. Experience shows that for
pulpit and pastoral purposes, one is more benefited
by scholia, or sententious seedlike observations such
as those of Bengel's Gnomon, than by the Critici
Sacri, Doctor Gill, or Kuincel. Baxter says of himself: " Till at last, being by my sickness cast far from
home, where I had no book but my Bible, I set to
study the truth from thence, and so, by the blessing
of God, discovered more in one week than I had done
9




194          THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
before in seventeen years' reading, hearing, and
wrangling."  To which add B1engel's maxims: Te
toturn acpplicc  ad texturm; ren totam apploica ad te.
And again: " SIore extraordinary proof there is not,
of the truth and validity of I-Ioly Scripture, and all
its contents of narratives, doctrines, promises, and
threatenings, than Holy Scripture itself. Truth constrains our acquiescence; I recognize the handwriting
of a friend, even though the carrier does not tell me
from whom he brings a letter. The sun is made
visible, not by any other heavenly bodies, still less
by a torch, but by itself; albeit the blind man apprehends it not."
The hive of books on interpretation and religious
philosophy, in our day, is the German press. Great
readers among the younger clergy seem ashamed not
to have an acquaintance with these. The question is
frequently asked, whether a knowledge of the German
language is a necessary or highly important part of
ministerial accomplishment. If the ministry at large
be regarded, we hesitate not a moment to reply that
it is not. There are other attainments far more valuable. Some men indeed, called to lead in theological
instruction, to publish expository works, and to wage
controversies, may well apply themselves to this medium of knowledge; and as no one can predict -what
shall be his future vocation in these respects, violence




THE PREACHER'S STUDIES.       195
is not to be done to the impulses of Providence,
which draw and urge the young student to this field;
as Carey was attracted to Eastern philology, while
yet a shoemaker.  Such exempt cases, however,
cannot be made the basis of a general rule. So far
as exegesis is concerned, with its preparations and
cognate branches, all that is indispensable in German literature is regularly transferred into English.
MZuch even of this is impure, seductive, and utterly
false; and he may regard his lot as happy, who finds
no duty summoning him to meddle with such a farrago. In respect to theology, properly so called, and
the philosophy of religion, we know of no single German work which the young minister may not do
without. Even those which are orthodox are only
approximations to a system of truth from which the
theologians of that country have been sliding away;
gleams of convalescence in a sick-room, which was
almost the chamber of death; laboured vindications
of what none among us doubt; or refutations of
heresies which happily have not invaded our part of
Christendom. Why should the parish minister in
New Jersey or Wisconsin toil through the thirty
volumes which have been educed by Strauss's portentous theory? Why should he mystify himself by labouring among the profound treatises which show that
God is personal, or that there is such a thing as sin?




196         THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
And why should he wear himself out in mastering a
theosophic, metaphysic hypothesis, which has exploded by the expansion of its own gases, before the
volume has been brought to his hands? All that we
have written about the infelicity of living in a tainted
atmosphere, has its application here. Upon many a
brilliant book from abroad, we may write, as did the
great Arnauld upon the fly-leaf of his Mlalebranche,
Publchra, nova, falsa. After some observation, we
cannot recall a single instance of one who has become
a more effective preacher, by addicting himself to the
modern authors of Germany.
Keeping in view the great importance of being
something more than a warehouse for other men's
thoughts, the earnest minister will early seek the art
of original meditation. To himself he will sometimes
appear to be making little progress; perhaps even
to be walking over his own circular track. But
thinking over the same trains is not useless, if one so
thinks them over as to secure truth. Novelty is the
last object which a wise inquirer will seek. We may
be sneered at for the suggestion, but we hold it a wise
purpose quiaeta non movere, and till cause be shown,
to rest on settled positions. As we did not discover
the tenets which we profess, but were taught them,
so we may hold them, till maintenance be denial of
Scripture reasons. In meditation on these truths, we




THE rREACJIER S STUDIES.        197
may so conduct the process as to revise and correct
definitions and notions; to secure just connection of
arguments; to change the order of the same; to reject useless steps; to supply chasms; to reassure the
memory, and thus to have materials for daily thinking, even by the way, in the crowded street, or in the
saddle. We may thus be carrying on the entire
column of truths into the regions of further discovery.
When in pursuing theological lucubrations, the
student finds himself advancing by cautious deduction
from known truths, he has this special safeguard, that
such deductions correct previous errors and confirm
previous truths; the former by startling us with
manifest falsehood-the reductio ad absurdurnm-the
latter by arriving anew at familiar truths, or truths
consistent with former truths, or inconsistent with the
denial of former truths. Or the same may be thus
expressed: Every advance in true reasoning adds
confirmation to the general system. These are good
reasons for studying sometimes without books; a
great attainment which some eminent scholars never
make in a whole lifetime,
It is, we trust, impossible for any so far to mistake our drift, as to suppose that we utter a caveat
against reading, or even against extensive reading.
Books are and must continue to be the great channels




198         THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
of knowledge, and fertilizing stimulants of the mind.
But we would have the young preacher not to look
on them as the sheaves of harvest. Great importance
attaches itself to sound views of the place which
human compositions occupy in mental training.
Crude, immature learners regard their courses of
reading, especially when rare and diversified, as so
much ultimate gain; as furnishing propositions to be
remembered, and as the material of future systems;
and according to their quickness and tenacity of
memory, they exercise themselves to reproduce the
contents of favourite authors, in their very sequence,
if not in their very words. But the same persons, if
destined for anything greater than slavish repeaters,
soon arrive at the disovery, that a day of multifarious
reading needs to be followed by an evening of reflection, in order to conduce to any progress. And let it
be observed, as a curious phenomenon of thought,
that these subsequent reflections are not the reproduction or re-arrangement of notions gathered during
previous study. This is useful and encouraging in
the premeditation of sermons. It is even possible
that none of the foregoing propositions reappear in
their modified shape; the mind may work on a track
entirely new. This part of the process ought to be
well marked. What has been gained is not so much
information as discipline; the training of the athlete




THE PREACHER'S STUDIES.        199
before contention. Yet the previous reading, indeed
all previous reading, is felt to have tended somehow towards the favourable result. This is to be
accounted for by several reasons. The powers have
been stimulated; thus we manure the ground, in
order to crops. In addition to this, the generalizing
faculty arises to wider statements, and laws, for
which the particulars of the discursive reading have
furnished the instances. And further, the analogy
of things read suggests new resemblances and opens
new trains. But for all this there is no room, where
the reading is perpetual, so as to become the only
mode of study. Even where the mind, after converse
with books, is put upon original activity, care must
be taken that these later trains of thought are in the
direction of what is useful, and above all what is
divine. The best flights of the preacher's meditation
are those with which he is indulged after copious
perusal of the simple word of God.
While many will assent to the general correctness
of these statements, few, we apprehend, will consent
to put them into practice, in the earlier years of mental training; and with some, the faulty methods of
these years become the habit of life. But where a
man belongs to the class of productive minds, he will
spontaneously seek retirement and self-recollection,
after the laborious reading of some years. Whether




2900         THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
he write or speak, he will do so from his own stores.
It is true that much of what he so writes and speaks
will be the result of long intimacy with other minds,
but not in the way of rehearsal or quotation. Wise
and happy quotation adds beauty and strength; but
the general truth holds, that the highest order of
minds is not given to abundant citation, except where
the very question is one which craves authorities.
Masculine thinkers utter the results of erudition,
rather than erudition itself. For why should a man
be so careful to renlember what other men have said?
Of all that he has read for years, much if not most,
as to its original form, has irrevocably slipped away;
and it is well that it is so, as the mind would else become a garret of unmanageable lumber. The mind
is not a store or magazine, but partly a sieve, which
lets go the refuse, and partly an alembic, which distills the "fifth essence."  The book-learning of any
moderate reader, even if not increased, would afford
material for this process. The lust of novelty betrays
some young preachers into a feverish thirst for new
reading, in the course of which they scour the fields
for every antithetic pungency, and every brilliant expression. For fear of commonplaces, they forbear to
give utterance to those great, plain, simple, everlasting propositions, which after all are the main stoneq
in the wall of truth. The preacher errs grievously,




THE PREACHIER'S STUDIES.       201
who shuns to announce obvious and familiar things,
if only they be true and seasonable, and logically knit
into the contexture. The most momentous sayings
are simple; or rather, as Daniel Webster once said,
"All great things are simple."
In hours of discipline, it would not be unprofitable
for the student to make it his rule, every day, to
bring freshly before his mind some solid truth, and
if possible some new one; but rather the solid than
the new. Let him fix the truth in his mind as something founded, and immovable. Let him proceed to
deduce other truths, but with caution. Let him abjure haste and dread paradox.  Let him  humbly
strive to ascend to the highest principles. And let
him be more concerned about the laws of thought,
than the matter of knowledge. In a word, let him
think for himself.
This last advice sometimes works noxious results
on a certain class of minds. As given from the desk,
without explanation, it is just indeed, but often nugatory. Original and independent thinking is one of
the last attainments of discipline. Tle novice does
not know how to go about it. HIe cannot say, " I
will now proceed to generate a thought, which neither
I nor others ever had before." The ludicrous attempt
is most likely to be made by the Icarus or the Phsethon, of least strength and skill. Whole classes of
9*




202         THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
youth, under famous teachers, have sometimes been
stimulated into rash speculation and innovating boldness by the abuse of this very counsel. It is necessary, therefore, to qualify and guard it. All the beginnings of knowledge proceed upon a principle of
imitation. Not more truly do we learn to speak and
to write, by following a copy, than we learn to investigate and to reason by imitating the processes of
others. Something of this must pertain to the whole
preliminary stage of development. But by degrees,
the native powers fledge themselves for a more adventurous flight.  And when such beginnings are
made, and the young thinker is animated with the
desire of expatiating for himself, it is prudent that he
should consider the nature of the procedure, or how
the mind orders itself in original thinking. Briefly,
then, most of our effort concerns the faculty of attention. Wle must look steadily in the direction of the
dawning thought, as we look eastward for the sunrising. WVe can often do no more than hold the mind
fixed. WVhen Sir Isaac Newton was asked how he
effected his vast discoveries he replied, " By thinking
continually unto them."  Hence the preacher, who
earnestly searches for truths to be uttered in God's
house, will often feel himself reduced to a posture of
soul which seems passive. Thought is not engendered
by violent paroxysms of conscious invention; any




THE PREACHER'S STUDIES.        203
more than a lost coin or a lost sheep is found by
running hither and thither in a fury of pragmatical
anxiety.  Let the wise thinker seat himself, and
eschew vexing, plaguing cogitations. Those are not
the best thoughts which are wrung out with knitted
brows. Something must be conceded to the spontaneity of thinking. We do not so much create the
stream, as watch it, and to a certain degree direct it.
This is perhaps the reason why great thinkers do not
wear themselves out; but often attain longevity. It
is not meditation which weakens and distempers
clerical students, so much as long sitting at the desk,
and unrestrained indulgence at the table.  Placid,
easy philosophizing is one of the delights of life, and
is fruitful. It may be carried on in gardens, on
horseback, at the seaside, amidst pedestrian excursions. It is the testimony of Malthus, who says: " I
thirrk that the better half, and much the most agreeable one, of the pleasures of the mind, is best enjoyed
while one is upon one's legs." In thinking, we may
discreetly let the thread drop at times; it will beyond
doubt be found again at the right moment. Interruptions thus do good, and secure repose which might
not otherwise be taken. Especially converse with
other minds, on subjects of present interest, is among
the most useful means of suggestion and correction,
as it regards our own researches. And what is true




204         THOUGHTS ON?REACHING.
of living friends is no less true of good books; in
their proper place, they afford invaluable helps to our
original inquiries.
As a single example, but that the most important,
of what we mean by the use of good books, as auxiliary to private thinking, we select works on systematic
theology, either such as give a conspectus of the whole,
or such as more largely discuss particular topics.
These profess to give the classified results of biblical
investigation. To the production of these systems,
either in the head, in the sermon, or in the printed
book, all exegetical research is subsidiary. Fondness
for these will be very much in proportion to the
strength, clearness, and harmonious action of the intellect. No man can be said to know anything truly,
which he does not know systematically. Every mind,
even the loosest, tends naturally to methodize its
acquisitions; much of every man's study consists in
referring new truths to the proper class in his mental
arrangement; every man has his system, good or bad,
and every sermon is, so far as it goes, a body of divinity. But the great minds of theology have made
this their favourite department; and none can commune with them constantly without catching a portion
of their energy, and learning somewhat of their art.
iMelancthon, Calvin, Chamier, Turrettine, Owen, and
Edwards, are companions who will teach a man to




TE PREACHER'S STUDIES.        205
think, and strengthen him to preach. When studies
are miscellaneous and desultory, there is the more
reason for employing frequent perusal of scientific
arrangements, in order to give unity to the varied
acquisitions. As a good parallel, we may mention
that the late Judge Washington was accustomed to
read over Blackstone's Commentaries once a year.
This, however, was not enough for a genuine blackletter lawyer. " Find time," said Lord Chancellor
Eldon, " to read Coke on Littleton, again and again.
If it be toil and labour to you, and it will be so, think
as I do, when I am climbing up to Swyer or Westhill,
that the world will be before you when the toil is over;
for so the Law will be if you make yourself complete
master of that book. At present lawyers are made
good cheap, by learning law from Blackstone and less
elegant compilers; depend upon it, men so bred will
never be lawyers, (though they may be barristers,)
whatever they may call themselves. I read Coke on
Littleton through, the other day, when I was out of
office; and when I was a student, I abridged it."
Our candid judgment is, that writers such as we intend
belong chiefly to a former period of Reformed theology. And we have had a pleasurable surprise, in
finding the same judgment expressed by the late Dr.
Pye Smith, who has been so often quoted as favourable
to German divines, with whose works he had a thor



206          THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
ough acquaintance. "Perhaps," says he, " the very
best theological writings that ever the world beheld,
-next to the sacred fountains themselves,-are the
Latin works of foreign divines who have flourished
since the period of the Reformation. It is no extravagance to affirm, that all the toil and labour of acquiring a masterly acquaintance with the Latin tongue,
would be richly recompensed by the attainment of
this single object, an ability to read and profit by
those admirable authors." *
But the great incitement, as well as the true pabulum of thought is to be derived from the Scriptures.
It is happy for a student when he finds that his most
animated inquiries are over the word of God. This
is a study which secures the right posture of mind,
not only for calm judgment, but even for discovery.
Here is the touchstone which detects the alloy of
error. Here only we find positive conclusions which
are indubitable. The sacred writings are a moral discipline, and promote holy states which are favourable
to the apprehension and belief of truth. No one can
fully estimate how much they prevent frivolous and
aimless reasonings, by keeping the mind constantly
in the presence of the greatest objects. The attainnents here made belong to real knowledge; and thus
* "First Series of Christian Theology," p. 7. London, 1854.




THE PREACHER'S STUDIES.          207
we have returned to the principal topic, which we
discussed in the opening of these remarks.
AVWhat has been urged in the foregoing paragraphs,
will, as we are fully aware, be little inviting to many
an ambitious scholar. Genuine love of truth is not
universal. Great numbers even of good men labour
for knowledge of the vehicle; books, citations, masters, authority, learning as distinct from science. This
has its subsidiary value, like the study of words; but
as an end, it belongs to inferior minds. The tendency
may be detected by its shibboleths; the talk of such
scholars is altogether of verbal definitions, sedes gqucestiowIm, debates, controversial results, treatises, formularies, the bibliography of subjects. We would not
undervalue these things, when kept among instruinents. But this sort of research affords only knowledge to tell and to be talked of, to get benefit by;
ambitious knowledge, anything but knowledge for
itself. The quality of such attainment is inferior; it
is shell, husk, integument. It is not fixed and permanent, but resting too much in words, being lost if the
words be changed. Men of this school are presently
gravelled, if pushed back a step or two, out of their
authors and formulas, into the nature of things. Such
a one will be found rehearsing formulas, or slightly
varying them. The evil is fostered by setting inordinate value on mere reading, and by giving the rein to




208         THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
literary curiosity. Take a weak mind and inflate it
with books, and you produce a pitiable theologian.
Every one can recall some bookish man who is at the
same time shallow. His glory is in citation. Where
there is no determinate judgment, great knowledge
tends only to vacillation, debility, concession when
pressed, and frequent change of opinion. The entire
mental furniture of such a scholar is a kind of nominalism. He is a treasury of arbitrary distinctions,
classifications, commonplaces.  His questions are,
Who has said it? Who has opposed it? Where is it
found? How expressed? This is the history of truth,
rather than truth itself. Except in the sense of remembering, this person can scarcely be said to think
without a book in his hand. We see to what extremes
this sort of cortical or formal knowledge may run, in
the case of Jewish scholars, Marsorites, and secondrate papists. All is textual. The disposition is encouraged by what university-men call cramming, and
by all undigested learning.
It is possible that in our zeal to brand a prevalent
evil, we have dwelt too much on the negative side.
For there is another kind of knowledge, and another
ministerial discipline. We sometimes find it in unlearned men; and always in those men in whom ponderous erudition has not smothered the native powers;
such were Augustine, Calvin, Bacon, Owen, Horsley,




THE PREACHER'S STUDIES.         209
and Foster. The learned man who comes to this,
comes to it through and beyond his learning. IIe attains to the "clear ideas" of Locke.  By patient
thinking he disentangles the body of truth from its
lettered and pictured integuments, of authority, treatise, and phrase. Perhaps a long period has been
necessary, in order to learn terms, and read the tenets
of other men; and here many rest, though genius
sometimes shortens this period. But true science is
not tied to certain phrases. The theologian, above all
men, should possess insight. It should not be said of
him, Haeret in cortice. The matter is not helped when
weak but adventurous minds fly away from received
formulas: the received formula may contain truth;
the new formula may be as blindly and slavishly repeated as the old. The difference lies deeper than
this. There is a discipline of mind which leads to
genuine knowledge; which does not exclude erudition,
but works through it to something higher. It is utterly remote from the idle musings of sundry, who
absurdly boast that they are always thinking, but
never read. It trains the mental eye to look through
diction to essential truth; by which habit the student's
notions become his own, and when afterwards expressed, however simply, bear the stamp of originality.
It conduces to sincere thirst for truth, as truth, in disregard of fame, of authority, of men, and of conse



210          THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
quences; and is, therefore, opposed to sectarian fire,
bigotry, worship of masters, and pedantry. It ceases
to swim with corks, and breaks away from the shallows of mere memory and rhetoric.. Strength of
judgment and firmness of conviction are its results.
The mind thus taught does not allow doubts concerning unsettled things to agitate the foundation of things
already proved, but maintains its conquests, and leaves
no unprotected fortress in the rear. Such is the rare
but attainable discipline, which we would covet for
every minister of the word.
There is strong inducement to order one's studies
in the way here recommended, in the further consideration, that it leads directly to every good quality in
the great work of preaching. The average of any
man's sermons will be as the character of his general
thinking. A good discourse is not so much the product of the week's preparation, as of the whole antecedent studies and discipline; it flows not from the
pitcher, but the deep well.  Hence that celebrated
preacher spake a weighty thing, who, on being asked
how long it took him to make a certain sermon, replied, " About twenty years."
The subject commends itself to a class, who constitute the strength of our American Church; we mean
the rural clergy, dispersed through the length and
breadth of the land, often in small parishes. The his



THE PREACHER'S STUDIES.         211
tory both of England and of New England will evince,
that some of the profoundest thinkers have become
such in precisely these circumstances. It is a vulgar
error to suppose that city pastors are in the mnost favourable situation for mental culture. Their labours
are great, their public and executive duties are many,
their interruptions are vexatious, and hence their time,
especially for prolonged reflection, is little at their own
disposal. No man can be so happily placed for mental culture as the pastor of a retired country parish.
He may pursue the uninterrupted studies, which
formed a Bochart, a Philip Henry, an Edwards, and a
Dwight. Even worldly observers have looked with
envy on such a seclusion.
The entire current of our remark has presupposed
that the studies of the young pastor are sacred and
biblical. Instances occur of clergymen who have devoted their strength to secular literature and science.
Cardinal Wiseman, in his later series of Essays, delivers some severe blows at those Anglican dignitaries
whose chief laurels have been won in mathematics,
natural history, and the minute criticism  of Greek
plays. A well-known clergyman of our own country is
remembered only as a consummate botanist. Such
men are contributors to the stock of general knowledge, but they are scarcely to be accounted faithful to
the imperative demands of an age and country like




212         THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
our own. "Our office," says Cecil, "is the most laborious in the world. The mind must be always on
the stretch, to acquire wisdom and grace, and to communicate them to all who come near. It is well, indeed, when a clergyman of genius and learning devotes himself to the publication of classics and works
of literature, if he cannot be prevailed to turn his
genius and learning to a more important end. Enter
into this kind of society-what do you hear?'Have
you seen the new edition of Sophocles?'-' No! is a
new  edition of Sophocles undertaken?'-and this
makes up the conversation, and these are the ends of
men who by profession should win souls. I received
a most useful hint from Dr. Bacon, then Father of the
University, when I was at college. I used frequently
to visit him at his living, near Oxford. He would say
to me,' What are you doing? what are your studies?'
-' I am reading so and. so.' —' You are quite wrong.
When I was young, I could turn any piece of Hebrew
into Greek verse with ease. But when I came into
this parish, and had to teach ignorant people, I was
wholly at a loss; I had no furniture. Study chiefly
what you can turn to good account in your future
life.'" To which may be added the remark of a profound observer, Dr. Witherspoon: " It is, in my opinion, not any honour to a minister to be very famous
in any branch that is wholly unconnected with the



THE PREACHER'S STUDIES.        213
ology." * We cite these eminent authorities, in the
full persuasion that they are not opposed to the most
thorough acquaintance with worldly learning and
philosophy as subsidiary tQ the defence and exposition
of the gospel. But these are not so to usurp the time
and heart as to make the Christian minister distinctively a man of science or letters. And we admit,
also, a valid exception in favour of such collateral
pursuits as are for recreation, in the intervals of
labour. 
Valuable authorship has in every period of the
Church been found among the parochial ministry.
This should be borne in mind by the young pastor, in
expectation of the day when he shall act upon Lord
ZBacon's oft quoted adage, that every man owes a debt
to his own profession. New generations of men demand new books, even upon old subjects. No works
of the pen are more honourable than those which disclose a sincere interest in the good of one's countrymen, and a desire to apply scriptural principles to
national emergencies.  Questions of true philanthropy continue to be safest in the hands of Christ's
ministers. At the same time, the ordinary topics of
theology and morals invite the attention of all whose
hearts God hath touched, even though they dwell remote from city or college.
* Works, vol. iv. p. 19.




214          THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
If we had not already trespassed on the reader's
patience, we should take pleasure in examining the
question how far the authorship of the Christian
Church has resided among. the working pastors. Let
us say without fear of contradiction, the great and
useful works of religious literature have not proceeded
exclusively from professional savans, scholars, or university-men.  The inquiry is a curious one, what
causes have operated to give the preponderance in
literary production sometimes to one and sometimes
to the other class. It may be for the encouragement
of diffident scholars, in distant and straitened fields,
that some of the greatest productions of human genius
have issued from  retirement and poverty.  Wealth
has seldom stimulated to aught above the caprices of.
literature. The conditions of authorship, as shared
between professors and private scholars, engaged the
acute mind of the father of Political Economy;
whose remarks are worthy of all attention. Speaking
of Europe, he observes, that where church-benefices
are generally moderate, a university-chair will have
the preference. In the opposite case, the Church will
draw from the universities the most eminent men of
letters. It is declared by Voltaire, that Father Porree,
a Jesuit of no great eminence in the republic of letters, was the only professor they had ever had in
France whose works were worth the reading. The




THE PREACHER'S STUDIES.        215
same remark is applicable to other Roman Catholic
countries. After the Church of Rome, the Church
of England is by far the best endowed in Christendom.
In England, accordingly, says Smith, the Church is
continually draining the universities of all their best
and ablest members; and an old college tutor, who is
known and distinguished in Europe as an eminent
man of letters, is as rarely to be found there as in any
Roman Catholic country. " In Geneva, on the contrary, in the Protestant cantons of Switzerland, in the
Protestant countries of Germany, in Holland, in Scotland, in Sweden, and Denmark, the most eminent men
of letters whom those countries have produced, have,
not all indeed, but the far greater part of them, been
professors in universities. In those countries, the universities are continually draining the Church of all its
most eminent men of letters."   These remarks have
an application tA the authorship of America, which
we are compelled to leave to the reader's own mind.
But this whole subject of authorship is only incidental, and these remarks have trickled from the pen
almost beyond our purpose. Even though the Christian pastor should never send a line to the press, he is
continually engaged in literary production, and in a
most important species of publication. There is no
agency in the world which is more operative upon
* Wealth of Nations, book v. chap. i.




216         THOUGHTS ON PREACHING,
society than the faithful preaching of the gospel;
there is none which demands more study, discipline,
and wisdom. Hence every man who comprehends
the greatness of his vocation will recognize the motives to unwearied exertion in the task of self-control,
mental activity, and devoted inquiry after truth.




THE MATTER OF PREACHING.
WITHIN a recent period, there has been much earnest discussion relative to the manner of preaching,
in distinction from the matter of it. To a certain
extent, the matter and manner of preaching interpenetrate and determine each other.  All matter
sensuous and intellectual must exist in some form,
and, while it remains unchanged, is inseparable from
that form; which is only saying, that any substapce
remaining what it is, is inseparable from the qualities
which make it what it is. So far, to determine the
matter is to determine the form. To determine that
the matter of the human body is an animal organism,
is so far forth to determine its form. To determine
that the matter of a book shall be moral philosophy,
geometry, or chemistry, is so far to determine its
form. To settle the point that preaching shall be
scriptural, philosophical, doctrinal, practical, Pelagian, Calvinistic, topical, or expository in its matter,
is, so far, to determine its form. The discussions in re10




218          THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
gard to the manner of preaching to which we allude,
have had respect to it, not in points wherein it is implicated in the matter, but to points which are independent of it. They admit of indefinite variation in
proclaiming essentially the same matter, the same
truths, thoughts, reasonings, in the same order of arrangement. They relate to elocution, gesticulation,
the use of manuscripts in the pulpit, and whatever in
style or delivery affects the vivacity and impressiveness of a sermon, which in substance and matter is
essentially what it should be. Manner, in this sense,
and as separable from the matter of preaching, (while
we by no means underrate its importance,) it is no
part of our present purpose to investigate. We inquire rather what it is the minister's duty to preach,
and how he shall do it, only so far as matter and form
mutually interpenetrate and determine each other.
This is the highest question for the preacher to decide.
It is of great consequence how we preach. It is of
still greater, what we preach, except so far as the
former involves the latter.
But is it, after all, a question, or at any rate, an
open question, among Christians, or if among Christians, among orthodox and evangelical Christians,
who acknowledge that the preacher's commission is
to preach the gospel, and that he fulfils his duty only
so far, as he preaches the word, the whole word, and




TEHE MATTER OF PREACHING.        219
nothing but the word? Can it be an open question
among those who accept the Reformed confessions as
faithful summaries of the teachings of revelation? In
one sense, this is not an open question among any
who can of right be called Christians. Still less room
for debate remains among those who agree in that
interpretation of Scripture which makes salvation
wholly of grace. But even among these, there is a
vast diversity, not merely in the style of their preaching, but in the matter or substance of it. This does
not imply that they necessarily contradict one another.  It does not necessarily imply that any impugn, or even that they do not confess and abide by
every article of the Confession in their discourses.
But it implies something more than that diversity of
gifts, by which different men are endowed with special
qualifications for commending the same gospel to different classes of minds. The difference lies in the different proportions, surroundings, applications in which
they set forth the different elements of the same body
of truth; in what they signalize by frequent and
emphatic iteration, and what they omit or touch
lightly and charily, and in the foreign matter with
which they illustrate, obscure, or encumber it. IHow
else shall we account for the fact that one preacher
has powe chiefly in the aptness and force of his appeals to the impenitent; another, in awakening de



220          THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
vout feeling in the hearts of Christians; a third, in
his lucid statement and unanswerable vindication of
Christian doctrines; a fourth, in the enforcement of
the moralities of the gospel; a fifth, in his extraordinary tact at working up occasional, miscellaneous,
and semi-secular sermons? Even among those then,
who acknowledge fealty to the great principle of
preachiing the word, it is still an open question, in
what proportions, surroundings, applications, and
other circumstances, this word and the various parts
thereof shall be preached. And this question will
bear long pondering by all who have assumed the
awful, yet glorious office of watching for souls, and
are bound to distribute to each a portion in due season. For who is sufficient for these things?
At the outset, we may safely postulate, 1. That
the Scriptures themselves exhibit the various elements
of divine truth, in the relative proportions in which it
is the preacher's duty to teach and enforce them.
2. That they are also an infallible guide as to the
mutual relations and practical applications of these
truths; and that, while the manner of exhibiting and
illustrating them requires adaptation to the present
circumstances and habits of thought among the people, they may not be intrinsically modified by al-'
teration, suppression, or addition.
3. That the preacher fulfils his mission just and




THE MATTER OF PREACHING.          221
only as his preaching causes these truths to be known
and, through grace, operative among his hearers.
4. That all other acquirelnents, attractions, graces,
or means of power and influence in a preacher, are
legitimate and valuable in proportion as they subserve this end; and any sources of power in the
pulpit, aside of this, no way contribute to the discharge of his mission. Their tendency is to supersede, and thus, in various degrees, to hinder or defeat it.
Finally: The great end of preaching is to glorify
God and bless man, by bringing sinners to the " obedience of faith " in Christ, and promoting their sanctification, their knowledge, love, and adoration of God;
their assimilation, conformity, and devotion to him,
in thought, desire, word, and deed; their cordial and
delighted communion with Father, Son, and Holy
Ghost; their love, gentleness, meekness, patience,
uprightness, and faithfulness towards their fellowmen. In a word, the great end of preaching, with
respect to men, is to advance them " in all holy conversation and godliness."
Starting with these premises, which must be their
own evidence to all who concede that our sole commission from Christ is to preach the word, it results:
1. That God should be the great, overshadowing
object set forth in the preacher's message.  All




222          THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
preaching that violates this precept must be vicious.
Tlhis appears from every side and aspect in which the
subject can be viewed. To say, as we shall say, that
Christ should be the burden of the preacher's message, does not contradict, it re-affirms this principle.
For Christ is God. In preaching Christ, we simply
preach God in Christ reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses.'Whether we set
forth the Father, the Son, or the Holy Ghost, either
one of the Three, or the Three in One, we directly
and immediately hold forth God, and none else. Now,
if we look at the Bible or its inspired preachers as
models, we find God always and everywhere in the
foreground. Indeed the highest evidence of its divinity is the radiance of God upon it. He is the first
and the last, shining in it, through it, and from it.
Its words are not those which man's wisdom teacheth,
and it speaks as never man spake. Another consideration is, that the word to be preached is the word of
God. It emanates from him exclusively. It is to be
enjoined in his name, and by his authority. It cannot be truly received, or produce its due saving effect,
unless it be received " not as the word of man, but
as it is in truth, the word of God, which worketh
effectually in them that believe." 1 Thess. ii. 13.
So the preacher is the ambassador of God. Can he
then truly deliver his message, unless He in whose




THE MATTER OF PREACHING.         223
behalf he pleads be the prominent object in his inculcations?
Still further: The truths which the Bible unfolds
are truths relating to God, in his nature and attributes, his works and ways; or they -concern us in our
relations to him as our Creator, Preserver, Sovereign,
IRedeemer, and Judge; or they respect the relations
and obligations of men to each other, which in turn
depend upon their common relation to tie one God
and Lord of all. Herein are'ontained all the doctrines, and hence arise all the duties of our religion.
How then can they be adequately set forth in any
form of sermonizing which does not make God all
inI all?
If we consider the duties or attainments required
in the Bible, they all have God for their object and
end. The love, the desires, the worship, the penitence, the sorrow, the self-renunciation, the devotion
required, are no otherwise genuine than as they have
supreme respect to God. Our duties to men have
their strongest bond in his requirements, and are only
acceptable when done as unto the Lord: " Not with
eye-service, as ilen-pleasers; but as the servants of
Christ, doing the will of God from the heart."  What
better then than a mere counterfeit of Christian teaching can we have, when God is not made its Alpha
and Omega 




224          THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
Besides, all disposition, ability, efficiency for attaining the favour or doing the will of God, are the
gifts of his sovereign grace. Whatever we are, or
have, or do, that is acceptable to God, or in the least
meets his requirements, by the grace of God we are
what we are. All is of God. All must come from
God. To God belongs all the glory. To God we
must look for every good gift and every perfect gift.
When he withdraws, our comforts droop, and all our
graces die. Is it conceivable, then, that the religion
of God can be inculcated, except as he himself is
magnified?  And is not this view thrice confirmed,
when we consider that the declared end of the whole
method of our salvation is that God may be glorified,
the issue of the whole is to be, that God shall be
visibly, as he is really, all in all?
Many, doubtless, will be ready to say that we
have been vindicating a truism. ~We shall not dispute them. If it be so, it only proves our position
the more impregnable. It is one of those truisms
that very many need to single out of their neglected
and forgotten commonplaces, and to brighten it into
its due lustre, and swell to its due proportions, by
surveying it afresh, in its deep grounds and infinite
reach of application. Coleridge says, in the first, if
not best aphorism of his Aids to Reflection, that we
can seldom be more usefully employed, than in " res



THE MATTER OF PREACHING.        225
cuing admitted truths from the neglect caused by
the very circumstance of their universal admission.
Extremes meet. Truths, of all others the most awful
and interesting, are too often considered as so true,
that they lose all the power of truth, and lie bedridden in the dormitory of the soul, side by side with
the most despised and exploded errors." That there
is a difference as to the extent to which God is magnified, and the whole texture of discourse saturated
with the divine element, by different preachers, is
undeniable. With some, a sense of his excellency
and our own littleness and vileness; of the blessedness of his favour and the terrors of his wrath; of the
importance of being prepared to meet him; of living
for his service and glory: of dependence upon him
for grace, salvation, and blessedness: of the impossibility of finding true felicity, except in the enjoyment
of him forever, is the grand impression sought and
effected. With others, the human, the worldly, the
philosophic, social, and political, usurp the predominance. These are the great objective elements that
loom up and secure an obtrusive, if not overshadowing prominence, in the preacher's unfoldings and
inculcations. Man and the world appear so great,
that God and heaven are scarcely greater. And in
some cases the preacher himself is foremost in
the group, and could hardly say with the Apostle,




226              THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
"we  preach  not ourselves, but Christ Jesus  the
Lord." *
If, then, the foremost object to be set forth in
preaching is the Most High, in his being, infinitude,
and perfection; in his works of creation, providence,
and grace; in his relations towards us as our Maker,
Preserver, Benefactor, our Sovereign, Saviour and
Judge; then that preaching is neither biblical, Christian, nor even religious, which is not so impregnated
with this divine element, that God is not only its central, but pervading  object; over all, in  all, through
all, of whom, and through  whom, and to whom  are
all things, to whom be glory forever.
2. We are thus prepared  to understand  the attitude in which man should be put by the preacher.
As the Bible is addressed to man, and aimns to bring
him to the salvation it proffers, i. e. to spiritual life,
holiness and bliss, this is a point of capital importance.
* We have been credibly informed that two distinguished living
preachers, when formerly stationed in the same Western city, had, for
an occasional auditor, an irreligious officer of the army. This gentleman said to our informant, that he listened to the one with the greater
pleasure; to the other with less satisfaction, but with greater respect
and reverence, if not profit. Being asked to explain himself, he said,
iThe former exalts the dignity of man, and I always come away
pleased with myself. The latter so magnifies God, that I seem nothing, and I always seem  oppressed with a sense of my own insignificance and unworthiness." If preaching is to be estimated by the
crowds it draws, we believe this'man-exalting divine is now facile
princeps among American preachers.




THE MATTER OF PREACHING.          227
But it is needless here to investigate anthropology.
The great object of the preacher should be to make
him know and feel that he is a dependent, rational?
and accountable creature, owing fealty to his Maker
-that he was made to love, serve, commune with,
and enjoy him; that herein is life and bliss, and'that
alienation from God by sin is death and woe. These
truths, the more earnestly they are pressed, find a
responsive attestation in every conscience not seared
as with a hot iron. And they are all the more felt,
in proportion as God is apprehended in his goodness
and holiness, his sovereignty and omniscience. But
while this is fundamental and conditional to any religion whatever, it underlies another truth which is
cardinal in Christianity. We of course refer to mian's
fallen state, including sin, guilt, misery, helplessness.
In general it may be affirmed, that men will realize
all this, just in proportion as they see and feel what
God is. But in order to set forth God effectually for
this purpose, his law, which mirrors his perfections in
his requirements of man, must be proclaimed in its
spirituality and searching import, in its precept and
penalty, line upon line, and precept upon precept.
The express law of God is but a formal republication
of the law written by nature on the heart, although
often forgotten, disowned, and obscured under the
mists of sin. But still it is written there, although




228          THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
sin has blurred the record. And when it is proclaimed in its full import and awful sanctions, it finds
an echo and witness in the conscience, that having
been drowsed into oblivion of it, is awakened to behold it. The lightnings of Sinai bring out in visible
distinctness the writing before invisibly traced on the
conscience.   For'" the conscience meanwhile bears
witness."  They know the judgment of God, that
they which commit such things are worthy of death.
With all the world they become consciously guilty
(V7r68Kot) before God. We have reason to fear that
too much of our current preaching is more or less
emasculated by a deficiency here. We are no legalists. Neither are we antinomian. The law must be
proclaimed, not for the purpose of showing us how
we can, but that we cannot, obtain life, according
to its requirements. It is the grand instrument for
producing conviction of sin. " By the law is the
knowledge of sin."  It is only as the law, in its
breadth of precept and awfulness of penalty, is apprehended and witnessed by the conscience, that conviction of sin is felt, that self-righteous hopes are extinguished, or that men are driven from all other
refuges to Christ. None will thirst for or flee to the
Saviour till they see their case to be hopeless without
him. The whole need not a physician, but they that
are sick. But this conviction can be effected only by




THE MATTER OF PREACHING.         229
manifestation of the law which makes it evident that
by violating its precept they are subject to its curse,
so it becomes a schoolmaster which leads to Christ.
Thus Paul was alive, i. e. confident of gaining eternal
life, without the law once. But when the commandment came, sin revived, and he died. It slew him.
Its manifestations under the light of the law were the
death of all his hopes. And he further shows that
this was accomplished only by a view of the spiritual
and heart-searching elements of the law. For he
says, " I had not known sin but by the law; I had
not known lust except the law had said, Thou shalt
not covet." It is when the law gleams and thunders,
that sinners in Zion are afraid, and fearfulness surprises the hypocrites.  And it is only when thus
" pricked in the heart " by the sword of the Spirit,
that they will ask, What shall we do to be saved 
The law is no less indispensable, of course, as a
rule of life to Christians. It is the standard of excellence to which they must aspire. They can neither
have nor give evidence that they are Christians, unless they are striving after conformity to this perfect
standard. The very end of their election, redemption,
calling, is that they may be holy as God is holy —a
peculiar people, zealous of good works. In proportion as their communion with God becomes perfect,
they will be perfect in holiness. But holiness is noth



230 T~ HOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
ing else than conformity to the law of God. It is
true that we do not thus seek a title to eternal life.
But thus alone can that life, gratuitously bestowed,
exist or manifest itself. Thus alone can we become
attempered to, or capable of, the joys of heaven. Although released from the law as a condition of life,
yet the Christian joyfully embraces it as a rule of
living. He does so, because by the instinct of his
gracious nature, he loves the law of God after the inward man, and because the adoption to sonship,
which is freely given him in Christ, enables and disposes him to obey it with filial freedom, love, and
confidence. Ile is not without law to God, but under
law to Christ. HTaving these promises, he cleanses
himself from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.
These commonplaces only need stating, so far as
the principle involved in them is concerned. The
chief questions which arise, respect the manner of
carrying it out. It is here we judge that the most
serious deficiency will be often found in preachinga deficiency which too often dulls its edge and destroys its penetrative power. Many insist strenuously
on the law, as the standard of goodness, which is evermore binding on all rational beings. They thunder
its curses upon unbelievers. They insist upon all
Christians making it the rule of life. Yet after all, it




THE MATTER OF PREACHING.         231
fails of its due effect in alarming the unconverted,
and purifying the hearts and lives of Christians. In
short, it does not reach, enlighten, or awaken the conscience. Why? because it is not unfolded and defined in its import and applications to the manifold
relations of our inner and outer life, and the modes of
thinking, feeling, and acting therein required. No
clear lines of discrimination are drawn, showing precisely where duty begins and ends, and where sin
commences either in the form of omission or commission. It is one thing to denounce the curse of the
law against the transgressor. It is another to denounce profaneness, or taking God's name in vain,
as a heinous sin. But it is yet another, and a very
different thing, to point out in clear and graphic delineation the various ways in which this command is
violated in thought, word and deed, and to show the
criteria which distinguish the lawful from the profane
treatment of things divine. This cannot be done,
without giving the knowledge of sins before unknown
or unheeded, while it relieves the conscience of the
sincere believer, not only by defining his duty, but
by showing what is not sin, and thus loosing him from
the fetters of morbid scruples and groundless despondency. The latter object is often scarcely less imnportant than the former. MIany Christians go limping
and halting all their days, in the fetters of a Judaical,




232         THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
Pharisaic, or ceremonial spirit; or of a superscriptural strictness and severity on some one or more
points of Christian morality. This may make them
harsh, sour, censorious, dejected, uncomfortable to
themselves and their brethren. But such weights and
consequent besetting sins' must be laid aside, before
they can run with patience and joy the Christian race.
Instead of mounting up on wings as eagles, they grow
weary, and their soul cleaveth to the dust. Those
who undertake to be more righteous than God's law,
in any respect, will be sure to compensate their work
of supererogation by greater license in some other
form of sin. We once knew a candidate for the ministry who denounced as a sin, eating meat, and drinking tea and coffee, and, if we remember right, any
violation of Professor HIitchcock's prescriptions for
avoiding dyspepsia. He ended with becoming the
hierophant of a conventicle of free-love Perfectionists,
and doing what he might, to turn temples into
brothels. Take the law of the Sabbath, in regard to
superiors and inferiors, indeed, the whole decalogue,
and let it be so expounded, defined, and applied, that
men must see not only what is, but what is not a violation of it-let the preaching of duty be clear, thorough, didactic, casuistic-and would it not oftener
leave the arrows of the Lord sharp and rankling in
the hearts of his enemies, and promote beyond meas



THE MATTER OF PREACHING.                   233
ure the sanctification, the blamelessness, the usefulness of Christians? Is it not thus, and not otherwise,
that the word becomes sharper than  any two-edged'
sword, piercing to the dividing asunder of the joints
and marrow, and a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart?  So is it, and not otherwise, that
it becomes profitable not merely for doctrine, but
" for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works."
These principles with regard to the inculcation of the
law, apply of course, mutatis mvutandis, to the whole
sphere of evangelical duty; i. e. of duty as amplified
in its scope, as modified in its source, rule and end,
by the gospel. This is only saying that in summoning men to do their duty, we ought to explain and
define so clearly as to preclude all mistakle, what duty
is.*   It is simply asserting the  didactic  element in' It can hardly be necessary to enter a caveat against strainingthis
maxim beyond the bounds of reason and even possibility. Even the
applications of principles can be given by the preacher only in derivative principles of greater or less generality. He cannot go into the
particular questions of fact, on which, in each case, the question of
duty depends. To do so, would be to teach all knowledge, which is
impossible, while the attempt to do it would be worse than ridiculous.
Thus, that it is a duty to keep our promises, and to make none which
are unlawful, or beyond our power to fulfil; and consequently that
none ought to undertake the practice of law, medicine, statesmanship,
or any calling, without competent qualifications to do aright, what they
thus promise to do, is evidently within the province of the pulpit. But




234            THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
preaching, which in the light of reason and scripture
must needs be an integral and fundamental part of it.
The commission given to preach the gospel to every
creature, is given by another evangelist as a commission to teach all nations to do and observe all
Christ's commands. The instructions given to Timothy and Titus terminate very much in showing them
whom, what, and how they shall teach.
We have dwelt the longer on this point, because
we are persuaded that not a few are labouring under
certain  misconceptions regarding  it, which  impair
their vigour and usefulness as preachers.  It is a vulgar notion that all didactic preaching is dry and uninteresting. Hence many have deep prejudice against
what they style doctrinal preaching.   They  crave
warmth and life.  They want earnest, hortatory discourse. They deem this practical and profitable.
But let practice be urged in an instructive way, which
displays its grounds, reach, and limits; which produce$ not merely some vague excitement, but shows
them what they ought to be and do, and they stigwho will say, that it is within its province to teach law, medicine, politics, engineering, or bricklaying? Such knowledge, without which
none can do their duty in these callings, must be learnt elsewhere. To
lecture on Hydropathy and Allopathy, the merits of our various political parties, old line and new line, straight and crooked, on the right
method of tailoring, or plastering, is not to teach or preach the gospel,
and if done under colour thereof, it is simply a desecration.




