K
I   N
I. ^'  ^  
^         ^
















AD CLERUM:
ADVICES TO A YOUNG PREAC HER.




UNIFORM WITH THIS VOL UME.
ECCE  DEUS.  Essays on the Life and Doctrine of
Jesus Christ. With controversial notes on " Ecce Homo." By
JOSEPH PARKER, D. D.
"ECCE  HOMO."  A Survey of the Life and Work
of Jesus Christ. By Prof. J. R. SEELEY.
ROMAN   IMPERIALISM, AND  OTHER  LECTURES
AND ESSAYS. By J. R. SEELEY, author of "Ecce Homo."
Price of each, $r.5o.
ROBERTS  BROTHERS, PUBLISHERS,
BOSTO N.




AD CLERUM:
ADVICES TO A YOUNG PREACHER.
BY
JOSEPH PARKER, D.D.,
A uthor of " Ecce Deus."
BOSTON:
ROBERTS BROTHERS.
1871.








CONTENTS.
PAGE.
l. DISCIPLINE....             1
II. EARNESTNESS......   10
III. NATURALNESS......   22
IV. DELIVERY.....   33
V. SENSATIONAL PREACHING...53
VI. THE HOMILIST: MAN AND BOOK    64
VII. TEXTUAL DIVISIONS..                79
VIII. HARRIS AND BEECHER.....   89
IX. THE MINISTER IN THE PULPIT..  100
X. PUBLISHED SERMONS...  124
XI. SUBURBANISM..            135
XII. DR. JOHN CAMPBELL.                       148
XIII. A CHAPTER ON PASTORAL THEOLOGY.   O  173
XIV. UNSUCCESSFUL MEN.                    187
XV. BEWARE OF MEN.                            200
XVI. DIRECTORIES.....               212
XVII. THE GUARANTEES OF A SUCCESSFUL MINISTRY  225
XVIII. FIGURES, PARABLES, AND ANECDOTES.   ~  236
XIX. FRAMEWORKS.....                249
XX. EPILOGUE.....                            257








ADVICES TO A YOUNG PREACHER.
PART I.
CRITICAL  LETTERS.
1.
DISCIPLINE.
MR. WASHINGTON has, in my opinion, done well to
draw your attention to the ministry, though I feel that
both he and you have thrown no little responsibility
upon me in asking an answer to the many. serious
inquiries contained in your interesting letter. In
accepting that responsibility (which is done with
extreme reluctance), you must understand that throughout my correspondence I shall assume that you feel
yourself called of God to the work of preaching the
gospel, and that you are daily striving to live in the
spirit of Jesus Christ. I wish to be very clear upon
this point; for though I may take occasion to express
myself somewhat playfully on many questions which
will arise, yet I deeply feel that without a spirit of
reverent and contrite humiliation before God, and a
constancy of loving and trustful desire towards the
Saviour, no man is fit to have part or lot in the Christian ministry; when, therefore, I avail myself of satire
or raillery, it will relate to the weakness or eccentricity
of human usages, and never to the vital and solemn
realities of the Divine vocation. Our place, as aspi1




2   AD CLERUM: ADVICES TO A YOUNG PREACHIER.
rants to the highest ministry, is at the Cross, where
alone the oppression of our own unworthiness is
relieved by the completeness of Jesus Christ's grace
and truth. All this must be assumed; if we are wrong
here, we shall be wrong everywhere; — the gift of
prophecy and tongues, and the understanding of all
mysteries, will be only temptations and snares, and
our ministry will be as a plague in the church.
You have been very frank in the statement of your
difficulties, and I regard your frankness as an invitation to your confidence; I shall therefore speak with
the familiarity of friendship, being assured that you
will not make me " an offender for a word."  Shall I
condole with you upon your trials before the committee
of the college?  You complain that though you went
before the committee with the simple desire to become
a preacher of the gospel, one of the gentlemen horrified
you by requesting that you would decline'6 Ii-rcus, a
he-goat," on the spot, and that having declined it in
the only way which you knew, viz. with much bashfulness and civility, another gentleman asked you to show
that if two triangles have their homologous sides proportional they are equiangular and. similar. You ask
me, in a somewhat impatient tone, what such pagan
inquiries have to do with preaching the gospel? You
also complain that you were not asked to preach to the
committee, but to preach before the committee; on this
point I merely say in passing that you really could not
have preached to the gentlemen, because if you had
addressed them as saints some of them might have
been startled, and if you had spoken to them as sinners
some of them might have been offended. The gentlemen, you must know, were not exactly hearing for
themselves, but were rather congregationalizing by
proxy, and giving the preacher a foretaste of the polite
treatment which is in reserve for him. As to the Latin
noun and the geometrical theorem, I can sympathize
with your present dissatisfaction, yet I cannot but




DISCIPLINE.                 3
hope that growing experience will convince you that
they may have some good influence upon your preparation for the ministry. You will probably forget that
in an isosceles triangle the angles opposite to the equal
sides are equal to one another, yet the discipline of
demonstrating it will enable you to humiliate any rash
heretic who may hereafter seek to poison your church
members with the deadly doctrine of necessitarianism.
You thus observe, my dear sir, that what we have in
view is discipline; the strength of arm which you get
by turning a grindstone may be turned to excellent
account in felling a tree; and the discipline which is
imposed by proving that some x's are some y's, and
that other x's are all y's, will enable you to pulverize
any hot-headed deacon who may hereafter attempt to
prove that you had better be looking out for another
pastorate. So you see we seek to whet you on hard
subjects that you may the better cut easy ones, just as
we whet a knife upon stone that it may the more
readily cut the smoking joint. Pray, therefore, look
upon your technical studies in the light of discipline, 
say, if you please, in the light of dumb bells, —which
may force you to breathe though they never breathe
themselves. Besides this, you must remember that it
would be very awkward if you could not meet your
people on their own ground, and chastise some of them
with their own whips. Only think how embarrassing
it would be if a deacon's son knew more than you did
about the Law of excluded Middle; how could that
young man listen with any confidence to your exhortations from  the pulpit? Would not the principium
exclusi redii, vel tertii, on which he had broken you to
pieces, deafen him to your most urgent appeals? Think
again, if your lot should be cast among a seafaring
population, how utterly quenched you would feel in
dining with a captain if he discovered that you could
not calculate the varying values of the semidiameters
of the sun and moon; and though he might excuse




4   AD CLERUM: ADVICES TO A YOUNG PREACHER.
your ignorance of the laws of oblique sailing, do you
suppose he would ever ask you to dine again, if, having
given you a lunar distance, you could not find its
Greenwich date?  Or if there was a dentist in your
congregation, do you imagine he would pay his pewrent with any satisfaction if he knew that you could
not distinguish the cusps of the chimpanzee from the
incisors of the gorilla? So, my dear sir, you must
regard your apparently out-of-the-way studies strictly 
in the light of discipline, and remember that everybody
expects a minister to know everything, and for this
moderate expectation they urge the conclusive reason
that " he has been at college."
I fancy your saying that this is all very well, but you
want to know whether you could not have the substantial advantages of the discipline by studying subjects
which are probably quite as difficult, yet more fruitful
of practical results in actual preparation for the ministry." You think that instead of seeking help from the
proposition that every straight line perpendicular to the
directrix meets the parabola, and every diameter falls
wholly within it, you might thrust your sickle into a
richer field, and so with little loss of time become prepared for the work of preaching the gospel. The fact
is, I am a good deal of the same opinion, though I have
a just regard, not only for the parabola, but for conic
sections in general; still you must remember that many
great and good men would very strongly disapprove of
this opinion, not only as weak, but as positively mischievous. Those great men have a right to be heard,
because they have undergone the discipline, and (if the
expression may be allowed) are living monuments of
its advantages. I say distinctly, of its advantages, as
a hundred instances could testify. A neighbor of mine,
whose face is, metaphorically speaking, written all over
with the words " scholium" and " lemma," was called
to officiate at a wedding, and hastily snatching the marriage service, appeared at the altar just in time to save




