m G PBIITCSTON ^L(;. SEP IBoU THEO !OLOGICAl/ BV 42 11 . S74 KS5 5 Stevens, Abel, 1815-1897 Essays on the preaching required by the times My i^ ^^.1^ ^J^^ ^ c / /f / ? ^ // ^ < J \ ESSAYS ■ V, ,_ ^ ^ ON THE PREACHING REQUIRED BY THE TIMES, AND THE BEST METHODS OF OBTAINING IT- REMINISCENCES AND ILLUSTRATIONS OF METHODIST PREACHING. INCLUDIKO gwks tax (£%hmpxi\\UG\x^ l)tm\)in^, CHARACTERISTIC SKETCHES OF OLIN, EISK, BASCOJI COOKMAN SUIIMERFIELD, AND OTHER NOTED EXTEMPORANEOUS ' PRMCHERS. By ABEL STEVENS. PUBLISHED BY CARLTON & PHILLIPS, 200 MULBERRY-STUEET. 1855. Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1855, BY CARLTON & PHILLirS, in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the Southern District of New-York. ^(U**^i*A*^A*3^ The first five chapters of this volume appeared as part of a series of articles, entitled " The Christianity required by the Times," in the National Magazine for 1854. The remaining chapters formed a series of articles on "Meth- odist Preaching " in the Methodist Quarterly Eeview, for 1852. The readers of the original articles will observe that they have been thoroughly revised, enlarged, and otherwise modified. The author has not, however, deemed it necessary to di'op the peculiarities • of their style, as periodical articles, for the graver dignity usual to books on religious subjects. He hopes also that any apparent want of unity, in some parts of the work, arising from the same cause, will not amount to a serious fault. It will be seen that the writer has not attempted any- thing like a thorough treatise on Homiletics ; he confines himself to special questions respecting the methods, the responsibilities, and, particularly, the defects of the mod- ern pulpit, the reasons of its comparatively inefifective and (as some allege) declining power. On the subject of extemporaneous preaching he has, however, attempted' to be morQ comprehensive and practical. The moral quali- fications for the sacred office, which in a more general 4 PKEFACE. •I' -, work should have been more fully treated, are, he hopes, imijlied with sufficient distinctness throughout the volume. While the first part of the Avork treats of the subject in general, and will, it is hoped, be acceptable to clerical readers generally, its latter part relates mostly to Meth- odist preaching. The imequaled success of the ministe- rial methods of Methodism can hardly fail to interest readers of other denominations, and to give importance to this part of the volume; but should the writer's ministerial brethren in other Churches demand of him an apology for this sectarian aspect of a production whicli, in other respects, may be considered liablu to the charge of too much liberalism, he hopes it will be suffi- cient to remind them, that this part of tlic volume was originally written for a denominational periodical and a denominational purpose; that in the i)ublic calls for tlie present publication, these articles have been particularly demanded, and that their character is fairly indicated in the title-page of the volume. Notwithstanding repeated calls for these articles from the public papers and from personal sources, the autlior could not have the presumption to commit them to the press in this form, were it not that they have been demanded by the "unanimous vote" of an ecclesiastical body — the Providence Conference — comprising more than a hundred and fifty clerg}'men with whom he has held fraternal relations for many yeare, and Avhose commands are always laws with him. CONTENTS. ESSAY I. DEFECTS OF MODERN PREACHING AND THEIR REMEDIES. Homiletics — Meaning of the'Word — Its modern Abuse — Actual Character of our Preachin;^ — History of Preaching — The Prim- itive Sermon — Origen — Preaching among the Puritans — Mod- ern "Manuals " on Preaching — A Criticism on Sturtevant — An Example of " Skeletonizing" — Objections to Skeletons — " Great Preachers" — Clerical Estimates of Preaching Page 17 ESSAY II. DEFECTS OF MODERN PREACHING, AND THEIR REMEDIES- CONTINUED. The Literary Eank of the Sermon — Its lack of Popular Interest — Reason of it — Lack of Moral Power — What should be the Power of the Pulpit? 40 ESSAY III. INEFFICIENCY OF THE PULPIT — FURTHER CAUSES OF IT AND THEIR REMEDIES. The Pulpit too limited in the Application of its Habitual Themes — The "Evangelistic" Pulpit, its Defects — The "Rationalistic" Pulpit, its Lack of Moral Power — The "Preaching of Christ"— The Freedom of the Pulpit— How can it be regained ? — Chal- lenged by the Infidelity of the Day 54 b CONTENTS. ESSAY I V. INEFFICIENCi OF THE PULPIT — A PLEA FOR EXTEMPORA- NEOUS PREACHING. Reading not Preacliing — Opinions in Favor of Extcmporaneuu.s Preaching — Its Compatibility with a flood Style and Close Thinking — Chalmers — European E.xample — The Classic Ora- tors " Extemporizers" — The .\nglo-Saxon Pulpit alone substitutes Reading for Preaching — Reading not tolerated in Senatorial or Forensic Oratory — Webster — Dis.id vantages of Sermon Writing to Clergymen — Defects of our Ministerial Training — The .\i>- propriate Studies of an Orator — Cicero — Romilly — Thomas Scott — Dr. Arnold — A better Selection of Ministerial Candi- dates necessary Page 70 ESSAY V. FURTHEE CONSIDERATIONS ON EXTEMPORANEOUS PREACHING— RULES FOR IT. Examples of Extemporaneous Eloquence — Definition of Eloquence — Design of "Notes" — Design of Preaching — Diffidence — Its Advantages — Briefs in the Pulpit — Preventives of Embarra.«s- aient — Preaching memoriter — Selection and Arrangement of Subjects — Their Elaboration — Four Rules for Extemporiz- ing 90 ESSAY VI. METHODIST PREACHING— ITS PRIMITIVE CHARACTERISTICS. It« Success — Its Original Characteristics — It was peculiar in its Themes — \S'liat were they? — Its Evangelical Liberalism — It was peculiar in its Style — Its Verbal Style — Its Oratorical Style — Its Aim at Direct Results — Its Extemporaneous De- livery 114 ESSAY VII. METHODIST PREACHING — HOW FAR ARE ITS PRI.MITIVK CHARACTERISTICS AND METHODS SUITED TO OUR TIMES? Heroic Character of the Early Mefhodist Ministry — Asbury and his Associates — The "Old Wcsti-rn Conference " — The .applica- bility of the original Ministerial Methods and Stvie of Methodism CONTENTS. 7 to our large Communities — The " City Missionary" and the old Cify Itinerancy — Importance of the old Methods to the Atlantic Communities — To the Interior States — To the Western Territo- ries — The Prospective Population of the Counti-y — Startling Statistics Page li2 ESSAY VIII. METHODIST PEEACHING-WHAT MODIFICATIONS OF IT AEE REQUIRED BY THE TIMES? A larger Eange of Practical Instruction needed — Reasons for it — More Doctrinal Instruction required — The Philanthropic Enter- prises of the Church not sufficiently represented in the Pulpit — Special Addresses — Public Questions — Such Improvements of our Preaching requires the Improvement of our Preachers — Means for the latter — Better Choice of Candidates — Our Supply — Enormous Sacrifice of Young Men — A Reserve List needed — ■ Preparatory " Course of Study " — An " Educational Society " — Theological Schools 168 ESSAY IX. METHODIST PEE ACHING — DISTINGUISHED EXAMPLES. Peculiar Advantages of Methodism for Men of Talent — Charac- teristics of Summerfield — His History — -Peculiarities of his Eloquence — Habits as an Extemporizer — Personal Traits — Death — Cookman — Biographical Facts — Style of his • Elo- quence — His Appearance — His Martial Spirit — Baseom — His Personal Advantages — Style — Defects and Excellences of his Genius — Fisk — His Appearance — Vocal Advantage — Manner in the Pulpit — Polemical Propensity — Christian Perfection — Estimate of his Talents — Olin — His Religious Character — Social Character — Scholarship — Eloquence — Anecdote — Style — Opinions — Comparative Remarks — Conclusion 204 INTRODUCTION. "We hail the following effort to explain, and enforce the true design, and the most efficient manner of preaching the Gospel, as a very timely, and a very ahle exposition of the subject. The reader will find it a compendium of what Scripture teaches and experience has illustrated in the premises ; and it is time that Dr. Johnson's adage had come into the currency of a proverb — "Experience, which is always contradicting theory, is the only test of truth." But both Scripture and experience teach that God alone can select, and call, and qualify ministers of his word — preachers of the Gospel — to promulgate with effect the divine message of mercy and salvation to the world. "He that entereth not through this door, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber." No matter how brilliant his parts, how exten- sive his learning, how great his acquirements m meta- physical and physical science and literature, or how eloquent he may be, without this calling of God, he is an intruder into the sacred office, and will hinder, rather than promote the spread of the Gospel and Scriptural holiness in the earth. Our blessed Lord chose his instru- 10 INTKODUCTION. ments for the propagation of tlio Gospel — his apostles — from tlie humblest ranks and callings of society; men, AvhoUy unaocjuainted even ■with the learning of the Jews, as ■well as with that of the Greeks and Romans, They were sent to teach that which he taught them, — the doctrines and precepts of the Gospel as the only wa}' of salvation from sin in this world, and from its coase- qnences in the world to come; and these became the able and successful ministers of the new covenant, turning thousands "from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God," without the aid of lunnan learning or philoso])hy. In answer to this it is allcdged that the apostles were miraculously endowed; that the gifts of healing and of tongues were imparted to them to qualify them for the work to wliich they were called, but as these miraculous giftii are not now imparted to the ministers of the Gos|K'1, they must apply themselves to the acquiring of literature and philosophy as qualifications for their calling. Yet, in the various gifts bestowed upon the first i)reachers of the Gosifcl, wc do not find there were included, either the knowledge of Rabbinical or Grecian learning or literature. Now surely our Lord knew what was necessary to them as messengers of tiiat great salvation ho sent them to proclaim; and that ho could liavo a.s ea*iily imparted to them all the treasures of Rabbinical and Grecian lore, as the gift of tongues — the knowledge of all languages. If ho did not do so, we have a right to infer that the meta- ])hysical systems of ])hilosophy, whether Jewish or Pagan, were not necessary lo them even a.s auxiliary aids, nmch less as an essential qnaliticnfion for ttieir work. INTKODUCTION. 11 But it must be admitted that some twenty years after our Lord's ascension he called another apostle, a man "vvell versed in human learning and the various systems of philosophy of his- time. Taken from the feet of Gamaliel, a Jewish LL. D., and though lineally an Israelite, yet a Greek by birth he came to the apostleship Avith all the treasures of scholastic qualifications which the most fas- tidious hearers could require. Yet what does he himself teU us of the availability of these qualifications in tlie great work in which he was engaged. In his first letter to the Church at Corinth, which he himself had planted, he assures them that they Avere not indebted in the smallest degree to the wisdom of the world for the reli- gion they enjoyed, or the great benefits they had derived from the Gospel: "for after- that in the wisdom of God, the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe." By the wisdom of God the apostle did not mean the wisdom of Avhich God was the author, but that of which he Avas the object, answering precisely to our term the- ology ; and by the foolishness of preaching, that which the wise and the learned of this Avorld called foolishness — the preaching of Christ crucified, — to the believer " tlie Avisdom of God and the power of God." The sum of tlie apostles' teaching is that the study of natural theology — the Avisdom of which God is the object, or metaphysical philosophy applied to the study of theology, had failed to find out the nature and attributes of the true God, or the way to Avorship and serve him so as to secure his favor, and to obtain eternal fife at his hand. All tliis is learned from the revelation Avhich God has been pleased to make 12 INTRODUCTION. of himself, and is taught only by the Gospel whicli he had sent his apostles to preach. Our faith, therefore, tlie faith which brings salvation, must stand not in the "wisdom, or ])hilosophy of men, but in Christ crucified, who is "the wisdom of God, and the power of God." To publish this Gospel — this perfect scheme of mercy and salvation — to the children of men, the same ai)0stle teUs us that "God in tlie beginning gave some apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teach- ers, for the work of the ministry, and the edification of the body of Christ" — the conversion of sinners, and the "building up believers in their most holy faith." This was the divine plan at the beginning of the Gospel dis- pensation, and we have no ground for believing that divine wisdom has made any subsequent change in his economy in this respect. God still calls to the work of the ministry, men of various tjilents and endowments, suited to the various conditions of men and Churclies; and urges upon those whom he calls tlie duty of liasten- ing to enter upon their Avork. And this roijuirement is impreased upon the consciousness of tlie persons called, whether from the ordinary avocations of life, or from tlie feet of Gamaliel — the colleges of learning. They are to lay their impressions before th(5ir brethren, and the Church is to decide wliether the call be divine, or other- wise, and the judgment is to be formed on the rule laid down by oiu* Lord himself, " By their fruits ye shall know them." Have they grace or piety, have they a clear apprehension of the way of salvation according to Scrip- ture, and from personal experience ; have they in some good degre6 a ready utterance, so as to be able to com- INTKODUCTIOK. 13 mimicate what they know to others, and, above all, have they fruit? Has God owned their labours in exercising their gifts of exhortation? If all these signs combine in any one Ave judge he is called to preach the Gospel, though he may have little human learning. This has been the doctrine and practice of Metliodism. Allien we change our doctrine and practice in this respect, as the Israelites changed their theocracy for monarchy, to be like the nations around them, Ave may, like them, obtain our desire; may attain a high standing in the literary and scientific Avoi'ld, but we may, like them, loose the Urimaml T/mm?nim — that blessed presence andpoAver of God Avhich has, heretofore, accompanied our ministry, and given it a success Avhich is known and acknoAvledged of all men. The Jcavs may have gained the Avordly eleva- tion they sought by the election of Saul as their king ; but the holy of holies, in tlieir tabernacle, lost that • Avhich Avas the chief distinction, and most A^aluable of all its endowments. The high priest annually, on tlie great day of atonement, lifted the vail, in due form, and entered the holy of holies, sprinkling the mercy seat Avith tlie blood of the victim; but -the Urim and Thumniim, God avIio dAvelt betAveen the cherubim, Avhich covered the ark Avith their wings, Avas no longer there ! ! What a poor compensation was the Avordly honor their nation had acquired for the loss of the divine presence they suffered by departing from the institution of Jehovah ! In the foUoAving pages we find clearly exhibited the design of preaching, as we learn It from the Scriptures of • truth, and from tliis original design itself is inferred Avhat a preacher ought to be, and the manner in Avhich he should 14 INTKODUCTION, deliver his messape. He should be clear in his con\'ictions of the truth of his message, and the condition of those to whom he is called to deliver it. He is required to follow the example of his Lord — sent to "seek and to save theni who are lost," and to declare to them the only conditions on which they can be saved. His hearers, though of every variety and description of character which humanity i)re- Bentsare all alike in one respect. They are moral free agents, placed in this world to undergo a state of probation, trial, or discijdino, under the divine appointment, in reference to an ulterit)r purjjose of God, to be developed in a future state of being; and their condition in the world to come is to depend upon the imi)rovemcnt they make of the blessings, the advantages, and ojjport unities atforded them in the providence of God in their state of probation in this life. Here only can they acquire the holiness which will fit them for the enjoyments of heaven. Yet lie finds them, for the most part, living without reference to their eternal interest**, without God, and without hope in the world. Ha.'itening to death and Judgment, they are ab.sorbed by sensual and earthly delights, giving them- selves up to the "lusts of the llcsh and the pride of life." God has sent him to alarm them by presenting their danger, by setting before them the retributions of eternity, and when he has awakened in them the earnest desire to flee the wrath to come, to annmmce to them the Gospel salvation; to i)enetrate their souls with the Joyous declar- ation of the Saviour, that "(iod so loved the world"' — a world (lead in tresj)aK.ses and sins — a province of his em- pire in open rebellion — that "he gave his only begotten Son that wiiosoever believcth in him should not perbh, but INTliODUOTION. 15 have everlasting life." Now surely the preacher will be in earnest — will sliow, in Lis manner and address, his own deep conviction of the truths he utters, and of his deep feeling for the awful danger to which his hearers are exposed at every step of life. Hence earnestness and zeal are indispensable qualifications in the messenger of God — the preacher of the Gospel. But is such earnestness and zeal compatible with the cold discussions and formal arrangements of scholastic divinity? In the following work the dialectics of the theological schools are fairly exhibited, and we are free to say that the trammels, imposed upon the pulpit by theo- logians, has done more to prevent its success than all the writings of the deists and atheists of ancient or modern times. We heartily thank brother Stevens for the scathing criticism he has given of tlie manuals which — save the mark — are furnished to young preachers as models upon which to construct their sermons, and Avhich would, if adopted, crystalize the earnestness of preaching into an iceberg. But *we would call especial attention to the reinarks on extemporaneous preaching in the following work. It is to the reading of sermons our preachers will be most tempted ; and the evil of yielding to the temptation is made very aj^parent. And we think, no one who reads what is said on the subject in this little volume can be- •lieve the reading of sermons compatible with the zeal and earnestness which should characterize the preacher of the Gospel, impressed as he should be with the deep anxiety for the present immediate effects of his efforts to pluck the souls of his hearers out of the fire — as brands from the burning. 16 IMTKODUCilON. The article on Methodist preaching is just, bold, and fearless. At the risk of what is most painful to a man of delicacy and good taste, the being called a sectarian bigot, the writer claims for our fathers to have furnished the beat models of true evangelical preachers, and tiie most successful in accomplishing the great end and ultimate design of jireaching the Gospel. But his facts bear hira out; and he may set all cavil and criticism at defiance. Theirs was the preaching for their times : and we doubt whether any other kind of preaching is required by the present times, or will be hereafter, while the Avorld remains "dead in trespasses and sins," in despite of the more general diffusion of learning and j»hilosop]iy. TuoMAs E. Bond, Sen. ESSAYS OK THE PREACHING REaUIRED BY THE TIMES. ESSAY I. DEFECTS OF MODERN PREACHING AND THEIR REMEDIES. Homiletics — Meaning of the Word — Its modern Abuse — Actual Character of our Preaching — History of Preaching — The Prim- itive Sermon — Origen — Preaching among the Puritans — Mod- ern "Manuals " on Preaching — A Criticism on Sturtevant — An Example of ' Skeletonizing" — Objections to Skeletons — ^" Great Preachers " — Clerical Estimates of Preaching. The pulpit is one of the permanent institutions of Christianity. It is founded in the permanent necessities of the Church, and was ordained as expressly as the " Sacraments," — to continue " even unto the end of the world." Claiming a divine authorization, charged with the promul- gation of the divine will, appealing to the deep- est sensibilities of human nature, and at the same time capable of consecrating to its pur- poses, most, if not all the aids of learning and genius, and nearly every subject of public in- terest, it ought certainly to stand unrivaled on 2 • y 18 ESSAYS ON THE PREACHING the earth in its moral power, — tlie supreme source of influence over the mind of the world. It is not necessary that we should here question w^hether such is its sway or not. Whatever we may claim to be its actual power, unquestion- ably it does not approach the effectiveness which its peculiar advantages ought to aftbrd. K its influence is not decMning throughout Christen- dom, as is sometimes alleged, undeniably it falls far short of what our own times require. We propose to discuss some of the causes and reme- dies of this deficiency. We must further premise that while we can- not, of couree, pretend to anything very original on the subject, we should not deem it proper to waste our pages with its conceded common- places; we expect to say many things that will not be conceded, and to say them outrightly. We bespeak, therefore, the indulgence of our readers, especially of our clerical readers, who, we trust, would rather read our honest dissent from the current views of the subject, than the hackneyed arguments for them. Wliat is the character of our actual preach- ing f Why is it such ? And wluit should it he ? AUoAV us to answer these (juestions as frankly as we can; tlic firet two ut least, as the REQUIRED BY THE TIMES. 19 answer of these will imply tlieir converse — the answer of the third. And let not the reader suppose, from this methodical " division of the subject," that we are about to inflict on him a homily on "Homi- letics." Far from it. We shall say some very hard things against that sham-art, as we deem it ; one that might properly be defined the art of making preaching artificial. Preaching an art ! We might almost as well have an art of rejoicing with those who rejoice, and of weep- ing with those who weep — of exercising the holiest charities — of communing with God him- self. Even prayer has been defined into an art by " Homiletics." There are many shams yet in science, and some in art ; but what science is fuller of them than " Dogmatic Tlieology," (if we except the kindred one of Speculative Phi- losophy,) and what art more disfigured by them than " Homiletics ?" We use this term, of course, in its modern technicalized sense. It is marvelous how it has become thus technicalized. Its etymology and iits first use are directly against its modern ap- 'plication. Homily, in old sensible Greek, meant a sociable discourse — a discourse in com- pany. It had a very humble meaning down to 20 ESSAYS ON TUE PREACHING tho clay of the Keformation even; and the " Book of Homilies," — that sterling old standard of the Anglican Clnirch — was a collection of simple, easy discourses, got out at the period of the Reformation, to be read in the country parishes, by such of the clergy of the times (of whom there were not a few) as were incapable of preparing sermons themselves. Now we have '■'' HomiUtic^^'' — the art of making f homily! AVe endow even departments in learned institutions for the express purpose of teaching this art. But arc there not, it will be asked, certain proprieties of pulpit discourse? and if so, why not put them into scientific form, and tmch them? There are, undeniably, such proprieties; but so far as they diflfer from the ordinary ndes , of oratory, they are the proprieties which are in- tuitive, instinctive, we were about to say, to sin- cere common sense. Tliere are proprieties about the conversation of your hearth, your intercourse with your children, or your sorrow over their coffins; but would y»ni study thoni as an art? We believe, in iinc, tliat the overweening and fastidious elaborateness with which theology and its ministration in the pulpit liave been wrought — the one into a science, the other into REQUIRED BY THE TIMES. 21 an art — are illegitimate to their original pnrity and popular character, and are detractions — the chief detractions, we are inclined to think — from their popnlar acceptance and power. And this we are compelled to say at any risk of imputa- tions of " radicalism." We believe, further, that a change, not much short of a revolution, is to occur in these re- spects before the world is much older; that dogmatic standards are to giro way generally before tlie supremacy of the one only infallible standard — " the oracles of God ; " and that the ministration of these oracles from the pulpit is to be reformed from many of its factitious pe- culiarities, and made again what it was among the apostles and their immediate successors — earnest, simple, powerful address — hortative talk, if we may so call it — modeled after no school, and without technical forms. There has been a slow, but sure progress toward these re- forms ever since the Reformation, especially in respect to the subject matter of religious instruc- tion. For a thousand years before that epoch, the higher mind of Christendom was absorbed in metaphysical theology. Tlie "Schoolmen". were about the only thinkers of the " dark ages;" and what thinking was tlieirs ! Whether most 22 ESSAYS ON THE PREACHING profound or most absurd, it is difficult to say ? But how has the good common-sense of the emancipated mind of the Protestant workl leap- ed out of this maelstrom ! How has time swept away the "scholastic" speculations! and what theologian could now, without exciting a smile, quote the authority of Lanfranc or Anselm, Duns Scotus or Abelard, Thomas Aquinas or William of Ockham ? What has theoloffv now to do, or Avill it ever again have to do, with the doctrines of Plato, or the dialectics of Aris- totle?* This reform in scientific divinity is still slowly advancing, and will go on, we believe and pray. Dogmatic speculation and bigotry in theology will dechne, but not real leaniing. Tliere is vastly more genuine learniuir now among theologians than there «.w was before ; but it is showing the superior good sense which accompanies it by avoiding the old dialectics, and, to a good degree, the old metaphysics ; and by confining itself mostly to Biblical criticism ♦ We do not forget the influence of Plato on Schleier- inaclier, Ncander, and a few similar German minds ; but such cases are rare and anomalous. It need not be sjiid U> the classic student that wo do not deny the permanent litirary rank of his nolile writings; we atlirm only that the si)erial relation whii-h they sust^iined lo C'liristian theology for ages has ceasefl, and probably ci-a-^od forover. KEQUIKED BY THE TIMES. 23 — ^the exposition of revealed truth by learned research, rather than by original speculation. The improvement we speak of is characteris- tic of our age, and one of those characteristics which belong not merely to its actual state, but to its tendency. It is, we repeat, to be further developed. And let us not fear it. Christianity will gain in purity and in power by it. If niue- tenths of all the dogmatic writings in theology now extant were to be at once burned up, it would be an auto dafe around which the Churcli might well sing a doxology. The pure, simple truth of the Bible could be read better in the light of that conflagration (and conflagration it would assuredly be) than in the " light which is darkness" that comes from their pages. This improvement in the subject-matter of preaching has not been without effect on preach- ing itself. Technical or "homiletic" as the lat- ter still is in its mannerisms, and dogmatic as it still is in its matter, who does not perceive its rapid improvement? The sermonic forms and style common among even the Pm-itaus, would not be tolerated in this day. Testy as the reader may suppose our present criticism to be, we nevertheless write more in hope than in despond- ence. We believe that, divested of the facti- 24 ESSAYS OX THE PKEACIIIXO tious peculiarities "svliicli still trammel it, the pulpit will yet become what the common sense of all men see, abstractly, that it ought to be, — the very throne of moral power in our world ; and that its voice, like the trumpet which Moses describes so sublimely as echoing above the tlmnderings of Sinai, shall "wax louder and louder" through the world. So iar as this partial reform of preaching has advanced it will be found, like that of theology, to consist in a return (whether designed or not) to the earnest simplicity and directness of the early Church. What was the primitive preacliing? The ec- clesiastical historians all agree in describing it as, in the language of Mosheim, " Exhorta- tion to the people, neither eloquent [oratorical] nor long, but full of warmtli and love,'' — that is, full of genuine eloquence. This was the lii'st form of the " Homily" as it waa delivered, after the reading of the Scriptures, in the Christian assemblies, and was douI)tless copied from the example of the synagogue, where our Lord, after reading, closed the book, sat down, and talked to the people. Mosheim notices the declen- sion of preaching in the third century, ami lays the blame partly at tlie door of Origon, that un- REQUIEED BY THE TIMES. 25 fortunate metapliysical father, who was not only " the first, so far as we know, that made long discourses," but whose originalities, in other re- spects, seem destined ever to be recurring to vex the theological world.* Tlie "Homily," in its more regular form, followed ; but it was, in the preaching of the best of the fathers, a simple home-directed address to the people, generally in exposition of the lesson of the day. Durino; the middle aa-es there was little real preaching. Ritualism took the place of most else in religion — not excepting morals them- selves. After the Reformation preaching re- vived, and the Anglician " Homilies" were pro- vided, as we have said, for the unlearned .clergy and rustic consfrea-ations. The Puritan outbreak was the great era of preaching, so called ; the stout-hearted iconoclasts of that movement left scarcely anything else in the public service of religion. • Almost all ritual services being thrown away, the preacher had to supply their place by long prayers and long lectures. Splendid thinkers were those old Puritan divines, but what preachers! Tliey abound in riches of thought, but their sermons are mosaics of gems in slate, or rather in burned clay, dry as the old * See Eev. Mr. Beecher'.s new work, " The Conflict of Ages." 26 ESSAYS ON THE PEEACHING burned Lricks of Nineveh. Ludicrous, al- most, are tlic descriptions which remain of their tireless pulpit strains. We are lost in admira- tion at their determined pereistence, and tlie equally determined patience of their ]iearei"s: both seemed resolute to weary out Satan if they could not otherwise make him fly. Burnet re- fers to a fast-day service, " in which there were six sermons preached without intermission." Philip Henry " used to begin at nine in the morning, and never leave the pulpit until about four in the afternoon; spending all that time in praying and expounding, and singing and prt'uchiug, to the admiration of all that heard liim." John Howe " usually began at nine in the morning with a prayer of a quarter of an hour, read and expounded Scripture for al)Out threc-quartoi-s of an hour, then prayed half an hour. Tlie people then sung a quarter of an hour, during which he retired and took some re- freshment, lie then went into the pulpit again, preached another hour, prayed an hour, the peo- ple then sung a quarter of an hour, and a prayer of a quarter of an hour concluded the service." Herculean, heroic was that in its way! — woi-king indeed — if it was not even after the apostolic prescrijitioM in 'J 'rim. ii, 15. REQUIRED BY THE TIMES. 27 Sturtevant (who, as we shall show directly, should have been the last man to throw stones at these sturdy old sermonizers) can hardly restrain a smile at them, even in the midst of his own amazing labyi'inth of Homiletic "divisions" and " subdivisions." He says, rather nwively, "in application they were very ex- tensive ;" and then adds, " they often appro- priate an entire sermon to this purpose ; they give what they called uses of information^ ex- amination^ exhortation^ reproofs encouragement^ and many other heads. Sometimes, previously to the exposition, they would invite their audience to follow them into certain prior con- siderations ; to clear the way to the text.. One of them favored the people with sixty or seventy previous considerations, and then said he was about to open the text ! Thus, with all their excellences, they had great faults ; they were too much addicted to the silly logic of their times ; they shredded their texts into the greatest possible number of parts, and some- times ran out into 'great lengths of reasoniug. It will be your task to avail yourself of their excellences without copying their faults." And yet he acknowledges their unquestionable in- tellectual richness, and, in dismissing them, 28 ESSAYS ON TIIK PKEACHING drops a significant liint : " Many who are ex- tolled as original prcacliei"s and men of genius, have obtained much of their reputation by modernizing our old authoi*s," Yery true, and in so doing they have, as usual, stolen not only the gems, but also the faults of these old divines. We owe what straight-jacket trammels still mar the natm*ahiess and power of the pulpit mostly to the mannerisms of these strong-headed but saintly old " sermonizers." In spite of the freer tendencies of the times our text-books on Homiletics still contend as lustily for the technicalities of the sermon as the old French critics used to for the ""unities" of the drama. Sturtevant himself is one of the latest authorities; his liuge volume* lies before us at present, an appalling octavo of be- tween six and seven hundred moi'tal pages, iiiucli of it small type, "w>/ /(/.'' Xow, though it is hard to keep a sober countenance over this sight, wo do soberly declare that had we a young mind, of any strong common-sense on the one hand, or fineness of faculty and sensibil- ity on the other, to train for the pulpit, we should be ex]iccting daily, as wo conducted him through ihis monstrous text-book — this pervei*so * " I'lvaclier's ^Nfnnnal," an oxtrnortlinary luiHiioiner. REQUIRED BY THE TIMES. 29 abuse of a simple and sublime subject — to see him retreat from his purpose with irremediable disgust. These more than six hundred pages are devot- ed exclusively to the technicalities of sermoniz- ing. We almost persj)ire as we ti-ace down the tables of contents. Our eye is arrested by the " divisions" of a subject — and here we have no less than "nine kinds of divisions:" the "Exe- getical Division," the "Accommodational Divi- sion," the "Regular Division," the "Interrogat- ive Division," the " Observational Division," the "Prepositional Division," &c.; and then come the "Rise from Species to Genus," the "Descent from Genus to Species." And theh again we have exordiums: " Narrative Exordiums," "Ex- pository Exordiums," "Argumentative Exor- diums," "Observational Exordiums," "Applica- tory Exordiums," "Topical Exordiums," and, alas for us! even "Extra-Tojjical Exordiums." One's thoughts turn away from a scene like this spontaneously to the Litany, and query if there should not be a new prayer there. But this is not all. Here are about thirty stubborn pages to tell you how to make a com- ment on your text, and we have the "Eulogistic Comment" and the "Dislogistic Comment," 30 ESSAYS ON THE PKEACHING (turn to your dictionary, reader ; we cannot stop in the race to define,) the "Argumentative Com- ment*' and the "Contemphitive Comment," the "Hyperbolical Comment," the '"Interrogative Comment," and the list tapers off at last with what it ought, to have begun and ended with, the "Exi>ositorv Comment." And even this is not all. Here is a section on the "Difterent kinds of Address," and behold the astute analysis: — "The Appellatorv, Tlie Entreating, The Expostulator\% The Remedial, The Directive, The Encouraging, Tlie Consoling, The Elevating, The Alarming, Tlie Tender, Tlie Indignant, The Abrupt." Tills is tlio way that tlic art "Homiletic" would teach us wlicn and how to be "Tender," "Indignant," "Consoling," and even "Abrupt!" Nonsense ! Yes, " nonsense !" ea}'8 any man of good sense in looking at this folly: a folly which would be less lamentable if it could only be kcj)t to the homiletic jirofessor's chair, but which has still an almost characteristic effect on pulpit elo- quence — not only on the form, of the sermon, but as a natural consequence on its very ani- mv^H. This tireless author gives all the^se out- lines ji8 practical prescriptions. He oven pre- KEQUIKED BY THE TIM3S. 31 sents them in a precise formula. We must yield to the temptation to quote it. "There are," he says, "certain technical signs employed to dis- tinguish the several parts of a discourse. The first class consists of the princijpal divisions, marked in Roman letters, thus : — I., II., III., lY., &c. ]^ext, the suhdivisions of the first class, in figures, 1, 2, 3, &c. Under these, sub- divisions of the second class, marked with a curve on the right, as 1,) 2,) 3,) &c. Then, suh- divisions of the third class, marked with two curves, as (1,) (2,) (3,) &c. ; and under these, sub- divisions of the fourth class, in crotchets, thus : [1,][2,][3.] As- " I. Principal division. 1 . Subdivision of first class. 1.) " " second class, (1.) " " third class. [1.] " " fourth class." Mathematical this, certainly ; some of Euclid's problems are plainer. As a " demonst]rtition " is obviously necessary, the author proceeds to give the outline of a sermon on ^^ The Diversity of Ministerial Gifts^'' from the text '■'■N'ow there are Diversities of Oifts^'' &c. He has but two "General Divisions," but makes up for their paucity by a generous allowance of "Subdivi- sions." His "General Divisions" are, I. Ex- 32 ESSAYS ON THE PREACHING emjplify the 2'vuth of the Text. II. Derive some Lessons of Instruction^ &c., — au arrangement simple and suitable enough for any popular audience, if he were content with it, hut under the first head he has two "subdivisions," the fii-st of which is reduced to thirteen sub-subdivi- sions, and one of these thirteen again to seven sub-sub-subdivisions ! Tlie second of his subdi- visions is again divided into eight sub-subdivi- sions, while the "homily" (alas for the name!) is completed by a merciless slashing of the second " general division" into no less than eight subdivisions. Tlie honest author, when he takes breath at the end, seems to liave some compunc- tious misgivings about this infinitesimal minc- ing of a noble theme, and reminds the amazed student that though tlic plan should be followed " in the composition of a sermon," the " minor divisions" can be concealed from view in preach- ing ; ari^ he concludes the medley of nonsense with one sensible and very timely admonition: — "If a discoui-se contain a considerable number of divisions and subdivisions, care should be taken to fill uj) the respective parts with suit- able matter, or it will be, indeed, a mere sk4'/e- ton — bones strung together, 'very many and veiy diy.'" REQUIRED BY THE TIMES. 33 "We acknowledge that we ought to ask the pardon of the reader for obtruding upon him these minute follies ; but we have wished to treat the subject in its matter-of-fact details, and to contribute, in the most practical way we could, to the progress of what we hope is a per- manent reform, now going on in our pulpits. We have quoted for the purpose, from one of the most common works on Homiletics,* an author who, amid this egregious mass of non- sense, sajs, and with some truth, that he "passes over a great many " things discussed by one of his most noted predecessors, because the omitted matters, " treating of the manner of discussing different kinds of texts, are strictly learned and criticdX, and such nice ^joints may be waived for the present !" We cannot drop the allusion to these " Homi- * And it is, we believe, considered one of the best also. Bridge's Christian Ministry is another favorite but formida- ble Avork, an octavo of about five hundred pages, some- what less technical, but stuffed with useless common-places, which have the advantage, however, of being relieved by incessant and very choice quotations from the best writers, passages that sparkle like gems in a heap of dry scorite. This pious writer reminds us, by his talent at quotation, of old Burton's " Anatomy of Melancholy." There would be some danger of that malady in reading the book, were it not for its refreshing extracts. 3 34 ESSAYS ON THE PREACHING letic" books without admonishing the young theological student to obstinately eschew them. Tiy not to masticate their dry husks. Turn to the rich mines of the great theological writers for intellectual resources ; turn to the standard works on common oratory for the few simple principles of the art ; for these alone are what you need, besides your common sense. If you have not common sense enough to guide you, with such simple aids, to a manly, befitting address, — if your natural faculties are not good enough to enable you to make a rational " com- ment " on your text without this drilling in the " eulogistic " and " dislogistic comments," — then turn away from the altar — you have no right there. J^ut, at all events, turn away from these "Ilomiletic" text-books ; turn to your own heart, if you have nothing else, and evoke its common sympathies and common sense ; these will be infinitely better than the Ilomiletic manuals ; turn to ordinary books of taste and style, they are even better. You had better, like Chrys- ostom, " the golden-mouthed," go to sleep with old Aristophanes under your ]>ill(»\v than with these huge Ilomiletic ]>hantoms haunting your dreams. Arist(»]>hanos gave the Byzantine bish- op the purest exam))le of the Attic dialect at REQUIRED BY THE TIMES. 35 least ; these Homiletic authors will give you neither rhetoric nor logic. We have thus indicated, in part, the actual character of the sermon; its critical forin^ as a mode of discoui-se, as well as much of its suhjcct- matter, needs, we think, no little reform. Tliat reform is in progress, as we have admitted. It has advanced greatly in our day, so much, indeed, that the extreme use of the critical peculiarities, which w^ere deemed by the Puritan divines almost essential to the sermon, would not now be tolerated by our congregations. Even the technical peculiarities which have been tolera- ted in the modern sermon are beoinninsr srradu- ally to disappear from the discourses of the first class of pulpit intellects, and it is to be hoped that before many yeai-s the " firstly," " sec- ondly," and " thirdly" — the whole technical herd of " divisions" and subdivisions" — will, like the swine before the simple, powerful word of Christ, " run violently down a steep place into the sea " of oblivion, and " perish in its waters." The usual plea that minute dissections heljj the popular mind to remember the discourse, is unfounded in fact. The clerical hearers, if any such be present, will remember them, so admira- ble a thing is "sermonizing" clerically consid- 36 KS8AYS ON THK PKEACIIING ered; hut these technical niceties are irksome to the people. Ask yonr common hearere what they remember of any given sermon ; you will scarcely find a recollection of " firstly," " sec- ondly," or " thirdly ;" and as for the suhtechnics, they have entirely escaped into the air. The people remeniher the main subject, the most natural and vivid illustrations of it, and the most powerful liortative points in the enforcement of it ; but seldom or never its technical method. Equally fallacious is the supposition that, by alibrding the preacher something definite to stand upon — a structure of thought — they secure to liini tliat self-possession, tliat "freedom" so prized l)y the public speaker. If these tech- nicalities constituted the real preparation of the discourse, there would be some ti'uth in the supposition; l)ut arc they not usually only trammels upon it, curbing the freedom of the mind ? " Freedom," as it is called, in public speaking, depends upon other and many con- ditions. No ])rcparation can always secure it. He that is forever anxious for it will be likely the less to possess it. The sensibibty that oftenest secures powerful eloquence is often, also, the cause of agitation and failure ; and he that would be powerful in the jmlpit must be REQUIRED BY THE TIMES. 