THE MATTER OF PREACHING.        235
matize it as dull, didactic, and doctrinal. We do not
dispute that there may be instructive preachers, who
by their jejune style and frigid manner, are obnoxious
to this complaint. This might happen, whatever the
matter of the sermon. But in many cases the objection is aimed at the things said, not the manner of
saying them.  It is related of the late Professor
Stuart, that during his short but efficient pastorate,
he dwelt much on certain doctrines of grace, which
had been neglected or disparaged by his predecessor.
The people were roused. Some said one thing and
some another. The result, however, was, that his
preaching was in the demonstration of the Spirit and
of power; his church was filled with eager listeners;
and experimental piety was greatly and permanently
promoted. Some of his hearers, restive under a tone
of preaching to which they were unused, begged him
to give them less doctrine, and more practical sermons. He complied with their request, and commenced delivering clear and thorough expositions of
the divine law. In a short time, however, the same
auditors waited upon him with a request that he
would return to the doctrines. They had enough of
practice. The truth is, aversion to legitimate preaching, whether of doctrine or practice, originates in one
source. It is simple aversion to truth in its antagonism to corrupt nature, which, if doctrinal, requires a




236          THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
correspondent practice; if practical, has its roots in a
correspondent doctrine.  For truth is in order to
goodness.   hence they prefer some transient and
blind excitement of feeling, to that discovery of truth
which alone can awaken sound evangelical feeling;
which purifies while it quickens the heart, because it
gives light to the understanding, and thus makes permanently wiser and better. We have said that preachers are in danger of being influenced by this vulgar
prejudice, and to flatter themselves that they can
benefit a large class most by imparting to them heat
without light. We apprehend that such heat can be
but a momentary glow of sympathetic or animal excitement, as flashy as its cause. The rational soul
can feel only in view of what it first perceives. Emotions must be founded on and determined by cognitions. Christianity is not a religion of blind feeling
or capricious impulse. It is a religion of truth. It
sanctifies by the truth. And the great duty of the
preacher is, "by manifestation of the truth to commend himself to every man's conscience in the sight
of God." Our religion is not, as some one has said,
like the moon, giving light without heat, nor like the
stove, giving heat without light, but like the sun,
giving perennial light, and warmth, and life.
If there is any force in these views, they lead to
the conclusion, that the true interest, life, and power




THE MATTER OF PREACHING.        237
of preaching, lie in the exhibition and enforcement of
Christian truth and duty; in the justness and force
of the answers it gives, to the great questions, WVhat
shall I believe, what shall I love, what shall I do, in
order to lead a righteous, sober, and godly life; and
that when Christ appears, I also may appear with
him in glory?-in a word, in the Christian light it
sheds on the intellect and conscience, to the end that
it may mould the heart. The feeling awalkened by
such preaching will be salutary, Christian feeling.
The greater the clearness, fervour, and vividness with
which such truths are set forth, and sent home, the
better. And we may add, that all other sources of
interest in a preacher and his sermons, are aside of,
if not athwart, the true aim of preaching. That the
preacher be admired; that he fascinate by poetry or
oratory, by philosophy, or any excellency of speech
or wisdom, may answer a great many purposes. But
it may all be, without preaching the gospel, or disturbing the thoughtless, or guiding the anxious soul,
or edifying the people of God. We by no means
underrate a good report of them that are without.
We appreciate the importance of being in favour with
all the people, and giving no offence in any thing, that
the ministry be not blamed. But we know, too, that
a woe is upon those who preach not the gospel, and
of whom all men at all times speak well. We should




238         THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
esteem the solemn awe, the deep thoughtfulness of
the worldling, the alarm of the presumptuous, the ray
of spiritual comfort stealing in upon the contrite soul,
the devout feeling and holy purpose springing up in
the breast of one and another, on leaving the sanctuary, a more precious testimony to the power and
excellence of the discourse, than all the plaudits of
graceless worldlings, and genteel professors, who are
lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God. The
self-searching, the humility, the tears of penitence,
the sweet and confiding faith, the comfort of hope, the
movement of the soul from self and the world, toward
God in Christ, with which so many heard the preaching of a Nettleton or Alexander, are a thousand-fold
higher attestations of pulpit power, than all the encomiums ever lavished upon merely magnificent oratory. It was a common question among the hearers
of the famous Shepard of Cambridge, (who was wont
to say that all his sermons cost him tears,) as they
left church on the Sabbath, " Who was wrought upon
to-day? *' These are the best seals of the genuineness
and apostolicity of a ministry: "By their fruits shall
ye know them."
In the foregoing remarks, we have necessarily
anticipated much that applies equally well to what
follows. The effect of preaching the law faithfully,
will not be to encourage men to attempt to gain life




THE MATTER OF PREACHING.         239
by keeping it, but to show them their utter inability
to keep it, and their hopeless condemnation by it.
Convincing them of their ruin, it fills them with a
sense of their need of a Redeemer. This is the great
central truth of revelation, and the foundation of. true
religion. For " other foundation can no man lay."
Therefore, while, as we have shown, God must be set
forth, first of all, and above all, in preaching, he
must,
3. Be pre-eminently set forth as " God in Christ,
reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their
trespasses." It were a poor and unworthy work to
smite, and not to heal; to tear, and not bind up; to
kill, and not make alive. Hence, since Ile, who by
death overcame him that hath the power of death,
alone can deliver us from sin, our paramount office is
to declare Him, who is the way, the truth, and the
life. As for us, our mission is to " preach Christ and
him crucified; to the Jews a stumbling-block, to the
Greeks foolishness, but to them who are called, both
Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the
wisdom of God." We need not labour to prove to
the Christian, that
"Christ and his cross are all our theme."
All else converges towards him, or radiates from him.
It tends to lead us to him, or flows from our union to




240          THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
him. All unfoldings of God in his perfections and
glories; all exhibitions of the character, condition,
and duties of man; all inculcations of doctrine and
practice, if true and scriptural, lead the soul directly
to the Lord Jesus Christ, for wisdom, righteousness,
sanctification and redemption.  " Ye believe in God,"
says Christ, " believe also in me." True faith in God
involves faith in Christ, as soon as he is set before the
soul; for in him all the fulness of the Godhead dwelt
bodily. The first archangel never saw
" So much of God before."
We behold his glory in the face of Jesus Christ.
Faith in God then is implicitly faith in Christ; it is
a germ which will unfold itself as such, as soon as
Christ is presented to it. The law slays, thus showing us that Christ is our only life. So every doctrine,
every duty, all legitimate matter of preaching, of
whatever sort, culminates in Christ, in whom all
things shall be gathered into one, and who filleth all
in all. All duty leads to him, to discharge the debt
incurred by its non-performance, to obtain strength
for its future fulfilment; while the wisdom, power,
and love displayed in Christ, evoke the highest love
and adoration, and incite, while they enable us to
render grateful and devoted obedience.
But upon this general view there is no cause to




THE MATTER OF PREACHING.        241
dwell. Few Christians will deny that Christ should
be the centre and substance of all preaching. It is
only upon some of the consequences and bearings of
this truth, that there is occasion for remark.
1. We apprehend that preachers are in little danger of excess in setting forth Christ objectively to
their hearers. He, God in him, is the great object
towards which their faith, love, hope, obedience, and
devotion, are to be directed. They are Christians
only as they thus bow to that name which is above
every name. They are complete in Him who is the
Head of all principality and power. Without him
they can do nothing. Life, faith, love, hope, come
of looking to him, not to themselves, or to any thing
which they or other men can spin out of themselves.
It should never be forgotten that Christianity, although working an inward renovation by the immediate operation of the Holy Ghost, developes this
change in accordance with the laws of our rational
and moral nature. No Christian affections can arise
except in view of their proper objects. These objects
are found in Christ, the God-man, our Saviour, in his
person, offices, and works. Of course, we do not
mean to advocate any monotonous repetition of any
single or isolated truth in regard to him. There is
no need of this. One. of the most remarkable treatises in our language, is that of Bell, showing how
1 1




242         THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
much of God is evinced in the human hand. A
friend of ours has in contemplation a similar treatise
in regard to the honey-bee. If these diminutive objects require volumes to show the extent of divine
imprint upon them, can there be any lack of variety,
any need of monotony, in exploring the infinite compass and relations of the Redeemer and his work?
All life contains inexhaustible variety in unity which
never tires by monotony. How much more He who
is the Life, and combines in his own person a divine life, a human life, and the source of all life,
out of whose tulness we all receive, and grace for
grace! The endless sides and aspects in which he
stands related to his people, enable us to view him in
relations ever fresh and diversified, while yet he remains the same yesterday, to-day, and forever.
2. It hence follows, that the way and grounds of
vital union to Christ should be thoroughly and abundantly set forth and cleared up in preaching. The
nature of saving faith, as distinguished from all counterfeits of it; its simplicity, as distinguished from all
the entanglements with which unbelief would embarrass it; *its naked essence, as simple trust "in
Christ and his righteousness, should be, in one form
and another, a frequent theme of preaching, and habitually inwoven with the whole texture of our discourses. This must be done, even if it incur the dan



THE MATTER OF PREACHING.          243
ger of seeming repetitions. It is the grand requisite
to the birth of the soul into the khingriom  of God.
Simple and rudimentary as it is in Clhristian teaching,
free justification is an article in which men born
under the covenant of works are dull learners. There
always are those in every congregation who are thinking and inquiring on the subject of religion, but who
have never known what it is to believe on Christ to
the saving of the soul. There are always babes in
Christ, and weak believers, who tremble and stumble
in their Christian walk, because they have no adequate view of the free, gratuitous, and full justification which faith embraces and insures merely for the
taking. At this point, too, not a few older Christians, " when, for the time, they ought to be teachers,
have need that one teach them which be the first
principles of the doctrine of Christ." 3Many ministers have been surprised, in conversations with the
sick and dying, to find persons who have been their
hearers all their days, in a mist on this simple and
vital question, How can a sinner be justified before
God?  They know, indeed, in general, that it is not
by their own, but by Christ's righteousness; yet,
until the Spirit takes the scales from their eyes, they
will be found, in some form, to be working up a
righteousness of their own. They will think they
must in some way make themselves better, before




244         THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
they can be fit to go to Christ, or he can receive
them. Many believers often waver at this point.
They doubt whether persons so unworthy have any
warrant to appropriate to themselves the Saviour's
righteousness. It is of great importance, that all inquiring, doubting, trembling souls be brought to see
clearly the true nature of justification, which inures
to those who believe on Him that justifieth the ungodly, that so they may stagger not at the promise,
but be strong in the faith, giving glory to God. Nor
can the preacher well expend too much of his strength
here. All the liberty wherewith Christ maketh free;
all filial confidence, love, and devotion; all holy
strength and courage to serve God without fear, in
holiness and righteousness, all the days of our lives;
all that is sweet, genial, and buoyant, in our spiritual
state, depend upon it. Thus there is peace and joy
in believing. Thus we obtain righteousness, peace,
and joy in the Holy Ghost. Thus alone can we be
delivered from the spirit of bondage and slavish fear,
or feel ourselves in such a relation towards God as
enables us to serve him with a true heart and right
spirit. To the carnal eye, it indeed seems impossible
that free justification should not encourage licentiousness. To the spiritual eye, it is the purifying spring
from which good works must flow, and cannot but
flow. We are not to get life in order to come to




THE MATTER OF PREACHING.          245
Christ, but to come to Christ that we may have
life.
There is a class of theologians and preachers who
involve this whole subject in perplexity, by the theory
that love precedes and is the spring of evangelical
faith, and that none but penitents are warranted to
trust in Christ. The effect of this is to make men
feel that until they can find within themselves evidences of penitence and love, they must consider the
mercies of the gospel, as Boston says, "forbidden
fruit," which it is unlawful for them to touch. On
this subject, confusion of mind is the easiest of all
things, and the clear truth among the most important. It is true, that no faith is genuine without repentance and love. So faith without works is dead.
It is also true, that faith, although in the order of
time simultaneous with commencing love, repentance,
and good works, is, in the order of nature, before,
conditional to, and causative of them. Love can only
arise from faith's perception and belief of the excellence and glory of Christ and his cross, and of God
as shining through them. It arises, as they see
"What wisdom, power, and love,
Shine in their dying Lord."
But we must discern and believe in this loveliness
before it can excite our love. And when we believe




246         THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
and see it, it cannot but draw the heart. Another
consideration is, that until we are in that friendly relation to God in which justifying faith places us, we
cannot confide ourselves to him. We feel that our
sins subject us to his righteous displeasure, and that
we merit and must receive vengeance at his hands.
Now love is impossible towards those whom we dare
not trust because we are subjects of their righteous
wrath. So faith is indispensable to love. And since
all works not inspired by faith and love, are slavish,
dead works, it follows, that although there be no faith
without repentance, love, and holiness, yet faith is
their antecedent and cause, as truly as the sun of its
beams, and life of breath. We apprehend that a
clear view of this point is of great moment in guiding
inquiring souls. IIe is paralyzed in making the
gospel offer, who cannot, without conditions, bid
every thirsty soul come and welcome; who is constrained to tell sinners that they must get rid of their
inward distempers and maladies before coming to
Christ, instead of going to him at once for the removal of sin and guilt. This is preaching a fettered
gospel, and it produces a fettered piety. It gendereth to bondage. It is alien from the sweet and simple faith, the filial confidence and freedom, the buoyant yet humble hope, the cordial love and genial devotion of the gospel; and which result from going at




THE MATTER OF PREACHING.        247
once to Christ for all, receiving all as a free gift from
him, and thence giving all, in love and gratitude, to
him. We think this' view is sustained by the whole
drift of scriptural representations.  According to
these, faith purifieth the heart: it works (exerts its
energies) by love; it is the victory that overcometh
the world. This view fully accords with the absolute
necessity of love, repentance; humility, and good
works, to salvation. Faith, which does not exert and
evince itself in these, is not saving faith. Though we
have all faith and have not charity, it profiteth nothing. Nor do the calls to repent, with'the promise of
pardon annexed, conflict with; they rather corroborate this view. On what is this pardon based?  On
Christ. How apprehended and applied? By faith.
When the wicked are exhorted to forsake their way,
and the unrighteous their thoughts, and turn to God,
who hath mercy, and to our God who will abundantly pardon, it is only a form of teaching, that faith
in God's pardoning mercy is prerequisite to true repentance. The definition of the Catechism is a true
summation of scriptural teachings on this subject.
" Repentance unto life is a saving grace, whereby a
sinner, out of a true sense of his sin, and apprehension
of the mnercy of God in Christ, doth, with grief and
hatred of his sin, turn from it unto God, with full
purpose of, and endeavour after new obedience."




248          THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
The mistaken theory to which we have adverted,
of deriving faith from love, and not love from faith,
has, we are persuaded, a strong tendency to generate error on the subject of the sinner's inability. The
preacher does not see his way clear to direct the sinner immediately to Christ for deliverance from this'
and all other evils and miseries of sin. If he cannot
bid the sinner go out of himself at once to a strength
which is made perfect in his weakness, nor till he has
procured penitence, or love, or some other robe of
clean linen with which to go, the question arises,
HIow shall he get all this? How can he be incited to.work and strive for it? The answer is, the preacher
must be prepared to tell him he is able to accomplish
it, or else he is hopelessly paralyzed, and can do nothing, but leave the inquirer passively awaiting the
sovereign afflatus of the Spirit. Hence various fictions of natural, and we know not what other, ability,
have been devised to bridge over this chasm. But
the inability of the sinner though moral, is real, and
inconsistent with any thing that can properly or safely
be called ability. All modes of teaching which have
any other effect than to lead men, under a sense of
their own helplessness, to cast themselves on Christ
for strength to lead a Christian life, ale delusive and
mischievous. We are not sufficient for any thing, as
of ourselves; our sufficiency is of God. When we




THE MATTER OF PREACHING.        249
are weak, then are we strong in the Lord and the
power of his might. This is the whole theory of the
Christian life. The just shall live by faith; not faith
in their own ability, but of the Son of God who loved
us and gave himself for us. The whole may be
summed up by adding to the article of the Catechism
on repentance, those on faith and effectual calling.
"Faith in Jesus Christ is a saving grace whereby we
receive and rest upon him alone for salvation, as he
is offered to us in the gospel."  "Effectual calling
is the work of God's Spirit, whereby convincing us of
our sin and misery, enlightening our minds in the
knowledge of Christ and renewing our wills, he doth
persuade and enable us to embrace Jesus Christ,
freely offered to us in the gospel."
3. A few words will suffice, after what we have
already advanced, to show our views of doctrinal
preaching. We can hardly conceive of a Christian
discourse which does not implicitly contain, and, with
greater or less explicitness,, articulate a Christian
truth or doctrine. Christian doctrines are but the
truths of Christianity. The only real question then
is, what Christian truths shall be preached, and in
what relative proportions?  Here the word of God
is our true model and guide. But shall not certain
doctrines be suppressed, although taught in the sacred
oracles?.Here again our answer is, preach the word..11*




250          THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.' All scripture is profitable for doctrine," as well as
other things, whoever may wish the ninth chapter of
Romans, or any other part, expunged therefrom.
Generally, the objection to preaching doctrines has
reference to those doctrines which the objector dislikes. If he can prove them untrue or unscriptural,
his objection is valid, not otherwise. All Christian
affections and purposes are inspired by a view of
Christian truth.  They are otherwise impossible.
And there is no Christian truth, which, presented in
its due proportions and surroundings, does not tend
to nourish some holy affection. There canll be no
doubt, therefore, that it is a fundamental part of the
preacher's vocation, to make these truths clearly uiiderstood, as the very condition of true faith, holy
living, whatever is involved in right practice. The
inculcation of doctrine is sometimes stigmatized as
dull and unprofitable; as offering the mere dry bones
to souls craving the nutritive milk and meat of the
word. We do not deny that there may be doctrinal
preaching obnoxioun to this charge. We do not
think sermons should be theological lectures, didactic
or polemic. We think doctrine being clearly defined
and established, should always be developed in its
practical and experimental bearings. So all Christian practice should be based on its correlate doctrines, and rooted in Christian principle, in order to




THE MATTER OF PREACHING.        251
be of that kind which accompanies salvation. As to
fervid discourses which would stir the feelings without illuminating the understanding, we have already
said enough. The attempt to edify the Church without doctrinal instruction, is like the attempt to build
a house without foundation or frame-work. Let any
in derision call the doctrines " bones," if they will.
What sort of a body would that be which was flesh
and blood, without bones? If any present them in
skeleton nakedness, divested of their vital relations to
life and experience, this is the fault of those who do
it, not of true and proper doctrinal preaching, which
on one of its sides is practical and experimental. In
fact, the two should never be torn asunder, any more
than the flesh and bones. They should ever blend
with and vitally interpenetrate each other, and be
pervaded by the unction of the Holy One. No sane
man will contend for mere dogmatic abstractions in
the pulpit. Much less should it be a theatre for philosophic or metaphysical disquisitions. But it should
be a theatre for unfolding, illustrating, enforcing
divine truth proved by the testimony of Him for
whom it is impossible to lie, to be apprehended by
the intellect, and vouched for by the conscience of
man. We do not believe this truth so devoid of interest as seems to be supposed by many, who on this
account studiously shun it. We believe it to be the




252          THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
only material on which most ministers, who have no
coruscations of genius, especially eccentric genius,
with which to charm their hearers, canl rely for awakening a permanent interest in their ministrations.
While there is any religion in the world, he will
hardly fail to interest his flock, who feeds them with
knowledge and understanding.  Dr. Emmons,. whose
sermons were in a remarkably degree clear and icy
metaphysical reasonings, far less attractive than the
plain truths of Scripture, read off in the most passionless manner, always had an audience of eaoger listeners. I-Ie said in his laconic way, " I have generally
found that people will attend, if you give them any
thing to attend to."
Polemical and controversial preaching is doubtless to be avoided, except so far as the preacher is
called to combat the lusts and errors of hearers. In
this sense, faithful ministers will always be obliged,
like the apostle, to " teach the gospel with much contention." All preaching is immediately or remotely
an assault upon the deceits of sin, and the refuges of
lies in which it entrenches itself. And it may happen,
when errorists are stealing the hearts of the people,
that, with heavenly wisdom and prudence, ministers
must dispute daily, as did Paul, the things of the
kingdom. This is one thing. To bring the odium
theologicum into the pulpit; to be fond of holding up




THE MATTER OF PREACHING.        253
other bodies of Christians to reproach and derision;
to appear more anxious to gain the victory over our
adversary, who has no chance to defend himself, than
to save the souls of them that hear; to display wrath,
and bitterness, and clamour, and evil speaking, in a
place that should be radiant with Christian benignity; or, even without this, to be always thrusting
out the horns dissevered from the body of Christian
doctrine and practice, may accomplish a great many
things. But we have never seen it productive of any
signal fruits of faith, humility, penitence, love, and
devotion. In general, it will be found, especially so
far as the pulpit is concerned, that the positive and
able inculcation of the truth is the best defence against
error; and that the more completely impersonal and
uncontroversial it is, the less likely is it to arouse
those carnal and malevolent feelings which always
grieve the Spirit of God. This is the general principle. Cases may arise in which duty requires another
course; but they should be exceptional and emergent.
4. In combatting the errors and lusts of men, we
do not believe that any great good is effected by
abstract metaphysical and philosophical arguments.
They are usually unintelligible to the common mind.
They are the " wisdom of this world, which is foolishness with God," and which no preacher is commissioned to employ; and if he condescends to found'




254          THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
his claims on his philosophy, one man's philosophy is
as good as another's. He has a higher sanction for
all that he proclaims, even the testimony of God,
which shines in its own self-evidencing light throughout the Scriptures. Besides this, he has the witness
of the consciousness of his hearers to attest what he
affirms in regard to their moral state, their ill-desert,
their need of a Saviour, and their chief duties as
Christians. Thus, for the principal parts of his message, he has proofs more effective, and exercising a
far higher convictive power, than any ingenuity of
speculation. And here he has an advantage which
largely compensates for the natural apathy and aversion of men to the gospel. HIe speaks by divine authority, and not as the scribes, if he is true to his
trust. Their consciences meanwhile bear him witness. Any other basis of his teachings is of little
efficacy in producing scriptural faith. For this is
faith, not in any philosopheme or hypothesis of man,
but in God and his word; and it must stand, not in
the wisdom of men, but the power of God. It is beyond all doubt, then, that the preacher's discourse will
be instinct with penetrating, convictive, spiritual, purifying energy, just and only in proportion as he appeals
to the authority of God and the consciences of his
hearers. This is wielding the sword of the Spirit;
and when we use his sword, in devout dependence on




THE MATTER OF PREACHING.         255
him, we may look for his presence to give it an
ethereal temper and penetrant edge. Such preaching,
though it come not with excellency of speech or of
wisdom, declaring the testimony of God, will doubtless be in demonstration of the Spirit and of power.
As the Spirit works the new creation not by any
violation of, but in unison with, the nature and laws
of the rational soul, as he persuades while lie enables us
to embrace Christ, and does this by giving efficacy to
the external persuasions of the word read and preached,
so the true method of bringing men to the knowledge
and belief of the truth, is, as in all cases, to proceed
from- the known to the unknown. All moral and
Christian truths are concatenated and interdependent,
like the members of a living organism. Each one
either supposes or is confirmed by all the rest. Had
we adequate faculties, we should doubtless see, in regard to all these truths, what we now see of some,
that they involve all the rest; just as the zoologist
will tell from a tooth or a bone all the other parts of
the animal to which it belonged. To a very great
extent, this mutual connection of the various portions of moral and Christian truth is, or ought to be,
known to the preacher, and is a chief element in
his reasonings and pleas with all classes of hearers.
Few are so totally imbruted, as to be blind to the
simplest moral truths. In the light of these, the evi



256          THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
dence of higher truths to which they have been blind
and indisposed, may be made to appear-as surely as
from the letters of the alphabet we may syllable out
words, sentences, discourses, all literature. The recognition of the distinction between moral good and
evil, cannot be developed without revealing sin, guilt,
the need of repentance and redemption, and from
these first principles of the doctrine of Christ we
must go on unto perfection. As sin is deceitful and
blinding, so we must strive to dispel its bewildermnents. As it is madness, we must use the fragments
of truth and sanity still left, for the restoration of so
much of reason as is shattered or lost. In this view,
a sound and prayerful discretion is to be used, as to
the time and circumstances for declaring the various
portions of the counsel of God, the whole of which
we may not shun to declare at a proper time. Otherwise, though we give each one his portion, we may fail
to do it in due season, and may oppress with meat,
by them indigestible, those babes in Christ, who are
not as yet able to bear it. It may indeed be the
preacher's fault that they are such as have not their
senses exercised to discern between good and evil, and
are still such as have need of milk and not of meat;
yet in forwarding their growth in knowledge, he
must, like all other skilful teachers, adapt himself to
their stage of spiritual attainment.




THE MATTER OF PREACHING.        257
5. Here arises the question, as to the extent to
which prudential considerations, and the principle of
expediency are legitimate in determining the matter of
preaching. We are met by two classes of scriptural
instructions, which in sound are contradictory, but
in sense are perfectly coincident. The first are those
which demand the fullest regard to the dictates
of prudence and expediency. They teach us to refrain from lawful things which are inexpedient, to
please our neighbour in order to his edification, to
become all things to all men, if by any means we
may save some. Here the strongest sanction is given
to the principle of expediency. We are taught with
still greater emphasis, "' though we or an angel from
heaven preach any other gospel, let him be accursed; "
that we may not shun to declare the whole counsel
of God; that we may not do evil that good may
come; that we must be faithful to the testimony of
Jesus, and the truth of his word even unto death, if
we would receive the crown of life. There is no
question that our duty is to preach the truth, the
whole truth, and nothing but the truth. All seeming
discrepancy here disappears, if we have recourse to
the familiar ethical classification of actions as good,
bad, and indifferent. In regard to acts in themselves
morally right or wrong, no license is given to neglect
the one or do the other, out of regard to any consider



258         THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
ations of expediency. We are not to lie or blaspheme,
or refuse to confess Christ and his gospel, though we
might thus save our own lives, or prevent the crush
of worlds. No instance can be found in which Paul
did or sanctioned such things, strenuous as he was
for expediency. On the other hand, in regard to
things indifferent, i. e., in themselves neither morally
good nor evil, expediency is the governing principle.
And, by expediency, we mean tendency to promote
what is morally good, or prevent what is morally evil.
To give a familiar example. As to whether we shall
worship God and abjure idols, there is no option.
But as to the style of dress and equipage I shall
adopt, this is a matter to be determined wholly by its
relation to my ability to discharge my just obligations, and my influence for good or evil upon my fellow-men. For intrinsically, linsey-woolsey and satin
sparkling with diamonds are on the same moral footing. We think that the application of these principles to preaching is not difficult or obscure.
1. The minister has no discretion as to setting forth
the whole body of divine truth in the course of his
inculcations. IHe may not add to, or take from the
word of God.
2. He may not, with a good conscience, when in
any way questioned or put to the test, disown, or give
it to be understood that he does not believe, what lihe




THE MATTER OF PREACHING.          259
does believe to be the truth in Christ, on any consideration or pretext whatsoever.
3. But since he cannot, in any one discourse, or
in any limited period, traverse the whole circle of divine truth, he must exercise his own conscientious discretion as to the times and occasions, when each
respective part is to be so brought forth as to divide
to each his portion in due season.
4. As to all matters indifferent, whether of act or
word, private and public, they are to be regulated by
the single aim of giving the truth more facile and
effective access to the souls of men; whether we eat
or drink, or whatsover we do, all must be done to the
glory of God and the edification of souls.
5. WVith regard to rightly dividing the word of
truth, in the foregoing cases, as well as all others, much
must doubtless be left to Christian prudence; a want
of which, more frequently than any other fault, impairs the usefulness of clergymen, and ejects them
from their positions. Dr. Dwight says, that by far
the larger part of the forced dismissions of pastors
within his knowledge were attributable to this cause.
There is, however, a general principle in regard to the
distribution of the different portions of divine truth,
which results from  all that we have advanced, is
plainly enunciated in the Bible, is enforced by the
example of prophets, apostles, and Christ himself, and




260          THOUGHTS ON' PREACHING.
which no man can safely disregard. In a religion in
which mercy and truth, righteousness and peace, are
met together, men must be made to behold both the
goodness and severity of God.  Great evil results
from the disproportionate or exclusive exhibition of
either the stern and awful, or the benignant and alluring aspects of the divine character. One class should
not be suffered to overshadow the other. The soul's
welfare requires that neither should be forgotten or
ignored: " For the better understanding of this matter, we may observe, that God, in the revelation that
he has made of himself to the world by Jesus Christ,
has taken care to give a proportionable manifestation
of two kinds of excellencies or perfections of his nature, viz. those which specially tend to possess us with
awe and reverence, and to search and humble us; and
those that tend to win, draw, and encourage us. By
the one, he appears as an infinitely great, pure, holy,
and heart-searching judge; by the other, as a gentle
and gracious father, and loving friend. By the one,
he is a pure, searching, and burning flame; by the
other, a sweet, refreshing light. These two kinds of
attributes are, as it were, admirably tempered together
in the revelation of the gospel. There is a proportionable manifestation of justice and mercy, holiness
and grace, gentleness, authority, and condescension.
God hath thus ordered that his diverse excellencies, as




THE MATTER OF PREACHING.           261
he reveals himself in the face of Jesus Christ, should
hate a proportionable manifestation, herein providing
for our necessities. He knew it to be of great consequence, that our apprehensions of these diverse perfections of his nature should be duly proportioned
one to another. A defect on the one hand, viz. having.
a discovery of his love and grace, without a proportionable discovery of his awful majesty, his holy and
searching purity, would tend to spiritual pride, carnal
confidence, and presumption; and a defect on the
other hand, viz. having a discovery of his holy majesty,
without a proportionable discovery of his grace, tends
to unbelief, a sinful fearfulness, and a spirit of bondage."'
We shall bring these observations to a close, by a
few suggestions relative to the extent of the preacher's
obligations to give instructions to men in respect to
worldly relations and interests, economic, social, and
political.
1. With regard to all that is commonly understood
by the moral and worldly virtues; i. e. virtues which
often exist without piety, and are commanded by the
natural conscience, and the code of worldly respectability, as well as by the gospel, such as temperance,
chastity, honesty, veracity, fidelity, kindness, &c., it
is needless to say that they are of self-evident obliga* Edwards's Works. New York edition,,ol. iv. pp. 224, 225.




262         THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
tion'; that if they may exist without piety, piety cannot exist without them; and that they should be-enjoined, as they are in the Bible. They should be
enforced, not merely by natural and worldly, but by
spiritual and evangelical motives. Yet they ought
not to fill any large or overshadowing place in preaching. This should be mainly occupied with the glorious
gospel of the blessed God, and its heavenly. truths and
requirements; and with these subordinately, as its
subordinate, though indispensable fruits. Such is the
uniform course of the New Testament preachers; such
is the most effective way of promoting morality. It
makes the tree good; so the fruit must be good. Unless it be a very distempered and unevangelical type
of religion, the most religious men are the most moral
individuals and communities, in all countries and all
ages. Those who have laid out their chief strength in
preaching worldly morality, have had but slender
success. Without the fascination of genius, they can
seldom keep a congregation together. The mightiest
preachers of the everlasting gospel, who have done
most to brine men to the obedience of faith, have produced the greatest moral reformations. Dr. Chalmers's
experience is a remarkable instance of " philosophy
teaching by example." He relates, that in his earlier
ministry, he plied his congregation with enthusiastic
discourses on the moral virtues, and made it his chief




THE MATTER OF PREACHING.         263
labour thus to effect a reformation of their morals.
They loved the preacher, and were charmed with the
magic of his eloquence. But they did not reform their
morals. He at length felt the hollowness of mere
morality, and was brought to the cross for pardon and
peace. He at once altered the whole matter of his
preaching. In place of splendid moral essays, he
gave them clear and fervid discourses on sin, guilt, and
retribution; on salvation by the Redeemer's blood,
and righteousness; on spiritual regeneration, faith, repentance, holy living, heaven, and hell. Multitudes
were awakened, and converted to the Lord. And not
only so, but there was a thorough, wide-spread, and
permanent reformation of morals.  E]x uno disce
omnes. The pools of worldly morality will stagnate, unless vitalized by streams from the fountain
of life.
As we have said that morality should be taught
not so as to crowd out the supremacy of the gospel,
but as its necessary subordinate fruit, so, the less immediate and direct, the more distant and inferential
the duty, the more distant and chary should the pulpit
be in treating it. " At the last extremity of a branch,
it is difficult to retain a view of the stem. Represent
to yourself, for example, sermons on neatness, politeness, &c. Some topics of this sort, doubtless,
may be approached, but it must be done inciden



264          THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
tally; they should never furnish the subject for a
sermon." 
2. With respect to the social and civil relations,
and all interests merely worldly, Christianity insists on
the exercise of religious principles, and all the virtues
of our holy religion in every sphere of life and'action.
There can be no doubt that God will honour those
that honour him in all the spheres and offices of life.
They will be blessed in their basket and store, their
going out and coming in.  Society is elevated and
purified, individuals and families are prospered, every
worldly interest of man thrives in proportion as religion, pure and undefiled before God and the Father,
prevails. This is its inherent tendency, as it exalts the
whole man, and restrains those corrupt passions that
blight the body as well as the soul, and destroy both
in hell. It is a blessing, also, often conveyed in honour
of his religion by the undercurrents, and secret prospering gales of his gracious providence. But it is
often withheld in his wisdom, or prevented by counteracting causes. How often has persecution hunted
the people of God to the dens and caves of the earth,
while faith has enabled them  to take joyfully the
spoiling of their goods, and to count not even their
own lives dear, knowing that in heaven they have a
better and more enduring substance?  In all cases,
* Vinet's Homiletics, translated by Dr. Skinner, pp. 82, 88.




THE MATTER OF PREACHING.        265
they that will live godly in Christ Jesus must suffer
persecution, and endure chastening. The promise will
be fulfilled, that through much tribulation they shall
enter the kingdom of God. Their worldly prosperity,
so far, as it is vouchsafed, follows their religion as the
shadow follows the substance. But it is not the substance-itis not that with which religion concerns itself, otherwise than in ways incidental and subordinate.
On the contrary, its effort is to raise the soul to a
sublime superiority above the transient and worldly.
It puts no value upon these further than as they may
be linked with and subserve our eternal welfare-than
as the scaffolding to the edifice. We are surely not
mistaken here. We are charged to take no thought
what we shall eat, what we shall drink, or wherewithal
we shall be clothed; to look not at things seen and
temporal, but at things not seen and eternal; if we
are called, being servants, to care not for it; but, if we
may be free, to choose it rather; but always to seek
first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, with
the promise that all other things shall be added unto
us, which our true well-being demands. Of the whole
doctrine of Scripture on this subject the Apostle gives
the following beautiful summation. " But this I say,
brethren, that the time is short. It remaineth, that
both they that have wives, be as though they had
none; and they that weep, as though they wept not:
12




266         THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
and they that rejoice, as though they rejoiced not;
and they that buy, as though they possessed not; and
they that use this world, as not abusing it; for the
fashion of this world passth away."
In correspondence with all this, it is evidently no
part of the preacher's commission to make the promotion of men's worldly interests any prominent object
of his inculcations. On the contrary, such a course is
clearly discountenanced in the Bible as not only repugnant to religion, but suicidal; for, by displacing
the divine and eternal element, it fails of its benignant
fruits for this world. For these bear not the root, but
the root beareth them. So far as we have observed,
those who most signalize worldly interests in preaching, so far from eternizing the temporal, merely secularize the spiritual. "No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this world."  With
respect to those who would encourage servants to be
restive under the yoke, or contemptuous of their masters, Paul denounces them as "' men of corrupt minds,
supposing that gain is godliness; from such withdraw
thyself. But godliness with contentment is great gain.
For we brought nothing into the world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out."  We think that the
same principle holds in this matter, which Christ propounds in regard to individuals. " He that findeth
his life shall lose it and he that loseth his life for my




THE MATTER OF PREACHING.          267
sake, shall find it."  Preachers who spend their
strength in efforts at worldly amelioration, usually
spend their strength for nought. Those who spend it
in promoting godliness, usually build up every interest of man, temporal, spiritual, eternal, individual,
and social. " Godliness is profitable unto all things,
having promise of the life that now is, and that which
is to come." All forms of mistaking gain for godliness, betray a radical misconception of the whole
nature adnd scope of the gospel. Says John, " they
are of the world, therefore speak they of the world,
and the world heareth them. We are of God. He
that heareth God, heareth us; he that is not of God,
heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth,
and the spirit of error."
It being thus clear that worldly amelioration, however it may be a consequence, is not the direct object
of the preacher's inculcations, it follows, that the pulpit, in proportion ag it is engrossed with interests less
than those of the soul, God, and eternity, usually
suffers loss itself, and thus indirectly damages what it
undertakes to promote. Let a preacher devote his
pulpit to any questions social or civil, which respect
simply their better or worse condition in regard to the
good things of this life, and he will generally accomplish less for their temporal, to say nothing of their
eternal welfare, than if he had devoted himself to the




268         THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
promotion of that godliness which, with contentment,
is great gain.
As, however, religion has its development and
sphere of action in the world, and includes all social
and relative duties, simply because it includes all
duty, and requires us to do all things to the glory of
God; it, of course, requires us to act in all good conscience in reference to our country and government;
to do what we may consistently with paramount obligations, to make our officers peace, and our exactors
righteousness; to procure just and salutary laws; to
sustain their authority and execution; so there can be
no question as to the propriety of inculcating these
great, and (among Christians) undisputed principles,
from the pulpit. Indeed, as Christ taught us to render
unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and unto God
the things that are God's; as Paul enjoined obedience
to the powers that be, not only for wrath, but for. conscience' sake, so he expressly charges ministers to
C' put them in mind to be subject to principalities and
powers, to obey magistrates, to be ready to every good
work." Of course this means a real, an authorized
magistrate, not a-pretender or usurper; and demands
obedience to laws enacted by a competent authority,
not by a mob, or any unauthorized assemblage. And
it further means obedience to real rulers, as to all other
superiors, so far, and so far only, as they do not require




THE MATTER OF PREACHING.         269
us to disobey God. In this case, we are clearly taught
we ought to obey God rather than man. To obey a
magistrate who requires us to blaspheme, is simply to
abet him in his rebellion against God. In such a case,
our only course is to sustain the law, not by obeying
its precept, but, if need be, by enduring the penalty.
It is no strange thing, to be required to witness a good
confession at the cost of martyrdom.
We have no reference here to those great and abnormal emergencies which speak for themselves, when
the people, in the exercise of their own vis medicatrix
naturca, by the sudden violent throes of revolution,
cast off a government intolerable or outgrown, for one
suited to their wants. We only mean to say that the
foregoing principles are proper, and at times necessary
to be inculcated in the pulpit. But when we pass
from these principles, which must commend themselves to every enlightened conscience, to the details of
their concrete application, in actial politics, other
considerations have place. There is no question that
men ought to regard it, and to be taught to regard it,
as a duty to promote the elevation to office of the
most faithful and competent men, as well as the enactment of just and equal laws. But few sane men
would deem it safe or edifying for the pulpit to discuss the respective merits of different candidates; or
whether the tariff, or sub-treasury, or statutes enfran



270         THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
chising and making voters of foreigners were just and
salutary. Similar embarrassments may exist, however
firm the preacher's personal convictions, as to whether
a given man, or set of men are the legal officers they
claim to be. It is not so much on first principles,
which few men possessing a moral sense will dispute,
as the application of these principles to the vast and
complex affairs of nations and communities, that the
angry questions of party politics arise. And here,
imperfect knowledge, interest, prejudice, party predilections so distort and bewilder, that however strong
our own personal convictions, we see vast numbers earnestly enlisted on opposite sides, whose piety cannot
be questioned. We do not undertake to say that these
questions lnay not sometimes have an ethical or religious side too obvious and urgent for the pulpit to
neglect. But we do say, as the result of considerable
observation, that we never knew the pulpit throw itself into the issues that divide political parties, without contracting a stain and a wound upon its sanctity
and spiritual power. It inevitably soils itself by such
association with the unworthy passions which embitter
and disgrace political conflicts. We have not known
any instance in which political harangues from the
pulpit aided the party espoused, or gained a voter, or
did any thing more than give intolerable offence to
partisans of the opposite side. Others may have wit



THE MATTER OF PREACHING.            271
nessed better results.  " As to patriotic and political
sermons, they are rather to be avoided, and yet in
certain grave circumstances, we may be obliged to
touch upon such subjects in the pulpit.... We must
beware, lest we inflame on this hearth, the passions
of the natural man. How shall we now speak of
politics without taking a side?  We must remark,
also, the utilitarianism which for the most part is concealed in these subjects. It is better for the preacher,
as it is for the navigator, to keep himself in the high
sea; it is in the neighbourhood of coasts that shipwrecks are most frequent."- Vinet's Homiletics,'pp.
86-7. And it may be added, that with the ample
sources of political information afforded by a free
press, exigencies can rarely occur which call for its
dissemination from the pulpit. Its office should rather
be to moderate the fierceness of these violent conflicts,
by holding up the contrasted greatness of the Infinite
and Eternal.
NOTE.-The above article, by Professor ATWATER, of Princeton, was inadvertently inserted; but as it so admirably compliments the matter of this work, with the consent of the author
it is retained.