DISCIPLINE.                 5
his reputation for punctuality; the reverend and learned
man opened his book, and to his horror found that it
was a volume of Martino's " Elementa Sectionum Conicarum "! But you see he had the advantage of discipline; and if the blushing bridegroom had stepped into
the vestry, the learned minister could have shown him
how to find any number of points in a parabola almost
without having given either the focus or axis; and is
not this infinitely better than the empty humdrum of a
wedding service?  Another neighbor, if I may call a
man a neighbor who spends most of his time in a vain
search for pure hyponitrous acid, has shown the advantages of discipline by giving a chemical turn to such
expressions as " of the earth, earthy," and representing
the doctrine of the resurrection by the formula C4 H3
0, HO, which formula he distinguishes as rational, in
opposition to empirical. I could point to several other
gentlemen equally learned, who carry with them the air
of inexorable discipline; my great trouble with those
men is to draw from them a sensible and straightforward answer to any question, and in this respect I have
found their discipline extremely offensive. Their discipline has of course made them very exact, and their
love of exactness is such that they will never positively
declare what the day of the month is, or commit themselves to a distinct opinion of the time of day; they
have a special horror of confounding the Noumena with
the Phcenomena, and they look daggers at any unhappy
man who is ignorant of the doctrine of concepts. It is
amusing to watch the signs of suspicion upon their
faces when an unknown interlocutor invites them to
conversation; they evidently think that the treacherous
intruder intends to trip them up by an Undistributed
Middle, or to cheat them by a subtle perversion of the
quantified predicate, and therefore they equip themselves with the Law of Contradiction. All this, you
see, comes of high discipline, and therefore you ought
to take kindly to the dry and tedious studies which




6   AD CLERUI: ADVICES TO A YOUNG PREACHER.
seem to your inexperienced mind to have no connection
with the work of the Christian ministry.
You must understand me as being thoroughly in favor
of discipline; at the same time it is right to point out
that in my opinion even discipline itself may be too
dearly paid for. Discipline is too costly, for example,
when it removes its subject from the common experiences and sympathies of men. I have had occasion to
trace the cause of not a few failures in the ministry. and
am bound to say that pedantic discipline has largely
contributed to many unhappy results. There is a tendency in such discipline to create contempt for the
ordinary pursuits of life, to withdraw men from the
thoroughfares of the world and immure them in monastic solitude, and so to impoverish their ministry of the
very qualities which could adapt it to the immediate
and most pressing wants of their hearers. Pedantry
always underrates reality, and is always impatient of
practical service. It has, too, a contemptuous tone,
which lingers with empty dignity upon the hackneyed
inquiry, " Am I to come down to my hearers, or are my
hearers to come up to me?"  Infinite impertinence!
Up to you?  Where are you?  Is it not always the
teacher's place to come down, that he may take up his
scholars? Is it not the duty of the strong to stoop to
the weak and fallen, that they may be lifted? Does the
mother'stand by the cradle of her sick child, and say
it is not my business to come down to you, but your
business to come up to me?  Did not God's own Son
come down that He might find that which was lost?
Who are you, then, with your half-educated head and
uneducated heart, to talk such idiotic sublimity about
people coming up to you! No, such lofty men are
never gone up to; they are left in their frosted elevation: sinning, sorrowing men leave them; and in the
course of seven years the learned nobodies either quit
their denomination, or write their honored names in
the long list of unappreciated though illustrious men,




DISCIPLINE.                    7
whose splendid fame had just begun to twinkle and
flicker over nearly half a street!
It must not be forgotten that these remarks are
applied solely to pedantic discipline. There is another
discipline to which every earnest man will gladly and
thankfully submit himself.  You will find ministers of
competent learning, who are really human, tender, and
practical; ministers whose sermons are adapted to all
known experiences, and whose prayers are rich in
sympathy and spiritual power.  Instead of pushing
their learning to the front, they keep it in reserve;
their accomplishments are not used to throw  into
contrast the disadvantages of less favored brethren;
they act upon the gracious rule, -
"Men must be taught as if you taught them not,
And things unknown proposed as things forgot; "
and their reward in the confidence and love of their
people is great and  lasting.  I am anxious that you
should take your place amongst such ministers, and
that you may do so it is essential that you should add
to your intellectual training the constant and vigilant
cultivation of your heart in the loving fear of God.
Beware of having a trained intellect and a neglected
heart; where they co-exist, the light is darkness, and
the darkness is death; and under such a ministry as
may be expected from the unnatural combination, every
living virtue will languish and expire.  Let me exhort
you, with all love, to watch the life of your heart;
goodness is strength; friendship with God is as a
spring of water which can never fail; to walk in the
grace and power of the Holy Ghost is to go from
strength to strength, and to attain an influence which
is infinitely better than the dying renown which may
attach to greater powers than those with which you may
be entrusted. I confess to a deep concern upon this
point, as the permanence of your ministry will depend




8   AD CLERUM: ADVICES TO A YOUNG PREACHER.
upon the depth and tone of your piety. To a man
whose heart is not right before God, there will arise
many temptations to escape the toil and disappointment incident to pastoral life; and in the course of his
attempts to rid himself of a necessarily burdensome
work, he will be driven to offer pleas and excusatory
representations of his ministerial position which will
often imperil his morality. On the other hand, where
the pastor lives in God, and so yields himself implicitly
to the guidance of the Holy Ghost, daily growing in
the image of his Master, all such temptations will be
successfully resisted, and their very existence will urge
the pastor to deeper humiliation and a still profounder
trust in God's grace. For the present, accept a loving
farewell: I shall hope great things of you so long as
you cultivate with devout and patient care the strictly
religious side of your life; but if ever you neglect it, I
shall be constrained to regard all your gifts and attainments as only so many flowers which may at once
decorate and conceal a grave. " I would not, for ten
thousand worlds, be thlat man who, when God shall ask
him at last how he has employed most of his time while
he continued a minister in His church and had the care
of souls, should be obliged to reply,'Lord, I have
restored many corrupted passages in the ancient classics, and illustrated many which were before obscure;
I have cleared up many intricacies in chronology or
geography; I have solved many perplexed cases in
algebra; I have refined on astronomical calculations,
and left behind me many sheets on these curious and
difficult subjects, where the figures and characters are
ranged with the greatest exactness and truth: and
these are the employments in which my life has been
worn out, while preparations for the pulpit, or ministrations in it, did not demand my immediate attenlance.'
Oh, sirs, as for the waters which are drawn from these
springs, how sweetly soever they may taste to a curious
mind that thirsts for them, or to an ambitious mind




DISCIPLINE.                   9
which thirsts for the applause they sometimes procure,
I fear there is often reason to pour them out before the
Lord, with rivers of penitential tears, as the blood of
souls which have been forgotten, while these trifles
have been remembered and pursued."- Dr. Doddridge.




nII.
EARNESTNESS.
BE earnest; be natural; be as unlike a book as possible,- that is about all I have to say upon the science
of homiletics. These are only heads, however; and,
after the manner of preachers, you will look for a
little expansion.
As to the first head, it is happily unnecessary in your
case that anything should be said merely in the way of
exhortation.  Your young heart glows with love to
Jesus Christ, and with many a vow  you have committed yourself to the holy work of publishing His
name.  This is the best of all beginnings. If you had
begun elsewhere, you would have accomplished a swift
journey to a failure as mischievous to others as it
would have been humiliating to yourself. Your earnestness is my chief joy. The Cross is the strength of your
heart, as it is to be the theme of your ministry; it is,
you say, increasingly the solution of the mystery of
life; it comes to your aid as an interpreter of all sorrow, and gives you views of sin which stir you with
irrepressible desire to warn men to flee fiom the wrath
to come. The manner in which you speak of the Cross
is, to my own mind, the best assurance of the success
which awaits your ministry; your apostolic enthusiasm
shall not be wanting in apostolic results; he who uplifts
the Cross shall surely share the exaltation and blessedness of his Lord. This holy earnestness will affect for
good your entire relation to the life and service of the
sanctuary, making you covetous of time, impatient of
all trifling, sincere in sympathy, at once dauntless and
tender in the exposition of truth, a watchful servant,
10




EARNESTNESS.                11
and a brave soldier. There are men who unhappily
imagine that it is necessary to be fussy in order to be
earnest, and who wear a label on which is written, in
colored letters, " This is an earnest man! "  When a
man is really earnest, he needs no label; he is a living
epistle; his whole life is his commendation. The most
earnest men whom I have ever known, whether in business or in the ministry, have made their earnestness
felt rather than heard; to be within the circle of their
influence was to know that there was going out of them
a constant and heavy expenditure of life, and that all
their powers were steadfastly set in one unchanging direction. They have made this felt, not by the production
of diaries or memoranda of service and engagement,
but by an influence at once penetrating and inexplicable. It is very remarkable, too, that such men have
been able to secure a tranquillity which has led heedless
observers to infer that they were but little in earnest
about anything, - they were so quiet, so methodical,
so unhurried!  On the other hand, there have been
fussy and effusive men who have acquired a great
reputation for earnestness, when they should justly
have had a name for making a great noise and a great
dust. Such men have generally lost themselves in
petty details; they have no clear plan, no broad and
far-reaching lines of movement; their programme is
made up of hop, skip, and jump, whimsically varied
with jump, skip, and hop; you will have no difficulty
in identifying the men when you have to suffer from
the noise and dust in which their shallow lives are
wasted, but you may have a momentary difficulty in
clearing your way of their vexatious intrusion. The
fact that there is a spurious as well as a genuine enthusiasm leads me to detain you with a few remarks,
not so much upon earnestness itself, as upon three
methods of it with which you ought to be familiar:
these three methods may be described as the Dental,
the Porous, and the Cordial. i