37 resigned to occasional defeats. But let him not care for that; one untrammeled, thrilling, sweeping discourse, is worth half-a-dozen dry, respectable homilies, and a man of genuine eloquence will soon come to be recognized as such, notwithstanding his failures ; nay, the latter will come to be considered by his hearers — whether by their favoritism or their criticism — as the enhancing contrasts of his successful eiforts — the shades of the picture. There are, unquestionably, as we have said, proprieties of pulpit discoui'se as of any other discourse; but there are none, that we can con- ceive of, peculiar to it except the peculiarly religious spirit, and the warmer, higher • elo- quence which that should insure. The few general principles of eloquence which are ap- plicable to all oratory are all that need be sought for the pulpit. The sermon should be relieved of useless technical peculiarities ; of everything peculiar to it, in fine, except its higher moral tone ; and, placed upon the same platform with all other sound popular eloquence, be allowed there untrammeled play. When thus emancipated it will have its legitimate power. What would be the fate of any popular, or 38 ESSAYS ON THE PKEACHINO forensic, or senatorial orator, who should adopt the stringent artificialities of tlie sermonizer? Clergymen, elevated though tliey truly are as a class, cling closely to class opinions, and it is perhaps inevitable under tlieir circumstances. Tlieir own estimate of pulpit ability tends to perpetuate the defects of the pulpit. Tlie man that stirs the soul, that moves the multitude, that speaks in the desk as lie would in the vestry or on the platform — naturally and power- fully — he is not usually considered by his cleri- cal brethren the really great preacher ; he is the " poet," the " elocutionist," the " revivalist." He is " the great preacher," nevertlieless. Let him be content ; for God, and the good com- mon-sense which God has put into the common mind, will always recognize him as such. There are two classes which, we apprehend, usually pass clerical criticism as "great preachere," viz.: the gi'eat "sermonizers," — men who most effectually mechanize a discourse, shackling it with strict distinctions ; and, on the other hand, those who can most elaborately speculate out a dogmatic subject — men of powerful thought, but who display that power more in the liand- ling of a difficult topic than in the control of the popular mind — the sweeping, renovating REQUIKED BY THE TIMES. 39 sway over the conscience and life of the multi- tude, which is really the highest power on earth — the power which the Holy Ghost himself de- scends from heaven to exert. In both these resj)ects the pulpit will be revolutionized in less than a hundred years from to-day. " Tliat which metaphysical preaching teaches," says D wight, " may be true, and the arguments used to support it may be sound ; but the distinctions are so subtile, and the reasoning so abstruse and difficult, that the hearer's attention to the truth is lost in his attention to the preacher's in- genuity; his mind prevented from feeling what is intended, by the absoi"ption of his thoughts in the difficulties of the argument, and his heart chilled by the cold manner in which all such discussions are conducted. The metaphysician, whether aware of it or not, is employed in dis- playing his own ingenuity, and not in disclosing and confirming the truth of God." " The plain and easy way of preaching," says Robinson in his notes on Claude, " is wonder- fully adapted to the capacities, and inclinations, too, of a multitude of hearers; and such a method, purged of artificial logic, will one day or other, it is hoped, imiversally prevail." 40 ESSAYS ON THE PREACUING i ESSAY 11. DEFECTS OF MODERN PEEACHING, AND THEIK REMEDIES- CONTINUED. The Literary Rank of the Sermon — Its lack of Popular Interest — Reason of it — Lack of Moral Power — What should be the Power of the Pulpit? In answering tlie question, What is tJie actual character of our preaching? we liave referred to defects in both the suLject-matter and the critical form of the sermon. Mostly owing to these defects is it, perhaps, that sermons constitute so small a staple in our popular literature. Tliey have been published abundantly ; but they do not last long, and have little intlnenco while they do bust. It was esti- mated, twenty yeare ago, that there were at least a million printed sermons in our lan- guage ;* this estimate did not include the pub- lished sermons of this couutiy ; add to it these, together with the vast issues of the kind in Eng- gland since the calculation, and the nundjer must swell immensely. Yet how few on this prodigious list have any popular currency, or * SatclifTe's " Notes to Osterwald." REQUIRED BY THE TIMES. 41 will ever be reprinted ! A critic in the Kdin- hurgh Review (Oct., 1840) expresses surprise that " there should be so small a proportion of sermons destined to live; that out of the rii'dlioii and upward, preached annually throughout the empire, there should be so very few that are re- membered three whole days after they are de- livered — fewer still that are committed to the press — scarcely one that is not in a few years absolutely forgotten. If any one," continues the reviewer, " were, for the firet time, informed what preaching was — if, for example, one of the ancient critics had been told that the time would come when vast multitudes of persons should assemble regularly, to be addressed, in the- midst of their devotions, upon the most sacred truths of a religion sublime beyond all the speculations of philosophers, yet in all its most important points simple, and of the easiest apprehension ; that with those truths were to be mingled dis- cussions of the whole circle of human duties, according to a system of morality singularly pure and attractive ; that the more dignified and the more interesting parts of national affairs were not to be excluded fi-om the discourse; that, in short, the most elevating, the most touching, and the most interesting of all topics 42 ESSAYS ON THE PltaCACIIING were to be the subject-matter of the address, directed to persons sufficiently vci^sed in them, and assembled only from the desire they felt to hear them handled — surely the conclusion would at once have been drawn, that such occa- sions must train up a race of the most consum- mate orators, and that the effusions to which they gave birth must needs cast all other rheto- rical compositions into the shade." So it would seem a priori j but how otherwise is the seem- ing a posteriori ? Tlie reason of the fact we are not now to discuss ; it will come before us hereafter ; the fact itself is unquestionable. Is there, indeed, any other department of litera- ture which yields comparatively so few perma- nent productions? And is there anything, of a merely critical character, that would more effectually impair the literary pretensions of any other productions of the pen than a liability to the charge of its having the mannerisms or general style of the sermon? In this country the pulpit has made ample contributions to the press ; but how many of its productions will be permanent? IIow many American sermons which have been publii^hod within the present generation will be read at all by the next ? We cannot enumerate more than two authors who REQUIRED BY THE TIMES. 43 will probably have this honor, and they will have it, not because their productions are ser- mons, but in spite of that fact. Sermons, in fact, are proverbially dull read- ing. If they have any j^opular currency at all, it is usually because of some local or temporary occasion. When they discuss the peculiar topics of the pulpit alone, though these are con- fessedly the grandest themes of human thought and solicitude, they generally fail of popular ac- ceptance through the press. Clergymen, we suppose, are the chief readers, now-a-days, of printed sermons, — somewhat, probably, after the manner of Sir Roger de Coverley's chaplain. The old standard works of the kind — many of them voluminous, and not a few of them replete with ability — are becoming daily more con- fined to clerical libraries. Except when sus- tained by some historical or other extraordinary prestige, like those of Wesle^ or Luther, they are seldom found in the homes of the common j)eo- ple. On the shelves of more cultivated families or literary laics they may occasionally be de- tected in an obscure and dusty corner, but less and less commonly even there. In public li- braries they form the most undisturbed resting- places for venerable spiders and book-worms. 44 ESSAYS ON THE PliEACIIING And this fact is certainly not altogether owing to a lack of interest in the subjects proper to sermon literature; it is owing to the critical peculiarities of the sermon. Tlic ]jeoplc read extensively on those subjects; they are a mor- al, a constitutional demand of human nature. Tliere are but few others that engage equally their attention, but they require them in a dif- ferent form. Thev read them in reliscious bio- graphics, in manuals of practical religion, in essays even, — in any shape rather than the ser- mon. And if a volume of sermons has any con- siderable popular circulation now-a-days, it is because either of some characteristic deviation fi-om the old sermonic form and style, giving it the title of a special book, like Jay's "Exer- cises," or his " Christian Contemplated," Beecher on " Intemperance," or Cheever's " AVindings of the River of Life," or else by reason of some special provocatives of ability or heresy, like the discoui*ses of Channing or Pai'ker. Kindred to this view of the subject is another, viz.: t/te comparatively little popular interest which is felt in tlie sermon as delivered from the pulpit. Dr. Johnson ascribes the lack of success, among writei*s of religious poetry, to tlie sacredncss, the spiritual elevation of their REQUIRED BY THE TIMES. 45 themes, which our sentiments of religions rever- ence* will not allow to be treated like other sub- jects. There may be some truth in the remark, and it may have some j)ertinency to the subject before us. There is also, we apprehend, a still more profound reason for this lack of interest in both religious poetry and religious discourse, viz. : the natural repugnance of depraved human nature to whatever is holy — that is, whatever is unlike itself. This, we think, a truer solution of the problem than that assigned by Johnson. But, allowing for the influence of these conside- rations, is not the comparatively slight interest which accompanies preaching still an amazing fact? And is it not manifestly owing, in a great measure, to the peculiar style and mannerisms of the pulpit? The preacher, many of whose hearers, on the Sabbath, are asleep, and the greater proi^ortion at least half asleep, finds no difliculty • on the week-day night in keeping them thoroughly awake by the less technical discussion of an infinitely less important subject, in the town-lyceiim. Why is this difference between the religious congregation and any other popular assembly so marked? Tlie inat- tention, the vacant faces, the drowsiness almost habitually seen in the Sabbath assembly would 46 ESSAYS ON TllK I'KEACUING be quite anomalous in the scientific or literary lecture-room, the theater, the concert, the legis- lature, or the court-room. However dull the su])ject in the latter, still it will command more interest; the manner of its presentation, its style, all its accompaniments, seem more natural and more readily take up the attention. Tliis, we repeat, is the main secret of the difference. Tlie mannerisms of the pulpit have a pervading influence through all its ministrations; they subtly affect the very utterance of most preach- ers; and even men of culture and manly sense often have in the sacred desk tones which, if used in a literary lecture, would produce either a general titter, or a general stupor. It is quite fallacious to say that these tones and other man- nerisms are the effect of the greater solemnity of the pulpit. We must be excused from stop-" ping to answer any such plea; the less said about it the better. Of course we do not affirm that these defects and this consequent lack of popular interest in the preached sermon are univei-sal. Ihit are they not general? Do they not to a great extent give character to the performances of the pul- pit? Tlie late T*rofcss..r Ware, jr., (in the best treatise we have in favor of extemporaneous KEQUIRED BY THE TIMES. 47 preaching,) has much to say on tins dry, rigid, stupefying oratory, if oratory it can be called. " When a young man," he remarks, " leaves the seclusion of a student's life to preach to his fellow- men, he is likely to speak to them as if they were scholars. He imagines them to be capable of appreciating the niceties of method and style, and of being affected by the same sort of senti- ment, illustration, and cool remark, which affects those who have been accustomed to be guided by the dumb and lifeless pages of a book. He therefore talks to them calmly, is more anxious for correctness than impression, fears to make more noise or to have more motion than the very letters on his manuscript; addressing himself, as he thinks, to the intellectual part of man; but he forgets that the intellectual man is not very easy of access, and must be approached through the senses, and affections, and imagination. There was a class of rhetoricians and orators at Rome in the time of Cicero, who were famous for having made the same mistake. They would do everything by a fixed and almost mechanical rule — by calculation and measurement. Their sentences were measured, their gestures were measured, their tones were measured ; and they framed canons of judgment and taste, by which 49 ESSAYS ON THE PKEACniNG it was pronouuced an affront on the intellectual nature of man to assail liini with epithets, and exclamations, and varied tones, and em])liatic gesture. They censured the free and flowing manner of Cicero as ' tumid and exuberant,' nee satis p}X'ssus, supra inoduvn exidtans et super- fiucris. They cultivated a more guarded and concise style, which might indeed please the critic or the scholar, but was wholly unfitted to instruct or move a promiscuous audience; as was said of one of them, oratio — doctis et attente axidientihxis erat illustrisi a tmiltitiidine autem et a foro^ an nata eloquent la est, devorabatur. Hie taste of the nmltitude prevailed, and Cicero was the admiration of the people, while those who pruned themselves by a more rigid and philosophical law, 'Coldly correct Jind critically dull,' were frequently deserted by the audience in the midst of their harangues."* The most yjopular preachers of any period, it will be found, are such as, by the impetuosity of their fcolings, or the ])ower of their genius, break over most of ihese ]>rofossioiud habits. "VVhiteiield, we may suppose, Avas the greatest jmlj)it orator of modern ages. Tlie remains of * Midund about midway between them. / liEQUIRED BY THE TIMES. 55 The former incessantly repeats the great ele- mentary truths of inward religion — repentance, faith, justification, regeneration, sanctification, &c. And these are, indeed, the real elements of power in Christian theology — the most legi- timate themes of preaching. They should enter directly or indirectly into all preaching, and the desk where they are not familiar subjects is shorn of the distinctive strength and brightness of the puljjit. Our objection, then, is not to tlieir habitual reiteration, but to the want of a more sjyecijlc application of the moral standard which tliey imply to common life, and to the current events and even the puhlic questions of the day. Cannot this pure and powerful "evan- gelism," now so continually exhibited in our stricter pulpits, and yet so almost exclusively applied to the church altar or the vestry meet- ing, the closet or the inward life of the individ- ual, — can it not be brought out more into the arena of ordinary life, and its sanctifying power be made to reach all interests of men? That is the question. And that is the grandest question that we think can be put to the Christian world in this day. Most certainly the metaphysical, the dogmatical, and (if we may use the word) the 56 ESSAYS ON THE PREACHING strategetical managements, heretofore not un- common to the Church, are soon to be obsolete. Their day is fast departing, and all good men should pray God to speed it. Evangelism, as contrasted witli "Ecclesiasticism,"is hereafter to be the true form of the kingdom of God on earth, as it was during the iii'st centmy and a ♦■half. Tlie pulpit should be aware of the fact, and hail it with welcomes. While by the appli- cation of the great vital truths above mentioned, it aims at the cure of the individual soul us its immediate end, it should also demand a still larger sway for them; it should insist that they are applicable to all the external life of the times, as well as to the " interior life" of individ- ual Christians — are the tests of all moral (juos- tions, public as well as private — that, in fine, the essential "spirituality" of the Christian religion is its only law for all human conduct. Is it not the capital defect of the Churcli of our times, that it admits, tacitly at least, a dis- tinction between its ethics and its spiritual life, — contracting the latter (with iho idea that it is "enshrining" it) to its own altar, or to })rivate life, and seeming to allow the former to be alone applicable to the exterior or common life. And is not this the reason that saintship — not KEQTJIEED BY THE TIMES. 57 obscure at our altars or in our vestries — is so unclistinguisliable in the mart, or on 'change, or even in ordinary social life ? This defect comes of our defective preaching. Our more evangelic pulpit is forever reiterating the elementary truths referred to, — it defines them, and urges them ; but fails in the largeness of their application. Religion, primarily a per- sonal matter, becomes exclusively so. Tlie re- ligious life of the individual is defined ofif into a sanctification that pertains too much to the Sun- day pew, or the vestry meeting, the closet, or even the moral pathology of his secret emotions. And hence it is that our congregations sleep so soundly under what is called orthodox preach- ing. They know, when the subject is an- nounced, what the tenor of the discourse will be ; its spiritualizations or etherializations have become common-places to most of them. And lience, also, is it, that the preaching of these high and holy truths have so little prac- tical effect beyond the mere personal limits described. Men believed to be sincerely devot- ed to their "Church and closet duties" mingle almost undistinguishably with the godless mul- titude in those habits of business, those strata- gems (not to use a worse word) of political party. 58 KSSAYS ON THE PREACHING and customs of social life, whicli these great trutlis, rif(litly applied, would annihilate. And hence, also, comes tliat astonishing anomaly, tliat, during periods wlien these vital truths have been thoroughly exhibited, in tlieir mere personal applications, great public evils, no more reconcilable with them than light with darkness — such as war, intemperance, the slave- trade — have nevertheless prevailed, and been scarcely questioned. But when we drag such evils forth into the light of our Christian altars, how do they start up into gigantic apparitions of immorality, to be denounced and thundered down by the oracles of our God ? Let then the " evangelical " pvdpit ever hold up, with a high and energetic hand, these great lights of truth ; but not to shed their quickening illumination merely within the surrounding altar or the individual soul, but out, far out iqion all life. Let it afhrm that "holiness to the Lord" is the only morality it recognizes, because the onlv morality promulgated from the Ituler of the universe; that "holiness to the Lord" is not an admonition merely i'^n- the altar or the closet, but for the place of business, the ])olitical canvass, the puldic oflice, the social conijiany, the deck of commerce, and (if so / EEQUIRED BY THE TIMES. 59 startling a thought is admissible) the field of battle — for if men cannot be holy in fighting they ought not to fight. Let it apply its " evan- gelism" to these and other practical topics — what then would be its moral power? What then the variety and freshness of its themes, and the interest with which the now sleeping multi- tudes would look for its discussions ? What may be called the RationalistiG ^pulpit among us, errs in the opposite extreme. In its fear of being too theological it has become almost purely didactic. It delights in ethical and often in even esthetical themes. We give it credit for many accomplishments ; it is pol- ished and scholarly, and of a very beneficent tone, and hitherto of remarkably unsullied moral character ; but wliat is its moral power, especially over the masses ? And can we even conceive of its ever wielding a moral power which can reach the great stout heart of our common depraved humanity or startle the com- mon conscience ? By its Rationalistic views of divine retribution, it has abandoned the power " to persuade men" by "the terrors of the Lord;" and by divesting Christ and his mission of their highest significance, it has lost the chief argu- ment of the " goodness of God," which " should / 60 ESSAYS ON TlIK PltEACHING lead men to repentance." It has broken away, very happily, from the old homiletic technicali- ties of the sermon ; but its prelections have gen- erally become mere " essays " on the moralities of life. Some of them are commendably, some even heroically bold in their application of the Christian ethics to public questions ; but the great elements of life and power in Christianity are wanting, and they " fight as one that beat- eth the air," Channing, Worcester, Greenwood, Dewey, Bellows, Osgood, Cliapin, and their associates^ have given us some of the most beautiful and also some of the most conclusive elucidations of Christian morals ever written ; and Parker and his class, with all their heresies, wage heroic war against some public vices; but have they ever routed the enemy or shaken one of his positions? Do their llatioiuilistic dissertations ever break up the great dcej) of the hearts of hardened men? Do you ever hear of even an individual conscience powerfully awakened by them, of a libertine reclaimed, of an infidel blaspliemer convinced, and nuide to smite upon his breast and cry out, God be merciful to me, a sinner ? It would, indeed, be singular if these, or even less direct means, did not have some moral effect; for a temperance KEQUIRED BY THE TIMES. 61 speech may reclaim a drunkard from his one bad habit, but do ever individual cases of moral renovation — of change from vice or even indiffer- ence to profound penitence and to an earnest con- secrated life, occur under this partial exhibition of the truth ? The question is not whether de- vout men coming under such a ministration through accident, speculative error, or other- wise, may not continue devout, that is not a relevant point here, but is it a ministration of '^Ivation," of moral recovery to the lost, even in individual cases ? And as to its public influ- ence, was there ever a case known in which the attention of a vicious or heedless community was powerfully arrested and impressed by it, as has been the fact not merely under the ministry of great leaders of the Evangelical school — '"Wesley, Whitefield, Edwards, and Da- vies — 'but is commonly the case in most towns and villages in which are found Evangelical Churches", however humble ? Can it be said of its " Rationalistic " prelections, without a feel- ing of the almost ludicrous inaptness of the language, that they are " in demonstration of the Spirit and of power," that they are that " word of God " which " is quick and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing 62 ESSAYS ON TUE PKEAOllING even to tlie dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the tlioughts and intents of the heart?" And can any thoughtful man suppose, for a mo- ment, that such a ministration of Christianity is the one ordained from Heaven to beat back and finally overthrow the terrible energies of moral evil in our world? No, no ; it has some of the appliances of the truth, but not their central energy. " God in Christ reconciling the world unto himself '^s the fact in which inheres that central energy. It is not a mere sentiment of " evangelistic" fer- vor, but the highest dictate of a right " ration- alism" that subordinates all the ethical claims of Christianity to a personal and renovating faith in Christ himself, uniting the soul to him as tlie ingrafted brancli to the vine ; loving him because he first loved us ; receiving his ador- able name with those of the Fatlicr and the Spirit in baptism ; meeting him in our Chris- tian assemblies of even " two or three ;" pray- ing to him as did the dying Stephen ; '' wor- shiping him" with "all the angels" who them- selves were made by him ; trusting in liim as " our wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctifica- tion, and redemption," and refusing every other KEQUIKED BY THE TIMES. 63 name given among men as the title of salvation, Christ, the creator, by whom " all things were made," and yet the snfferer who "bore our sins," — the great teacher, but the greater re- deemer — Christ in Gethsemane and in the high- est heaven — Christ on the cross and on the throne of the universe — Christ paramoimt over all things in heaven or earth, to the trusting and adoring affection of the renewed heart — this is the foundation and the culmination of all Chris- tian truth. "What is Christianity without him but a mockery? A mockery of our weakness and despair would it be, indeed, were it not for this its characteristic doctrine, with its accom- panying supernaturalism of faith and grace ; for in that case the very purity of its ethical system would become its most formidable difficulty. Of the mere morals of Christianity can be af- firmed, what cannot be said of any heathen or infidel ethical system, that they are, of them- selves, impracticable. The sermon on the mount is above the capability of human nature — it is a mockery, we repeat, of our weakness, if those doctrines of grace which are distinctive of the evangelical school and inseparable from the Messianic office, are not recognized as its essential conditions. The Scripture sentiment 64 ESSAYS ON THE rKEACHING expresses a deep fact in the pliilosophy of our spiritual nature, — "Without me ye can do nothing — I can do all .tilings through Clirist which strengtheneth me." What then is the true preaching of Christian- ity? Kot that which deals only in the moral lessons of the Great Teacher on tlie one hand ; nor that, on the other, which treats forever of the special graces of the Spirit, the "gifts" pro- cured hy him for men. Not that which sends the inquirer with JSTicodemus to Jesus by niglit to learn of the inward regeneration, and then to be scarcely distinguishable on the morrow among his unbelieving associates; but that which, sending him thither, sends liim, ever after, a renewed man. along with the apostolic band, in the footsteps of Jesus ; which never for- getting Christ on Calvary, forgets him not also- on the mountain side, repealing traditional lies and teaching tlie lowliest charities ; at the wed- dino- of Cana consecrating harmless festivity ; amid the people overwhelming their hypocriti- cal teachers with the most terrific denuncia- tion ever recorded (Matthew xxiii ;) in the tem- ple, scourge in hand, overturning the tables of the money changers ; in the field, feeding the hungry multitude, not only with the bread of KEQUIKED BY THE TIMES. 65 life, but with " food convenient for them ;" on the public road, not fearing, at the fitting time, to denounce the godless sovereign of the land in terms even of indignant satire. Sucli was Christ as Teacher and Saviour, and such is the true application of Christianity to the world. The man whose ministry gives it such an ap- plication will never lack hearers : he will be in- teresting ; he will be powerful ; he will keep the minds and consciences of men astir ; he will have both friends and enemies ; and both will alike sustain in him the consciousness that he is not living in vain. First, then, to deal more with current interests and questions in the pulpit; and, secondly, to apply to them not merely the didactics^ hut the highest forms of evangelical truths are what the preaching of our day needs, to give it at once popular interest and power. "We do not say that this is not done in in- stances — as in the case of Chalmers, who ap- plied his noble evangelism not only to " mer- cantile life," but to science itself, as in his Astronomical Discourses — but we do say, that it is not generally characteristic of our modern preaching. And the pulj^it has not only tech- 66 ESSAYS ON TUE PREACHING nicalized its discourses into dry homiletic forms, but also to a gi'eat extent circumscribed itself within a professional area of thought, into which the people venture once a week with, it is to be feared, less interest than they have for any other discussions, or any other j^ublic as- semblies. But would such latitude be allowed the pul- pit ? Most certainly it would, and it would se- cure it indefinitely more respect, as well as more interest and power. We believe the restrictions on the pulpit are mostly self-imjDOsed ; it has but to lay them aside to find the people speedily recognizing its right to discuss all subjects to which Christian truth has any relations. It would be subject to animadversions, to be sure, and so is the press ; it woidd produce agitations, but these even it ought, to a certain extent, to covet, as its right and advantage ; yet very soon would its appropriate freedom be conceded, and the people, instead of resorting to it to slumber over moral common-places, or spiritual generali- ties, would crowd to it with all their varieties of opinion, to hear with respect, if not with full concession, the matured opinions of the men whom they sustain for the pm-pose of the more thorough study of truth, and who, by their KEQUIKED BY TILE TIMES. 67 professional isolation and sacred character, are placed beyond the sordid personal motives which aftect its discussion in secular life. More freedom, we were about to say more frankness, on the part of the clergy would, we believe, be quickly undei*stood and approved by the popu- lar mind, especially in this country. We are not without individual proofs of the fact : where is tliere a man of true earnestness, who has taken the stand we have recommended, and who has not gained by it — gained in the number of his hearers, and the whole effectiveness of his ministrations ? Of course we presuppose here all those counsels respecting "good sense," "moderation," " discre- tion," &c., — the convenient common-places of " a wise conservatism," — with which a certain class of minds would have us round-off a dis- cussion like the present. Unfortunately the danger seldom lies in the direction suspected by such caution-mongers, for most of the personal interests of the preacher will incline him other- wise. His office, too, and j^ professional tastes, are well adapted to produce habits of considera- tion and prudence, and the man who is not- qualified to use in the pulpit aright the freedom we have recommended, has no right to be there. 68 ESSAYS OX THE PBEACHIXG TVe have been the more emphatic in urging these view3 upon the "Evangelical ministry," so called, because it is unquestionably the policy of the Rationalism and Infidelity of the day to place themselves in contrast with the Church in these respects. They are attempting to signal- ize themselves as the pra^jtical reforrners of the times, not merely in matters which are yet in public controversy, but in admitted charities and reforms. A sentimental philanthropy is the very characteristic of modem infidelity ; and let tis have the honesty to sav that, with many doubters, it is not a merely sentimental, but an earnest, working philanthropy. The Church and its ministry are incessantly assailed by scomers, and sometimes by honest but erring men, as responsible for the great grievances which yet afflict Christendom, and schemes amounting to a conspiracy for its overthrow are prosecuted as necessarily preliminary to their reform. All this may be called preposterous, to be sure ; but it is not without its diastrous influence on innun|erable minds among the young and ingenuous, as well as the decrepit in error and vice. TVe are 4i*posed to think that it is among the most melancholy signs of the times. And these complaints extend not only KEQUIEED BY THE TIMES. 69 to pnbKc questions, but to the common immo- ralities and common evils of the Christian world. The Church is held responsible for them ; she is challenged to purify the business, to remedy the pauperism, to educate the ignorance, to repress the prostitution, to expurgate the jurisprudence, and reform the politics of Christian lands. The challenge, \nth some qualifications, is a most rightfol one. The Church cannot evade it ; her moral power does not reach those evils as it should; the pseudo-philanthropy of her opponents cannot reach them at all, except to exasperate them by absurd experiments ; the task is with the Church — ^let her accept the challenge, and the hour as the propitious occa- sion in which to show her "power unto salva- tion." Let her watchmen, especially, see if they cannot more efiectually silence these clamors ; if there is not more for them to do than they are doing, and a better way to do it. 70 ESSAYS ON THE PREACHING ESSAY IV. INEFFICIENCY OF THE PULPIT — A PLEA FOR EXTEMPORA- NEOUS PREACHING. Reading not Preaching — Opinions in Favor of Extemporaneous Preaching — Its Compatibility with a Good Style and Close Thinking — Chalmers — European Example — The Classic Ora- tors " Exteraporizers" — The Anglo-Saxon Pulpit alone substitutes Reading for Preaching — PvCading not tolerated in Senatorial or Foren^c Oratory — Webster — Disadvantages of Sermon Writing to Clergymen — Defects of our Ministerial Training — The Ap- propriate Studies of an Orator — Cicero — Romilly — Thomas Scott — Dr. Arnold — A better Selection of Ministerial Candi- dates Necessary. We liave l)een endeavoring to account for the comparatively slight moral power and popular interest of modern preaching. Few things, we believe, detract more from the pulpit, in these respects, than the almost general substitution of reading for 'preaching^ for they are not identical, any more than the lettei-s of the one word spell the other. The General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church, some few years ago, recommended ex- temporaneous preaching by a strong vote — the best writers on Ilomiletics have contended for it — even a Unitarian theological professor (the REQUIRED BY THE TIMES. 71 younger Ware, of Harvard,) has written an en- tire book, and the best one we have, on the subject ; the most successful ministrj of our land has been almost exclusively made up of extemporizers ; the arguments and authorities for it are, in fine, altogether preponderating, and yet how predominant is the clerical pro- clivity for manuscripts! Even tlie Methodist ministry, whose fathers filled the land with the thunders and triumphs of their powerful and natural eloquence, are beginning to ape the primness of academic readers, to turn their once resounding pulpit batteries into "desks" for manuscript prelections. Alas ! who would have supposed it of them, f — among whom it must be like the reed of the shepherd boy, on the moun- tain road, after the trumpet-blast of the career- ing herald, while yet the lingering echoes ring among the crags and heights. ]S^ot only is extemporaneous preaching adapt- ed to the themes and the effectiveness which we have demanded for the pulpit, but we contend that it is consistent with the best style of public discourse, with just thought and a sufficiently accurate verbal style. These latter excellences, of course, depend largely upon previous training, and the preparation of / 72 K?;>iAV ox THE pkkaciiing the discourse ; but it must be remembered also, that this is the case in regard to written ser- mons, — a speaker, without previous education, and thorough study of tlie discourse in hand, would hardly succeed better in reciting it, than in delivering it extempore. He that would be a successful extemporizer should have a well-stored mind, and should thoroughly meditate his subjects; so thoroughly, indeed, that the whole perspective of the main ideas of his discoui*se, from the exordium to the peroration, shall be clearly open before his mental vision when he rises in the pulpit. This is requisite, for two reasons : first, that he may have something to say ; and secondly, that he may have the coniidence which will enabl# him to say it with self-possession and force. Self-possession, Ijased upon a sufficient preparor tion, is the whole seci'et of success in extempora- neous speaking. A speaker thus sustained can hardly fail to have, spontaneously, the right language and due emotion ; he has incompara- bly more facilities for them than tlie manuscript preacher. We say right language ; and that is right which is appropriate to the occasion. It may not be as precise as tlie pen would afibrd, but ought it ahvays to be so? AVould it bo de- REQUIRED BY THE TIMES. 73 sirable, that tlie free, irregular but idiomatic facility of ordinary conversation should be su- perseded, at our heartlis, by the finical precision and literary nicety of book-makers ? There is a style for books, a style for conversation, and a style for the rostrum or the pulpit. He who rises in the latter, with his mind fraught with the ideas of his subject, and his heart inspired with its spirit, will, in most cases, spontaneously utter himself aright. If he is occasionally diffuse or re^^etitious, yet it may be legitimate to the occasion or the subject that he should be so. If his style may not read as well as it was heard, yet even this may be because of its pe- culiar adaptation to be heard rather than read.* * The following brief, but very significant letter from Garrick to a tlieological student who had requested his advice on the subject, is a whole volume on oratory com- pressed into a paragraph : — My Dear Sik, — You know how you would feel and speak in the parlour to a dear friend who was in immi- nent danger of his life ; and with what energetic pathos of diction and countenance you would enforce the observance of that which you really thought would be for his preser- vation. You would be yourself; and the interesting nature of your subject impressing your heart, would furnish you with the most natural tone of voice, the most proper lan- guage, the most engaging features, and the most suitable and graceful gestures. What you would be in the parlor be in the pulpit, and you will not fail to please, to affect, to profit. Adieu. . D. G-. 74: ESSAYS ON THE PREACHING We affirm further, that both the design and history of preaching are in favor of extempora- neous delivery. The earnestness and directness for which we have contended may consist, as ■\ve have shown, with all varieties of talents and toj^ics, but it is hardly comi^atible with pulpit reading. Very rarely indeed does a powerful reader, like Chalmers, appear in the pulpit. Wo know not another case like his in the history of the Christian ministry. Chalmers tried the experiment of extemporizing in his country parish, but prematurely abandoned it ; yet when in his full fame at Glasgow, his biographer says, that his occasional extemporaneous discourses, in the private houses of his poor parishioners, teemed with more splendid eloquence than ever dazzled the crowded congregation of the Tron Kirk. The two greatest preachei*s of modern times, "Whitefield and Robert Hall, were extemporizers — their written sermons were composed after delivery. Such a thing as a manuscript sermon is never seen in the pulpits of the continent of Europe, except when American or English clergymen happen to ascend them. If the continental clergy, Catholic or Protestant, write their discourses, they have, nevertheless, the REQUIRED BY THE TIMES. Y5 good sense to deliver tliem inemoviter^ and thereby save tliem from the dullness of reading. Li like manner did the old and unrivaled pnlpit orators of France — Massillon, Bossuet, Bourda- loue, Fletcher, Fenelon — eschew the manuscript. Tlie latter, in his " Dialogues on Elo- quence," contends for extemporaneous speaking. He arffues that even the classic orators were mostly extemporizers. There is much to be said on both sides of this question ; the most probable supposition is, that the classic orators wrote their discourses, memorizing their sub- stance, but delivering them without much re- gard to the written language. {See Fenelon^ Ware says, " Chatham's speeches were not written, nor those of Fox, nor that of Ames on the British treaty. They were, so far as regards their language and ornaments, the effusions of the moment, and derived from their freshness a power which no study could impart. Among the orations of Cicero which are said to have made the greatest impression, and to have best accomplished the orator's design, are those delivered on unexpected emergencies, which precluded the possibility of previous prepara- tion. Such were his first invective agaiiist Catiline, and the speech which stilled the dis- 76 ESSAYS ON THE PREACHING turbances at the tlieater. It is often said that extemporaneous speaking is the distinction of modern eloqnence. But the whole language of Cicero's rhetorical works, as well as particular terms in common use, and anecdotes recorded of different ^peakei's, prove the contrary; not to mention Quinctilian's express instructions on the subject. Hume, also, tells us from Suidas, that the writing of speeches was unknown until the time of Pericles." Tlie Anglo-Saxon pulpit, against all the pre- dilections of that race, is, in fine, the only place where reading is tolerated as a mode of pojiular address. The member of parliament, or of con- gress, who should attempt to read his speech, would almost inevitably break down. The advocate at the bar, contending for the life of his client, would be considered recreant to all the urgency of the occasion were he to stand up before the jury to read his plea. Tlic popular orator who should attempt to read the masses into enthusiasm, on some high occasion of national exigency, would be dubbed a jackass, Wliy can manly and powerfid eloquence be successful everywhere else but in the pulpit? The pulpit is its most legitimate arena. Tlie themes and aims of the pulpit are all KEliUIKED BY THE TIMES. 