EXPOSITORY PREACHING.
THE pulpit discourses of Roman Catholics as well
as Protestants, during several centuries, have been,
for the most part, founded on short passages of Scripture; commonly single verses, and oftener less than
more. This has become so prevalent, that, in most
treatises upon the composition of sermons, all the
canons of homiletics presuppose the treatment of an
isolated text. We are not prepared to denounce this
practice, especially when we consider the treasury of
sound doctrine, cogent reasoning, and mighty eloquence, which is embodied inl productions formed on
this model, and call to mind the instances in which
such discourses have been signally owned of God in
the edification of his church. But there is still another method, which, though less familiar to ourselves, was once widely prevalent, and is recognized
and approved in our Directory for Worship, in the
following words: " It is proper also that large portions of Scripture be sometimes expounded, and par



EXPOSITORY PREACHING.                273
ticularly improved for the instruction of the people in
the meaning and use of the sacred oracles." *  And
it may not be out of place to mention here, that in
the debates of the Westminster Assembly, there
were more than a few members, and among these the
celebrated Calamy, who maintained with earnestness,
that it was no part of the minister's duty to read the
Scriptures in public without exposition.t
It is not a little remarkable, that in an age in
which so much is heard against creeds and systems
as contradistinguished from the pure text of Scripture, and in which sacred hermeneutics hold so high a
place in Theological education, we should have allowed the methodical and continued exposition of the
Bible to go almost into disuse.:  What our predecessors practised under the name of lectures is almost
banished from the pulpit. It is against this exclusion that we now propose to direct our argument.
And in what may be offered in the sequel, we ask
attention to this statement of the question as limiting
our purpose. Far be it from us to decry the mode of
* Directory for Worship, chap. vi. ~ 2.
t Lightfoot's Works, vol. xiii: p. 36.: Although the subject of this essay may, in certain particulars,
run very naturally into that of critical interpretation, the writer begs
leave to disclaim any special right to dwell upon this topic, as his pursuits have not led him into the field of hermeneutics, any further than
the performance of ordinary ministerial duty required.
12*




274         THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
discoursing which prevails in our churches. We
freely acknowledge its many excellencies, and rejoice
in its gracious fruits; but we plead in behalf of another and an older method, which we lament to see
neglected and forsaken. With this preface, we shall
proceed to give some reasons why a judicious return
to the expository method of preaching seems to us to
be desirable.
1. The expository method of preaching is the most
obvious and natural way of conveying to the hearers
the import of the sacred volume. It is the very work
for which a ministry was instituted, to interpret the
Scriptures. In the case of any other book, we should
be at no loss in what manner to proceed. Suppose a
volume of human science to be placed in our hands
as the sole manual, text-book, and standard, which
we were expected to elucidate to a public assembly:
in what way would it be most natural to go to work?
Certainly not, we think, to take a sentence here, and
a sentence there, and upon these separate portions to
frame one or two discourses every week. No interpreter of Aristotle, of Littleton, of Puffendorf, or of
Paley, ever dreamed of such a method. Nor was it
adopted in the Christian church, until the sermon
ceased to be regarded in its true notion, as an explanation of the Scripture, and began to be viewed as
a rhetorical entertainment, which might afford occa



EXPOSITORY PREACHING.           275
sion for the display of subtilty, research and eloquence.
2. The expository method has the sanction of
primitive and ancient usage. In the Israelitish, as
well as the Christian church, preaching was an ordinary mode of religious instruction. In both it was
justly regarded as a means of conducting the hearers
to the knowledge of revealed truth. As early as the
time of Ezra, we find that the reading of the law was
accompanied with some kind of interpretation. In
the synagogues, after the reading of the law and the
prophets, it was usual for the presiding officer to invite such as were learned to address the people. Our
Lord Jesus Christ availed himself of this opportunity
to deliver one of his most remarkable discourses;
and this was an exposition of a prophetic passage.
The apostle Paul seems also to have made portions of
Scripture the basis of his addresses in the synagogues.
But it is not to be expected that the preaching of the
apostolic age, when the speakers were divinely inspired, should be in all respects a model for our own
times. It was their province to communicate truth
under inspiration; it is ours to interpret what has
thus been communicated. The early Christian asseliblies naturally adopted the simple and rational
methods of the Jewish synagogues; in conformity
with which it was an essential part of the service to




276          THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
read the Scriptures. Manuscripts were rare, and the
majority of believers were poor; and hence the
church assemblies must have long continued to be
the chief, if not the only, sources of biblical knowledge. Justin Martyr, who is one of the earliest authorities on this subject, informs us that the public
reading of the text was followed by addresses adapted
to impress the subject on the minds of the hearers.*
According to Neander, who may be considered as an
impartial judge on this topic, it was at first left to
the option of the bishop what portions of Scripture
should be read; though it was subsequently made
necessary to adhere to certain lessons, which were
judged appropriate to times and seasons. Bingham
also concedes that the lessons were sometimes arbitrarily appointed by the bishops at discretion. Augustine declares that he sometimes ordered'a lesson
to be read which harmonized with the psalm which
he had been expounding.t
As this is a point of history concerning which
there is little room for question, we shall content ourselves with the diligent, and, as we believe, impartial deductions of Bingham  and Neander. It is not
to be denied, that there were, even in the early ages,
several different modes of preaching, and that some
* Apolog. 2.
t Aug. in Psalm xc. Serm. ii.-Bingham, Antiq. B. xiv. c. iii. ~ 8.




EXPOSITORY PREACHING.          277
of these approached very nearly to that which now
prevails; yet there was no period during which the
expository method was not highly prized and extensively practised. These discourses were very frequent, and often flowed from the intense feeling of
the moment. Pamphilus, in his Apology for Origen,
represents this great teacher as discoursing extempore
almost every day. The same frequency of public
address is recorded of Chrysostom, Augustine, and
other fathers. Their sermons were taken down by
stenographers, and in suclhof them as are extant we
have repeated evidences of their familiar and unpremeditated character. Chrysostom, for instance, thus
breaks forth, in one of his homilies on Genesis: " I
am expounding the Scriptures; yet you are all turning your eyes from me to the person who is lighting
the lamps. WVhat negligence! to forsake me, and fix
your minds on him! For I am lighting a fire from
the holy Scriptures, and in my tongue is a burning
lamp for instruction." Augustine also tells us, in
one of his homilies, that he had not thought of the
subject on which he actually preached, until the
reader chanced to read it of his own accord in the
church.*
The two greatest preachers of the Greek and
Latin churches, respectively, afford striking examples
*Bingham, Book xiv. chap. iv. ~ 4.




278          THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
of the value set upon exposition. Augustine has left
homilies upon the Psalms, the Gospel of John, and
other whole books of Scripture. Chrysostom, in like
manner, expounded at length the book of Genesis, the
Psalms, the Gospels of Matthew and John, and all
the Epistles of Paul. His homilies consist usually of a
close interpretation, or running commentary, followed
by an Etlicon, or practical application. That biblical exposition was recognized as the end of preaching
seems clear from some declarations, as the following: " If any one. assiduously attend public worship,
even without reading the Bible at home, but earefully hearkening here, he will find a single year sufficient to give liim an intimate acquaintance with the
Scriptures." * And indeed this is so natural a result
of the catholic belief that the Scriptures are the great
storehouse of saving truth, as to leave us in some surprise at the neglect into which this direct exposition
of the authentic records has fallen.
When we look into the history of England during
the thirteenth century, we find that two modes of
preaching were in use, neither of these being that
which we now employ. In the first place, that of
Postillating, which was identical with the expository
method; secondly, that of Declaring, in which the
* Iom. 28, in Job.-Neander, Der heilige Chrysostomus.




EXPOSITORY PREACHING.         279
discourse was preceded by a declaration of the subject, without the citation of any passage of Scripture.
When about the beginning of the thirteenth century,
the method of preaching from insulated texts, with
subtile divisions of the sermons, was introduced, it
was zealously adopted by the younger clergy, and
became extensively popular; while it was as warmly
opposed by some of the best theologians of the age,
as " a childish playing upon words-destructive of
true eloquence-tedious and unaffecting to the hearers-and cramping the imagination of the preacher."
Among others, it found an able opponent in the great
Roger Bacon; a man whom we can never mention
without amazement at his philosophical attainments,
and veneration for his character. "The greatest part
of our prelates," says he, " having but little knowledge in divinity, and having been little used to
preaching in their youth, when they become bishops,
and are sometimes obliged to preach, are under the
necessity of begging and borrowing the sermons of
certain novices, who havey invented a new way of
preaching, by endless divisions and quibblings, in
which there is neither sublimity of style nor depth of
wisdom, but much childish trifling and folly, unsuitable to the dignity of the pulpit. May God banish
this conceited and artificial way of preaching out of
his church; for it will never do any good, nor elevate




280          THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
the hearts of his hearers to anything that is great or
excellent." *
" The opposition to this new method of preaching,"
says Dr. Henry in his History of England, "continned through the whole of the fourteenth, and part
of the fifteenth century. Dr. Thomas Gascoigne,
Chancellor of the University of Oxford, tells us that
he preached a sermon in St. Martin's Church, A. D.
1450, without a text, and without divisions, declaring
such things as he thought would be useful to the
people. Amongst other things he told them, in vindication of this ancient mode of preaching, —' that
Dr. Augustine had preached four hundred sermons
to'the clergy, and people, without reading a text at
the beginning of his discourse; and that the way of
preaching by a text, and by divisions, was invented
only about A. D. 1200, as appeared from the authors
of the first sermons of that kind.'"
It is no part of our business to enter further into.
this investigation, or to determine critically at what
point of time the method q4 preaching from insulated
verses became exclusively prevalent in the church.
Whatever excellencies it possesses, and there are
many, can derive no additional dignity from the origin of the method, which is referable to a period by
no means the most glorious of Christian history.
* R. Bacon, apud Henry's Hist. iv. 366.




EXPOSIT''ORY PREACHING.       281
When the light of divine truth began to emerge from
its long eclipse, at the Reformation, there were few
things more remarkable than the universal return of
evangelical preachers to the expository method. Book
after book of the Scriptures was publicly expounded
by Luther, and the almost daily sermons "of Calvin
were, with scarcely any exceptions, founded on passages taken in regular course as he proceeded through
the sacred canon. The same is true of the other reformers, particularly in England and Scotland.
To come down to the -times of the Noncomformists; while it is undoubtedly true that they sometimes pursued the textual method even to an extreme,
preaching many discourses on a single verse, it is no
less true, that exposition in regular course was considered a necessary part of ministerial labour. Hence
the voluminous commentaries on single books with
which the press groaned during that period. Let us
take a single instance, as late as the latter half of the
sixteenth century, in the person of Matthew HIenry,
whom it is difficult to refer exclusively to the era of
the elder or the later Nonconformists. We may suppose his practice in this particular to be no extreme
case. Mr. Henry was an able and laborious preacher
from single texts, but it was by no means to the exclusion of the expository plan.  On every Lord's
day morning, he read and expounded a part of the




282         THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
Old Testament; on every Lord's day afternoon a
part of the Nlew; in both instances proceeding in
regular order. During his residence in Chester he
went over the whole Bible in this exercise, more than
once.* Such was the custom of our forefathers; and
in the prosecution of such a plan we need not wonder
that they found the body of their hearers constantly
advancing in scriptural attainments. The sense of
change, and change without improvement, is unavoidable when we come down to our own times; in
which, within our immediate knowledge, there are not
a dozen ministers who make the expounding of Scripture any part of their stated pulpit exercises. Nay,
although our Directory for Worship declares expressly that "' the reading of the Holy Scriptures in the congregation, is a part of the public worship of God, and
ought to be performed by the ministers and teachers;"
-that the preacher, " in each service, ought to read
at least one chapter, and more, when the chapters are
Ehort or the connection requires it; " yet it is undeniably the common practice to confine this service, which
is treated as something almost supererogatory, to the
Lord's day morning. Now while we are zealous in
maintaining, that the Christian minister should not be
bound down by any imperative rubric or calendar as
to the portion which he shall read, we cannot but
* Williams, Life of Henry, c. x.




EXPOSITORY PREACHING.         283
blush when we compare our actual performances in
this kind with those of many sister churches who have
chosen to be guided by more strict liturgical arrangements.
3. The expository method is adapted to secure the
greatest amount of scriptural knowledge to both
preacher and hearers.  It needs no argument, we
trust, to sustain the position that every minister of the
gospel should be mighty in the Scriptures; familiar
with the whole text; versed in the best commentaries; at home in every portion of both Testaments;
and accustomed to grapple with the most perplexing
difficulties. This is the appropriate and peculiar
field of clerical study. It is obvious that the pulpit
exercises of every diligent minister will give direction
and colour to his private lucubrations. In order to
success and usefulness in any species of discourse, the
preacher must love his work, and must have it constantly before his mind. He must be possessed of an
enthusiasm which shall never suffer him to forget the
impending task. IHis reading, his meditation, and
even his casual trains of thought, must perpetually
revert to the performances of the Sabbath. And we
take pleasure in believing that such is actually the
case with a large proportion of clergymen.
Now it must not be concealed that the popular
and prevalent mode of sermonizing, however favour



284         THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
able it may be to professional zeal of this kind, and
to the cultivation of mental habits, does by no means
lead in any equal measure to the laborious study of
the Scriptures. The text, it is true, must be a fragment of the word of God; and it may be confirmed
and illustrated by parallel or analogous passages.
But where no extended exposition is attempted, the
preacher is naturally induced to draw- upon systematic treatises, philosophical theories, works of
mere literature, or his own ingenuity of invention,
and fertility of imagination, for such a train of
thought as, under the given topic, may claim the
praise of novelty. We are aware that with many it
is far otherwise, and that there are preachers who are
wont to select such texts as necessarily draw after
them a fill interpretation of all the foregoing and following context; and such sermons are, to all intents
and purposes, expositions. But we also know, that to
compose a sermon upon a text of Scripture, with very
little reference to its position in the word of God, and
a very little inquiry as to the intent of the Spirit in the
words, is a thing not only possible, but common.
The evil grows apace, wherever the rhetorical aspect
of preaching attracts undue attention; and the desire
to be original, striking, ingenious, and elegant, supersedes the earnest endeavour to be scriptural.
This abuse is in a good degree precluded by the




EXPOSITORY PREACHING.         285
method of exposition. The minister who from week
to week is labouring to elucidate some important
book of Scripture, has this kept forcibly before his
mind. It will necessarily be the chief subject of his
studies. Whatever else he may neglect, he will, if
he is a conscientious man, sedulously peruse and
ponder those portions which he is to explain; using
every auxiliary, and especially. comparing Scripture
with Scripture. Suppose him to pursue this regular
investigation of any one book, for several successive
months, and we perceive that he must be acquiring a
knowledge of the very word of truth, vastly more extensive, distinct, and profound, than can fall to the
lot of one who, perhaps for no two discourses together, finds himself in the same part of the canon.
Two men practising upon the two methods, each in
an exclusive manner, may severally gain an equal
measure of intellectual discipline and real knowledge,
but their attainments will differ in kind. The one is
driven from the variety of his topics to a fitful and
fragmentary study of the Bible; the other is bound
down to a systematic and unbroken investigation of
consecutive truths. Consider, also, how much more
of the pure teachings of the Spirit, accompanied with
suitable explanation, necessarily occupies the mind of
the preacher in one method than in the other.
If such is. the influence, with respect to the




286         THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
preacher himself, who, under any system, is still free
to devote his mind to scriptural study, how much
greater is it not likely to be with respect to the
hearers, whose habits of investigation almost always
receive their character from the sermons to which
they listenll? Perhaps none will deny that every
hearer should be made as fully acquainted with the
whole word of God, as is practicable. But where, by
the mass of Christian people, is this knowledge to be
obtained, except at church? The truth is, the scriptural knowledge possessed by our ordinary congregations, amidst all our boasted light and improvement,
bears no comparison with that of the Scottish peasantry of  the last generation, who, from very infancy,
were taught to follow the preacher, in their little
Bibles, as he expounded in regular course. If long
habit had not prepossessed us, we should doubtless
agree at once to the proposition, that all the more cardinal books of Scripture should be fully expounded in
every church, if not once during the life of a single
preacher, certainly once during each generation; in
order that no man should grew up without the opportunity of hearing the great body of scriptural truth
laid open. And considering the Bible as our only
authentic document, this method seems so natural,
that the burden of proof may fairly be thrown on such
as have well nigh succeeded in excluding it. There




EXPOSITORY PREACHING.              28.7
is something beautiful in the very idea of training up
a whole congregation in the regular study of the holy
Scriptures. And if we were called upon to devise a
plan for inducing people to read the lBible more
diligently, we could think of none as likely to attain
the end. When hearers know that a certain portion
of Scripture is to be explained on the ensuing Lord's
day, they will naturally be led to examine it during
the week, and will thus be prepared to listen with
greatly increased advantage to what may be offered.
This is precisely the exercise which Chrysostom recommends to his hearers in his first homily on Matthew.* The same Father seems also to have sometimes thrown out to his hearers difficult questions, in
order that they might be stimulated to inquiry.
" Wherefore," he says, " have I presented the difficulty and not appended its solution?  Because it is
my purpose to accustom you, not always to receive
food already prepared; but often to search for the
explanation yourselves.  Just as it is with the doves,
which as long as their young remain in the nest,
feed them from their own bills; but as soon as they
are large enough to be fledged and leave the nest,
*'qOarte  u eVaOe'OTa'epov yev'eOal Trbv.JXyov, &e4LeOca Kal rapalcaXouILeV,'rep Kal 7r!'r&iv ZXXwo v ypapwze'V oIqcapev, 7rpocraqdzveWv'r-iv
veplKOrTpV TjrS ypatpis, iv &z yoAroiyev e7fytoOaia, Iva Ttj'qa01 X acdrywwris 7po0aob7roLvcra (6 Kica Arl Taru d',OvXou'yfeyoye), TroAXM  vapdaOXoX
brv evIKoAXac jgiP.




288         THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
cease to do thus. For, while they bring them corn in
their bills, they only show it to them; and when the
young ones expect nourishment, and draw nigh, the
mother lets it fall upon the earth, and the little ones
pick it up." *  If Scripture difficulties are in our day
often started in the pulpit, and often left unresolved,
we are not prepared to say whether it is exactly with
the motive avowed by this great preacher. Certain
it is that the able elucidation of dark places, and the
reconciling of seeming contradictions, occupy far less
room in the sermons which we nowadays preach,
than they did in those which have come down to us
from a former age. Not many clergymen adopt
the method of Bishop Horsely, who was accustomed
to select difficult texts, in order that his preaching
might be in the highest possible degree, an aid to the
inquiries of his hearers. And unless scriptural doubts
are resolved from the sacred desk, it is plain that the
great body of our congregations are likely to remain
in darkness as long as they live. But he who proposes to analyse and interpret any considerable portion of the Bible, in regular order, cannot evade this
labour, but must repeatedly confront the most difficult passages, and prepare himself to make them intelligible. It would be easy to expatiate on this
topic, but enough has been said to awaken some
*Vol. iii. p. 103.




EXPOSITORY PREACHING.         289
doubt as to the expediency of banishing formal exposition from the church assembly.
4. The expository method of preaching is best fitted
to communicate the knowledge of scriptural truth in
its connection. The knowledge of the Bible is something more than the knowledge of its isolated sentences. It includes a full acquaintance with the relation which every proposition sustains to the narrative
or argument of which it is a part. This is particularly true of trains of reasoning where every thing depends on a cognizance of the links which connect the
several truths, and the order in which those truths
are presented.  Large portions of holy writ are
closely argumentative and can be understood in their
true intention only when the whole scope and sequence
of the terms are considered. This logical connection is
no less the result of inspiration than is any individual
statement. In some books of Scripture the argument
runs from beginning to end, and the clew to the whole
is to be sought in the analysis of the reasoning. As
instances of this we may cite the epistles to the Romans and to the Hebrews, of which no man can have
any adequate conception who has not been familiar
with all their parts as constituting a logical whole.
This, however, is so universally conceded as a first
principle of hermeneutics, that it is needless to press
it further. But it is not so generally perceived, that
13




290          THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
in the other methods of preaching this great advantage is sacrificed. It is true that a manl may announce
as his text a single verse or clause of a verse, and then
offer a full and satisfactory elucidation of the whole
context; but, so far as this is done, the sermon is expository, and falls under the kind which we recommend.
But this species of discourse is becoming more and
more rare. In the sermons of the Nonconformists
this was usually the plan of proceeding. In modern
sermons, there is, for the most part, nothing which
resembles it. A text is taken, usually with a view to
some preconceived subject; a proposition is deduced
from the text; and this is confirmed or illustrated by
a series of statements which would have been precisely the same if any similar verse, in any other part
of the record, had been chosen. Here there is no interpretation, for there is no pretence of it. There
may be able theological discussion, and we by no
means would exclude this, but where a method
merely textual or topical prevails, there is an absolute forsaking of that which we have maintained to
be the true notion of preaching. We can conceive of
a hearer listening during a course of years to every
verse of the epistle to the HIebrews, laid open in connection with as many sermons of the popular sort,
without obtaining thereby an insight into the grand
scope and intricate contexture of that wonderful pro



EXPOSITORY PREACHING.          291
duction. Now we say that the method which makes
such an omission possible is unfit to be the exclusive
method.
As a remarkable instance of what is meant, we
may adduce the sermons of the Rev. William Jay,
who is justly celebrated as one of the most fascinating
and instructive preachers of Great Britain. In these
sermons we find many valuable scriptural truths, many
original and touching illustrations, much sound argument, pungent exhortation, and great unction. In
themselves considered, and viewed as pulpit orations,
they seem open to scarcely a single objection; yet as
expositions of the Scripture, they are literally nothing. They clear up no difficulties in the argument of
the inspired writers; they give no wide prospects of
the field in which their matter lies; they might be
repeated for a lifetime without tending in the slightest degree to educate a congregation in habits of
sound interpretation. The same remark applies to
the majority of American discourses, and most of all
to those which conform  to the prevailing taste of
New England. In occasional sermons, and monthly
collections, where we have access to a number of
printed discourses, we are often forcibly struck with
the absence of all logical concatenation. The text is
a sign or motto, after announcing which the preacher
glides into a gentle train of common-places, or a series




292         THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
of thoughts which, however ingenious and interesting
and true, have no necessary connection, " continuous
in their discontinuity, like the sand-thlread of the
hour-glass."
The mental habits of any Christian community
are mainly derived from the preaching which they
hear. It is fair to ask, therefore, from what source
can the Christians of our day be expected to gain a
taste and ability for interpreting the Scripture in its
connection? Certainly not from the pulpit. Among
the ancient Scottish Presbyterians the case was different.  Every man and every woman, nay, almost
every child, carried his pocket-Bible to church, and
not only looked out the text, but verified each citation; and as the preaching was in great part of the
expository kind, the necessary consequence was, that
the whole population became intimately acquainted
with the structure of every book in the Bible, ahd
were able to recall every passage with its appropriate
accompanying truths. The genius of Protestantism
demands that something of this kind should be attempted. Where the laity are not expected to search
the Scriptures, or. in any degree to exercise private
judgment, it may answer every purpose to give them
firom the pulpit the mere results of exposition; but
more is needed where we claim for all the pri-vilege of trying every doctrine by the word of God;




EXPOSITORY PREACHING.         293
and sermons should therefore be auxiliaries to the
hearers in their investigation of the record. And we
earnestly desire a general return on the part of our
preachers to a method which will necessarily tend,
from week to week, to open the Scriptures, and display what is by no means their least excellency, the
harmonious relation of their several portions.
5. The expository method affords inducement and
occasion to the preacher to declare the whole counsel
of God. No man, who selects his insulated texts at
random, has any good reason to be satisfied that he is
not neglecting the inculcation of many important
doctrines or duties. This deficiency is prevented in
some good measure, it must be owned, by those who
pursue a systematic course of doctrines in their ordinary ministrations. But usually, the indolence or
caprice which renders any one averse to the expository method, will likewise withhold him from methodical series of any kind in his discourses. There
is perhaps no man who has not an undue fondness
for some one circle of subjects: and this does not always comprise the whole of what he is bound to declare. But the regular exposition of a few entire
books, well selected, would go far to supply every
defect of this nature.
It is the province of the minister to render plain
the difficulties of the Bible, and this is not likely to




294          THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
be done extensively, as we have elsewhere hinted, in
an exclusive adherence to single texts.
There are some important and precious doctrines
of revelation which are exceedingly unwelcome to the
minds of many hearers; such, for instance, are the
doctrines of predestination, and unconditional election. These, the preacher is tempted to avoid, and
by some they are never unfolded during a whole lifetime. It. is obvious that no one could expound the
Epistle to the Romans, without being under the necessity of handling these points.
Moreover, it is unquestionable that many doctrines are abhorrent to the uninstructed mind, when
they are set forth in their naked theological form,
which are by no means so when presented in their
scriptural connection. Here, again, is a marked superiority on the side of exposition.
There is, we suppose, no pastor who has not, in
the course of his ministerial life, found himself called
upon to press certain duties, or inveigh against certain sins, which it was exceedingly difficult to dwell
upon, either from the delicacy of the theme itself, or
from its relation to particular classes or individuals in
his congregation. Now when such topics naturally
arise in the regular progress of exposition, all hesitation on this score is removed at once. The most unpopular doctrines may be stated and enforced, the




EXPOSITORY PREACHING.          295
most prevalent vices denounced, and the most daring
offenders chastised, while not even the censorious or
the sensitive can find room for complaint. For these
and similar reasons, we conceive the expository way
of preaching to supply a grand deficiency in our common pulpit ministrations.
6. The expository method admits of being made
generally interesting to Christian assemblies. We
are aware that the vulgar opinion is just the reverse
of this, and that there are those who refrain from this
way of preaching, under the belief that it must necessarily prove dry and repulsive to the hearer. To this
our reply is, that the interpretation of the Scriptures
ought to be interesting to every member of a Christian community: if it is not so, in fact, the cause of
this disrelish is an evil which the church should not
willingly endure, and which can be remedied in no
other way than by bringing the public back to the
assiduous study of the Bible. It is not every sort of
exposition, any more than every sort of sermon,
which is interesting. He who hastily seizes upon a
large portion of the text, in order to furnish himself
with ample material for an'undigested, desultory, and
extemporaneous address, cannot expect to awaken
and maintain attention. With all their blindness in
certain matters, the public are very sagacious in discovering when the minister gives them that which




296          THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
costs him nothing. But let any man devote equal
labour to his lectures as to his sermons, and unless he
be the subject of some idiosyncrasy, the former will
be equally interesting.
The observation is very common that expository
preaching is exceedingly difficult. Yet the writers
on homiletics, as if it were the easiest thing in the
world, and taught by nature, almost without exception, dismiss the whole subject with a few passing remarks, and lay down no rules for the conduct of a
regular exposition. We are persuaded that if equal
pains were taken to prepare for one as for the other,
and if the one were as often practised as the other,
this complaint would have no place.
As a matter of fact, we have observed no lack of
interest in such exercises)-on the part of intelligent
hearers. The truth is, the Bible is made for the common mind, and as it is the most interesting book in
the world, so its interpretation, well conducted, is
always to be found highly and increasingly agreeable
to the majority of hearers. On the other hand, there
are few instances of any man's interesting large congregations, for any length of time, by discourses
which were void of scriptural statements, however
elegant they might be in a rhetorical point of view.
The effect of mere ethical preaching has been sorely
felt in Germany, where, in the greater number of




EXPOSITORY PREACHING.         297
places, the ancient services of the Sunday afternoon
and during the week have gone into desuetude, and
there are whole classes of persons whom one never
expects to see in church, such as merchants, military
officers, and savans. Teller once preached a sermon
to a congregation of just sixteen persons, the intent of
which was to warn them against setting too high a
value on going to church. "Let any man," says
Tholuck, " imagine a modern preacher-as was common in former days-to direct his congregation to
bring their Bibles with them, and that they might be
assured that he declared not man's word, but the
word of God, at every important point, to look out
the passage cited: the remark of all elegant gentlemen and ladies would be,' Oh, this is too simple!'
Dies ist doch allzzt naiv! " But in the days when this
simple practice was in vogue, every one was interested in exposition; and it will be so again, whenever the public taste shall have been reformed by a
return to what was good in the ancient methods.
WVe rejoice to know of at least one instance, even in
Germany, serving to show that ordinary Christians
may, with proper care, be, led back into the old paths,
and that highly to their satisfaction. " I know but
one preacher," says a writer in the Evangelical
Church Journal, " in my native country, where there
are more than four hundred churches, who practises
13*




298         THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
biblical exposition with success. In his country pal
ish, which comprises several hamlets, he is accustomed to visit each of these in turn once a month
(perhaps oftener in winter), and to lecture in the
school-house. The hearers bring their Bibles, and
even aged and infirm persons, who cannot go to
church, repair hither with eagerness and delight.
They receive neither mere fragmentary and superficial remarks on single words or clauses, nor a merely
edifying address on a scripture passage, but the connected exposition of some whole book, developing as
well the specialties of language and matter, as the
entire scope according to its contefits. The lecturer
begins, at every meeting, where he left off at the previous one. In the next- hamlet he interprets another
book, as large numbers come in from the neighbouring villages to enjoy the additional privilege." Would
that we could witness the same thing in every congregation in America!
-There is one advantage of expository lectures, in
respect to interest, which must not be omitted. Nothing is more evident than that the'attention and syllpathy of an audience are best ensured by a rapid
transition from topic to topic. This cannot always be
secured in the common method. The preacher, from
a sort of necessity, hammers with wearisome perseverance upon some one malleable thought, in order




EXPOSITORY PREACHING.         299
to keep within his preconceived task. But where he
has before him  a number of connected scriptural
propositions, he is not only allowed, but constrained,
to make precisely such quick transitions from each
point to the next, as gives great variety to his discourse, and keeps up the unwearied attention of the
hearer. With faithful preparation and assiduous
practice, there is probably no minister who might not
find this hapy effect fiom weekly lecturing.
7. The expository method has a direct tendency
to correct, if not to preclude, the evils incident to the
common textual mode of preaching. It is an ordinary complaint that the sermons of the present day,
as compared with those of the seventeenth century,
are meagre, and often empty of matter; we think the
charge is founded in truth. No one can go from the
perusal of Barrow, Leighton, Charnock, or Owen,
to the popular writers of our time, without feeling
that he has come into an atmosphere of less density.
In the mere form of the pulpit discourse, in an
aesthetical point of view, we have unquestionably improved upon our model. The performances of that
day were too scholastic and complicated. "The sermons of the last century," says Cecil,- " were like
their large unwieldy chairs. Mlen have now a far
more true idea of a chair. They consider it as a piece
of furniture to sit upon, and they cut away from it




300          THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
every thing that embarrasses and encumbers it,"
But we have gone on to cut away until we have, in
too many cases, removed what was important and
substantial. The evil is acknowledged, but it is worthy of inquiry, how far the superficial character
of modern sermons is derived from the exclusive use
of short texts. We certainly do not assert that the
Puritans themselves did not carry this very method
to an extreme, by preaching many sermons on the
same text; but it is well known that they almost
universally pursued some variety of regular exposition in conjunction with this. Still less do we contend that all the evils of sermonizing are to be imputed to the exclusive use of brief texts; the source
of the evil is more remote, and must be sought in the
spirit of the age. But still there is good ground for
the position that the prevailing method gives easy
occasion to certain abuses, to which direct exposition
is not liable; and hence we argue that the exclusion
of the latter mode is greatly to be deprecated. This
is the extent of our demand. Some of the abuses to
which we refer may be indicated.
It is. by no means uncommon to hear sermons
which are absolutely devoid of any scriptural contents. The text indeed is from the Bible, and there
may be interspersed, more for decoration than proof,
a number of inspired declarations; but the warp and




EXPOSITORY PREACHING.          301
the woof of the texture are a mere web of human
reasoning or illustration. Sometimes the subject is
purely secular; and often, where it is some topic of
divine truth, it is maintained and urged upon natural
grounds, independent of the positive declarations of
the Word. It is not merely among the Unitarians of
Boston that this style prevails. There are various
degrees of approach to it in many orthodox pulpits of
New England. The expository method renders this
exceedingly difficult: being professedly an explanation of the Bible as the ideas are there set forth. In
point of fact, this evil seldom occurs in exposition, as
it is both natural and easy for the preacher to open
clause after clause in its. true sense and its revealed
order. Expository discourse can scarcely fail to be
largely made up of the pure biblical material.
A still greater abuse is that of wresting texts from
their genuine meaning by what is called accommodation. This is the extreme refinement of the modern
method. As if there was a lamentable paucity of
direct scriptural declarations, to be used as the subjects of discourse, we have proceeded to employ
sacred words in a sense which never entered into the
minds of their inspired writers. This is the favourite
trick of many a pulpit haranguer, and deserves to be
classed with the sesquipedalian capitals of play-bills,
and the clap-traps of the theatre: in both cases the




302          THOUGHTS ON PREACHING. 
object is to attract attention or awaken astonishment.
There can scarcely be found, on the other hand, a
single man, however unbridled his imagination, who
could fall into such a fault in the process of formal
and professed exposition.  Common reverence for the
Word of God must needs forbid any one while in the
very act of interpreting its successive statements, to
exhibit as the true intent of any passage, sentiments
which no fair exegesis can extract from it.
But even where the text is understood in its literal and primary sense, the avidity for something new,
and a regard for the " itching ear" of modern auditories, seduce the preacher into such a mode of treating
his subject as renders the sermon too often a mere exercise of logical or rhetorical adroitness. Where the
aesthetics of sermonizing have been cultivated with
overweening regard, and the exquisite partition of the
topics has been exalted to the first place, we see
every thing sacrificed to ingenuity. The proper basis
of every discourse is some pregnant declaration of the
Scripture. But in the elegant sermons which are
occasionally heard, the real basis is an artificial division, or "skeleton," commonly tripartite, and frequently of such structure as to offer, a pretty antithetic jingle of terms, and at the same time to remove
out of sight the true connection and scope of the text.
When this is the case, far too much stress is laid upon




EXPOSITORY PREACHING.               303
the division, however ingenious. This abuse has
grown from age to age. It was the natural consequence of exclusive textual preaching.  Among the
French divines it may be said to have prevailed, but
it has reached its acme among the Germans, who
have almost defeated our object in these remarks by
playing the same tricks of fancy with long passages.
Thus the excellent Tholuck, in the ninth of his second
series of University Sermons, has contrived from
Acts i. 1-14, to produce a division not merely in
forced antithesis, but actually in rhyme! The partition being as follows:
1. Die Stitte seines Scheidens, die St:itte seines Leidens;
2. Verhiillefist sein Anfang, verhiillet ist sein Ausgang;
3. Der Schluss von Seinem Weyen ist fiir die Seinen Segen;
4. Er ist von uns geschieden, und ist uns doch Geblieben;
5. Er bleibt verhiillet den Seinen, bis er wird kliir erscheinen.
But as a discourse is not made expository by having prefixed to it a connected passage of Scripture,
we still maintain, that genuine exposition removes in
great measure the temptation to these refinements.
It deserves consideration that we treat no other subjects but those of religion in this way. In all grave
discussions of human science, all juridical arguments,
and all popular addresses, the logical or natural partition of the subject commends itself to the common




304         THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
sense of mankind. Such is the judgment of unbiassed men on this point. It may not be improper
here to cite the opinion of Voltaire himself, because
through his sneer we discern something like the aspect of reason. "It were to be wished," says he,
"that in banishing from the pulpit the bad taste
which degraded it, he (Bourdaloue) had likewise banished the custom of preaching upon a text. Indeed,
the toil of speaking for a long time on a quotation of
a line or two, of labouring to connect a whole discourse with this line, seems a play unbecoming the
gravity of the sacred function. The text becomes a
species of motto, br rather an enigma, which is unfolded by the sermon. The Greeks and Romans had
no knowledge of this practice. It arose in the decline of letters, and has been consecrated by time.
The habit of always dividing into two or three heads
subjects which, like morals, demand no partition
whatever, or which, like controversy, demand a partition still more extensive, is a forced method, which
P. Bourdaloue found prevalent, and to which he conformed."
But there is another evil incident to the modern
method of preaching which is still more to be deprecated; namely, emptiness. Next to the want of
truth, the greatest fault in a sermon is want of matter. It is not the province of any mere method, as




EXPOSITORY PREACHING.           305
such, to furnish the material, but the ordinary mode
of handling Scripture in the pulpit affords great occasion for diffuseness, and has brought leanness into
many a discourse. A man of little thought, it is true,
whether he preach from  a verse or a chapter, will
necessarily impress the character of his mind upon
his performance; yet the temptation to fill up space
with inflated weakness is far greater under the modern
method; and where this method is universal will
overtake such as are undisciplined in mind. We
conceive it to be no disparagement of the word of
God to say that it is not every verse even of sacred
writ upon which a long discourse can be written
without the admixture of foreign matter. In too
many instances, when a striking text has been selected,
and an ingenious division fabricated, the preacher's
mind has exhausted itself. Perhaps we mistake, but
our conviction is, that far too much stress has been
laid upon the analyses of sermons. Essential as they
are, they are the bare plotting out of the ground. The
skeleton, as it is aptly called, is an unsatisfactory object, where there is not superinduced a succession of
living tissues; it is all-important to support the fralne,
but by no means all-sufficient. and they who labour
on this, in the vain hope of filling up what remains
by extemporaneous speaking or writing, " quite mistake the scaffold for the pile."




306         THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
We regard the diffuseness of many ministers, however perspicuous, as even worse than obscurity. The
labour of the preacher's thought is too often intermitted upon the conception of a good analysis. Our
fathers of the last century used to throw out masses,
sometimes rude, and sometimes fantastically carved
and chased, but always solid and always golden; we,
their sons, are content to beat the bar into gold leaf,
and too frequently to fritter this into minute fragments. Defect of thought is a sad incentive to laboured expansion, when a man is resolved to produce
matter for a whole hour. In such cases, the effort is
to fill up the allotted number of minutes. Too many
moments of sacred time are thus occupied in adding
water to the pure milk of the word. The dilute result is not only wanting in nutritive virtue, but often
nauseous.  Under an admirable partition, we find
sermonizers offending grossly, and this in a twofold
way. One preacher will state his topic, and then, however plain it may be, pertinaciously insist upon rendering it plainer. In this instance the heads of discourse
may be likened to milestones on a straight and level
highway, from each of which the traveller is able to
look forward over a seemingly interminable tract.
Another will, in like manner, announce his topic, and
then revolve around it, always in sight, but never in
proximity, until the time of rambling being spent, he




EXPOSITORY PREACHING.         307
chooses to return and repeat his gyrations about a new
centre. There is little progress made by the haranguer, though his language or his embellishment be
unexceptionable, g ui variare cupit remn prodigialiter
unam. This paucity of such matter as is germane
to the subject in hand is sometimes betrayed in the
attempt to indemnify for the meagreness of the argumentative part by an inordinate addendum in the
shape of improvement, inference, or. application.
The expository method, if judiciously intermixed
with the other, offers a happy corrective to this fault.
Here the preacher is furnished with abundance of
matter, all-important, and fertile of varied thought.
HIe is placed under compression, and compelled to
exchange his rarity of matter for what is close and in
the same proportion weighty. We could give no better receipt for the cure of this tympany of sermonizers,
than a course of expository lectures.
One word must be added, before we leave this
copious topic, upon the avidity with which both
preachers and hearers seek for novel and striking texts.
The most common and familiar texts have become
such, for the very reason that they are the most important. It is unworthy of the minister of Jesus Christ
to be always in search of fragments which have never
before been handled. The practice militates against
the systematic and thorough development of the




308         THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
whole counsel of God. We need not pause a moment
to show that this is an evil that cannot exist under
the method which we are solicitous to recommend.
It forms no part of our plan, in these remarks, to
lay down rules for the conduct of an expository discourse, though the subject is quite as deserving of being treated in detail as any other connected with
homiletics. No mistake could be more injurious to
the character of such exercises, than to suppose that
they demand less method or less assiduity than the
most finished sermons of the ordinary kind. They
are not to be used as a means of retreat from the labours of the closet, and he who thus employs them
will soon find his pulpit services empty and unsuccessful. In the present state of society, when the
public mind, especially in our own country, is trained
by the discipline of reading and hearing the highest
specimens of forensic and deliberative eloquence, it is
vain to expect that any congregation can long be interested ill unpremeditated addresses. We may apply
to this whole subject the words of our Directory for
Worship: " The method of preaching requires much
study, meditation, and prayer. Ministers ought, in
general, to prepare their sermons with care; and not
to indulge themselves in loose, extemporary harangues; nor to serve God with that which cost them




EXPOSITORY PREACHING.           309
naught."*  We have met with no instance in which
permanent usefulness has followed the practice of delivering unstudied sermons. The preacher who attempts this is sure to fall into empty declamation,
objurgatory invective, or tedious repetition. Undigested discourses are commonly of tiresome length,
and proportionate dulness. Wherever we hear frequent complaints of a.preacher's prolixity, we are
sure ourselves that he leaves much of the filling up of
his outline to the hour of actual delivery. Without
being himself aware of it, such a preacher falls into a
routine of topics and expressions, and is perpetually
repeating himself, and becoming more and more uninteresting to his charge; while, at the same time, he
is perhaps wondering at the diminution of his hearers, and attributing his want of success to any cause
but one within himself. The assiduous study of the
Bible, with direct reference to the services of the pulpit, is indispensably necessary, whatever species of
preaching may be adopted.
We plead at present for no more than a discreet
admixture of biblical exposition with the other
methods of discourse. In entering upon such a
course, it is not necessary that the minister should
introduce his first experiments into the principal service of the Lord's day: lhe might make trial of his
* Chap. vi. ~ 3.




310         THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
gifts in less frequented meetings, or in some more
familiar circle called together for this special purpose.
And even where the expository method is exclusively
adopted, as some may see cause to do, the pastor is
to beware of that extreme which would always present very long passages. The expository plan, wisely
conducted, may be said to include the.other. Where,
in due course, a verse or even a part of a verse occurs, so important in its relations and so rich in matter as to claim a more extended elucidation, it should
be taken singly, and be made the basis of a whole
sermon or even more.
As a model of familiar exposition we would cite
the Lectures of Archbishop Leighton on the First
Epistle of Peter. The great excellency of these is
their heavenly unction, which led Dr. Doddridge to
say that he never read a page of Leighton without
experiencing an elevation of his religious feelings.
"More faith and more grace," says Cecil, "would
make us better preachers, for out of the abundance of
the heart the mouth speaketh. Chrysostom's was the
right method. Leighton's Lectures on Peter approach very near to this method."-" Our method of
preaching," says the same writer, "is not that by
which Christianity was propagated; yet the genius of
Christianity is not changed. There was nothing in
the primitive method set or formal. The primitive




EXPOSITORY PREACHING.          311
bishop stood up and read the gospel, or some other
portion of Scripture, and pressed on the hearers with
great earnestness and affection a few plain and forcible truths, evidently resulting from that portion of the
divine word: we take a text, and make an oration.
Edification was then the object of both speaker and
hearers; and while this continues to be the object, no
better method can be found." *
Such a mode of preaching is less adapted than its
opposite to make the speaker a separate object of regard, and might be selected by many on this very
account. It is now some years since we enjoyed the
privilege of listening to the late pious and eloquent
Surnmerfield, the charm of whose brilliant and pathetic discourses will never be forgotten by those who
heard them. After having, on a certain occasion, delivered a deeply impressive sermon on Isaiah vi. 1-6,
he remarked to the writer of these pages that, in consequence of having been pursued by multitudes of
applauding hearers, he had been led to exercise himself more in the way of simple exposition, as that
which most threw the preacher himself into the
shade, and most illustriously displayed the pure truth
of the Word.
The same idea was expressed by the late Dr. Mason
in circumstances which no doubt.drew from him his
* Cecil's Works, vol. iii. p. 312.




312         THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
sincerest convictions and most affectionate counsels.
The words are found in a sermon preached in Murray
Street Church, December 2, 1821, on the occasion of
resigning the charge of his congregation; and we
earnestly recommend to every reader this testimony
of one who, it is well known, was eminently gifted in
the very exercise which he applauds.
In suggesting to his late charge the principles
upon which they should select a pastor, he says:
" Do not choose a man who always preaches upon insulated texts. I care not how powerful or eloquent
he may be in handling them. The effect of his power
and eloquence will be, to banish a taste for the word
of God, and to substitute the preacher in its place.
You have been accustomed to hear that word preached
to you in its connection. Never permit that practice
to drop. Foreign churches call it lecturing; and
when done with discretion, I can assure you that,
while it is of all exercises the most difficult for the
preacher, it is, in the same proportion, the most
profitable for you. It has this peculiar advantage,
that in going through a book of Scripture, it spreads
out before you all, sorts of character, and all forms of
opinion; and gives the preacher an opportunity of
striking every kind of evil and of error, without subjecting himself to.the invidious suspicion of aiming
his discourses at individuals." *
* Mason's Works, vol. i. p. 366.