12  AD CLERUM: ADVICES TO A YOUNG PREACHER.
The Dental method of earnestness goes a long way
with people who keep their eyes shut. The Rev. Mr.
Osted was an eminent example of this method some
twenty years ago. That active and most garrulous
man never, to the best of my belief, spoke one word
from his heart; and this is saying a good deal, for the
words which he spoke were as the sand upon the seashore, innumerable. He could have preached four times
not only on Sunday, but on every day of the week; and
could have visited all sorts of people between the services, without so much, as drivers say, as having one
turned hair. Never a word came from beyond his teeth.
With a scrupulous equity worthy of a better cause, Mr.
Osted spoke in the same key whether at a wedding or
a funeral, and with an impartiality truly severe accosted age and infancy with the same monotonous
civility. Words! why, sir, they never failed; when the
apostle said "whether there be tongues they  shall
cease," he did not know that Mr. Osted was among the
blessings of the future, though he might have suspected
this fact when he predicted that "knowledge shall
vanish away."  You have seen a hailstorm?  Yes, but
no hailstorm was ever a match for Mr. Osted's tongue;
and yet never a word came from beyond his teeth! I
have seen him in a sick room every day for a month,
but never a word came from his heart,  all dental,
dental, dental! Whilst he was addressing the patient,
his dry and eager eyes would be examining everything
in the room, and the sweetest, tenderest words of all
God's promises would almost stiffen on his freezing lips;
in fact, they ceased to be promises, and became mere
expressions, without unction or emphasis. Often have
I turned from him with ill-disguised detestation; yet
the attendant ladies, having listened to his insipid
commonplaces, have blessed him for his earnestness,
and said to me in his absence, " He is such a good man;
he comes every day, wet or fine."  My enforced silence
under such circumstances was excellent self-discipline;




EARNESTNESS.                13
I knew that Mr. Osted's service cost him  nothing
either in heart or brain, —not a nerve throbbed for
it, not a pulse beat the quicker for it; and yet the
unsuspecting ladies cherished his name with the most
affectionate thankfulness.  I could have denounced
the sham in fitting terms, but for fear of injuring the
venerated sufferer beside whose bed I had to sit and
weep many a day. When Osted read the Scriptures,
there seemed not to be any message in them for all the
sorrow of our home, nothing as if it had been written
on purpose for us; and when he prayed there never
came any great expectation into the heart of the listener:
words, words, words; O for one tone of the heart, one
sigh of sympathy! but that luxury was denied us in the
person of our pastor. Sometimes I asked another
minister resident in the town to call upon the sufferer,
and the beaming of his benign countenance was to me
like the coming of a long-looked-for morning. He was
with us as the servant of'God; under his reading the
holy book became our own in a most special sense, and
when he prayed God seemed to be quite near. Yet this
better man was never so popular:as Mr. Osted; for when
was the deep, true, great heart any match for a garrulous and untiring tongue? I felt that Osted could have
spoken quite as easily into an empty barrel, if he had
been paid for it, as ever he spoke to his congregation;
and I do not hesitate to say that he would have gone
quite as comfortably to a funeral as to a wedding, provided that the effect upon his pew-rents would have
been the same in both cases. He was a very earnest
man was Mr. Osted, -very! " Most unremitting in his
attendance upon the sick," "never tired," " always
had a word in season," "never off his legs,"-such
are the words which you may hear about him in the
houses of those who attended his dental ministry.
Mr. Osted was a devoted denominationalist; in fact, he
was somewhat of a bigot; he was great on committees,
so great that he could wear out the strongest of his




14  AD CLERIUM: ADVICES TO A YOUNG PREACHER.
rivals. He was keen, too, in committee law, so keen
as to be quite the terror of young members. Twenty
times in the course of one meeting would the watchful
Osted dentally interpose, " Mr. Chairman, I rise to
order," "Mr. Chairman, I do contend," "Mr. Chairman, I must be allowed to explain,"  L MIr. Chairman,
I beg to move as an amendment"; and by this fussy
and meddlesome method of interrupting everybody, -he
earned for himself the reputation of being a very earnest
member of the committee! No man of ordinary shrewdness was ever deluded into the notion that Mr. Osted
was a legislator; but for moving amendmments, seconding resolutions, suggesting expedients, nominating
deputations, and pestering secretaries, he was generally
acknowledged not to have an equal in the county which
he honored with his dental service.
Now, sir, this is the dental method of earnestness;
and I need hardly add that you ought to be on- your
guard against it. Suspect the men who practise this
method, and avoid them! They will make a tool of
you; they will conduct experiments with you; and if
you go too near the fire they will let you drop in, and
then turn upon their heel as if they had always thought
you a fool. My heart aches when I think of the possibility of warm-hearted young ministers falling under
the influence of such men. They are quite without
nobility of feeling, they can say the brotherly word
without the brotherly trust, their civility is as measured as if it were determined by Act of Parliament,
and their patronage would be intolerable but for the
condescension which is so overdone as to render itself
both harmless and laughable. I have had much to
do with such men. Having leaned upon them, I know
them as broken staves; having watched them in the
storm, I know with what ease they can set themselves
to the wind; and having carefully examined their
work, I can assure you it is not pleasant to look below
the surface. Once for all, I repeat, suspect and avoid
the Dental method of earnestness.




ERNESTNESS.                   15
The Porous method is not illustrated so frequently
now as it was a quarter of a century since, though a
few very conspicuous examples occur to me at this moment, - examples of living and accountable persons,
whose enthusiasm is simply a question of porousness.
My fancy turns at once to a very ponderous brother,
whose voice is like a clap of thunder, and whose vast
bodily amplification has caused some one to  say
descriptively, that "he carries all before him." For
the sake of easy reference, I shall call him Mr Bodens.
The manner in which that earnest gentleman exhausts
himself in the pulpit is little short of alarming. No
ploughman ever gasped as he gasps; no iron-founder
ever sweltered at his furnace as Mr. Bodens swelters
in the pulpit. His eloquence is a continual attempt at
suicide, and his climaxes constantly suggest the possibility of a coroner's inquest. You will understand this
when I tell you that his introduction always brings out
handkerchief number one; his first head never fails to
cover his face with the most varied streaks, which
handkerchief number two vainly attempts to remove;
the first subdivision under the second head brings on a
style of breathing which can be accounted for only by
internal agonies of the extremest poignancy; and the
" one word more in conclusion," which always comes
in immediately before "finally," drops in faint accent
from a man whose earnestness has reduced him to a
state of semi-liquefaction.  His repute for earnestness
is very high. He is spoken of by the gentler members
of his congregation as " never sparing himself," " extremely energetic," " deeply devoted," and so forth.
"Poor man," they say, "he does labor so when he
preaches "; " dear man, he never seems to consider
himself, he quite wrestles with his hearers, he is so very
earnest"; and all this they say with sincere esteem
for Mr. Bodens and his preaching.  I have heard it
again and again, and answered with a most ambiguous
sigh. From this description you will infer that Mr.




16  AD CLERUM: ADVICES TO A YOUING PREACHER.
Bodens is a hard-working man, but I am bound to deny
the generous inference. There is not a stroke of hard
work in him. To begin with, you cannot call him a
hard reader; for beyond a few volumes of " skeletons,"
he has no library; you cannot call him a hard student,
for he has often said that he never " meditates " but
when in bed; and how far he is capable of meditating
there you may judge from the fact that in his opinion
"steaks and oysters are a supper for a king," and that
he enjoys the said supper as often as his funds will
allow.  But though Mr. Bodens is neither a hard
reader nor a hard student, there is a sense in which he
does a good deal of work, and this ought in bare justice to be distinctly pointed out. As one of his congregation once observed to me in a tone of much satisfaction, "Mr. Bodens, you see, sir, is always on the
move;" the good man evidently thought that to be
"always on the move " was the perfection of industry,
and that silent contemplation was " a sort of mental
disease like, you know, and all that sort of thing," a
lucid theory which had a remarkably soothing effect
upon his own active mind.  I was struck with the
theory so very forcibly that I made it the beginning of
a conversation.
"I am told, Mr. Bodens," said I, "that you are
always on the move?"  I purposely heightened the
last word so as to throw the report into an interrogative form.
"Why, you see, sir," he replied, rounding himself
to his full compass, and speaking with instantaneous
emotion, "my forte, I may say without boasting, is
calling upon the flock."
"You like it?" I replied, in a light questioning
tone.
" I look upon it, sir, as one may say, in the light of
duty combined with pleasure."
" That's it, is it?" said I, without committing myself to any particular opinion.