77 adapted to it. Tlie religious congregation is the true popular assembly; and there, if any- where, ought eloquence to appear in all its liberties and powers. So almost intuitive is our perception of the inappropriateness of manuscript preaching to the popular religious assembly, that we cannot conceive of Christ reading his discourses to the multitudes of Judea ; or Peter, on the day of Pentecost, or Paul, on Mars' Hill, preaching from a scroll. We know this could not have been, not from any historical testimony, but from the manifest absurdity of the supposition. For the same reason we cannot associate it with any really popular and demonstrative preaching. Be assured, that he who can preach at all, can preach extemporaneously, if he will but per- severe in the experiment. Tlie young man of good education, who, from his academic habits or natural diffidence, or any other cause, is now addicting himself to pulpit reading, is putting his whole professional life under a servile restraint, which will not only consume unneces- sarily large amounts of his time, but trammel the development of all his pulpit powers. Let him study thoroughly his subjects ; but let him 78 ESSAYS ON TIIK I'llEACIIING devote to tlie storing of his mind the time now spent in mere verbal preparation for the desk ; let him resolutely stumble along, through what- ever embarrassments, till he acquires the con- fidence which habit will surely produce ; let him understand well that what he wants for the j)ulpit is thought and sentiment, and that these secured, direct unpretending utterance, right home to the souls of the people, is the only true style for him — the noblest eloquence. If, in tlie experiment, he sometimes falls below the tame mediocrity of his former manuscript efforts, yet will he oftcner rise transcendently above it, in the exulting freedom of an inspired and un- ti'ammeled mind. One fact let him be assured of, namely, that whatever uniform and respectable character his manuscript preaching may have, the maximum power of preaching can never be attained by the sermon reader. He sacrifices all hope of this ; and no young man should ever make that sacrifice. With God's commission upon him, with the Holy Spirit within him, with all the assistance of books and nature about him, with the solemnities of eternity before liim, let him throw himself with all directness and energy into his work, speaking to the peoj)le in their own REQUIRED BY THE TIMES. 19 strong and simple speech, seeking not to ape the rhetorician, but to save souls, " pulling them out of the fire ;" he will tlien speak from his heart with infinitely more eloquence than he could utter from his manuscript. We are earnest but not whimsical on this sub- ject; there are doubtless occasions when a man- uscript may be desirable in the pulpit, but they are rare — th'ey should form the exception, not the rule. AYhy, in the name of all good sense, should the pulpit alone, of all places of popular discourse, be subjected to this stupid inconvenience ? Tlie primness, the cold hollow dignity, so contrary to all spontaneous and po]3ular- sym- pathy and hearty religious feeling, which now characterize the pulpit, are, we repeat, attribut- able more to this cause and to the technical homiletic form of the sermon, than to any other. It is not preaching — it is an intolerable perver- sion of the idea. It is academic lecturing. It is' an intellectual task, a dry literary exhibition in the wrong place, to wrong spectators, and performed in subjection to most servile usages and intolerable mannerisms. Clergymen should banish it — thro^v it to the winds — not only for the good of the people, but 80 ESSAYS ON THE PKEACUING for their own relief." It was unkuown in the primitive Chiux'h for one hundred and fifty yeai"s ; it is uncommon if not unkuown now in ministries which sway the masses, as the Roman Cathohc, the Baptist, the Methodist; it is un- known on ahnost all other occasions where a practical end, and not a mere literary exhibition is designed — the political assembly, the legisla- tive hull, the court-room. If you W(juld have the pulpit invested with its legitimate freedom and power, break down its factitious restraints, banish its technicalities, and cast away its scrolls. ]^ay, if the reader would not suppose us too radical, we would say, tear down the pul- pit itself "A lawyer," said Daniel AVebster, " could never hope to gain his cause if he had to plead it boxed up in a jnilpit." Jesus Christ * Ware, ill his preface, says, "There is at least one con- sequence likely to result from the study of this art [extem- poraneous jjreaching] and the attempt to practice it, which would alone be a sufficient reason for urging it earnestly. I mean, its probable effect in breaking up the constrained, formal, scholastic mode of address, which follows the stud- ent from his college duties, and keeps him from inimodiatc contact with the hearts of his fellow men. This would be etfectod by his learning to speak from his feelings, rather tlian from the critical rules of a book. His address would be more natural, and consei]uently bettor adapted to elfert- ive iireaching." REQUIRED BY THE TIMES. 81 and his apostles never saw a pulpit, unless the reading platform of the synagogue could be called one. They never took a text, tying their thoughts with a thread of bare verbalisms; Christ read the Prophet, and sat down and talked to the people. They knew nothing about "first- ly," " secondly," and " thirdly ;" they were too intent on their practical design to trifle with such dialectic nonsense. They exjyounded.^ to be sure, but not with these scholastic trammels — they talked, they exhorted, they thundered ; and the awakened multitudes, consenting or scorning, were not concerned about hoio they preached, but what they preached. The manner could not but be right, and powerfully right, when spontaneous to the design. We would have the people come to church, then, not expecting to hear, or rather sleep, under these intellectual prelections, but to hear fervent, practical, home-directed addresses res- pecting their duties ; expositions, arguments, warnings, exliortations, applied to their common wants, to current events; to the individual, to the community, to the times : addresses, thought- ful but not technical ; too direct and urgent for factitious mannerisms ; delivered, if you please, sometimes from the pulpit, and sometimes, as 6 82 ESSAYS ON THE PREACHING ■\vitli the Papal priests, from the altar, down be- fore tlie people ; sometimes from a text, some- times from the whole lesson, sometimes without reference to either; now on an abstract subject, now on a personal one, and now on a public question; urging men to their personal salva- tion, and meanwhile, and for this purpose, refut- ing all sanctioned lies, assailing all the connip- tions of the day, whether in high places or in low places, and pleading all genuine reforms. Amazing radicalism this ! Yes, but just such, both in spirit and method, as that before which the priesthoods, the philosophical schools, the senates, and the thrones of the old classic hea- thenism fell. Such a restoration of primitive preaching would again "turn the world upside down," till it turned it right side up. "We believe further, that the ministerial edu- cation^ or rather miseducation of the times, with the professional habits it entails, is a reason of the comparative inefficiency of the pulpit. Our clerical education is tot^ Procrustean — it turns out too many poor results ; so numy, that a shrewd observer cannot but refer them to the defectiveness of the system as such. Tliought- ful men, in the best-educated sects, begin to hes- itate about theological schools ; and we know REQUIRED BY THE TIMES. 83 learned graduates of such schools, now leaders in the ministry, who feel almost disposed, at times, to wish our theological seminaries dis- banded. This is not the place for a close dis- cussion of the question of theological education ; but we would refer with emphasis to the neces- sity of a revision of the whole subject. Our candidates are drawn through a scholastic pro- cess — prolonged elementary studies, one or two years of preparation for college, four years in college, and three years under the rigors of technical divinity in the theological school ; a process, from out of which they come intellec- tually attenuated, and rigid beyond recovery. And then bear in mind what follows, on the present plan of manuscript 'heading instead of preaching. On graduating at last, they must betake themselves to sermon toriting ; two ser- mons a week at least, on the plan of the mon- strous text-books we have denounced two weekly homiletic agonies in constructing "first- lies," "secondlies," and "thirdhes," out of what common sense remains within them, and 'out of the beautiful, simple sentences of Holy Scripture ! How is it possible that men sub- jected to such professional rigors should not be- come professionally characterized and isolated ! 84 ESBAVS ON THE PREACHING "What time have tliey for those general studies — those " Humanities," as they were once called — which the best critics have pronounced ne- cessary to the orator? Clergymen, perhaps more than any other professional class, need such studies, both for their mental health and their popular usefulness ; but we are inclined to think have least opportunity for them. * The present topic is very intimately related to the preceding one ; for not only is sermon read- i7ig bad in itself — the gi'eatest detraction from the popular effect of preaching — but it is doubly an evil, as it requires sermon loritlnfj, and tlius consumes, in the mere task of verbal prepara- tion, the time that should be spent in various readinjir and thinking:. "Tlie minister," savs Ware, " must keep himself occupied, — reading,, thinking, investigating; thus having his mind always awake and active. This is a far better preparation than the bare writing of sermons, for it exercises the powers more, and keeps them bright. The great master of Roman elo- quence thought it essential to the true orator, that he should be familiar with all sciences, and have his mind filled witli every variety of knowledge. lie, therefore, much as he studied his favorite art, yet occupied more time in liter- REQUIRED BY THE TIMES. bO ature, pliilosopliy, and politics, than in the composition of his speeches. His preparation was less particular than general. So it has been with other eminent speakers. When Sir Samuel Romily was in full practice in the High Court of Chancery, and at the same time over- whelmed with the pressure of public political concerns, his custom was to enter the court, to receive there the history of the cause he was to plead, thus to accpiaint himself with the cir- cumstances for the first time, and forthwith pro- ceed to argue it. His general preparation and long practice enabled him to do this, with- out failing in justice to his cause. I do not know that in this he was singular. The same sort of preparation would insure success in the pulpit. He who is always thinking, may ex- pend upon each individual eflort less time, be- cause he can think at once fast and well. But he who never thinks, except when attempt- ing to manufacture a sermon, (and it is to be feared there are such men,) must devote a great deal of time to this labor exclusively; and after all, he will not have that wide range of thought or copiousness of illustration, which his office demands and which study only can give. In fact, what I have here insisted upon, is exem- 86 ESSAYS ON THE PREACIIIXG plilied iu tlie case of the extemporaneous writers whom I have ah'eady named. I woukl only carry their practice a step further, and de- vote an hour to a discourse instead of a day. Not to all discoui-ses : for some ought to be written for the sake of writing; and some de- mand a sort of investigation, to wliich the use of the pen is essential. But then a very 'large proportion of the topics on which a minister should preacli liave been subjects of his atten- tion a thousand times. lie is thoroughly famil- iar with them; and an hour to arrange his ideas and collect illustrations is abundantly sufficient. The late Thomas Scott is said for years to have prepared his discourses entirely by meditation on the Sunday, and thus to have gained leisure for his extensive studies, and great and various labors. Tliis is an extreme on whicli few have a right to venture, and wliich should be recom- mended to none. It shows, however, the power of habit, and the ability of a mind kept upon the alert by constant occupation to act promptly and effectually. He who is always engaged iu thinking and studying will always have thouglits enough for a sermon, and good ones too, which will come at an hour's warning." AYe dill'er from Ware in respect to the amount of j»repa- REQUIRED BY THE TIMES. 87 ration necessary, but we approve liis general view of the subject. "A clergyman," says the good and great Dr. Arnold, himself a noble example of what he taught, "requires, first, the general cultivation of his mind, by reading the works of the great- est writers, philosophers, orators, and poets ; and, next, an understanding of the actual state of society, and of our own and general history, as affecting and explaining the existing differ- ences among us, both social and religious." "It is for this reason," adds one of his reviewers, " that so few eminent critics are eminent preachers : criticism, to he eminent, requires a man to be exclusive and jealous in his devotion to it, and he cannot find time for wide and general reading. But miscellaneous knowledge is pre- cisely what the preacher needs, not to criticise the sacred word, but to apply it to the circum- stances of his age and to the hearts and habits of the living men and women in the congrega- tion before him. Tlie preacher, as such, can commit no more fatal mistake than to confine himself exclusively, or chiefl}' , to the reading of books of divinity. Such exclusive reading will inevitably narrow his mind and give it a sort of. professional one-sidedness, that will show itself 88 ESSAYS ON THE PREACHING not merely in his mode of thinking, but in his style of writing and speaking."* We have at times heard some of our Method- ist ministerial brethren complain of their " sys- tem," because, as they have thought, it inter- fered with homiletic study, by tempting the "itinerant" to content himself with a few "skel- etons," whereas, were he stationary, he would have to make more. A most illogical inference, it seems to us. It is not the preparation or study of " skeletons " that the pulpit of this day needs ; the want is more extensive cultilre, more varied capacity. Any " system " that relieves the preachei-s from technical preparations, and thereby allows him more time for general intel- lectual invigoration and varied study, is a bless- ing : the relief may be abused, to be sure, through mere indolence ; but for that the individual, not the system, is responsible. We dismiss the present part of our subject with one more remark, and a brief one. Tlie Churches, especially of this country, if they would promote the efiectiveness of the pulpit, must have more care in the selection of yoyn,j men for the ministry^ a suggestion which we sub- mit to those very excellent, but, avc fear, much * Rev. Dr. M'Clintock. REQUIRED BY THE TIMES. 89 abused "Education Societies," wliicli are de- signed to aid young men tlirougli their minis- terial training. Tlie ministry not only affords the best opportunities for the best talent, but it involves some of the most critical trials that human responsibility knows. It is a sad inflic- tion both on the Church and on the incompetent candidate himself, to thrust him into its formid- able duties. Tliere are now literally hundreds, if not thousands, of unemployed clergymen abroad in our country, while, at the same time, there is an equal number of unsupplied Churches. And such is the effect of the professional train- ing we have mentioned, that a man once educa- ted for the pulpit is scarcely fitted for any other vocation, except it may be that of teaching ; if left without a call he must, therefore, suffer. Piety, in a young man, is too often taken as a guarantee of every other future requisite for the office ; and it is melancholy to see with what eagerness devout mediocrity, if not inferiority, is pressed into this highest, most laborious, most awful sphere of human responsibility. 90 ESSAYS ON THE PKEACIIINQ ESSAY Y. FUETHER CONSIDERATIONS ON EXTEMPORANEOUS PKEACHIXG— RULES FOR IT. Examples of Extemporaneous Eloquence — Definition of Eloquence — Design of "Notes" — Design of Preaching — Diffidence — Its Advantages — Hriefs in the Pulpit — Preventives of' Embarrass- ment — Preaching memoriter — Selection and Arrangement of Subjects — Their Elaboration — Four Rules for Extemporizing. There are occasions on which sermons written out and read, or delivered meinoriter, may be admif^sible ; but they are few, and the speaker ouglit always to be commiserated for the incon- venience of a task so irksome and so incompa- tible with that spontaneous play of thought and emotion which is absolutely necessary to true eloquence. Though admissible, we would not say this course is necessary, even on sucli occa- sions. The most important efforts of oratory have been extemporaneous. The classic oratoi-s spoke without manuscripts ; their preserved orations, as we have shown, were mostly written after de- livery. The greatest oratore of the British sen- ate did the same ; and if we must except a few, like 13urke, it will be found that they were not bo much eloquent speakers as elegant writers. REQUIRED BY THE TIMES. 91 The energetic and Greek-like eloquence of the American revolution was also extemporaneous. Occasions the most important and the most ap- palling, involving the fate of states, and present- ing the most formidable contrasts of parties and speakers, have been met and triumphantly con- ti'olled in extemporaneous discourse ; the speak- ers preferring to be unembarrassed by the par- ticularities of verbal preparation. It may be doubted, indeed, whether the highest kind of eloquence can be otherwise attained : it is true, at least, that all the great masters of tlie art, Demosthenes and Cicero, Mirabeau and Chat- ham, Grattan and Curran, Henry and Webster, Whitefield and Hall, have been"extemporizers." There is, we admit, a species of dramatic elo- quence, the eloquence of great actors on the stage, and of the French pulpit in the age of Louis XIV., which may be referred to as an ex- ception. . We would not, however, allow it to be even an exception. On the stage, it is generally but poetical recitation ; and in the French pulpit it was a similar recitation of poetical prose, splendid, without doubt, in its way, but nevertheless, poetry rather than oratory. Poetry and eloquence are quite dis- tinct, though often practically confounded. . 92 ESSAYS ON THE PREACHING If the liigliest efforts of public speaking have been extemporaneous, it is certainly to be pre- sumed that the efforts of ordinary occasions can be. Even in criticism and the literary lecture, Cole- ridge found it practicable and desirable to ex- temporize. Of his lectm'es on Shakspeare, Mr. Collier, who heard them, says, " that for the third lecture, and indeed for the remainder of the series, he made no preparation, and was liked better than ever, and vociferously and heartily cheered. Tlie reason was obvious ; for what came from the heart of the speaker went warm to the heart of the hearer ; and though the illustrations might not be so good, yet being extemporaneous, and often from objects imme- diately before his eyes, they made more impres- sion, and seemed to have more aptitude." In the first edition of Coleridcje^s Literary Remains is a letter from him to ^Ir. l>ritton, in which he thus indirectly corroborates lAw Col- lier's description of the delivery of his thoughts at his lectures : — "The day of the lecture, till the hour of commencement, I devote to the consideration, What of the mass before me is best fitted to answer the purposes of a lecture? that is, REQUIRED BY THE TIMES. 93 to keep the caudience awake and interested during the delivery, and to leave a sting be- hind ; that is, a disposition to study the sub- ject anew, under the Ughtof a new principle. Several times, however, partly from apprehen- sion respecting my health and animal spirits, partly from my wish to possess copies that might afterward be marketable among the pub- lishers, I have previously written the lecture; but before I had proceeded twenty minutes I have been obliged to push the MS. away, and give the subject a new turn. Nay, this was so notorious, that many of my auditors used to threaten me, when they saw any number of written papers on my desk, to steal them away, declaring they never felt so secure of a good lecture as when they perceived that I had not a single scrap of writing before me. I take far, far more pains than would go to the set compo- sition of a lectm-e, both by varied reading and by meditation; but for the words, illustrations, . &c., I know almost as httle as any one of the audience (that is, those of anything like the same education with myself) what they will be five minutes before the lecture begins. Such is my way, for such is my nature ; and in attempt- ing any other I should only torment myself 94 ESSAYS ON THE PKEACHING in order to disappoint my auditors — torment myself during the delivery, I mean : for in all other respects it would be a much shorter and easier task to deliver them in writing." Observing men, who may have little prac- tice in an art which requires genius, are some- times better judges of the principles of such an art than are its practical proficients; the latter are beguiled in their judgments by the facilities — the ready intuitions of genius. Genius acts instinctively, and seldom observes the process of its own operations. Hence good poets are seldom good critics ; and genuine orators haye seldom accurately defined their art. Goldsmith, who knew nothing of it from practice, but much from observation, has given us perhaps one of the best definitions. He says: "A man may be called eloquent who transfers the passions or sentiments with whicli he is moved into the breast of anotlier.'' Again: "In a word, \o feel your subject tlior- oughly, and to speak without fear, are the only rules of eloquence properly so called." He is more ex])licit in another passage: "Be con- vinced of the trutli of the subject, be perfectly acquainted with the object in view, prepossess yourself with a low (<])inion of your audience, REQUIRED BY THE TIMES. 95 and do the rest extempore. By this means strong expressions, new thoughts, rising passions, and the true style, will naturally ensue." Every successful " extemporizer " will give to the second passage the authority of an axiom. It may be statec^as a fundamental, an all-compre- hensive rule in eloquence— /e^Z and he fearless. The third quotation is but an expansion of the second, with one very defective clause ; it is not necessary, in order to " speak without fear," that the speaker should " prepossess himself with a low opinion of his audience ;" far otherwise. The importance of his subject, the pre-eminence of better considerations and motives, (especially in the preacher,) and the consciousness af com- petent preparation, will lift him above the influ- ence of fear much more effectually than an im- pression which, in most cases, must be false, and in all should be ungrateful to an elevated mind. But how command this frame of mind — ^'■feel- ing and fearless V that is the question. The advocate of notes proposes to protect himself, by their aid, from fear and embar- rassment. This he may do to some extent, but almost invariably at the expense of the other condition — ^feeliiujP Tlie minute verbal labor of the preparation, and the mechanical man- 96 E8SAY8 ON THE PREACHING nerisras of the delivery of manuscript sermons, can scarcely fail to impair the freshness and impetus of thought. Tlie preacher may be di- dactive and instructive, but he can rarely be eloquent. This method may suit the professor's chair or the lyceum desk; but i^is at variance with the spirit and intent of the pulpit. The people might as well read for themselves; they may find better sermons in their libraries. The pulpit ought to be didactive; but it ought to be more — it should be the fountain of religious sympathies^ as well as religious instruction; it was designed to keep alive the spirit as well as the truth of Christianity in the world, and for this reason no proficiency of the people in Scriptural knowledge can supci-scde its ap- pointed instrumentality. Preaching is not an adventitious appliance of Christianity, nor would we make it out a sacrament ; yet it stands next to the eucharist and baptism — the third great institution of our religion, having as much authority and speciality as the sacraments; and were the Bible in every man's hand, still would it stand a liigh ordinance of God, a source of vivification and impulse to the Church, until the end of tlie world. This is tlie mmn purport of the pnlpit — if not, then KEQUIRED BY THE TIMES. 97 the press or the ■ religious academy can super- sede it. How can we reconcile with such views that cold and lifeless retail of religious truth from a manuscript, which is misnamed preaching? As we have heretofore remarked, it seems hardly- less than ludicrous, to imagine Christ on the mount, Peter on the day of pentecost, or Paul on Mars' Hill, reading a manuscrijyt. If, then, the advocate of manuscripts can pre- vent embarassment or fear by -them, (which is not unqualifiedly the case,) still he loses an ad- vantage infinitely more important than the one he gains. Tlie alleged advantage is, we believe, the main design of the use of manuscripts in preaching It is not that the discourse may be more exact, more compact. It may be doubted whether this is desirable for popular assembhes; and extemporaneous discourse, with suitable pre- paration, will admit of the most consecutive thought. There are other and better reliefs from embarrassment, which we shall soon consider. Meanwhile, it may be remarked, that it is no serious reason for discouragement, especially to the young speaker. Animal courage seldom co- exists with strong susceptibilities of the imagin- 1 98 ESSAYS ON THE PREACHING ation or the heart. Few great captains have been eloquent. Few distinguished poets or oratoi-s have shown much bravery. Cicero de- clares that he always trembled before addressing an assembly. Demosthenes showed himself a coward, and Whitefield confessed himself one. Of all qualities, animal courage is the least allied to other excellences; and it will be observed, that of all public speakers, those braggadocios who fear nothing have generally the least of that sensibility which frequently makes a tremb- ling man a son of thunder or an angel of con- solation. Diffidence in the early career of a public speaker is therefore a good sign. It denotes sensibility ; and without sensibility there is no eloquence. In time, it may be sufficiently subdued to have all its advantages without its disadvantages. And it will always have the one advantage mentioned by a classic and accom- plished lawyer, the younger Pliny, — "A con- fusion and concern in the countenance of a speaker casts a gi*ace upon all that he utters; for there is a certain decent timidity, which I know not how, is infinitely more engaging than the assumed self-sufficient air of confidence." Our remarks thus far ajiply i)articularly to sermons entirely written. We ol>ject less, but KEQUIEED BY THE TIMES. 99 yet strongly, to the use of briefs in the pulpit. * We can conceive of no reason for it except indolence or imbecility. It is liabit, at lirst indulged, but at last fixed. Can it be supposed that a brief sketch, seldom occupying more than a letter-page, can be noted down and then studied, revolved, expanded in the mind, and yet not be sufficiently impressed on the memory to allow the speaker to dispense with his notes? If not, we cannot conceive how such imbecility of memory can coexist with the other mental qualifications which are deemed necessary for the Christian ministry. We know men of the weakest memories for verbal details, who, never- theless, can study out sermons requiring an hour, or an hour and a half in delivery, so as to recall with accuracy every division, subdivision, illustration, and reference. We repeat, it is habit that leads to the necessity of briefs in the pulj)it. The speaker who uses them fixes not in his mind the capital ideas as centers of asso- ciation for the subordinate thoughts; but, on the contrary, stores his memory with the filling up, and then refers to his manuscript for the leading propositions. This course is contrary to the very philosophy of association, and must cost more labor than the opposite method — not 100 ESSAYS ON THE I'KEArillNG to speak of the interi'uption of thought and feeling occasioned by such references. Let him go into the pulpit with his subject printed on his memory in its length and breadth; let him see "through and through" it clearly; let him feel that nothing remains to be done but to deliver his distinct and glowing impressions ; and will he not have more self-possession and more buoyant freedom than if he enters it with that vagueness of mind which requires the aid of a manuscript? But what if he is inex- perienced, or weak of nerve, and becomes embarrassed, and "forgets his place" — what then? Why, let him stumble along, and say "Amen" as soon as he can. He will much sooner overcome such a liability, by so doing, than by trusting to his notes. A child learns to walk more readily by its own awkward move- ments than by mechanical supports. "We have mentioned that the chief design of notes is the prevention of embarrassment, and the vagueness which is usually its consequence, and have said that there are other and better preventives. Tlie rule quoted from Goldsmith omits the most important one whicli a]>plies to the pulpit, viz., the spiritual support which is pledged to the devoted minister. This thought REQUIRED BY THE TIiS[EP. 101 is usually dis2)atclied with little remark, as pre- supposed, but we would emphasize it. It is a vast consideration ; it is not enough pondered by God's ministers. We have been aston- ished at the slight moral courage of many who have read the promise a thousand times, and who ought to carry it in their hearts into the pulpit, like an impulse from " the third heaven :" — "/ will he with you even unto the cndy Blessed is the assurance. Every word is strong. "I" — who? He who is God over all, and blessed for evermore ; " will be," it is positive ; with whom ? " with you ;" " even," it is emphatical ; " unto the end," it is definite. And now with such a promise, and with a special commission from heaven for his work, and with all the motives of eternity stirring his spirit, ought it to be exj^ected that the minister of Christ should quail and cower? He may well tremble under his responsibility, but he should be the last to fear the face of man. We have already admitted that he may in his early efforts be diffident, and that it is not a bad indication for him to be so, but we contend that he can, and ought to overcome this inconvenience, with- out a resort to notes. It is an evil which ought to be corrected — an enemy that ought 102 ESSAYS ON THE PUEACIIIXG to be fonglit do-\vn ; l)ut let it be conquered, net by skulkiug under shelter, but sword in hand. Again, one of the most important remedies of this diliicidty is competent preparation. We liave been a little curious to learn the varl(ni:< modes of preparation among preachei"s, and are astonished at their diversity. Some we have found who never put pen to paper for the pulpit. This certainly is not right. If it were possible to study a subject, and to retain it in the mind thoroughly, for the time being, without a record, still it must be committed to paper, or bo unvailable for the future. They who eschew notes in the study are not usually overburdened with ideas in the pulpit. The indolence and negligence of such are inexcusable. We never knew any one profound or accurate who fol- lowed this coui-se. A second class go to the opposite extreme, writing their sermons in extenso^ and j)reaching them memoriter. Tlierc are many objections to this coui-se. It consumes too nmch time. Few laithful pastoi's can find leisure from more im- ])ortant duties for the composition and memoriz- ing of two sermons per week. It will lie almost invariably found that these sermon writers are ]ioor pastoi's, not only neglecting their pastoral REQUIRED BY THE TIMES. 103 duties, but rendered unsociable, reserved, if not morose, by their sedentary and laborious habits. Extemporaneous preachers ought to wi'ite much, not only to preserve their thoughts, but to counteract a tendency to versatility and ver- bosity—a tendency which will always beset them — but they had better write their sermons after than before delivery. Tliey should be habitual writers, also, on subjects not peculiar to their profession. Some of the most eloquent speakers have been among the most vigorous writers; Cicero is an instance from the bar, and Hall from the pulpit; yet it was in spite of their oratorical habits and by the closest dis- cipline. Again, sermons delivered inemoviter lose their freshness and power. Few are the men who can vivify a stale and memorized dis- course; and those who can, could, with suitable practice, be much more effective in extempor- aneous delivery. There is no eloquence more commanding and sublime than that of the ex- temporaneous speaker, who, with a mastery of his subject, with the strenuous action of all his faculties, and the full play of his feehngs, stands before his audience unshackled by preconceived details of thought and language. There are others who write out their dis- 104 ESSAYS ON THE PEEACUING courses, but do not deliver tliein verhatlm j re- taining in mind the general train of thought, and using the language only so far as it can he readily recollected. This would seem an unfa- vorable method, for if the speaker is somewhat embarrassed he will endeavor to call up his lan- guage to his assistance, and not being able to do it, will become the more pei*plexed ; and if he should not be embarrassed, he will be able to speak without such verbal preparation. In tlie one case, it is an evil ; in the other, superfluous. There are other wrong modes of preparation, which need not be enumerated; let us inquire for the right one. By extemporaneous we need not say that wo have not meant unpremeditated discourse, but unwritten. The most thorough study is requisite for success to an extemporaneous sjyeaJcer. What- is the best mode of preparation for him ? Tliis is the question. "We pretend not to answer it fully, but will submit a few suggestions on the subject. A direct answer should include the selection, arrangement, and elaboration of sub- jects ; a more comprehensive one would take in that prior mental discipline and training in elo- cution which we at present presuppose. In regard to the selection and arrangement of REQUIRED BY THE TIMES. 105 subjects, there are two modes — tlie textual aud the topical. Both are common ; but some clergymen use almost exclusively the former. In their ordinary reading of the Scriptures, they select a striking or apposite text, and form their divisions upon its different clauses. There is a kind of expository preaching, and there are some individual texts in respect to which this plan is good- — sometimes admirable ; but in most cases it is obviously not the best. A text includes frequently as many distinct topics as it does clauses, and all tmity must be put at defiance by adjusting the divisions of the sermon to those of the passage. We would not stickle too much for a rigorous use of critical rules in addressinir popular assemblies ; still they are to be respect- ed, for they are not adventitious ; they are founded in the constitution of the human mind, and prescribe the best mode of addressing it — and the pulpit should always use the best. It is not a little amusing to observe with what mechanical regularity some " textualists" lay down their " first," " secondly," and " thirdly," (most generally the object, the means, and the motives,) and finally "taper off" with a well- assorted series of " conclusions," sacrificing a'U unity of subject for uniformity of method. Unity 106 ESSAYS ON THE PKEACIIING is one of the highest rhetorical excellences of a sermon. Tlie discourse is better remembered than when composed of unrelated or slightly- related parts. One leading truth distinctively and exclusively presented, can be better appre- ciated by the judgment of the hearer than many of questionable relation. A single truth, espe- cially if a weighty one, (and what truth of reli- gion is not?) illustrated, placed in difterent lights, armied and enforced throuo-hout a dis- course, M'ill make a pro founder impression on the conscience of the hearer than a variety, dis cui*sively treated. There is sometimes much execution done by a scattering fire ; still it is never so sure as tliat which is well-directed, A furtlicr objection to this textual method is, tliat the stated preacher especially requires a moi'e economical distribution of liis resources, or he will soon find himself exhausted, and under the necessity of repeating in substance his old outlines. The topical mode of selecting and arranging subjects is that in which the })rcachor iirst deter- mines his theme or topic^ and afterward selects a text suitable for it. For instance, he chooses the subject of " religious zeal," and he can take for his text, "Tt is good to be zealously ailectcd REQIIIEED BY THE TIMES. lOY always in a good thing." Eepentance, faitli, holiness, perseverance, apostacy, &c., &c., are examples of topics for which appropriate texts may he fomicl after the discourse is completely studied. Such a discourse may consist of divi- sions and subdivisions framed upon the different aspects of the topic, or of a simple series of arguments or illustrations on one of its aspects ; the latter being always preferable, as admitting more closeness and more economy of thought. Having prepared his sermon in. reference only to the topic, he can apply the text to it so far as it is applicable, without digressing into col- lateral clauses. Most of the sermons of Chal- mers are specimens, while the skeletons of Simeon are examples of the textual method. As the advantages of this mode are the converse of the disadvantages of the other, they need not bo discussed. Its simplicity, unity, energy, and economy are manifest. We have blended the subjects of selection and arrangement for the ■ sake of brevity. Another point remains, namely, the elaboration of the discourse, or that study which should fol- low the preparation of the " sketch "—the fill- ing up of the outline. We have several brief observations to make respecting it. 108 ESSAYS ON THE PKEACHING First. The filling up, though general, should be so complete that the speaker can see through the entire perspective of the discourse. We do not mean that the whole discoui'se should be prepared; ])iit that the different propositions should he connected by leading and well-related thoughts. An extemporaneous speaker should not go into the pulpit (except in emergencies) ■without such a clew. Tliese connecting thoughts may be general enough to admit of abundant extemporaneous additions — three or four, in a dozen words, between each proposition, might suffice — but they should always be thoroughly studied and invariably noted in their 2)lace on the manuscript. We consider this an indis- pensable rule. Many sermonizers merely sketch their "divisions," and trust tu the occasion for the intermediate train of thought : such are never safe. If embarrassment or temporary lassitude shoidd overtake them, they may state their well-wrought positions only to bring into greater contrast a meager, spiritless filling up. [Next to divine aid, this rule is perhaps the best guarantee against embarrassment. It gives the speaker a degree of confidence in his subject, which few embarrassing circumstances can dis- concert. Whatever may be his lack of viva- REQUIEED BY THE TIMES. 109 city or fertility when he enters the pulpit, he feels assured that he has provided a stock of solid and instructive thought, which cannot but be received with profit and respect by his hear- ers ; there is little danger of confusion, there- fore ; not so will he discourse as one who beats the air. We know of successful extemporizers who consider this the prime human security in the pulpit. Second, Not only would we have a somewhat consecutive train of thought sketched down be- tween the propositions, but it is desirable that some sjpecially good thoughts, some apt or striking illustrations adapted to throw a strong light on the suhject, and to arrest the attention of the audience, should be noted — some illustra- tive quotation of Scripture or apposite passage of poetry — which will strike the mind as ap- propriate and even beautiful. Let not such a course be pronounced factitious or meretricious. We demand such j)reparation of the 2:)olitical or literary orator ; and is the gospel of the grace of God less worthy? ]S[o speaker who wishes to make a forcible and vivid impression should neglect it. We do not recommend that such passages, when original, should be prepared in their verbal dress ; in this respect they should 110 ESSAYS ON THE rilEACIIING be extemporaneous — but let them be noted. The abbreviations given by Gregory of the concluding passages of Robert Hall's cele- brated sermon on " Sentiments Suitable to the Times " are fine examples. William Pitt pro- nounced the last five pages of that discourse more eloquent than anything else on record. The language was extemporaneous, yet those overwhelming apostrophes were well studied. Tliird. After thus thoroughly preparing the discourse, the next step is to commit its oxU- Ittus well to memory. The more it is elaborated, the more readily can it be memorized ; in most cases the two processes are coincident. Those who depend upon manuscripts in tlie pulpit cannot be aware of the facility of memorizing after such preparation. Fourtli. There is, besides memorizing, a sjye- cies of reviewing practiced by most, perhaps all extemporaneous speakers, which may be called ruminating. " I never," said Bolton, " have preached a sermon to my people which I did not first preach to myself." Tliis pre- meditating process is all-important in extempo- raneous discourse ; foi* by it the speaker not only refreshes his memory, but excites liis thoughts, and kindles hi.H feelings. Combined REQUIRED BY THE TIMES. HI with an ardent spirit of prayer and a close self- application of the subject, it becomes a most intense and hallowing exercise. There are two important rules respecting it, which are trans- gressed perhaps by most preachers. One is, that it should be an exercise entirely of mediation, not of delivery. The speaker should review and expand his thoughts, but not try to clothe them in language. He will find himself always tending to this latter point, but should obstinately avoid it, because appropri- ate language will occur to him in the pulpit, if his thoughte are clear and vivid. If he gives them a premeditated dress, he will probably not be able to recall them fully, unless he can also recall the language. It is frequently embarrass- ing to depend upon premeditated but unwritten lano-uage ; the difiiculty here is like that of the memoriter preacher whose manuscript is not well committed, and whose ineftectual efforts to recall his language are more perplexing than would be the task of originating it extempo- raneously. Tlie other rule is, that it should never be exer- cised much immediately hefore preaching,— onlj so far as to reassure the memory. Tlic fatigue and agitation of mind occasioned by laborious / 112 ESSAYS ON THE PKEACHING and anxious revision, just before entering the pulpit, must in most cases impair its buoyant play. Let there be, therefore, a full interval of repose between the time of revision and that of speaking. It is said of Eowland Hill, that he usually indulged in mental relaxation before entering the desk, and frequently -when called from his study to attend the service, he was found exercising his mechanical taste by taking aj)art and recomposing the machinery of a clock or watch. We might enlarge much on these points, but our limits require brevity. The few rules wo liave illustrated have been learned from a num ber of the best judges. Various minds require various methods ; yet these few and simple prin- ciples are, we think, of universal and essential application. They are mostly practical axioms. We believe that no one who thoroughly adopts them will find it necessary or desirable to tram- mel himself in the pulpit with manuscripts. After all, the great reform requisite in the pulpit is, we think, that which Ave have de- scribed in the preceding pages. Do away the factitious mannerisms of preaching, its technical and professional formalism, restore it to its prim- itive directness and simplicity, so that the peo REQUIRED BY THE TIMES, 113 pie will resort to it not as to a literary prelec- tion, and tlie preacher himself will not attempt, in it, an intellectual exhibition, but in single- ness and intentness of mind will admonish, coun- sel, and instruct his hearers, weeping with those that weep, rejoicing with those that rejoice, — do this and you reform it at once in all other respects ; its elaborateness, its stiff unnatural dignity, its " notes," and its notable feebleness, would vanish ; it would become more instructive to the popular mind as well as more genial and more jpowerful. 