EXPOSITORY PREACHING.          313
With these remarks we may safely leave the subject, commending it to the careful and impartial investigations of all who are interested in the propagation of divine truth, and particularly to ministers of
the gospel, who, of all men living, should be most
solicitous to direct their powers in such channels as
to produce the highest effect.
14




SKETCHES OF THE PULPIT, IN  ANCIENT
AND IN MODERN TIMES.
IT admits of little question that preaching took its
rise from the public reading of the Scriptures. No
one needs to be informed how regularly this formed
a part of the synagogue service. The case of our
Lord's expositions in this way is too familiar to bear
recital. The apostles, and Paul in particular, seem
to have followed the same method. Indeed, this may
be taken as the rule, while free utterances, like that
at Mars' Hlill, are considered as the exceptions. Little
has come down to us, in regard to th] precise form
taken by the discourses of Christian teachers in the
early and less rhetorical period. The celebrated passage of Justin Martyr points towards the familiar
harangue or exhortation, rather than the elaborate
comment on Scripture. This wre apprehend arose in
part from the fact-now very much neglected, though
significant-that inculcation of doctrine was carried
on chiefly in the classes of catechumens, while the




PREACHING AND PREACHERS.        315
public assembly was more employed for lively addresses to the Christian people. Justin expressly declares that the writings of the prophets and apostles
were read to the assembly. The Apostolical Constitutions doubtless report a well-known usage, when
they say that the congregation reverently stood, while
the reading took place; of which sowpe churches retain a vestige, in the custom of rising, when the little
fragment by synecdoche, called the Gospel, in recited.
Liberty was given to.the aged and infirm to remain
seated. In our times, whien people refuse to stand
even in prayer, such a usage would'prove burdensome
in the extreme.
There is good reason to believe, that the portions
of Scripture for public reading were at first left to
the free choice of the presiding minister. After a
while, when festivals and fasts became numerous, ingenuity was exercised to affix certain passages to the
subject of commemoration. From this it was an
easy step to a programme of regular lessons, for all
Sundays and great days. But these were far from
being uniform or immutable. Thus we find that the
Churches in Syria read vat Pentecost from the Acts
of the Apostles, while those of Spain and Gaul read
the Revelation. In Syria they read Genesis in Lent,
but at Milan, Job and Jonah. In Northern Africa
the history of our Lord's passion was appropriately




316         THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
read on Good Friday; at Easter, the account of the
resurrdetion; in both cases from Matthew. When we
come down to the days of Augustine, we find the
lessons somewhat fixed; and it would be easy to
make numerous citations from his works to this point.
Antiquaries refer the first collection of lessons, called
Lectionaries, in Gaul, to about the middle of the fifth
century; the oldest known being the celebrated lectionarium  Gallicanum.  In the eighth century. it
was still necessary for the imperial authority of
Charlemagne to enforce uniformity in the portions
read.
When matters had gradually assumed their rubrical settlement, the Church customs became fixed.
The reading was by a reader, or lector, who stood in
the elevation known as the ambo. IIe began with
the words, " Peace unto you," to which there was a
response by the people; such as is familiar to us in
modern service-books. The gospels had the precedence, as they still have in the Missal, and were frequently read by the deacon.'This we suppose to
have been a very ancient custom, and one which
might well have a'place in modern liturgies, where
the voice of the minister is often overtasked, in oppressive seasons and times of ill-health. The sermon
was pronounced sometimes from the bishop's cathedra, before bishops had ceased to preach, or from the




PREACHING AND PREACHERS.        317
steps of the altar, when this had taken the place of
the communion table; in some instances, however,
from the ambo, which reveals a connection of the discourse with the lesson of Scripture.
In attempting to gather some notices of early
preaching, we have to grope amidst darkness, most
of our authorities belonging to a corrupt and ritualistic period. The preacher began with the Pax omnibus, to which the audience responded. We find Augustine asking them sometimes to help him with their
prayers. " The lesson out of thQ Apostles," he says,
in one place, " is dark and difficult;" and he craves
their intercession. And elsewhere: Quemadmodum.nos, ut ista percipiatis, oramnus, sic et vos orate, utt ea
vobis exvplicare valeamus. The preacher sat, while
the people stood; as no seats were furnished for the
worshippers. Augustine speaks of this, in apologizing
for a sermon longer than usual, and contrasts his easy
posture with theirs.
Every oee must be persuaded that early preaching
was without the use of manuscript. It was in regard
to expression extemporaneous. Here we might again
quote Justin. Socrates tells us indeed, concerning
Atticus, Bishop of Constantinople, that he committed
to memory at home such things as he was about to
deliver in the church; but afterwards, he says that
he spoke from the impulse of the moment. Sidonius,




318         THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
addressing himself to Faustus Rejensis, writes thus:
" Praedicationes tuas nunc repentinas, nunc cum ratio
praescripsit elucubratas, raucus plosor audivi."  The
allusion is to the audible applause given to popular
orators. Pamphilus relates of Origen, that the discourse, which he delivered almost daily in church
were extempore, and that they were taken down by
reporters, and so preserved for posterity. We find
Chrysostom changing his subject, in consequence of
tumults in the street on his way to the public assembly. His discourses as now extant contain many
observations which plainly arose from the circumstances in which he stood during the delivery; such
as the clapping of hands, the shouts heard from the
neighbouring hippodrome, and the entrance of attendants to light the lamps. In one instance we find
Augustine suddenly taking up a passage which the
lector, who it seems was a boy, had read by mistake,
instead of the one which the preacher had premeditated. The whole air of his Sermones is that of the
extemporaneous preacher. Again and again he descants on the psalm which has just been sung. He
throws in such remarks as this: "' You see, beloved,
that my sermon to-day differs from what is usual;
I have not time for all," etc. And we may here observe that the four hundred sermons of this father
afford the richest treasure for any one who wishes to




PREACHING AND PREACHERS.        319
study the peculiarities of Ancient Latin preaching.
Gregory the Great says in one place: " I understand
some hard passages now, coram fratribus, which I
could not master solus."  " In the earliest times,"
says Thiersch, " it is certain the free outpouring more
prevailed, the nearer we get to primitive simplicity,
and the liber'al manifestation of the charismata."
According to Guericke, the reading of sermons occurred only as exceptional. For example, Gregory
says in one of his Homilies on the Evangelists: " It
has been my wont to dictate many things for you;
but since my chest is too weak for me to read what
I have dictated, I perceive some of you are hearing
with less displeasure. Hence, varying from my usual
practice..... I now discourse non dictando, sed colloquendo."  It should seem, perhaps from the same
infirmity, that he sometimes wrote sermons which
were read to the people by the Lector.
If any should inquire how we come to have so
many extant sermons of the Christian fathers, the
reply must be, that they were taken down by reporters; the revision and emendation of the author being added in some instances, then as now. Great
preachers in every age have been accustomed, also, to
write out at their leisure, the discourses which they
had delivered extempore. It would be a great historical error to suppose that short-hand reporting was




320         THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
unknown to the ancients. There were many causes
which operated to bring it into general use. The enthusiastic admiration of eloquence, which prevailed
among the Greeks and Romans, furnished a motive
for seeking to preserve what had electrified the populace. The extraordinary amount of manuscript, in
ages before the invention of printing, ldd to a facility
in the penman's art, which we probably undervalue.
The use of uncial or separate characters, in place of a
cursive or running-hand, in rapid writing, would naturally prompt, first to such ligatures and contractions
as we observe in many manuscripts, and then to still
greater abridgments, condensations, and symbols, by
means of which a whole word or even a whole sentence was denoted by a single mark. / Specimens of
these, from ancient remains, may be seen appended
to some editions of Cicero. But as to the details of
the methods, we are altogether uninformed. The results show that full reporting was as such relied upon
by them as by us. Those orations of Greek and Roman orators, which were produced on the spot, were
thus taken down; and as soon as- Christian eloquence
began to be regarded from its worldly and literary
side, the same mode was applied. Eusebius assures
us that the discourses of Origen were thus written by
stenographers. Reference has already been made to
the case of Gregory the Great. Almost all the ser



PREACHING AND PREACHERS.         321
mons of Augustine which remain to us, are due to
this method. Many, doubtless, received their fitness
for this work from  acting as amanuenses.  Thus,
Augustine writes feelingly of the death of a boy who
was his notary.* In the Ecclesiastical Acts, concerning the designation of Eraclius as his successor, we
find Augustine thus addressing the assembly: "A
notariis ecclesice, sicut cernitis, excipiuntur quoe dicimus, excipiuntur quve dicitis; et meus sermo, et
vestrae acclamationes in terramin non cadunt." t But
the authorities on this head are innumerable; indeed,
some of our most valuable patristical treasures were
thus preserved. Modern times and our own days
have seen the same means employed. The expositions of Calvin on the Old Testament are from reports
of this sort, which contain the very prayers which he
offered. The Commentary on the Ephesians, by McGhee, one of the most admirable evangelical works
of the age, was delivered by the author at a little
weekly lecture in Ireland, and reported in stenography. Some of the greatest sermons of Robert
Hall were never written till after the delivery; and
some of these were " extended " from the notes of
Wilson, Grinfield, and Green. But we need look no
further than to the orations of Webster, Clay, Russell,
Palmerston, Cobden, Thiers, and Montalembert, to
* Ep. clviii.    t Ep. coxiii.
14*




322         THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
escape all doubts as to the practicability of what has
been supposed.
With the secular advancement of Christianity, the
argumentation of assemblies, and the accession of
learned men and orators, the simple and ardent addresses of apostolic times gave place to all the forms
of Grecian rhetoric. The house of worship, no longer
a cavern or an upper chamber, became a theatre for
display. This is apparent more among the Greeks
than the Latins, and was not inconsistent with much
ardour of piety and edification of the faithful; yet
the change was very marked, and in the same proportion we observe the art of homiletics assuming a
regular shape. It is impossible to condemn what we
here discern, without at the same time censuring the
pulpit of our own day in the nlost refined portions of
Christendom; but we are not sure that a universal
advancement in the spiritual life of the Church would
not instantly put to flight many adventitious glories
of the sermon, and restore a more natural and impassioned species of sacred oratory. The ancient preacher
was frequently interrupted by bursts of applause,
clapping of hands, and acclamations of assent. Chrysostom says:-" We need not your applause or tumultuous approbation," and asks for silence. These
tokens of admiration are to be compared, not with
the devout exclamations of the Methodists, in their




PREACHING AND PREACHERS.         323
more illiterate assemblies, but with the cheers of our
anniversary meetings, if not with the turbulent praise
of the House of Commons. The great preacher last
named, found it necessary, therefore, to remind the
Christians of Antioch that they were not in the
theatre. Yet such signs of sympathy in the people,
when moderate and decorous, were expected and approved. For example, Augustine thus closes a sermonl: " Audistis, laudastis; Deo gratias."
In early times, public preaching was by no means
confined to the Lord's day; and its frequency indicates a great interest in divine things on the part of
the public.. It is necessary only to look through a
number of consecutive sermons of Augustine, particularly at the beginning and end of each, to learn that
he was accustomed to preach very often, and during
sacred seasons for several days in succession, and at
times more than once in the same day. Seasons of
extraordinary religious emotion are always signalized
by this avidity for the word. So it was at the Reforlnation. Luther preached almost daily at Wittemberg, and Calvin at Geneva, as did Knox and Welsh
in Scotland. And so it will be again when religion
is greatly revived in our own land.
As a matter of course, the great body of ancient
sermons has passed into oblivion; but enough remains to give us a very complete notion of the way




324          THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
in which the fathers treated divine subjects before
the people. Of the Greeks, we possess discourses of
Origen, Eusebius of Caesarea, Gregory Thaunaturgus,
Athanasius, Basil, the Gregories of Nyssa and Nazianzen, Cyril, Mlacarius, Amphilochius and Chrysostonl.
In all these the traces of Gentile rhetoric are visible.
Of the Latins, none are so remarkable as Ambrose,
Augustine, and Leo the Great. To gain some fair
conception of the manner adopted, it would be well
for every student acquainted with the ancient languages, to peruse a few discourses of Basil, Chrysostom, and Augustine. He will discover amidst all
the elegance of the golden-tongued Gireek, an admirable simplicity in the exposition of Scripture in regular course, as for example, in the numerous sermons
on the Romans; and a fidelity of direct reproof,
worthy of imitation in all ages. What are called the
Sermones of Augustine are not only shorter —perhaps
from abridgment by the notary-but in every respect
more scattering, planless, and extemporaneous, but
at the same time full of genius, full of eloquence, full
of piety, all clothed in a latinity, which, though not
Augustan, and sometimes even provincial and Punic,
carries with it a glow and a stateliness of march,
which oftener reminds us of the Roman orator than
the elaborate exactness of Lactantius, the 1" Christiau
Cicero." If, sometimes he indulges in a solecism, for




PREACHING AND PREACHERS.        325
the sake of the plebs Christianac of Carthage, it is not
unconsciously; and we seem to see him smile when
he says in apology, " Dum omnnes instruantur, grammatici non timeantur."  He even begs pardon for the
form fenerat; though this is used by Martial and
occurs continually in the Digests. And of a blessed
neologism he thus speaks: " Christ Jesus, that is
Christus SALVATOR. For this is the Latin of JEsuS.
The grammarians need not inquire how Latin it is,
but the Christians how true. For salus is a Latin
noun. Salvare and salvator, indeed, were not Latin,
before the Saviour (Salvator) came; when hle came
to the Latins he made this word Latin."    But we
check our hand, on a subject, which from its tempting copiousness, is better fitted for a monograph. On
this period of patristical eloquence much remains to
be written. There are good things in Fen6lon, lMaury,
Gisbert, Thereinin, and above all win Villemain; but
we have reason to long for a work of research and
taste, which shall present the modern and English
reader with adequate specimens and a complete history and' criticism of the great pulpit orators of the
Greek and Latin Churches.
Pursuing our ramble among old Churches, we
leap without further apology into the middle age, in
order to say that in this period, about which there is
* Serm. ccxcix.




326          THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
so much dispute and so little knowledge, preaching
could not but suffer a great decadence, when sound
letters and taste fell as low as religion. When every
other description of oratory became corrupt, it is not
to be expected that sacred eloquence should abide in
strength. Among the Greeks, it sank under the influence of superstition, frigid rhetoric, tinsel, and
bombast.  In the Latin  Church, plagiarists and
abridgers took the place of genuine preachers. The
method of postillating came in; that is, of uttering a
short and jejune discourse after the lesson; post illa
(se. verbac Dornin) hence the name postill. The diction and style of Latin preaching decayed with the
general language. Preaching in the vernacular was
not unknown in the West, but grew less and less impressive.  At times of great popular excitement,
when crowds were flocking after crusading captains,
or trembling before the invading Turk, there were
vehemently passionate harangues, and we have instances of street and' field-preaching. What great revivals are with us, were those simultaneous awakenings of religious emotion which sometimes stirred the
entire population of large districts.  These engendered a sort of.eloquence which in degree was high
enough, but of which few records appear in our books
of history. Among the most extraordinary actors in
these moving dramas were the Flagellantes, Giesseler,




PREACHING AND PREACHERS.         327
or Whippers, of the fourteenth century. We find an
account of the entrance of these penitentiary fanatics
into Strasburg, in the year 1349.  The universal
panic in expectation of invasion, and even of the
judgment-day, prepared the people for singular impressions. About two hundred entered the city, in
solemn procession, singing those ghastly hymns which
were chief instruments of their work. Their flaunting
banners were of the costliest silk and satin. They
carried lighted tapers, and all the bells of the country
sounded at their approach. Their mantles and cowls
bore red crosses, and as they chanted together, they
would sometimes kneel and sometimes prostrate them,
selves. Multitudes joined themselves to their number,
for purposes of penance, and subjected themselves to
the fearful lacerations of self-flagellation, from which
the order took its name. The discourses delivered by
these sombre itinerants were in every way fitted to
harrow up the consciences, and beget the religious
fears in which middle-age popery had delighted.
Every reader of Church history is familiar with
the preaching friars, as they were called. The same
enthusiasm, and the same successes, attended their
progress from land to land. That branch of the
Franciscan Minorites, called the Capuchins, is well
known, even in our day, to every traveller in Europe.
The bare head, filthy robe, and tangled beard, occur




328         THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
in many a picture. The cant of these holy beggars
has received the distinctive title of capucinade, a
vulgar but impressive sort of preaching, which was
-found very serviceable to the Church of Rome. In
the Lager of Wallenstein, the most comic and at the
same time the most Shakspearian of Schiller's productions, the camp-sermon of the Capuchin is one of
the most felicitous parts. It was, evidently, in the
mind of Scott, when he depicted, in exaggerated
burlesque, the fanatic preacher of the Covenant in
Old Mortality. As to preaching before the Reformation, it needs scarcely be repeated here, that as a part
of regular religious worship in churches, it had fallen
very much into desuetude. The great preachers of
Popery were raised up as the result of a reaction
against Protestant reform.
The modern pulpit really dates from the Reformation. With few exceptions the Reformers were
mighty preachers, and. sonle of them wielded an influence in this way which far surpased all their efforts
with the pen, and was felt over half Europe. In the
British isles the power of the Word was particularly
felt. Cranmer, Latimer, and Jewell, in their several
varieties of eloquence, awakened an interest in the
new doctrines which nothing was able to allay. The
fearless tongue of John Knox, even against princes,
has been noted as fully by foes as friends. In the re



PREACHING AND PREACHERS.         329
corded specimens of his sermons, if we translate them
out of the atrocious Scotch spelling, and the fetters
of the uncouthest dialect ever pronounced, there are
apparent both power and elegance. From that day
to this, the Presbyterians of Scotland have been,
above all people, lovers of the preached Word.
Some of the more prominent characteristics of the
Scottish pulpit are familiarly known. It was at once
expository, doctrinal, methodical, and impassioned.
For ages it was without book, as it still is in a great
degree; for the country parishes retain all their an,
cient contemrpt for the " paper-minister;' notwithstanding the eloquent examples of reading by such
men as Chalmers, Irving, Candlish, and Hamilton.
The citation of Scripture passages, and the custom of
"turning up" the same in the little Bible of the
hearer, have given a peculiarly textual character to
Scottish sermons. The great stress laid upon strong
and tender emotion at the Lord's table, the meeting
of several ministers and'multitudes of people on sacramental occasions, and the continuance of these services during several days, have contributed to an
unction and pathos which have been extended to our
own churches, among the purer settlements of strict
Presbyterians. The power of the pulpit has, therefore,
been nowhere more manifest. No public authority
has ever availed to silence this mode of popular agitation and rebuke.




330         THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
In the sermons of the Scottish Church two verS
unlike tendencies are clearly distinguishable; one is
the fondness for scholastic method and minute subdivision, derived from the dialectical turn of the people, and the familiarity of the preachers with the
severe manuals of Calvinistic theology; the other is
the disposition to give outlet to high religious feeling.
In some portions of the Kirk both have been active
throughout the entire period; there have been manifest the acumen and ratiocinative precision, as well
as what Buchanan calls the ingenium perfervidum
Scotorum. This has been diversified by the constant
practice of lecturing in the forenoon service, which
has maintained expository preaching for three hundred years, and done much to mould the religious
temper of the nation. There was indeed a period in
the eighteenth century, when the chill of Mloderatism
fell upon public discourses, in a part of the Church,
producing the tame literary elegance of Robertson
and Blair. But the same age produced the Erskines
of the Secession, in one school of homiletics, and
Walker and Witherspoon in another. The Ecclesiastical Characteristics and the Corporation of Servants,
did much to stigmatize the unfaithfulness of the frigid
preachers, and even to open the way for those triurnphs of principle which have since resulted in the
strength and fervour of the Free Church. It would




PREACHING AND PREACHERS.         331
carry us beyond all due liwnits to enlarge on the new
modes of pulpit discourse which have owed their
origin to the brilliant but sometimes misleading example of Chalmers and his imitators.  This great
preacher, admirable as he appears in his printed
works, can never be fully comprehended by those
who never heard him. The cool reader has time to
pause over solecisms of language and excesses of amplification, which were put utterly beyond the hearer's
sense by the thunder of his delivery. When Dr.
John MI. Mason, on his return from Scotland, was
asked wherein lay Chalmers's great strength, he replied, "' It is his blood-earnestness."
The free course of our remarks has led us somewhat further than we intended, and we must go back
to gather up a few observations respecting the English pulpit, more, however, in the way of desultory
observation than of historical detail. From the very
beginning of Reformation times, the pulpit has been a
potent engine of popular impression in England. Indeed, we suppose that at no time has preaching been
more powerful in its influence on the people, than before the rise of those corruptions which rent the Anglican Church, and drew off some of its greatest minds
to the side of Puritanism. When this rupture took
place, it is just to say, that in many of the greatest
qualities of preaching, the true succession was in the




$32         THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
line of non-conformity. Bit it is impossible to ignore
the fact, that in some important attributes, the Anglican pulpit is the greatest of which the press has
given any record. As the movement-party was characterized by great warmth, extemporaneous flow, and
assault on the religious passions, it became at once a
necessity and a fashion for churchmen to cultivate a
species of discourse which was more learned, more
accurate, and more sedate. We do not mean to admit the force of the vulgar taunt, that the Puritans,
as a body, were deficient in learning. The first generation of Dissenters numbered among them some of
the most profound scholars in the Christian world.
Yet, as the lines diverged, and the Non-conformists
were excluded from the great seats of learning and
all the emoluments of the Church, the difference in
this particular became more marked; and, notwithstanding some brilliant exceptions, it must be acknowledged, that in point of erudition and elegant
letters, the dissenting ministers of England, as a
body, are inferior to the established clergy. The latter, indeed, vaunted of this difference much beyond
any substantial ground, and sometimes made the pulpit a place for dogmatic discussion and patristic lore,
to a degree which was unseasonable and offensive.
In its more favourable manifestations, the learning of
the Anglican Church has been nobly brought out in de



PREACHING AND PREACHERS.        333
fence of the truth; especially against the Freethinkers,
the Unitarians and the Papists. A body of divinity
might be compiled solely from the sermons of great
English divines; a library might be filled with the
elaborate dissertations which they have preached.
No one could reasonably expect us, in an article
of such limits and character as this, to recite the
splendid roll of English preachers; but there are a
few whom we would earnestly commend to the notice
of every theological student. Omitting entirely the
great names which occur in an earlier period, it is
important to mention the four bright luminaries, Barrow, Taylor, South, and Tillotson, each so unrivalled
in his way, and all so unlike. Barrow was an extraordinary man, as a traveller, a philologist, a mathematician, and a divine. He read Chrysostom at
Constantinople before he was made Greek Professor
at Cambridge. He was predecessor of Sir Isaac:Newton in the mathematical chair. Both pursuits
tended to make him the eloquent reasoner. It was
the age of long periodic sentences, such as appal
modern lungs, and Barrow knew how to give a sonorous swell and climacteric advance to his Demosthenic passages. Many is the period in his pages, which
for matter might fit out the whole fifteen minutes'
sermon of a dapper Oxonian of our times. He
abounds in high argument, which is more inflamed




334         THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
by passion than coloured by decoration. His noblest
passages leave us thrilling with his passion, rather
than captivated by his imagination.  He is sometimes too abundant, and sometimes unwieldy; but
not dull, not weak, not quaint. A ponderous earnestness and a various wealth, strike you in every
page. WVith Barrow, multitude of words is never
verbosity, and length of discussion is never diffuseness; it is massive strength without brevity. Hence,
we do not wonder that the great Chatham should
have taken him as a model, reading over some of his
sermons as much as twenty times. " In his sermons,"
says Mlr. Granger, " he knew not how to leave off
writing, till he had exhausted his subject; and his
admirable discourse on the duty and reward of
bounty to the poor took him up three hours and a
half in preaching." His bust in Westminster Abbey
will be fresh in the recollection of all clerical travellers.
How abrupt is the transition to the " Shakspeare
of the pulpit! "  Bishop Taylor, in his own manner,
has had a few imitators, but never a competitor. If
we except the great dramatist, no man can be named
in any department of literature, who stands more
clearly alone. Never were there sermons, we suppose, which purely for intellectual pleasure have been
read with such satisfaction. In every thing but the
outward guise, they are often the highest poetry.




PREACHING AND PREACHERS.        335
Imagination has no flights more lofty and adventurous, than many which have been quoted again and
again. He soars in a grand similitude, with a boldness
of preparation and a sustaining power of wing, and
then descends to the earth with a graceful undulation
and gentle subsidence, which are absolutely without a
parallel. The voluptuous melody of the rhythm gives
a charm to his diction. Interwoven with these brilliant strands of fancy, there is often a subtle thread
of argumentation which wins your assent before you
are aware; often, unfortunately, to worse than semipelagian laxity; for Taylor was very remote from
the orthodoxy of his day. Along with all this, there
is poured out upon us a profusion of learning as from
a golden horn of plenty. No preacher of our day
would venture to quote as much Greek, during his
whole life, as Jeremy Taylor sometimes brings out in
a single sermon. But the reminiscences and allusions
of classic learning spin from him spontaneously in
every paragraph. While his invective is sometimes
of a scalding heat, he is often tender and pathetic;
and there is a scholarly negligence in the style which
charms while it baffles all attempts at imitation. It
must now be admitted that with all these claims to
our wonder, Taylor seldom makes prominent the peculiarly gracious doctrines of the evangelical system.
There is a saintly calm about his ethics, which re



336              THOUGHTS ON  PREACHING.
minds us of the purer class of Romish preachers,. but
the ascetic directions and the exaltation of human merit
belong to the blemishes of the same school. The
amplitude  of his comparisons, sometimes conducted
with a sameness of display which runs into mrrannerism, did not escape the censure even of his contemporaries, and was plainly struck at by the following
sentences of the austere and  caustic  South: "Nothing here [namely in Paul's preaching] of the' fringes
of the north-star;' nothing  of' Nature's becoming
unnatural;' nothing of the' down of angel's wings,'
or the' beautiful locks of cherubims:' no starched
similitudes, introduced  with  a' Thus  have I  seen a
cloud rolling in its airy mansion, and the like.'" *
* Compare the famous passage from Taylor: "For so have I seen
a lark rising from his bed of grass, and soaring upwards, singing as he
rises, and hopes to get to heaven, and climb above the clouds; but the
poor bird was beaten back with the loud sighings of an eastern wind,
and his motion made irregular and inconstant, descending more at
every breath of the tempest, than it could recover by the libration and
frequent weighing of his wings; till the little creature was forced to sit
down and pant, and stay till the storm was over; and then it made a
prosperous flight, and did rise and sing, as if it had learned music and
motion from an angel, as he passed sometimes through the air, about
his ministries here below: so is the prayer of a good man; when his
affairs have required business, and his business was matter of discipline, and his discipline was to pass upon a sinning person, or had a
design of charity, his duty met with infirmities of a man, and anger
was its instrument, and the instrument became stronger than the prime
agent, and raised a tempest, and overruled the man; and then his
prayer was broken, and his thoughts were troubled, and his words went
up towards a cloud, and his thoughts pulled them back again, and




PREACHING AND PREACHERS.               337
But a single perusal of any one of those beautiful
passages, of which the above is so clever, and so cruel
a travesty, will instantly obliterate the criticism
from the mind of any tasteful reader.'Though it
would end in ludicrous disaster for any one now to
try to preach like Jeremy Taylor, we are persuaded
that the study of his works would be an excellent
regimen for young clergymen, especially for such as
labour under the diseases of coldness and lethargy.
It would at least stimulate them  to warmer effusions,
and would show them that logic and immensely fertile learning are compatible with a flow of elegance
and an exuberant illustration, such as we commonly
seek only in verse.
We speak of the " witty South," as familiarly as
of the " judicious Hooker," and with less fear of any
exception. But we despise the man, while we admire
the genius. South was a veritable Vicar of Bray,
trimming his sails to every gust of popular or royal
favour. It is amusing to find this scourge of dissent
beginning his career at Oxford, with a paper of Latin
made them without intention; and the good man sighs for his infirm.
mity, but must be content to lose the prayer, and he must recover it
when his anger is removed, and his spirit is becalmed, made even as
the brow of Jesus, and smooth like the heart of God; and then it
ascends to heaven upon the wings of the holy dove, and dwells with
God, till it returns, like the useful bee, loaded with a blessing and the
dew of heaven."
15




338         THOUGHTS ON. PREACHING.
verse in eulogy of Cromwell. He afterwards Aad rich
livings and stalls and high diplomatic places. When
it was no longer profitable to truckle to the Stuarts,
he took th6 oath of allegiance to William and!Mary.
We are now fairly beyond the region of fancy,
pathos, or eloquence, in its ordinary sense. South is
clear, strong, saturnine, and truculent. He is a cogent reasoner, always observing an exact method, and
establishing his point by the most effective reasoning.
He seldom quotes, never displays his reading, and
always advances with directness, brevity, and a sort
of bull-dog fierceness to his purposed end. Where.
his terrible prejudices do not come into play, he commands our highest respect, as in some of his masterly
arguments for divine predestination; but in other
places he bends his tremendous powers against the
other doctrines of grace. It would be difficult to find
in any language such insufferable rebukes of worldly
indulgence, as in certain sermons of South. But his
dark and bitter sarcasm is chiefly expended on the
Puritans; and he leaves any subject to deal a blow
at these enemies, when no longer in power. It is
difficult to speak of his style without danger of exaggeration. It combines some of the highest excellencies of human language. Being always sourly in
earnest, he never makes ornament or elegance an object of study, though he often attains them. Rotun



PREACHING' AND PREACHERS.       339
dity and periodicity in sentences are not sought. But
he is perpetually clear, energetic, vivacious, and menmorable. He strikes us as far before his age in English writing, as having by the prerogative of genius
seized upon the imperishable part of the language,
and as having attained the excellencies of such prose
as that of Pope and Warburton. The antithetic character prevails throughout, and this always ensures
brevity, and gives opportunity for that tremendous
-sting which makes the end of many a paragraph like
the tail of a scorpion. This venom is for the most
part distilled on the Non-conformists. A few quotations will not only exemplify his manner, but illustrate the homiletics of that day, by showing what
were the charges brought against the Puritan pulpit.
Speaking of falsehood, he says: " But to pass from
that to fanatic treachery, that is, from one twin to the
other: how came such multitudes of our own nation,
at the beginning of that monstrous rebellion, to be
spunged of their plate and money, their rings and
jewels, for the carrying on of the schismatical, dissenting, king-killing cause? Why, next to their own
love of being cheated, it was the public, or rather
prostitute faith of a company of faithless miscreants
that drew them in and deceived them. And how
came so many thousands to fight and die in the same
rebellion? Why, they were deceived into it by those




340          THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
spiritual trumpeters who followed them with continual
alarms of damnation, if they did not venture life, fortune, and all, in that which wickedly and devilishly
those impostors called the cause of God."  In his
two sermons c" against long extemporary prayer," he
thus distills his gall: "Two whole hours for one
prayer, at a fast, used to be-reckoned but a moderate
dose; and that for the most part fraught with such
irreverent, blasphemous expressions, that to repeat
them would profane the place I am speaking in; and
indeed they seldom' carried on the work of such a
day,' as their phrase was, but they left the church in
need of a new consecration. Add to this, the incoherence and confusion, the endless repetitions, and
the insufferable nonsense that never failed to hold
out, even with their utmost prolixity; so that in all
their long fasts, from first to last, from seven in the
morning to seven in the evening, which was their
measure, the pulpit was ever the emptiest thing in
the church; and I never knew such a fast kept by
them, but their hearers had cause to begin a thanksgiving as soon as they were done." " The consciences
of men," he says again, " have been.filled with wind
and noise, empty notion and pulpit-tattle. So that
amongst the most seraphical illuminati, and the highest Puritan perfectionists, you shall find people of
fifty, three-score and four-score years old, not able to




PREACHING AND PREACHERS.        341
give that account of their faith, which you might
have had heretofore of a boy of nine or ten. Thus
far had the pulpit (by accident) disordered the church,
and the desk must restore it. For you know the
main business of the pulpit, in the late times, was to
please and pamper a proud, senseless humour, or
rather a kind of spiritual itch, which had then seized.the greatest part of the nation, and worked chiefly
about their ears; and none were so overrun with it,
as the holy sisterhood, the daughters of Zion, and the
matrons of the New Jerusalem, as they called themselves. These brought with them ignorance and itching ears in abundance; and Holderforth equalled
them in one, and gratified them in the other. So that
whatsoever the doctrine was, the application still ran
on the surest side; for to give those doctrine and usemen, those pulpit-engineers, their due, they understood how to plant their batteries, and to make their
attacks perfectly well; and knew that by pleasing
the wife, they should not fail to preach the husband
in their pocket." Our own day might learn a lesson
from the fling at the prophetic preachers, who interpreted Scripture, " as if, forsooth, there could not be so
much as a few houses fired, a few ships taken, or any
other calamity befall this little corner of the world,
but that some apocalyptic ignoramus or other must
presently find and pick it out of some abused mar



342         THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
tyred prophecy of Ezekiel, Daniel, or the Revelation." It was South, who, in a sermon said of Milton,
" as the Latin advocate, who, like a blind adder, has
spit so much poison upon the king's person;" and
who says of the opposition to liturgies: " I question
not, but that fanatic fury was then at that height,
that they would have even laughed at Christ himself
in his devotions, had he but used his own prayer."
But one grows weary of malice, however epigrammatic. WUhen the same edge is turned against prevailing sins, especially among courtiers, it does great
execution. We would send no man to South, for
gentle, persuasive, melting, spiritual instruction; but
the scholar may gain from him many lessons of dialectic force, of directness and pungency, of earnest,
indignant invective, and of pithy, apothegmatic declamation. The vice of his method is indicated by one
of his own sayings: " That is not wit, which comporteth not with wisdom."
It is refreshing to turn from such a malignant, to
the sweet and gentle Tillotson. The good archbishop's father was a Yorkshire clothier, a stern Calvinist;
perhaps this may account for the son's mildness towards dissent. But in Kneller's great portrait at Lambeth, we discern the unmistalable lineamlents of holy
peace, joined with every thing that a wise churchman
might wish in the personal presence of a primate. In




PREACHING AND PREACHERS.         343
this, though for other reasons we might compare the
picture with that of Bossuet, which ennobles the gallery of his native Dijon. Burnet testifies of Tillotson,
after long acquaintance, that " he had a clear head,
with a most tender and compassionate heart; he was
a faithful and zealous friend, but a gentle and soon
conquered enemy; his notions of morality were fine
and sublime, his thread of reasoning was easy, clear,
and solid; he was not only the best preacher of the
age, but seemed to have brought preaching to perfection; his sermons were so well liked, that all the nation proposed him as a pattern, and studied to copy
after him." Such was the judgment of contemporaries. After his death, there was found a bundle of
bitter libels, which had been published against him,
preserved, and endorsed with his own hand as follows: "I forgive the authors of these books, and
pray God that he may, also, forgive them." When
the Huguenot Refugees sought the prayers of the
Church, Beveridge, with genuine Episcopalian etiquette, scrupled to read a brief to this effect, in Canterbury Cathedral, because it was against some rubric.
" Doctor, doctor," replied the wiser, greater Tillotson,
" Charity is above rubrics." We are not to suppose,
however, because the archbishop was good and gentle, that he was either feeble in argument or tame in
controversy. Against both infidels and papists, his




344         THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
sermons afford some of the most powerful apologetic
treatises which have ever been composed. IHis argument on Transubstantiation would singly be sufficient
to make the fortune of a common disputant. Vulgar
minds so commonly think that what is very clear
must be very shallow, that reasoners of great simplicity and perspicuity are in danger of losing credit;
and such we believe has been the case with Tillotson,
in our day. HIe was so little offensive to Dissenters,
being indeed the friend of John Howe, that his works
would have been widely read and long preserved in
our churches, if the stature of his theology had not
fallen far below the mark which Evangelical Calvinism fixes as a standard. But there is a boundless
store of wealth, in all those discourses which treat of
Natural Religion, the difficulties of infidelity, the absurdities of Popery, and the neglected circle of Christian duties. The style of Tillotson is gracefully negligent, sometimes even flat, but generally agreeable,
invariably perspicuous, and at times eminently happy,
from his idiomatic English; it is well known that
Addison took him as a model. For studied ornament, and the glow of oratorical passion, he will
never be quoted; but a better model of didactic or
practical discourse, could scarcely be chosen.
If our object had been to go fully into the history
of the Anglican pulpit, we should have inserted many




rREACHING AND PREACHERS.        34t
other names; but then we should have written a
volume. Among these we should have found a place
for Atterbury, a man of worldly character, but great
force, and often superior to Tillotson in the elaborate
graces and warmth of oratory. We could not have
omitted Bull, and Waterland, whose learned and' profound vindication of Athanasian truth will abide as
a venerable and unequalled monument, as long as
our language shall be the vehicle of sound theology;
Samuel Clarke, the friend and interpreter of Newton;
Seeker and Ogden, smooth, judicious, and instructive
sermonizers; Bently, Butler, Warburton, and Horsley, giants in theological conflict. [But these and
many others must be left unrecorded. The perusal
of all will only serve to evince more fully the justice
of our statement, that the predominent quality of
the Anglican pulpit, has been learned and extensive
instruction.  A manner corresponding to this has
prevailed even till our day. Sermons have beeniread
from the manuscript, with little elevation of voice, little
action of body, and no fervour of delivery. As the
liturgy has become the crowning part of public services, the sermon has become more attenuated in
matter and curtailed in length; until in many a fashionable church and chapel, there is a cold essay df
fifteen minutes. The mode just now is to cultivate
what is called a " quiet manner; " by which is meant
15*




346         THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
a nonchalant utterance, such as may persuade the
hearer that preaching, after all, is almost a work of
supererogation. There have indeed been Simeons,
Melvilles, and McNeiles; but these are rarce aves in
the Anglican flock. Though a Scotchman, Blair was
in all respects a sermonizer after the English heart,
and his discourses had immense currency south of the
Tweed. No manly critic can read without contempt
his pretended survey of the British pulpit, in his Lectures. Amply has the truth been avenged by John
Foster's strictures on the once famous sermons of
Blair himself. " After reading five or six sermons,"
says Foster, " we become assured that we must perfectly see the whole compass of his powers, and that,
if there were twenty volumes, we might read on
through the whole, without once coming to a broad
conception, or a profound investigation, or a burst of
genuine enthusiasm. A reflective reader will perceivvhis mind fixed in a wonderful sameness of feeling throughout a whole volume; it is hardly relieved
a moment, by surprise, delight, or labour, and at
length becomes very tiresome; perhaps a little analogous to the sensations of a Hindoo while fulfilling his
vow, to remain in one certain posture for a month.
A- sedate formality of manner is invariably kept up
through a thousand pages, without the smallest danger of once luxuriating into a beautiful irregularity.




PREACHING AND PREACHERS.        347
A great many people of gayety, rank, and fashion,
have occasionally a feeling that a little easy quantity
of religion would be a good thing; because it is too
true, after all, that we cannot be staying in this
world always, and when one gets out of it, why, there
may be some hardish matters to settle in the other
place. The Prayer-book of a Sunday is a good deal
to be sure toward making all safe, but then it is really
so tiresome; for penance, it is very well, but to say
one likes it, one cannot for the life of one. If there
were some tolerable religious things that one could
read now and then without trouble, and think it
about half as pleasant as a game of cards, it would be
comfortable. One should not be so frightened about
what we must all come to some time. Now nothing
could have been more to the purpose than these sermons; they were welcomed as the very thing. They
were unquestionably about religion, and grave enough
in all conscience, yet they were elegant; they were
so easy to comprehend throughout, that the mind
was never detained a moment to think; they were
undefiled by Methodism; they but little obtruded
peculiar doctrinal notions; they applied very much
to high life, and the author was evidently a gentleman; the book could be discussed as a matter of
taste, and its being seen in the parlour excited no surmise that any one in the house had lately been con



348          THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
verted. Above all, it was most perfectly free from
that disagreeable and mischievous property attributed
to the eloquence of Pericles, that it'left stings behind."'
If we retrace our steps to the last point of departure, in order to consider the preaching of the
Non-conformists, we shall find abundant cause to believe, that even after being politically defeated and
overthrown at the Restoration, they continued to
possess learning, eloquence, and piety, such as were
worthy of that great Church of England, of which
they were really though not nominally a part. It is
somewhat remarkable, that notwithstanding the extraordinary theological interest which characterized
the Puritans and the voluminous works which proceeded from their great men, these less frequently
took the precise form of sermons, than was the case
with their churchly oppressors. Most of them, it is
true, left numerous sermons, but the great mass of
their religious writings were given to the public in
the shape of treatises and protracted works. This did
not certainly arise from any undervaluing of the pulpit; indeed, an over-estimate of this instrument was
universally laid to their charge; they preached more
frequently, more fervently, and at greater length,
than the beneficed divines, and these exercises were
attended by greater throngs of animated hearers.