EARNESTNESS.                  17
" It is, sir, it is. You see, my brother," Mr. Bodens
continued, in the style of a lecturer on homiletics, "it
helps the preaching, it makes my discourses practical
and useful."
"Don't see it," said 1.
"Don't see it, sir?  Why, the thing is patent, sir,
quite patent; how can you help seeing it?"
" Prove it," said I, quite in a challenging manner.
"Prove it?  Ah, my dear sir, no young minister
would have said that at the time when I began my
ministry, and that will be five and thirty years ago next
midsummer; my old professor always told me to visit
the flock, and I should be sure to succeed in my work."
" Come now, Mr. Bodens," said I, " tell me plainly
what good all this visiting does."
" Good?  Why, sir, look how it promotes a happy
union between the pastor and his flock!"
"Then do you mean to say that your people like
that sort of thing? " I inquired.
At this point Mr. Bodens took from his pocket handkerchief number one, and then replied, " Sort of thing,
sir? what sort of thing are you talking about? "
" Why, visiting," said I;  " do you seriously say
that your people like it?"
" I say more than that, sir," Mr. Bodens haughtily
replied, drawing handkerchief number one across his
pudgey and wrinkled brow; " I say, sir, that they not
only like it, they positively demand it."  Mr. Bodens
pronounced the word " demand," as if it involved a
subpoena, and then looked at me with a steady and
piercing eye.
Not wishing to go too far with the old gentleman,
and observing already a faint foreshadowing of the
streaks which accompany the demonstration of his first
head, I fell into a conciliatory and appreciative tone,
which quite pleased him.
" I should infer, then," said I, with winning blandness, "that you have a hospitable people?"
2




18  AD CLERJUM: ADVICES TO A YOUNG PREACHER.
This was the right word; you should have seen the
glitter of his half-buried eye! 1I-e turned round, as if
to assure himself that we were alone, and then laying
his hand upon my shoulder, he said, impressively, —
" Brother, they are!"
I nodded vehemently, as if I had received an ample
explanation.
"Hospitable?"  Mr. Bodens  continued, without
changing his attitude,   call you take a word in confidence? In confidence as between brother and brother,
or, as one may say, between father and son? " He then
retired a pace, as if to see how that idea affected me
generally.
"No doubt of it," said I, " provided it is nothing
very alarming, and provided the vow is not binding
after your death."
"Then," said he, "look here: just by way of curiosity I kept a memorandum of one week's hospitality;
now read that, if you wish to know the terms upon
which I live with my dear people."
" Will you read it, sir, as I am not good at making
out other people's writing?"
Mr. Bodens read. There was unction in Mr. Bodens'
voice; there was light in Mr. Bodens' eye; in one
word, Mr. Bodens was himself. I quote the memorandum: 
" Mondacy: dined at H.'s; everything in season was
on the table; opened a new lot of white wine.  Tuesday: tea and supper at B.'s; a splendid game pie to
supper, that would not cost a penny less than three
pounds; Mrs. B. had set aside a few prime Whitstables
for my special benefit, a kind creature.  Wednesday:
lunched with F., who insisted upon opening a small
barrel of natives; F. is very unselfish and amusing,
and would insist upon my having an extra dozen in
honor of an event which had taken place in his house
on the previous day.  Thursday: paid eight visits, and
supped with D. at the club; D. is a liberal friend,




EARNESTNESS.                 19
nothing cold would do for him, everything was steaming hot. Friday: took an early dinner in the Park;
the table was quite a picture; a finer display of choice
meats I never saw. Saturday, of course," Mr. Bodens
added, "' was spent at home."
" Well," said I, " there's no sign of famine in your
note-book."
"What's the consequence?" said Mr. Bodens, as if
about to establish a moral.
"Probably bursting," I replied, suggestively.
Mr. Bodens was shocked at this levity; he evidently
regarded it as quite out of season. That earnest man
never laughed. Life was too serious a business with
him to admit of any pleasantry, however mild its form.
Under the influence of my flippant answer, he turned
himself quite round, so as to give me a complete view
of his magnificent back, and personal inspection
enables me to say authoritatively that in all respects it
was worthy of the memorandum-book. I felt the force
of the reproof, or rather I saw it; to have felt it would
have been death upon the spot.
" Pardon me," said I, " it was quite a slip of the
tongue; tell me what the consequence really is."
Mr. Bodens looked at me with much doubtfulness,
as if unable to forgive the hard-hearted suggestion all
at once.
" Seriously," I continued, " I wish to know the consequence."
" Consequence is, sir, according to the old proverb,
a house-going minister makes a church-going people;
and I can prove that to be the case, for there is not a
seat in all our chapel to be let, not one, sir, even if the
king himself wanted it! "
" But, Mr. Bodens, if you will excuse me, may I
ask when you find time to study?"
"Study, sir?" he replied, " who wants so much
study?  Study your people, say I; go amongst them
as a shepherd among the flock; study their ways;




20  AD CLERUM: ADVICES TO A YOUNG PREACHER.
make yourself acquainted with their wants; and you
can easily write out a skeleton or two on Saturday
night."
" Is it right, then," I inquired, " to eat so many fat
things, and to pay for them with a skeleton?"
That was a fatal imprudence on my part. Mr.
Bodens gave me a stern and devouring look, and went
away as rapidly as so vast a personage could move.
I watched his conspicuous figure until it was out of
sight, and that, as you may suppose, was a considerable part of a lifetime. You will not wonder after this
that Mr. Bodens liquefied a good deal in his preaching,
nor will you readily believe that he perished as a martyr to the cause. Last of all, however, Mr. Bodens
died also, died of the memorandum-book.  To the
very end he was spoken of as an earnest preacher, and
even to this day there are old members of his congregation who reverently recall the occasions when Mr.
Bodens was so exhausted with preaching as hardly to
be able to get into the vestry in the customary manner of solid bodies.  When he died he left a great
blank.
By the Cordial method of earnestness is meant, of
course, the method of the heart. We must be earnest as
Christians, before we can be earnest as ministers. How
can our work be right if our heart be wrong?  And
how can our heart be made right but by constant watching at the Cross?  Though we are ministers of Jesus
Christ, yet we are poor sinners; our salvation is not in
ourselves, but in the Son of God; and if for a moment
we imagine that our ministry involves an exemption
from the lowliness and contrition which become guilty
men, we fall from grace, and our strength is withered.
When we come from the Cross heart-broken, and yet
glad in the salvation which has been wrought for us,
our words will be simple, our manners will be natural,
and our tone will be none the less persuasive because
it falters with the emotion of thankfulness for our




EARNESTNESS.                  21
redemption. Truly, our weakness is our strength; when
we feel our own nothingness, the grace of Christ is most
magnified in our hearts; and when the shallow channel
of our invented eloquence is quite dry, God gives us His
word as a well of water whose springs never fail. Out
of this earnestness will come a simplicity which cannot
be misunderstood, a candor which is above suspicion,
and an independence as superior to flattery as it is
scornful of intimidation.  "Keep thy heart with all
diligence, for out of it are the issues of life." To fail
there, is to fail altogether!  "Take heed to thyself,
and keep thy soul diligently, lest thou forget the things
which thine eyes have seen, and lest they depart from
thy heart all the days of thy life." See how we are
thus urged to personal consecration!  What is our
standing before God?  Is our love deep as our life, or
is it but a transient impulse? Is Jesus Christ merely
a theme to be talked about, or is He the strength of
our heart and our portion forever?  Is our Christian
experience a luxury with which we pamper our selfishness, or does it constrain us to abundant service such
as no hireling would ever undertake? These are questions which call us into the secrecy and terribleness of
Divine judgment.