8 114 ESSAYS ON THE PREACHING ESSAY YI. METHODIST PREACHING— ITS PPJMITIVE CIIAEACTEKISTIC8. Its Success — Its Original Characteristics — It was Peculiar iu its Themes — What were they? — Its Evangelical Liberalism — It was Peculiar iu its Style — Its Verbal Style — Its Oratorical Style — Its Aim at Direct Results — Its Extemporaneous De- livery. The old Methodist preacliing ! "We do honestly confess a sort of pride for its noble naturalness, its moral power, and the grandeur of its results, and some\yhat of a tinge of denominational bigotry in favor of the unadulterated preserva- tion of its essential qualities. If that apparatus is best whi^h best accomplishes its ends, who will say that Methodist preaching has not been the best preaching extant in our world for a hundred years ? Denominations which liad been in the American field a hundred years and more before Methodism had an adherent — denomina- tions having the essential truth, and an educated ministry, and traditional prestige, and the influ- ence of popular respectability, have been left a century in the rear of it ; and some of the single annual additions of the latter have equaled the KEQUIKED BY THE TIMES. 115 wliole numerical strength of tlie former. This is a point to be touched delicately, we know ; but we would here hold in abeyance our afore- said bigotry, if possible, and present the striking- fact as full of significance, not to gratify our denominational vanity, but to teach us an ad- monitory lesson ; for let us be assured, that the ■preaching of the %mrd is the great means of evangelisation in the earthy and that the peculi- arities which have given preeminent success to our preaching should be held with an unyield- ing gras23. Doubtless our denominational progress is at- tributable to a great many conditions, but our preaching has been the chief one ; it has been related to, and has empowered all others. Sup- pose we had sustained our itinerancy, and even our wholesome doctrines, but with a stereotyped, lifeless, however refined, preaching — a ministry with even the culture of education, but heartlessly uttering manuscript essays from appointment to appointment — would our cause have broken out on the right and on the left, overwhelming the land, as it has through the labors of the men who, with little or no culture, have made it a glory in the world ? And does any one doubt, that if all the Christian preaching of the earth 116 ESSAYS ON THE PREACHING were conducted in the same style of directness, energy, and unction that these men used, the Gospel would overflow the world, as Methodism has so rapidly its o\sti immediate fields in Great Britain and the United States ? Notwithstand- ing all the drawbacks which the sectarian deli- cacy of such illustrations must present, even to many not over-fastidious Methodist readers, yet the actual force of them is felt immediately and conclusively. Turn all the pulpits of Cliristen- dom into such batteries as were the original pulpits of Methodism, and the evangelic combat would soon resound through tlie world. Hesi- tate as we may at the apparent boastfulness of the remark, all Methodists who have known that ministry, feel " the full assm-ance of faith •' in its truthfulness. From the very nature of the subject, it is im- possible for us to speak of it justly, without this apparent sectarian egotism. We must be per mitted, therefore, to make another laudatory assertion respecting this ministry, namely, that it not only excelled in the legitimate results of the office, but has been marked by an unusual amount of genuine talent, using this word in its popular acceptation. Taken as a whole, the English "Wesleyan EEQUIRED BY THE TIMES. 117 ministry is not only the most eifective, but the most able body of clergymen in Great Britain ; and if we were to express fully our own per- sonal opinion, we should add, in the world. They are the best sermonizers, and the best pul- pit speakers (being, besides the Eoman priests, the only extemporizers) in the United King- dom ; and if once in an age the Kirk presents a pulpit prodigy like Chalmers, or the Baptists a Hall — cases which admit of no denominational comparisons — yet English Methodism, in the number, if not in the genius of its "first-rate" men, has stood pre-eminent. More masterly minds have not been connected with the reli- gious aifairs of modern England than the Wat- sons, Buntings, ISTewtons, Jacksons, Dixons, Hannahs, and others who have managed the interests of Wesleyan Methodism "during the last fifty years. In this country, our ministry has never been destitute of masterly intellects. Asbury will yet be placed, if not at the head, yet among the foremost ecclesiastical characters in American history. Our early bishops, M'Kendree, George, Eoberts, Soule, Hedding, have been men of the highest pulpit power — such power as results not merely from the moral peculiarities of Methodist 118 ESSAYS ON THE TEEACniNG preaching, but fi'om commanding faculties and great personal characteristics. Meanwhile, there have ever and anon appeared in our pul- pits rare lights, which have hardly found con- temporary rivals elsewhere, such as Summer- field, Ross, Bascom, Enter, Emor}-, Fisk, Olin, and not a few others, dead or alive. It is our sober opinion, that if we take the aggregate of " first-rate " pulpit men of all American Chris- tian sects, Methodism would be found to have decidedly the largest proportion. We speak not now of learning, but of gi'eat pulpit ability and great personal traits. It has not been for want of superior men that Methodism has not commanded more public respect ; it has been chiefly because of its rigor- ous peculiarities, which have repelled the world, and adventitious circumstances connected with the social sphere, to which it has chiefly di- rected its label's. The mass of the Methodist ministry has not been able to compare with that of other sects in edncation ; but this is tlie only point (and we ack^jpwledge it to have been a very material one) in which the comparison is disparaging to it. In natural talent, in sound Scriptural know- ledge, in all the great traits of individual char- / EEQUIKED BY THE TIMES. 119 acter, what body of men has ever surpassed it ? " Their works do follow them ;" and these are the best criterion of their capacity. While, however, we unreservedly contend for thus much, we do not hesitate to admit that our claim may not have been equally high in respect to the lowest rank of the American ministries. With the exception of one or two other deno- minations, education has been a general pre- requisite for the pulpit among American sects. This condition alone would be sufficient to pre- clude from them almost entirely a certain class of laborers, of which Methodism has availed itself with great advantage among the popular masses. While this class has perhaps been the occasion of a lower estimate of our ministry generally, it has really been no ground of com- parison with other sects, as it constitutes a peculiar rank, almost entirely exceptional in their ministries. Tlie question, as we have been reviewing it, is not whether taken aggregately, but taken proportionally, Methodism has had as competent a ministry, or, if you please, a more competent ministry, than other sects. It would not be just for us to leave this admission respecting the very lowest rank of the ministry, without a qualification. We would 120 ESSAYS ON THE PREACHING not disparage it by saying that (with one or two excei^tions) it is peculiar to ourselves. This is a fact, but it is not a disparaging fact; on the con- trary, were it demanded of us to say which class of our laborers has actually most extended Me- thodism in the land, and most peopled heaven with its converts, we should hesitate to award the honor to any other than this very class. Our world has need of such a class of evangelical workmen, and it will always have this need; and God grant that Methodism may always perceive the fact, and provide for it. "We are the advocate of educational and ministerial im- provement, but we should consider it most con- summate impolicy — an act of ecclesiastical felo de se — for Methodism to adopt any exclusive standard of ministerial qualification. Let it have its standard, and a good one, and constrain all to it whom it can; but keep also tluit discretion- ary liberty of judgment, by wliicli "Wesley founded flie modern lay ministry, and without which Methodism would probably have been unknown as a distinct body at this day. Now, what is the pm-port of all these remarks, trenching so much as they of necessity have had to on the modesty with which collective, as well as individual, men should speak of them- KEQTJIRED BY THE TIMES. 121 selves? Have they been written for self-gratu- lation, for invidious disparagement of sister Churches? Assuredly not; we have set out to present some views on the peculiarities of Me- thodist Preaching — peculiarities which we fear need to be somewhat renewed and vindicated among us; and we hope our readers will, with ourselves, deem these introductory observations on the character and usefulness of our denomi- national ministry, not irrelevant to the design. Let us now look at some of these characteristic peculiarities. One of them, and doubtless the most import- ant one, was the fact that the saving elementary truths of the Gospel were continually reiterated hy them. Our primitive preachers were great read- ers of the Scriptures, and of their own theological standards. Their range of study was Hmited, but it was fertile. It afforded them resources for varied. preaching, and they did preach variously; they had also provocatives enough to lead them into polemical discussions ; but, whether preach- ing polemics or didactics, or pouring forth their favourite, general, and rousing exhortations, they had the happy art of mingling the essential doctrines of grace with all. Seldom did the man who was inquiring " What shall I do to be 122 ESSAYS ON THE PREACHING saved?" hear a Methodist preacher, without bearing away with him the precise answer. Tlie lost condition of the sonl by nature, re- pentance toward God, faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ, justification, sanctification, the witness of the Spirit — such truths seemed to make up the alphabet out of which the very syllabification of their discourses was formed; so that it may be said, with but little qualifica- tion, that whosoever heard an ordinary' ]\[eth- odist sermon, however casually, thenceforward knew most, if not all, of the doctrines of grace. This very excellence may not have been without a fault — the excess of a good thing; but if faulty, its error was on the safe side. Considei'ing, however, the circumstances of those times — the necessity of direct saving preaching amid the universal declension of piety — it may well be doubted whether this general uniformity w^as in any wise a defect. There was a generousness, a sort of evangeli- cal liberalism, about the subject-matter of the old Methodist preaching, which could not but inspire both the preacher and his hearers. It repelled everywhere the dogmatic restrictions which the prevalent creed had put upon the promises of the gospel. God had concluded all REQUIRED BY THE TIMES. 123 men in anbelief, that he might have mercy upon all, was its affirmation, in the face of all teaching to the contrary. Wliere sin abounds, grace much more abounds, it asserted. Univers- al redemption— the universal help of the Holy Spirit-free, present, perfect, and eternal salva- tion for all men who would accept it-this was its grand predication; and men bearing such a message could not but proclaim it as with the sound of trumpets. There were, doubtless, many other elements of moral force in the preaching of our fathers, some of which we shall proceed to mention ; but we cannot refrain from pausing here to put unwonted emphasis on the one specified. The saving truths of revelation are the great ele- • ments of moral power in the world. God's word is "God's almightiness" among men; and he that invests himself with its great essential ener- gies is the mighty man in the moral world. Michael or Gabriel wielded no mightier sword in the wars of the angels. If nine-tenths of all the dogmatic theology extant were at once ex- tinguished from the earth, and the doctrines im- mediately related to conversion and sanctifica- tion were brought forth in our pulpits and religious literature with proportionately more 124 ESSAYS ON THE PREACHING fulness and frequency and a])plication to ordin aiy life, who doubts that all the energies of Christianity would he redoubled? The early Methodist preaehere, being mostly men who were powerfully converted from down-right sin- fulness, went forth with their souls imbued and flaming with these powerful tniths, and, with whatever inability otherwise, preached them in demonstration of the Spirit and power. Tlie hardened multitude hailed them with shouts of derision ; but, listening, wept, fell often like dead men to the earth, and went to their homes praying, and exclaiming "Tliese are the men who show ns tlie way of salvation!" As we prize our ministerial vocation, let us study well this example of our fathei-s, and learn well its lesson. Woe to us when the generalities or moralities of religion, however glorious, shall take the place of those direct, soul-quickening doctrines which were the chief themes of our first ministry. "We need them ever, as we have contended on a former page, to vitalize the generalities and moralities of religion. So mucli for the main themes of Methodist preacliing. We do not afhnii that these were peculiar to it, but that this habitual reiteration of them was. Other ministries preached them ; REQUIRED BY THE TIMES. 125 but it is, we suppose, quite generally acknowl- edged, that when Methodism went forth through the land, the stated ministries of the country dealt mostly in the general didactics of religion. When Jesse Lee entered ISTew-England, a half century had passed since the last extensive re- vival^ — that of Edwards's day. But not in its themes only was Methodist preaching peculiar ; it was notably so in its style. Our fathers, more than any other modern minis- try, preached ad pojpidum. Tliey came out from the people, and knew how to address the people ; and the popular eifects of their preach- ing, the great massive ingatherings of the people into their communion, are a demonstration of their power nothing short of magnificent"; proof of character and capacity above all polemic tomes or literary demonstrations which ever proceeded from clerical heads. Li referring to their style of preaching, we speak comprehen- sively, meaning not only their verhdl style, but their mode of illustrating the truth and their style of elocution ; and in all these respects we have the presumption to say that, take them as a whole, they had more manly genuineness, more practical adaptedness, and therefore more effectiveness, than any other ministry since the 126 i:SSAYS ON THE TKEACniNG days of tlie apostles. The sectarian egotism of this remark must be excused, for the fact is, to our vision, an outstanding one, and may be seen and read of all men, in the results of their labours. In regard to their verbal style, we are pre- pared to admit the charge that they were gen- ally unlettered, and therefore unprepared to present their jjublic instructions with those traits of literary purity and elevation which education alone can confer, and which we ac- knowledge to be extremely desirable in public religious teachei-s, both as beiitting the exalted character of moral truth, and as an auxiliary means of the elevation of the popular taste. We would not, in the least, depreciate any gen- uine accomplishment which can be brought to the aid of religion. With the lack of literary polish, however, our early ministry had those ad- vantages of the simple, direct, and often stren- uous speech of the people, which educated men are too apt to lose, but ought not to lose, in their professional diction. Tlie fi-uc purity of Saxon consists not merely in its simple words, l)ut also in a sort of colloquial facility and aptness of phrases, of sentences ; Addison's contrast with Johnson is nut in words ojdy, but in their EEQUIKED BY THE TIMES. 127 collocation. I^ow, what we would remark is, that the untutored style of our early ministry had this gi-eat excellence, this colloquial direct- ness and force. And this is an inestimable ex- cellence in popular address. It brought the truth not only to the hearing of the people, but to their comprehension ; and not only to their comprehension, but to their interest. Men will readily fall asleej) under the literary style of a manuscript sermon, but an earnest conversa- tional style keeps the attention ; it leads the mind of the hearer into a sort of interlocution with the speaker, and thus tlie truth insinuates itself into the conscience and the heart. This was the style of the Great Teacher himself. Their mode of illustrating the truth was of similar character. Simihtudes drawn, like Christ's, from familiar life — allusions to local or passing events — the thrilling anecdote — these were the staple of their expositions. "We do not deny that in individual cases they were exces- sive, and became too characteristic, so as to change the preacher somewhat into the anec- dote-monger ; but such men were exceptional to the general character of the ministry. While the great mass of the Itinerancy avoided this abuse, they traversed the land, wielding, in their 128 ESSAYS ON THE PREACHING homely, earnest speecli and popular illustra- tions, a power over the common mind, com- pared with which the customary and more refined prelections of the pulpits of the day were only as the music of the piper compared with the wind abroad in its strength, the "mighty rushing wind." One of their characteristics, seemingly at first view a fault, but really a great excellence, ought to be more particularly noticed; we mean the almost general habit of giving experimental illudrations from their own personal religious history. The egotism which would seem to accompany this coui^se under more stately cir- cumstances, could hardly suggest itself to them or their hearers in the simplicity of their primi- tive assemblies — held often in barns, kitchens, school-houses, or under the trees of the forest. Studying the truth in their Bibles, these labor- ious men found its appropriate comments written by the Holy Spirit, as in lines of fire, ui)on their own souls; and when these comments were read aloud, with tears and sobbing adoration, the effect was resistless. How often, when the rest of the discourse has apparently failed of impres- sion, have we seen the multitudes melt with emotion when tliese experimental attestations REQUIRED BY THE TIMES. 129 have been adduced! Such references to their own history could not fail to kindle their reli- gious feelings, and to spread a sympathetic emotion through their assemblies. As to the oratorical style of the early Metho- dist preachers, much might be said, though we doubt not the phrase is looked upon at this moment, by some of our readers, with quite equivocal thoughts. None, however, share such thoughts who lived in their day and heard them often; we doubt, indeed, whether any such one now reads these lines who is not ready to affirm, that, whatever literary improvement may have since been made by our ministry, in genuine oratory it cannot now pretend to rival its earlier periods. We speak of the average ministry — tlierc are exceptional cases of preeminence now, and there were then ; but we doubt much whether the mass of the ministry now equal in genuine pulpit eloquence their predecessors of thirty or forty years ago. There was an unusual proportion of strong, stout-bodied men among them; their itinerant habits gave them robust frames, and trumpet- like voices ; and their popular mode of address- ing the masses gave them the right command of their vocal powers, the right modulation and 9 130 ESSAYS ON THE PREACHING the right gesticulation. What preachers now extant among us sui-pass, in personal dignity and vocal power, Jesse Lee, Bostwick, Sargeant, Koberts, George, Kuter, Beaucharap, Koszel, Merwin, Brodhead? Not only the dignified mein, but the sonorous and eloquent tones of these men are remembered throughout the Church. Tlie last of them, especially, was a noble specimen of manhood and oratory; he often preached on the final judgment, and usually with a dignity of bearing and a sub- limity of voice which comported even with that lofty theme. Those who heard him could hardly have been more awe-smitten if they had seen the heavens fleeing away at the approach of the Judge ; and often scores fell to the earth, and lay as dead men, while "the trumpet waxed louder and louder." Tlie naturalness, the colloquial facility of which we have spoken, were adapted to true oratory. Introducing their discourses thus, our old preachers usually rose with the subject to higher strains, until the sublimest declamation was often reached, and the awe-struck people wept or gi-oaned aloud. There were doubtless faults about them, — excesses of good qualities, as we have admitted; but these defects were KEQUIKED BY THE TIMES. 131 but exceptional, and were always preferable to the opposite ones. The traits already enumerated tended to pro- duce another characteristic peculiarity, namely, direct results. Our fathers expected to see men awakened and converted under their sermons, and the expectation led to an adaptation of their discourses to this end. A sermon that had not some visible effect was never satisfactory, what- ever might be the hope of its future results. It was usual with them to end the discourse with a home-directed and overwhelming application, and often to follow it immediately with exer- cises of prayer, that they might gather up the shaken fruit on the spot. Hence revivals flamed along their extended circuits. Tliey were worTcTnen, and workmen that needed not to be ashamed. Tliis aim at direct results is the secret of one half the success of Methodism — it is the expla- nation of most of our history. Men actuated and thrilled by such a purpose — ^liow could they be otherwise than eloquent and demonstrative ? It would make ordinary talents extraordinary, and convert weakness itself into strength. Now take a corps of robust men, possessed of good strong sense, the vigorous vernacular of the 132 ESSAY8 UN TIIK 1'KKAC1I1N« people, staimcli sonorous voices, and sanctified hearts, and inspirit them with the purpose and ex- pectation of immediate results from their labors, and you will have a specimen of the old Metho- dist ministry. How, we again ask, could such men be otherwise than eloquent and genuinely great ? As a man thinketh, says Solomon, so is he ; much more may it be said, as a man pur- poseth, so is he. Of the truly great men of the world we suppose it can be proved, that more have owed their success to energetic purpose than to great faculties. One thing, at least, seems cer- tain, namely, that good ordinary faculties being given, and a determined purpose added, success is certain, except where some adventitious ob- stacle, beyond all human control, intervenes. Tlie will is a presiding, a pervading faculty. The other powers are individually independent, to a great extent. A man may have a strong imagination, and be an intellectual coxcomb ; or a strong memory, and be a blockhead ; or a cautious judgment, and be a granite post, at once as insusceptible and as immovable ; but an energetic will seenxs related to all the other faculties, and energizes them all. Tliere are exceptions, to be sure : the ass may sometimes be determined, but the hero is always so. REQUIRED BY THE TIMES. 133 Bring a man, in we care not what position, whether a mechanic at his bench or a captain at the head of hosts, to concentrate his en- deavors on one absorbing purpose, and you add to all his resources for that purpose an energy, which, if history is not wholly a lie, is more important than all of them ; and which, in some cases, when the destinies of states have im- pended, and all other resources have been con- founded, has seemed, like God's own fiat, to evoke a universe of means out of nothing. He must be the great man who manfully and per- sistently keeps his soul up to a great purpose. If even uncontrollable circumstances interdict to him great achievements, still his souj will be great within him. Our fathers, like the apostles, had the sub- limest aim possible to man — the eternal redemp- tion of human souls. Tliey made this an im- mediate work, and directed every energy to it. A sermon with them was not an entertaining exposition, to be heard by a self-complacent audience through a leisure hour; nor an expert polemical dissection; nor a didactic example of clerical scholarship : others could so preach, for they had qualified themselves for it; but the untutored, earnest-hearted Methodist ministry 134 ESSAYS ON THE TREACHING would have converted itself into a herd of ec- clesiastical apes, by attempting to assume such a character. Preaching, on the contrary, was with them " sounding the alarm " through the land. They were as men standing on the heights of the shore, and crying out and point- ing out (to wrecked mariners) the way to the land, amid the tumults of the stomi. What, under such circumstances, could they do with rhetorical expletives, with circumlocutory de- scriptions, or finical gesticulations ? They would point immediately and energetically to the place of safety; they must speak in the di- rectest and most urgent terms ; and every look, gesture, tone, would be instinct Avith the thought of the moment. ' Now, though there is some qualification to be given to this description; though there were oc- casionally circumstances in which a difierent style of discourse was adopted and was suitable, — yet we contend that this was the usual char- acter of the old Methodist preaching, and also that it is the legitimate style of the ambassador of God ; that it is not only what the moral wants of the world demand, but that, more than any other mode of preaching, it naturally tends to true eloquence ; not only the eloquence of REQUIRED BY THE TIMES. 135 earnest thought and feeling, but to that simple, direct, urgent style which always accompanies the highest order of oratory, and to that natural but energetic manner which secures the right modulation, botli of voice and gesture. Tlie subject suggests a practical remark which we cannot forbear uttering. This energetic directness of aim furnishes a rule of success almost infallible, and yet jpracticdble to all Tnen. No ambassador of Christ should be content to be an ordinary man. He professes to believe himself armed with a preternatural authority, and supplied with preternatural en- dowments. These, if nothing else, should give him an extraordinary character, based upon an extraordinary, pure, and sublime self-conscious- ness of his official position. Yet how often do we find in the sacred office men- who pass through year after year of sheer ineffectiveness, uniform only in their lack of positive traits or positive results. This should never be the case. We care not what want of marked ability, or what inopportune circumstances there may be, a man of piety and of but ordinary faculties, should, in such an extraordinary function, be an extraordinary man ; and Tie needs but one addi- tional quality, and that, as we have said, a uni- 136 ESSAYS ON THE rREACIIING vei-sally practicable one, to make him so — ^lie needs but tliis resolute directness and consecra- tion of purpose. Let the unsuccessful young man, that now, perchance, sits in his study reading these lines, and desponding, it may be, over the failure of his course — the declen- sion of his congregation, the absence of conver- sions, the dispirited temper of his official sup- porters — let him, upon his knees, vow that he will now, by the help of God, begin his work anew, with an energetic aim at appreciable and immediate results ; and what, if he persists in his resolution, will follow? Wh}', immediately this new purpose will change his own mood quite visibly : he will become inspirited, and soon all around him will catch the salutary contagion of his example. His subjects will now be chosen with more reference to tlieir direct impression ; his illustrations, his whole train of thought, his very words, will take some- what of a new character, from the energetic purpose which sways him, a puq^ose which he recognised always, to be sure, Init which has now become ignited and luminous in his soul. Thus resolutely reaching beyond all factitious or secondary appliances, and bearing down with all his might on the one design before him, REQUIRED BY THE TIMES. 137 he will assuredly become a mightier man. If he is so naturally destitute of talent, as not, even under such an impulse, to be able to de- velop any new or higher ability than before, yet will his small talents, more earnestly used, become more interesting to his hearers. They will feel the power of his heart, if not of his head. An earnest character in a good cause can never fail to command the sympathy of the great popular heart. Put such a man any- where, and he will carry with him the popular respect, if not the popular applause ; nay, he will sooner or later compel along with him, to no small extent, the popular cooperation, (^an we not recall facts in proof of these remarks? How often have we known preachers who, with very ordinary abilities, were, nevertheless, al- ways received well, and who have sometimes been in general demand? And why? The only answer is, they were earnest, hard-working n:ieu, good visitors among the people, assiduous in the Sunday-school interest, energetic in social meet- ings, sympathetic with the sick and poor : men, in a word, who are intent on their one work — the rescue of souls. Whatever then may be your talent, rouse yourself, O man of God, to a renewed and soul- 138 ESSAYS ON THE PREACniNG Btiiring consciousness of your high calling. If you have brilliant endowments, remember that their direct appropriation to the single ultimate purpose of your othce will only exalt and im- prove them. If your gifts are small, remember that yom" graces and energy need not be so. Open your Bible and select subjects which will lead men directly to God. Go into the pulpit expecting, intensely praying, that souls may be rescued under the discourse of the horn*; go into the prayer-meeting urging the people unto the cross ; go forth into the streets, not to idle away time with colloquial common-places, or twad- dling jokes, but, like Paul, to "warn" the people "from house to house with teare." Stand out on the arena of common life armed witli the directest truths of the Gospel, and ap- ply them uncompromisingly to every evil, — every question. Act thus, and lieaven and earth shall pass away rather than the word of God fail in your hands. But is there no considerable qualification to be admitted here ? Is it the case that the Chris- tian teacher does not need the more intlirect and collateral modes of labor as well as this I nergetic course ? The fallacy of the question consists in the tacit assumption that the earnest, REQUIRED BY THE TIMES. 139 direct aim we contend for, cannot apply to such collateral modes ; and what is most deplorable is, that this assumption is generally practical, as well as tacit. How common is it that doctrinal or ethical preachers assume a distinctive char- acter as such, sacriiicing to their elaborateness or their apathy the force that awakens souls and quickens the Church ! "We must indeed preach doctrines, and morals, and the generalities of religion, and we may do this, too, with all intellectual and literary appliances ; but a direct and even intense aim at what we have called the "single ultimate purpose" of our office may modify and thrill with power all such topics and appliances. This is what we contend for ; and we contend that the characteristic effective- ness of our early preaching consisted in this ; and that the great reason of the comparative ineffectiveness of the pulpit, throughout the world, arises from the want of it.* Another characteristic quite peculiar to the * The late lamented President Olin was a notable ex- ample of such a union of effective directness with all the traits and topics of an educated preacher. He could preach on no subject without immediate and profound effect ; and had his health permitted, he would have stood forth before the American public a national model of pialpit effectiveness. But more respecting him hereafter. 140 ESSAYS ON TIIK PREACIIINO early Methodist preaching, in tliis country at least, and an almost necessary counterpart of the excellences we have described, was its extem- poraneous deliverrj. We have already spoken with some emphasis, and yet with care, wc thinlc, on this subject. "We need not repeat our views respecting it. Tlie tendency to a contrary mode of preaching, which is incipiently developing itself among us, we deem not so much a fatal, practical heresy, as an unwise policy. Some very excellent and influential brethren encour- age it by their exami)le, at least ; we would* not give them provocation by unnecessary severity, but in merely alluding to the subject again, they will allow us to remind them of the historical, the grand fact, that the preaching we have just described, so mighty in its results over nearly all this continent, was never accompanied, per- haps, in a single instance, with the homiletic oaaniiscript. Extemporaneous preaching was, until lately, the universal usage of our ministry. It was more than this, — it was, as we have inti- mated, a necessary characteristic of the kind of preaching we have attril)uted to them. AVe cannot, indeed, conceive of the preaching we have described as other than extemporaneous. Reading never could be preaching, in this sense, KEQUIKED BY THK TIMES. 141 any more than the letters of the one word spell the other. How those heroic men conhl have gone thundering through the land, prostrating multi- tudes to the earth, or melting them to tears, by the reading of manuscripts, is a problem wliich 'certainly no experiment ever solved, and no logic can show. They would have been an entirely different class of men, and Methodism a quite different affair, if they had been readers instead of what they preeminently were — preachers. We contend then for the old Methodist school of preaching : not because it is old — traditional authority weighs little with us ; but traditional success docs weigh with us ; and our whole de- nominational history is a demonstration of the utility of extempore preaching. Such were some of the characteristic traits of the preacliing which has made Methodism what it is in this land. "\Ye have not referred to the peculiar piety, the special anointing, wliich some of us claim for our early ministry ; this, if not taken for granted, might be deemed invidious. With this exception, however, the traits enumerated were, in our estimation, their marked distinctions— the right themes, the right style, energetic awi at direct results, and popu- lar or extemjporaneous addresses. 142 ESSAYS ON THE PREACHING ESSAY YII. METHODIST PEEACHIXG— HOW FAR ARE ITS PRIMITIVE CHARACTERISTICS AND METHODS SUITED TO OUR TIMES? Heroic Character of the Early Methodist Ministry — Asbury and his Associates — The "Old Western Conference" — The Applica- bility of the original Ministerial Methods and Style of Methodism to our large Communities — The "City Missionary" and the old City Itinerancy — Importance of the old Methods to the Atlantic Communities — To the Interior States — To the Western Territo- ries — The Prospective Population of the Country — Startling Statistics. AVe have enumerated among the chai'acteristics of the "Early Methodist Preaching" its extetn- jpore address, its aim at direct results, its style, and its topics, — the latter as heing almost ex- clusively tlie Adtal, elementary truths of revela- tion. Tlie results of this preaching, as witnessed throughout our continent, are proofs of its. potency and appropriateness to the times. It was not only correlative to the times, hut also and especially to the ecclesiastical system of Methodism — its ministerial methods, its inces- sant labors, its itinerancy, &c. It was a product jointly of the times and the system. While we have contended that its essential excellences should be retained, we liavc admitted that our own times require some modifications of it. EEQtriKED BY THE TIMES. 143 "What are these modifications? What, in more general terms, should be the characteristics and methods of our preaching in these times? This question expresses, precisely enough, the subject of the ensuing two chapters, extending it beyond the homiletic traits enumerated, to the eccle- siastical peculiarities which justified them. The current demands for improvement take in both, especially in our large cities; and in examining these demands we must have reference to both. To those who have read our preceding chapter on the subject, we need not say that our predi- lections for the "primitive school of Methodist preaching" are strong: we shall not dissemble, that in admitting the expediency of its modifica- tion, in some portions of the Church, and in show- ing wliat that modification should be, we shall be as much inclined to guard its old honor and excellences as to concede to \X\q proposed im- provements. We shall attempt rather to show the limits than the urgency of the latter. A^e confess a conviction of the importance of some of these improvements, and yet no little jealousy of them; and our ensuing remarks will show the influence of both sentiments — 'perhaps in a juster appreciation of the subject than we could otherwise entertain. 144 ESSAYS ON THE PREACHING The recency of the imtion, tlie wide disper- sion of its population, the necessarily long joiir- nies of onr early preachers, and the absence of thoroughly organized or permanent congrega- tions, except in few places, led them to confine their discourses to comparatively few topics ; these, as we have said, were the most essential, the vital truths of the Gospel, answering sum- marily the question, " What shall I do to be saved?" They entered a town or village, "sounded the alarm," held u]) the cross, and were gone. They were wise in this course — ■ that v\diicli was most needed was said, though many things were left unsaid. They were driv- ing, in all haste, the plowshare through the fallov/ ground, and scattering broadcast the good seed ; the time for minuter work in the field — for dressing and gathering the crop — •. would come they knew, and God wo^^ld mean- while, they believed, raise up appropriate labor- ers for that necessity. They were the Lcgio Fulminea — the "Thundering Legion," whose duty it was to break and scatter the ranks of the enemy, and to pursue and shout onward iu the rout, scaling ramparts, penetrating fast- nesses, but leaving the spoils of the conquered field to the "reserve" which were yet in the REQUIKED BY THE TIMES. 145 distance. The latter have come up ; they have gathered the trophies, and now devolves upon us the task of defining the conquered territory, of fortifying it against future losses, of dividing, subdividing, and rightly governing its pro- vinces. There is not mere rhetoric, but historic truth- fulness in this view of tlie heroic mission of our primitive ministry. At the risk of a slight but not irrelevant digression, let us glance here a little further at its character, for its character is no insignificant illustration of its preaching. In all sober-mindedness we do not believe its chiv- alry, and even romance, are rivaled in modem history, at least since the days of the Crusades. These stalwart evangelists were abroad, thun- dering through the land, when the storms of the Revolution were coming on, and while they were bursting over the country. Those who know intimately the early Methodist history, will doubt whether "Washington and the sans culottes army of Yalley Forge endured more hardships, or exhibited more heroic characteris- tics than Asbury and his invincible itinerant cohorts. Asbury himself exceeded Wesley in his annual travels. His tour almost. yearly was ft'om Maine to Georgia, by way of the West, 10 146 ESSAYS ON TUE PREACHING when a few log cabins only dotted Ohio, Ken- tucky, and Tennessee ; when not one Methodist chapel, if indeed any other Protestant church, was to be seen beyond the Alleghanies; and when he had to be escorted from one settlement or fortified post to another by armed men. He averaged six thousand miles a year, mostly on horseback, on recent roads or through forests. During forty-five years of ministerial labor in this country his travels were equal to the cir- cumference of the globe every four years ! And yet this glorious old bishop, who ordained more men to the ministry than any prelatical bench of the nation,* and who, in his pei-sonal traits and achievements, as well as the later results of his labors, is unquestionably the first ecclesi- astical personage in the American annals, has never yet been naTned in any of our national his- tories, and probably has not been known to our Ramsays, Bancrofts, Hildreths, or Goodriches. And he \vas but a representative of the itin- erant ministry of that day. Tliose great times produced such great men as Lee, who journeyed * He presided in 224 Annual Conferences, and conse- crated 4,000 ordinations. He began his labors Avith 600 members in tlie American Methodist Church, and fell at last at the head of 212,000, who have since multiplied to 1,400,000. REQUIRED BY THE TIMES. 147 with two horses, one for a relay when the other should be fatigued; Pickering, with a district that swept from the extremity of Cape Cod, around to the center of Yermont; Hedding, traveling through the storms of winter, from Long Island Sound to the Canada line ; Soule, braving the Borean terrors of the Maine forests ; Bangs, Coate, Wooster, Sawyer, Dunham, Cole- man, traversing the wildernesses of Canada ; M'Coombs, Merwin, Eoszel, Sharp, Boehm, Wells, Cooper, Garrettson, Mills, Smith, and hundreds of others, who incessantly went to and fro "crying aloud and sj)aring not," through the Middle States ; Dunwody, Peirce, Dougherty, Kennedy, Capers, and many others, equally noble, the heroes of Southern Methodism. And then there were the staunch men of oak, the sons of thunder, in the West, M'Kendree, Ro- berts, Young, Blackman, Burke, Larkin, Quin, Finley, Cartwright, Collins, &c., the leaders of the memorable old "Western Conference," when it was the only one beyond the mountains — • when it reached from Detroit to JS^atches, and each of its districts comprised about two of the modern Western Conferences. Alas for the man whose heart does not palpitate- at the contem- plation of such men, and such indomitable ener- 148 ESSAYS ON THE PREACHING gy ! Tlieii-s -was a hardihood, a. heroism which old Sparta would have applauded with the clash of her shields as eymhals. Tlie success of Metli- odism has often heen referred to as a marvel — a knowledge of the men who composed its fii-st ministiy explains the mystery. Our history — not merely our Church history, but our national history — has an obligation yet to discharge toward these men. They laid the moral foundations* of most of the American States. Tlicy marched in the van of emigration bearing aloi't the cross, and they were almost its only standard-bearers throughout the lirst and most trying period of our ultramontane history. "When the tide of population began to sweep down the Western declivities of the Allegha- nies, and during the forming period of the states of the Mississippi Valley, they were in motion everywhere, evangelizing tlic rude masses, and averting barbarism from the land. Let us not be accused of extravagant eulogy in this passing reference to their merits — so long ignored by our historical writei^s. Such were the men, such the circumstances of our first ministry. And under such circum- stances it was wise, we repeat, to limit, as they did, the range of their y)ulpit instruction to KEQUIKED BY THE TIMES. 