PREACHING AND PREACHERS.        349
But the sermon, as a species of literary creation, was
less an object of separate -regard. They were more
accustomed to the effusion of thought and feeling in
language suggested at the moment of delivery; and
even when they studied for successive months and
years on particular books of Scripture, or heads of
theology, and preached constantly of the same, the
utterances of the church were not identical with the
labours of the study, and the latter continued to retain that form which we now observe in their published works. Of some great treatises we know assuredly, and of others we have the strongest presumption, that they contain the substance of a series of
pulpit discourses. This we suppose may be affirmed
concerning the greatest works of the most eminent
Puritan divines. We need scarcely add, that they
had among them some of the mightiest preachers
whom the Church has ever seen. Whether we judge
by extant remains, or by the testimony of coevals,
Richard Baxter was one of these. In our judgment,
the English language was never more dexterously
wielded by any writer. The thing most observable
is, that it is the language of the common people, that
which does not grow obsolete, that which is racy with
idiomatic anomaly, that which obeys every impulse of
the heaving mind, that which goes direct to the heart.
His perspicuity is absolutely cloudless. When he




850          tHOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
chooses to inveigh against sin, or to thunder from
the legal mount, or to depict the doom of sinners, or
to awaken the slumbering sinner, he is terrific and
irresistible. In graceful description lhe paints without a superior. And for melting pathos, such as
soothes the soul and opens the hidden spring of tears,
what can be compared to some passages of the Saint's
Rest? Baxter was often betrayed by his native subtlety and his familiarity with the schoolmen, into an
intricacy of excessive distinctions which mars all the
beauties of his style; and though this occurs more in
his controversies than his pulpit labours, we should
never think of setting up his sermons as the greatest
of his works. The eminent piety which breathes
through his practical writings makes him a model
for the preacher and pastor of every subsequent
age.
The number of distinguished Puritan preachers is
so great that we should not dare to attempt enumeration; and if we used selection, we should name those
who are familiar to our readers. Of Owen and his
works, we have lately written, at some length, in a
separate article. In connection with the argumentative force and profound experience of this greatest of
the Puritans, the student of theology will remember
the silver current and figured diction of Bates; the
sweet and simple eloquence of Flavel; the senten



PREACHING AND PREACHERS.         351
tious brilliancy of Charnock, like the iridescence of
crystals on the surface of a massive rock; and, perhaps, above them all, the majestic strength of Howe,
a grave and stately bearing of mind, which looks
down on the quaint antitheses and foreign images of
his contemporaries. In John Howe we meet a writer
who seems entirely free from the vicious passions of
his day, in thought and language. IIe even shuns
the conventional phrases of the Calvinistic schools,
while he teaches their theology. But he was a great
Christian philosopher, imbued with the choicest literature of the ancients, and trained, by long meditation,
to expatiate in tracts of spiritual truth, where superficial minds will never follow him. His manner is
said to have been in a high degree engaging and impressive. If any one will collate his sermon on the'; Vanity of Mian as mortal," with the famous discourse on the same topic by Robert Hall, who profoundly admired him, he will find the germs of the
latter in the former; yet, in every. thing but the exquisite finish of Hall's style, we think the paln.imust
be given to the older divine.
The succeeding generations certainly manifest a
decline in regard to tlie annals of the dissenting pulpit. Even before we conime down to the latter half of
the eighteenth century, and leaving entirely out of
view the lamentable defection from the faith of many




352          THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
Independents, and of most called Presbyterians, it
must be admitted that the age of great English preachers was past. That title we unhesitatingly give to
Watts and Doddridge. Both, in our opinion, have
undeservedly'fallen into the shade. For fertility,
facility, graceful fluency of thought, charms of illustration, and delightful variety, we know no one who
excels Watts, in any period. Iis theological whimsies are well known, and he is not what we denominate a great doctrinal preacher; but the warmth of
love, and the play of sanctified imagination, give a
stamp to most of his sermons which we would gladly
recall to the notice of the younger ministry. Doddridge was a safer and a graver mind, and, according
to all canons, a better builder of sermons. Some of
his discourses come near being master-pieces; they
instruct the mind and elevate the heart; those addressed to youth, and those on Regeneration, have
been reprinted again and again, and have won the
admiration even of severe judges. They labour sometimes under a fault of style belonging to a particular
school of Dissenters at that period, and which, for
lack of a better phrase, we may call a sort of genteel
affectionateness, or a tenderness of endearing blandishment; but this is forgotten amidst the great
amount of saving truth, expressed in language which
is always clear and pleasing. It does not fall within




PREACHING AND PREACHERS.         353
our plan to enumerate the celebrated dissenting
preachers of a later day and of our own times.
To those who have a facility in the language, we
commend the careful study of the French pulpit; for
to speak of preaching, and not to name the times of
Louis the Fourteenth, would be like discoursing of
sculpture without allusion to the age of Pericles.
Considered as a product of literary art, the sermon
never attained such completeness, beauty, and honour, as at this period. Our remark must not be taken
apart from our limitations. We do not say it was
most apostolic, most scriptural, or most fitted to reach
the great spiritual end of preaching; the results
show that such was not the fact. But viewed in relation to letters, logic, and eloquence, as a structure
of genius and taste, the French sermon, in the hands
of its great orators, had a rhetorical perfection as distinctly marked as the Greek drama. We are constrained to look upon it in much the same light. The
plays of Corneille and the victories of Turenne were
not more powerful in penetrating the public mind,
than the oratory of Notre Dame. Rank and fashion, including royalty itself, thronged the church, as
if it were a theatre, wondering and weeping. Madame de Sevigne, the best painter of her age, speaks of
a belle pacssion, as the Good Friday sermon was called,
just as she speaks of the Cid. The greatest scholars




354         THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
and critics of the Augustan era of France, saw their
ideal of faultless composition realized in the pulpit.
The culmination of the art was rapid, and the decline
soon followed. No one will claim more than a few
names for the catalogue of masterly French preachers; Bourdaloue, Bossuet, Fenelon, Massillon, Flechier.
Many who had a temporary vogue in their day, have
been forgotten; but these sustain the ordeal of time.
We shall offer a few remarks on some of them, but
chiefly on the unapproachable triumvirate.
To Bourdaloue is unhesitatingly given the honour
of having raised the French pulpit at once to its greatest height. The judgment of our day is coining more
and more to acquiesce in the decision which ranks
him clearly first. WVe may see in La B1ruyere how
degenerate preaching had become before his day.
It was florid, quaint, affected, perplexed with divisions, and overlaid with impertinent learning. He
restored it to reason and to nature. No misappreliension can be greater than that which imagines
Bourdaloue to have been a man of show, a gaudy
rhetorician, or a declaimer. I-Ie was, of course,, a
strenuous Papist, he was even a Jesuit; but assuming his Church to be right, there never was a more
unanswerable reasoner in her behalf. It is reasoning,
above all things else, which is his characteristic. Seldom does he utter even a few sentences, without a




PREACHING AND PREACHERS.           355
connected argument. The amount of matter in his
discourses, which are sometimes very long, is truly
wonderful.  Iis power'of condensation, his exactness
of method, his singular clearness, and his animated
force, enable him to throw an elaborate argument
into a single head. The glory of his art is his magical ability to clothe the subtlest reasoning, in diction
so beautiful, as to captivate even the unthinking. In
our view, his sermons are a study for the young logician. Even when he is defending the extremest
errors of Rome, as in his discourse on the saving
merit of alms, we feel that we are in the hands of a
terrible antagonist. Amidst passages of incomparable fire he seems constrained to indulge his propensity
for laying a train of proofs. Thus in his passion-sermon, on the power of the cross, he inserts in the first
and greatest part, a series of admirable arguments
for the truth of Christianity.
In some points which concern the outward form
of the discourse, Bourdaloue left much to be reformed
by his great successors. His divisions are bold and
numerous, and are stated not only with openness, but
with a repetition which we have seen nowhere else.
So far from hiding the articulations of his work, he
is anxious that they should be observed and never
forgotten; but he so varies the formulas of partition,
and so beautifies the statement of transitions, by in



356         THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
genious turns, that the mind is gratified by the exquisiteness of the expression. It had been the fashion to quote the Fathers very largely. Bourdaloue
retains this practice. He even seems to wish that
his whole performance should rest on citations; and
some of them look like centos from Chrysostom, Ambrose, Augustine, and Gregory. But his management of this is graceful and masterly. And it is entertaining to observe with how rich and eloquent an
amplification he will paraphrase and apply one of
these little Latin sentences, often bringing it in again
and again to close some striking period, and making
it ring on the ear with happy vehemence at the
climax of a paragraph.
If the observation be modified by our protest
against the enormities of Popish falsehood, we are
willing to say that Bourdaloue was eminently a spiritual, warm, and edifying preacher. Upon the sufferings of Christ, the love of God, the vanity of the
world, and the delights of heavenly contemplation, he
speaks with a solemnity and an unction, which explain to us the admiration felt for him by Boileau
and other Jansenists. The manner in which Bourdalone pronounced his discourses must have'had a
power of incantation to which even their greatness as
compositions gives us no key. It was his remarkable
custom to deliver his sermons with his eyes closed;




PREACHING AND PREACHERS.         357
and he is so represented in his portrait. On coming
from the provinces, to preach in the Jesuit Chapel in
Paris, he was at once followed by crowds of the highest distinction; and his popularity increased to the
very close. For thirty-four years he was equally admired by the court, by men of letters, and by the
people. To the Christian visitor in Paris, there is
something solemn' in the church of St. Paul and St.
Louis, to approach the tablet with the simple inscription, tIIc JACET BOURDALOUE.
Bossuet was a greater man, but not a greater
preacher than his eloquent contemporary. The reputation derived from his vast learning, his controversial ability, his knowledge of affairs and his strength
of will, we very naturally transfer to his preaching,
which was nevertheless of consummate excellence. As
an author, especially as a master of style, he surpasses
them all, if indeed he does not surpass all who ever
wrote in French. The power of that somewhat intractable language was never more fully brought out
than by Bossuet, to whom the crown of eloquence is,
therefore, given by Voltaire. He was the orator for
courts, and we suppose no prince in ancient or modern times ever had a nobler panegyrist. To learn
his argumentative eloquence, we must look to his
other works; but in his celebrated Funeral Orations,
we have unequalled examples of sublime aid original




358          THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
conceptions, arrayed in a diction majestically simple
and yet triumiphafitly splendid.  The term  which
characterizes the discourses of Bossuct, is magnificence. We believe it to be admitted by French critics, that his style is as faultless as that of any writer
in any tongue.
There are those who consider Massillon the greatest of French preachers; and the award is just, if we
confine our regards to simple elegance of style, traits
of nature, strokes of pathos, perfect contexture of the
entire plerformance and irresistible command of assemblies, and in elocution. Being thirty years younger
than the men we just named, he represents a different school, but it is one which he founded himself.
When father Latour, on his arrival at the capital,
asked him what he thought of the great orators,
he replied, "I find them  possessed of genius and
great talent; but if I preach, I will not preach like
them. Great clearness of thought, perfect sobriety
of judgment, profound knowledge of the human. heart
and of manners, a fund of tender emotion, novelty
of illustration, copiousness of language, perspicuous
method, and unerring taste, are the characteristics
of Massillon. He simplified the divisions of the sermon, and reduced its length, conforming the whole
treatment to the most classic models. He is sparing
in his citations and unobtrusive in his array of argu



PREACHING AND PREACHERS.         359
ment. Beyond all competitors, he dissects the heart,
reveals the inmost windings of nfotivo, and awakens
the emotions of terror, remorse, and pity. In the
ethical field, he excels in depicting vice and awakening conscience, in pursuing pride, avarice, and selflove, to their retreats, and in exposing and stigmatizing the follies of the great. When the aged Bourdaloue heard him, he pointed him out as he descended
from the pulpit, saying, " Hunc oportet crescere, me
autem minui." Baron, the great actor, said of him to
a companion, "My friend, here is an orator; as for
us, we are but actors."  Whole assemblies were dissolved in tears, or started to their feet in consternation.
When he preached the funeral sermon of the King,
on the words, "Lo, I have become great;" he commenced by repeating them slowly, as if to recollect
himself; then he fixed his eyes on the assembly in
mourning; next he surveyed the funeral enclosure,
with all its sombre pomp.; and lastly, turning his
eyes on the mausoleum erected in the midst of the
cathedral-after some moments of silence exclaimed,
Dieu seul est grand, mesfreres. " My brethren, God
alone is great!"  The immense assembly was breathless and awestruck.  Voltaire always had on his
table the Petit-Careme of Massillon, which he regarded as the best model of French prose.
There are discourses of Massillon, which, with




360         THO UGHTS ON PREACHING.
the omission of the Ave Mfaria, and a few superficial
forms, might be delivered to any Protestant assembly. The union of simple elegance and strong passion has given his sermons a formative influence in
every language of Europe; and they stand at the
head of what may be called the modern school of
preaching.
Space would fail us, if we were to enlarge upon
Fenelon, Flechier, Bridaine, and other pulpit orators
of less note. Chastely beautiful as is the style of
Archbishop Fenelon, it is not exactly that which belongs to eloquence. The saintly gentleness of his
temper, as well as the doctrines of Quietism which
he had embraced, were not the best preparations for
passionate oratory. Among his numerous and often
delightful works, the number of sermons is not very
large. One reason of this may be, that he favoured
the extemporaneous method, of which, in his Dialogue on Eloquence, he is the ablest vindicator. There
is a sermon of Fenelon's on Foreign Missions, which
is full of fine thoughts, and worthy of examination.
The Protestant Churches of France, and of the
Refugees, produced some great preachers, of whom
the most famous are Claude and Saurin. For solid
doctrinal discussion, elaborated into the form of eloquent discourse, the preacher~ last named continues
to be admired. In our own day, there has been a re



PREACHING AND PREACHERS.        361
vival of Protestant eloquence, in such men as Vinet,
Grandpierre, and Adolphe Monod; and Parisian
crowds still follow Lacordaire, Ravignan, Felix, and
de Courtier.
The subject has grown upon our hands, and must
be dismissed, though we leave untouched the preaching of Germany and Holland, of the contemporary
Churches of Great Britain, and the inviting field of
the American pulpit.
An enterprising publisher might benefit himself
and the Church by issuing, under wise direction, a
few volumes of sermons, which should contain none
but master-pieces. There are a few such, in each
period, which stand out with great prominence, as
exhibiting the highest characteristics of their respective authors. In1 such a selection would be found
Bourdaloue's Passion Sermon; Bossuet's Funeral
Oration on Turenne; Massillon on the Small Number of the Elect; Barrow's discourse on the Death of
Christ; Jeremy Taylor's Marriage Ring; Maclaurin's
Glorying in the Cross; Edwards on " Their feet shall
slide in due time; " Davies's Bruised Reed; Mason's
Gospel to the Poor; Hall's Modern Infidelity; Chal.
mers's Expulsive Power of a New Affection; and
Monod's "God is Love;" with others, perhaps as
worthy, which need not now burden our pages. It
has sometimes been made a question how far it is de16




362         THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
sirable for a pracher to collect and study the written
labours of others. There is a use, or rather an abuse,
of other men's compositions, which is slavish and dishonourable. N1o young man of independent mind
sond high principle, will go to books for his sermon,
or for its method, or for any large continuous portion.
There is a tacit covenant between preachers and hearers, in our Church and country, which makes it a
deception for any man to preach that which is not
original. Piiulpit larceny is the most unprofitable of
all frauds; it is almost certain of detection, and it
leaves a stigma on the fame, even beyond its intrinsic
turpitude. But surely, an honest soul may wander
among valuables without any necessity of thieving.
Some have excluded books of sermons from their libraries, and by a " self-denying ordinance" have abstained from perusing them, lest, forsooth, they should
damage their own originality. This is about as wise
as if an artist should refrain from looking at the frescoes of the Vatican, and the galleries of Florence,
Dresden, and the Louvre. We have seep the works
of a Western painter, who is said to have acted on
such a maxim; he would see no Raffaelles or Van
Dycks, lest he should spoil his native manner. IIe
has certainly succeeded in avoiding all that one'beholds in these great masters. But in all labours, to
the success of which, judgment,-taste, and practice




PREACHING AND PREACHERS.          363
must combine, the highest capacity of production is
fostered by- studying the works of others; and we see
not why this is less true in homiletics than in.the
arts. If a man may not read good sermons, we slppose he may not hear them. The wise student will,
with the utmost avidity, both read and hear all that
is accessible, of the greatest achievements in the declaration of God's truth. At the same time, he will
sit down to his labours as. if he had'known no performances but his own. I-e will borrow no man's
plan; he will shun all repositories of skeletons and
what are ironically named  " Preachers' Helps;"
and will be himself, even in his earliest and faintest
efforts.
In any retrospect of the work of preaching in
successive ages, there is one snare which the young
minister of Christ cannot too solicitously avoid; it is.
that of looking upon the utterances of the pulpit with
a mere literary eye, as objects of criticism upon the
principles of rhetoric and taste. Extensive scriptural
knowledge, solid thought, sound judgment, thorough
inward discipline, and bursting spiritual emotions,
will frame for themselves as a vehicle such a discourse
as shall be truly eloquent. In this way, and in this
way only, does a discourse on divine subjects come
to be subjected to the rules of art. But no rules of
art can ensure a sermon which shall please God; and




364         THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
every rule of art may seem to be observed, while yet
the result'shall be as " sounding brass and a tinkling
cymbal."  The best sermons are not those which
most approach to classical'perfection. As preaching
is a universal function of the ministry, and intended
for the whole race, that property which only one
man in a million attains cannot be indispensable to
its exiercise; yet such a property is eloquence. If
we could have revealed to us which were the thousand sermons which had most honoured Christ and
most benefited men, we should perhaps find among
them not one of those which have been held up as
models from the desk of professors. " That is a good
sermon," said Matthew Henry, "which does thee
good." The greatest effects have been produced, in
every age, by discourses which sinned against every.precept of the schools. The sermon of John Livingstone at the Kirk of Shotts, which was the means of
awakening not less than five hundred persons, was
never written at all, and if we may judge by what remains to us of his writings, was in a manner exceedingly rude and homely. Yet it was kindled by the fire
of God. The more profoundly we are impressed with
the utter inefficacy of all intellectual construction and
oratorical polish, and feel our absolute dependence on
the Spirit of God in preaching, the more likely shall
we be to come before God's waiting people with per



PREACHING AND PREACHERS.         365
formances, which, however defective or anomalous,
as measured by critical standards, shall answer the
great end of preaching, being carried to their result
by the irresistible demonstration and persuasion of
the Holy Ghost.




ELOQUENCE OF THE FRENCH  PULPIT.
THE age of Louis XIV. has ever been considered
the most brilliant era for France. Under the conduct
of the most renowned generals, it attained the highest
pitch of military glory; under the encou'agement
given to philosophy, the most valuable discoveries
were made in science; under the liberal patronage
bestowed upon the fine arts, taste and genius achieved
the most splendid triumphs. It was an age of truly
great men-of warriors, politicians, philosophers,
poets, historians-of such men as Cond6 and Turenne, Corneille and Racine, Descartes and Fontenelle, Montesquieu and 3alebranche, Rochefoucauld
and Pascal, Boileau and Rollin, and hundreds of
others whose works still yield improvement and delight. It was a period, too, when eloquence of the
highest kind lived and flourished. Not the eloquence
of the bar; for its celebrated pleaders, in judicial
contests, and the application of the law, seldom went




ELOQUENCE OF THE' FRENCHI PULPIT.   36'7
beyond the strain of dry and logical reasoning. Not
the eloquence of popular assemblies; for there were
no such assemblies there to nourish the genius of liberty. Nothing of that kind existed, as in ancient
Greece and Rome, and as in our own country, where
the assembled people are brought under the influence
of the art of speaking; where the public affairs are
transacted; where those who compose the nation and
make the laws can be convinced and persuaded by
direct appeals to their interests, and passions; where
continued struggles for rights and power rouse the
genius of every citizen, force to exertion every talent,
inspire with enthusiasm every council, and give to
orators all that can qualify them for the sublimest
eloquence. There was no room for such eloquence in
France at the period to which we refer. " She sat as
a queen, and said, I shall see no sorrow." After a
combat of many years with the rest of Europe, she
beheld provinces conquered, and kings humbled before her; she owned no superior; she feared no rival;
she saw the arts and sciences raised to the highest
splendour, and the most refined taste and erudition
in all the walks of polite literature; she beheld all
her people vying with each other in the increase and
enjoyment of national glory-while.the " grand monarque " sat in his palace proclaiming, "' I am the government." In such circumstances we cannot suppose




368         THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
that that high, manly, forcible eloquence, whicn, as
an instrument of power, mingles with the busy scefies
of public life, could find an existence. But all this
is perfectly consistent with another kind of eloquence
— the eloquence of the Pulpit. To be truly eloquent,
the speaker must feel on a level with his auditors-at
times even exercise a kind of dominion over them.
The sacred orator, speaking in the name of God, can
do this under any government; in the most arbitrary
monarchy, he can display the same lofty freedom
which the equality of citizens gives to a speaker in the
active scenes of a republic. Hence, in a country
where no civil freedom was enjoyed, there was an
eloquence of the loftiest kind, which long flourished,
which was carried to the greatest height, and which
is still the object of warm admiration.
Some eloquent preachers existed in France, previous to the times of which we now speak, but
whatever reputation they may have had at the
time, few have attained any celebrity. They were
eclipsed like tapers placed in the rays of a meridian
sun.
BossrET lived.when the French language had
reached a degree of maturity, and was advancing towards perfection.  He first appeared in Paris in
1659; was soon invited to be one of the preachers of
the court; for ten years passed through a most bril



5FLOQUENCE OF THE FRENCH PULPIT.    369
liant career; and then was promoted to the bishopric
of Condom, and afterwards to that of Meaux.
He has been termed the " French Demosthenes,"
and well does lie deserve the title; for he, of all his
contemporaries, bears the greatest resemblance to the
Athenian orator. He was regarded as the former, in
Europe, of the eloquence of the pulpit; and his works
were directed to be studied as classic works, as men
repair to Rome to improve their taste by the masterpieces of Raphael and Michael Angelo. Time, that
great destroyer of ill-founded reputation, instead of
impairing, has from age to age added fresh lustre to
his glory.
He was devoted to the study of the Fathers, particularly of Ghrysostom and Austin, from whom he
drew profound maxims and convincing arguments;
and to the frequent reading of Demosthenes and
Homer; to imbibe the vehemence of the one, and the
imagination of the other. But he was specially sedulous in the study of the Holy Scriptures. From that
divine book he drew forth the richest treasures; in
this inexhaustible mine lie found the sublimest
thoughts, the strongest expressions, the most eloquent
descriptions, the most pathetic images. There he
found history, laws, moral precepts, oratory, and
poetry.
If eloquence consist in taking strong hold of a
16*




370          THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
subject; knowing its resources, measuring its extent,
and skilfully uniting all its parts; in causing ideas to
succeed each other, so as to bear us away with almost irresistible force; if it consist in painting objects
in such a manner as to give them life and animation;
if'it consist in such a power upon the human mind as
leads us to be carried along with the speaker, and to
enter into all his emotions and passions, then the
Bishop of Meaux is eloquent. But let us not mistake
the nature of his eloquence. He was not content
with gratifying his audience, or leaving their minds
in a state of satisfied tranquillity, but aimed at thoroughly convincing and agitating their souls, and
making such an impression as could not be easily obliterated. Every thing is simple and natural-there
is no affectation of pomp, no visible desire to please,
no disposition to withdraw attention from the subject
to the author-all is related and described ini such a
manner as to conceal all art. In every thing there is
nature; both its order and its irregularity-sometimes
rising to the mountain-top, and sometimes descending to the valleys-sometimes the winding and transparent rivulet, and sometimes the mighty cataract
which astonishes and overwhelms.
Few of his sermons that have come down to us
received his finishing hand. The greater part are
sketches-full and perfect as far as they go, and filled




ELOQUENCE OF THE FRENCH PULPIT.      371
up at the time of delivery. They were such, too, as
he never repeated, after he left Paris; for when he
became bishop, though he preached much, yet he
wrote not his sermons, but trusted to the occasion for
language, after profoundly studying his subject. But
though they are the productions of his youth, and in
a state of comparative imperfection, yet they bear the
marks of a mighty genius; they present thoughts
strong and original, in a corresponding style of energy
and majesty; they show the author powerfully affected
by what he writes, and when the subject requires it,
warmed by imagination, and heated by passion; they
impress and captivate the reader, and animate him
with the same admiration, love, fear, and hatred with
which the orator is inspired.
We shall present, in a free translation, a few quotations from some of his sermons, fully sensible how
much is lost in such translation, and how a resort to
the original can alone discover their beauties.
One of the best sermons is on the Truth and Perfection of the Christiar PReligion, from  latt. xi.
5, 6.-" Preached before the king."  It is, throughout, convincing and eloquent. We make the following extract:'' Truth is a queen who may be said to inhabit
her own excellence; who reigns invested with her
* "La verit6 est une reine qui habite en elle-m6me," &c., &c,.




372         THOUGIRTS ON PREACHING.
own native splendour, and who is enthroned in her
own grandeur, and upon her own felicity. This queen
condescending to reign in our world for the good of
man, our Saviour came down from above to establish
her empire upon earth. IHuman reason is not constilted in the establishment of her empire. Relying
on herself, on her celestial origin, on her infallible
authority, she speaks and denlands belief; she publishes her edicts, and exacts submission; she holds
out to our assent the sublime and incomprehensible
union of the most blessed Trinity; she proclaims a
God-man, and shows him to us extended on a cross,
expiring in ignominy and pain, and calls upon human reason to bow down before this tremendous
mystery.
" The Christian religion, not resting her cause
upon the principles of human reason, rejects also the
meretricious aid of human eloquence. It is true the
apostles, who were its preachers, humbled the dignity
of the Roman fasces, and laid them at the foot of the
cross; and in those very trials to which they were
summoned as criminals, they made their judges tremble. They conquered idolatry, and presented their
converts as willing captives to the true religion.
But they accomplished this end, not by the artifice
of words, by the arrangement of seductive periods,
by the magic of human eloquence-they effected it




ELOQUENCE OF THE FRENCH PULPIT.    373
by a sacred persuasive power which impressed-more
than impressed-which captivated the understanding.
This power being derived from heaven, preserves its
efficiency, even as it passes through the lowly style
of unadorned composition; like a rapid river, which,
as it courses through the plain, retains the impetuosity which it acquired from the mountain whence it
sprung, and fiom whose lofty source its waters were
precipitated.
" Let us then form this conclusion, that our Saviour has revealed to us the light of the Gospel by
means worthy of the Giver, and at the same time by
means the most consonant with our nature. Surrounded as we are by error, and distressed with uncertainty, we require not the aid of a doubting academician, but we stand in absolute need of a God to
illuminate our researches. The path of reason is circuitous, and perplexed with thorns. Pursuit presupposes distance, and argument indecision.  As the
principle of our conduct is the object of this inquiry,
it is necessary to have recourse to an immediate and
immutable belief. The Christian finds every thing
easy in his faith; for though the doctrines of which
Christ proposes to his acceptance are too immeasurable for the narrow capacity of his intellect, yet they
may be embraced by the expansive submission of his
belief.




374          THOUGHTS. ON PREACHING.
" Let us dwell on a theme so interesting; let us
direct our view to those divine features which proclaim the heavenly origin of our religion. When she
first descended from above, did she not come as an
unwilling visitant?  Rejection, hatred, and persecution met her in every step; nevertheless she made no
appeal to human justice, no application to the secular
power; she enlisted defenders worthy of her cause,
who, in attachment to her interests, presented themselves to the stroke of the executioner, in such numbers that persecution grew alarmed, the law blushed
at its own decree, and princes were constrained to recall tleir sanguinary edicts. It was the destiny of
truth to erect her throne in opposition to the kings
of the earth.  She called not for their assistance,
when she laid the foundation of her own establishment-but, when the edifice rose from its foundation,
and lifted high its impregnable towers, she then
adopted the great for her children; not that she
stood in need of their concurrence, but in order to
cast all additional lustre on their authority, and to
dignify their power. At the same time, our holy
religion maintained its independence; for when sovereigns are said to protect religion, it is rather religion that protects them, and is the firmest support
of their thrones. I appeal for the ascertainment of
this fact to the history of the church. The world




ELOQUENCE OF THE' FRENCII PULPIT.    375
threatened, but the Christian religion continued
firm; error polluted the stream, but the spring retained its purity; schisnm wouLnded the holy form of
the church, but the truth remained inviolable; many
were seduced, the weak overcome, the strong shaken,
but the pillar of the sacred edifice stood immovable.
"-you that think yourselves endowed with a
sagacity to pervade the secrets of God, approach, and
unfold to us the mysteries of nature —the whole creation is spread out before you. Choose your themeunravel what is at a distance, or develope what is
near; explain what is beneath your feet; or illustrate
the wonderful luminary which glitters over' your
head. What! does your reasoning faculty stagger
on the very threshold? Poor, presumptuous, erring
traveller, do you expect that an unclouded beam of
truth is to illuminate your path? Alh! be no more
deceived. Advert to the dark, tempestuous atmosphere, which is diffused over that country through
which we are travelling; advert to the imbecility of
our reasoning powers; and until the Omniscient God
shall remove the obscuring veil that hangs between
heaven and earth, let us not reject the solitary aid
and soothing intervention of a simple faith."
In the sermon on the Cruciafixion, from Gal. vi.
14, the inifluence of Christianity in destroying idolatry
is strikingly exhibited:




376          THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
* "Religious truth was exiled from the earth,
and idolatry sat brooding over the moral world. The
Egyptians, the fathers of philosophy, the Grecians,
the inventors of the fine arts, the Romans, the con,
querors of tie universe, were all unfortunately cele.
brated for perversion of religious worship, or gross
errors, which they admitted into their belief, and the
indignities which they offered to the true religion.
Minerals, vegetables, animals, and elements, became
objects of adoration; even abstract visionary forms,
such as fevers and distempers, received the honours of
deification; and to the most infamous vices and dissolute passions altars were erected. The world which
God made to manifest his power, seemed to have become a temple of idols, where every thing was God
but God himself. The mystery of the Saviour's crucifixion was the remedy which the Almighty ordained
for this universal idolatry.  IHe knew the mind of
man; and he knew that it was not by reasoning that
an error could be destroyed, which reasoning had not
established. Idolatry prevailed by the suppression
of the rational faculty; by suffering the senses to
predominate, which are apt to clothe every thing
with qualities with which they are affected. Men
gave the Divinity their own figure, and attributed to
him their vices and passions. It was a subversion
* La verite religieuse ktoit exile sur la terre, &c. _




ELOQUENCE OF THE FRENCH PULPIT.    377
of reason, a delirium, a frenzy. Argue with a man
who is insane-you do but the more provoke him,
and render the distemper incurable. Neither will
such argumentation cure the delirium of idolatry.
What has learned antiquity gained by her elaborate
discourseg —her disputations so artfully framed? Did
Plato, with that eloquence which was styled divine,
overthrow one single altar, where those monstrous
divinities were worshipped? Experience has shown
that the overthrow of idolatry could not be the work
of reason alone. Far from commissioning human
wisdom to cure such a malady, God completed its
confusion by the mystery of the cross. When that
was raised, and displayed to the world an agonized
Redeemer, incredulity exclaimed, it wasfoolishnessbut the darkened sun-nature convulsed-the dead
arising from their graves, said, it was wisdom."
Many fine thoughts are found in the sermon on
the Name of Jesus, from Matt. i. 21.
* " I cannot observe without an emotion of astonishment the conduct of the Son of God. I observe
him through the course of his ministry displaying,
even with magnificence, the lowliness of his condition, and when the hour approaches which is to
terminate in his death, the word glory dwells on his
* Certes je ne puis voir sans etonnement dans les Ecritures Divines, &c.




378         THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
lips, and he discourses with his disciples of nothing
but his greatness.  On the eve of his ignominious
death, when the traitor had just -gone from him, big
with his execrable intention, it was then that the
Saviolr of the world cried out, with a divine ardour
-' Now is the Son of man glorified.' W1ll me in
what manner he is going to be glorified?  What
means the emphatic word-now. Is he at once to
rise above the clouds, and thence to advance vengeance on his foes? Or is the angelic hierarchy, seraphs, dominions, principalities, and powers, to descend from on high, and pay him instant adoration?
No! he is going to be degraded; to submit to excruciating pain; to expire with malefactors. This is
what he denominates his glory; this is what he esteems his triumph! Behold his entrance into Jerusalem,'riding on an ass.' Ah! Christians, let us
not be ashamed of our Heavenly King —let the sceptic deride, if he please, this humble appearance of
the Son of God; but I will tell human arrogance that
this lowly exhibition was worthy of the king who came
into this world, in order to degrade and crush beneath
his feet all terrestrial grandeur. Behold what a concourse of people, of all ages and of all conditions, precede him, with branches of palm trees, in the act of
exultation-how the air resounds with the acclamations:' Hosannah to the Son of David —blessed is he




ELOQUENCE OF THE FRENCH PULPIT.    379
that cometh in the name of the Lord.' Whence this
sudden change, so opposite to his former conduct?
Whence is it that he now courts applause, whom we
see in another part of the gospel, retiring to the summit of a solitary mountain to escape the solicitations
of the multitudes assembled from the neighbouring
cities and villages for the purpose of electing him
their king? He now listens with complacency to the
people who accost him with that title. The jealous
Pharisees endeavour to impose silence; but the Saviour cries,'If these should hold their peace, the
stones would immediately cry out.' I ask again,
whence is this abrupt change? why does he approve
of what he lately abhorred, and accept of what he
lately rejected?  Entering Jerusalem  now for the
last time, it is in order to die; and agreeably to his
sentiments, to die is to reign; to die, in his estimation, is to be' glorified.' How dignified was his conduct through the whole process of his passion! Htow
dignified his deportment at the tribunal of Pilate!
The Roman President asked,'Art thou a king L'
The Son of God, who had until that time been silent,
no sooner heard his title.to royalty mentioned, than
he abruptly replied,'Thou sayest that I am a king;
to this end was I born, and for this cause came I into
the world.' Yes! gracious Saviour, I comprehend
thee-it is thy glory to suffer for the love of thy peo



380          THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
pie; and thou wilt not claim the sceptre, until, by a
victorious death, thou deliverest thy subjects from
eternal slavery!
4" Let heaven and earth burst forth into a song of
praise, for Jesus Christ is a King. To those who
have been regained and subdued to his protection at
so high a price, he is a most liberal monarch-through
him they not only live, but have the hope of reigning
themselves-for such is the munificence of our celestial King, that in every court, every brow is to be
encircled with a diadem. Listen to the beautiful
hymn of the twenty-four elders-representing most
probably the assemblage of the faithful, under the
Old and the New Testament-the one half representing the twelve patriarchs of the Jewish church-the
other half, the twelve apostles of the Christian Church.
Observe that the elders are crowned, that they fall
prostrate in humble adoration before the Lamb, singing,'Thou hast made us kings.' Let me ask if human grandeur dare for a moment to enter into competition with this celestial court? Cyneas, the ambassador of Pyrrhus, in speaking of ancient Rome,
said that he beheld in that imperial city as many
kings as senators. But our God calls us to a more
resplendent exhibition; in this court, this nation of
elected kings, this triumphal city whose walls are
cemented by the blood of Christ, I not only affirm




ELOQUENCE OF THE FRENCH PULPIT.     381
that we shall behold as many kings as senators, but
I assert that there will be as many kings as inhabitants. The King of the world admits to the participation of his throne all the people whom he has redeemed
by his blood and subdued by his grace."
There are some similar thoughts in his second sermon " pour le premier dimanche de l'avent; "-in
which there is a beautiful contrast between Jesus
Christ and Alexander-presented with great simplicity, by an allusion to authentic history.
"HIIear how the author of the first book of
Maccabees speaks of the great king of Macedonia,
whose name seemed to breathe nothing but victory
and triumph.'It happened that Alexander, son of
Philip, reigned over Greece, and made many wars,
and won many strongholds, and slew the kings of the
earth, and went to the ends of the world, and took
spoils of many nations, insomuch that the earth was
quiet before him.' WVhat a grand and magnificent
beginning! —but hear fTe conclusion.'After these
things he fell sick, and perceived that he must die;
wherefore he called his servants, and parted his kingdom among them. So Alexander reigned twelve
years, and he died.' To this fate is suddenly reduced
all his glory; in this manner the history of Alexander the Great terminates. How different the history
* " Ecoutez comme parle 1'Histoire," &e., &e.




382         THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
of Jesus Christ! -It does not indeed commence in a
manner so pompous-neither does it end in a way so
ruinous. It begins by showing him to us in the sordid manger-then leads him tbhiough various stages
of humiliation-then conducts him to the infamy of
the cross-and at length envelopes him in the darkness of the tomb-confessedly the very lowest degree
of depression. But this, instead of being the period
of his final abasement, is that from which he recovers,
and is'exalted. I-e rises-ascends-takes possession
of his throne-is extending his glory to the utmost
bounds of the universe, and will one day come with
great power to judge the quick and the dead."'
In his addresses to the king, there is a noble and
manly freedom which we cannot but admire-an
apostolic fidelity which shows a marked dislike and
careful avoidance of adulation. The following is a
specimen:
* "While your majesty looks down from  that
eminence to which Providence has raised you; while
you behold your flourishing provinces reaping the
harvest of happiness, and enjoying the blessings of
peace; while you behold your throne encompassed
with the affections of a loyal people, what have you
to fear?  Where is the enemy that can injure your
* "Pendant que votre majest6 regarde en bas de cette 616vation," &c., &c.




ELOQUENCE OF THE FRENCH PULPIT.    383
happiness? Yes! sire, there is an enemy that can
injure you-that enemy is yourself-that enemy is
the glory that encircles you. It is no easy task to
submit to the rule that seems to submit to us.
WVhere is the canopy of sufficient texture to screen
you from the penetrating and searching beams of unbounded prosperity? Let me entreat you to descend
in spirit from your exalted situation, and visit the
tomb of Jesus; there you may meditate on loftier
subjects than this world with all its pomp can offer;
there you may learn that by our Redeemer's resurrection from the grave, you may be entitled to a
crowd of immortal glory.
"What will it avail you, sire, to have lifted so
high the glory of your country, unless you direct your
mind to works which are of estimation in the sight
of God, and which are to be recorded in the book of'
life? Consider the terrors which are to usher in the
last day, when the Saviour of the world will appear
in tremendous majesty, and send judgment unto victory. Reflect if the stars are then doomed to fall, if
the glorious canopy of the heavens is to be rolled together as a scroll, how will those works endure, which
are constructed by man? Can you, sire, affix any
real grandeur to what must one day be blended in
the dust? Elevate then your mind, and fill the page
of your life with other records and other annals."




384         THIOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
We have often been struck with the manner in
which truth is pressed upon the conscience, and the sinner urged to immediate repentance. The following
is a single instance from many that might be presented:
* "When God transported the prophetic spirit of
Ezekiel into the valley of bones, he heard a voice cry
out,' Can these dry bones live? Say unto them,
Oh! ye dry bones, hear the word of the Lord.' The
application is obvious; bring it home to your own
bosoms; enforce it on your own situation. Let no
time be lost; defer not to a distant period your repentance; the voice that now whispers to yoir soul,'Oh! ye dry bones, hear the voice of the Lord,' will
perhaps never invite you more. The season of age
and weakness will betray you; when you are arrived
within a few steps of the grave, you will find neither
time, nor disposition, nor capacity to perform the
solemn task which- you have so long delayed-your
soul will be encumbered with a train of confused,
turbid, comfortless thoughts; (I have unhappily often
witnessed such scenes,)-your cold lips will utter a
few imperfect prayers that wvill not reach the heart
any more than water gliding over a marble surface
will penetrate the substance. Seize then the present
hour-the offered moment. Why will you perish?
* Quand Dieu transportoit 1'esprit prophetique, &c.




ELOQUENCE OF THE FRENCH PULPIT.    385
You, my brethren, who have been distinguished by
so many blessings to whom, in your earlier years, the
immaculate page of Christianity was unfolded;. who
were reared in the hallowed bosom of religion, why
will ye perish? You for whom this roof resounds
with the voice of the preacher, for whom that table is
spread with celestial food, why will you perish? You
for whom Jesus died, for whom he rose from the
dead-and now, willing your salvation, shows to his
Father the sacred wounds he suffered, why will you
perish?'The best method to raise our thoughts above
this speck of earth, is first to contemplate the deceitful and fugitive tenure of terrestrial existence. May
we not compare human life to a road that terminates
in a ruinous precipice?   We are informed of the
dangers we incur, but the imperial command is announced, and we must advance. I would wish to
turn back, in order to avoid the ruinous precipice,
but the tyrant necessity exclaims,' advance, advance.'
An irresistible power seems to carry me along. Many
inconveniences-many hardships-many untoward
accidents occur; but they would appear trivial, could
I withhold my steps from the ruinous precipice. No!
no! An irresistible power urges me to proceed, and
even impels me to run-such is the rapidity of time.
Some pleasant circumstances, however, present them17




386         THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
selves; we meet with objects in the course of our
journey, which attract attention-limnpid streamsgroves resounding with harmony-trees loaded with
delicious fruit-flowers exhaling their aromatic odour
into the passing gale. Here we would be glad to
wander, and suspend the progress of our journey;
but the voice exclaims,' advance, advance,'-while all
the objects we have passed suddenly vanish, like the
materials of a turbid dream. Some wretched consolation still remains —you have gathered some flowers
as you have passed by, which, however, wither in the
hand that grasps them-you have plucked some fruit,
which, however, decays before it reaches the lips.
This, this is the enchantment of delusion. In the
progress of your destined course, you now'approach
the tremendous gulf which breathes forth a solemn
vapour that discolours every object.  Behold the
shadowy form of Death rising from the jaws of the
fatal gulf, to hail your arrival. Your heart palpitates —your eyes grow dim-your cheeks turn pale —
your lips quiver-the final step is taken-and the
hideous chasm swallows up your trembling frame."
We make but one more quotation from his sermons, from a discourse on the Sufferings of the Soul
of Jesus, founded on Isaiah liii. 6. And we do it
the more cheerfully, as his sentiments on the doctrine of the Atonement are so correct and scriptural.




ELOQUENCE OF THE FRENCH PULPIT.      387
* "The most soothing consolation to the man
plunged in affliction, is the consciousness of his freedom from guilt, which, like an angel, watches at his
side, and whispers comfort to his soul. The holy
confidence arising from this source supported the
martyrs, and upheld their enduring patience under
the pressure of the severest tortures. This consolation acted with a magical influence; it calmed their
sufferings; it lulled the exquisite sensation of the
flames which consumed their bodies, and diffused
over their countenance the expression of a celestial
joy. But Jesus, the personally innocent Jesus, found
no such consolation in his sufferings; what was given
to the martyrs was denied to the King of martyrs.
Under the ignominy of a most disgraceful death,
under the impression of the most agonizing torments,
he was not allowed to complain, nor even to think
that he was treated with injustice. It is true'he was
personally innocent; but what did the recollection of
an immaculate life avail him? His Heavenly Father,
from whom alone he looked for consolation, who from
eternity had shed upon his beloved Son the effulgence
of his glory, now withdraws his sacred beams, and
spreads over his head an angry cloud. Behold the
innocent Jesus, the spotless Lamb, suddenly become
the goat of abomination, burdened with the sins of
* La consolation la plus douce pour un homme qui souffert, &c.




388         THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
men. It is no longer the Jesus who once said,' Which
of you convinceth me of sin?' (John viii. 46,)-he
presumes to speak no more of his innocence. Oh!
Jesus, I view thee bending beneath the weight of
human guilt. See, my brethren, see imputed to him
the sins of men; see the turbulent ocean of iniquity
ready to engulf him: wherever he casts his eye, he
beholds torrents of sin bursting upon him. By a
wonderful commutation which comprises the mystery
of our salvaion, one is smitten and others are delivered. God smites his innocent Son for the'sake of
guilty men; and pardons guilty men for the sake of
his innocent -Son. How inadequate is all language
to express such mercy! Let this sanctuary be to
every one of us a Calvary, and let us not depart
hence, before we have kindled in our bosoms the
flame of eternal gratitude for the sublime act of love
which is this day recorded through the Christiaft
world."
But it is in his Funeral Orations that the eloquence of Bossuet is specially seen. These were prepared in mature life when his taste was. chastened,
received all the correction which his hand could give
them, and by universal consent are the enduring
memorials of the loftiest genius. They are not only
uncommonly spirited, and animated with the boldest
figures, but frequently rise to a degree of the sublime.




ELOQUENCE OF THE FRENCH PULPIT.     389
While celebrating the illustrious dead, he employs
them  as preachers to the living; while sitting
on the tombs of kings and princes, he crushes the
pride of all kings, levels them with the meanest of
their subjects, and confounds them in the common
dust.
His success is this species of eloquence is seen in
his Funeral Oration for Henrietta,4 Queen of England, wife of Charles I. It was a subject worthy
of the;great talents of Bossuet; a subject most dramatic and eventful-a rebellion crowned with victory
-a fugitive queen-a monarch bleeding on the scaffold-all furnishing important materials for such a
discourse, and employed in such a manner as to bear
the impress of the highest eloquence. While he
paints in vivid colours the civil commotions, he shows
us God in them  all, "setting up one and putting
down another," destroying thrones, precipitating revolutions, subduing opposition: and while thus directing our attention to a superintending Providence, he
casts a religious awe through the whole scene, which
renders it really pathetic, and truly grand.
In adverting to the dignified manliness which accompanied Charles I. in the last scenes of his life, the
orator says:
* "Pursued by the unrelenting malignity of for* Poursuivi A toute outrance par l'implacable malignite, &c., &c.




390         THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
tune, abandoned, betrayed, defeated, he never abandoned himself. His mind rose superior to the victorious standard of the enemy. Humane and magnanimous in the moment of victory, he was great and
dignified in the hour of adversity. This is the image
which presents itself to my view in his last trial. Oh!
thou august and unfortunate queen! I know that I
gratify thy tendir affection, while I consecrate these
few words to his memory-that heart which never
lived but for him, awakens even under the pall of
death, and resumes its palpitating sensibility at the
name of so endeared a husband."
Instead of directly saying that Charles died on
the scaffold, he represents the queen as adopting the
words of Jeremiah, who alone is capable of lamentations equal to his sorrows.
*" Oh! Lord, behold my afflictions, for the enemy
hath magnified himself: the adversary hath spread
out his hand upon all my pleasant things; my children are desolate, because the enemy prevailed. The
kingdom is polluted, and the princes thereof. For
these things I weep; mine eye runneth down with
water, because the comforter that should relieve my
soul is far from me." (Lam. i. 9. 16.)
In this manner he speaks of the queen's escape
from her enemies in England:
* Jeremie lui-m6me, qui seul, &c., &c




ELOQUENCE OF THE FRENCH PULPIT.     391
* "The queen was at length obliged to leave her
kingdom. She sailed out of the English ports in
sight of the rebellious navy; it approached so near
to her, in pursuit, that she almost heard their profane
cries and insolent threats. Ah! how different was
this voyage from that which she made on the same
sea, when, going to take possession of the sceptre of
Great Britain, she saw the billows smooth themselves
under her, to pay homage to the queen of the seas.
Now pursued by implacable enemies who falsely accused and endeavoured to. destroy her —sometimes
just escaped, and sometimes just taken —her fortune
changing every hour-having no other aid but the
Almighty and her invincible courage-no winds nor
sails to favour her precipitate flight; but God preserved her and permitted her to live."
The Oration for Henrietta, Princess of England,
and daughter of Charles I, has not events so grand
and striking; and presents not a picture so vast and
magnificent-but it exhibits a pathos, though more
soft, yet equally touching. Bossuet was evidently
much affected when he composed this discourse aer
deeply moved when he delivered it. The fate of a
young princess, the daughter, sister, and sister-in-law
of a king, enjoying all the advantages of grandeur
and beauty —dying suddenly at the age of twenty-six,.* La reine fut obligee A se retirer de son royaume, &c.




392          THOUGElTS ON PRI:ACHING.
of a frightful accident, with all the marks of poison,
was an event calculated to excite the tenderest commiseration, and to make an impression that would
settle on the heart. The Christian orator, tenderly
affected by the greatness of the calamity, and the
painful circumstances connected with it, declares that
" in one single woe he will deplore all human calamities, and in one single death, show the death and
emptiness of all human grandeur."  He has done ithe exhibits the earth under the image of a universal
wreck-shows us. man continually striving for elevation, and the divine power hurling him from the
eminence. From the experience of her whom he deplores and celebrates, he vividly delineates the uncertainty of life, the frailty of youth, the evanescence of
beauty, the emptiness of royalty, and the utter nothingness of all worldly greatness; while sketching
these pensive scenes, he continually returns to the
princess, and shows us what she once was, and what
she now is.
He describes the manner in which she was almost miraculously delivered out of the hands of her
enemies.
* "In spite of the storms of the ocean, and the
more violent commotions of the earth, God, taking
* Malgre les tempetes de l'ocean, et les agitations encore plus violentes de la terre, &c., &c.