III.
NATURALNESS.
BE natural, and be as unlike a book as possible, are
the two heads which are now to be discussed. To be
natural is to be yourself in look, in speech, in action;
provided always that you have a self upon which nature
has stamped her own simple and graceful impress. If
the expression may be allowed, some preachers seem to
have a Very unnatural nature; in their case a good deal
of grinding and polishing may have to be done before
they can be safely trusted with the advice to be themselves. An  illustrative case occurs to me at this
moment: a ministerial acquaintance of mine is entirely
innocent of imitating any one, yet a more unnatural
speaker never addressed an audience —never; " only
himself can be his parallel"; for fluency, pomposity,
and inflation he stands alone. He can talk by the hour
together in a most deafening and terrifying manner,
and when he has done, the acutest hearer may be safely
challenged to repeat, or even hint at, one sentence
which has been uttered. No mill-wheel was ever so
monotonously energetic; no barrel organ was ever so
incapable of being worn out; no furnace fire ever tore
up the chimney at so desperate a rate. The manner of
my reverend acquaintance is nobly independent of the
spirit or importance of the subject which he undertakes
to discuss; he holds such discrimination in dignified
abhorrence; with a lofty impartiality he creates an
equal volume of smoke around every theme which he
attempts to expound, and in doing so assumes the air
of a righteous man.  My unnatural acquaintance is
quite as eloquent in giving his opinion whether a min22




NATURALNESS.                23
isterial dinner should cost one and sixpence or one and
ninepence, as when describing the creation of man or
the battle of Armageddon. Can anything be finer in
the way of even-handed justice? Does an express
train care a pin whether it is carrying one passenger
or ten, except that it may go fastest when it has least
to do? Certainly not; and my acquaintance is exactly
an express train without passengers, but not without
a furious driver. I have heard him  give a public
announcement of a tea-meeting, tickets ninepence each,
in a manner quite as solemn and urgent as if in one
hurried breath he had been announcing that there was
a lood in England, a fire in Scotland, and an earthquake half over the continent of Europe. The consequence was, that no timid persons ventured to go near
the tea-meeting, and not more than half a dozen adventurous youths took a ninepenny ticket each, in order
to see what was going to happen! He cannot be easy;
he cannot lower his pompous tone to an ordinary key;
if he were to ask a chambermaid for a candle, he would
leave upon her mind the impression that the morning
would rise upon the smoking ruins of the house. No
doubt of it, there is a frightful emphasis in his manner,
which makes havoc of the common mind. In private
life his grandiloquence is overpowering, so much so
that when I see him in the distance I thankfully avail
myself of the next turning to the left, wherever it may
lead to.
"' Well, madam," he said, addressing my wife one
day late in April, "the days are gradually attaining a
very agreeable continuity."
With a most reprehensible simplicity my bewildered
wife merely answered, Yes.
"The services, madam," he continued, " which are
now in contemplation will be sustained under auspices
of a character decidedly flattering to our denominational
status."
With scandalous absence of mind my wife amiably
replied, " Indeed."




24  AD CLERUIM: ADVICES TO A YOUNG PREACHER.
"Quite so, madam; not only the worshipful the
mayor, but also the whole corporation, arrayed in full
official costume, will condescend to honor us with their
patronage, and I do fervently hope that we may be
favored firmamentally as well as municipally."
Now, when a man, talks in this manner about the
anniversary of a ragged school, what may you expect
when he begins to preach? Happily, in this case you
have nothing worse to expect, for the impartial speaker
pursues an undeviated course of grandiloquent declamation. He knows nothing of the charm of variety, nothing of the distribution of light and shade, nothing of
the graceful undulation which at once relieves and delights the mind. Let this man, then, be a caution to
you; in that way he may even yet be turned to a good
purpose, the only good purpose I am afraid which he
can now serve. You will not understand me as undervaluing the integrity and earnestness of this unfortunate brother. I have reason to believe that he writes
two sermons fully out, even to the Amen, every week,
and that he sets them to the lively tune of the whirlwind, and that every Monday he complains (and not
without reason) of being fatigued; and I have understood that a feeling of " Mondayishness " is not uncommon with the congregation as well as with the preacher.
Under all these circumstances, it is only proper that
hard work should be spoken of with all deserved respect.
Another acquaintance of mine exhibits quite a different phase of unnaturalness, - a phase which would be
immoral, if it were not so intensely farcical. Mr. Dexter (such is the name destined to a splendid renown)
feels himself called upon to attempt a reproduction of
Mr. Binney, for the advantage of his rural congregation. Mr. Dexter is Mr. Binney upon a miniature
scale, very miniature indeed! Though Mr. Dexter's
sight is as good as yours, he thinks it part of his vocation to use an eye-glass set in a gold frame; said eyeglass is thought not only to give a knowing look to




NATURALNESS.                 25
young preachers, but to convey a profound impression
about late hours, deep studies, and ministerial martyrdom, - in fact to present, without undue ostentation,
a bird's-eye view of what may be called the tragic side
of student life. Mr. Dexter knows how Mr. Binney's
eye-glass is occasionally used; consequently, before
announcing his text, he does a little polishing upon that
optical instrument, during which he darts his furtive
glance at the congregation, partly in an observant and
partly in a threatening manner. Mr. Dexter knows
how Mr. Binney occasionally says more by the significant motion of his hand than could be said in so many
words; consequently Mr. Dexter finishes his introduction with a grotesque flourish of his hand, and completes the third head by extending his first finger in the
direction of the northwest angle of the meeting-house.
Under this graphic attitudinizing the rural hearers
often quail, because, as they say, it leaves so much to
be understood.
" That's it, sir," said one of his hearers to me; " you
see his thoughts are too great for words, and when that
finger of his goes up you may be sure something is
meant."
"You know that for a fact?" said I.
" Known it long enough, sir; in fact, we have all
known it. Why there's my little boy, only five years
old, gets on the table and mimics Mr. Dexter to perfection."
" And you really think that such gestures do good,
do you?" I inquired.
"'They  do good in this way, sir, you see," he
answered; "they set people a-thinking; our people
begin a-saying to one another,'now whatever did Mr.
Dexter mean when he shot out his hand in that way,
so sharp and sudden like?' And then one says one
thing, and another says another, and so they keep
coming and coming, and watching and watching, d'ye
see?"




26  AD CLERUM: ADVICES TO A YOUNG PREACHER.
"Then Mr. Dexter does that sort of thing pretty
regularly, does he?."
"Every Sunday, sir; it would n't be like Sunday if
he did n't do it; my word, but sometimes he does come
out with jerks and twitches that are capital; he like
lays his hand upon something, and clutches it as if he
would never let go! "
Thus Mr. Dexter caricatures and debases the original. He forgets that what may be natural in Mr.
Binney, with his lofty stature and beaming countenance
(a countenance of rare dignity and expressiveness),
may be absurdly grotesque in anybody else, and especially absurd in a man little more than five feet high,
with a face that was intended to adorn a very small
haberdashery establishment, in a very small back
street, in a very small market town.
" Why, they tell me," said one of his admiring
hearers,  that our Mr. Dexter is very like the great
Binney! "
" Indeed," said I; " did you ever see the great
Binney?"
" Oh, no, no; but them as has seen him has told me
so more nor once."
" In what way, then," I inquired, " is Mr. Dexter
thought to be like Mr. Binney?"
"Why, in his way o' going on, a-pointing and
a-twitching, and such like."
Such is the penalty of popularity! Dogs paint
themselves tawny, and then set up for lions; dwarfs
buy high-heeled boots, and give themselves out as
giants. There are many who imitate Mr. Binney's
mannerism who know nothing of his wonderful insight
and spirituality; rthey think that when they have bor
rowed his hat, they have also borrowed his brains:)
Yes, that is their trick. You have heard of maiden
ladies who have lived by themselves in lonely houses,
setting a number of men's hats upon the hall tables
at nights, so as to give any intruder the notion that the




NATURALNESS.                  27
house was full of burly defenders: even so do the Mr.
Dexters of the pulpit; they borrow all Mr. Binney's
old hats, and then boldly challenge the world to touch
their ministerial reputation.
I have said that some men require a good deal
of grinding and polishing before they can be safely
entrusted with the advice to be themselves. Much,
however, will depend upon the way in which the business is gone about. Let me at once advise you to be
on your guard against professors of elocution, if you
wish to be natural, easy, and effective as a public
speaker. I remember the case of a few youths who
were very ambitious of being orators, and who accordingly availed themselves thankfully of an offer of the
services of a professor who undertook their instruction
at the rate of five shillings per lesson. Happily,
their exercises had no view to the pulpit. They felt
the importance of being able to speak readily at teameetings and other exciting assemblies of their fellowtownsmen, and consequently went into the study of
elocution with great spirit. Their professor thought
himself a very able man; he buttoned his coat in military fashion; and while his head always looked as if
he had just hit upon a new and daring figure of speech,
his protruding eyes generally seemed to be fixed defiantly upon an imaginary opponent. He had a nice
smart way, too, of waving a little cane which he always
carried, a way which seemed to advertise its owner as
no common man, though at that particular time he
had not reached the happy and convincing climax of
paying. twenty shillings in the pound; but this, said
the waving cane, was more his misfortune than his
crime. The professor was unquestionably a great
rhetorician, in his own estimation; so great. that no
other man knew what he himself knew, viz., the secret
of opening silent lips in copious and eloquent speech.
The professor's system was strictly secret; "of course
so," said he, " for, gentlemen, that secret is nothing