149 those topics which were most adapted to the immediate salvation of their hearers. Beyond these topics they did occasionally venture, as we have admitted, but in very restricted excur- sions ; in sallies against some of the polemical dogmas of the day, Calvinism especially, or in defense of some of the important practical ordi- nances of the Gospel ; their preaching, however, consisted of few though powerful sermons, and aggregately, of the truths which relate to per- sonal conversion. These truths we must continue to reiterate, but not so exclusively as did our lathers. Inevit- able circumstances — nay, very salutary circum- stances — have intervened, and require of us a greater amplitude and detail of religious instruc- tion, in the older sections of the country at least. Our cause has consolidated. There is scarcely a town or village in the denser sections of the nation where the Methodist chapel does not ap- pear. Nearly all our church edifices in the Atlantic States have been erected or renovated within twenty-five years;* they contain now stated congi'egations and thoroughly organized societies, who, habitually assembling Avithin * This lias been a work of vast enterprise and expcAdi- tuve ; could its statistics be presented, we doubt not they 150 ESSAYS ON THE PREACHING their walls, cannot be edified, ninch less satis- fied, witli repetitious exhortations on obvious or familiar topics. The preciousness of such topics will redeem them, to a great extent, from the defects of the preacher; but there may be an intolerable excess of a good thing. Men cannot subsist on honey or milk, but need other, though it be inferior, nourishment. A man can live better habitually on the varied constituents of the potato tlian on pure wheat. The axe may be necessary to fell the forest or cleave the rough mass, but more delicate and varied imple- ments are needed to work it into useful wares. Still the glory of the primitive school of Meth- odist preaching has not yet dej^arted; its day, its necessity still exist, and must continue to exist on our own continent/br generations. First. It is needed still to no inconsiderable extent in our Atlantic communities. Our old and mature Churches may require the proposed improvements, but all around them are moral wastes, which, instead of being recovered, are absolutely growing more desolate year by year. would exhibit the liberality of the denomination in a strik- ing light, and relieve greatly the unfavorable comparison sometimes made between its other philanthropic contribu- tions and those of sister sects. EEQTJIEED BY THE TIMES. 151 Let US not think, then, that we require in our large cities only educated and polished preachers and restricted modes of labor ; these we must have, but we yet need there, as much if not more than in the first days of Methodism, voices " crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord" — men who will "circuit" these cities as did our fathers, and, like them, preach continually and powerfully the primary truths of religion among the neglected populace. We would emphasize the assertion, for there is, we fear, a tendency to a very opposite opin- ion. The City Mission is a happy idea of the times, especially as an adjunct of a local pas- torate ; but we do not consider it, as usually conducted, an appropriate appendage ' to .our own system, or anything like an adequate sub- stitute for our old city itinerancy. Our first preachers did, in cities, precisely the work which city missionaries now do, and with how much greater success ! All our urban Methodism sprang from their labors. They erected their first batteries in the neglected and impoverished localities. They gathered converts into their small bands, without the invidious association of a " mission to the poor." They offered them- selves to the poor ; the poor virtually, though 152 ESSAYS ON THE PREACHING informally, accepted tliem as their chosen pas- tors, and spontaneously formed a tacit contract, a self-respectful habit of supporting them. These first " city missions " are now become wealthy and intelligent " city stations," and re- quire indeed a modified ministerial treatment ; but if the field for such labors remains — nay, is tenfold more ample and urgent — why is not the old ministerial apparatus, with all its powerful attributes, as appropriate as ever? Where is the reason for a change ? not assuredly in tlie moral condition of our suburban masses ; not in the necessity of a different ministerial regimen, for certainly none coiild be more appropriate than the pastoral methods of our fathers. All the original conditions of Method Ist ininisterial labor exist, we assert, in our present large coni- Tnunities, only vastly augmented. What then, we again ask, has occasioned the change in our ministerial treatment of the poor ? What else than the illusion which has come over us with our growing prosperity, that because our Churches, originally founded among the poor, have outgrown their first humble spheres, there- fore Methodism has necessarily changed its rela- tive position to the destitute populace ; that it must now look chioflv after tlic comfort and in- EEQTJIRED BY THE TIMES. 153 telligent treatment of its well-housed children, and send ont only an occasional messenger to pick up the foundlings of the highway and con- vey them into a neighboring shelter ycleped "a city mission chapel." This is not right ; this is recreance to the old chivalric honor of our min- istry—it is recreance to the honor of our Master in heaven. The figure, like most figures, may be some- what an hyperbole, for thanks be to God, we still to a great extent preach the Gospel to the poor ; but is not this change coming over us ? Is it not one of the most serious liabilities of our cause ? While our intelligent city Churches are demanding a diiferent class of preachers and an improved style of preaching, and also import- ant changes in our ministerial methods, let them be reminded that the vast destitute masses around them require still the old methods, the old class of preachers and preaching — that none, since the apostolic missionaries, could more precisely meet their deplorable necessities. The Legio Fidminea, whose task we said it was to break the ranks and take the ramparts of the enemy, are, then, still needed even here in our cities, where our own fortifications dis- play their completed proportions and victorious 154 ESSAYS ON THE PREACHING flags; for even here many a hostile fortress stands in juxtaposition with our defenses ; the very citadel is yet in possession of the foe, in most of our large cities, and the circumvalla- tions — the subui'bs — are crowded with his forces. We assert, and wouj^ assert it over and over again, that all these demoralized regions should be invaded by " Itinerant Methodist Preachers," as the cities were at first. Methodist families would be found scattered among them, as then ; these wovild take in the evangelist and open their doors for preaching, as then ; converts would multiply, as then ; lay assistants would rise up, classes and societies would be formed, and these would grow into self-supporting- Churches, as then. Why not? Is there any imaginable reason why not now as well as then ? And is there not for such labors now a great vantage ground, which our fathers had not, in the aid which our existing Churches can afford them ? The above has been the historical process of Methodism from the beginning — it is the process of its present success in its foreign mission helds, and is precisely what is needed in tliis its do- mestic missionary work. An English friend, who is fomiliar with the Wesloyan Missions, REQUIRED BY THE TIMES. 155 gives, in a communication to the writer, the following summary view of their modus op- erandi : — " As soon as any number of his hearers ' re- ceive the truth in the love of it,' our missionary unites them into a ' class ' under the care of a ' leader.' And thus the hedge of discipline is placed round this cultured spot, and assistance and sympathy given to these ' babes in Christ.' The pastoral care is divided with these leaders, who watch over the little flocks in the absence of the missionary. Then, as soon as divine grace has drawn forth and sanctified the abilities of his converts, the missionary finds out who among them have an aptitude for exhortation ; he licenses them to ' exhort ;' afterward, if they improve, to ' preach ;' then a 'circuit plan' is formed, a place provided where a congregation can meet on the Sabbath, and there this ' na- tive preacher' in his turn, 'of the ability Avhich God giveth,' speaks to the people ' all the words of this life.' Such preachers multiply and improve, while the missionary directs their studies, and oversees the whole machinery — • preachers, leaders, classes, schools, prayer meet- ings, &c., until often such circuits rise, lik^ those in the Friendly Isles, Africa, &c., to have 156 ESSAYS ON THE PREACniNG twenty or thirty cliapels, and fifty to one hun- dred 'local ministers.' Some of these chapels, too, are able to accommodate from one thousand five hundred to two thousand persons ; most of them are well filled, and some of them are crowded. Of the eight thousand two hundred and twenty-six ' assistants,' there are only eight hundred and forty-three who are salaried, and these give their whole time to the work, as cate- chists, school teachers, &c. The rest being chiefly local preachers, interpreters, etc., give their services gratuitously."* jSTow this, we affirm, has been tlie universal process of Methodism until witliin a few years ; and what we complain of is, that the Churches founded by precisely such means are, now that they have become isolated and self-supporting, generally rejjudiating this eft'ective plan as. obsolete, though all their adjacent fields — ■ nay, the very interjacent fields — often, in- deed, their immediate precincts — demand just such energetic labors, and demand them, in most of our large cities, 7nore urgently than ever hefore. "Exhorters" are hardly known among us any more; the "Local Ministry" is falling * Rev. "William pjiitlcr, now of New-En^laiul Confer- ence. EEQUIKED BY THE TIMES. 157 into comparative disuse; "Itinerancy" in our cities is being abandoned : meanwhile, the pop- ulace are perishing in their moral destitu- tion, and we obtrude uj)on them an occasional " city missionary " as an apology for the sacri- fice of our once powerful and still needed methods. We contend, then, that whatever improve- ments we may propose in our standard of ministerial qualification and modes of minis- terial labor, we should still have, even here in our ripest fields, a large proportion of just such labors in and out of the pulpit as pertained to the first* school of Methodist preachers — its same summary themes, the same direct style, ad populum^ the same aim at immediate results, the same eftective methods. Second. We shall still need them also, to a great extent, in that large field, the " Provincias Internas^^ of our territory, lying between the Atlantic margin and the later settlements of the West, w^here the "circuit system" is not yet generally broken into stations. Throughout this vast region Methodism is flourishing, and will, in less than twenty-five years, be consolidated into great strength. Its ministry is now improving, but might still faster improve, as the increasing 158 ESSAYS ON TIIK PREACHINlG supply of candidates allows a more discriminat- ing choice. Taking it as a whole, it is the noblest sphere for the advancement of both our Ministry and Churches now occupied by us ; but oiir primitive ministerial cliaracteristics and methods are still appropriate to it, and could not advantageously be modified, except by such improvements as should not essentially change them. Third. The vast unsettled portions of the continent from the Mississippi to the Pacific, and from the (ireat Slave Lake to the Gulf of California, will aftbrd them a magnificent theater during as long a period, at least, as tlift Church has yet recorded in its annals. We must be permitted to delay on this part of our subject, though in no wise proportionately to its importance. There are several considerations respecting the settlement of this grand area which should be borue in mind. The population which is to flood it, and is now jiouring into it, will be TTbore largely foreign than were the earlier migra- tions of the country. A very considerable pro- portion of the first settlers in the new territories were from the older states, and they carried with them better notions of religion and morals REQUIRED BY THE TIMES. 159 than come to lis now from Em-ope. He must be of dull vision who does not see the moral liabilities to the nation which must arise from this transposition of demoralized European mass- es into the almost boundless region mentioned. More than half of the continent is now, and quite suddenly, opening into a stupendous moral battle-field, and men, as mighty as those we have described, are needed for the conflict. Again: this population will, for some years, probably be as much, if not more disjpersed than were the earlier emigrations, and will therefore require our primitive ministerial modes of ener- getic labor ^ and esjjecially of travel, to supply it. It no longer maintains a frontier margin, contin- ually thickening though extending, but throws itself into detached positions, anywhere and everywhere, so it but finds local attractions. The north-west territories, the Great Salt Lake, Texas, New-Mexico, Oregon, California — these are its diverse resorts. The whole western extent of the continent is in fine thrown open, the last barrier has fallen,* and the European masses are * The greatest impediment, the prepossession of the ground by the Indians, may be said to be about removed. There are now about 418,000 in all our limits; most of 160 ESSAYS ON THE PKEACHING entering it with a rush. Our " Itinerants " must, in old style, with lioi-se and saddle-bags, rush on with them, mingling in the mighty mel^e, and bearing up, in its very front, the ensign of the cross. Were these stupendous migrations to be more consolidated, some formidable moral conse- quences would result, but they would be more accessible to our moral agencies. Coincident, however, with the accessions to our population have been the extensions of our territorial area, and the coming multitudes are still to be scat- tered, as have been the preceding hordes. In 1790 the number of persons to the square mile in the United States was nine; twenty years later it was precisely the same, though the ag- gregate population had increased from five mill- ions to more than seven. In 1840, we had four- teen to the square mile, but the ratio had dimin- ished to twelve — a gain of only three since 1790. By 1850 the ratio had fallen still lower — to seven and twenty-two liundredths — giving one and three-quartei"s less to the square mile than in 1790! And can we predict that this coincident these are tlie enervated aborigines of our Pacific and Mexican domains; tlie estimated number inhabiting our " unexplored territories" is but 80,000. REQUIRED BY THE TIMES. 161 extension of tenitoiy and jjeople will not con- tinue, thus giving a general dispersion to our population, and an almost indefinite missionary field for the Christian energies of the country? They mistake egregiously who think the prim- itive ministerial system of Methodism is done with in this country : there is at this hour open- ing a larger field for it than ever. "While we contend for modifications in the consolidated portion of the Clmrch, in order to adapt them to the greatest effectiveness there, we afiirm, and we mean literally what we afiirm, that they have not yet done one-half their allotted work in the land. Further: while this new population will be more entirely foreign., and from the amplitude of the area and freer access to it, more disjjersed, it will also be vastly more multitudinous than our innnigrations have heretofore been. All possible obstructions, whether of a political or any other character, must necessarily be but temporary. It is sublime, we were about to say, appalling — this amazing growth of a nation — this exodus of the European peoples into our mighty wildernesses. We could once estimate somewhat its ratios, but now it almost defies ©•ur calculations. A few years ago it was ascer- 11 162 ESSAYS ON THE PREACHING tained that our western frontier line moved on- ward at the rate of about thirteen miles a year; and this march of a nation — extending from the Northern Lakes to the Mexican Gulf — bearing with it all the ensigns of civilization and liberty — felling the forest, dispelling at every step actual aboriginal barbarism, planting fields, building cities, erecting temples and schools, constructing canals and roads of iron — was con- sidered one of the sublimest spectacles in the history of man ; but now the line of march is broken, as we have said, into detached columns which have taken the extreme points of the tield, and the evercoming accessions observe no rules of progression. What practicable Christian agencies can meet the wants of these foreign hosts ? Can we think for a moment of abandon- ing in this vast region any of the effective appa- ratus of Methodism, under such circumstances? It has been estimated that during the current decade there will be introduced into the AVest a foreign population eqnal to the whole present pop- ulation of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and AVisconsin. Tlie thoughtful man, who reminds himself of the ignorance and moral corruption of these Eurojtean hordes, can hardly suppose that the better moral characteristics of the nation, already sadly degen- REQUIRED BY THE TIMES. 163 erating, can survive the contagion of sucli over- wlielming vice, or tlie better institutions of the republic withstand such a flood of semi-barbar- ism. One thing we must be sure of, viz. : — that every moral resource at our command will be needed to maintain, in its present relative status, the moral and intellectual position of the country. It is to the "West, we say, that this overwhelm- ing flood sweeps, and thither moves with it the power of the nation — the political forces which will take their moral character from these multi- tudes, and impart it to us all. The center of re- presentative population is continually tending westward. In 1Y90 it was twenty-two miles east of Washington ; it has never been east of the national metropolis since, and never can be again. At the census of 1800 it had been transferred to thirty miles west of Washington ; in 1820 it was seventy-one miles west of that city ; in 1830 one hundred and eight miles. Its westward movement from 1830 to 1810 was no less than fifty-two miles — more than five miles a year. It is now probably in Ohio. During about fifty yeai*s it has kept nearly the same parallel of latitude, having deviated only about ten miles south, while it has advanced about two hundred miles west. Thus move the 164 ESSAYS ON THE PKEACHING political destinies of the country into what we have described as the arena of its moral and re- ligious conflicts. With this territorial enlargement and in- creased accessions of European population, the national population, indigenous and for- eign, is destined to swell into aggregate magnitudes truly amazing — magnitudes which it would seem must hopelessly transcend any moral provision we can make for them. If the ratios of our increase hitherto can be relied on, the population of the United States will be in 1900, more than one liundred millions, — ex- ceeding the whole present population of England, France, Switzerland, Spain, Portugal, Sweden, and Denmark. A step further in the calcula- tion presents a prospect still more surprising: by 1930 — only seventy-five years hence — this mighty mass of commingled races will have swollen to the stupendous aggregate of two hun- dred and forty-six millions, equaling the pres- ent population of all Europe. According to the statistics of life, there are hundreds of thousands of our present population — one twenty-ninth at least — who will witness this result. It is hardly possible to restrain the pen from uttering the spontaneous and overwheluiing re- REQUIRED BY THE TIMES. 165 flections wliicli these statistics suggest ; but we leave them in their own naked yet startling significance. Such, then, according to the mathematics of the argument, is the domestic field of evangelic labor opening before us. These calculations have no episodical irrelevancy here. We have chosen to present them, as far more relevant than general remarks. They sustain with startling force our position, that the energetic "itinerant" methods of our early ministry — its methods in the pulpit and out of it — are still needed ; that there is a larger field for them now in our own country than there ever has been. We shall need, for generations, Circuits and Districts, and stout-hearted and staunch-bodied men to travel them ; and let those who think they see the ex- pediency of amending our system, in respect to "Itinerancy," "the Presiding Eldership," &c., to suit it to our denser communities, (an ex- pediency we are not disposed to deny,) be re- minded that they should so direct their efforts as to meet a comparatively local want without inflicting a general disaster.* We have so often * We believe our ecclesiastical system is capable of such local accommodations Avithout injury to its general harmony. The chief difficulty in the way of desirable improvements 166 ESSAYS ON THE PREACHING drawn this admonitoiy inference in the com'se of these remarks, that doubtless the reader thinks it sufficiently reiterated, but it presents itself to our attention at the conclusion of the foregoing statistics, with peculiar ini^Jressive- ness. We deem it the capital lesson of our cause at this moment. Ideas of innovation are becoming rife among us ; many of them are wise, the true signs of healthy progress, and few men have affirmed them more decidedly than the writer of these pages ; but with them seems generally entertained a vague, and, as we have shown, most fallacious impression, that the primitive ministerial style and system of Meth- odism is fast becoming incompatible with the wants of the times — ^that its day is about past. It is all-important that this impression should be rightly qualified, that especially our intelligent and influential members in the older states, who can appreciate Methodism in its general capa- cities, as well as in its local success, should be impressed with the conviction that it has been thus far but cqyproximating its providential mis- sion, and that the grandeur of its general designs may still merit almost any local incon- among us is our fear of them. Our fathers adapted the system to their times : we lack their courage. REQUIRED BY THE TIMES. 167 veniences. The statistical arguments we have presented cannot fail, if examined, to arrest the attention of the Church, and to convince it that it may still move on in its old triumphant march to new and grander fields of conflict, and that all its faithful adherents should still be willing to make magnanimous sacrifices for its success. It can well, however, be admitted, that some of the desired modifications, both of its ecclesi- astical system and its homiletic character, may be made ; and having now accomplished what we proposed, as a chief design of this chapter, viz., "to show rather the limits than the urgency of such changes," we proceed to admit and state some of the homiletic improvements demanded. 168 ESSAYS ON THE PREACHING ESSAY YIIL METHODIST PREACHING— WHAT MODIFICATIONS OF IT AEE EEQUIRED BY THE TIMES? A larger Range of Practical Instruction needed — Reasons for it — More Doctrinal Instruction required — The Philanthropic Enter- • prises of the Church not sufficiently represented in the Pulpit — Special Addresses — Public Questions — Such Improvements of our Preaching requires the Improvement of our Preachers — Means for the Latter — Better Choice of Candidates — Our Supply — Enormous Sacrifice of Young Men — A Reserve List needed — Preparatory "Course of Study" — An "Educational Society'' — Theological Schools. We have admitted that the times require, espe- cially in the older sections of the Cliurch, more varied iwcacldng than was common in our early ministry. First. It should be varied by a larger range of practical instructioii. If we except some of the main points of practical divinity, the Meth- odist pulpit will, M'e think, be found more de- ficient in this respect, than any other evan- gelical ministry in the land. This is a quite explicit remark, we know, and may be an at- tractive target for animadversions, but we nevertheless affirm it. Let it be observed, how- ever, that it refei*?* not so much to the import- EEQUIKED BY THE TIMES. 169 ance as to the variety of our practical preacliing. Precisely here lies the great defect of our pre- sent ministrations, and it needs plain dealing and speedy correction. "Wince not, clerical brother, at a few outright references to it, even though you should not concur in them. Frank- ness will not hurt us ; and in a work like this, if anywhere, honest individual opinions, thougli even erroneous, may be respectfully allowed. You will not, after what has been said, question pur high estimation of the Methodist ministr}-— the men of genius or special talent scattered through its ranks, excel, we believe, in number and power those of any other American pulpit ; the fathers we have described as a heroic host ; their successors, who have been educated by similar circumstances, in the severer fields of our work, are still, as a body, rare and power- ful men ; but is there not a large class — their successors in the maturer fields — a class which is fast becoming our aggregate ministry there — ■ who, without special talents, are also without the heroic characteristics of the fathers? And is it not the case that there is in this growino- class men of mere indolent mediocrity, men of little study, little variety, and little thoroirgh- ness of instruction; and who not unfrequently 170 ESSAYS ON THE PREACHING attempt to substitute physical for intellectual energy in the pulpit ? Tliese assuredly are not the men needed by our matured Churches of to- day, especially amid the sectarian rivalries of the cities and larger villages. Their limited topics may be as good as those of the fathers, but their local circumstances are different. What variety they possess soon becomes ex- hausted ; and is it not often ajjparent that their subjects, however intrinsically good, are but hackneyed props upon which to hang " First," " Secondly," and " Thirdly," — the hasty excogit- ations of Saturday night or Sabbath morning ? Practical training, we repeat — practical train- ing in the details of Christian duty, is the pres- ent want of Methodism, and for two reasons. The first is, the promiscuous character of our people. It is not a denominational detraction, but a denominational lionor that our Churches have hitherto been chiefly composed of the poorer classes — those who most need the gospel, and who, Avlien properly trained by it, become its best examples; but this honorable fact lias devolved upon us a peculiar responsibility, — the promiscuous masses we have gathered together need specially careful instruction. Under the ministrations of the fathers they were initiated / JBEQTJIRED BY THP^ TIMES. lYl into the great truths and the personal experience of religion. The elementary truths of Christi- anity, accompanied by a sound religious experi- ence, are doubtless a better guarantee of Chris- tian morals than thorough training in the latter without the former ; but the one cannot super- sede the other. Nor is it necessary for our ar- gument to admit that serious derelictions are more common among us than among other sects ; it is sufficient to affirm the importance of the practical divinity of the Scriptures on the one hand, and on the other, that among us too exclusive a devotion to the consolatory or ad- monitory asj^ects of the Gospel—too hortatory a style — ^have too much limited our practical instructions. Another reason for improvement in this re- spect is, that the great variety of the practical themes of the Gospel would afford more variety to our preaching, and therefore more attraction to our congregations. The restricted pulpit range of our first preachers, however suitable to their modes of labor, has too much uniformity for ours. An attempt to relieve the tameness of this uniformity of thought by energy of feel- ing or declamation, may partly succeed ; espe- cially in connection with good pastoral habits : 172 ESSAYS ON THE PREACHIXG it may sometimes render it tolerable to a popu- lar audience through a two years' appointment ; but it will not make up for the defective train- ing of the people, and must in the "long run" fail to interest, if it does not alienate, our most intelligent families. How rich is the variety of practical themes for the pulpit ! The practical bearings of re- pentance, the practical applications of faith; prayer — private, family, social, pubhc; public worship ; the observance of the Sabbath ; bap- tism ; the Lord's supper ; modes of personal effort for the salvation of men ; charity to the poor; charity to religious opinions; serial lec- tures on the historical characters of the Scrip- tures; the relations of pastors and people; and the large range of practical counsels appropri- ate to husbands and wives, parents and chil- dren, masters and servants, &c. ; assuredly he who with such themes, and their sublime rela- tions to time and eternity, fails of varied inter- est in tlie pulpit, must be inexcusable. It is on these very themes that the multitudhious assem- blies under our care most need instruction. Second. For the same reasons our preaching should be varied with more doctrinal instruc- tion. Do we mistake in saying that the charge REQUIRED BY THE TIMES. 173 of vagueness applied to our practical instruc- tion is applicable to our doctrinal preaching — not to the importance of its subjects, but their variety? Is there not even among us a tacit dislike to doctrinal themes in the pulpit, owing in part, it may be, to the virulence with which distinctive doctrines are liable to be discussed, or the too habitual devotion of some preachers to them, notwithstanding our denominational tendency to the contrary ? Whatever truth God has revealed should be proclaimed by his embassadors; but are there not many such truths which have never been discussed by some who read these lines, and who have grown gray in the pulpit ? It is to be feared that some of those doctrines which we deem most vital to Christianity are most neglected, so far as their elucidation or de- fense is concerned. The Athanasian views of the Godhead we identify with the very essence of orthodoxy ; but how seldom are these doc- trines discussed in our pulpits ! Our dialectics have not much to do with them indeed, but our Bible has, and the Scriptural illustration and demonstration of truths so fundamental cannot certainly be unimportant. Here again we have an amj^le field for va- 174: ESSAYS ON THE PREACHING ridy of pulpit themes, God and his attributes ; Christ, his Godhead, his offices ; the Holy Spirit, his Divinity and work ; the atonement ; repent- ance; faith; justitication ; regeneration; sancti- fication ; the resurrection; future judgment; rewards and punishments; the spirituality and immortality of the soul ; the nature and reality and evidences of experimental religion, ttc. The objection, a tacit if not an uttered one, that doctrinal preaching would tend to a specu- lative if not worse spirit in the Church, ought not to be admitted for a moment — it is a slander on the truth of God. There may indeed be dia- lectic gymnastics attempted in this sublime arena — polemic farces, at which devils as well as mcu may recreate themselves ; but the same nuiy be said of experimental and practical divinitj'. No pervereions of doctrine have been more mon- strous than the recorded delusions of practical and inward religion. On the contrary, the great doctrines of reve- lation, rightly presented, would form the most substantial basis for our practical instructions ; for those assaults on public evils which we have recommended; and also premises for the most powerful motives of personal religion. Tlie good sense of the preacher, of coui-so, must be their REQUIRED BY THE TIMES. 175 guarantee against abuse; but it is to be sup- posed that he who is counted worthy of this ministry should not be lacking in common sense, or the reverent appreciation of such impressive themes. Tldrd. There is another class of subjects not usually comprehended in our practical divinity, but having a secondary relation to it, at least, which, occasionally and judiciously treated, would increase much the variety of our pulpit themes, and afford instruction and interest to our congregations. Among these we would include first the great modern schemes of evan- gelization, such as Sunday schools, Missions, Tracts, and Bible societies. The pastor, especial- ly the "stationed" pastor, should make himself familiar, not merely witli the general character of these enterprises, but with their leading data, if not their detail, at least so far as they are connected with his own denomination; not vague declamation will suffice for them — ^lie can show their substantial value only by substantial facts. It is thus only that he can train his people to a practical interest in them. The Churches which are most familiar with these institutions are those which most liberally sustain them-; and it cannot be doubted 'that their fuller re- 176 ESSAYS ON THE TREACniNG presentation in our pulpits would soon effect an appreciable change in tlieir success among us. Do we mistake in saying that these great interests of modern Christianity are lamentably neglected by our general ministry, so far as their appropriate representation in the pulpit is con- cerned? Our periodicals and special agents camiot supersede this service. Again: we would include in the present class of pulpit themes those special addresses to the young, the aged, to citizens on the ethics of their political relations, etc., which occasionally form interesting and instructive series of dis- courses in the modern pulpit. Important prin- ciples of Christianity are ajiplicable to these subjects, and, rightly discussed, they may be- come the special occasions of most special appeals of the truth. To these we would add, occasionally at least, other topics — those which arise from adventi- tious questions of the day, or public interests indirectly related to religion or morals. Pauper- ism, intemperance, gambling, education, patriot- ism, great national occasions or anniversaries, the moral aspects of political events, the uses and abuses of weaUh, tlie moralities of business life, war, witli tlic i)ractical peace questions, REQUIRED BY THE TIMES. 177 and even ''colonization" and "slavery," if yon please. We can only refer to these varied classes of subjects. They present an almost endless scope, and the preacher who avails himself of them prudently, can hardly fail to render his pulpit attractive to the people. We say prudently, for doubtless there is a liability to imprudence here. Such secondary topics should have but a secondary place in his instruc- tions. They should be used merely as an occasional digression from the more essential themes of the gospel. They have nevertheless their claims and their appropriate seasons. It is a misfortune for our argument that the non-evangelical pulpit of the day has dealt so largely in these collateral topics, finding in them a relief from the less congenial themes of true religion ; let not this abuse, however, mil- itate against the due use of such important subjects. They need not interfere with, but may be sanctified, as we have shown, by our very highest evangelism, and it may be affirmed that we can hardly train our people to the highest standard of Christian intelligence and enterprise without their discussion in the pulpit. Let us put away the thought that such a discus- sion of them would interfere with the fervency 12 / 178 E8SAYS ON THE PKEAOniNG of our piety or our usual revivals. The objec- tion would give to the revilers of fervent piety and revivals a formidable argument. Our sister evangelical Churches which are most addicted to these discussions, not only take the lead in philanthropic enterprises, but abound in genuine revivals. Our own more energetic spirit should not lag behind them in either respect. "We have thus indicated some of the modifica- tions which the times demand in our preaching, especially among the older communities, wdiere our congregations are not only stated, but abound in intelligence and resources that re- quire such improved treatment. "What an effect on our ministrations, in such com- munities, would a general endeavor after this improved and varied preaching soon produce! More thorough habits of study would be formed; . an improved style both of thought and address would follow, and the whole intellectual tone of our pul2:)it would be elevated. It would, in fine, be a partial but most salutary process of self- education to our ministry, and, combined with their old distinctions, such as we have described, would soon enable them to rival their com- petitors in the larger cities, in these, as in other respects, and thus stop effectually that relative EEQUIEED BY THE TIMES. 179 declension of our cause which, caccording to re- ports of some among us, has been taking place in most of them within a few years. We insist . as we did in our former chapter, that those old distinctions, or whatever of them may now be desirable, can be combined with these improve- ments. Kot an iota of our moral power need be sacrificed. It is hoped that, while we urge these im- provements as appropriate to our general minis- try, It is not necessary to guard our remarks against a prejudiced construction. It is admit- ted that there are scattered all through our ranks individual men who have surveyed thor- oughly, in both the study and the pulpit, these large fields of thought, and who even stand be- fore the public on their most advanced grounds. Honor be upon such men ! for most of them owe their success to their own unaided endeavors, sustained amid the most trying ministerial re- sponsibilities which have been known since the ^days of the apostles. Our ministry has also not been without a class of men preeminent even above these, for reputation at least— men of re- nown in the Church, representative men, who have been masters of not only the great themes of the pulpit, but of the highest ability for their 180 ESSAYS ON THE TKEACHING discussion. Tlie names of Siimmei-field, Bas- com, Cookman, Fisk, and Olin, have had few cotemporaiy rivals in sister Churches ; and other names, not yet rendered sacred by death, will hereafter be added to the list. All this we admit, and yet deem the preceding observations applicable to our general ministry. Xhus much, then, for the improvement of our preaching ^ but this implies also a corresjDond- ent improvement of the preacher. We have alluded to the effect which such an elevated standard of pulpit instruction would have on his own intellectual character. AVith our can- didates, however, we should anticipate this im- provement, and om* pre-requisites should be such as to secure it. Tlie remark is not only applicable to the older sections of the Church, but in part to the most recent; for it has pleased God so to multiply our candidates throughout the connection, as to allow a very considerable discrimination in their selection, were we but disposed to adhere, to our legitimate and eco- nomical modes of labor. "Were it not for the absurd policy (for such we must be allowed to call it) of breaking up our circuits into hardly self-supporting "stations," and of gradually abolishing the local ministry, instead of a want REQUIRED BY THE TIMES, 181 we should now, probably, have an excess of can- didates."'^ A single western conference (Illinois) received last yasa' forty-four probationers, mak- ing its list of candidates seventy-two, and more numerous by twenty-seven than its whole list of effective members ! Another conference re- ceived twenty-live, giving it a probationers' list of forty-four ; another twenty-three, giving it forty-seven candidates ; another twenty-one, giving it thirty-three. The itinerant ministry of the Methodist Episcopal Church (ISTorth and South) now numbers six thousand five hundred men ; the Roman Catholics report but about one thousand one hundred ; the Protestant Episco- palians about one thousand five hundred ; the Congregational orthodox about one thousand six hundred ; the old school-Presbyterians about two thousand ; the new school one thousand five * These unfortunate changes are also ascribed, to the " demands of the times," a very convenient but fallacious excuse for something worse. It will hardly be pleaded that Methodism in America is in advance of English Meth- odism in the intelligence or good taste of its people ; the latter, however, finds no difficulty in keeping up itinerancy and a powerful constantly-working local ministry, in both country and city. We hope the old metropolis of Ameri- can Methodism, Baltimore, will hesitate long to follow the example of our other cities in these " reforms." There are advantages in the change, but how dearly are they paid for! 182 ESSAYS ON THE rREACHTNO liiindred; tlie Baptists about five tliousand one liundred.* These comparative statements show- that Methodism is prolific in its resources of men if not of other means for its ministry, Tlie supply would be up to its necessities if not above them, were it not for the late impolitic devia- tions from its old and successful itinerant plans ; and even as it is, we believe that with suitable aids and encouragements, such as other denom- inations provide, we could, even now, command a superabundance of candidates. Tliis fact is worthy of sj^ecial remark. It is quite unique in the current history of the Amei-ican Churches. While our sister denominations are universally lamenting the decrease of their the- ological students, we, with local exceptions, re- joice amidst multiplying candidates."!" The fact is full of providential significance ; it corres- ■ ponds with what wc have said of tlie great providential mission yet awaiting Methodism in this land ; it corresponds further with tlie new * This includes all its preachers, whether pastors or not. If our local preachers were included in the estimate of the Methodist ministry, its amount would he more than treh- " led. The above calculations were made in 1852. t Our first theological school, while yet in its infancy, has grown to be numerically the third in the nation, and will probably soon be the first. EEQUIEED BY THE TIMES. 183 demands of our cause which have been stated. For the latter we should avail ourselves of it in two ways. First. "We should be more choice in our selections from these increasing candidates. Would that we could impress the remark upon our conferences! Let us learn that piety, though the chief, is not the only qualification for the ministry ; that gifts as well as graces are re- quired by our own standards ; and that now, more than at any other period of our history, is this double criterion necessary. "We certainly are not yet as cautious in this respect as our circum- stances require ; energetic zeal, without ability, if successful in its first efibrts, or under special circumstances, is too readily taken as the dertain pledge of enduring usefulness ; and the untrain- ed novice is urged into the conference, to be too often an encumbrance ever after, suftering him- self as well as inflicting suffering on the Church for the ill-advised ugency of his brethren. Further: This increasing supply of men should lead to more delay in their admission to the ministerial service, and thereby secure better preparation for it. This policy would be wise even in such conferences as suffer somewl^at through lack of laborers. Tlie precipitancy 184 ESSAYS ON THE PREACHING with which we have pressed young men into our laborious ministry has been a crying evil. It has sent hosts of them to premature graves. It has inflicted upon many physical disabilities which have subtracted from their usefulness through life. It has occasioned a startling in- effective list, which draws upon the resources of the Church for support, and suffers notwith- standing, amidst our very altars. There are now five hundred and eleven superannuated and su- pernumerary preachers reported in our Minutes — nearly one-eigJiih of our whole ministry.