ELOQUENCE OF THE FRENCH PULPIT.      393
her on his wings, as the eagle does her young, carries
her into that kingdom; places her in the bosom of
the queen, her mother, or rathber in the bosom of the
Christian church."
How terrible must have been the impression, when
he spoke of her death; when after a sentence unusually
calm, he suddenly cried out:
* "Oh! ever memorable, disastrous, terrific night!
when consternation reigned throughout the palace;
when, like a burst of thunder, a despairing voice cried
out,' The princess is dying-the princess is dead! ""
At this sentence, the orator was obliged to stopthe audience burst into sobs, and the preacher was
interrupted by weeping.
Some moments after, having spoken of the greatness of her soul, and the nature and extent of her virtues, he suddenly stops, and pointing to the tomb in
which she is inclosed, exclaims:
t "There she lies as death presents her to our
view; yet even these mournful honours with which
she is now encircled will soon disappear; she will be
despoiled of this melancholy decoration, and be conveyed into the dark receptacle, the last gloomy habitation, to sleep in the' dust with annihilated kings,
among whom it will be difficult to place her, so
* 0! nuit d6sastreuse, 0! nuit effroyable, &c., &c.
t La voilA que la mort l'a faite, lc., &c.
17*




394          THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
closely do the ranks press upon each other-so
prompt is death in crowding this gloomy vault with
departed greatness. Yet even here our imagination
deludes us; for this form, destitute of life, which still
retains the human resemblance, the faint similitude
which still lingers in the countenance, must undergo
a change, and be turned into a terrific something, for
which no language has a name; so true is it that
every thing dies that belongs to man, even those
funeral expressions that designate his remains."
The following is the conclusion:
* " Should we wait until the dead arise before we
open our minds to religiou; instruction! What this
day descends into the grave should be sufficient to
awaken and convert us. Could the divine providence
bring nearer to our view, or more forcible display the
vanity and emptiness of human greatness?
t " I entreat you to begin from this hour to despise the smiles of fortune, and the favours of this
transient world. And when you shall enter those
august habitations-those sumptuous palaces, which
receive an additional lustre from the person we now
lament-when you shall cast your eyes around those
splendid apartments; and find their better ornament
wanting, then remember that the exalted station she
* Attendons-nous que Dieu ressuscite des morts, &c., &c.
{ Commencez aujourd' hui A mepriser, &c., &c.




ELOQUENCE OF THE FRENCH PULPIT.     395
held, that the accomplishments and attractions she was
known to possess, augmented the dangers to which she
was exposed in this world, and now form the subject
of a righteous investigation in the world to come."
We pass over several of his other orations to the
one which we have always regarded as his best-that
on the Prince of Condi. If ever an orator entered
into his subject with the highest enthusiasm, and imparted it to his hearers with elevated passion, it was
Bossuet on this occasion. He thoroughly comprehends the character and acts of him whom he celebrates; collects and combines in a manner the most
admirable all the particulars which relate to his birth,
his life, his death, his private character, and public
career. While thus happy in his arrangement, in
description he has all the impetuosity of his hero, and
details events with the rapidity and force with which
his warrior gained battles. He seems to have at his
command all incidents, present, past, and future-he
vividly paints, and skilfully unites them-he collects
together, and presses upon the imagination a multitude of objects the most grand and startling-and
hurries us forward with such precipitation that we
become almost breathless; all preparing us for the
following conclusion.
* "Draw near to this mournful solemnity, people
* Venez, peuple, venez maintenant, &c., &c.




396         THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
of every rank and profession-draw near, ye great,
ye humble, ye rich, ye poor, and chiefly ye, Oh!
illustrious progeny of the house of Bourbon, draw
near, and behold all that remains of a birth so exalted, of a renown so extensive, of a glory so brilliant.
See all that sumptuousness can perform to celebrate
the hero! Mark the titles and inscriptions it has
flung around-vain indications of an influence not
now to be exercised. Mark those sculptured images,
that, sorrowfully bending rouod yon monument, appear to weep: mark those aspiring columns, which
magnificently attest our nothingness. Amidst this
profusion of lonourls, nothing is wanting but the person to whom they are dedicated. Let us then lament
our frail and fugitive existence, while we perform the
rites of a sickly immortality to the memory of our
departed hero. I now address myself particularly to
those who are advanced in the same career of military glory. Approach and bewail your great commander. I can almost persuade myself that I hear
you saying,'Is he then no more —our intrepid chief,
who through the rugged paths of danger led us on to
victory? IHis name, the only part of him that remains, is all-sufficient to excite us to future exertions;
his departed spirit now whispers to our souls the
sacred admonition that if we hope to obtain at death
the reward of our labours, we must serve our God in




ELOQUENCE OF THE FRENCH PULPIT.     397
heaven, and not be satisfied with serving our sovereign on earth.' Yes! serve your heavenly Kingenter fully into the service of your God, the great
remunerator, who in the prodigality of his mercy will
estimate higher one pious act, or a drop of water
given in his name, than the sovereigns of the earth will
prize the sacrifice of your lives in their service. Shall
not they also approach this mournful monument,
who are united to him by the sacred bond of friendship? Draw near, ye companions of his social hours;
pay homage to the memory of your associate, whose
goodness of heart equalled his intrepidity of soul, and
let his death be at once the object of your sorrow,
your consolation, and your example. As for me, if I
may be permitted, in my turn, to deliver the sentiments of my affection, I should say, Oh! thou illustrious theme of my encomium and of my regret, thou
shalt ever claim a place in my grateful recollection.
The image, however, which is there engraved, is not
impressed with that daring eye which fortells victory; for I will behold nothing in thee which death
effaces; but on this image shall be found the features
of immortality. The image presents itself as I beheld thee at the hour of'dissolution, when the glories
of the heavenly world seemed to burst upon thee.
Yes, at that moment, even on the couch of languor,
did I behold thee more triumphant than in the plains




398         THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
of Fribourg or Rocroy-so true is what the beloved
disciple says:'This is the victory that overcometh
the world, even our faith.' Enjoy, oh prince, this
victory, and let it be the object of thy eternal triumph.  Indulge these closing accents of a voice
which was not unknown to thee. With thee shall
terminate all my funeral discourses; instead of deploring the death of others, I will labour to make my
own resemb]e thine; and happy will it be for me, if,
taking warning from these gray hairs, I devote myself
exclusively to the duties of the ministry, and reserve
for my flock, whom I ought to feed with the word of
life, the glimmerings of an eye which is almost extinguished, and the faint efforts of a voice that is almost expiring."
Nothing could be finer-nothing more effective to
bring down our elevated feelings to calm serenitynothing better fitted for the closing scene than those
" gray hairs," that " feeble voice," that glance into a
future state-all well adapted to inspire the heart
with the tender sadness becoming such an occasion.
Surely Bossuet should be placed in the same rank
with men of eloquence, which Milton holds in the
class of poets.
After Bossuet had left Paris, to enter upon his
other functions to which he had been appointed,
BonRDLourE appeared in 1669; preached the " avent"




ELOQUENCE OF THE FRENCH PULPIT.      399
before the court in 1670, and was chosen one of the
preachers "before the king."  At his first appearance, his powers as a pulpit orator were highly estimated; multitudes of classes crowded to hear himhis reputation thus early established, never diminished-the lustre increased as he advanced; and to
the close of his life he was regarded by all as one of
the finest preacher of the age. He had not, it is true,
the lofty talents of Bossuet, but he excelled in labour
him whom he was incapable of equalling in genius;
for forty years he devoted himself almost entirely to
the art of preaching; to the preparation of sermons
for the instruction of the people. These sermons, instead of sketches on which he enlarged during delivery, are full written discourses, prepared with
much care; and on every variety of subjects suited
to the pulpit. They are not such as answered only a
temporary purpose, like vegetables of a night, or insects of a day; they are read as specimens of oratorical elegance; put into the hands of youth, as models;
and presented as lessons for the formation of their
taste and the improvement of their hearts. No one
can read them without perceiving the elevation to
which genius may be raised by intense study. In
the variety of subjects which are discussed, we see a
fulness and luxuriance which leaves nothing further
to be said or supposed; an accurate logic which de



400          THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
tects and exposes sophistry; an admirable use of the
Scriptures, and sometimes of the Fathers; a profound
knowledge of the human heart; a continued effort to
keep himself out of sight, and an habitual aim at the
conversion of his hearers-all expressed in a style
simple and nervous, natural and noble.
A clear and proper method is visible in all his
writings; to this he devotes much attention; in this
he far excels Bossuet; he has the happy talent of
arranging his arguments and thoughts, with that
order of which the Roman critic speaks, when he
compares the merit of an orator who composes a discourse to the skill of a general who commands an
army* —every thing is found in its proper place.
But Bourdaloue is not more distinguished for the
soundness of his judgment, and the strength of his
reasoning, than for his power at times in affecting the
passions. iNot satisfied with impressing the mind
with the sense of truth, he rouses the affections of his
hearers by the energy and pathos of eloquence-we
meet continually with those strokes of passion which
penetrate and melt the heart. In his sermons on the
Passion. of Christ, of which he has many, but in
which there is no repetition, (presenting in each the
subject under different views,) there are several instances. We quote from one, founded on Luke xxiii.
* "Est velut imperatoria virtus."-QuINT. INSTIT. II.




ELOQUENCE OF THE FRENCH PULPIT.     401
33, in which is illustrated the truth, that in the death
of the Saviour, "righteousness and peace have embraced each other."
I. Christ died as the victim of Divine Justice.
II. As an exhibition of Divine mercy.
Under the first head the preacher asks; * " Who
is the victim immolated on the altar erected on Calvary? None other than the eternal Son of God, in
whom dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.
From the moment of his incarnation, he became this
sacrifice, he descended into the world and clothed
himself with a mortal body to do homage to the
Creator of the universe, and to offer himself a burntoffering. In the temple of Jerusalem, this sacrifice
was continued, when, presented by the hands of
Mary, he was placed in the arms of Simeon; but that
was the morning offering-this upon the cross was
the evening sacrifice. But why was he exposed to
this inexorable justice-this' Lamb of God without
blemish and without spot? Of what crime had he
been guilty? What had he done to draw upon him
wrath from on high, and which exposed him to such
ignominy and death. You know that in himself he
is the Holy of holies; that in his celestial abode he
received the adoration of the angelic spirits, that he
was perfectly blessed, and that he needed no creature
* Car quelle victime lui est immolee sur l'autel, &c., &c.




402         THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
to add to his happiness; that when he appeared on
earth as an exile, and deigned to converse with men,
he knew sin only to combat and destroy it; that to
him was rendered more than once that illustrious testimony which re-echoed along the banks of Jordan,
and resounded upon Tabor-'lThis is my beloved
Son, in whom I am well pleased.'  Yet this Saviour,
thus holy in himself,'took upon him the form of a
servant,'-yea, of a sinner; and though he had never
committed sin, and was incapable of committing it,
yet' he bore our sins in his own body upon the tree;'
his holy Father charged our sins upon him, covered,
as it were, his whole soul with them-' laid on him
the iniquity of us all.' Under an aspect so hideous,
so abhorrent to infinite holiness, Heaven considers
him on the cross; under such a weight of sin, the
justice of God views him a fit object of its vengeance;
it suffers him not to escape; it pursues him in a hostile and vindictive manner, and pronounces the sentence of condemnation. Represent to yourselves the
victim of which the' apostle speaks in his epistle to
the Hebrews (xiii. 11)-upon which were placed the
iniquities of the people for expiation, and which' was
burned without the camp.' It is a sensible image of
what was accomplished in the person of our Redeemer. They conduct him out of the city-they
bring him to Calvary-it is the last place where he is




ELOQUENCE OF THE FRENCH PULPIT.    403
to appear, as the'man of sorrows;' and there divine
justice stands waiting to exact the whole debt for
which he is responsible; to execute the heavy punishment by the executioners it has chosen. When
God drove guilty man from Eden, he sent an angel
with a double flaming sword to guard forever the
access to the tree of life. By the ministry of an exterminating angel he smote the army of Sennacherib,
and for the safety of his people made known his power
against the haughty monarch; but when a sacrifice
was to be effected for the salvation of men, no angel
was sent to afflict the soul of the Redeemer; supreme
and sovereign justice itself descended, and invisibly
presided over the bloody and terrible execution."
In a similar manner the eloquent preacher proceeds, and shows in detail how the executioners of the
Saviour are mere instruments in the hands of God of
completing his purpose; and how powerful, and holy,
and severe is that justice which crushes a God-man.
The second part, which represents the death of
Christ as an exhibition of the divine mercy, affords a
beautiful instance of antithesis; making, by the contrast, the object stronger and the impression deeper.
In the first part, we behold the divine justice citing
the Son of God to its tribunal, and sacrificing him,
satisfied with nothing but his blood and death; so
inflexible as to disregard his dignity and personal in



404          THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
nocence; every thing, therefore, is awful, and the
thoughts terrible. In the second part, all the love and
grace of which the Saviour is capable, is presented,
and every thing is tender and pathetic.
* " The nearer Jesus advances to the close of life,
the tenderer is his heart; on the cross he breathes
only mercy. He prays, and it is a prayer of mercy;
he promises, and it is a promise of mercy; he gives,
and it is a gift of mercy.
" 1. He prays, and it is a prayer of mercy-of the
richest mercy, for he prays for his enemies. He prays
for the priests and rulers of the synagogue who had
formed the conspiracy against him; for the soldiers
who had arrested, the people who had insulted, the
false witnesses who had calumniated, Pilate who had
condemned, and the executioners who had crucified
him. It would have been mercy most wonderful, if
he had done it on the acknowledgment and repentance
of their crime. But he pleads for them, when they
are loading him with new outrages; when they are
uttering blasphemies and imprecations; when they
are shaking their heads with scorn, and saying,' he
saved others-himself he cannot save-if thou be the
Son of God, come down from the cross'-when they
are deriding his power and holiness, his offices and
X Plus il avance vers la fin de sa carriere, plus son coeur s'attendrit, &c., &c.




ELOQUENCE OF THE FRENCH PULPIT.    405
divinity. In the midst of such insults and execrations, he raises his eyes to heaven, and what does he
ask? Is it not that the thunders may descend, that
righteous vengeance may follow the commission of
such horrid crimes  No! my brethreh, mercy leads
him to speak, no word is uttered which is not dictated
by mercy.'Father, forgive them, they know not
what they do.' He does not say God, but Father, for
that is a name more tender and endearing-more fayourable for giving audience to petition, and for averting wrath. He does not plead for this one or that one
less guilty than others in the conspiracy against him,
but he prays in general, without excluding any, without excepting those who treated him so cruelly in the
court of Caiaphas and Herod; those who scourged
and smote him, or those who pierced his temples with
thorns, or those who drove the nails into his hands
and feet. There is not one whom his arms and bosom
are not open to receive-not one for whom he would
not be an advocate and intercessor. He more than
prays, he extenuates their crime; his love leads him
to find something to plead in their behalf-' they know
not what they do'-they are blind, and know not the
enormity of the offence which they are committing;
they know not whom they revile and torture; they
know not that they are crucifying the Lord of glory.
"2. We promises, and it is a promise of mercy.




406         THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
Admire the virtue and efficacy of that prayer which
has just ascended to heaven —scarcely is it offered before it is answered by a miracle of grace —scarcely is
it offered before an enemy of Christ, a thief and malefactor, is converted and pardoned. He was a wretch,
worse probably than Barabbas —a blasphemer who
united with the other malefactor in reviling Jesus, for
the Evangelist says, (referring to them both,) they'cast the same in his teeth.' But behold, by a secret
and resistless impression of divine grace, this bold
blasphemer and robber changed into an humble penitent, who gives glory to God, who publicly confesses
his sins, and acknowledges himself worthy of death,
who publishes the innocence of that'just one' who
is crucified, who addresses Jesus as his sovereign, and
asks admission into. his heavenly kingdom, and who
receives from the Son of God that consoling assurance,'to-day thou shalt be with me in Paradise.'
" 3. He gives, and it is a gift of mercy. Do you
ask, what is his last will and testament? what the
disposition of this dying man's effects? what personal
property or landed estate does he bequeath   Ah!
my brethren, what.riches had he to leave who'had
not where to lay his head'-who in ordinary circumstances was sustained by. alms, and in extraordinary
cases, by miracles? What then does he give? From
that engine of torture to which he is fastened he looks




ELOQUENCE OF THE FRENCH PULPIT.     40T
down, and what is before those eyes that begin to be
weighed down by the hand of death?  His own
mother Mary, and his beloved disciple, John —that is
the priceless treasure, the precious succession. At
this sight, all exhausted as he is, his heart awakens;
in his state of suffering, increasing every moment, he
is not so occupied as to be regardless of these friends;
he cannot leave them without giving them a last
proof of his remembrance, and a genuine pledge of
his love; he cannot commend his spirit into the hands
of his Father without affording them  consolation.
With serenity, firmness, and tenderness, he turns to
his mother:'behold thy son-he will discharge the
filial office, guard, nourish, and defend thee.'  Then
saith.he to the disciple,'behold thy mother-regard
her as thou wouldst the tenderest of all connexions,
as thy mother.''And from that hour that disciple
took her to his own home.'"
The conclusion, in which the hearers are invited
to cultivate love to Christ as the best preparation for
death, is urgent and tender-,we have, however, no
room for it.
We have spoken of, the fidelity of Bossuet in
addressing his king; we find the same faithfulness in
Bourdaloue; the same disposition to remind him of
his duty to his God; the same pungent appeals to
the conscience, the same, or severer reproofs of vices




408         THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
which were prevalent in the court. Instead of quoting
from his addresses, we shall relate a circumstance
which is well authenticated, illustrative of this trait
in his character, and of the power of divine truth;
fully equal to the courage of John the Baptist towards
Herod, or to the intrepidity of Paul before Felix.
In one of the sermons which he preached before
the monarch, he described with great eloquence the
horrors of an adulterous life, its abomination in the
sight of God, its scandal to man, and all the evils
which attend it; but he managed his discourse with
so much address, that he kept the king from suspecting that the thunder was ultimately to fall upon him.
In general, Bourdaloue spake in a level tone of voice,
with his eyes partly closed. On this occasion, having
wound the attention of the monarch and the audience
to the highest pitch, he paused. The audience expected something terrible, and seemed to fear the next
word. The pause continued for some time-at length
the preacher, fixing his eye directly on his royal
hearer, and in a tone, of voice equally expressive of'
horror and concern, cried out in the words of the
prophet, " thou art the man! " then leaving the words
to their effect, he concluded with a general prayer to
heaven for the conversion of all sinners. When the
service was concluded, the monarch walked slowly
from the church, and ordered Bourdaloue into his




ELOQUENCE OF THE FRENCH PULPIT.    409
presence. He reminded him of his general protection of religion, the kindness which he had ever shown
to the society of Jesus, his particular attention to himself and his friends. He then sternly asked him,
" What could have been your motive for insulting me,
thus publicly, in the presence of my subjects? "
Bourdaloue fell on his knees; " God is my witness
that it was not my wish to insult your majesty; but
I am a minister of God, and must not disguise the
truth. What I said in my sermon is my morning and
evening prayer. May God in his infinite mercy grant
me to see the day, when the greatest of monarchs
shall be the holiest of kings." The king was affected,
and silently dismissed the preacher; but from this
time the court began to observe that change which led
Louis to a life of greater regularity.
More known and read among us than either of the
others of whom we have spoken, is MASSILLON; whose
name is almost proverbial as a master of pulpit eloquence. He was transferred to Paris about the year
1690, and was, therefore, contemporary with Bourdaloue. Admiring him who at that time was regarded
as the prince of preachers, he determined not to imitate him, but to strike out for himself a new path in
the field of pulpit. oratory. He was satisfied that
profound argumentation is not sufficient for the pulpit; that a preacher must not only instruct the mind,
18




410          THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
but succeed in affecting the passions; that if some of
the hearers are incapable of laying hold of an act
of reasoning, all have souls capable of being moved
by weighty sentiments. This plan he proposed; and
this plan he executed like a man of genius.
None of the French preachers have so much of
that onction, that tender and affecting manner which
interests and allures; that mild magic, gentle fascination, endearing simplicity which characterizes the
Evangelists. This is apparent in almost all his discourses. He has not, it is true, the sublime strains
of Bossuet, and does not so often produce violent agitations, yet he succeeds in insinuating himself into the
heart, and awakening the tenderest affections; he lays
open the secret recesses of the soul with so delicate a
hand, that the hearer, before he is aware, is persuaded
and overcome.  Instead of wandering in abstract
speculation, he has all the liveliness of continued address, and speaks to his hearers, all his hearers, because he speaks to the heart. This is the characteristic of his eloquence-what in others is proof and reason, in him is feeling. For this cause, every one saw
himself in the lively picture that was presented; every
one imagined the discourse addressed to him, and
supposed the speaker meant him only. Hence the
remarkable effects of his preaching.  No one after
hearing him, stopped to praise or criticise-each re



ELOQUENCE OF THE FRENCH PULPIT.     411
tired in a pensive silence, and with a thoughtful air,
carrying home the arrow which the preacher had
lodged in his heart.
In his funeral orations, he is not so happy; he
does not there fully sustain his character as an orator.
He who in his sermons made his eloquence seen and
felt-at one time gentle and persuasive at another
strong and vehement; who knew so well how to paint
religion in all its charms, and sin in all its deformity,
who seldom failed in reaching the heart, here disappoints us, and shows that he was better calculated to
instruct kings and princes than to celebrate them.
We must not, however, overlook his funeral oration
at the interment of Louis XIV.-an office to which he
was probably designated by the monarch himself; for
we are told that among other arrangements which lie
made on his death-bed, he gave particular directions
about his funeral solemnities. It is a discourse worthy,
in many respects, of the grandeur of th6 occasion;
possessing a majesty of style well becoming such an
occasion, and adorned with all the magnificence of
imagery-but yet, with all its richness, while it excites the highest admiration, it is scarcely capable of
touching the heart. One excellency, however, must
not be overlooked-it is not an unqualified eulogy —
the orator speaks openly of the follies and vices of
him whom he celebrates, and hesitates not to declare




412          THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
that this reign, so brilliant to the monarch, was most
disastrous to the people; an instance well worthy of
being noted, of the courage and fidelity of a minister
of God.
The exordium has often been quoted. To see the
propriety of the language, and to account for the
effect, we must consider the text of the preacher, and
the circumstances of his position. The text was Eccl.
i. 16, 17-"-  I became great,* and got more wisdom
than all they that were before me in Jerusalem; I
perceived that this also is vexation of spirit." The
circumstances were peculiar. The church was hung
with black; a magnificent mausoleum was raised over
the bier, the edifice was filled with trophies of the
monarch's glories, daylight was excluded, and its
place supplied by innumerable tapers; and the ceremony was attended by the most illustrious persons in
the kingdom. Massillon ascended the pulpit, contemplated for tome moments the scene before him, then
raised his arms to heaven, looked down on the scene
beneath, and after a short pause, slowly said, (in allusion to his text, which he had already repeated,) in a
solemn, subdued tone,' God only is great  "  With
one impulse, all the audience rose from their seats,
turned to the altar, and slowly and reverently bowed.
* Though in our version it is, " I am come to great estate," yet in
the French it is, " Je suis devenu grand."




ELOQUENCE OF THE FRENCH PULPIT.    413
Another instance of the mighty effect of his preaching, is known to every one, and has -been quoted a
thousand times-the instance mentioned by Voltaire,
when Massillon preached his celebrated sermon on
"the small number of the righteous." When the
preacher was drawing near to the close, the whole assembly were moved; by a sort of involuntary motion
they started from their seats, and manifested such indications of surprise and terror as for a time wholly
disconcerted the speaker. We have often read the
discourse to inquire what could produce such a startling effect. Much of it is to be attributed to the
timely and repeated' use of that powerful figure, Interrogation; a figure by which Demosthenes aroused
the Athenians, and Cicero overwhelmed Cataline; a
sure method, when employed at the proper time and
place, of startling the hearers, and agitating the heart.
The preacher had accurately described the character
of the righteous-he had succeeded in separating his
hearers from the rest of mankind; they thought of
no others, and regarded themselves alone as criminals
to be judged. They see the judge descending, ready
to make the separation and to pronounce the sentence;
they are filled with trembling solicitude to know
on whom the thunder will fall; their imaginations are
terrified, and their thoughts confused. When the
orator has brought his hearers into this state, and sees




414            THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
their countenances reflecting  their  emotions, then
gathering all his strength, and with tones and actions
corresponding, he pours forth the sublime apostrophe;
" Where! O! my God, where are thy people? Where
are you, O! ye righteous-stand forth, and enjoy your
reward! "  There is a startling surprise in this interrogation, that may well excite sensation.  The words
increase the consternation which had long been gathering; each hearer answers the repeated questions put
to him by personal accusations; lie feels that he is the
criminal; he hears the irrevocable sentence; and he
shrieks and trembles, lest it be immediately executed.*
If Bossuet be compared to  the great Athenian
orator, Massillon may well be termed the " French
Cicero."  Like him, he is rich in ornament, pathetic
and persuasive; has a diction smooth and elegant,
and is capable at times of seizing and captivating tho
heart.
We shall not present any extracts from his
* This sermon was preached a second time with most powerful,
though not perhaps equal effect, in the royal chapel at Versailles, when
Louis was deeply affected.
"Une commotion fut eicitke par le meme trait de ce sermon dans
la chapelle de Versailles. Louis XIV. la partagea devant Masillon qu'on
vit aussitot changer de visage, et couvrir son front de ses tremblantes
mains. Les soupirs 6touffSs de l'assembl6e rendirent l'orateur muet
pendant quelques instants, et il parut lui-meme encore plus constern6
que toute la cour."




ELOQUENCE OF THE FRENCH PULPIT.            415
writings, as so many have been translated into
English; though it is much to be regretted that some
of these translations are so weak and inaccurate, and
fall so far short of the original.*
We cannot take leave of these illustrious preachers
without inquiring into their mactnner of delivery. Like
the ancients, they regarded it as an essential branch
of oratory, paid to it eminent attention, and are said
to have carried it to a high degree of perfection.
Bossuet (as we have already intimated) seldom wrote
all that he said. Retaining in his memory what he
had composed in his closet, he filled up the unfinished
sketch in the pulpit, and found a readiness of expression, marked with energy and grace. Bourdaloue and
Massillon wrote their discourses in full, and preached
memoriter; the latter so accurately, that when asked,
which he regarded as his best sermons, he replied,
" those which are the most exactly remembered."
Bossuet, in his personal appearance, was liberally
gifted by nature for an orator; possessing a fine and
majestic figure.  He spake with great authority, in a
* His "Le Petit Cardme," or Discourses before Louis XIV., andi
his work on the " Priesthood," have been well translated; but we cannot say the same of some of his best sermons, translated by Dickson.
That work is servilely liberal, retaining the French idioms, expressing
the thoughts of the writer most unskilfully, presenting rhetorical and
grammatical errors, and giving us very little idea of the elegance of
Massillon. If he had been translated, as Saurin has been, by Robinson,
how much more would he be read and prized!




416         THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
manner which indicated the expectation of success;
with a strong, firm, and manly voice; with an air of
candour, simplicity, and vehemence, which showed
that his object was to convince and persuade, rather
than to gratify and please. Bourdaloue, in one respect, was peculiar; in the delivery of his sermons,
especially in the exordiumn, he partially closed his
eyes, and is so represented in all the portraits of him
we have seen; though he was never charged with the
want of ease or grace. In his manner he was grave
and serious, and had all the dignity -of a prophet.
His voice was fill and clear, and when elevated to the
highest pitch, was sufficient to fill the largest house
with the volume of the sound, and to produce a deep
impression. His eloquence was usually attended with
a strong conviction that great as he was as an orator,
he was still greater as a Christian and a minister of
God. Massillon approached still nearer to perfection,
and had the power of uttering his sentiments with the
highest possible skill. Iis clear and melodious voice
was completely under his control —the lowest whisper
could be distinctly heard —and some of his tones were
so sweet and tender that they went directly to the
heart, and at once drew tears from the eyes. And
yet, when necessary, his shrill tones penetrated like
arrows; he could utter such piercing cries, as would
startle his hearers, and bring them upon their feet



ELOQUENCE OF THE FRENCH PULPIT.     417
and by such instances of the terrible, make his whole
audience bow before him. Thus differing from each
other, these orators, in one respect, were all alike;
in their elocution, they imitated nature, as they had,
in composition, followed her directions.. They spake
with such life and spirit, such freedom and fervency,
that (whether Bossuet was speaking extempore, or
Massillon repeating what he had committed to memory,) all seemed to come fresh from the mind and
heart.
Such is the character of that eloquence which once
prevailed in France, and such the character of the
men who employed it. They exerted a commanding
influence, and swayed the minds, and imaginations,
and feelings of their auditors, as Demosthenes did the
Athenians, and Cicero the Roman senate. Deeply
affected themselves, they deeply affected others; strong
emotions displayed by words, countenance, tones,
gestures, the whole manner, produced, we have seen,
effects perfectly overpowering. Is not eloquence like
this —the eloquence of warmth and passion-peculiarly suited to the pulpit? Must men be regarded as
mere intellectual beings, void of sentiment and feeling? Is not this elevation of soul and style as well
adapted to our age and country as to the age of Louis
the Great, or the country of France? Would it not
produce similar effects? Shall men be allured to our
18*




418          THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
sanctuaries by artificial attractions rather than by the
charms of eloquence; by the gorgeousness of architecture rather than by that most attractive of all arts,
the art of speaking; by the fascinations even of mnusic,
rather than by the enchanting oratory, which, while
it expands the understanding, touches the secret
springs of the heart? That will please men long after
external ornament. ceases'to gratify; satiated as they
will be, in time, by other arts, they will never be
weary in their attention to solid thoughts well attired,
and well exhibited, in listening to a preacher habitually
under the influence of strong passion, and, speaking
boldly, ardently, and simply.
May the time soon come when'there shall be multitudes of such preachers; when great numbers, embracing the whole truth, without any mixture of superstition or error, shall speak in the sublime strains
of BOSSuET, with the energy and elevation of BOURDALOUE, and with the insinuating grace and melody of
MASSILLON.




MISCELLANEOUS PARAGRAPHS.
FROM THE AUTHOR'S PRIVATE JOURNALS.
~ 1. To do good to men, is the great work of life;
to make them true Christians is the greatest good we
can do them. Every investigation brings us round to
this point. Begin here, and you are like one who
strikes water from a rock on the summits of the mountains; it flows down over all the intervening tracts to
the very base. If we could make each man love his
neighbour, we should make a happy world. The true
method is to begin with ourselves, and so to extend
the circle to all around us. It should be perpetually
in our minds.
~ 2. Beneficence.-There are two great classes of
philanthropists, namely, those who devise plans of beneficence, and those who execute them. If we cannot
be among the latter, perhaps we may be among the
former. Invention is more creative than execution.
Watt has done more for mechanics than a thousand




420         THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
steam-engine makers.  The devisors of good may
again be divided into those who devise particular
plans, such as this or that association or mode of operation, and those who discover and make known great
principles. The latter are the rarer and the most important. Hence a man who never stirs out of his
study may be a great philanthropist, if he employs
himself in discovering from the study of the Scriptures and the study of human nature, those laws which
originate and condition all effectual endeavours for
human good.
~ 3. Byron.-I have been looking into a dreadful
book, Moore's life of Byron,-the life of one debauchee written by another. It is instructive, amidst
all its impiety. It is the most forcible comment I ever
read on that divine word, "The way of transgressors
is hard." Voluptuary as he was, ever sighing after
some new pleasure, and drinking to its depth the cup
of worldly and sensual enjoyment, Byron seems to
have endured little less than a hell upon earth. Here
I read in awful colours the tormenting power of uncontrolled selfishness. Here I see abject ignorance
of all religion in one of the greatest human minds.
Remorse without repentance, and self-contempt without amendment, are dreadful scourges. From country to country he fled, but he carried the scorpion with




MISCELLANEOUS PARAGRAPHS.       421
him. His later works are only the disgorging of
tumultuous thoughts and cruel passions, lust, mortified
pride, and malignity; as if he would outrage the
world, even at the expense of every pang in his own
bosom. Happy the poorest, weakest sufferer, that
believes in Christ!
~ 4. God in Nature.-Sweet showers about sunrise.
How  refreshing! Methinks we have not books
enow which connect the exercises of religion with
the delights of external scenery. Though an infidel
said it, I assent to it as true, that I have found no
temple so inspiring as the open vault of heaven and
the green earth. Every thing around me breathes of
divine benignity. The sparrow has laid her young in
a rose-tree just beside my door-sill, another has built
in the vine by the woodhouse. The bluebirds seem
to be tenanting the house I prepared for them over
the arbour, and I am looking for the return of my
wrens to their lodge above the swing. The indigo
bird, and some unknown pied bird appear among my
young elms. I also have seen a dark bird with a dash
of crimson on the back. The catbird sings almost
all day in the large cherry-tree by our ice-house; and
in the orchard just beyond, bobo'lincoln indulges in
his caprices, morning, noon, and night. But no song
so affects me as the plaintive note of the robin, heard at




422        ITHOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
a distance in the evening. It tells of solitude and care.
It is such a strain as, were I a bird, I could not choose
but sing myself. All these praise God. To attend to
them, and note their proceedings on the Lord's day,
need not trouble the strictest Sabbatarian; it is but to
paraphrase and illustrate the 104th psalm. I am no
Pantheist, but I love to honour a God in nature, in
whom all that is has life, and not only life, but being.
" The meanest flower that blows has power to raise,
thoughts in me that lie too deep for tears." Pansies
have called forth such thoughts to-day. Blessed be God
for summer, and for the thousand, thousand varied
manifestations of life in the animal and vegetable
world.
~ 5. See God in Nature. —When the prospects of
the heavens or the verdant summer earth look most
beautiful to me, I most think of God. But let us be
careful how we see God in nature. The Pantheist
sees the visible phenomena as a part of God. This is
a sort of Atheism. The poet sees beauty, order, the
ipieturesque, or the sublime, and this he makes his
God. The Christian sees in the glories of nature not
merely the effect of God's hand, but fts presence; not
only God's work, but God working. lHe not only
created that landscape of field, wood, and orchard
which I see from my window, but he upholds it, he




MISCETILANEOUS PARAGRAPHS.               423
gives it its existence, he causes every change, at every
moment-at every moment there is a coming forth of
his attributes into action. And these innumerable
acts are each of them a display of some perfection;
each is divine.  I behold God in his works, I do not
merely see a mark that the Creator has been there, but
a token that he is there. Just as when I hear the
footstep of my dearest friend in his chamber, I know
that he is there present.
~ 6. On the late cloudy Weather.
Clouds on clouds have long been here,
Overhanging all our sky;
Scarce a sunny hour did peer
Through the mantle spread on high.
Yet we know the sun is still
Reigning in his bridegroom power,
And the happy instant will
Pour his radiance through the shower.
Then the tinted promise-bow,
Spanning woods and meads, shall smile,
Then the cornfields brilliant glow;
If meek patience wait a while.
Nature is the type of graceSpirits have their cloudy time;'Tis, alas! our present case,
While we wait the dawn sublime.




424             THOUGHTS. ON PREACHING.
Yet in darkness we will hope,
He is coming who is Light,
Though we may disheartened grope
For a season-as in nightHe is coming; lo! his beam
Gilds already yonder hill,
Streaks of opening clearness seem
The horizon's edge to fill.
Come, expected brightness, come,
We are panting for thy ray,
Let not hopeless grief benumb
Souls that do thy word obey.
Weeping may a night endure,
Yet the morning shall be joy;
Trust the promise-it is sure,
Hopeful toil be thine employ.
He who loves me makes my day,
Clouds but minister his will;
Christ is waiting to display
Charms that every wish shall fill.
~ 7. Converse with God. —It is not enough to know
of God that he is, or even what he is, unless in the
latter we include that he is conversable with us, that
we have access to him, that we may commune with
him. On this most interesting and momentous point,
see Howe's " Living Temple." The persuasion that we
can really hold converse with God, as a friend with a




MISCELLANEOUS PARAGRAPHS.        425
friend, or even as a slave with a sovereign, is one of
the most delightful which can reveal itself to a human
soul. How would Socrates, Plato, Tully, or Seneca
have received the annunciation! A great part of religion consists in seeking and maintaining this converse.
~ 8. God is the Portion, the one portion. In him
is rest. Read on this a Kempis, Leighton, and Fenelon. I have been thinking a good deal lately of the
sin and folly of seeking happiness in any thing but
God. Every other object we irust seek for the sake
of something else, but God for the sake of himself.
~ 9. Writing Books.-In writing a book, as much
as any thing in the world, it is important for a man
to be himsej, to be unshackled, to act out his own
character. Hence not always good to take the advice
of one of a different.ichttung —it chills. A plan or
schedule or programme hinders the work, quoad genialitat. A book should be a growth rather than a building. The most taking books have been written offhand. There is too little " abandon " in my writing;
my best have had the most-e. g. the review of
Macaulay, and in a less degree the review of Chalmers.*  The best things are those which do not come
into your head till you begin to write, and which
* In Princeton Review.




426         THOUGHTS'ON PREACHING.
cannot, therefore, be included in a plan made beforehand. To write in the way I mean, a man must be in
earnest, and without a trammel; hence every degree
and kind of fiction is adverse. The novel, the poem,
the pretended letter, even the anonymous one, are
unfavourable to this perfect freedom.
~ 10. Be carefulfor Nothing. —Our pleasures and
pains are, often trifles, when Providence hangs out
greater pleasures and greater pains just before us.
Why am I so much troubled about these little crosses
or disappointments?. They will come and be over
in much less time than I have spent in carking about
them. Time and oblivion have already washed out a
thousand such impressions on the sandy beach of my
heart. To be abased is to be happy. A large proportion of our cares would go, if pride were to depart.
Our distress after failures is often chagrin as to what
man will think of us, rather than contrition for having
offended God.
~ 11. How shall liankind be made Happy. — What
a poor pitiful thing do the little niceties and elegan-.
cies of science and letters appear, when placed by the
side of true religious and philanthropic wisdom. I
can scarcely look with patience on myself or others,
spending solid days on petty philosophy, criticism,
poetry of the minor sort, belles-lettres, or on botany,




MISCELLANEOUS PARAGRAPHS.        427
archaeology, antiquarianism, or any of these things in
which the pedantry of learning boasts itself, when the
great question is trumpeted in our ears, how shall
mankind be made happy? When a man has attained
middle life, he ought to be doing something towards
the solution of this problem. He ought to be in
earnest. I, therefore, respect Channing for his choice
of subjects, though not always for his way of treating
them. The grand problem regards the application of
Christianity to the progress of Society. Nations are
tumultuating like oceans.  Society seems like to
be thrown anew into the crucible. The power that is
to order the future mould is the power of opinion.
Unless it be Truth, all must go wrong. The great
thing then is to impregnate the existing mass with
truth —moral truth-divine truth. How to do this,
should be our question. Many of our old and roundabout methods will probably have to be given up.
They stand in relation to the measures needed, as the
tactics of old WMurmser, to those of Napoleon. We
must go to work more directly than heretofore. And
methinks it were well if some of us old-fashioned
martinets in religion and literature, could cut off our
pig-tails and work away in the dishabille of the age.
Do so we must, or be left in the rear. Learning we
want indeed, but not pedant-learning, names and classifications, but good living truths, such as lie deep, and




428         THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
as yet unquarried in the Book of Books, but which
are yet to be brought out for the revolution of the
world.
~ 12. Against  Soltude.-A  life of study has
always appeared to me an unnatural life. Is it not
better to converse with the living than the dead?
Some one will yet have to write a book on the excess
of literature. The ancient Greek way of studying
abroad, in the Porch, or the Academy, on the Ilissus
and under the platanus, among the haunts of man,
was better for the health both of body and' mind.
Recluse habits tend to sadness, moroseness, selfishness, timidity, and inaction. The mind has better
play in aprico. Collision produces scintillation of
genius, and proximity of friends opens a gush for the
affections. The early Christians seem to.have been
out-of-door people, rehearsing to one another the wisdom which had been given to them orally. Lessons
which go from mouth to mouth, take a portable shape,
because dense, pithy, and apothegmatic: such are the
proverbs of all ages. We are made for action, and
life is too short for us to be always preparing. A
breath of pure air seems to oxygenate the intellect,
and the best thoughts of the scholar are sometimes
during the half hour'of twilight, when he has laid
aside his books, and taken his walking-stick. Then




MISCELLANEOUS PARAGRAPHS.        429
he is more of a man, feels his fellowship not only with
nature, but with his kind. I sometimes wish I had
been less a reader of books; that I had exercised my
prerogative over the beasts of the field, mastered
horses, or traversed countries as a reckless pedestrian.
Ever turning the thoughts inward produces corrosion.
We should have something, it is true, within, but it
should tend outwards. He has not fulfilled his vocation, who has spent his score of years in solitary delight over ancient authors, and eaten his morsel alone.
Gray, with all Greece in his mind, pacing up and
down the green alleys of a college walk, was but half
the man he should have been. Horace Walpole, reveiling in the virth of Strawberry Hill, degenerated
into a mere toyman, and filled the most elegant letters
extant with the matching of old chairs and Sevres
china. It is to let the mind run to seed in a corner;
transplantation is necessary. To live for others is the
dictate of religion. And what to do for others is best
done by actual approaches, face to face, eye looking
into eye,'and hand pressing hand. It is not enough to
say, this or that recondite pursuit may turn to somebody's advantage. So it may, if you live to be a
Methuselah or a Lamech. But your ever-increasing
stock should not be all hoarded. The sum is, go forth
among mankind. Lay aside the cowl, and make one
of the great company. Every day renew the elec



430          THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
tric touch with the common mind. Fall into the circle, to give and take good influences. It is not too
late if your heart is not ossified to the core. I hope
it is not so bad as that in Tully's phrase, locus ubi
stomachusfuit, conculuit. It is worth an effort. The
air of a saloon or a market-place will do you good, and
you will gain something from brushing the crowd in
a thoroughfare.
~ 13. Dying Evidences.-Between sleep and wake,
these thoughts came to me. When I am dying, what
will certify to me these truths of Christianity, which
are my support? Suppose I doubt them. What will
prove them to me in that brief urgent trial? Can I
then go over all the evidences? No! the truth will
be in me self-evidencing-the same truths which I
now have in notion I will then have in faith. That
which is now the matter of opinion and probable judgment will be transformed into real truth -faith rather
than knowledge.
~ 14. Pain. —When a bodily, pain occurs, every
man who has any sense of religion feels that it is his
duty to acquiesce in it, as sent of God, for some end
unknown as yet. But the feeling is not so prompt,
when a mental pain arises, such as is produced by a
fear, an insult, an injury, or the like. Yet the latter,
no less than the former, are under the disposal of God,




MISCELLANEOUS PARAGRAPHS.        431
and form a part of his providential arrangement.
We should in such cases feel this.
~ 15. Blessings8 of Trial.-The trials which-befall
us, are the very trials which we need. The little daily
excoriations of temper speedily heal themselves, but
when the pain lasts, they have an errand to accomplish, and they accomplish it. These, as well as
greater sufferings are ordered. They must be submitted to with patience, resignation, and meekness, and if
they enable us to see ourselves, and gain a victory
over our pride, they are of great value. Instead of
vain and impotent wishes to fly from them, or the
circumstances which occasion them, it is the part of
manly virtue to fear and forbear, and by grace to wax
stronger and stronger.
~ 16. Look forward.-To look forward is better
than to look back, and this is as true of literature as
of life. How long has the world been looking back
on the remains of the classics, and how slowly did
modern Europe disentangle itself from the perplexities
of pagan mythology. Dante and Ariosto, Chaucer
and Milton are all encumbered with it. Goethe tells
us how he came to give up all the pantheon but Amor
and Luna. Another school reverts to a later era, and
with an antiquarian spirit endeavours to live over the
baronial or the conventual life of the middle ages.