28  AD CLERUM: ADVICES TO A YOUNG PREACHER.
less than my bread!" and down came the cane by way
of emphasis.
" Gentlemen," the professor would say, " to-night we
assemble as rhetoricians; your esteemed, and I will
add, though without one particle of flattery, your able
fellow-student, Mr. Binton, has consented at my special
request to embody our idea of a few emotions; gentlemen, I propose that we first take an embodiment of the
emotion appropriate to admiration, mingled, if you
please, with somewhat of surprise and even bewilderment: Mr. Binton be kind enough, sir, to give us your
notion of the proper gesture."
Mr. Binton, who had had ample notice that he would
be called upon to act this part, and who had secretly
gone through several rehearsals in his own bedroom in
front of the little tenpenny shaving glass which was
nailed above the mantel-piece, then stepped into the
middle of the room, and set himself in a well-studied
posture.
"Gentlemen," the conductor continued, "what criticism have you to offer?"
" In my opinion, sir, the head is not sufficiently
drawn back."
" The eyes should show more white, sir," a very mild
young member suggested.
" Go on, gentlemen; your criticisms are extremely
discriminating."
" Sir, I think Mr. Binton's left hand should be horizontal and his right hand perpendicular."
" Try that, Mr. Binton, and let us see if the effect
be pleasing," the conductor added.
"But, sir," a practical member interposed, "don't
you think Mr. Binton should say something?  I mean,
something appropriate to the attitude."
"Excellent suggestion, sir," the conductor replied;
" now let me see what would do for that purpose. It
must be something brief, abrupt, and striking; come,
now, let me see; yes, just so, nothing better: Mr.




NATURALNESS.                  29
Binton, be kind enough to exclaim,'Bless my soul, the
creature is beautiful!' Your tone must be clear and
startling, expressive of surprise as well as delight."
Mr. Binton, with his well-combed head drawn back,
his, eyes nearly rolled away somewhere under his eyebrows, his right hand perpendicular, and his left hand
horizontal, began,' Bless my soul;' I forget
the rest, sir," he said, with humiliation; and when the
surrounding rhetoricians laughed, Mr. Binton turned
round to " confound" them, and in that single moment
he became a most natural and effective speaker.
The professor frowned. Who had any right to laugh
in his presence? That question has never been satisfactorily answered to this day. It took a full half-hour
to recovelr the needful composure. The young rhetoricians, pledged to five shillings a lesson, bitterly regretted their untimely laugh, and promised amendment.
" Gentlemen, our second lesson will supply us with
a contrast. Mr. Turner " [apprenticed to a boot-maker,
and who had his head examined by every travelling
phrenologist who came in his way] " has kindly consented to assume the gesture which he considers appropriate to the sensation of horror, and to accompany that
gesture with the pathetic exclamation,   0, save my
drowning father!'"
Mr. Turner felt himself to be nothing short of a born
orator. His neighbors indeed, who were extremely
plain people, without the slightest regard for literature
or the arts, got up a rumor that young Jonas Turner
was crazy; and when called upon to substantiate that
serious charge, they referred to his howling in his bedroom, and to the strange shadows which appeared almost
every night upon the white calico window-blind of that
elevated apartment.  They said he sometimes talked as
if he was scolding about twenty people all together, and
sometimes he shouted as if he was calling somebody
who was a mile off, and that he was always most outrageous the night before there was a tea-meeting at the




30  AD CLERUM: ADVICES TO A YOUNG PREACHER.
Young Men's Club. On that particular night, they said,
his voice was often quite threatening, and he would
keep up his bawling so long that decent people quite
despaired of getting. to bed before morning.  Such was
Jonas Turner. 
Jonas now appeared as a personification of horror.
I-e had studied the part carefully. The born tragedian
extended his arms in a clutching manner, strained his
eyes until they were almost lying on his cheek, opened
his mouth to its utmost stretch, threw himself forward
into a beseeching attitude, and in a voice whose filial
pathos was intended to be heart-rending, exclaimed,
" 0  save my drowning father!"  The rhetoricians
looked upon the agonized tragedian with amazement,
mingled with envy.
"How will this do?" Jonas himself inquired, in a
tone not at all dissatisfied.
"' Gentlemen," said the delighted professor, "don't
prolong the torture of your friend; criticise at once."
" Don't you think the left leg should be a little further drawn back, sir? "
" The word' father,' sir," said an envious critic,
" would admit of a little more pathos."
"The word' 0,' sir, should be more piercingly pronounced. Mr. Turner makes it too round."
" Mr. Turner's hair, sir, should look a little more
wild and scattered, and the clutch of the right hand
should be more expressive of desperation."
"I think, sir, the eyebrows should be a little more
elevated, and the upper lip should writhe as if in agony,
and a sprinkling of foam around the mouth would add
to the effect considerably."' Try the exclamation once more, sir," the professor
demanded, with dignity.
A  loud shriek was then  uttered by Mr. Jonas
Turner.
"Come, gentlemen, there is vigor, and no mistake;
what may it please you to say to that? "




NATURALTESS.                    31
"He should have said'my' more affectionately."' The first syllable of'father' should have been
much more penetrating."
" There was not soul enough in the word' drowning,'
sir; it strikes me that' drowning' is the most important word in the sentence."
" Say you all so, gentlemen?"
" No, sir."
" How  say you then? Let each student give his
opinion fearlessly."
The young men then contradicted one another flatly,
no two agreeing which was the most important word
in the sentence.  Each maintained his own opinion
stubbornly, and the professor looked on without attempting to decide the fierce debate.
Side by side with these rhetorical abominations let
me place the following  letter addressed by David
Garrick to a young preacher: -
"MY DEAR PUPIL,"You know how you would feel and speak in the parlor to
a dear friend who was in imminent 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 preservation. You would not think of
playing the orator, of studying your emphasis, cadence, or
gesture. 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 language, 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."
Yes, that is rhetoric! Be earnest, and you will be
eloquent; let your soul speak, and your words will be
wise and good.  When I venture to put you on your
guard against professional rhetoricians, you must not
understand that I am cautioning you against friendly
and sensible criticism. We cannot see ourselves as




32  AD CLERIJM: ADVICES TO A YOUNG PREACHER.
others see us; hence many an ungainly action oi offensive habit may be modified, if not quite removed,
through the good  offices of judicious critics. Court
the judgment of your professors, and receive their hints
with thankfulness; they are, of course, deeply interested in you, and if they wound your vanity their
wounds are inflicted, not with ill-nature, but with faithfulness and even generosity. Invite the knife, if you
would be strong and useful; fret at criticism, if you
wish to lose a lifetime rather than endure temporary
mortification. What I do warn you against is the
wickedness of taking any studied gestures into the pulpit.
I denounce this as iniquity in the sight of God, as the
consummation of heartlessness, as a hypocrisy as transparent as it is audacious. Abandon all selfish notions
of popularity when you stand before men as the messenger of God; and that you may be enabled to do
this, watch and pray, and fast if need be, and God
will accept your sacrifice; look upon all self-consciousness in your ministry as a temptation of the devil, and
cry mightily to God that he may break the damning
snare: for what have you to do with your personality,
and with human opinions about your appearance and
styles, when your Lord is waiting to speak His living
word through your lips?  Know you not that you
preach in God's hearing as well as man's? Will you
cheat your hearers with an attitude, when you should
give them a gospel?  Will you perplex them with a
riddle, when you should call them to salvation? Will
you attract their eyes by a grimace, when you should
fix their vision upon the uplifted Saviour?  May God
in His mercy strike us dumb rather than allow us to
preach ourselves; but rather may He fill us with His
love that our preaching may be all of Christ!