* Our ministerial tables of mortality have scarcely a parallel. ISTearly half of all the Methodist preachers whose deaths have been recorded, fell before they were thirty years of age. The time spent in the itinerant work by six hundred and seventy-two has been ascertained : one hundred and ninety-nine spent from two to five years ; two hundred and nine from five to twelve; one hundred and twenty-nine from twelve to twenty-five ; ninety from twenty -five to forty ; thirty-two from forty to fifty ; and thirteen from fifty to sixty-one. About two-thirds died after twelve years^ itinerant sei'vice. * This includes not the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. REQUIRED BY THE TIMES. 185 Much of tliis astonisliing mortality is attrib- utable to the haste with which we have urged youthful laborers into our hard service. What a waste of not only health and life, but of use- fulness has this blindly-zealous policy occasion- ed ! Tliere are apologetic considerations con- nected with the subject, we know, but none which fully justify us. We have amended in this respect, but not sufficiently. Few sights could be more im- pressive than an assembled Methodist confer- ence, for it presents the best example of what moral heroism is yet extant in our world ; but there are painful detractions from the scene. It is scattered over Avitli pallid and decayed men, who ought to be in the prime of manly vigor. It is composed too much, and, we fear, increas- ingly, of immature men,* whose juvenile and yet often enfeebled aspect, seems out of place there— men who have too early been subjected to the labors and anxieties of our ministry, and who find that they can make up for their defi- cient preparation only by the sacrifice of their health. Better for them, in body and mind, would it be, did we retain our old circuits, for * Bishop Soule, some years since, in a published letter referred with emphatic regret to this fact. 186 ESSAYS ON THE PEEACIIING these would require fewer mental resources, and supply invigorating bodily exercise ; but appointed, as they mostly are, to isolated and hardly self-supporting stations, amidst the rival- ries of older sects how can they sustain their positions without sacrificing themselves ? This offering of human hecatombs at our altars should cease, and should cease right speed- ily : whatever plea of necessity for it once exist- ed has virtually ceased. Our younger candi- dates should be reserved — recognized, but re- served — on a Wcsleyan " reserve list," and aided in their intellectual preparation for the work in such manner as to relieve them afterward from the pressure under which so many now sink. And this should be the case, we repeat, not only in the older, but also in the more recent fields of our ministerial work. In arguing that the later fields will still indefinitely demand our old ministerial style and methods, we have not implied that the intellectual advancement of the ministry was to be confined to the older confer- ences — assuredly not ! If genuine ability is any- where needed, it is in the great arena which has been described as now opening for the final moral conflicts of the country ; and such ability not oiilv in natural rudeness, l)ut cultivated and REQUIEED BY THE TIMES. 18T oven accomplished, may find there a most appro- priate field of exertion, and find also in the severities of our itinerant methods congenial oc- casions of heroism and self-sacrifice. There is, we fear, still lingering among us, and only half latent, a fallacious apprehension that intellectual improvement, pushed to any con- siderable advancement in our ministry, would be hurtful to its old purity and energy. We forget that Methodism, like the Reformation, like modern missions, and like almost every other great movement of the evangelical world, had its birth in an institution of learning. "It sounded its first trumpet," says some one, " and commenced its march over the world, from within the gates of a university." Most of its great leaders were learned men. Wesley, its founder and legislator, was the Fellow of a college ; Charles Wesley, its psalmist, was a col- legian in the same university; Coke, its first American bishop, and the founder of its mis- sions, bore the highest title of the learned world; Benson was a university student; Fletcher was the president of a theological school ; Clarke was a student of universal knowl- edge. Among our own great names are those of Enter, Emory, Fisk, 01 in, and others of the 188 ESSAYS ON THE PREACHING dead and the living. Were these men unfitted for the demands of Metliodism by tlieir intellec- tual culture ? Were they less devoted, less use- ful, less faithful to the peculiar duties of om- system than their uneducated fellow-laborers? And -would a ministry generally composed of just such men be unsuitable for even the hard- est demands of our work ? No, no ^ mental ca- pacity does not imply moral incapacity. Meth- odism is compatible with large minds, as well as large hearts, and can employ them on the sublimest scale of their powers. We soberly believe that such minds, imbued with the evan- gelic si)irit, can find nowhere else a more con- genial sphere of self-devotion and self-develoj)- ment. Men of less capacity have been signally useful among us, but it has been appropriately asked, " What would be the standing of Meth- odism at this moment, if the mass of our ministry had added to their natural powers the acquired talents of such men?" Its banners would in all probability be waving over most of the world. Let us then heed those indications of Provi- dence M'hich call upon us better to supply our candidates with qualifications for their work. In meeting our present necessities, let us select such as are maturest in mind and bodv. not REQUIRED BY THE TIMES. 189 always the most talented or the most devoted; for these, if feeble or young, may be prema- turely sacrificed, but, in either case, may be ren- dered more useful by a preparatory delay. The extraordinary fact of our large (though, for unnecessary reasons, still deficient) supply of preachers, and the convenience which, with right management, it oflers for a " reserve " corps, should, we think, receive extraordinary attention from the Church. Few facts in our history have been more available for the fuller development of our ministerial energies. Our wise men should study to turn it to advantage, devising for this purpose most " liberal things." Such, too, is the popular demand among us for the intellectual improvement of the ministry, notwithstanding the " half-latent " prejudice mentioned, that it cannot be doubted the Church would respond with the promptest generosity to any plan for the benefit of its younger ministry, the ministry to which it is to commit its children, and with which are associ- ated therefore its tenderest solicitudes. But what plan shall we adopt for this prepar- atory training ? Presuming that we have thus far carried along with us the concurrence of most if not all 190 ESSAYS ON TJIK TKEACHING our readers, it might only mar the influence of this appeal to conclude it with a discussion of debated plans of ministerial improvement. Ho^yever slight may be that influence, we would have it unimpaired on the subjects thus far treated, for we deem them among the para- mount Methodist questions of the day. Relying, however, on the forbearance which we have al- ready bespoken, we shall venture to submit a few suggestions on the question just proposed. First, then, we think a reserved list should be kept by each conference, bearing the names of candidates who may not be immediately pre- pared for the ministry, and especially of promis- ing young men who, even if the conference is not abundantly supplied, should nevertheless be reserved for better preparation and riper years, as this policy would be an economical one in the result. Such a relation of candidates to the conference, however slight, would be better than none at all. Tliough not admitted, they would at least be recognized. A tie, now un- known among us, M'ould connect them with the " regular ministry," and not be Avithout a par- tial influence. Whether this delay leads them to our institutions of learning, or to continue yet awhile in secular business, they will be more KEQUIKED BY THE TIMES. 191 inclined to bear in mind and prepare for their destined work ; their reading and local exer- cises in preaching would have more habitual reference to it. Second, We should provide a course of study for this reserved corps. A course of study for our local preachers has been provided, and will tend much to elevate this branch of our minis- terial service. The same course would do for reserved candidates, and brethren who design to remain in the local ranks. The sucqcss of any- such requireinent must, however, depend upon its authoritative character ; it should, therefore, be subject to the official care of the presiding elder, and accompanied with regular examina- tions, in the presence of either the quarterly conference or a committee of its ministerial members. Some sort of system, in other words, with personal responsibilities, is necessary if we would have the design effective ; and those who may object to our further suggestions, should see that something precise and practicable, on the plan here mentioned, be provided as the only security against further demands. Third. Many of the best minds among ns think the time has come in which the Churoh should require higher literary prerequisites, and 192 ESSAYS ON THE riiEACllING provide meaus for the better education of can- didates^ or at least of such as have not them- selves the means. The cardinal religious de- nominations of the country have such provisions in the form of "Education Societies." They are important features in the philanthropic finances of some of these denominations. It has been complained that, though no Church has more promising claimants of such aid than ours, and none needs it more, yet none has shown less disposition to provide it. Men now in om* own ministry, it is said, have been compelled to receive assistance from the Education Societies of sister Churches. If the comparative paucity of our resources, or the urgency of other interests, have here- tofore excused us from this claim, it is con- tended we cannot plead the excuse any longer. We now abound in resources, and it cannot be doubted that any financial project, sanc- tioned by our leading minds, and proposing an obvious advantage to the Church, can com- mand any necessary liberality from it:, its pop- ularity and success will indeed generally be proportionate to the generosity and greatness of its designs. Has the time come, then, for the formation of an "Education Society" among us, REQUIRED BY THE TIMES. 193 for the better preparation of our ministerial candidates ; a great, a denominational society, which shall take rank by the side of om- leading financial schemes ? This project need not in- volve the question of theological schools, nor any particular standard of ministerial training. It could, like similar societies in other Churches, provide merely a given annual appropriation for the support of candidates in our academies or colleges, subject to few and general restric- tions. Personally we are not prepared to say how far sucli an institution would be applicable to the present circumstances of the denomination ; so strong, however, is the demand for educated, or at least intellectual men, for the pulpits of our Atlantic churches, that it is believed our people would take no ordinary interest in it, provided it were projected on a scale of commanding proportions. Fourth. There are not a few among us who believe that institutions expressly for theological education are appropriate to our present cir- cumstances. Whether justly or otherwise, there is also in the Church a vast amount of not only popular Ijut intelligent opposition to such insti- tutions. Tlie primitive Methodist preachers,- as we have described them, were, it is justly 13 194 ESSAYS ON THE PREACHING aflfirmed, the mighty men of their day, but they came not forth from theological seminaries. It is replied, on the other hand, that they were providentially raised up for their times ; that the times have changed, not in respect to the work, but the workmen ; that Providence, which espe- cially fitted them for their times, now indicates that we should ourselves aid in the prepara- tion. The first preachers of Christianity, it is argued, were miraculously qualified for this work, but when the early exigencies of the Church were past, miraculous gifts ceased, and the task of jDroviding pastors was devolved upon the Church ; and, continues the argument, you might as well contend that your missionaries need not study the language of China in order to preach there, because the apostles had the miraculous gift of tongues, as to object to the-, ©logical education, because they or the first preachei-s of Methodism were not academically trained. The advocates of theological schools com- plain that they have not been favored Avith a fair hearing through our authorized publica- tions. Whatever may be the opposition of the reader to their scheme, we are sure he will be willing to hear them impartially. To silence REQUIRED BY THE TIMES. 195 this charge, as well as to present candidly their views, we cannot do better than to give the fol- lowing rather ardent quotation from one of the most enthusiastic among them. " Such institutions," he says, " were not con- sidered by the founder of Methodism to be for- eign to its genius and interests. In the very first conference he ever held, he himself pro- posed such a measure; the proposition was re- peated in the second session, and was never lost sight of by the Wesleyan connection during the long interval that elapsed before its resouixjes enabled it to embody the design in its present noble seminaries. The success of the measure has demonstrated its wisdom Have not our circumstances as a Church changed? Are we not able to afibrd our ministry the intel- lectual qualifications which once they could not obtain but by special endowment ? And is it not clear, from the whole history of Providence, that when such ability exists, its special inter- position ceases? It would be a curse on the world for Divine Providence to supersede the necessity of our self-dependence as individuals, or as communities. Our fathers are passing away. Providence supplies us no more with such men, and thereby clearly indicates our 196 ESSAYS ON THE PREACHING duty to qualify our ministry according to the means which he gives us. He will still call men to his work, but we must open the way for them. "We propose not to mahe preachei*s of his word, but only to aid those whom he has evidently called to jireach it. Who dares ob- ject to such a proposal? Providence has led us along from one improvement to another, until now this gi-eat want stands in our way like a mountain, with its summit glorious with light. "We cannot pass round it ; let us, then, go over it, -that our ministiy may, like Moses, come down to the people with their brows radiant with its brightness Under our old sys- tem the repetition of a few well-studied subjects could take the place of fifty under our present arrangement. Tliis is no detraction from the old system — it was one of its best points of adaptation to an mieducated ministry. But now we fix untrained men in small stations, amid the closest competition, where they are overburdened with pastoral duties, Mhicli were unknown to our fathei*s, and expect them to maintain our cause with success among a popu- lation the most enlightened on the globe. IIow is it possible for a young man ^thout disci- pline, without a knowledge of books or of men, REQUIRED BY THE TIMES. 107 to furnisli instruction for two years under sucli circumstances ? A few of our most vigorous minds may nerve themselves for the necessities of such a position, but the mass of the ministry must necessarily fall into the rear of the edu- cated ministries of other sects It is objected that education will pervert our young men. Tliis is one of those Yandal sentiments which I hardly know how to discuss. Is it a question, in this day, whether education is fa- vorable or injurious to virtue? Why, then, have we not waited for its decision before es- tablishing our academies and colleges ? Are we afraid that Methodism in particular cannot con- sist with intelligence ? Then it cannot be true : and the sooner we discover our delusion the better. Methodism is compatible Avith intelli- gence. Some of the greatest intellects have grown up under its influence ; its glorious the- ology and mighty system are suited to the highest minds ; and in no otlier Church can a great mind have freer scope for its powers. But how does this objection agree with fact? Have our learned men been perverted? Have they not been among the holiest and most use- ful men in our Church ? Did learning corrupt "Wesley, Fletcher, Coke, or Benson? Whose 198 KSSAYS ON Tin; rilKArillNCr memory is more sacred among us tlian Fisk's ? And was he perverted by learning? "Was Ruter, who left the presidency of a college for the snfterings of a missionary, one of the exam- ples from which this objection is drawn ? Was Emory another ? Om* most learned men have been our holiest men. Tliey have been the stanchest friends of om* doctrines and onr dis- cipline, because their capacious minds have the better comprehended their excellence. And is not this the case with the young men who come into the ministry from our learned institutions ? Where do you find better pastors and more de- voted preachers than they? It is mortifying that Methodism should still be trameled and enervated by such petty prejudices. We Methodists do not yet comprehend the sub- limity and promise of our cause. We have been deluded by the impression that ours is a particular and not a general system — that it is api)licable to a particular class, but not to all classes. Methodism is universal in its adai)ta- tiiin. We are bearing up unconsciously before the world the ensigns of the Millennium. Our doctrines and measures have been transforminor other sects ; they are to reach the savage and the sage, the slave and the sovereign. We be- REQUIRKD BY THE TIMES. 199 lieve it, because we believe they are tlie tnitb. Give, tlien, to Methodism a free action. Let it appro^^riate to itselt all auxiliaries, especially learning. Its gigantic plans are suited for gi- gantic powers. Throw the energies of a sanc- tified and educated ministry into its potent sys- tem, and it will produce results which we have not yet imagined Once more: it is asserted that ' the history of theological schools, in all ages, shows their influence to be corrupt- ing.' If we object to theological schools be- cause they have been abused, we may also ob- ject to nearly every other great measure. Epis- copacy was observed in the early Church as much as theological schools ; must we abandon it on that account ? The press has been foully abused ; are we therefore to turn it out of our Book Concern? Religion has been perverted in every detail; shall we therefore turn athe- ists ? The reason of the corruption of theological schools was the corruption of all knowledge. Theological, like all other schools, will of course be affected by the intellectual state of the age in which they exist. It was the general preva- lence of the new Platonism that introduced error into the Alexandrian school. But it in- troduced it evervwhere else also. It infected / 200 ESSAYS ON THE PREACHING Pliiloilie Jew, and Longinus the Pagan, as well as Origen the Christian. It was the introduc- tion of the Aristotelian dialectics that produced the metaphysical absurdities of the schools of the middle ages ; but they infected every other department of knowledge, alike with theology. They were the intellectual characteristics of the times, deluding the nioidc in his secluded medi- tations, as well as the student in the school. But we live in a different age ; science is now more thoroughly verified ; a new mode of in- quiry has been introduced, which will never allow a similar confusion of knowledge. There may be new coiTuptions in theology, but they cannot originate as did those upon which the objection is founded; they will be such as will be more likely to be prevented than favored by knowledge. Theological schools have, indeed, like all other good institutions of religion, been corrupted; but, like all others, they have also been blessed. It would seem, from history, that Providence has wedded religion and knowledge, and signalized ihcir union in most of the great events of the Church. The fii"st rays of return- ing daylight, after the dark ages, streamed forth upon the world from the cloistere of the Uni- vcrsitv of AVittoin]»er£r. It was from its irates KEQUIRED BY THE TIMES. 201 that Martin Luther came forth, with the Bible in his hands, to summon the world to its moral resurrection. It was from the University of Geneva that Calvin, at the same time, was sounding the alarm among the Alps. And where did the next great revival of Christianity take place? It was among the theological stu- dents of Oxford. Yes! Methodism, now so fearful of ministerial education, first av^^oke in the cradle of English learning. It sounded its first trump, and commenced its march over the world, in the gates of a university. "Where did the first conception of foreign missions, from the American Churches, originate ? Within the walls of a theological school; and from that school have gone to the pagan world a greater number of devoted men tlian from any other source in our land. The theological school at Basle, in Switzerland, has been one of the greatest fountains of religious influence that is in Europe, The one at Geneva is now the chief instrumentality in restoring the principles of the lieformation to Switzerland and France. The great defenders of religion have nearly all been educated theologians. Science has no le- gitimate tendency to evil ; it is the echo of thp same voice which speaks in revelation. Reve- 202 ESSAYS OS Tin: PKEACniNG lation itself has as often been used for the sup- port of error, as science; and the one must be rejected on the same ground that the other is." After this long insertion, we hope there will be no charge of timid partiality on the question, against this publication at least. The extract certainly has ardor enough, if it has not an ex- cess of arsument. We leave our readei-s to judge of the latter. They are as competent as oui-selves to distinguish between its logic and its rhetoric. It is due to the advocates of this measure to say, that they are of various opinions respecting it. Some of them think that departments of theological instruction, suitable for the prepara- tion of ministerial candidates, can be connected with our academies and colleges. Othei-s, though very few, we suppose, advocate a high theological seminary, modeled after the best in other Churches, and requiring considerable pre- paratory, if not collegiate, training — a proposi- tion which appeai-s to us practically absurd in tlie present circumstances of our ministry. Othei-s, and doubtless the greatest number, pro- pose separate seminaries, on the i)]an ot the " Wesleyan Theological Institutions," which shall be adai>ti'.' G dispositions, of neat style and ready flow of thought, ranking now onlj^ at mediocrity, might place his example before them with peculiar ad- vantage. A deep consecration like his, a simple and direct aim to reach the heart rather than inflame the imagination of the hearer, the melt- ins; and outflowino; of one's whole individuality in the discom*se — these are not difiicult to such men, and a better example of what success they can attain is not on record than that of Sum- merfield. Tlie best judges, who were familiar with Sum- merfield's preaching, find it impossible to tell precisely in what its interest consisted. We venture to repeat that the solution of the problem is to be found mostly, if not wholly, in what the French would call the naturel of the man — the beautiful compatibility between the preacher and his preaching — a harmony that' revealed itself in liis looks, his tones, his ges- tures, and all the subtler indications of verbal style, mental aptitudes, and moral dispositions. AVe have only to suppose him strongly charac- terized by other traits than those mentioned, to perceive at once that he must have been an en- tirely different preacher. Had he possessed the same intellectual capacities, but been hntsquCy REQUIKED BY TilE TIMES. 209 or denunciatoiy, or satirical- — had he been tinged strongly with moroseness, misanthropy, or self- conceit, his pnlpit characteristics would have been different; he never could have won the peculiar fame which attaches to his memory ; he would probably have gone down to the grave without public distinction. With a mind sus- ceptible of all graceful impressions, a heart whose sensibility was feminine — yet with such feminineness as we ascribe to angels, and think of as consistent with mighty though serene sti-ength' — he united the very sanctity of religion and a simplicity of purpose which saved him utterly from the affectations or artifices that might have marred his character, and quite changed the effect of his preaching. Montgomery, the poet, expressed -a just crit- ical estimate of him when he said :• — • " Summerfield had intense animal feeling, and much of morbid imagination ; but of poetic feel- ing, and poetic imagination, very little — at least there is very little trace of either in anything that he has left, beyond a few vivid l)ut moment- ary flashes in his sermons." ■ This " animal feeling," however, must be un- derstood to have been refined and intensified by divine grace into the holiest moral affections; 14 210 ESSAYS ON THE T j: K A (^ 11 1 N fl 80 that the s^Tnpathetic instincts of the natural heart became in him pure rehgious passions, and seemed such as might befit the bosom of a seraph. His appearance in tlie pulpit was expressive of his character, and contributed much to the effect of his discourse. Though his face possessed nothing at first and near view remarkably strik- ing or agreeable, yet when irradiated with tlie fervor of his feelings, it was angelically beauti- ful. Tlie portrait which accompanied Holhmd's memoir is considered a good one, but it fails to represent the glowing life that played over his features and radiated from his eyes. The languor of disease could not mar this moral beauty; it rather enhanced it, by adding a delicacy which could not fail to associate with the hearer's admiration a sentiment of tender and even loving spnpathy. His voice was not strong, but exceedingly flexible and sweet, and harmonized always with the vibrations of his feelings. His gestures did not violate the ndes of the art, but seemed not the result of it. They were unex- ceptionably natural, and yet naturally confonned to the art. He was, in fine, so exempt from artifice, he so entirely surrendered himself to the occlusion and its concomitants, whatever EEQUIEED BY THE TIMES. 211 the}' might be, that he spontaneously fell into unison with tliem, and seemed naturally and immediately to acquire that mastery over them which the highest art camiot always command. Tliis is the truest genius. Genius is not inde- pendent of art, but it is its prerogative often to assume it intuitively, reaching its results with- out its labors. Labor is an important aid to genius, unquestionably; the latter is seldom notably successful without the former; and yet the great characteristic of genius is the facility, tlie indolent ease, even, with which it accom- plishes what art, without genius, reaches only through elaborate assiduity. Genius suffers more than it labore, but it suffei*s not so much in action as in reaction. Its sensibiHty is what mainly gives it success, but it often inflicts mis- ery also. Though in the delivery of his seiTaons there was this facility — felicity we might call it — in their preparation he was a laborious student. He * was a hearty advocate of extempore j^reaching, and would have been deprived of most of his pop- ular power in the pulpit by being confined to a manuscript; yet he knew the importance of study, and particularly of the habitual use of the pen in order to success in extemporaneous 212 ESSAYS ON THE rREACHING speaking. His own rule was to prepare a skeleton of his sermon, and after preaching it, write it out in fuller detail, filling up the original sketch Avith the princi])al thoughts which had occurred to him in the process of the discourse. Tlie first outline was, however, in accordance with the rule we have elsewhere given for extempore speaking, viz., that the perepective of the entire discourse — the leading ideas, from the exordium to the peroration — should he noted on the manuscript, so that the speaker shall have the assurance that he is supplied with a consecutive series of good ideas, good enough to command the respect of his audience, though he should fail of any very important impromptu thoughts. Tliis rule we deem the most essential condition of success in extemporaneous preach- ing. It is the best guarantee of that confidence and self-possession upon which depends the command of both thought anil language. Sum- merfield followed it even in his i»latform speeches. Montgomery notices the minuteness of his prej^arations in nearly two hundred manuscript sketches. lie exem]>lified his own views respecting the use of the pen, as an aid to extempore style. Besides the larled sea, like luito that of the Son of God, and he drew near the ship, and we knew that it %vas Jesus ^ and he stepped upon the deck, and laid his hand on the helm, and he said unto the winds and waves, Peace, he still, and there was a great calm. Let not the friends of the Bible fear; God is in the midst of us. God shall help us, and that right early.' In such a strain he went on to the close. 'Wonderful! 218 ESSAYS ON THE PKEACIIING wonderful!' said my neiglibor the critic; 'he talks like an angel from heaven.'" "He talked like an angel," not merely because his thoughts were excellent, but because the visible man, clothed with physical delicacy and youthfulness, and glowing with moral Ijeauty, seemed an embodiment of your ideal of an angelic apparition. Riper years would doubt- less have modified this peculiar charm of his youthfulness ; but we doubt that they could have marred the effect of liis eloquence; we doubt it, for the good reason that his oratory was perfectly natural. Being natural, it would have been permanent as his nature, taking new hues from the changes of life, but only such as being congenial willi tliose changes M'ould ren- der it congruous with them — would sustain his beautiful naturalness. AVe suppose, therefore, that if Summei-field's eloquence had lost some of its juvenile traits in maturer years, it would have gained in riper and riclier qualities, as good wine gains in zest, tliough it loses in sweetness, by age. Emanating as it did from the very nature of the man, we can imagine it to have retained its essential chai'm uninjured, though varied, even in old age ; and if John Summei-field had lived to hoary yeai*s, we can REQUIRED BY THE TIMES. 219 conceive of liim only as tlie St. John of his day — the beloved disciple, who still saw the visions of God, and upon whose lij)s, as was said of Plato, bees from the flowers had shed their honey. In private life Snmmerfield was, if possible, still more interesting than in the pnlpit. He was fertile in conversation. He had a flowino- but delicate humor, quite Addisonian in its character, always appropriate but never sarcas- tic. His extraordinary memory rendered him fa- miliar with the names of all who were introduced to him, even children and servants — he seldom or never forgot them. Above all, he had the happy faculty of introducing into all circles appropriate subjects of religious conversation. There was no cant about him, no overweening endeavor to impress the eager groups around him with a sense of his clerical scrupulousness, but an unaiFected respectfulness, a confiding courtesy, which conciliated the listener and compelled him to look upon any devout remark as happily congruous to tlie occasion, and even felicitously befitting to the man. An incurable malady reminded him that he must work while the day lasted, for the night was at hand. He was incessant in liis labors, / 220 ESSAYS ON TIIK PREACHING preacliing often from five to teu discourses a week. Besides frequent addresses, in which he was remarkably liajjpy, he delivered about four hundred sermons in the first year and a half of his ministry. Throughout his brief but laborious career he bore about with him that "morbid feeUng" of which Montgomery sj^eaks, and wdiich seems indeed a usual pathological accom- paniment of genius.* His conversion was clear and decided, yet in his subsequent religious exj)erience he was subject to severe inward conflicts, and Holland has justly remarked that " the light of spiritual illumination in him (what- ever may have been the case in others) did not uninterruptedly shine 'brighter and Ijrightcr unto the perfect day;' but clouds and darkness frequently intercepted the rays of that Sun of righteousness which had so evidently arisen on his soul. Indeed, the Lord seems to have led his servant, not with the shadow by day, and the glory by night, of the pillar of cloud and fire, but alternately^ amidst perpetual natural gloom, presenting to him the light of the flame that cheered the Israelites on the verge of the Red Sea, and the darkness behind that frowned upon * "Genius," says Ilcync, the Gorman, "is a disease, as the pearl is in the oyster." REQITIKED BY THE TIMES. 221 the Egyptians their pursuers. But God who is 'love,' was equally present to him in the splen- dor and terror — in the hidings as in the reveal- ings of his face — and by that mysterious dis- pensation, we cannot doubt, led him, as the best mode of guidance, through the sea and the wilderness, over Jordan to Canaan and Jerusa- lem, which is above." This was his discipline ; he needed it amidst the perilous flatteries of his success. It was prob- ably one of the most effectual causes of that profound humility which was at once the pro- tection and the cliarm of his saintly character. Could we read the inmost history of most of the mighty men of God in the earth, we should find that they have been summoned by him to con- front, like Moses, the fiery terrors of Sinai, or like Daniel, to call upon him from the lions' den, or like Paul, to bear with them to the grave the thorn in the flesh. The youthful hero, wounded in the well-sus- tained conflict, retired at last to his tent to die. " Well — yes — well — all is well" " I want a change — a change of form — a change of everything," he said feebly as the last struggle approached. "All — though — sin — has — entered :" but his ut- terance failed in the quotation. ISTight came 222 ESSAYS ON THE PliEACUING on; with increased energy he exclaimed, "All's perfection !" " Good-night /" were his last words. George G. Cookman disappeared from our midst by a terrible disaster in the prime of his manhood, and at a i>eriod in his ministerial career when the star of his fame seemed about to culminate, and attract the gaze not only of the Church but of the nation. If he had not a rep- utation co-extensive with that of the other char- acters sketched in these pages, none who knew him can doubt that it would have sooner or later ranked him with some of thcni, and be- yond others, had it not been for the premature termination of his course. He was bom in 1800, at Hull, England, and came of a good old Wesleyan stock. His father, a man of wealth and of high respecta- bility, was a Methodist local preacher, and his early domestic education tended to form the s(m for the work of his life. "While yet very young he gave evidence of his peculiar capabilities for piiblic speaking, on the platform of Sunday- school and juvenile-missionary anniversaries. Some of these efforts of his childhood are said to have excited extraordinary interest. In his eighteenth year the death of a j'oung REQ HIKED BY THE TIMES, 223 friend left a profound impression npon his mind, which resulted in liis conversion. When about twenty-one years old he visited this country, on business for his father, and while at Schenec- tady, Kew-York, received the impression that it was his duty to devote his life to the Christian ministry. He began there, we beheve, his la- bors as a local preacher. In 1821 he returned to IIul], and entered into business with his fa- tJier, exercising his talents meanwhile zealously in the Wesleyan local ministry. He continued in his father's firm during four years, but with a. restless spirit; his ardent heart panted for entire devotion to Christian labors. So pro- found was liis conviction of his duty in this respect that it visibly affected him ; and his father, prizing him, with an Englislnnan's regard, as his eldest son, and the representative of his family, but perceiving that lie " must go,'^ gave him up, and bade him depart with God's bless- ing. Having witnessed the heroic labors and triumphs of the Methodist preachers on this coii- tinent, he resolved to join them, and forthwith took passage for Philadelphia. After laboring a few months in that city, as a local preacher, he was received into tlie Philadelpln'a Confer- ence in 1826. He continued in the itinerant 224 ESSAYS ON THE PKEACIIING ranks, witliout intermission, the remainder of his life, laboring M'ith indomitable energy, and constantly increasing ability and success, in various parts of Pennsylvania, New-Jei-sey, Maryland, and the District of Columbia. Mr. Cookman was slight, but sinewy in per- son, and capable of gi*eat endurance. His arms were long, and gave a striking peculiarity to his gestures. His eye was keen and brilliant, his craniological development good, but not remarkable, and his lean features were galvanic with an energy which, Englishman though he was, never allowed any obese accumulations to form beneath them. He had too much soul to admit of fatness. Let not the Falstaft" captains in the armies of Israel frown at tlie remark. " Would he were fatter," said Ca?sar of Cassius, — but Caesar himself was lean, and he feared the leanness of Cassius, because it had meaning in it, — "he thinks too much." Cookman's agile movements scouted with defiance the morbid monster, and kept it ever in distant abeyance. Every nerve and muscle of his lithe fi'ame seemed instinct with the excitement of his subject; even the foot often liad its energetic gesture, and lie took no little perambulatory range when the limits of the desk or platform REQUIRED BY THE TIMES. 225 allowed it. Tlie latter was his favorite place; never did popular orator revel more in the licensed liberties of the platform. All his powers were brought out there, and lavished upon the occasion with absolute prodigality, — strong argumentation, dazzling imagery, satire, pathos, wit, — holding his hearers in a sjdcII of close, clear thought, shaking them with resistless strokes of humor, melting them instanter into tears, or, by some energetic or heroic thought, throwing the whole assembly into tumultuous agitation, and provoking from it irrepressible responses. If at such times his manner" tended to boisterousness, it seemed compatible with the scene : it is not the zephyr but the mighty rush- ing wind that shakes and bends the forest. There was in his voice a strenuous, silvery distinctness, and even music, which enhanced much the effect of his more powerful passages. In a large house, or at a camp-meeting, where he was usually the hero of the field, he could send its pealing notes, with thrilling effect, to the remotest hearer. The hall of Eepresentati.ves at "Washington never echoed more eloquent tones, or more eloquent thoughts, than when he occupied its rostrum during his chaplaincy to Congress. He was peculiarly successful in these 15 226 ESSAYS ON THE PREACHING congi'essional ministrations. Notwithstanding tlie vast variety of character and prejudice con- centrated at the national metropolis, during the legislative sessions, he was a universal favorite. All men about him felt that whether in the humble Methodist pulpit, or amid the magniii- cence of the national capitol, he was himself ; and men will generally, if not always, wave their personal prejudices in the presence of talent which stands forth before them in its simple genuineness, while few things can more effectually defeat real ability than attempts to exaggerate it by dissembling artifices. The trickery is not only morally ugly by its disin- genuousness, but the popular sagacity, much keener than is commonly supposed, quickly perceives it, and takes an egotistical but honest pride in defying it. Mr. Cookman's sermons oeiore Congress were thoroughly prepared; they were often truly great, but directly to the purpose, and stamped throughout with the honest, earnest individuality of the man. There was much of special adaptation in them. He was always apt in seizing on casual events for the illustration or enforcement of his subjects ; but his congressional discourses were peculiarly distinguished by the success with which he KEtiUIKED BY THE TIMES. 227 availed himself of tlie exciting incidents of the place and season. These discourses had also a deep moral eifect as well as oratorical interest. Several of his distinguished hearers, both in Congress and in the executive department of the government, were awakened to a personal interest in religion by his powerful appeals. He was characterized by a sort of chivalry, a martial predilection, which gave him real bravery, and combative promptness and energy. Tliis was one of the strongest elements of his nature. Tlie military events which stirred all Europe during his youth, doubtless had" an in- fluence on his forming character. It was af- fected by even an earlier influence, probably. "Mind is from the mother," says Isaac Taylor, and the characters of great men, especially, begin to form mider the impressions of the ma- ternal mind, before their birth. The martial clangor that resounded among the continental states, and filled all the homes of England with loyal heroism, at the end of the last century, had possibly an efiect on the morale of Cook- man. Be this as it may, there was a military fire in him which nothing could extino'uish, and which, sanctified by rehgion, gave an heroic and invincible power to his ministrations. It 228 ESSAYS ON THE PREACHING influenced his imagery and his very language. It revealed itself in his sermons, in his exhorta- tions, his very prayers, and most especially in his platform addresses. The fii-st of the latter that we open upon in his published" Speeches"* is an example. It marshals the different evan- gelical sects of the country into a general mis- sionary conflict, and is full of chivalric spirit. His martial temper rendered his assaults on error formidably vigorous. He liked right well a manful encounter, and relished, with epi- curean zest, a pungent sarcasm, or a humorous thrust, that scattered in dismay sophistry or skeptical conceit. He had good sense, and a good amount of it ; but his imagination was his dominant faculty. It furnished him incessantly with brilliant illus- trations. Besides the minute beauties with which it interspersed his ordinary discourses, it sometimes led him into allegories which might have entertained the dreams of the Old Tiuker of Bedford. Tlie martial Bible-Society address at New-Brunswick, in 1828, to which we have * Speeches delivered on various occasious by Rev. George G. Cookinan, of the Baltimore Annual Conference, and Chaplain of the Senate of the United States. New- York: Carlton & PhiUips, 200 Mulberry-street. REQUIKED BY THE TIMES. 