432         THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
But literature, to have a true life, must adapt itself to
the age in which it exists; and breathe forth the very
spirit of the time. And as Christianity, now opening
on the world with a new power, is the grand element
of the age, our literature is Christian. It should take
its post above the common level, and look forward
into the great tracts which are opened by the advance
of science and civilization, and on which the sun of
prophecy throws a cheering light. I often think we
should gain, if men of letters, when somewhat possessed of what has been achieved in past ages, would
close the ponderous volume, and take wing on their
proper pinions, into the inviting regions of futurity.
~ 17. Inffuence of our Actions.-With a mighty
but imperceptible influence, divine truth is going on,
working in the world the change which has been predicted. Every church that is founded, every soul that
is converted, every Bible that is printed, every minister that is ordained, and every sermon that is preached,
tend towards this result. Nothing is more certain
than the result; but as it is to be accomplished by
free beings, under the influence of motives, it is
highly important that we watch over all our actions,
as tending to this result. Our talent is not for the
napkin or the earth, but for trade and increase. The
very formation of our individual character tends in a




MISCELLANEOUS PARAGRAPHS.       433
certain degree to the great result. Every example
and every word of ours has a bearing on the same;
all we do, in our most careless hours, is so much to
help or to hinder. No wrong action is neutral.
Could a single individual stand forth all his life elmbodying some great principle, his influence would be
felt on future generations.
~ 18. Xfusing.-Few habits are more injurious
than musing, which differs from thinking, as pacing
oie's chamber does from walking abroad. The mind
learns nothing, and is not strengthened, but weakened; returning perpetually over the same barren
track. Where the thoughts are sombre, the evil is
doubly great, and not only time and vigour are
squandered, but melancholy becomes fixed. It is
really a disease, and the question, how it should be
treated, is one of the most important in anthropology.
The subject of this evil is generally aware of it. He
is conscious that the longer he continues in these
trains of thought, the less able he is to fly from them;
that the troubles on which he ponders grow greater
with his thoughts. But the mistake into which the
sufferer commonly falls, is that of supposing himself
able to throw off the painful burden by a process of
counter-thinking. Nothing can be vainer. It is but
floundering in the same slough. The only possible
19




431         THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
escape is by cutting off the whole train —and the
more abruptly the better. Whatever does this is
good. Sometimes even a new wave of trouble comes
in with happy effect, to obliterate the old one. Active employment is still better, indeed the best of all
cures for spleen — fling but a stone, the monster
dies." The thing needed is energy to put forth this
effort-power to originate a new series of actionmotive to abandon the painful objects, which exercise
a mysterious fascination, leaving the.patient in the
belief, that some great evil will ensue, if even foi a
season he stops thinking about them. To counteract
this last hallucination is one of the main points. The
sufferer must settle it in his mind, that no possible
good can arise from persevering ill meditation on the
evil: that no possible evil can ensue, if he never
thinks of it again. What a blessed thing would it be
if the melancholy man could have an infusion of daredevil recklessness for a little while, and if, instead of
lashing himself to the helm in the long dark night of
storm, he could for once leave the vessel a little to be
the sport of the winds. There is no danger of his
going too far in this, and, therefore, he may be safely
advised to it. Caution and foresight are morbid and
unreasonable when they are directed to objects beyond
their sphere, and when they are- for ever at work,
without any results. How true, how wise, how philo



MISCELLANEOUS PARAGRAPHS.      435
sophical, how beneficent, is the advice of our compassionate Redeemer, "' Take no thought for the morrow." How self-evidencing its wisdom! how certain
a cure for the disease! Yet how difficult of self-application.
~ 19. True Poetry.-How can poetry ever reach
its acme till its theme is religion! Not the outward,
but the inward. Milton, great as he is, has not
touched the greatest themes of religion. Watts, and
Wesley, and Rowe have done so, but not with the
height of poetic afflatus. I think -the world yet waits
to behold a Christian poet of the highest order.
There never was a falser notion than that of great
earthen Johnson, that religion was not a fit theme for
the highest poetry. Yet I must acknowledge that, to
my mind, it exists only in hypothesis. If we could
perfectly understand the Hebrew of the prophets, we
should know what it means. A mind loosened from
all earthly regards, and singing unto God, would produce it. Such a mind must be so rapt as to forget
all that belongs to human praise.  The heathen
sometimes sang thus to their false gods; why do not
Christians sing thus to Christ? What greater inspiration do they wait for?
~ 20. Day Thoughtb.-T-he People.-Every shadow
is a shadow of something.




436         THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
The cry which echoes from so many writers, and
even sects, in behalf of the people, and the poor,
means something. There are prescriptive evils which
have come down for ages-yes, for ages!'Think of
it! What Owen, St. Simon, and Fourier aim at, is a
real desideratum, but their way is wrong.
I pity, I love the poor, and it goes to my heart to
hear the scoffing way in which they are often treated.
Even the little wretches who plague everybody with
their white mice, awaken my affection. This is not
the world's philosophy. May I never learn philosophy from the world!
~ 21. Religion as Excitement.-Religion is just the
excitement which many men need to make them
happy. There are apertures in the human soul which
nothing else can fill. The soul was made for this.
We look back with a sigh to the animation of childhood, and even to the passion of youth. The craving
for excitement leads us, in manhood, to pleasure, to
business, to gain, to the chase for power. All these
are successively, and often too late, discovered to be
insufficient. In such a state of disappointment, what
a pearl is found by him who believes in Christ! Religion surpasses all other excitements in this, that it
is an excitement of love, and love is pleasurable, essentially. It exceeds all other love, in this, that its




MISCELLANEOUS PARRAPHS.         437
object is infinite.'Till men learn to love God, they
have powers which are altogether latent. As if certain cells of the lungs should never be filled by a perfect inhalation.
~ 22. Books and Solitude. —Much may be learned
without books. To read always is not the way to be
wise. The knowledge of those who are not bookworms has a certain air of health and robustness. I
never deal with books all day without being the
worse for it. Living teachers are better than dead.
There is magic in the voice of living wisdom. Iron
sharpeneth iron. Part of every day should be spent
in society. Learning -is discipline; but the heart
must be disciplined as well as the head; and only by
intercourse with our fellows can the affections be disciplined. Bookishness implies solitude; and solitude
is apt to produce ill weeds: melancholy, selfishness,
moroseness, suspicion, and fear. To go abroad is,
therefore, a Christian duty. I never went from my
books to spend an hour with a friend, however humble, without receiving benefit. I never left the solitary contemplation of a subject in order to compare
notes on it with a friend, without finding my ideas
clarified. Ennui is not common where men properly
mingle the contemplative with the active life. The
natural and proper time for going abroad is the even



438         THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
ing. Such intercourse should be encouraged in one's
own house as well as out of it.  Solitary study
breeds inhospitality: we do not like to be interrupted.  Every one, however wearisome as a
guest, should be made welcome, and entertained cordially. Women surpass men in the performance of
these household duties; chiefly because they are all
given to habits of solitary study. The life which
Christ lived among men is a pattern of what intercourse should be for the good of society. I have a
notion that the multiplication of books in our day,
which threatens to overleap all bounds, will, in the
first instance, produce great evils, and will afterwards
lead men back to look on oral communication as a
method of diffusing knowledge which the press has
unduly superseded; and that this will some day break
on the world with the freshness of a new discovery.
~ 23. Daily Confict.-Our resignation and our
faith must not be merely general, but particular. It
is in special instances we are put upon our trial. We
must not say, I could endure another sort of vexation,
but not this. I could bear a different annoyance, but
not this. This is precisely the one which God assigns
to us, and, perhaps, for the very reason that we are so
intolerant of it.
The duty of humble submission is as imperative




MISCELLANEOUS PARAGRAPHS.        439
under this as under any other trial. The privilege of
faith is as great under this as under any other. The
promises of the Gospel are not excluded from this
case. Could we look into the reasons of state in the
mediatorial kingdom, we should see that we are
visited with this annoyance rather than any other for
a definite purpose, and that one of infinite grace.
When this purpose is accomplished, it will assuredly
be removed. But to bear it is better than to have it
removed. True wisdom counsels us not to shrink
from the trial, but to face it, in God's strength.
Great fruits are reaped in this field. We account a
man cowardly who shrinks from an enemy in natural
things. We should apply this to our daily mortifications and distresses. It-would be a noble habit of
soul, if we could bring ourselves to regard every occurrence of this sort as a means of exercising our
graces, and gaining new strength.
~ 24. o Mwcpoxcoarao9.-The ancients talked of the
microcosm; the little world within. We might have
done better than disuse the pregnant phrase. We
measure things too much by a material scale. There
is a scale, on which Niagara, or a universe of matter,
as such, measures no more than a sigh or an aspiration. The world wit/hin us is great. Revolutions
take place there. It is mind that moves matter,




440             THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
Who can tell the moment of one thought, of a Napoleon or a Pascal! So in comparing two men, we
compare only the outside: we cannot sound the
cavern within. So of depravity: a man says he performs his duty, and is not a sinner; God will not
punish him.  But God sees a world within him, which
is godless. There the mind is everlasting.
~ 25. "TAy Word is Truth."
Poor twinkling man! thy ray can little pierce
The scanty circle of thy nearest cloud,
Far less the spaces of infinity.
Let modest Reason fold her wing and learn!
See in the darksome void a guiding beam,
A glimmering point at first, a star, a sun-'Tis light from higher worlds to guide thee on.
Ten thousand volumes, laboured by the wise
Of other ages, cumber still our shelves,
Vex all our schools, and fill the roll of fame.
In all how mean a portion that is true,
Save what is borrowed from the Sacred Word.
There, in few sentences is writ the lore
Which king and prophet, master, priest, and sage,
Toiled for in vain, and died obscure and lost.
Let me hang breathless on the page divine'!
Here ends my quest, for God hath spoken here.
None can reject, improve, or wrest;
None need discover, for the end is found.
Interpret, ponder, practise, and believe,
This thy sole task —be humble and be wise.




MSCELLANEOUS PARAGRAPUS.                41
While others search all nature to explore
Her treasured secrets, finding thus at best
Only some laws of this our lower state,
And feeble inklings of the world divine,My soul contented shall the record view
Of God's own deeds of old, and gifts of love,
And ample promise, and foreshadowing sign,
And gaze upon the bright and lovely form
Of the Messiah, God incarnate, given
To image forth the Lord invisible.
~ 26. L.odes of Sef. —How hard, even on questions
touching the honour of God and the purity of his
church, to keep out self! How hard to be willing to
appear to others what we are to ourselves, no more,
no less! In regard to ignorance, indecision, vacillation, &c., we wear a mask.  We often through pride
affect the very qualities which we know we want, and
over the want of which we secretly mourn. It is hard
to say how far a man should go in keeping his own
frailties secret. But silence is often safe. A debate
arises; we grow warm, we take positions, we stick to
them. After thoughts make us doubt whether we
have not gone too far; but we act Pilate's part;
Quod scripsi, scripsi. This pride must be brought
low. Truth must triumph. Suppose we lose; very
well. Truth gains. Our character is in God's hands.
If we do his will, he will take care of our good name.
So many things commonly received seem to me to
19*




442         THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
have no ground in the Scriptures that I often tremble.
Then again certain things which I have got out of the
mine myself, seem so plain and firm that my soul reposes on them. Hence, the more I go to the word itself, the freer from shaking.
~ 27. How to view 2Nature.-The work of nature,
to be viewed aright, should be viewed under the
aXe0n underwhich the inspired saints viewed it. But
this is opposite to that of the Pantheist, who looks on
nature, and as his soul expands with a philosophic or
poetic admiration, lets his reverence terminate on the
OaLvcopevov, as a divine development. Not so David:
"Praise ye HIM, sun and moon; praise him, all ye
stars of light. Praise him, ye heaven of heavens,
and ye waters, that be above the heavens. Let then'
praise JEHovAH; for he commanded, and they were
created."
~ 28. Apothegmsfor the time:
(1.) Every evil that befalls is deserved: but every
evil is ordered in covenant love.
(2.) With what is past, beyond amendment, we
have nothing to do but to repent and submit.
(3.) Pride being one of your greatest ills, must be
slain: and what mortifies it is a real, unspeakable
good.




MISCELLANEOUS PARAGRAPHS.         443
(4.) Man's judgment of us is a mere nothing;
God's judgment of us is of infinite moment.
(5.) It is idle and wicked to resist the will of God.
(6.) God has never forsaken: He never will.
~ 29. Thoughts on reading Kant:
(1.) How little the body and essence of our philosophy of life is affected by such speculations!
(2.) They are ever-varying from age to age, and
they determine nothing.
(3.) The best light in which they can be received,
is as an intellectual luxury.
(4.) They foster a dreamy disposition, and disqualify for the business of life.
(5.) True wisdom tends to the happiness of the
race. It is the science of philanthropy.
(6.) Let me honour those forms of truth which
tend constantly and directly to elevate the mass of
men, and lessen human misery.
(7.) Consider the teachings of Christ as the incarnate wisdom; in regard to its beneficence. His action and his precepts are simple, plain, and popular;
but behind them lie the profoundest principles.
(8.) The more conversant you are with real distress, the more you will escape that which is imaginary.




444            THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
~ 30.. The Scriptures. ~
Guideless and darkling; Oh, how poor
Is man! forsaken and impure,
He cannot for a day, an hour,
Go safe, without superior power.
Away, ye false lights of an age,
When pride enveloped every sage.
The garden where Platonic lore
Its honeyed current once did pour;
The Porch of Zeno, and the walk
Where once the Stagyrite did talk;
The haunts of Epicurus —all
Are desert, and to ruin fall.
Nor could their lordly patrons show
The way of life they could not know.
In vain, bewildered, o'er their page
I hang, my sorrow to assuage.
An endless guessing is the best
They give, to put my doubts at rest.
A truth, half seen, may twinkle far,
As murky evenings show a star,
But in their most meridian light
There glimmers but a Greenland night.
The hour-glass notes the noon of day,
The dial owns the sun away.
From these conjectures, lo! I turn
To sources which, while sceptics spurn,
I see, I feel, I know, are fraught
With wisdom, by a Saviour taught.
I hail thee, sacred volume, then,
Product of many a burning pen,
By sage, and seer, and martyr driven,
To picture forth the charms of heaven.




MISCELLANEOUS PARAGRAIPHS.      445
~ 31. Xaxim8:
(1.) He is too busy, who is too busy to be kind.
(2.) Nothing is cheaper than kind looks and kind
words; but nothing is dearer.
(3.) What we suffer from another's injury, teaches
us our own.
(4.) Half humility and half meekness will not answer; be meek and humble, and you conquer.
(5.) Our trials are in a multitude of cases such as
produce mortification rather than grief. These are
trials of our pride, and they are good for us, though
painful to the flesh.
~ 32. Goethe.-I have just finished a reperusal of
Goethe's Autobiography. It reaches to 1775, i. e. to
his 26th year. To many persons the book is dull; to
many it would be injurious; to me it has been deeply
interesting. It is a frank development of his thinking
and feeling during the formation period; and in the
bad parts I see myself over again. Goethe. is not an
amiable character. He seems to have looked on himself as on a great development, wonderfully working
from day to day, by a kind of fatality, or rather by
in irresistible nisus. le lets every thing go on, careless whether it be good or evil; himself being the
phenomenon, which to inspect, is the business of his
life. Therefore there is no compunction about his




446         THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
worst works; and his apology for Werther, is as if
one apologized for a viper-a natural curiosity, which
must be as it is. Goethe had two grand defectswant of conscience, and want of benevolence. Hence
his great mind, exquisite taste, and amazing erudition, under the fostering patronage of an Augustan
Court, and acting through a literary life, longer than
Voltaire's, resulted in nothing which tends to make
the world wiser or better. His whim, whatever it
was, became embodied in prose or verse. It was not
argument settling truth, or goodness arriving at beneficence, but genius and taste, revelling in their own
development.
His faithlessness in love, his wassail, his darker
excesses dimly set forth, his disregard of friends, his
errantry and abandon, are detailed with coolness, and
without contrition, even in his old age.
It is interesting to study the manner in which his
youthful melancholy, of which both Werther and
Faust are symptoms, was sloughed off, and how the
almost Chinese sang-froid of his serene manhood supervened.
In religion he was a hopeless infidel. If neither
Lavater nor the saintly Mademoiselle von Klettenberg
could win his youthful mind, there could be little
hope for him in mature life. All that he says about
theology and the Bible, is a melancholy proof that




MISCELLANEOUS rARAGR.&PHS.      4(7
the greatest genius, when intellectual pride leads him
away from God's revelation, plunges deeper and
deeper into self-contradiction. To me Goethe seems
as little a believer as Voltaire. Without the persiflage
and venom of the Frenchman, he is as godless. Since
his death, the extreme Hegelians, and " Young Germany," as represented by Heine, have shown to what
his principles lead. Moral evil, as such, seems not
to exist for them. Sin, in their vocabulary, is a
mere specific form. The beautiful, even in morals,
they recognize, not, however, morally, but oesthetically.
~ 33. John Howe. —A little reading in pages of
great thought will sometimes set one thinking, as if
by a happy contagion, or as the sight of ten prophets
caused Saul to prophecy. Such pages are those of
John Howe. Do not go to them when you are gay,
and wish to skim the surface. Do not search in them
for sentences, brilliant quaintnesses, or the sacred
mirth that sparkles in Gurnall or Flavel. Howe
moves heavily and strikes out lengthily in a medium
of resisting density, but then it is an ocean; and if
you accompany him, he will lead you to depths which
contain secrets unknown to those who play above.
His argumentation is like none other. It throws
off the common habiliments of the school-logic, and




448         THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
girds itself for a less regular but more athletic contest. Wait upon him, and he will reward you with
abundant spoils.
Sometimes Howe rises to flights more sublime than
those even of his great brother Puritans. Less terse
than Bates, less polemic than Owen, less pathetic than
Baxter, he is more philosophical, original, profound,
and impressive than all these. Especially does he command our admiration and love, when he touches his
favourite theme, the unity of Christian experience,
as above the party differences of all the sects. How
mean the squabbles of Christianity appear under the
strokes of his overwhelming sarcasm! How we grow
ashamed of our Shibboleths, when he takes us up
from the fords of Jordan, to the top of Pisgah, and
shows us the goodly prospect of a united church.
It was eminently his province to disparage and
depreciate worldly things, without one shade of melancholy. The very dimness of this life is produced
by the effulgence which he shows in another.
~ 34. Orn Reading the Epistles.-Having this day
read, without note or comment, a great deal in the
epistles, I have endeavoured to open my mind to their
genuine impressions, and am much impressed with
the result.
(1). The absence of every thing that savours of




MISCELLANEOUS PARAGRAPHS.       449
the ritualism of the Oxonian school. No stress is
laid on priests, altars, ceremonies, or even sacraments.
It is wonderful how largely sacraments figure in modem liturgies, and how little in the New Testament,
which contains not even the word.
(2.) The intense supranaturalism of the New Testament writers. Every good thing is from above.
Calling, faith, love, joy, all are of grace, and all of
the Spirit. The communication is perpetually alluded
to, as a matter of fact and experience. Early Christians lived in a heavenly atmosphere, and felt that by
the grace of God they were what they were.
(3.) The heavenly ethics of the New Testament.
Trust, love, patience, courtesy, meekness, forbearance,
gentleness, long-suffering, forgiveness, hospitality, humility; these are what they felt and recommended.
The power of Christianity was in these things. Believers lived in a tender love one to another. The
world saw it, and were reproved and attracted.
(4.) The attachment of saints to the person of Jesus. He was not an abstraction. He was known of
them, as one who had recently been among them, who
had left them only for a season, and who was still
within reach; a priest abiding continually, and ever
living to make intercession for them.
~ 35. One Trhthk. —He who sets one great truth
afloat in the world, serves his generation.




450         THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
~ 36. Central Truths.-No truth can be unimportant, or be without advantage if uttered. But the
nearer a truth lies to the great centres, the more important is its utterance. To utter one such is more
than to gain a field at Granicus or Waterloo. To attain such truths, is one of the great objects of living.
Prayerful thought, in moments deemed idle, is often
fruitful of such. They come in many a moment of
repose, and absence from books and papers; we arq
less masters of our own trains of thought, than we
flatter ourselves.
~ 37. Truth in Trains.-Those meditations which
are in such a sense our own that they are little mingled
with names, authorities, citations, and other men's
thoughts and words, are most valuable to us, and most
useful to others. They are worth waiting for. We
cannot expect many of them; but we should seize
them with thankfulness. In no period of my life has
this so much struck me as lately; forming a sort of
epoch in my mental experience. I think it a little
affects my preaching. The trains of thought I mean
are not scholastic ratiocinations. Though unspeakably
above all experience or attainment of my own; the
reflections of Bacon and Pascal exemplify my notion.
~ 38. Rules often Constrain.-M iany of the common rules for the conduct of the mind, are too much




MISCELLANEOUS. PARAGRAPHS.     451
like rules for the management of the body. Even the
body, if alive, must not be dealt with altogether as
brute matter.
I never could understand those people who divide
their day into portions, with a pair of compasses, and
allot so much to one study, and so much to another.
I used to make such schedules when I was a lad.
Great credit did I take to myself for making them,
and great shame for breaking them; which I did day
by day. I am now convinced that any attainments
which have fallen to my lot, were really not made in
these compulsory hours.
When a man is roaming about his library, taking
down now this book, and then that, pacing the floor,
scribbling on a bit of paper, humming a tune, and
seeming to others and to himself to trifle, he is often
engaged in his most profitable exercise.
Where there is an active inquiring mind, something is always brewing. There is no such thing as
idleness. If he is not eating, he is ruminating. If he
is not gathering the raw material, he is elaborating
that which has been gathered. Many of these processes go on without our control. Our best trains of
thought come and go without our bidding. The man
who never knows what it is to throw himself upon
these waves, and go whither they carry him, is not
likely to have very genial thoughts.




452         THOUGHTS ON rREACHING.
Every kind of knowledge comes into play sometime or other; not only that which is systematic and
methodized, but that which is fragmentary, even the
odds and ends, the merest rag or tag of information.
Single facts-anecdotes-expressions-recur to the
mind, and by the power of association, just in the right
place. Many of these are laid in during what we
think our idlest days.
All that fund of matter which is used allusively in
similitudes and illustrations, is collected in diversions
from the path of hard study. He will do best in this
line whose range has been the widest and the freest.
A man may study so much by rule as to lose all this:
just as one may ride so much on the highway as to
know nothing that is off the road.
The mind is capacious in its workings. It loves
to assert its independence, and insists upon being
consulted as to whether it will do this or that.
Therefore in her highest actings she abhors taskwork, and shakes off the yoke.
~ 39. Diversities of religious Opinion. —With
one and the same Bible before them, how wonderful
are the differences of human creeds! The catalogue
of sects, schools, and doctrines, might itself fill a volume. This is at times a most painful thought to
every considerate mind. I have sometimes thought




MISCELLANEOUS PARAGRAPHS.        453
those happy who cling without scruple to what they
have been taught, and have no agitations about other
people's opinions. But such cannot be the condition
of one who is set for the defence of the truth. It is
doubtful, also, whether an independent mind can enjoy firm confidence, except as the result of some
shaking from the arguments of opposing reasoners.
I have observed that in perusing any able statement
of a heterodox creed, I am for the time being affected
with their force; and it is not till afterwards that the
mind recovers itself, and comes to rest. It may be
likened to the needle of a compass, drawn aside by
an accidental attraction. At length it finds its true
meridian: but not without some anxiety and disquietude.
This state of mind is never produced by reading
the simple text of the Scripture. The mind then
points towards its proper pole and is at rest.
It is not good to be much conversant with error,
even though the object be to refute it; it is disturbing, if not defiling.
Private and unlettered Christians, who value their
own peace, will not willingly hear preachers, or read
books, which inculcate error.
The same reasons show the importance of dealing
as much as possible with the sacred oracles themselves.




454          THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
~ 40. Reflection.-The error is great of supposing
that the mind is making no progress and acquiring
no knowledge, when it is not conversing with books;
and it is one of the errors of bookish men. There are
pauses amidst studly, and even pauses of seeming
idleness, in which a process goes on which may be
likened to the digestion of food. In those seasons of
repose, the powers are gathering their strength for
new efforts; as land which lies fallow, and recovers
itself for tillage.
To be worth much the mind must sometimes be
left to itself. It must pursue its bent, and sometimes
condescend even to trifles. Perpetual readers violate
this law of the mental constitution, and never with
impunity. Those especially who are so exclusively
professional in their pursuits as to do every thing by
rule and compass, to the neglect of all generous literature, and gentle, graceful entertainment, never fail
to become rigid, barren of invention, and cold in expression. The grateful interruption of family hours
and company are as good for the mind as for the
body. Hence I think a married man is more likely
to be a successful scholar than a bachelor.
Reflective minds cannot be wholly idle. Even in
play, they work on, in spite of themselves. Seasons of intermission often give birth to the best
thoughts.




MISDELLANEOUS PARAGRAPHS.        45a
~ 41. Regulate the Heart. —It is more important
to regulate the espirit than the steps. A right heart
is better than a right method. A man may have
ever so good a plan of duties, but he will do none of
them if the feelings be wrong; whereas, if the affections be right, he will be almost sure to do what is
proper. Hence praying is better than planning.
This derives force from the consideration that we
seldom find the duties of any one day exactly what
we laid out on the day before. Our performance,
when it is best, is often called forth by emergencies.
There may be fruitless care about even the duty
of the morrow.
The best preparation for the week's work is the
communion of the Sabbath.
The best preparation for the coming day is the devotion of the previous evening.
When the Scripture is let alone, the wheels of
duty roll heavily.
~ 42. The Power of the Will.-The power of the
Will to change states of mind and trains of thought,
deserves consideration. It is not a direct power, and
it has certain limits; yet we all know that man's activity has a certain scope, even in regard to this class
of objects. It is true, a man who hates cannot by a




45t          THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
volition cause himself to love that which he just now
hated. Nor can one who is in deep sorrow cause
himself instantaneously to rejoice, by merely willing it.
Yet we are not therefore to lie down in a condition of
absolute passivity, and yield ourselves to the cogency
of evil tempers by a sort of fatality. There are moments
in which we all feel that we are aroused to a sudden exercise of volition, which scatters the preceding feelings as the sun scatters clouds. The melancholy
man, brought to a sense of the folly, wretchedness,
and danger of his brooding, resolves to break the
charm, and is successful. Query: How far this concerns the faculty of Attention? The mind checks its
present current —it directs itself to new objects-it
regards motives which have hitherto lain in the shade
— it finds a corresponding and often immediate
change in its temper and moods.
~ 43. Aphorisms on SeVf-denicl of Appetite:
(1.) Pain is to be incurred, or else there would be
no self-denial: it is, therefore, to be expected and submitted to.
(2.) The pain of denied gratification may be very
great, especially in the beginnings of self-denial; but
there is no pain which so surely decreases and disappears. Short pains, for a good end, certainly resulting in pleasure, may be encountered with cheerfulness




MISCELLANEOUS PARAGRAPHS.       457
and borne with resolution. There is even a sort of
pleasure in bearing such pains.
(3.) Solicitations of appetite address themselves to
our lower nature through animal senses, and must
therefore be put down harshly and summarily. It is
not enough-to plead and reason against them.  Venter non habet aures. They must be ejected instantly,
without parley, as you would cast out a noxious
beast.
(4.) For this reason, every animal association
should be cut off, which might remain as a'fomes of
the appetite. Therefore most attempts to break off
an evil habit by degrees fail, when the habit is complicated with an appetite. This is frequently observed
in the case of ardent spirits. Suppose a reforming
drunkard to take a teaspoonful of brandy per diem.
This would suffice to keep up the taste, and suggest
indulgence. The only safety is therefore in absolute
abnegation.
~ 44. God Overrules. —God overrules even those
events in which we have acted erroneously. Wretched
should we be, if he did not. None of our choices,
purposes, and arrangements, are free from sin. All
need to be washed in the blood of Christ. Take an
instance: Hastily, and perhaps carelessly, I allow a
dear friend to set out on a perilous journey. In this
20




458         THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
there is certainly a measure of sin, which God might
visit. I am in great anxiety for the safety of this
friend; and this anxiety is increased by the fear that
I have done wrong, which prevents filial confidence.
But how gracious is our Covenant God! He prevents
our errors from coming back upon us in judgment.
The Covenant of Grace, being founded on Christ's
perfect merits, works its blessed fruits even when we
are sinners. Even in such junctures we should confidently roll our burden on the Lord, with penitence
for our sin, and trust in his abounding mercy.
~ 45. ifore facnxims:
(1.) He who begins to love his neighbour as himself, will be more cast down for the sake of others
than for his own sake.
(2.) Melancholy is so much promoted by musing
idleness, that the best preventive of it is to pass
rapidly from one employment to another, all day
long, without any intervals of solitude or revery.
(3.) As we go on in life, we ought to be more
public-spirited, and to make our anxieties, projects,
and prayers devote themselves to some matter of
general concern.
(4.) Never give over the endeavour to, overcome
bad habits of mind or body, or those complicated
of both.




MISCELLANEOUS PARAGRAPHS.        459
(5.) Seize the happy moment of enthusiasm, when
the impulse is in a right direction. In the same degree, flee from those sudden exaltations which tend to
evil. Cry avaunt! and encourage the feeling of abhorrence.
(6.) Our need of preventive grace is nowhere more
felt than when a temptation comes upon us suddenly.
At such moments, if left to ourselves, we are weakness itself. Under such access of the enemy, great
crimes have been committed.
~ 46. Think for Yourself.-A  thinking man's
thoughts gradually grow into a system. The less he
follows other men's lives, the more will his own
fabric of method compact itself. It is not always
best to counterwork this tendency. The great points
of any one's scheme will come out in his preaching.
In treating these favourite topics will be his principal
strength.
Those on which he dwells most frequently, and
with most delight, are such as are central to his system of belief.
~ 47. Physical Disceipline.-My mind turns upon
the subject of physical discipline as subject to religious principle. The New Testament is somewhat
remarkable for the entire absence of that ascetic eleWent, which reigns so much in many false religions,




460          THOUGHTS ON PREaCHING.
and which played so large a part in the Christian
Church during all its period of decadence.  The
body is not treated as necessarily evil. Abstinences
are not enjoined. There are no fasts assigned to particular days.  Macerations and penances are not so
much as alluded to, except in the way of rebuke.
But while this is true, it is not less undeniable,
that the New Testament makes it a duty to keep the
bbdy in a subordinate place, namely, in subjection to
the soul, and in perpetual obedience and fitness to be
the holy instrument of all spiritual acts. We perceive at once, that there is a pampering of thQ flesh
which is inconsistent with a holy life. There must be
some self-denial and subjugation of the lower part, in
order to keep it from that horrid inversion in which
appetites and passions acquire the dominancy. All
habits of self-indulgence are to be prevented and.
broken up. We form in our better moments the
ideal of a life, in which the character is produced by
moderation, temperance, reserve in things lawful, frugality, simplicity, adherence to natural tastes, the
cutting off of pleasures which are seducing, or in any
degree tend to enslave.
~ 48. A Simple Rlule. —Do that which you think
will. please God, and you will keep a good conscience.
By so doing you will, in the long run, as much avoid




MISCELLANEOUS PARAGRAPHS.      461
the censure of men as if you made it a special object
to please them. Every act of your life will be tending to form the right kind of character. You will be
more likely to be useful, and will certainly be happier. If you fail, you will not have the additional
pain which arises from blaming yourself.
This is the simplest of all rules of life. It admits
of perpetual application, nor is there any conceivable
case which it does not reach.
Please not yourself, nor vain human creatures,
but God.
~ 49. The man who undertakes to go through life
upon a settled plan, which he is not to modify according. to circumstances, is much like one who should
undertake to traverse a country in a mathematical
straight line.
~ 50. Use of Knowledge. —There are two very
common but very opposite ways of employing erudition and science. The one is that of learned commentators and disquisitioners, who accumulate stores
of antiquarian and recondite lore, multiply quotations,
and produce great volumes, which may have a zest
for a few virtuosos, but which in the common mind
can awaken only amazement or alarm. This is the
method by which men acquire great fame in the rer)ublic of letters.




462         THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
The other way is the humble mode of those who
write for the instruction of the people. Equal perhaps in real learning to the former, they never acquire the same notoriety. Their ambition is to smooth
the way for humbler minds, to make the profundities
of science accessible, and to furnish the high distillation from varied researches. It is my ambition to
belong to the latter class. Even if no higher object
should be gained than to simplify science for children
or apprentices, or to make religion fully known in a
plain way, to the sons of ignorance, I should think it
a task worthy to employ a lifetime.
~ 51. When we summon the worldly to abandon
the world, it is not so much like asking the mariner to
cast his wares into the sea in order to save his life,
as it is like the command to the Israelites to leave
their farms and their possessions, and go up to the
temple-feast, in the assurance that God would provide
for them.
~ 52. Philosophical Studies. —Lately my mind
has been much engaged about the ethical heresies of
Paley and the Utilitarians. It has almost seemed my
duty to go into the investigation, and I have been
reading some of Plato and the Platonists. I am deterred chiefly by the fear of that philosophy, falsely
so called, which is denounced in Scripture. My ob



MISCELLANEOUS PARAGRAPHS.      463
ject is truth, and I am sure if it were revealed to me
to be right, I would this moment forswear all other
reading but the Bible for life. But I am almost sure
this would be altogether wrong.
I like good F. Scott's notion, that we are bees,
that we seek every sort of flower, but bring our gains
back to one Hive, namely, the Bible.
It is one of the glories of the Bible, that it expresses the grandest principles of the highest philosophy in the language of children.
~ 53. Take no Thought for the.Mforrow.-We
might accomplish more if we were not foolishly asking ourselves so often, how long such and such a great
work would take us. Professor Rob. B. Patton used
to engage in most laborious lexicographical works.
When asked how he had patience to go on, he said,
that he never thought of asking how long it would
take him, but went on as if it were to be his work
for life.
Dr. John Breckinridge made the same remark,
when asked about those immense journeys which b:
takes to collect money-he never looks upon them as
things which must end.
Addison tells me he finds the same thing good in
his commentary on Isaiah. Our Lord's maxim about
taking thought for the morrow, seems to have very
wide applications.




464          THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
~ 54. A Student's Sabbath.-Preachers and other
students seldom have any day of rest. True, they
make, if conscientious, some change in labours, but
on the Lord's day they read, read, read, as indeserenter commonly as on other days. This is a great fault
and folly.' Just as really as the working man needs
rest from hammer and flail, does the thinking man
need rest from thought. I think students ought to
make the Sabbath a delight, by closing books, except
the lighter and devotional parts of Scripture, by gentle nursing, by cheerful religious talk, by singing
God's praise, and by works of mercy.
~ 55. Variety in the Bible.-The Scriptures are
not the same to all readers, any more than the flowers
of the garden are the same to all insects. One man
seeks this, another seeks that; none extract all the
sweetness. Under the guidance of the Spirit, each
believer gains that which is needful for him, discovering and assimilating this by a gracious affinity.
When such men systematize their deductions, they
are far from being the same.'How unlike the Scriptural treasures of Augustine, of Luther, of Howe, of
Edwards, of Bunyan, of Hale, and of Chalmers!
Yet each one may get truth and holiness in this gardenl. These trees yield twelve manner of fruit.
The Scriptures are not the same to the readers of




MISCELLANEOUS PARAGRAPHS.       465
all ages. Primitive believers saw not all that we see.
Let me here be guarded. Truth is the same forever;
that which is Scripture truth to-day will be so to
eternity. Nothing can be added to the truth of the
inspiration. But there may be great additions to our
knowledge of it; and it is not unreasonable to believe, that the Holy Spirit in leading believers into
all'needed truth, adapts his ministrations of light to
the exigencies of particular times.
This should guard us against rejying too much on
the deductions of other men, however great and good,
as if they had seen all, and left nothing to be gleaned
in the field of original inquiry. However wonderful
the discoveries of an'Austin, a Calvin, or an Owenhowever true, however extensive-they are not the
inspired originals; I may not confine myself to their
teachings. They saw and appropriated all that the
Spirit saw to be suitable for their own personal good
and the good of the church in their' day, and I will
thankfiully sit at their feet, and be guided by their
experience. But my personal good, and the personal
good of the church in our peculiar day, may demand
other truth in other method, and these I musts endeavour to get for myself from the Scriptures; under the
guidance of the same Spirit. As we approach the
latter glory and the return of the Messiah, there is
reason to believe that the scroll of prophecy will be
20*




466         THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
yet more unrolled, and that truths hitherto left in the
shade will be brought out in brilliant prominency.
What an inducement have we here to study the
Bible day and night —to look with our own eyes for
hidden veins in this mine-to seek for it as for hid treasures! In expectation of this, and/in faithful reliance
on that Spirit who gave the revelation, and seeking
that anointing which abides with all the elect (1
John), we may well leave for a season the commandments of men, and ponder on the pure original text.
Perhaps as we pray and wait over the holy word, we
may receive communications better suited to our
personal wants and our relation to the world that now
is, than if we were to master all the fathers, all the
schoolmen, and all the reformers.
~ 56. Argument the Basis of -Devotion. —The following experience I have often had, but, I believe,
never committed to writing. On Sabbath and other
occasions, I have wearied myself with attempts to
awaken devotional feeling, by reading compositions
of a merely hortatory kind-practical and experimental writings. Our.devotion must have a solid basis,
and I believe it is in many cases the best thing we
can do to go into the very strongest parts of theological argument, and feed upon such' strong meat as one
finds in Calvin. Rivet, Turretin, Witsius, and Owen.




MISCELLANEOUS PARIAGRAPHS.      467
~ 57. Thought of the Day.-We must work more
outwards. We must bring Christian principles to
bear more on the masses of men. We must show
them that what they seek by vain philanthropy, is
realized wherever true Christianity takes effect. If
all men were good Christians, the evils of society
would be in a good degree abated. Prescriptive
wrongs would cease. Property would be equalized.
The rich would communicate of their wealth, and
the poor would rise by industry, temperance, frugality, and wisdom. The Bible is made for all ages,
and with every new discovery in science, it meets us
and shows a coincidence. The worldly philosopherand philanthropist dreams of a perfect state of society
- good-will among men and universal peace. Now,
the Bible not only predicts this, but shows how it is
to be attained. The principles of Christianity tend
to produce that very state. All the high civilization
and humanity of the best nations is in fact the
product of Christianity. In countries where science,
literature, and the arts are in a high state, without
true religion, we see luxury, excessive pleasure, hardness of heart, false honour, duelling, and suicide. Of
this France is a great instance. The true way then
to benefit, and even remodel society, is to make it
Christian. This method is as simple asit is powerful.
It proceeds upon no false or doubtful hypothesis,




468         THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
either of politics or economy. While men endlessly
differ and dispute about these, and change one experiment for another in an endless round, losing their
beginnings by the change, and destroying human
peace in the fruitless and soon abandoned trials, the
humble Christian endeavours are going forward, with
a noiseless but mighty efficacy.
Place a thousand men in a Utopian community,
such as Owens, and try to mould them by the visionary principles of the " New Social World," and the
result is discord, failure, and misery. But place a
thousand men anywhere in the world, and make
them true Christians, and you attain really all the
good ends sought in the former experiment, and render them as happy as men can be in our world.
Hence the man who does most to bring over those
around him to the principles and practice of true religion, is the truest philanthropist.
~ 58. Take Time to Decide. —When a difficulty,
or an objection, or a specious error is presented to the
mind, so as greatly to stagger it, we are not forthwith
to be disconcerted. All minds are not capacious
enough, or quick enough, to resolve such doubts at a
moment's warning.  Let the matter rest a little.
The intellect will collect its strength, and after some
rest and meditation, the judgment will come to a




MISCELLANEOUS PARAGRAPHS.        469
sound conclusion. This I have experienced many
times. It takes place sometimes without occupying
the thoughts in any stated or deliberate manner on
the subject, during the interval. The process resembles the oscillations of a pendulum, which at length
settles in its proper direction. Hence it is not always
right to answer an objection immediately. This slow
process is perhaps most commonly that of judicious
and experienced persons. Temporary scepticism is
distressing; but when we find by experience that it is
relieved by wise delay, it need give no serious distress..
With a crafty man, who suspects others, because
he knows his own way to be the way of stratagem,
the best way of-dealing is the freest and most open.
It wonderfully confounds his toils, while here as elsewhere it is the most easily maintained.
~ 59. Tihoughts for the:Time.
(1.) Learned labours give little help in hours of
alarm.(2.) Sudden fears and troubles startle us, and'
drive us to thoughts of plain religion.
(3.) A certain important habit of soul is produced
by the custom of daily silence and meditation.
(4.) The more bookish a man is, the more does he
need both for his intellect and his heart, these moments of contemplative retreat.




470          THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
(5.) Pauses of indisposition often force on us that
self-communion and thought of God.
(6.) All is well when we apprehend God's ordering. His will is supreme law. Holiness is acquiescence in that will.
(7.) Faith is indispensable in times of panic: great
knowledge is not so. Here the humblest mind commonly fares best.
(8.) Peace in trouble comes not from reasoning,
but from faith, hope, and love.
(9). The graces which sustain us in trial, proceed
from the immediate and almighty agency of the Holy
Ghost.
(10.) In affliction, especially in surprises, the soul
falls back on its prevalent habits, whether wavering
or fixed.
(11.) In the religious habits of our common days,'we are all the while preparing for the hour of affliction and the hour of death.
(12.) It is all-important to be every day living in
the belief of the'unseen world, and as in the felt
presence of Christ.
(13.) A few minutes in the busy day spent in
absolute abstraction from the world, with a complete
rupture of worldly threads, are among the best means
we enjoy. They are to the day what the Sabbath is
to the week.




MISCELLANEOUS PARAGRAPHS.        471
(14.) Well would it be, often in the day, to seek
those quiet frames which sometimes come when we
compose ourselves for sleep.
(15.) In true retirement of soul there is nothing of
pertur1nation or of gloom, but rather of cheerfulness.
It is a healthy state.
(16.) These states of mind are allied to humility
and meekness.
(17). The true position of the soul is like that
of constant childlike waiting on God for these influences.
(18.) The medium through which these graces
descend, is the Lord Jesus Christ.
(19.) We cannot reason ourselves into holy frames;
it is better to say, Lord, increase our faith!
(20.) Keep very low before God, and seek to
please him rather than man, and you will find yourself armed against mortifications.
(21.) Cherish those views which agree most with
pity for every kind of human suffering, and active
labours for Christ's people.
(22.) Nothing is more remarkable in the religious
experience of the Bible, than its childlike simplicity.
It is the aroma of the patriarchal life, as of a field
which the Lord has blessed. See it in the Apostle
John. I know an ancient disciple in whom it is very
apparent.