IV.
DELIVERY.
WE have discussed the first two divisions named in
the opening of the second letter, and now we approach
the third. When I advise you to be as unlike a book
as possible in the method of your delivery, you will understand that I wish to dissuade you from the unnatural
and evil practice of reading your sermons in the ordinary course of your ministry. You will say that this is
strong language; so it is, but it is the language of
strong conviction. Having tried both methods, the
method of free speech and the method of reading, I can
give an opinion founded upon experience, and I now
give it as entirely favorable to free speech. The pulpit
will never take its proper place until the habit of reading sermons on ordinary occasions is entirely abandoned; it is official, pedantic, and heartless, and ought
to be put down. Let me try to win you to the side of
free speech; in other words, to the side of earnestness,
reality, and power.
I m  aware that one or two objections have to be
encountered at the outset, yet I fancy they are not very
formidable. For instance, it has been contended that
the very presence of a manuscript is itself an evidence
that careful preparation has been made: the manuscript
could not have been written without labor, and therefore, as the minister spreads it boldly out before the
eyes of the whole congregation, he mutely announces
himself as a painstaking servant of the church. Be it
so. I wish this fact to be stated with all due effect,
because I will not yield to any man in hearty appreciation of hard work. You will altogether misconceive
2             33




34  AD CLERUIM: ADVICES TO A YOUNG PREACHER.
my meaning if you infer that in condemning the reading of sermons, I also condemn the writing of them.
On the contrary, I insist upon -the most critical and
zealous preparation for the pulpit; I would have the
minister live in his work, and for his work, and toil as
in the presence of Jesus Christ, under the unquenchable
inspiration of Divine love, and in the happy assurance
ofcomplete success. A terrible malediction awaits the
indolent minister! Let me pray you, then, to acquit me
of the suspicion of self-indulgence in recommending you
to preach the gospel rather than to read it, for I dare
not incur the responsibility even of appearing to tempt
you to waste one hour of the life which is too short for
the accomplishment of all its holy work.  If you will
follow my advice, I think you will not complain of having nothing to do. Do you wish to know the method
of preparation which I recommend, in view of free delivery in the pulpit? You shall have it in full.  Take
as your text a paragraph from  the apostolic writings.
Read it carefully in the original language; trace the
various meanings which may be attached to its principal words in other parts of the New Testament; having
satisfied yourself as to the grammar and meaning of the
passage, commit your decision to writing, and then
take the opinion of two or three of the most critical
expositors, and see how far your judgment accords with
theirs.  Having thus secured  a firm  standing-place
(which is often quite unattainable without rigid criticism), you may write in regular order the principal
thoughts which the passage suggests to your mind, and
this memorandum  will be the skeleton of your discourse; now proceed to elaboration, writing upon wide
lines so as to leave room for erasure and interlining. Having completed a full draft of all your divisions, begin at the beginning, and strike out all the
long words anid all the superfine expressions;  let
them  go, without murmuring!  Particularly  strike
out all such words as " rethinks I see," " cherubim




DELIVERY.                   35
and seraphim," " the glinting  stars," " the stellar
heavens," " the circumainbient air," " the rustling
wings,"'' the pearly gates,"  a the glistening dew,"
" the meandering rills," and " the crystal battlements
of heaven."  I know how pretty they look to the young
eye, and how sweetly they sound in the yourg ear; but
let them go without a sigh: if you have spoken of God
as the Deity, put your pen through the word " Deity,"
and write " God" in its stead; if you are tempted to
tell your hearers that Jonah spent a portion of his life
under the care of a " submarine custodian," don't hesitate to say plainly that it was only a whale; if you
should so far forget yourself as to write the word " pandemonium," put it out and write the monosyllable over
its ruins; and if in a moment of delirium you should
write " my beloved, come with me on the pinions of
imagination," pause and consider soberly whether you
had not on the whole better remain where you are.
This process being completed, greatly to the disfigurement of your manuscript, re-write the discourse with
the most watchful care, determined that everybody who
hears you shall not be left in doubt of your meaning;
write as if every line might save a life; and when you
have made an end of writing, put the manuscript away,
and go to your public work with the assurance that all
faithful and loving service is accepted of the Father,
and will be crowned with His effectual blessing. Work
thus diligently at the beginning of your ministry, say
for the first five or seven years, and the advantage of
the discipline will show itself down to your latest effort
as a preacher. You will see, then, that my advice to
speak freely in the pulpit gives you no license to go up
with an empty head and an unbridled tongue; it does
not permit you to trifle with your opportunities, or to
give your hearers a stone when they perish for lack of
bread; it binds you to the severest preparation, and
holds you guilty before God if you keep back any " part
of the price."  What is said by Henry Rogers upon




36  AD CLERUm: ADVICES TO A YOUNG PREACHER.
prose composition generally, may be said with equal
truth respecting the composition of sermons in particular. Let me lay before you his weighty words: " Perhaps it may not be superfluous to remind the young
minister that if he would attain more than correctness,
or even a fluent facility; if he would impress upon his
compositions that individuality without which they cannot live, he must ever keep in mind that prose may be
possessed of nearly as various excellence as poetry, and
as much requires sedulous self-culture, profound meditation of the subject-matter, familiar acquaintance with
the best models (models sufficiently numerous to prevent that mannerism which results from unconscious
imitation if there be too familiar converse with some
one), and that  limce labor,' that patient revision, which
is the condition of all excellence, literary or otherwise."
Believe this, and your sermons will never fail of the
simplicity, condensation, and pungency without which
they will do little good. As I use the word " simplicity " I am reminded of Lord Jeffrey's happy expression:
" Simplicity is the last attainment of progressive literature; and men are very long afraid of being natural,
from the dread of being taken for ordinary." You will
forgive the momentary digression for the sake of the
profound wisdom.
You will probably suggest in favor of sermons that
are read that they secure for the preacher great accuracy, refinement, and variety of expression.  No doubt
this may be so; at the same time it may be worth while
to consider whether such advantages may not cost too
much; that is to say, whether they are not often secured
at the expense of the instruction and edification of
many hearers.  Everything, in the settlement of such a
question, depends upon the preacher's position. If his
position be so exceptional as to give him the advantage
of addressing well-trained men who can follow the course
of a close argument and appreciate the niceties of refined
expression, he is bound to be faithful to the claims of his




DELIVERY.                  37
position; if, on the other hand, as will be found to be generally the case, he is called upon to minister to a miscellaneous congregation, of which probably not more than
one person in ten may have received other than a common
school education, he is bound as the servant of Jesus
Christ, who pleased not Himself but endured the deepest humiliation, not to consider his own cultivated tastes
and the cultivated tastes of half-a-dozen of his people,
but to study carefully what is best adapted to the capacity, the-habits, and the wants of the congregation as
a whole. Is he the servant of the few or of the many?
Luther said of himself as a preacher, that he took no
notice of the doctors who heard him, of whom there
were about forty, but preached to the young men and
servants, of whom there were about two thousand. You
will not hesitate to say that Luther was right. He was
right, too, even so far as the doctors were concerned,
because as learned men they did not need mere criticism or brilliance of expression, while as sinners before
God they did continually require to hear the gospel of
Jesus Christ.  For whom, then, are you anxious to
secure all the technical accuracy and finish which are
supposed to be the excellences of read discourses?
Your congregation will, to a large extent, be composed
of persons who have all the week been engaged in some
department of business, who have been tried by many
disappointments, perhaps too tormented by many temptations; you will have heads of houses, whose lives are
troubled with many anxieties; you will have youths who
are fast becoming entangled in the snares which beset
inexperienced feet, and little children whose every look
is a wonder which should be lovingly answered: such
will be your congregation; what will you supply in the
way of teaching? You may prepare two elaborate
essays weekly, which are sublimely indifferent to all the
troubles and burdens of common life; you may play
the philosophic theologianitwice a week in the presence
of men who have no heart to follow you in your mock



38  AD CLERUM: ADVICES TO A YOUNG PREACHER.
ing speculations; you may display your scholastic trinkets upon your pulpit-board, to the amazement of the
vulgar and the disgust of the thoughtful; you may
write the most faultless sentences, and elaborate the
most skilful paragraphs, and you may become absorbed
in the idolatry of your own genius: but, my dear sir,
in doing all this are you the servant of our Lord Jesus
Christ, whom the common people heard gladly, and who
made Himself of no reputation?  Are you a preacher
of the Cross?  Are you inspired by an ardent desire
for the salvation of men?  I think I know your answer.
You will say that in writing your sermons you will
write simply and earnestly, under the impulse of Christian love, and with a single eye to the great object of
the gospel ministry; you will write practically; you
will instruct, exhort, appeal, with all prayerful earnestness, and your composition shall be more marked by
your Christianity than your scholarship.  I rejoice in
such a resolution, yet I adhere to my advice, - be a
Preacher, not a Reader, of the gospel! Reemeber the
pungent but truthful words of Sydney Smith: " Pulpit
discourses have insensibly dwindled from speaking to
reading, -a practice of itself sufficient to stifle every
germ of eloquence. It is only by the fresh feelings of
the heart that mankind can be very powerfully affected.
What can be more ludicrous than an orator delivering
stale indignation, and fervor of a week old; turning
over whole pages of violent passions, written out in
German text; reading the tropes and apostrophes into
which he is hurried by the ardor of his mind; and so
affected at a preconcerted line and page that he is unable to proceed any further! "  It is but poor eloquence
that comes of such a process, and its very vehemence
only confirms one's suspicion of its artificialism. Why
not address your people in a free, natural, and hearty
manner?  Why preach at them, when it is your business to preach to them? From these questions you will
rightly infer that in my opinion your sermon should