229 referred ; the mission ship, in his famous Balti- more-Conference speech of 1829; the widow and her daughters, in his American Sunday- School Union speech of 1831 ; and the personi- fication of Liberalism, (the prodigal son of the " Spy Bigotry,") in his New-York Sunday-school address of 1832, ai'e examples. It can hardly be doubted that had he devoted himself to the production of a work in this rare and difficult de- partment of literature, he might have become a worthy disciple of the glorious old dreamer of Bedford jail. This allegorizing mood, how- ever, befits the poet better than the orator. In his private life Mr. Cookman had many attractions. His piety was deep, and he was always ready for any good word or work ; but his religion never interfered with his enjoyment of life. He relished good fellowship, enlivening conversation, and the entertainment of books. He adhered through life, we, believe,- to the primitive Methodist costume. It was not the most graceful for his lank person ; but under this Quaker-like external primness he carried a large and generous heart — a heart which seemed ever juvenile in the freshness of its sentiments and the ardor of its aspirations. On the 11th of March, 1841, he embarked in 230 ESSAYS ON THE PREACHING the ill-fated steamer, President, and was never heard of more. Henry B. Bascom maintained an extraordi- nary reputation, as a preacher, down to the last year of his life. He entered the itinerant min- istry in 1814, when yet in his teens. During fourteen years he pursued its laborious duties in various parts of the West, and through the next twenty years occupied honorable positions in our literary institutions, either as President or Professor. He was at last elevated to the Episcopal office in the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, but presided in only one an- nual conference, on his return from which he was stricken down by death, in tlie very matu- rity of his life and his promotion. In person he was one of the noblest of men — • substantially built, well i:)roportioned, with full and m^ly features, a complexion of English ruddiness, and a highly intellectual cerebral de- velopment. His voice M-^as commanding, re- markably orotund, and even melodious, till aifected by habitual sniitf-taking. The candid critic must find it difficult to de- lineate well his pulpit character. His inanner in the desk was conformed to the rules of the REQUIRED BY THE TIMES. 231 oratorical art — strictly so. This fact secured him from the irregular violence of voice aud gesture to which his impetuous feelings naturally tended, but at the same time rendered his manner facti- tious and elaborate, especially in passages of studied beauty, where the attempt at effect, however laudable, became too manifest. This was in fine a characteristic of Dr. Bascom's eloquence throughout ; devoted as he was to the art, he did not attain that perfection in it by which its labor is concealed or rather superseded. "Nature," some one has said, "is the highest art ;" and to get clear of our factitious" habits and become aesthetically true to nature, in any- thing, is perfection. Powerful as were some of Dr. Bascom's efforts, the intelligent hearer could hardly divest himself of the conscious- ness tliat he was listening to a proposed example of declamation, and he found his mind spontan- eously holding his heart in abeyance, that the former might sit in critical judgment upon the performance, admiring or condemning it. "While this was the case with severer minds, the multitude liung upon his discourse usually with more of wonder than of any other emotion. We say usually, for 'there were occasions in which his own excited emotions bore down all criti- 232 ESSAYS ON THE PREACHING cism, and swept along in a tumultuous current the feelings of high and low. At these times, in spite of his hyberbolic imagery and language, his noble voice assumed its fullest music, and fell into a slight recitative, which seemed no fault, but actually enhanced its eifect. Some of the ancient writers on oratory speak of this manner as an excellence not uncommon in the classic eloquence. Cicero alludes to it favorably. It may be founded in nature, in a tendency of the sensibilities, when intensely excited, to ex- press themselves in ecstatic and musical tones, analogous to their tendency, under such excite- ment, to poetic measures in language. We find it still extant among the Quakei*8, and other sects, though in great exaggeration. Dr. Bascom's intellect presented a singular combination of excellences and defects. The poet and the dialectician were so mixed in him as not to allow of a distinct development of either, but produced, in his mental operations, such an habitual interplay of the logical and poetical powers as often to confound each other. A severe critic would, we think, usually retire from his preaching, puzzled to discriminate the intrinsic thought and the overlaying imagery of the discourse, and yet compelled to acknowl- REQUIRED BY THE TIMES. 233 edge that there was a marvelous exhibition of both. He had little or no fancy, but an august imagination. Contrary to the usual habit of imaginative minds, he seemed always inclined to discuss subjects which admitted of elaborate argumentation ; yet in conducting liis argument he could not proceed with the measured pace of the logician, but must move with the flight of an archangel. Should the hearer divest him- self entirely of the propensities of the critic, and give himself up to the poetry of the dis- course, he would find himself more satisfied than if, on the contrary, he should sit in judg- ment on the process of thought alone, or at- tempt to comprehend both. Tlie poetic element was, we think, his chief distinction. Tlie strict art with which he studied oratory was not, however, equally ap- plied here; his imagination was often excessive. It lingered not among Hervey's " Reflections in a Flower Garden," but aspiring to a loftier flight, plumed itself among his "Starry Heavens." Many of these flights showed a Miltonian gran- deur, but they were oftener exaggerated, and were habitually too frequent. Some of his dis- courses seemed almost, from beginning to end, a series of elaborated figures, " chained hght- 234 ESSAYS ON THK PREACHING ning," and sometimes, perhaps, owed, like the latter, much of their apparent splendor to the surrounding obscurity. Jupiter, at the request of Semele, came to her arrayed in the thunders and lightnings of the god, but she was consumed at his approach ; the plain good sense of popu- lar assemblies is often baftled and confounded by displays of oratorical poetry, and more so in the sanctuary, perhaj^s, than anywhere else. Dr. Bascom was self-educated — a means of peculiar advantage to some minds, but to an exuberantly fertile one, like his, the occasion of a lax disciphne and distorted growth. He emigrated early to the West ; among its vast rivers, prairies, and mountain ranges, he studied the revelations of nature, and his mental char- acter revealed the impression which those grand scenes made upon him. Whatever other de- fects he had, he showed no efleminacy, no dilu- tion of thought. His ideas were robust, his imagery rugged though luxuriant — all his con- ceptions seemed naturally to take a character of magnitude, if not magnificence, like that of the scenery with which he was conversant. His literary studies, pursued alone, and in his ministerial travels, could not compete with the influence of the grand associations which sur- EEQUIKED BY THE TIMES. 235 rounded him. The LT,tter formed his intellectual character ; the former, though pursued assidu- ously, failed of their usual chastening effect, so far at least as his pulpit efforts were concerned ; and to the last year of his life his preaching retained its original characteristics, though its delivery was somewhat moderated by the use of manuscripts in the desk — an expedient very unwisely recommended by his medical advisers as a relief to a chronic inflammation of the throat.* He had little of the ease and self-possession which we have recommended. He evidently entered the pulpit bowed under the burden of his task, and his discourse throughout was ap- parently an extreme effort. It was not unusual for him to spend most of Saturday night in walking his chamber floor, anxiously conning the next day's sermon. Such elaborate attempts often defeat themselves, and Dr. Bascom's fail- ures were not unfrequent. His sermons seemed Invariably delivered memoriter, though usually long enough to occupy two hours ; if he did not purposely commit them to memory, yet their * We believe that extemporizers suftev much less than sermon-readei-s from this ailment; and there are obvious reasons why this should be the case. 236 ESSAYS ON THE PREACHING frequent repetition fixed in his mind their lan- guage as well as their train of thought. Tliey were evidently prepared with the utmost labor. Tlie paragraphs seemed often to be separate but resplendent masses of thought, written at inter- vals, and without very close relations. This de- fect added to the obscurity of the discourse as a whole, breaking uj) its continuity in the mind of the hearer. The elaborateness of his mental processes extended even to his language ; it had something of the Latin pomp of Johnson, with the hizarre complexity of Carlyle, and often, as a consequence, presented sentences of striking peculiarity and force, notwithstanding its gene- ral defectiveness. He frequently coined words, or gave them new applications ; the latter, how- ever, were usually traceable to some subtile, ety- mological reason, and sometimes were marked by beauty and pertinence. His published ser- mons will not endure; they have not come under the attention of the higher class of crit- ics, and would not, we think, be passable at their bar. Some of his other productions, in which his poetical propensities had no room to play, show that if his education had been such as to effectually discipline his imagination, his real ability would have been greatly enlianced. REQUIRED BY THE TIMES. 237 His most important writings, besides those pre- pared for tlie pulpit, are his " Bill of Rights," written on behalf of the "reform" movement of 1828 ; the "Protest of the Minority," in the memorable General Conference of 1844; the " Report on Organization," at the formation of the Methodist Episcopal Chnrch, South ; and a subsequent elaborate volume in defence of the Southern Church, entitled " Methodism and Slavery." In social life Dr. Bascom was not readily ap- preciated, except by his familiar friends. To others he was taciturn or abrupt, and apparently frigid. There was about him that uneasiness which so often accompanies men of rare powers and marked individuality — the morbid effect, usually, of the honorable but not often honored wounds of hard-fought inward conflicts. He suffered no little misconstruction in this respect, in addition to the suffering which the conscious defect itself inflicted. When Sir Humphrey Davy, by the special permission of Napoleon, visited Paris, at a time when the country was closed to Englishmen, he was conducted by the French savans with great courtesy and eclat to the principal scientiflc resorts of the city ; but no sooner had he left it than a torrent of abuse 238 ESSAYS ON TilE PREACHING overtook him for his "English hauteur" — the stolid pride with which he appeared to receive the attentions of the learned Parisians. His biographer explains the case. It was not pride, but its direct opposite that affected the great English philosoplier. His constitutional diffi- dence — ^not an uncommon trait of the highest and purest style of mind — embarrassed him so much that he knew not how to receive the polite attentions showered upon him ; and while he was publicly condemned for his pride, he was secretly agonized by his self-depreciation. Dr. Bascom was an examj^le of the same weakness, or virtue, as some would call it. To those who enjoyed his intimate acquaintance he revealed a nature full of generous frankness and cordiality. " To such," says one of his Southern brethren, " he was as simple as a child, open to suggestion and counsel, amiable and lovely as a friend."* "A warmer heart, and more noble feelings," says Bishop Andrew, " beat not in the bosom of mortal ; there was a spring of kindest affection there which never ran dry." He died at Louisville, Kentucky, sun'ounded by old and endeared friends, on the 8tli of Sep- *Dr. Wightman, Southern Cliristian Advocate. EEQTFIEED BY THE TIMES. 239 tember, 1850. When asked if his spirit was sustained in the final conflict by the grace which he had preached to others, his rejjlj was, " Yes, yes, yes !" JSTotwithstanding any critical detractions from the popular estimate of his intellectual charac- ter, those who have heard him in his successful eiforts will remember the occasion as a privi- lege, an exhibition of magnificent mind — mag- nificent, though, like the grandeur of the moun- tain, made up of broken outlines, rough clifib, dark ravines below and sunlit eff'ulgence above. We pass to another name which has become a synonyme among us for almost every trait of mental symmetry and moral beauty — Wilbur FisK. He also, like Cookman, came of a primi- tive Methodist stock, and a strong ingredient of New-England Puritanism did not mar the composition of his noble nature. He began his ministry in 1818, when about twenty-six years of age. His pastoral labors extended through eight years; the remainder of his life, including some fourteen years, was spent in literary insti- tutions of the Church. He may be pronounced the founder of the educational provisions of New-England Methodism — provisions which we 240 ESSAYS ON THE PREACHING believe are now more complete than in any- other section of the Chm-ch, comprising a well- related series of one or more independent acad- emies for each conference, and a university and theological school for them jointly. Dr. Fisk saw the absolute necessity of such institutions for Methodism, especially in the Eastern States, where the whole people were educated, and where education could not well be divested of sectarian influences, except in its most ele- mentary forms. His successful plans have res- cued the youth of the Church from the prose- lytism of other sects. They have already made a visible, an almost universal impression on the character of New-England Methodism, espe- cially of its ministers, a very large proportion of whom have spent more or less time in pre- paratory studies in its seminaries. Wilbur Fisk's person bespoke his character. It was of good size and remarkable for its sym- metry. His features were beautifully harmo- nious, the contour strongly resembling the better Ivouum outline, though lacking its most peculiar distinction, the iiasus aquilunis. Ilis eye was nicely dclincd, and when excited beamed with a peculiarly benign and conciliatory expression. His complexion was bilious, and added to the KEQUIKED BY THE TIMES. 241 diseased indication of his somewhat attenuated features. His head was a model not of great but of well-proportioned development. It had the height of the Roman brow, though none of the breadth of the Greek. The two portraits of him which have been given to the public recall his appearance well enough to those who were familiar with it, but can hardly aflbrd an accurate impression to such as never saw him. The first of tliem, presenting him in the primi- tive ministerial costume of the Church, (which he doffed, we believe, in later years,) has too much of the languor of disease: there is an aspect of debility, if not decay, about it, which did not belong to the original, notwithstanding his habitual ill-health. It is preferred, however, by many of his friends, to the second engraving —an English production, marked by ideal and somewhat pompous exaggerations, and not a little of that exquisite and unnatural nicety with which our English brethi'-en are flattered in their published portraits. Tliere is a bust of him extant ; but it is not to be looked at by any who would not mar in their memories the beau- tiful and benign image of his earlier manhood by the disfigurations of disease and suffering. His voice was peculiarly flexible and sonorous: 16 242 ESSAYS ON THE PREACHING a catarrhal disease affected it ; but just enough, during most of his life, to give it a soft orotund, without a trace of the nasal tone, which is so common in the Eastern states. It rendered him a charming singer, and was an instrument of music to him in the pulpit. Without ajDpearing to use it designedly for vocal effect, it was nevertheless an important means of impression to his sermons. Few men could indicate the moral emotions more effectually by mere tones. It was especially erpressive in patlietic pas- sages. His pulpit manner was marked, in the intro- d action of the sermon, by dignity, but dignity without ceremony or pretension. As he ad- vanced into the exposition and argument of his discourse, (and there were both in most of his sermons,) he became more emphatic, especially as brilliant though brief illustrations, ever and anon, gleamed upon his logic. By the time he had reached the peroration his utterance be- came rapid, his thoughts were incandescent, the music of his voice rung out in thrilling tones, and sometimes even quivered with trills of pathos. No imaginative excitement pre- vailed in the audience as under Mafhtt's elo- quence; no tumultuous wonder, as under Bas- EEQUIEED BY THE TIMES. 243 corn's; none of Cookman's impetuous passion, or Olin's overwhelming power, but a subduing, abnost tranquil spell, of genial feeling, ex- pressed often by tears or lialf-suppressed ejacu- lations; — something of the kindly effect of Summerfield combined with a higher intel- lectual impression. We cannot claim for Dr. Fisk genius, nor the very highest order of mind. Good vigor in all his faculties, and good balance of them all, were his chief intellectual characteristics. His literary acquisitions were not great. Tlie American collegiate course in his day was stinted ; after his graduation he was too busy to study much, and he was not a great reader. His resources were chiefly in himself — in his good sense, his quick sagacity, his generous sensibilities, and his healthy and fertile imagi- nation. He possessed the latter power richly, though it never ran riot in his discourses. It was a powerful auxiliary to his logic — an exem- plification of Dugald Stewart's remark on the intimate relation between the imagination and the reasoning faculty in a well-balanced mind. Its scintillations were the sparkles that flew about the anvil on which his logic plied its strokes. 244 ESSAYS ON THE PEEACIIING His sermons, if examined in print, would pass for good, but " second-rate " productions ; that is to say, they would rank below those of Chalmers, Channing, Robert Hall, or Olin ; but if heard from his own lips in the pulpit, the hearer — even the educated and critical hearer — inspired with the preacher's manner and sensi- bility, would be disposed to assign them to the " first-rate " class. His style, not being formed from books, was the natural expression of his vigorous and nicely-balanced mind; it was therefore remarkable for its simplicity and terse- ness, its Saxon purity and energy. There can- not be found a meretricious sentence in all his published writings. He was not a metaphysician nor a dialecti- cian, and yet by natural disposition he was a polemic. Tliis was a marked propensity of his mind ; it was never abused into gladiatorship in the pulpit, but inclined him almost incessantly to theological discussion out of it. A jealous regard for the truth doubtless prompted this disposition ; but we think it had a deejier foun- dation — that it was founded in his mental con- stitution. His polemical writings were not only in good temper, but examples of luminous and forcible argumentation. The sermon on EEQUIEED BY THE TIMES. 245 Calvinism may be referred to as a specimen. That discourse, with his sermon and lectures on Universalism, his essays on the New-Haven Di- vinity, his discourse on the Law and the Gospel, his tract in reply to Pierrepont on tlie Atone- ment, &c., would form a volume which the Church might recognize as no ignoble memorial of both his intellectual and moral character. His travels in Europe, tliough containing some examples of elaborate reflection and picturesque description, was not a volume of superior claims — it had too much of the ordinary guide-book character. That very significant and convenient word, tact^ expresses a quality which "Wilbur Fisk possessed in a rare degree. He was uncom- monly sagacious in perceiving, and prompt in seizing the practical advantages of his position, whatever it might be ; hence his adroitness in controversy, the success of his platform addresses, his almost certain triumphs in conference de- bates, and the skill of his public practical schemes^ — excepting always those which T^ere financial^ in which respect, we think, he sig- nally failed — a defect quite usual with men of genius, but not with men of his mental charac- teristics. 246 ESSAYS ON THE rKEACIIING His moral cliaracter was perfect as that of any man whom it has been our happiness to know. His intimate friends will admit that there is hardly a possibility of speaking too favorably of him in this respect. After some years spent in personal relations with him, we are literally at a loss to mention one defect that marred the moral beanty of his nature. We are aware that this is saying very much ; that it is saying what cannot be said of one man per- haps in a million, but we deliberately say it of this saintly man. Serene, cheerful, exempt from selfishness, pride, and vanity, tender yet manly in his sensibilities, confiding in his friend- ships, entertaining hopeful views of Divine Providence and the destiny of man, maintaining the purest and yet the most unelaborate piety — a piety that appeared to believe and enjoy and do all things good, and yet to " be careful for nothing" — ^he seemed to combine the distinctive charms that endear to us the beautiful charac- ters of Fenelon and Channing, Edwards and Fletcher of Madeley. His humility was pro- found, and surrounded him with an aureole of moral loveliness. It was not a burden of penance under which the soul bowed with self- cherished agony ; still less was it a " voluntary EEQUIKED BY THE TIMES. 247 humility"— an assumed, an affected self-abase- ment; but it seemed the spontaneous, kindly and tender demeanor of his soul : it mingled with the cheerful play of his features, and gave a sweet suavity to his very tones. It was his rare moral character, more than his intellectual eminence, that gave him such magic influence over other minds, and rendered him so success- ful in the government of literary institutions. All about him felt a sort of self-respect in re- specting him ; to offend him was a self-infliction which even the audacity of reckless youth could not brook. Fisk lived for many years in the faith and exemplification of St. Paul's subhme . doctrine of Christian perfection. He prized that great tenet as one of the most important distinctions of Christianity. His own experience respecting it was marked by impressive circumstances, and from the day that he practically adopted it till he twumphed over death, its impress was radiant on his daily life. With John Wesley he deemed this important truth — ^promulgated, in any very express form, almost solely by Methodism in these days — to be one of the most solemn responsibilities of his Church, the most potent element in the experimental divinity of 248 ESSAYS ON THE PREACHING the Scriptures."" In liis earlier religious history he had felt the iufluence of those temptations which have betrayed so many young men from our ministry into other communions, where bet- ter worldly auspices rather than better means of self-development or usefulness were to be found ; but when he received the baptism of tliis great grace, his purified heart could not sufiiciently utter its thankfuhiess that he liad been provi- dentially kept within the pale of a Church which clearly taught the preeminent doctrine. This alone was a denominational distinction sufii- ciently important and sublime to be set ofi" against * Isaac Taylor, in his late work on Methodism, ro[)el8 this doctrine as refuted by every man's consciousness. Knox, in a letter to Bishop Webb, says, " Their view of Christian perfection is, in my mind, so essentially right and important, that it is on this account i)articular]y I value them above other denomination of that sort. I am aware that ignorant individuals expose what is in iteelf true, by their unfounded pretensions and irrational descrip- tions ; but with the sincerest disapproval of every such excess, I do esteem John Wesley's stand for lic^incss to be that which does innnortal honor to his name. * * * In John Wesley's views of Christian perfection arc combined, in substance, all the sublime morality of the Greek fathers, the spirituality of the mystics, and the divine j)hiIosophy of our favorite Platonists. Macarius, Fenelon, Lucas, and all of their respective classes, have been consulted and digested by him, and his ideas are essentially theirs. — Thirty Years' Corresporidencc . Letter XIX. REQUIKED BY THE TIMES. 249 any drawback that Metliodism might present. In a letter to a brother clergyman, he expressed, with overflowing feelings, his renewed love of the Chm-ch. " I thank God," he said, " that I ever saw this day. I love onr Church better than ever. How glad am I that I never left it." There are two periods at which a Methodist assuredly feels no regret for his connection with the denomination — when he learns by expe- rience what is the meaning of its instructions respecting Christian perfection, and when death dismisses him from its communion to the Church triumphant. On the 22d of February, 1839, in the forty- eighth year of his age, Wilbur Fisk received that dismission. His chamber had been for days sanctified as it were by the glory of the Divine Presence, and his broken utterances were full of consolation, and triumph over death. "Glo- rious hope!" was the last and whispered expres- sion of his religious feelings. Stephen Olin stands forth with commanding prominence and an imperial mien among the princes of our Israel. He was a shining light, a full orb — if not the most notable, yet the most intrinsically great man, take him "all in all," 250 ESSAYS ON TIIK PREACHING that American Methodism has produced. So manifest and commanding were his traits, that this preeminence can be awarded him without the shghtest invidiousness. His character' — moral, social and intellectual — was, throughout, of the noblest style. In the first respect he was preeminent for the two chief virtues of true religion — charity and hu- mility. With thorough theological orthodoxy he combined a practical liberalism which we fear most orthodox polemics would pronounce dangerous. There was not an atom of bigotry in all the vast soul of this rare man. Meanwhile, it could be said of him as Rowland Hill said of Chalmei's, "Tlie most astonishing thing about him was his humility." He was the best exam- ple we have known of that childlike simplicity which Christ taught as essential to those who would enter the kingdom of heaven, and which Bacon declared to be equally necessary to " those who would enter the kingdom of knowledge." Like Fisk, he was a personal example of St. Paul's doctrine of "Christian perfection" as expomided by Wesley. Respecting the Method- istic hypothesis of that doctrine he at first enter- tained doubts; but as he advanced in life, and especially under the chastening influence of REQUIRED BY THE TIMES. 251 affliction, it became developed in his own experi- ence. "I sunk into it," he remarked to the writer, in substance. "My children, my wife, my health, my entire prospect on earth, all were gone — God only remained ; I lost myself as it were in him, I was hid in him with Christ — and found, without any process of logic, but by an experi- mental demonstration, the 'perfect love that casteth out fear.'" He was never obtrusive in the avowal of this great truth, but ever ready to give, with all lowliness and meekness, a reason of the hope that was within him. Tlie marvelous grace that imbued, and, we were about to say, glorified, his very greatness with unsurpassed humility, was owing, in a great measure, to his faith in this sublime idea of Christianity. He had defects, unquestionably; but so far as they took a moral tendency, no effort of charity was requisite in order to attribute them to his continual physical infirmities. Some of our most interesting and precious personal recol- lections of him are connected with instances of such apparent defects. The virtues which accom- panied them seemed rather to gain than lose by the contrast, as precious gems are beautified by their inferior settings. 252 ESSAYS ON THE PREACHING His social character was beautiful. If he could not indulge the persiflage — the sheer inanities which inferior minds may deem the appropriate relaxation of social conversation — yet was he ever ready, for not merely the cheer- ful remark, but the exhilarating pleasantry : his familiar friends will never forget this charming trait. Nor were these buoyant intervals rare or brief. Frequently through a prolonged but always fitting conversation, would this play of sunshine illuminate his presence, and with it would intermix, congruously, often most felicit- ously, a radiant play of thought or a happy expression of Christian sensibility — never, how- ever, the meaningless twaddle of weakness. A truer and more forbearing friend could not be' found. His domestic affections were warm, and the circle of his family was a sanctuary full of hallowed sympathies and enjoyments. It would require a more capable hand than ours to estimate his intellectual dimensions. His scholai-ship was, we think, more exact and thorough within his professional sphere, than varied or comprehensive beyond that limit. We speak of scholarship as distinguished from general information. At his graduation he was considered the "ripest scholar" who had been EEQUIKED BY THE TIMES. 253 examined in his college. He was conservative in his views of classical education, and very decidedly opposed to the " modernized" system of training attempted and abandoned at Har- vard, and now experimenting at Brown Uni- versity. A high and finished classical disci-. pline was his ideal for the college over which he presided; and that institution has sent out, under his superintendence, as thorough students as have lionored the education of the land. While he was a genuine scholar within his ai3pro23riate sphere, he possessed also a large range of general intelligence, though, as we have said, without that devotion to any favorite department of extra-professional knowledge, which often relieves and adorns the professional life of studious men by becoming a healthful and liberalizing counterpart to tlieir stated rou- tines of thought. We are not aware that he was addicted to the national literature of any one modern people ; to the speculative philoso- phies which, with so much fallacy, have also developed so much mental vigor and splendor in the continental intellect of Europe ; or to any one department of the elegant literature of our own language. We know not that he had more than a casual acquaintance with these, 254 ESSAYS ON THE PKEACIIING derived mostly from Reviews. With the cur- rent history of the workl in politics, science, and especially religion, lie had, however, more than the usual familiarity; a remarkable mem- ory, tenacious of even statistics and names, doubtless gave him, in this respect, an ad- vantage over most intellectual men. The original powers of his mind were, how- ever, his great distinction. And these, like his person, were all colossal — grasp, strength, with the dignity which usually attends it, a compre- hensive, faculty of generalization, which felt in- dependent of details, but presented in over- whelming logic grand summaries of thonglit. Tliis comprehensiveness, combined with energy of thought, was the chief mental characteristic of the man ; under the inspiration of the pulpit it often and indeed usually became sublime — we were about to say godlike. "We doubt whether any man of our generation has had more power in tlie ])ulpit than Stephen Olin ; and tliis p(twfr was in spite of very marked oratorical defects. His manner was ungainly ; his gestures quite against the elocutionary rules ; his voice badly managed, and sometimes painfnl in its lieaving utterances; but the elocutionist is not always the orator. AVhile you saw tliat tlicrc was no REQUIRED BY TUE TIMES, 255 trickery of art about Dr. Olin, you felt that a mighty, a resistless mind was struggling with yours. You were overwhelmed — your reason with argument, your heart with emotion. When he began his discourse, your attention was immediately arrested by the dignity and sterling sense of his remarks. You perceived at once that something well worth your most careful attention was coming. Paragrapli after paragraph of massive thought was thrown off, each showing a gradually increasing glow of the sensibility as well as the mental force of the speaker. By the time he had fairly entered into the argument of the sermon, you were led captive by his power ; but it would be difficult to say which most effectually subdued you — liis mighty thoughts or his deep feeling. You sel- dom or never saw tears in his own eyes, but they flowed freely down the cheeks of his hear- ers. Ever and anon passages of overwhelming force were uttered, before which the whole as- sembly seemed to bow, not so much in admira- tion of the man, as in homage to the mighty, truth. Such passages were usually not poetic, for he was remarkably chary of his imagery ; but they were ponderous with thought — they were often stupendous conceptions, such as you 256 ESSAYS ON THE PREACHING •would imagine a sanhedrim of archangels might listen to, uncovered of their golden crowns. At suitable periods of the sermon, which usually occupied from an hour and a half to two hours, he would pause briefly to relieve his voice and his feelings. The mental tension of his audience could be perceived, at such times, by the general relaxation of posture, and the simultaneous, heaving respiration ; but as soon as, with a peculiar, measured dignity, he re- sumed the lofty theme, all eyes were again fixed, all minds again absorbed. Eftective as was his preaching usually, it was not always so. His ill-health sometimes spread a languor over his si)irit which no resolution could throw off. We recall an instance, which affords to our clerical readei"s too good a lesson to be omitted here. We spent a Sunday even- ing with liim after lie had failed, as he thought, in a sermon during tlie day. He referred to it with much good nature, and remarked that his history as a preacher liad taught liini to expect the blessins: of God on even such efforts. He proceeded to relate an instance which occurred during his ministry in South Carolina. He preached at a camp-meeting Avliero a Presby- REQUIRED BY THE TIMES. 257 terian clergyman, who was to address the next session of his synod in Charleston, heard him. The Presbyterian doctor repeated not only the text, but, substantially, the sermon before his clerical brethren, giving, however, full credit to its Methodist author. So remarkable a fact could not fail to excite great interest among the people of Charleston to hear the latter. He at this time occupied the Methodist pulpit of that city, and the next Sunday evening his chapel was crowded with the elite of the com- munity, including several clergymen. He preached long, and as he thought, loudly and confusedly ; in line, he felt, at the close of the discourse, confounded with mortiticatioii. He sank, after the benediction, into the pulpit, to conceal himself from view, till the assembly should be all gone. By-and-by he espied some eminent individuals apparently waiting in the aisle to salute him. His heart failed. Noticing a door adjacent to the pulpit he determined to escape by it. He knew not whither it led, but supposed it communicated with the next housGy- whicli had once been a parsonage, as he recol- lected having lieaTd. He hastened to the door, got it open, and, stepping out, descended ab- iTiptly into a grave-yard, which extended be- 17 258 • ESSAYS ON THE PREACHING yond and behind the former parsonage. The night was very dark, and he stumbled about among the tombs for some time. He reached at last the wall Avhich closed the cemetery in from the street, but found it insurmountable. Groping his way to the opposite side, he sought to reach a back street by penetrating through one of the gardens which belonged to a range of houses there. It was an awkward endeavor in the darkness, and among the graves ; but at last he found a wicket-gate. He had no sooner passed through it than he was assailed by a house-dog. Having prevailed in this encounter, he pushed on and reached the street, with some very reasonable apprehensions that the neigh- borhood would be alarmed by his adventures. He now threaded his way through an indirect route to his lodgings, passed unceremoniously to his chamber, and shut himself up for the night, but slept little or none, reflecting with deep chagrin on tl^^ strange conclusion of the day. On the morrow he hardly dared -to venture out ; but while yet in his study Mr. , one of the first citizens in Charleston, and a leading officer in a sister denomination, called at the house ; he was admitted to the preacher's study with reluctance ; but what was the aston- REQUIRED BY THE TIMES. 269 ishment of the latter to hear him say that the sermon of the preceding evening had enabled him to step into the kingdom of God, after many years of disconsolate endeavors, during which he had been a member of the Church. The same day a lady of influential family came to report the same good tidings. Other similar examples occurred that morning ; and this failure was one of the most useful sermons of his ministry. His style was somewhat diffuse and always elaborate, — too much so for elegance, Johnson used to insist that his own pompous Latinism was an effect of the magnitude of his thoughts ; its fantastic collocation, even in the definitions of his dictionary, stand out, however, inexora- bly and grotesquely against the fond conceit; the critics- pronounce his verbiage a result of his early study of Sir Tliomas Browne. False, in part, as was the great author's apology, it was also, in part, true. He had a magnitude, and Roman-like sturdiness of thought, which demanded capacious expression, though the de- mand was exaggerated, and thus became a characteristic fault, as well as a characteristic excellence. Dr. Olin's style was affected by a similar cause, but not to such a faulty extent. / 260 ESSAYS OK THE PKEACHING The defect was perceptible in his ordinary con- versation, and quite so in his extemporaneous sermons. In some of his later writings, how- ever, like Johnson in his Lives of the Poets, he seemed to escape the excesses while he retained the excellencies of his style. Dr. Olin was gigantic in person. His chest would have befitted a Hercules ; his head was one of those which suggest to us superhuman capacity, and by which the classic sculptors symbolized the majesty of their gods. Tliough of a very different craniological development, it could not have been less capacious than that of Daniel Webster ; and, crowning a nnich more lofty frame, must have presented, Mitli vigorous health, a more commanding indica- tion. His gigantic structure was, however, during most of his life, smitten through and through with disease and enervation. Tlie colossal head seemed too heavy to be sup- ported, and appeared to labor to poise itself. Tlie eye, somewhat sunken in its large socket, presented a languid expression, though relieved by a sort of religious benignity which often beamed with feeling. This great man must be added to the long and melancholy catalogue of self-martyred students. REQUIRED BY THE TIMES. 261 His inHrmities commenced in his college life ; tliey were exasperated by his labors as an in- structor in a southern climate ; and were the burden of his later years, almost to the exclu- sion of any continuous labors. During these years his usefulness was confined mostly to pc- casional discourses, some of which have been published; to the quiet but inestimable moral power which the mere official presence "of such a man cannot fail to exert over any responsibil- ity to which he is related ; and last, but not least, to the ministration of example under cir- cmnstances of suftering and personal religious development. He was frankly indejaendent in his opinions, and not without what would be called strong prejudices — no uncommon accompaniment of powerful minds. He was decidedly conserva- tive on most subjects, though early inclined to political hberalism. On the rife question of slavery he shared not the strong moral senti- ment of the !Korth, yet he lamented the institu- tion as calamitous. Tlie Fugitive Slave Law he deplored as a necessary evil, and was favorable to its enforcement. He inclined to stringent institutions of government in both Church and State, but at the same time deemed our own 262 ESSAYS ON THE PREACHING CLiu'cli polity susceptible of many liberal im- provements, in order to adapt it to wliat lie con- sidered the demands of the times. He wished to see the period of our ministerial appointments prolonged. He was especially interested in the intellectual improvement of our ministry, and was one of the warmest friends of tlieolocrical education among us ; before a theological school was begun in the Church he wrote home from London, where he witnessed the experiment among the Wesleyans, a public letter, urging the subject upon the attention of the Church, and inclosing a considerable donation toward it. He believed this, indeed, to be the capital want of Methodism in our day, and never disguised the conviction amid any prejudice to the con- trary. He entertained sublime views of our missionary resources, and longed and labored to see its energies amply brought out and ap- plied to this great work, especially in the foreign field. The evangelization of the world he deem- ed an achievement quite practicable at this day to Protestant Christendom. Some of his dis- courses on the subject were signal eiforts of in- tellect and eloquence. On the nightof the IStli of August, 1851, it was our mournful privilege to stand in a small REQUIRED BY THE TIMES. 263 and silent circle by tlie death-bed of this good and great man. The herculean frame lay help- less and heaving in the last struggle. " I hope in Christ," (pointing with his finger upward ;) " most certainly, in Christ alone. I believe I shall be saved, though as by fire," were among the last utterances of the dying sufterer. Early the next morning he was no more among men. Five of the most notable men of our denomi- national pulpit have thus passed in review be- fore us — two of foreign, three of native birth. Others might be selected from the dead, and there are, among the living, those who will take rank with such as we have recorded. We have endeavored to render each sketch suggestive of its appropriate lessons, and need not prolong our article by very minute compara- tive remarks. Olin was unquestionably the greatest, but Fisk the most perfect man in the series. Tlie former had both the largest and strongest intellectual grasp, the latter more ver- satility and practical skill. Olin had the high- est, the philosophical genius ; and if his health had allowed him a productive hfe, he would have taken rank where, by the title of his genius he really belonged' — among the first men of his 264 ESSAYS ON THE PREACHING day: Fisk had talent and tact rather tlian genius; he was the practical though not the technical logician in both speculation and in life. Olin had very little of the detail of practical logic, but in him the higher logic, the faculty of gene- ralization, was predominant ; it gave grandeur to his habitual conceptioiis, though it could not take those minute cognizances of events or truths whicli afforded Fisk an habitual mastery over any position in which he found himself placed, and gave more perfect proportions to the de- velopment of his character. Cookmau had neither the philosophic comprehensiveness of the one nor the practical skill of the othei-, l^nt more mental alertness and energy than either. Olin could have best planned the destinies of a state; Fisk could have planned best the move- ments of its army ; Cookman could have best executed those movements. Cookman had mudi of Bascom's imagination. Ilis nature was too hardy, too Saxon, to admit of any resemblance to Sumraerfield. His allegorical skill was all his own. Summerfield's position in the group hardly admits of comparison. lie had none of Olin's intellectual breadth, little of Fisk's tactical skill, not much more of Cookman 's energetic vi- vacity, or of Bascom's imagination. Tlis dis- REQUIKED BY THE TIMES. 