472         THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
(23.) Much in our religion is borrowed from the
accidents of individual religious experience, and not
from the Bible.
(24.) We are healthy in our frames when they
lead us much to the Bible, and much to the tirone of
grace.
(25.) External beneficence is a happy antidote to
the poisons that grow rank in the shade of scholastic
study.
~ 60. Wait for Uncommon Grace. —Life is too
short- to be spent in renewing vain experiments.
What I ought to be, I should seek to be without delay. I have been brought to feel to-day that there is
a snare in many books as much as in abundance of
company. They occupy the thoughts, and keep them
away from holy objects. This explains what I have
long found true, that my best religious thoughts arein two situations, when I am abroad, and when I am
in bed; in both cases away from the literary objects
of my study. There is scarcely any moment, in which
a student may not take down some volume, to gratify
the craving, or suit the present mood. But this
brings in thoughts of other men, which is the same as
the diversion of company; and how seldom do we
make conscience of the kind of book. It may be innocent or useful, it may be needed, and yet it may




ISCELLANEOUS PARAGRBPIS.       473
have nothing of spiritual nurture. The case is different, when we make our chief book the Bible; and
hence the great advantage of a preacher. and pastor.
And hence also a certain disadvantage in my professorship, which leads me in no case directly to the
Scriptures, in their spiritual meaning. Nothing is
more fully made out to me by observation and experience, than that the way of holiness and happiness is that of constant reading of God's word, with
prayer.
~ 61. Great Christian8s. —How little adventurous
independent piety! Bold thinking, but tame mimic
religion. We feel and do as others feel and do; reproduce their diaries, rehearse their prayers, and catch
the fashion of their awakenings. To be a great
Christian, would be to become very unlike the men
around us; hence great Christians have been in solitudes, in missions, or among persecutions. Sometimes
I think we are more tied down to a conventional piety
than the very Romanists. Their great saints went
astray, and are not to be imitated; but they did not
adhere to the old, hereditary ways; they broke out
in a new direction. Are not yearnings after better
things among God's ways of producing them a Are.
not strange trials, pains, mortifications and humblings,
among God's ways of training the soul? Should not




474         THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
such junctures be faithfully seized upon, for making
higher reaches of experience? Have not special seasons of devotion, with long-continued prayers and
praises, been remarkably owned of God? Can eminent piety be reached without them?
We are presumptuous in figuring to ourselves the
type of piety which we ought to attain. Perhaps God
is forming us to a different type. Perhaps God intends a type unknown in any other; for the inward
countenance of man is as peculiar to the individual as
the outward. It is only by waiting in comparative
quietude, that we can discern which way this divine
tendency guides, and there is danger of running
whither we are not sent, and even of grieving the
holy Spirit of grace.
It seems to me that in our day we take the pattern
and measure of our religion too commonly from what
is popular, that is from what is bustling, outward, and
full of eclat. But it may appear in another world,
that some of the mightiest influences have proceeded
from souls of great quiet. No book it is supposed of
human composition, has had greater influence than
the Imitation of Christ, by Thomas a Kempis. Some
of the greatest characters have been formed in secret,
as some of the wonderA of nature are wrought under
the earth. No man knows what God has made him
for. Some men, for all we know, may be sent into




MISCELLANEOUS PARAGRAPHS.      475
the world chiefly to form other men. The grand act
of a servant of Christ, for which God has been preparing him for many years, may be to give an impulse
to some other man, and this may be accomplished in
a moment, and when neither of the two suspects it.
No man knows when the great act of his life takes
place. No man knows when he is doing the greatest
good. The old monk who directed young Martin Luther, possibly did nothing so important in his life.
Sometimes it is a child, and whom would a Christian
more joyfully influence than the son of his bosom?
It is for him we labour, pray, suffer, and live. HIow
do we know but the chief purpose for which God has
spared our lives is, that we may form an instrument
for his work in our own family? Thus the flowering
plant dies when it has matured a fruit full of seed.
How insignificant was Jesse, or Obed, or Boaz, compared with David; or Zacharias and Zebedee, compared with the two Johns and James. A due sense
of what God demands of our sons, and an insight into
his method of planning and bestowing for a series of
generations, would make us importunate for gifts of
the Spirit in our character as educators, and gifts on
those who sit as loving learners at our knees.
Philip the Evangelist prolbably preached no sermon like that in the chariot. We may, therefore, err by
forcing matters. The guard must be set here against




476         THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
inaction, under pretence of spiritual waiting. But
after a certain point of experience is attained, we
readily distinguish humble waiting for God's influences, from indolent, carnal.sloth.
The more we believe in a direct influence of the
Holy Spirit in sanctification, the more ready shall we
be to expect this influence in ways which are uncommon. We have no pledge that we shall be operated
on, after the rubrics of other men; nor that the ways
in which we may be led shall always be pleasing to
other men, even of the household of faith. Our tendencies are not to be necessarily of the Spirit because
they seem so: they are to be tried by the word; and
they are most apt to be so, in and over the world.
Earnest prayer for so vast a blessing is all-important.
There is no promise more explicit or more precious,
than that of the Spirit. It is sealed by the reference
to our beloved children, and the gifts which we,
though evil, give to them. It is all things in one.
Therefore it is not wonderful that so much is made in
the New Testament of the Spirit; the contrast being
painful between this and the popular theology.
After all, if God did not work in us, beyond our
knowledge and our seeking, we should come to nothing. O, give us thy Holy Spirit!




MISCELLANEOUS PARAGRAPHS.                  477
~ 62. Song in the Nighrt.
Safe in thine arms I lie,
Dismissing every fear,
For sure my Lord is here,
And every ill shall fly;
While from his throne above
The dews of heavenly love
Shall fall continually.
Be thine o'erspreading wing
Above us every one,
Till the rejoicing sun,
A bridegroom from the east
Shall pour his ray of joy,
And give serene employ
To every sacred power,
As when the opening flower
Turns its fair chalice to the dawn,
And o'er the greening lawn
A thousand flowery eyes look out and smile.
Come, everlasting Light,
Thou fount of what is bright,
Source of all life and bliss,
Let no ill dream of night'
Dare to despoil of this.
X 63. Spiritual Changes.-Few  truths have been
more sacredly impressed on me than this: We must
seek great and needful spiritual changes, not so much
from  bringing our own minds under rational considerations, however true and useful, as from  direct influences of the Holy Spirit. Experience shows that God,




47T         THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
in his sovereign pleasure, often leaves us to do wrong,
under the very presence of admitted reasons to the
contrary. It is a part of the Christian conflict, set
forth in the 7th chapter of Romans. The understand,
ing is convinced; the will itself is somewhat moved;
yet there is not such an active volition as secures right
action.  This motive power must be supplied by the
Divine Spirit. There is then nothing we have such
need to ask, as the influences of the Holy Spirit.
~ 64. Real K]nowledge and Book Learning.-Often
and often I have thought of the superfetation of
books. Look at libraries, trade-sales, catalogues.
Hear the bibliographical talk of some men. Recall
the innumerable books you have turned over.
Distinguish properly between real knowledge and
book learning. Oral wisdom, methinks, will one day
resume its ancient honours, for this very cause. Books
will crowd one another out. What is said by word of
mouth is simplest and most lasting. The early progress both of Christianity and philosophy, was by such
means. The best part of education is so conveyed
now. Extempore speaking derives some of its advantages from this. We ought all to practise it more.
~ 65. The,Masnifestation of God.(1.) It is made the duty, as it is the happiness of
man, to admire, love, and imitate the character of
God.




MISCELLANEOUS PARAGRAPHS.      479
(2.) God is infinitely removed from human apprehension, and cannot be known any farther than he
is pleased to reveal himself.
(3.) The affections the man is bound to feel towards
God, are impossible without some knowledge of God.
(4.) If there were no points of likeness between
God and man, we do not see how man could arrive
at any knowledge of God. If, as is probable, there
are attributes of God which have no analogy in man,
we can arrive at no more conception of them, than of
objects or qualities for which we have no sense.
(5.) But man was made in the likeness of God,
and on this is founded his knowledge of God.
(6.) Though this likeness has been impaired, it is
not entirely destroyed. Mdan still has mind, morals,
immortality.
(7.) Still the character of God is at an infinite distance, and must be brought nearer to the analogy of
humanity to be contemplated with satisfaction or
profit..
(8.) This is accomplished by the Incarnation,
whereby God becomes man.
(9.) Morality is the same in God as in man, as to
kind, but infinitely different in degree.
(10.) But the holiness of God, in itself considered,
is so far removed from our sphere, that we need to
have it brought nearer to us, and as it were projected




480         THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
on the plane of humanity. Holy attributes are not
appreciated till we behold them in the guise of manhood. Then we sympathize with them, understand
them, and feel as if we could imitate them.
(11.) The divine excellencies are there embodied
before our eyes in the Lord Jesus Christ.
(12.) These are really divine excellencies, though
appearing in the human nature. For holy affections
and volitions, in the man Christ Jesus, are perfectly
coincident with the holy affections and volitions of
the united Godhead; and so they reveal God to us.
It is God in Christ, whom we see, admire, love, and
imitate.
(13.) The historical representation of Christ in the
New Testament is thus to us a manifestation of God.
(14.) This manifestation in the gospel is the great
study of man's life. It reveals God. It shows us our
law, our model, and our portion.
(15.) There is no other manifestation of God that
shows so much of his moral glory.
(16.) Our contemplation of this is the great means
of sanctification. "' Beholding as in a glass, &c."
(17.) The Holy Spirit makes use of this contemplation to make us like God.
(18.) When the Spirit takes the things of Christ,
and shows them unto us, he doubtless takes these very
things which are recorded in the gospels.




MISCELLANEOUS PARAGRAPHS.      481
(19.) We are therefore in the way of duty and of
improvement, when we place ourselves before these
things in the way of meditation and study.
~ 66. Death-bed RJepentance.-Perhaps we do great
wrong to God's infinite grace, by talking as we sometimes do about Death-bed Repentance. To terrify
sinners from their sins is a good object, but it should
be sought by no means but truth. Shall we please
God by exaggerating in his behalf? Shall we not
in the end even frustrate our own end in the awakening of sinners?  True, the ungodly will abuse the
doctrine that God sometimes gives repentance on a
dying bed-; but which of the doctrines of religion is it
which they do not abuse?  The case of the dying
thief is the great Scriptural instance. But there are
numerous instances of the same, so far as we can
judge, on dying beds now. In my own ministry I have
seen many. "Train up a child," is often here fulfilled.
There is a wonderful tendency on dying beds to take on
afresh the experience of childhood. What an encouragement to pious mothers! Infantine emotions I am
sure often return in the last days of life, and a mother's
voice rings in the ears of the prodigal son. This gives
me greater hope in talking with those who, however
wicked, have been trained for God in their infancy.
~ 67. Chrysostom and Augvustine. —Many a person
21




482         THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
on being asked which were the sounder and soberer
interpreters, the Greeks or the Latins, would answer
the Latins. Yet the reverse is true in many cases.
Augustine is full of childish allegories; Chrysostom is
almost always close to the letter.
~ 68. Christianity operates on mankind-in two ways,
viz., in the church, and out of the church. In the
church it is constantly operating, and legitimately;
but each church-organization seems after a time to
lose its charm. Churches grow effete, but the c1urch
lasts, and we see the vigour breaking out in vital action in some new place. But we must not be surprised to find doctrine, feeling, and life going behindhand in once favoured churches.
Out of the church Christianity also operates; and
this too much escapes notice. Beyond question, the
principles of Bible humanity and philanthropy are
gaining ground in the world. Infidelity indeed claims
this as its own triumph; but these principles were all
borrowed from the Bible. As the world advances,
we may hope to see this becoming more and more
true.
~ 69. Dr. Green.-Two things Dr. Janeway said
about Dr. Green, which are too good to be lost.
1. " Dr. Green, from the time of his early ministry to
the close of his life, used to spend the first Monday of




MISCELLANEOU3 PARAGRAPIS.        483
every month as a day of fasting and prayer. 2. In
one of my visits to him in Philadelphia, he said,'Brother, I pray for you every day, and for both
branches of our church, and for that church of which
you and I were so long collegiate pastors.'"
~ 70. Likes and Dislikes.-I-Jow far a man should
be governed by his penchants and antipathies, his
likes and dislikes, in the conduct of his life, is a very
difficult question. The juste milieu is hard to be
found. Suppose we go to the rigorous extreme, and
say that one ought to work out his course on principles of severe duty, and follow this implicitly, without paying the slightest regard to the promptings of
nature, or to any constitutional tendencies, shutting
his ears to every whisper of disgust, and steeling himself against every repugnance. Men have been found
who, under strong moral or religious convictions,
have so lived; indeed this is the very soul of the
ascetic life. When the constitution is firm, and the
will imperative, no doubt great actions have proceeded from this source. There is something great in
getting the victory of natural cravings, and keeping
under the flesh by a perpetual struggle. Men who
have so lived have often aimed high, and accomplished wonderful results.
It' may be questioned, however, whether in any




484         THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
case these have been the most genial and creative
minds. Nature does not move in right lines, nor
grow well in moulds and frames, however wisely adjusted. A certain violence is done to the heavings of
inward forces tending towards developemnent. These
inward forces are often the very indications of Providence, by which man learns whither he ought to go.
It is universally allowed, even by the sternest moralists, that in the choice of a profession, of connections
in life, of one's place of abode, and the like, the inward propension is to be taken as an element in the
calculation. Even in so grave and sacred a matter
as a call to the Christian ministry, all men give a certain weight to the powerful, and sometimes almost
irresistible, tendency towards it in the mind of the
proponent. Great geniuses in every department of
science, literature, soldiership, the fine arts, and
philanthropy; have broken away from the heartless
toil to which seeming duty first tied them down.
How remarkably has this been the case with painters.
All the strait-lacing of Pennsylvania quakerism could
not keep Benjamin West from the easel. The same
has been true of poets and'theologians. And on
looking back upon the lives of such, we cannot but
recognize in these interior struggles a providential
guidance towards particular ends. Rfow can we deny
then, that in some of the most important concerns in




IUSCELLANEOUS PARAGRAPHS.      485
life, it is allowable to have some regard to the strong
promptings of inward desire?
Excellency in every human calling has some dependence on the zest and enthusiasm with which it is
pursued. Few things which are done in cold blood
are well done. Providence does not mean all men to
follow the same things; and, in nine cases out of ten,
that which a man follows is pointed out to him by
some dominant taste which is not in other men, and
for which frequently no adequate cause can be assigned. Hence some are lawyers, some generals, and
some laborious students in recondite and new branches
of learning. Obedience to such monitions has produced the greatest works known among men. And
it is remarkable that the order of Jesuits, which,
above all other communities, has adopted for its principle of education, the suppression-of individual will,
and subjection of all private like and dislike to the
dictate of superiors, has produced no great and worldrenowned work on any subject.
It seems clear that we may go to an, extreme in
governing our whole path of life, in contempt of all
natural propensities.and preferences.
But the question still returns, how far we may be
governed by such in the daily steps of our ordinary
vocation. Even here it would be an overstrained virtue, which would altogether forswear a consultation




486          THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
with feelings of like and dislike, which may sometimes be the indications of Providence. Where there
is nothing else to decide the question between contending claims, we may very naturally and wisely
bring in the consideration of the agreeable and disagreeable. A man's daily work may be to such a
degree repugnant to his feelings, that it will be next
to impossible for him to persevere in its prosecution.
~ 71. —The days we call idle, sometimes produce
as much eventual strength as is derived by vegetable
growth from the fields lying fallow, or from the winter repose of the tree. We walk the floor, w.e open
book after book, we read a little, write a little, muse
a little, and in the evening condemn ourselves for
want of diligence, perhaps justly, so far as the motive
is concerned. Yet in nothing am I surer, than-that
this very process results in subsequent energy. Especially when I consider that those who have these
lapses, on certain occasions, are, at others, employed
for hours, or even days together, at the very stretch of
all their powers. In a studious life, if the scholar did
niot sometimes leave his formal prescribed tract, and
expatiate, as it were at random, to pick up the scattered, variegated, unclassed flowers of common, and
even little truths,.he would fail to have his mind
filled with a thousand things which, however hetero



MISCELLANEOUS PARAGRAPHS.         487
geneous at first, go through the digesting and assimilative process; become the material of future argument, or furnish embellishment, illustration, or example. Casting ourselves on Providence, in studies as
in all things else, we find ourselves led by ways that
we knew not.
~ 72. Consecration of Learning. — To consecrate
all that one has to Christ, is the ruling purpose of
every Christian. In the esteem of the Master it is'
this purpose, or this abiding tendency of soul, which
is the thing regarded. Is it a draught from the well,
an alabaster box of ointment, or a gift of funeral
spices? it is received. Is it a visit to the prisoner or
the invalid, or clothes to the naked? it is accepted
as done to Christ. The rich disciple bestows his gold,
and the scholar may bestow his learning. These are
as frankincense and myrrh. The great point is, that
he who has aught must make a free-will offering at
the beloved shrine. The accumulations of learning
and the refinements of taste may be withheld, even
after voluntary designation, and thus the sin of Ananias and Sapphira may be repeated, in a matter more
preciousx than goods and lands. But when all the
fruits of study are made over with a full and ready
mind, science and literature may be truly said to, be
laid in the temple. These are the votive treasures,




488         THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
which will be more numerous, as better days dawn
on a more enlightened and holier church. Then it is
that erudition ceases to be idolatrous and selfish,
when their choicest fragrance exhales towards heaven.
The carved work of the Sanctuary, the chasing of
Bezaleel, and the graving of Aholiab, the music of
Hieman, and the song of David, were as welcome offerings as the beasts which smoked in the courts of
the Lord's house. There is such a thing as.reaping in
the fields of classical entertainment, and then suffering the sheaves to perish on the earth, instead of garnering them up for God. When we feel the inspiring
influence of books, when we are lifted on the wings of
ancient genius, we should jealously avoid the perversion of the gift. The children of this world have
their research and accomplishment, and enough is
done for pleasure and fame; but the Christian scholar
will rebuke himself, unless he finds it in his heart to
be more alive in devotion to heavenly things, at the
very moment when he has breathed the aroma of
poetry and eloquence.
Such a disposition of mind will keep him from
being puffed up by his attainments, from resting in
the transient satisfaction, from forgetting Ged amidst
his favours, and from sacrificing to gain or ambition*what he has gathered from the labours of study. The
transition in a Christian disciple from worldly litera



MISCELLANEOUS PARAGRAPHS.        489
ture to the Scriptures, is not violent. He feels the
immeasurable disparity, and rises to a new level when
he follows the guidance of prophets, of apostles, and
of the Holy Spirit himself. Attainments of learning
made in such a temple are sacred, however remote
the subject may seem to be from biblical research.
These gains are for eternity. They are not only not
lost in this world, amidst the wreck of fortune and
health, but as belonging to the spiritual part in which
God's image chiefly resides, they abide and survive the
dissolution of death, and emerge in the better state,
only to be the germs of new developemnent in that
unexplored world of everlasting progress.
Powers strengthened by all the most effective discipline of earthly schools, are dedicated to the greatest
and holiest work. High as the intellect may soar, it
will never cease to have above it the august cope of
heaven; human philosophy will never exhaust or even
reach the greatness of divine ideas. These mysterious
objects, like the starry heavens, are liberally offered
to every eye, and the poor man, the slave, and the
very infant gain and enjoy something from the celestial wonders, which Pascals and Newtons lose themselves in vainly attempting to comprehend. Yet
the tribute rendered, by differing capacities, though
equally sincere, is not equally great. When God bestows genius and cultivates talent, and enlarges by
21*




490          THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
providential culture the opening reason, he does this
in order to draw from such natures a service far vaster
than that of common minds, however pious. Education is, therefore, a fearful gift, bringing tremendous
accountability; it should lead to humility, thanksgiving, activity, and devotion. When these are wanting, a godless prostitution of the powers is the result;
offensive to God in the proportion in which the subject
of these qualities is raised above the vulgar population
of the globe. Witness the extreme cases of a Voltaire and a Byron. When such instances are numerous, giving character to a nation or a generation, we
have the spectacle of Atheistic France, and apostate
Germany. The Christian scholar should pray with
every breath, that he be not high-minded, but fear.
In proportion as. he rises in attainments, he should
sink in veneration, and dissolve in love; striving to
increase his simple devotions as he increases his mental discoveries. Is there not reason to think, that
many learned persons feel somehow absolved from the
private daily duties of religion which they would
themselves enjoin on humbler minds? that they pray
less, read God's word less, and sing God's praise less,
while they are filling up every hour with eager pursuit of knowledge? To live thus is to belie our own
professions. We declare our belief that truth concerning God in Christ, is the summit of all truth, and that




MISCELLANEOUS PARAGRAPHS.        491
cold science is insufficient; that these glorious objects
are to be tasted by faith, and kept constantly before
the mind by devotion. Thus believing, we should not
grudge the time bestowed on closet exercises. If these
are animated by the Spirit of grace, they are the most
sublime engagements of the mind, this side of heaven.
And as religion in general is the highest science, so
those truths of religion which are cardinal, are the
noblest eminences of the mighty range. The plan of
Grace, the Incarnation, the Person of Christ, the
Atonement, the Paraclete, the Second Coming, are
the local points on which the spiritual mind will be
fixed, exercising itself according to the degree of its
previous culture.
~'3. —As a man gets older, his pursuits should
change, and it is important to consider how. Till'a
certain point of feebleness, action should have more,
and study less. After that pqint, example, counsel,
anid prayer, would seem to be the duties of a Christian
old age. But plans of suitable change should precede
these decays. When one feels himself to have no
longer any ascending ground in the journey, he should
pause, and readjust his methods. What is good for
40, is not good for 50. In regard, for instance, to
study; all studies of preparation, are merely auxiliary
studies, and most studies of education should be put




492         THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
away. New languages, unless they can be made to
fall under the head of necessary amusement, should
be dropt. New sciences and arts fall under the same
rule.
To consolidate and methodize, and complete what
has been most successfully begun in former years —to
turn theory into practice-to attack with vigour the
great task of life-to cast out old evils, and by grace
to exhibit a holy character, these are the duties of him
who is growing old. The whole prospect is deeply
serious, though it need not be alarming.
~ 74.-Powerful exertion of the will, under influences of the Holy Spirit, tends to drive away the
tempter, and confirm habits of holiness.
~ 75. iMoral Education. —Reading a passage in
the Apology of Socrates, I was more forcibly struck
than ever before with the grand defect of our education. What should be the aim of all our education
of youth? It should be to make them good men anid
good citizens. This should be apparent in every hour
of every day. It is not so apparent. The languages
and sciences are taught, but what morals and duty?
Leaving out the question of the Bible in schools,
closely connected with this subject, how remarkable
that we have no text-books and no classes, having
reference to morals. There are no examinations to




MISCELLANEOUS PARAGRAPHS.       493
discover whether pupils are prepared for the duties of
life. When we ask a boy concerning his progress, it
is " How far have you got in Algebra? " or " Have
you read Homer? " and not " What are the temptations of youth? " " What are the evils of gambling
or strong drink?" " What are the dangers arising from
corruption in voters  -The moral and practical part
of education kept out of view.
Education includes teaching and training.
~ 76.-Morality may exist in practice without religioA. Here we do not mean universal holiness, or
the highest virtue, which is itself religion. Morality
ts equivalent to the maintenance of certain relations
between man and his fellows, or between man and society, or between man and his own interests consid-;red objectively. These relations may subsist without
any inward right feeling.
~ 77.-The mental acts of devotion to God are
thought of unworthily by most. In no acts can the
human soul be more nobly employed. Nothing we
can do is so safe. In this employment of our souls we
night well be willing to be arrested by death. No man
can gaze long on the face of God in Jesus Christ, without being elevated. No one will love to do so, unless
he has been born from on high. God grant me more
of the spirit of true devotion.




494          THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
~ 78. —There is a wisdom which is not in books.
It may be gathered from books, considered as parts
of innumerable real sources. Into books it may be
transcribed, but only they will comprehend it, who
have been taught it from some other quarter.
~ 79. —He who comes down from the mount loving
God, or from the cross loving Christ, needs no new
frame or impulse for loving his brother also. And
how beautifully, in all the texture of St. John's epistiles is Love interwoven with Light! What a radiant
holiness; what a holy illumination! The two seem
almost one, in the apostle's mind, as they are in the
infinite, primeval source; for God is light, and God is
love. And so, in'regard to the creature, "he that
saith he is in the light, and hateth his brother, is in
darkness even until now."  The acting of this principle in the new creature will be constantly purging out
its opposites; and this by painful struggles. Contrary
principles of native selfishness will manifest themselves, but will be shamed and excluded. Every successful struggle of this kind will make'the next easier,
and will put it further off. Selfishness and love will
come to be readily known; and here will be a portable rule, to be applied in the absence of all lesser
regulations. The study of Christ's character will first
educe love to him, and put it into exercise, and then




MISCELLANEOUS PARAGRAPHS.       495
create a disposition to walk in love as he hath loved
us. Thus faith will work by love.
Oh, for greater measures of this Christian grace!
Oh, for quickness to detect, and strength to cast out,
the first poisons of anger, malice, envy, jealousy, and
covetousness.
~ 80. —It is unreasonable to hope for a situation
where men will not be found to oppose, envy, and
blame. To expect this would be childish. Humble
perseverance in plain duty, is the way to maintain an
easy mind. Apply the Lord's rule about anxiety for
the morrow. Work by the day, you may not live till
to-morrow. Why cripple to-day's exertions by forecasting a trouble which may never come. Such vexations are trials sent of God. They have been common
to all saints. Learn to bear the reproaches of even
good men, f6r many sincere Christians are far from
perfection in wisdom, and there are degrees in knowledge and experience, and diversities of opinion, and
there are strange and extravagant tempers.  Some
virtue is put to the test by every one of these troubles. Humility, patience,.meekness, courage, fortitude, love of truth, faith, hope, and charity, are exercised thus. If a man's ways please the Lord, he will
cause even his enemies to be at peace with him.
~ 81. WTork at the Interior.-Keep right principles.




496         THOU.GHTS ON PREACHING.
Guard the heart. Do what is right. Approve yourself to God. Eye the Judgment. Live as before God,
and with Christ. Take good counsel, but confer not with
flesh and blood. Let your whole life be a preparation
for dying. Give your answers clearly, frankly, simply, and meekly; and learn when, and where, and how
to answer the fool according to his folly, and when to
answer not. Be harmless as the dove. Study Christ's
methods under the contradiction of sinners which he
endured. Feel your own incompetency for any part
of labour, and own your obligation to grace for every
measure of success. Throw self overboard, and walk
with singleness of mind, and you will certainly have
success. Modern preachers ought to be ashamed to
complain of opposition when they read of what befell
the apostles and early teachers. God's words in vision
to Paul at Corinth should be our encouragement, " Be
not afraid, but speak, and hold not thy peace, for I am
with thee, and no man shall set on thee to hurt thee;
for I have much people in this city." At Ephesus this
apostle ministered amidst opposition, "'Serving the
Lord with all humility of mind, and with many tears
and temptations."  Acts 20, 19. He journeyed on,
knowing that " bonds and afflictions " abode him.
~ 82. —The communications of a pastor with a
parishioner are not to be made an affair of ceremony.




tI8CELLANEOUS PARAGRI PHS.     497
Pastoral visits are not to be regulated by the laws
whereby fine ladies govern their morning calls. A
spiritual message is what Christ's minister carries to
a house, and has in it something too solemn to be
treated like a visiting-card.
~ 83.-Great care is needful to avoid harshness
and spiritual pride in dealing with weak professors.
We must copy the wise physician, who often has to
condescend to the nervous and whimsical. The gentleness of Paul and Paul's divine Lord should be always before us.'
~ 84. A Batch of iXaxims.(1.) Make not too much of maxims; they are, after
all, but measuring-rules.
(2.) Give ten thoughts to the question, What will
God think of it, before one to, What will men think
of it.
(3.) If you could act like an angel, some would
blame; do your best, and in the long run you will
please more than by doing any thing for the bare purpose of pleasing.
(4.) Never give over striving against a bad habit.
Begin again and again a thousand times. Victory
will come.
(5.) Return daily and hourly to the study of
Scripture.




498          THOUGHTS DN PREACHING.
(6.) For comic and childish jocularity, substitute
mild, loving, and if you possess it, witty demeanour
and discourse.
(7.) Truth is food; falsehood is poison; error is injurious. Apply this to the reading of erroneous
books, even when necessary.
(8.) Some minds are more susceptible of harm
from contact with falsehood than others.
(9.) Infinite wisdom in the Scriptures is always accessible.
(10.) The more you are dwelling in truth unalloyed,
the more healthful will your thoughts be.
(11.) Some minds, from susceptibility to the unsettled influence of error, are not fitted to be polemics.
(12.) Do not discredit those convictions which
have grown out of former investigations, even though
the explicit arguments for them are forgotten. The
mind should make progress in conviction as well as in
knowledge.
~ 85. Christian ILove.-In this dreary, windy,
winter night, when some of my household are ill, and
some in bed, I feel-in my loneliness the need of communion with other spirits than my own. And how
grateful to the soul at such an hour to know, that this
inward craving is met by all the teaching of the gospel, and that no man liveth unto himself!




MISCELLANEOUS PRAGRAPHS.        499
The communion of saints and the communion of
humanity are best connected with communion with
Christ. Here is their origin and this is their bond.
The man who has no love of the brethren has no love
of his kind: the widest philanthropy is found in union
with Christian graces. The Spirit, who unites men
with God, through Christ, unites them to one another.
This holy love, which we speak of even to triteness,
and against which we are daily sinning, is more worthy of pursuit than all the objects of philosophy. I
am from different lines of inquiry brought perpetually
to the point, that the chief way of helping mankind
is to work deeply within. True charity begins at
home. But from its very beginning it cultivates a
reference to those who are without. Christ, who
teaches as none other ever taught, and wraps up
whole volumes in a word, has taught us the grand
secret of forgetting self. We are to lay all at his feet.
We are to seek his kingdom. We are to cease from
loving our own life, nay, we are to lose it. Loving our
neighbour as ourselves, we are to lay down life for the
brethren, and to do all possible good to those whom
we can reach, as if doing it to him. Never forgetting
the inimitable and mediatory.parts of his life and
death, we see in them also an example of self-forgetfulness and sublime benevolence.
The constant effort of the soul in this direction,




500          THIOUGHTS ON PREAGHING.
under the Holy Spirit, is the chief activity in religion.
It connects itself with all doctrines and with all graces.
Humility, penitence, submission, patience, faith, hope,
meekness, gentleness, self-denial, sympathy, diligence,
truth, desire of truth, purity, generosity, courage, justice, veracity, candour, and cheerfulness, all ally
themselves, as so many sisters with love.
~ 86.* I am reading John Owen on the Sabbath. The
difficulties of this subject increase on me very much.
To understand what they are, read a page of Owen
(Exercitations preliminary to his Exposition of Epistle
to the Hebrews). Part 5, Exerc. 1, ~ 5, p. 268, of
Goold's Edinburgh edition. He gives sixteen queries,
which afford matter for deep rumination. My chief
puzzles have always been about the questions, How
much of Sabbath observance comes from Creationhow much from Moses-hbw much is abolished-how
much remains. Now and then the great old fellow
says a mighty sly thing, e. g., " Most men act as if
they were themselves liable to no mistakes, but that it
is an inexpiable crime in others to be mistaken."
" Some men write as if they were inspired, or dreamed
that they had obtained to themselves a Pythagorean
reverence."  "Only I fear some men write books
* This, and the remaining paragraphs, are extracted from letters
to his son, while a student in the Theological Seminary at Princeton.




MISCELLANEOUS PARAGRAPHS.      501
about them, because they read none." A sentence
of his about preaching is worth being copied as a
maxim: " Nor must we in any base quit the strengths
of truth, because the minds of some cannot easily
possess themselves of them." Dr. Mason used to say
that all his theology was from Owen on the Hebrews, and my father often remarked, that with all
Owen's power, erudition, and originality, he never deviated in his theology into any thing eccentric or hazardous.
~ 87. Don't make your sermon fine. Remember
" great Julius's " word, and avoid verbum insolitum
veluti scopulum.  Don't mistake the language of
imagination for the language of passion; the sin of
our young ministry. I wish I had you for half an
hour a day, to give you some voice training; I have
paid much attention to this, with one certain result,
that I have learned to speak long and loud without
fatigue. Nothing can.be done on paper, however.
All is only an expansion of old Sheridan's speak as
you talk.
Read aloud and study in your club, Monod's
article, Bib. Rep. for 1843, pp.;191-211. He "is
himself the great sublime he draws." Nothing in all
my history ever did me so much good. See the remarkable notes- on pp. 205-6, and 208. This last




502         TIHOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
opened my eyes to the matter. Read it and re-read
it. I have the noble original, and have heard the
matchless exemplification.
~ 88. I hope. you will let no kind of reading keep
you from looking daily-if only for five minutesinto a class of writers, who are not attractive in
regard to letters, but who unite great talents,
great Bible knowledge, and great unction. At the
head of these stands Owen. My father used to say
one shoiuld read "' Owen's Spiritual Mindedness" once
a year. I add his " Forgiveness of Sin;" his " Indwelling Sin," and *his " Mortification of Sin."
Here we have philosophical analysis applied to phenomena of experience. Yet more Platonic and seraphic are Howe's " Delight in God," and "Blessedness
of the Righteous."  Flavel's "' Keeping the Heart,"
is less deep, but more clear, purling, and delicious.
As to Baxter, I think his English equal to any ever
written. One such book kept near at hand, and
opened for a few moments every morning, seasons'
the thoughts. So of good biographies-so one does not
seek to copy details and idiosyncrasies; Simeon's
gife-Martyn's-Brainerd's (with due allowance of
his diseased gloom)-Edwards'-above all HALIBURTON'S. I have no doubt of your becoming sufficiently
learned; but I have great fears lest you should look




XTSCEALLANEOUS PARAGRAPHS.       503
for happiness too much in the aesthetic, than the divine, part of the To KAAON; lest literature and art
should occupy the place of spiritual communion. It
requires great striving, to keep an academical life
from promoting habits of mind out of sympathy with
the great activities of good men in the arena and
battle of the church.
~ 89. In thinking upon any subject, with a view
either to writing or speaking, the mind is apt to flit
away, or to fall into sterile revery. Against- this, the
common remedy is the pen; and it is valuable. But
it is not indispensable, or even the best. Let me suggest a device which I never met with in books, but
which I have practised in bed and on horseback.
Stake down every attainment in- your thinking by a
verbal proposition. The thing of emphasis is the
propositional form. We are not now considering
whether it is true, or important, or in due sequence;
put your thought into words, as affirming or denying.
After a little turning of it, put the result into words.
Seek to deduce another from the one you have.
N. B. These will often prove heads of discourse. If
you have a dozen of these on any subject your wo'rk
is blocked out. The aid to memory is surprising.
Wretched as that no-faculty is in me, I always remember such propositions from.one day or week to




504         THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
the next. In early efforts it may be well to utter
them audibly. It shows you that you are going onand how fast-and when you have come to a logical
dead-lock. This has often been my only preparation
for speaking. I consider this so important, and am
so much afraid of being misunderstood, that I will
give you an example, being the last subject which
thus engrossed my attention, in Broadway and in
bed; preferring it for the very reason, that it has not
yet thrown itself into any crystallization: 2 Tim. 3 4,
"lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God." 1. IMan
loves pleasure. 2. The propensity to such pleasure
exists by nature in all men. 3. The merely animal
nature is governed by this as a law. 4. Pleasure
must not be taken to include absence of pain. 5. He
who gives full swing to this propensity, so as to do
just what he pleases or wishes, does not thereby reach
perfection. 6. He does not thereby attain moral
excellence. 7. Nay, he does not attain happiness,
the very thing he seeks. 8. Such indulgence is
ruinous. 9. Consequently, this cannot be the highest
law of man. 10. Many go great lengths this way,
though nature itself cuts them short. 11. As absolute self-indulgence is ruinous, the love of pleasure
must be checked. 12. The normal life is therefore one
of checks and counterpoises. 13. Strength, happiness, and every great quality are produced by such




8scELLAEOUS PARAGRAPHS.        505
struggles and antagonisms. 14. Hence men seek
pleasure in toil, latour, pain, navigation, hunting,
fighting. 15. Happiness is more in efort than indulgence. 16. Seeing then that propensity must be
checked, it must be considered what principles can
be brought in, to countervail a tendency so powerful.
17. Selfish interest is not strong enough. 18. Reasoning is not strong enough  19. Mere conscience is
not strong enough. 20. Love is not strong enough.
21. Honour is not strong enough. 22. The text
declares what is strong enough: the love of God:
&c., &c. This will suggest something as to the
genesis of thought. Each proposition brings forth
the next.  Sometimes the series is not so much
thus, A                   as thus, A
x
B                         B C D
x
C
-X
D
Sometimes the next proposition will be only a
neater enumeration of the preceding; and this process
is eminently useful to the mind. Sometimes No. 2
will be an example of No 1. Sometimes you will see
that the order is capable of improvement; so above,
I perceive that the order (on rhetorical grounds),
22




506         T.HOUGrHTS ON- PREACOING.
should be 20, 21, 19, 22. If a man will only pursue
this process far enough, he will acquire plenty of
material, in such quality as agrees with his other
knowledge and native powers.
The principal thing gained by this method is, I
own, the fxing of attention. But this is after all the
principal thing in all processes of productive thought.
What is it that a man does in thinking out any subject, beyond keeping his mind's eye looking in a certain direction?  What shall arise in that quarter is as
unknown to him as to any one else. This is one of
the greatest mysteries in the origin of thoughts The
turning of certain leading thoughts, as they arise, into
propositions, marks the rate of progress, indicates direction, and blazes one's way through the forest.
Each stake tethers the thought, which would wander.
There is an additional advantage in this, that we
never have the full use of language, as an instrument
of thougght, unless when we cause our thoughts to fall
into assertory shape. These have been views, regulating my practice for a great many years; but I
have only of late come to think that they are overlooked by many.. This is to be considered rather as
marking progress than contributing to the generation
of thought; though it indirectly does the latter.-It is
to be observed, that many of the thoughts which rise,
and even take this propositional form, are to be im



MISCELLANEOUS PARAGRAPHS.        507
mediately resisted, as false, irrelative, or superfluous.
Making the proposition is only putting them into a
shape in which they can be tested.
As the getting of something to say, (the ancient
Inventio,) is the prora et puppis of all preparation, I
have dwelt a little on this point. Such endeavours
are not to be made.invita liinervca. All times are
not equally good for production. This belongs to the
passivity of the mind in these processes. We must
wait upon it; sometimes leave it, to rest or expatiate,
return to the task again, and especially catch at
moments of inspiration. Generally speaking, faithful thinking gives pleasure. But the beginnings are
generally tentative. Change.the scene. A subject'
will look differently, in the study, in the forest, by
the seaside, and in the crowded thoroughfare. External circumstances often stimulate, while they seem
to interrupt the productive faculty; just as shaking
a solution will sometimes fix a crystallization. Rest,
especially in sleep, greatly helps. Clearing up of the
general.health is useful. For these reasons trains
given up as impracticable will be successfully resumed after months.
Thus I have spun out a long yarn upon this simple
expedient of fixing one's thoughts in propositions,
during the process of excogitation. No one method
has been so much employed by me in sermonizing,




508         THOUGHTS ON PRIECHING.
and mostly when walking up and down the floor, or
some path among the trees.
~ 90. I have sometimes thought of writing you a
letter on maxims, but time has -failed me. It is a
subject which has occupied much of my thoughts, and,
I suppose, has somewhat modified my character, such
as it is. By a maxim, I mean a general principle of
conduct, expressed in a concise, portable, applicable
manner. When it hits public taste and runs through
society, it becomes a proverb. The best thing -Lord
John Russell ever said, was his definition of a proverb: "the wisdom  of many-the wit of one."
(Study a little on this.) I have a great penchant for
proverbs, in spite of Lord Chesterfield's denunciation.
I have several collections, and I wish I had more.
But to return to maxims, which are not all proverbs,
they are generalizations from the wisdom of experience. Here minds differ very much. Some men
seem to lay up no general conclusions, however long
they may observe. Your grandfather used to say,
that old Samuel Venable was the wisest man he ever
knew; that like Franklin he was continually treasuring up the lessons of experience, and framing resultant
rules, which often would be highly valuable to others.
You may remember some good things in French, on
this point. But at present my aim is not so much to




_MILmEOUS P          8AGRA'Hs.  509
lead you to enjoy other people's maxims, as to frame
your own. No man can begin too soon to philosopiize upon mind, manners, morals, and religion.
Make maxims. Make a maxim every day. Do not
force it-but if you watch for it, it will come. When
you are not looking for quail, the shrill " Bob White"
reaches your ear without impression; but when quail
are your special quarry, you catch the most distant
whistle. He that is on the look out for maxims will
find them. A young man's maxims must be juvenile
and -often hasty, but that particular turn of mind
which frames them is all important. Let me take an
humble instance. At a certain period of my life, I
was much afflicted with a sort of bodily inertia. If I
was on the sofa, I did not like to take a chair. If I
was in my fauteuil, it irked me to get up. My flute
was in the attic, but the trouble of mounting so high
overbalanced the desire to play. This grew on me so
much, and so killed all alacrity, that I laid down this
rule to myself, Never avoid doing any thing, because
of the short bodily trouble it may occasion. It has
saved me a world of useless regrets. From  little
things, we shall by degrees proceed to great. He
that has his mind most stored with such tried conclusions, will be best armed for the battle of life. There
is no reason why he should blurt them out to others:
they are his own pocket rules. It is not a matter of




510         THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
indifference how these are expressed. A terse, felicitous maxim is like an instrument brought to its
perfect state.  The thought may pass through a
thousand minds, (the wisdom of many,) before it
comes to a shape of memorable and crystalline expression (the wit of one). It may be compared to one
of your happy formulas, in mathematical analysis.
Many a man had discovered it, before one happy
punster said Amicus certus in re incerta cernitur.
One such conclusion (even without the happy form)
is a gain for life; and is like a sum laid up in store
for coming days. But chiefly do I refer to rules for
one's own conduct, derived from one's own experience.
This word "experience," means the sum of such
knowledge. That man's experience is most serviceable, which is most reduced to palpable formulas; as
that philosopher's observations are most valuable
when distinctly methodized Do not think I wish to
make you a coiner of proverbs. He might be proud,
who could make a single good one. But the proverb,
like the epic and the fable, is an extinct genus. The
collection'of Solomon's is wonderful; you may imagine how much is.lost by a version which is literal,
modern, and occidental. I find lists of proverbs very
good reading. But to return-it is not to provoke
you to make proverbs, but to lead you to maximize;
first, to deduce some law, fact, or general rule;




MISCELLANEOUS: PARAGRAPHS.      511
secondly, to give it a memorable shape. - We are constantly doing so, on a small scale. Thus, after some
painful experiments, a young man arrives at a maxim
like this-" always to break off any dispute when I
find myself growing warm." What we call wisdom,
as distinct from knowledge, consists very much in
the habit of observing and amassing such conclusions.
A very great fondness for the sententious has
made me a lover of what are called adages~ or apothegms. There are many such in Horace and Terence.
They abound ih Seneca. You know how Sancho
Panza's mouth was filled with them; therefore they
must have hit the fancy of Cervantes. The Spaniards
derived, their taste for them  from  the Arabians.
Some of the Spanish proverbs are very racy; e. g.,
1. Touch a sore eye only with your elbow. 2. Take
your wife's first advice, not her second. 3. Leave
your jest while most pleased with it. 4. Setting
down in writing is a lasting memory. Apropos of
which last proverb, I have found much pleasure in
writing down at night what I call the thought of the
day; that is, some reflection derived from the day's
observation, especially if it can be couched in a single
sentence.
~ 91.* Prefer a subject with which you have some
* From a letter to his son in college.




512         THOUGHTS ON PEACHING.
acquaintance.  The more special the subject, the
more you will find to say on it. Boys think just the
reverse; they write of Virtue Honour, Liberty, &c.
It would be easier to write on the pleasures of Virtue,
the Honour of knighthood, or the difference between
true and false Liberty; which are more special.
Take it as a general rule, the more you narrow the
subject, the more thoughts you will have. And for
this there is a philosophical reason, which I wish
you to observe. In acquiring knowledge, the mind
proceeds from particulars to generals: Thus Newton
proceeded from the falling of an apple to the general
principle of gravity. A great many particular observations were to be made on animals, before a naturalist could lay down the general law, that all creatures
with cleft hoofs and horns, are gramnivorous, or
that all birds with two toes before and two behind,
built in holes. This process is called generalization.
It is one of the last to be developed. Hence it requires vast knowledge and mature mind to treat a
general subject, such as Virtue, or Honour, and it is
much better to begin with particular instances. It
may be added, thatthis mental process, of deducing
general laws or principles from numerous instances,
is also called Induction. It is by a consideration of
minute facts, called an "induction of particulars,"
that we. infer (in-ducimus) a general principle. And




MISCELLANEOUS PARAGRAPHS.      513
this, simple as it seems, is the foundation of the whole
Baconian or Inductive philosophy. If you will carefully attend to what I have written, you will have
clearer views than are common among young men, on
a fundamental point in Metaphysics.
~ 92. I recommend you to keep an Ephemeris,
journal, or every-day book, not for putting down religious frames, but facts, notes of conversations, dates,
and hints towards more extended composition. Some
most valuable Boswellisms are laid up in these volumes. I regret that I did not begin till 1834, but
since then my series is full and unbroken. Thoughts
jotted down there have a peculiar freshness. Pascal's
"Thoughts " had this origin. In Fangier's edition
they are printed just as Pascal left them, with all
their errors, blanks, &c. In one place he even says
that, on taking the pen, he forgets the thought which
he intends to record. In my humbler endeavours,
these " thoughts of the day," vary from one sentence
in length, to fifty pages; and on enumeration I find
them more than a thousand. It is wonderful how
things will grow, if you do the least bit every-day. It
is so in learning languages. Many of these paragraphs of mine are scholia upon Scripture passages.
Some of them are prayers, the writing of which, as
also the re-perusal long afterwards, I have found of
great value. When we spend some time together, I




514           THOUGHTS ON PREACHING.
will read to you some of my occasional notes on
preaching, from these books.
~ 93. My father used to say to me: Think long
and deeply on your subject, and as if nobody had
ever investigated it before.  I did not then know
what he meant. One of the chief uses of writing sermons is, that it keeps one a-thinking. The pen seems
to recall the thoughts. Some cannot think without
it; which is bad-very bad. This is all a matter of
habit. The greatest other use of writing is, that the
matter is preserved. For I will not include correctness, and polish of style, &c., which can be fully obtained by the other method.*
* These paragraphs should have been included in the Homiletical
Paragraphs, but were procured too late for insertion there.
THE END.