265 tinction was almost entirely one of temperament, a temperament to wliich was subordinated, in the happiest manner possible, all his powers of intellect and of expression. His soul was not in his head, but in his heart, if we may so speak. Never was the power of a public speaker more pure, more anomalous. It was not the power of logic proceeding from the intellect, it was not poetic power proceeding from the imagination, nor did it flow from the passions ; it was a moral magnetism, a gentle suasive effluence from the inmost life of the man. His biographer, though he claims for him justly a second-rate kind of " genius," declares the " predominaftng" quali- ties of his mind to have been " good sense and good tasted Undoubtedly this was the case ; but thes^qualities do not solve the problem of his power. Tliere are thousands of men who have " good sense and good taste," but who have no such power. It proceeded, we repeat, from the peculiar and sanctified temj)erament of the man, his "intense animal feeling," as Montgomery somewhat equivocally calls it, and his "good sense and good taste " were but its regulators. Such are a few of the marked characters and superior intellects which have arisen within the pale of Methodism, and thus has its ministerial 266 PREACHING EEQUIKED BY THE TIMES. system been found suited to the highest pulpit talent, and at the same time capable of rallying and directing the ruder energies of thousands of uncultivated laborers ; making them by its pecu- liar discipline "workmen that need not to be ashamed," and covering the continent with the fruits and signs of their apostleship. THE END. PUBLISHED BY CARLTON & PHILLIPS, 200 Mulberry-street, New- York. SynitNs Sacred Annals. Sacred Annals : or, Researches into the History and Religion of Man- kind. By Geokge Smith, F. S. A., M. R. S. L., etc. In three large volumes. Each volume is complete in itself, and may be had sepa- rately. 8vo. Price S7 00 Vol. I. The Pateiarchal Age: or, the History and Keligion of Mankind, from the Creation to the Death of Isaac: deduced from the Writings of Moses, and other Inspired Authors ; and illustrated by copious References to the Ancient Eecords, Traditions, and Mythology of the Heathen AVorld. Vol. II. The Hebrew People: or, the History and PLCligiou of the Israel- ites, from the Origin of the Nation to the Time of Christ: deduced from the Writings of Moses, and other Inspired Authors; and illustrated by copious References to the Ancient Records, Traditions, and Mythology of the Heathen World. Vol. HI. The Gentile Nations : or. the History and Religion of the Egypt- ians, Assyrians, Babylonians, Medes, Persians, Greeks, and Romans; col- lected from Ancient Authors and Holy Scripture, and including the recent Biscoveries in Egyptian, Persian, and Assyrian Inscriptions: forming a complete Connexion of Sacred and Profane History, and showing the Ful- filment of Sacred Prophecy. Mr. Smith has, in his Sacred Annals, made a valuable contribution to the literature of the Christian evidences, as well as of ancien,t history. . . . The third volume presents as complete and clear a view of the religious systems of the great Gentile nations of antiquity as can be prepared fl'om existing records. — (London) Literary Gazette. Mr. Smith has achieved a great work. . . . We praise the book as an ex- ceedingly important addition to the class of literature to which it belongs. It supplies a great want, and supplies it fully. — [London) Christian Wit- ness. StficklcmdJs Biblical Literature^ A MANUAPi OF Biblical Liteeatuee. By William P. Steick- land, D. D. 12mo., pp. 404. Muslin SO 80 The work is divided into nine parts, treating severally of Biblical Philology, Biblical Criticism, Biblical Exegesis, Biblical Analysis, Biblical Archaeology, Biblical Ethnography, Biblical History, Biblical Chronology, and Biblical Geography. This enumeration will suffice to show the extent of the range of topics embraced in this volume. Of course they are treated summarily : but the very design of the author was to prepare a compendious manual, and he has succeeded excellently. — Methodist Quarterly Review. Memoir of Rev. S. B. Bangs. The Young Minister : or, Memoirs and Remains of Stephen Beekman Bangs, of the New-York Eagt Conference. By W. H. N. Magruder, M. A. With a Portrait. 12mo., pp. 388. Muslin $0 70 There are some classes who may derive peculiar profit from a study of this book. Young ministers of the gospel may deduce from it the elements of a happy and prosperous professional career. Students may be led to inquire closely into their duty, and may be prepared^ conscientiously to decide whether or not God is calling them to the responsible work of the Chris- tian ministry. Parents may "see the eftect of a careful and rigid and truly kind training of their children. And tinally, all may be stimulated to a holy life by the energetic and eloquent discourses that follow. — Bev. E. O. Haven. PUBLISHED BY CARLTON & PHILLIPS, 200 Miilberry-street, New- York. Father Reeves. Father Reeves, the Methodist Class-leader : a Brief Account of Mr. William Reeves, thirty-four Years a Class-leader in the Wes- lej-an Methodist Society, Lambeth, England. ISmo., pp. 160. Muslin SO 18 "We sincerely tbank Mr. Corderoy for this little volume, which cannot fail of being jierused with great advantage as an incentive to strict punctu- ality, never-failing diligence, eminent devotedness, and fervent Cliristian zeal. — (London) S. S. Teac?iers' Magazine. The narrative presents one of the most interesting developments of the honest man, fearing God and working righteousne.s.s, that for a long time has come before us : a fine specimen of the best order of Methodism in its best period.— Christian Witness. Let " Father rteeves" pass along through all our congregation.?; he will leave a ble-ssing wherever he goes. It is just the book to stir up the Church. A hundred thousand volumes should be scattered at once.— ifeu. A. Stevens. The Philosophy of Faith. Philosophy axd Practice of Faith. By Lewis P. Olds. 12mo., pp. 353. Muslin gO 65 Part I. A General View of Faith— Pure, Simple, or Intellectual Faitli— Practical, Kelying, or ."^aving Faith— The Ilnitv of Faith— A Living Faith and a Dead Faith— Unbelief the Native Condition of the Mind— Walk by Faith— The Three Antagonisms of Faith— Faith and Works— Increase and . Diminution of Faith. Paet II. Ancient and RJodern Faith compared— Faith of Nations— Con- gregational Faith— Faith of the Christian Ministry— Prayer and Faith- Faith of the Cloister— Faith of Active Life— Faith "of tlie"lgnorant— Failli of the Young— Faith in Prosperity— Faith in Adversity— F.iith in Life and in Death. This book belongs to a class that has been rare of late years. It is a calm, thoughtful, yet uncontroversial survey of a great Christi.au doctrine in ita bearings upon theology in general, and upon the Christian life in practice. We hope it m.ay find many readers.— J/ef/iodisf QuarUrhj Review. Bible in Many Tongues. The Bible in Many Tongues. Eevised liy Daniel P. Kidder. 18mo., pp. 216. Muslin $0 24 A biography, so tu sjieak, of tlie liible; and a history of its translations and versions in ancient and modern times. It gives, in brief, a large amount of religious and historical information. It is divided into four chapters,' treating respectively of tlic biography of books in general, .and of the Bible in iiarticular— the liible in the ancient E.ast and at Home- the Bible at the Kefurniation— the Bible and Christian missions. Tlte Converted Infidel. Life and Experience of a Converted Infidel. By John Sc.vrlet, of the New-Jersey Conference. 18mo., pp. 274. Price SO 40 We commend this autobiography as worthy of a place among the multi- tude of sketclios of a similar sort which Methodism has produced. It is specially .-ulaptpd, from its simple narrative, its pleasant vein of anecdotes and Us sound mora' and dof^trinal spirit, to attrai-l and benotlt voun" readers. ° PUBLISHED BY CARLTON & PHILLIPS, 200 Mulberry-street, New- York. • ■ — — Memoir of Richard Willimns. Memoir of Kichaed Williams, Surgeon : Catechist to the Patagonian Missionary Society in Terra del Fuego. By James Hamilton, D. D. 16ino., pp. 270. Muslin $0 30 This is really one of the most profoundly interesting and suggestive nar- ratives we have ever read. — St. Louis Presbyterian. Young says: " That life is long which answers life's great end." If this he true, the brief life of Richard Williams was longer than that of many who attain to three-score years and ten. He has illustrated, in a remarka- ble manner, the strength of love and the power of faith. AVhile enduring the most severe suffering, with the prospect of a lingering and dreadful death before him, his soul rested in perfect tranquillity upon God as upon a rock, sheltering itself trustingly under the wing of Almighty Love, and joying even in being permitted to suffer for Christ's sake. Thus does God compensate his children who deny themselves from love to him, by inward peace and happiness, of which only those who make such sacrifices can have any conception. Greek and Eastern Churches. The Greek and Eastern Churches: their History, Faith and Worship. 18mo., pp. 220. Muslin $0 24 Contents. Origin of the Greek Church — Its Progress and Present State — Tenets and Ceremonies of the Greek Church— Worthies of the Greek Church— Heretics and Sectaries of the Greek Church— Relations of Prot- estantism to the Greek Church. A very timely book, giving, in a brief but clear form, an account of the his- tory, faith, and worship of the Greek and Russian Churches. 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Muslin $0 20 A record of the life and Christian labours of Roger Miller, the founder of Ragged Schools, whose career, though beginning in the most humble way, affords one of the most extraordinary examples of Christian devotion and usefulness which the history of the modern Church records. In the Lon- don City Mission he found a field, in the full senge of the word, requirin"- missionary zeal and self-denial to a very large extent. The history of his personal as well as his more public career is full of vni^x^'s.i.— Methodist Quarterly Eeview. PUBLISHED BY CARLTON & PHILLIPS." 200 Mulberry-street, New- York. ^ • Sketches of Emlsext Methodist Mtxtstees. With Portraits and other Illustrations. Edited bv Johx M"Clistock, D. D. Boyal 8vo. Price in roan, gilt edges $3 00 Morocco S3 50 Morocco superior extra So 00 The sketches are twelve in number : Johx WEsrET. hy the Rer. 0^ T- Pob- bin. LLu D.. of Hull CoUeco, England. Wiu.iam WKexdeee. hv Rev B. St. J. Fry. Johk Ejiort. by John M'Clintock. D. I>. Robert E. Rob EKTS. by J. Floy. D. D. Elijah HEi>risG. hy the Rev. M. L. Scudder, A. M JoHS Fletcher, by the Rev. J. B. Hagacy, A. M. Fkeeborx Garrett SOX. AViLBCR Fisk, bv Rev. Professor O. H. Tiflhnv. A. M. Noah Levixgs liv P. W. Clark. D. D. Stephex Oles. by J. Floy. !>' D. George Pickebixg, and Jaeez BrsTiXG. D. D., by Rev. Abel Stevens. An engraved jH)rtrait accompanies each sketch. The illustrations are : Epworth Church : Ef- worth Rectory: Charter-House: Old Foanderj": First Methodist Church in Ohio : Methodist Book Concern : Madeley Church : the House in which Fletcher was born : Pickering's Mansion ; Wesleyan Theological Institute, Fjchmond. England: its Entrance Hall and Principal Staircase; and a fine engraving of the New-England Conference, assembled in the old BromfieW- streel Church, Boston. T7ie Lamp and the Lantern. The Lamp axd the La>tef.x : or, Light for the Tent and the Trav- eller. Bv James H.\.jnLT0X, D. D. 18mo., pp. 202. Muslin $0 23 A series of eloquent lectures and essays, mostly hortatory, in Dr. Hamilton's best vein, on subjects connected with the reading and propagation of the Bible. Sicitzirland. SwrrzEKLAN'D : Historical axd DESCBmrvE. 18mo., pp. 214. Muslin $0 24 Part I. Bittorical: The Dim Distance — Seeds of Nationality — Heroism and Independence — The Reformation — Wars of Religion — A' Long Peace — Overthrow and Restoration. Part II. Ikscriptitt : Nature — Art — Society. Lives of the Popes. The Ln-Es or the Popes. From A. D. 100 to A. D. 1S53. From the Loudon Edition. 12mo., pp. 566. Muslin $0 80 We take pleasure in placing the work before American readers in a more con- venient form than that of its firsi pabUcaiion. and trust that it will l>e eitensively penised by young and old throughout our land. No nation ought to be better acquainted than ours with the histon- of the Popes, and the system of religion of which they are acknowledged beads ; for none has more' to fear from the movements of Romanists. There is no work extant, to our knowledge, that covers the same ground. It gives in com(«ndious form the history of the Papacy from its very be- ginning down to the P'ontificat* of Pius IX. — a kind of information which file American people stand much in need of just now. — Methodist Quarterly/ Bevinc. The work is well adapted to popular reading, and supplier a previous lack in the current Uteratnre of the age. — ChrittioH Witnett. PUBLISHED BY CARLTON & PHILLIPS, 200 Mulberry-street, New- York. Friends?iips of the Bible. The FRiEXDSHirs of the Bible. By Asncus. Embellislied with En- gravings. 12mo., pp. 140. Muslin $0 55 The subjects of this attractive volume are, David and Jonathan; Abraham and Eliezer; Elisha and the Shunammite; Paul, Joseph, and Enth; Fortuitous Acts of Friendship ; Rulers ; Bethany ; Jesus and John. Home Truths. HosrE Truths. By Kev. J. C. Etle, B. A., Rector of Helmingham, England. 16mo., pp. 292- Muslin , tO 33 Seldom has a book been issued from the English press more vigorous with mental and moral vitality. It pretends to nothing recondite, though it treats often of suljtle subjects; but it is pregnant with pithy thought, and there is a naturalne.:s. The Works of Stephen Olin, D. D., LL. D., late President of the Wes- leyan University. 2 vols. 12mo., pp. 422, 472. Price $2 00 These volumes comprise thirty-six discourses on miscellaneous subjects ; seven lectures on the theory and practice of scholastic life ; four baccalaure- ate discourses ; and thirteen essays and addresses on various occasions. Bledsoe's Theodicy. A Theodicy : or. Vindication of the DmNE Glory, as manifested in the Constitution and Government of the Moral World. Bj' Albert Taylor Bledsoe, Professor of Mathematics in the Univers- ity of Mississippi. 8vo., pp. 365. Price, half morocco $1 60 Gentle reader, whatever be the school of theology to which you belong, we earnestly advise you to read this book carefully. It will leave its mark, for it presents the most difficult subjects in theology in the clear light of Scripture, reason, and common-sense. — Christian Advocate and Journal. Whoever reads it with attention and with candour will arise from his task vrith heightened views of the administration of Qoiern Methodist Quarterly. The author reviews with great discrimination the theories of ancient and modern authors upon this sut>iect, and argues with force and ability the dillVront positions assumed. This book will certainly make a mark in the department of literature to which it belongs, and will undoubtedly shed light upon this subject, which, of all others, has been hitherto "a dark problem," Village Science. Villaoe Science : or, the Laws of Nature explained. By the Author of " Peeps at Nature," etc. 18mo., pp. 285. Muslin $0 28 Contents. 1. Atoms and Elements: or, Nature's Materials. 2. Laboum and Sports: or, the Laws of Motion. 3. A Visit to the Water-works: or, the Doctrine of Fluids, i. Silence and Noise : or, the Theory of Sound. .'). The Klophant's Trunk : or, the Principle of Compensation. 6. The Light-house Lantern: or, a Dialogue on Optics. 7. Fingers and Thumbs: or, Nature's Conveniences. 8. Curious Homes : or. Nature's Geometry. 0. Growth and Decay : or. Nature's Chemistry. 10. Sparks and Flaniea ; or. Nature's Electricity. 11. Dead Leaves: or, Nature's Economy. 12. Enough and to spare ; oi , Nature's Abundance BOOKS PUBLISHED BY CARLTON & PHILLIPS, 200 Mulberry-street, New- York. IVesIey's Notes on the New Testament. Explanatory Notes on the New Testament. By Rev. John Wesley, A. M. 8vo., pp. 734. Plain sheep ^ • SI 80 Plain calf 2 20 Calf gilt 2 40 Calf extra 2 60 — Pearl edition. 18mo., pp. 446. Sheep $100 This work forms jxirt of the course of study adopted hy the last General Conference. For a brief exposition of the saci-ed text, we have long considered the Notes of Mr. Wesley as llie best extant. The sense is given in as few words as possible. We liave long wished Wesley's Notes more generally diffused among our people, and particularly that our young preachers might always have them at liand. We earnestly recommend this edition to' our people, especially to the young of both sexes. But no young preacher should be without it. — Methodist Quarterly Review. Though short, they are always judicious, accurate, spiritual, terse, and impres- sive, and possess the happy and rare excellence of leading the reader immediately to God and his own heart. — Dn. A. Clakke. Wesleyan Sketches. Sketches of English Wesleyan Preachers. Originally published in the Christian Advocate and .J ournal. Revised and enlarged ; with several additional Sketches. 15y Robert A. West. With a Portrait of Dr Bunting. 12mo., pp. 400. Muslin $0 65 Mr. West sketches with great boldness and ease, and possesses the rare art of giving life to his portraits. — Literary Register. We assure o\ir readers of a real treat in the perusal of this entertaining volume. — Zion's Herald. , They are exceedingly spirited and life-like, and present their subjects before the reader with remarkable vividness and individuality. — New -York Tribune. The author's descriptive powers are undeniably great; and his opportuni- ties of observation must have been numerous, to gather such a fund of anecdote and history as the volume contains. — New-York Evangelist. The volume has been to us a very pleasant one ; and we are indebted to it for some information respecting Methodism which we are glad to possess — Presbyterian. Mr. West writes with ease and grace, and seems to possess a natural ability to sketch the salient points of character.— iVeto-VorA: Courier and Enquirer. We earnestly commend Mr. West's sketches of the English Methodist Preach- ers to all the clergy of oui land. — Alliance and Visitor. These sketches are admirably written, and contain many valuable facts and illustrations of holiness of life. — Albany Spectator. ' Mr. West possesses great versatility of talent, and has a happy faculty of describing scenes and persons. The work cannot fail to interest ail readers — Christian Union. BOOKS PUBLISHED BY CARLTON & PHILLIPS. 200 Mulberry-street, New- York. Weslsu's Letters. Select Letters, chiefly on Personal Keligion. By Rev. John Wesley. With a Sketch of his Character, by Rev. Samuel LJeadburx. 12mo., pp. 240. "Uuslin $0 50 Mr. Wesley's Letters were ivritten not to circulate idle gossip, or to nourish a sickly sentimentality, but to urge forward his correspondents in the di- vine life, that they miglit attain all the mind there was in Christ, and make tlieir calling and election sure. They present an agreeable variety of sub- jects ; and it is hoped they will prove acceptable to a numerous class of readers to whom the entire works of the venerable writer are inaccessible To the use of the closet, and of private reading, it is presurnea, they are especially adapted. The " Sketch of Mr. Wesley's Character," by which the letters arc introduced, contains several interesting notices concerning the founder of Metliodisrn which are not generally known. Coke, {Dr. Thomas,) Life of. The Life of Thomas Coke, LL. D. : including iu detail his various Trav- els and extraordinary l^Iissionary Exertions in England, Ireland, America, and the West Indies ; with an Account of his Death, while on a Missionary Voyivge to the East Indies, &c. By Samuel Drew With a Portrait. 12mo., pp. 381. Muslin $0 60 Under tlie direction of Mr. Wesley, he took the superintendence of the foreign work ; and for many years was such an example of Missionary zeal and en- terprise as the Christian Church has rarely seen. His sermons in connex- ion with the Methodist Missions were marked by an energy, disinterested- ness, and perseverance which can never be forgotten; and in importance and success they are second only to those of the venerated man whom he owned as his father in the Lord. — Rev. Thomas Jackson. N. B.— The Life of Mrs. Coke is in the Sunday-School Catalogue, price 20 cents. Watson (Bishop) and Leslie on the Evidences. Apology for the Bible, in a Series of Letters addressed to Thomas Paine, author of the "Am of Reason." By Bishop Watsox. To which is added, Leslie's Short and Easy Method with the Deists. 18mo., pp. 220. Sheep .'. $0 30 Bishop Watson's Apology lias been widely circulated and much read, and, what IS of still more consecjuence, is known to have been in many instances eminently useful. Wherever, then, the poison of infidelity is spreading, those who are concerned to provide antidotes sliou}d not forget lliis vali - able and tried production. — Memoirs o/ Bishop Watson. Old Ilumphreifs Worhs. Half Hours with Old Humphrey. Revised by Rev. D. P. Kidder. 12mo., pp. 278. Muslin $0 60 Old Humphrey is a universal favourite ; lie is capable of making the dullest subjects interesting. What is .still better, he turns cyery subject to a reli- gious account. No essay of his fails to exhibit the excellence or tlie obli- gatious of true piety. Such writings may be recommended with confiderce for Uie use of familiCK. BOOKS PUBLISHED M CARLTON & PHILLIPS, 200 Mulberry-street, New-York. Vaudois Church, History of the. History of ilie Vaudois Church, from its Origin, and of the Vaudois of riedmont, to the Present Day. By Antoine Monastiee, formerly Pastor in the Canton de Vaud, and a Native of the Valley of Pied- mont. Translated from the French, and revised from the London edition. 12mo., pp. 396. Muslin $0 75 This is a thrilling and truthful history of a people whose fidelity, devotion, and sufferings in the cause of Christ, througli centuries of general defec- tion from the primitive faith, and through frequent and bloody persecutions, are without parallel in the history of Christianity. The volume will be read with interest, in view of the recent revival of the missionary spirit among the ministers and Churches of the Vaudois valleys, with reference to the evangelization of Italy. — Independent. A work of great interest and value. It is the history of a martyr Church Their preservation has been a miracle of Providence ; and their history, as it is stranger, so it is more thrilling than romance. — Zion's Herald. We are glad to see this work, — a translation from the French, first made for the London Religious Tract Society, and now republished in this country, with a commendatory note by Dr. M'Clintock. — New -York Recorder [Vatsons Conversations. Conversations for the Young, designed to promote the profitaLle Reading of the Holy Scriptures. By Rich.\rd Watson. 12mo., pp. 300. Muslin SO 60 Though this work is designed for the benefit of young people, there are few adults who may not derive instruction from a serious perusal of it. It is worthy of a place in every Christian family and in every Sunday school in the land. rhe plan of the work is new, and is attended with many advantages. A young person is introduced, who lias some knowledge of the contents of the Bible, whose disposition is serious and inquisitive, and who proposes questions for his own satisfaction on the principal facts and doctrines of Scripture. These call forth corresponding replies, and give the wrk a very interesting and miscellaneous character. The sacred books are noticed in order. Difficulties are proposed and solved ; the objections of unbeUevers are stated, and refuted ; an immense number of inquiries relating to the chronology, antiquities, phraseology, prophecies, and miracles of Scripture, are proposed and answered ; and the whole has a direct bearing on the momentous subject of personal religion. Mason on Self -Knowledge. ' A Treatise on Self-Kuowledge : showing the Na,t.ure, Excellence, and Advantages of this kind of Science ; and how it is to he obtained. By John Mason, A. M. With a Brief Memoir of the Author. 18mo., pp. 254. Muslin $0 35 This has now been a standard work for nearly a century, and is one of the best that can be placed in the hands of an intelliggnt young person, to pro- mole his advancement in knowledge and piety. It is divided into three parts : W\& first treats of the " nature and importance " of self-knowledge ; the second shows " the excellence and advantage of this kind of science ;" and the third points out " how self-knowledge is to be attained." The woik itself is too well known to need anv recommenda'ion BOOKS PIJBLlSnED BY CARLTON & PHILLIPS, 200 Mulberry-street, New- York. Hodgson's Polity of Metliodism. The Ecclesiastical Tolity of Methodism defended : a Refutation of certain Objections to the System of Itinerancy in the Methodist Episcopal Church. By F. Hodgson, D. D. 18mo., pp. 132. Muslin SO 30 "Polity of Methodism" is the title of a small volume, from the pen of Dr. Hod;;son, in defence of the itinerant system of Methodism against the objections chiefly of Congregationalists. It is written with his usual acute- uess and force, and demonstratively proves that changes in the ministry, as involved in our itinerant system, are attended with fewer practical diffi- culties than Congregationalism or Presbyterianism. The work is worthy of a wide circulation. We shall give ample e.vtracts from it hereafter. — Zion's Herald. Weslci/s (John) Jouj-nal. The Journal of the Eev. John "Wesley: being a Record of his Travels and Labours from 1705 to 1790, a Period of fifty-five Years. 8vo., 2 vols., pp. 1488. Sheep S3 25 These volumes form the most valuable history of early Methodism. The "Journals"' of the founder of Methodism are an uncommon treasury of sound learning and just criticism, and of records concerning the gracious influence of God on ministerial labours unprecedented and unparalleled.- Dr. Adam Clarke. Crane's Essay on Dancing. An Essay on Dancing. By Rev. J. TowNLEYCr.AXE, of the New-Jersey C'oulVrciu'c. 18mo., pp.130. Muslin $0 30 The author of this little book deserves the thanks of the public. His work is a serviceable antidote for an evil which threatens nmch injur)' to the Church, and to all good society. Dancing is a nuisance, and is so esteemed by all reflecting minds. — Northern Christian Advocate. Barrs Bible Index and Dictionary. A Complete Index and Concise Dictionary of the Holy Bible: in which the various Persons, Places, and Subjects mentioned in it are accu- rately referred to, and difficult Words briefly explained. Designed to facilitate the Stuily of the Sacred Scriutures. Revised from the third (ibi'i'.'nw cditioji. By the Rev. John lUnu. To which is added, a Chriiuologv of the Holy Bible, or an Account of the most Remark- able Passages in the Books of the Old and New Testaments, ])oiuting to the time wherein they happened, and to the Places of Scripture wherein they are recorded. 12mo., pp. 210. Sheep SO 45 This work is intended not only to assist unlearned readers in understanding the language of the Uible, but chiefly in readily turning to the places where every topic of information comprised in it occurs. Truly a clioice companion for the Biblical student. No one who has ever read it will readily consent to dispense with it. — Chriitian Advocate and Journal. .BOOKS PUBLISHED BY CARLTON & PHILLIPS, 200 Mulberry-street, New- York. Fletcliers Letters. Letters of the Rev. John Fletcher, Vicar of Madeley. Original Ij' edited by Rev. Melville Hoene, Curate of Madeley. Witlia Por- trait of Mr. Fletcher. 12mo., pp. 334. Muslin $0 65 Such sweetness and devotion of love ; sucli heavenly unction, and so full of Christ — they are among the most affecting and engaging of devotional writings, and deserve a place with the letters of Doddridge, Covvper, and Newton. — y^cw York Evangelist. These letter.s are full of the spirit of piety. No man can read them, who has a spark of religion in his heart, without feeling his love enkindled to a (lame. — Methodist Protestant. Fletcher's Letters are a transcript of his mind— a visible embodiment of his spirit, and cannot be too strongly studied, or too deeply imbibed. — Pitts- burgh Christian Advocate. Tiiese eminently sweet and spiritual epistles have long been out of print in a separate form, and the agents have performed a good service to the Church in the issue of this beautiful edition. Every Sabbatli-schoo! library should be graced with this treasury of purity and piety.— Zion's Herald Clarke s Sacred Literature. A Concise View of the Succession of Sacred Literattirc, in a Chronolo- gical Arrangement of Authors and their Works, from the Invention of Alphabetical Characters to A. U. S'J.j. By Adam.Cl.4rke, LL. D. 12mo., pp. 420. Muslin §0 70 The work commences with the giving of the law on Mount Sinai. It con- tains the date and argument of every book of Scripture, and of all the wri- tings of the Jews and Christian Fathers that are extant, down to the year 395 ; and in some instances the analysis of the different works is copious and extensive. This work contains much important information relative to Biblical and ec- clesiastical literature. — T. Hartwell IIorne. We know not in what manner we could render a more valuable service tc the student vvlio is directing his attention to this branch of knowlejlge, than to recommend him lo avail himself of tlie guidance which the interesting work before us supplies. — Eclectic Review. An undertaking which none but a master-spirit would presume to touch, and one which none but the hand of a master could ever satisfactorily exe cute. — Imperial Magazine. Luther, Life of. The Life of Martin Luther. To which is prefixed an Eximjitoij Essay on the Lutheran Reformation. By Geo. Cubitt. With an Appendix, containing a Chronological Table of the principal Events occurring during the period of Luther's Life. With a Portrait. 12mo.; pp. 340, Muslin or sheep SO 65 The subject of lliis book is, for its real grandeur, unrivalled among the sub- jects of merely human history. It has so often be^n touched by the great- est masters that it requires uncommon courage to approach it, and uncojn- mon talents to present it in its real greatness, and to surround it with its native splendours ; Mr. Cubitt, however, has not degraded his theme. This book is a spirited performance, and reflects honour upon the head and heart of the author. BOOKS PUBLISHED BY CAPxLTON & PHILLIPS, 200 Mulberry-street, New-York. Clarke, {Dr. Adam) Life of. An Account of the Pieligious and Literary Life of Adam Clarke, LL. V)., V. A. S., A:c., etc. Edited by Rev. J. B. Cl.vrke, JL A. 12mo., 3 vols, in one, pp- 820. Sheep SI 00 This work is justly considered one of tlie most interesting biographies ever pubUshed. His varied and extensive learning necessarily associated him vvilh some of the first men of the age. There is one great lesson to be learned from the history of this extraordinary man. It is tlic incalculable advantages of industry and perseverance. Every young person, and every minister especially, should place before liini the example of Dr. Clarke and take encouragement. — T. Jackson. Or. Clarke was especially revered in the Methodist connexion for his piety. zeal, apostolical simplicity, and ministerial usefulnes.s. The whole Chrir tian CImrch bore willing testimony to his sanctified learning. For nearly lialf a century did he continue to perform the most important labours as the servant of God and of mankind, in various departments of the Church, with great integrity, and wilh an industry which perhaps has never been surpassed. We very cordially recommend this "Life" to tlic attention of our readers. It is full of interesting information. — \Vcslcyan Magazine Walsnns Dictionarj/. A lUhlical and Tlieological Dictionary: explanatory of the History, Manners, and Cu.stoms of the Jews and neighbonriiifj Nations. 'With an Account of the most rcniarkahle I'laces and I'ersons mentioned in Scripture ; an Exposition of the principal Doctrines of Christianity ; and Notices of Jewish and Christian Sects and Heresies. By Kich.xhd W.ATSOX. ^Yith five JMaps. 8vo., pp. 1007. Sheep S2 75 Plain calf 3 25 Calf gilt 3 60 Calf extra 4 00 This Dictionary is Biblical, Theological, and Ecclesiastical. It is fair in i'.s slatenieiits, judicious in its selections, and sufficiently comprehensive in its scope. It is indeed a more complete body of divinity than are many works which have been published under that name. Parker's (Mrs.) Christian Church. Annals of the Christian Church, in Familiar Conversations for Young Persons. By ^Irs. r.\nKi:i!. 18mo., pp. 324. Muslin SO 36 This work was especially composed for the use of the young. Its aim is to convey, in a familiar style, such a view of the chief occurrences in eccle- siastical history as may furnish the youthful mind with a general knowledge of the subject, and prepare the way for more extensive and careful re- searches. .\tteiilion is paid to the order of events, to the external forms which Christianity has assumed in different ages, and to Uic g.real principles which no time or place can change, and which must always constitute the basis of the true Church of Christ. VVc very cordially recommend this excellent volume. Why should the young have abridged histories of Greece, Rome, ubllc attention. — .V. y. Trihiine. Carlton &, Phillips, No. 200 Mulberry-street, New-York, b.ive just issued a neat duodecimo volume of one hundred .ind fifty-four pages, with the foregoing title. It needs not that we say the work is a most timely and masterly pro- duc(io;i. — Wfftru Clirixtiiin Ailvocdt". BOOKS PUBLISHED BY CARLTON & PHILLIPS, 200 Mulberry-street, New- York. liuters Gregory's Ecclesiastical History. A Concise History of the Christian Church, from its first Establishment to the Present Time : containing a general View of Missions, and ex- hibiting the State of Religion in various Parts of the AVorkl. Com- piled from the Works of Dr. Gregory, with various Additions and Improvements. By Maktin Ruter, \). D. 8vo., pp. 446. Plain sheep $150 Plain calf 1 75 — Calf gilt 2 00 Calf extra 2 25 This ivorJc forms ]xirt of the course of stmli/ adopted hy the lant General Conference. This work, as prepared by Dr. Gregory, was intended to furnish a compre- hensive abridgment of Ecclesiastical History. The author's labours do not, however, extend to the close of the eighteenth century. Dr. Ruter lias ably carried on the work to the year 1930, making numerous additions and improvements, and enriching the wholfe with a comprehensive view of mis- sions, &c. It is, therefore, one of the very few Church Histories which bring the subject dov/n to the nineteenth century. M'Owan on the SabhafJi. • Practical Considerations on the Christian Sabbath. By Rev. Peter M'Ow.\N. Treating on the Design and Moral Obligation of the Sab- bath ; its change from the Seventh to the First Day of the Week ; and the Spirit and Manner in which it ought to be sanctified. 18mo., pp. 200. Muslin SO 30 The desecration of the holy day is so common, that no etfurt should be spared to bring about a better state of things. This manual is recommended as ^ a timely and thorough exposition of the subject. It treats of the original and general design of the Sabbath ; moral obligation of the day ; its change from the seventh to the first day of the week ; and the spirit and manner in which it ought to be sanctified. Curiosities of Animal Life. Curiosities of Animal Life, as developed by the Recent Discoveries of the Microscope. With Illustrations and Index. Revised by Rev. D. P. IVIDDER. IGmo., pp, 184. Muslin $0 50 One of the most novel and interesting books of the times. Wesleyan Student. Wesleyan Student ; or, Memoirs of Aaron H. Hurd. By Rev. Joseph HOLDICH. 18mo., pp. 288. Muslin SO 35 An excellent memoir of a most promising j-oung man. We commend it to the young, and especially to students in our Seminaries and Colleges.— Methodist Quarterly Review BOOKS PUBLISHED BY CARLTON & PHILLIPS, 200 Mulberry-street, New-York. Helps for Every Hour. Helps for Every Hour. 32mo., pp. 54. Giltedges $0 15 A beautiful little volume. Tlie motto is wortliy of general attention :— " Whatc'er we think, or do, or say, In sunshine or in shower. In passing on life's checker'd way. We need a hint for every day, A help for every hour." Jerusalem, Ancient and Modern. Ancient Jerusalem. By Dr. Kitto. Modern .Jerusalem. By Dr. I{jtto. CSVilh maps and illustrations. Two volumes in one.) 18mo., pp. 186, 189. Muslin SO 35 Ancient .Terusalem presents a graphic description of the most famous city of the earth. ... It contains an interesting account of the origin, early history, and site of .Terusalem, with its condition in the times of David, Solomon, during .and after the captivity, and in the time of Christ.— CVn-i's- txan Advocate and Journal. Modern .Terusalem, containing tiie history of .Terusalem, from the days of our Saviour's incarnation to its destruction by Titus, and then onward to the Crusades, and to modern times. The localities connected with Scrip- ture history are careaUly traced, and their present appearance described. —Ihid. Jewish Nation, the. The Jewish N.ation : containing an Account of their Manners and Cus- toms, Rites and Worship, Law.s and rdity. With numerous illus- trative Engravings, and Index. 12mo., pp. 416. Muslin SO 85 Well deserving to be used as a text-book in liiblo classes.— Eev. Frekborx GaRRKTTSON HlBn.VRD. It will be found one of the most valuable works on the subject ever published. — Sunday-School Advocati". It is a compact and convenient manual of Pcripturo antiquities .... the best popular work on the subject in yrmi.— New -York Tribune. It presents a clear outline of .Icwish customs, antiquities, modes of life, a. With a Survey of Arabia and the Arabians. AVith raajis. 18mo., pp. 213. Muslin SO 24 A description of a countrv of high historic interest as the residence of tiie patriarch Job, and containing tho site ft-om whence came forth the Mosaic law; tliis country was also tlie cradle of the sciences.- iondon Yisilor. This volume .... contains a succinct view of the history, people, and present state of Iduma-a. throwing much light on Scripture liistory, geography, and prophecy. — Christian Advocate and Journal. BOOKS PUBLISHED BY CARLTON & PHILLIPS, 200 Mulberry-street, New- York. Townley's Illustrations of Biblical Literature. Illustrations of Biblical Litei-ature : exhibiting tlie History and Fate of the Sacred Writings from the earliest Period to the present Cen- tury ; including Biographical Notices of Translators and other end nent Biblical Scholars. By James Townley, D. D. 8vo., 2 vols., pp. 1206. Sheep $3 00 Tim work forms imrt of tlin course of fittidy adopted hy the last General Con- ference. These ample volumes comprise a rich fund of instructive and pleasing infor- mation on the subject of sacred biography. They have been compiled from a great variety of publications, many of them inaccessible to tlie generality of readers, and some of them of extreme rarity. . . . The industry and accuracy of Dr. Townlcy will entitle his volumes to the approbation of the critic and the patronage of the public. They afford a more compre- hensive view of the progress of Biblical translations, and of the literary and ecclesiastical history of the Holy Scriptures, than is to be found in any other work. — (London) Eclectic Review. Dr. Townley's Illustrations are essential to every good library; and to all persons who are desirous to attain an adequate and a correct acquaint- ance with the literature and the learned men of times gone by. — Christian Intelligencer. Funeral Discourse on Mrs. Garrettson . Life Inexplicable, except as a Probation. A Discourse delivered in the Methodist Episcopal Church, Rhinebeck, New-York, July IGth, 1840, at the Funeral of Mrs. Catherine Garrettson. BySxEPHEx Olix, D. D. 18mo.', pp. 64. Paper covers $0 10 Muslin 15 It is characterized by the well-knowoi ability of the preacher. The discus- sion of' the probationary character of life is an able argument, and the portraiture of Mrs. Garrettson one of the noblest we have met with. — Zion's Herald. Young on the World's Conversion. Suggestions for the Conversion of the World, respectfully submitted to the Christian Church. By Rev. Robeht Young. 18mo., pp. 146. Muslin SO 30 Mr. Young's object is to promote the exertions of every Christian in his own sphere ; and he has ably shown that there is a loud call for such exer- tions, and sure warrant forexpecting success. This volume, l?lough small, is truly valuable, and cannot fail to be of service to every candid reader. — Wesleyan Magazine. Ccesar, (Julius,) Life of. Life of Julius Csesar. ISmo., pp. 180. Muslin $0 30 A better life of Julius C-esar we have never read. It is drawn from the best authorities, Greek and Latin ; the execution is highly creditable to the author, and it is written throughout on Christian principles. The conclud- ing chapter (on Caesar's character) is an admirable summing up, an'd affcrds convincing proof that sketches of this description may be so written as to furnish fireside reading of a really useful as well as interesting character. BOOKS PUBLTSlIEl) MY CARLTON & PHILLIPS, 200 Mulberry-street, New-York. Wesletj, {Charles.) Life of. Life of Charles Wesley; comprising a EeWew of his I'oetry, Sketches of the Ilise and Progress of Methodism, with Notices of Contempo- rary Events and Characters. By Rev. Thomas Jacksox. AVith a Portrait. 8vo., pp. 800. Plain sheep $1 75 Plaincalf 2 25 Calf gilt 250 Calf extra 3 00 Tlie name of Charles Wesley will ever be in honourable remembrance as the coadjutor of his brother in that extensive revival of true religion which distinguished the last century, and as the author of the greater portion of those incomparable hymns, the use of which has, for nearly one hundred years, formed so prominent a part of thp devotions of "the people called Methodists." Although more than fifty years have passed away since he rested from his labours, there has been no separate memoir of his life until the appearance of the present volume, which is, in many respects, one of the most interesting and important works on religious biography that has issued from the press for many years. It is cliiefly prepared from the jour- nals and private papers of Mr. Wesley, which were kept in his family till the death of his daughter in 1828, when they became the property of the Wes- leyau Conference. No Methodist preacher should be without it Wesleyan Preacheis, Memoirs of Several. Memoirs of several Wesleyan Preachers, principally selected from Rev. T. .Jackson's Lives of liarly Methodist Prcacners, and the Arniinian. and Wesleyan Magazines. 12mo., pp. 346. Muslin $0 66 It will not be easy to read their histories, so evidently truthful, without being profited. Dr. Clarke, in a letter to a young preacher, says, "Make your- self familiar with the works of Mr. Wesley and Mr. Fletcher, and read the lives of the early Methodist preachers." An important addition to our means of acquainting ourselves with the early history of Methodism. X work to bo read by all lovers of eminent exam pies of piety and zeal. — Methodist Quarterly Revicio. Harris on Covetousncss. JIammon ; or, Covctousness the Sin of the Christian Church. By Kev. Joiix IIapjus. ISmc, pp. 249. MusUn $0 23 A work which, almost beyond any other of the present day, has secured the approl)ation of the public. A more pointed and searching exposure of the secret workings of covetousncss can scarcely be found. The late .\ndrew Fuller says: — "The love of money will, in all probability, prove the eter- nal ovcrllirow of more characters among professing people than any other sin, because it is almost the only crime which can be indulged, and a pro- fession of leligion at the same time supported." Golden Maxims. Golden Maxims ; or, a Thought, Devotional and Practical, for every Day in the Year. With an Index to Authors' Names. Selected by Rev. P.or.F.KT Bond. 32mo., pp. 112. Muslin, gilt edges $0 26 Date Due SSBJMIBi^ ,'■ m^.^^^i^^'^^^^*' % l »j |I W«fW .' W »t \