DELIVERY.                   39
always be part of yourself; instead of saying "I have
my sermon," you should say " I am my sermon," and
then you will speak livingly and fearlessly.  I am
acquainted with a minister who reads the most eloquent
papers (sermons he would incorrectly term them) to his
people; they  are elaborate, rhetorical, sensational,
highly polished in expression, and always ready for
the press. In reading those papers my friend works
himself into the intensest excitement; he swings his
right arm  in a threatening manner, and jerks his left
hand as if it were always in an inconvenient place;
occasionally he stamps his foot, and throughout his
effort there are many signs of excitement. I have
looked at him with wonder; but my admiration has
always suffered considerably as I have thought that if
the manuscript could be removed he would not be able
to keep the attention of his hearers for five minutes.
I object to being read at when I go to hear the gospel.
Why, I ask again, don't ministers speak to their people
as if the sermon came from the heart, and was meant to
do them  good?  I am aware that my friend's sermons
are not unfrequently spoken of as " very finished,"
"wonderfully  thought out," "very  elaborate," and
" highly eloquent "; but I never hear a sentence quoted,
nor am I aware that the hearers are ever compelled to
forget the speaker in his subject. On the other hand,
I can point you to a man who never takes a note into
the pulpit, whose sermons are never praised as elaborate or finished, yet whose words are quoted-all the week
long, antd whose prayers linger in the memory as blessings and helps to the whole life. Truly, this man's
sermons are not prepared for the press; they are prepared for the understanding and the heart alone; and
long after the voice of the artificial rhetorician has been
forgotten, the sharp, clear, penetrating words of the
natural orator will abide in grateful recollection.
It may be worth while to remind you, in this connection, that God has been pleased to bless, in an




.40  AD CLERUM: ADVICES TO A YOUNG PREACHER.
extraordinary degree, a kind of preaching which, in
point of technical value, has been almost contemptible.
Look at Whitefield's sermons -- where is the logic,
the profound  doctrine, the  accurate  criticism, the
instructive exposition, which are so justly esteemed by
thoughtful Christians? Yet those sermons, without
any pretence to learning or ingenuity, stormed the
nation. Mr. Spurgeon has never been regarded as
what is generally understood as a "'fizished " preacher.
He is no pulpit essayist; he is not a cunning contriver
of pretty sentences; yet he has done a work in the
Christian pulpit which can never be forgotten. The
principle so strikingly illustrated in  these marked
examples has been almost as fully illustrated in the
case of the great Methodist preachers, as also in the
case of the popular ministers of Wales. Whitefield
and Spurgeon cannot be ranked with educated men;
neither of them  can be said to have had any proper
theological training; yet both of them are names which
can never perish from the most conspicuous page of
the history of the British pulpit. It seems as if God
had always used things that are base and weak, and
things that are not,.to bring to nought things that are;
and that in all high and Divine concerns He had determined that the stone which the builders rejected should
become the head stone'of the corner. Many ministers
will tell you that sermons on whose composition they
have expended their strength have hardly ever been
referred to as the means of awakening or edifying their
hearers, whilst sermons in whose structure and elaboration there was neither genius nor eloquence, have
brought many to thoughtfulness and decision. Undoubtedly this fact may be abused by the self-indulgent hireling, but let not that man think that he shall
receive: anything of the Lord, - he shall be as a withered branch, not as a green and fruitful tree. I once
asked Mr. Binney what he thought was the best method
of preaching, and he replied,." To gather your mate



DELIVERY.                   41
rials, and set fire to them  in the pulpit."  Think of
this: the words are full of meaning; to "gather your
materials " means to work hard, to turn all things into
mental and spiritual riches, and to be thoroughly furnished; to "' set fire to them in the pulpit" means to
have that elevation and holy enthusiasm of Christian
love which cannot be depressed by fear of man, nor be
made indifferent to the claims of truth. In a word,
then, no essays in the pulpit! I know what can be
said about accuracy, polish, variety, culture, and so
forth; yet, in full view of it all, I repeat, no essays in
the pulpit,- no pathos, scientifically punctuated and
paragraphed, - no entreaty exquisitely polished, - no
theatrical pedantry under the guise of Christian earnestness.
At the risk of what may look like an unjust suspicion
of your memory, I must remind you of my abhorrence
of unprepared sermons. The question before us is not
whether sermons shall be prepared, but how they shall
be delivered after they have been prepared. I have
ventured to set you some hard work in the preparation,
and now I may seem to call you to equally hard work
in the delivery of your discourses. Be it so: hard
work is good for us all; in all labor there is profit,
especially in the labor which is spent for God. As
your pastoral work increases, and the claims upon your
public service become more urgent, you will not find
time for the toilsome preparation which has been
recommended for your early years; you will then
require some readier method of arranging your material for the pulpit; and in view of this necessity it may
help you to decision if you are made acquainted with
the practice of two or three eminent speakers.
In his review of Curran's biography, Lord Jeffrey
says:'" He is here said to have spoken extempore at
his first coming to the Bar; but when his rising reputation made him more chary of his fame, he tried for
some time to write down, and commit to memory, the




42  AD CLERUM: ADVICES TO A YOUNG PREACHER.
more important parts of his pleadings.  The result,
however, was not at all encouraging; and he soon laid
aside his pen so entirely as scarcely even to make any
notes in preparation.  He meditated his subjects, however, when strolling in his garden, or more frequently
while idling over his violin, and often prepared in this
way those splendid passages and groups of images
with which he was afterwards to dazzle and enchant
his admirers. The only notes he made were often of
the metaphors he proposed to employ, and these of the
utmost brevity. For the grand peroration, for example, in H. Rowan's case, his notes were as follows:'Character of Mr. R.:  Furnace -  Rebellion - Smothered- -Stalks - Redeeming Spirit.' From such slight
hints he spoke fearlessly, and without cause for fear.
With the help of such a scanty chart, he plunged boldly
into the unbuoyed channel of his cause, and trusted
himself to the torrent of his own eloquence, with no
better guidance than such landmarks as these. It
almost invariably happened, however, that the experiment succeeded;' that his own expectations were far
exceeded; and that, when his mind came to be more
intensely heated by his subject, and by that inspiring
confidence which a public audience seldom  fails to
infuse into all who are sufficiently gifted to receive it,
a multitude of new ideas, adding vigor or ornament,
were given off; and it also happened that in the same
prolific moments, and as their almost inevitable consequence, some crude and fantastic notions escaped,
which, if they impeach the author's taste, at least leave
him the merit of a splendid fault which none but men
of genius can commit."'
Let me call your attention to three points arising out
of this statement. First of all, cultivate to the fullest
extent the great gift of Pmental composition. In lmy
estimation, the value of this gift cannot be overstated.
It not only saves the drudgery but the time demanded
by writing, and it sets the speaker at liberty to take




DELIVERY.                  43
the exercise which is essential to the preservation of
health. One of the most distinguished  preachers,
whose name is universally honored, told me that he
could compose a sermon from beginning to end without
ever writing a word! Why, some of us, poor slaves,
cannot compose a dozen sentences, unless we are shut
up in the silent study, and have the best writing materials at command. In confidence I may tell you that
of all such slaves I may almost claim to be chief.
Many a time I have gone into the quiet lanes with a
steady determination to compose a sermon; but before
I have got far enough to require a semicolon, my truant
mind has taken up with some more tempting though
less profitable subject. Then would come shame, and
then renewed courage; another sentence would be
boldly begun, but alas! the very next horse that passed
me would carry away my thoughts with it, and I would,be left in deeper humiliation. Take warning from this
example, and if you have any such gift as Curran had,
do allow me to urge you to cultivate it with the most
painstaking diligence. Its exercise will almost double
your life, and will certainly impart to your speech a
freshness and strength which are unattainable, except
in very rare cases, by the monastic penman. The
second point arising out of the statement is the awkward difficulty which is often occasioned by the brevity
of one's memoranda. In Rowan's case Curran jotted
down the word " Furnace," but imagine his embarrassment if on coming to that word he could not have
recalled the train of thought which it was intended to
suggest! Many a time, on looking over the notes
which have been prepared for the pulpit, I have asked,
" Whatever did I mean when I wrote that?" and therefore, in recollection of my own embarrassment, let me
advise you to be explicit in your notes, so that your
invention may not be hampered by a faithless memory.
- The third point is the possibility of violating good
taste in the rapidity of extemporaneous speech. You




44  AD CLERTUM: ADVICES TO A YOUNG PREACHER.
cannot be sure that the right word will infallibly come
at the right moment. The speaker has fully committed
himself to his work; he cannot hesitate or pause to
correct himself, he must go on; and under this tyrannous necessity he may again and again offend good
taste, a fact of which he is even more painfully aware
than his most fastidious hearer can be. It is, then, a
question of comparison of advantages; a written speech
may of course be always correct, whereas an extemporaneous (though well-considered) oration may be
marred by hasty and ill-regulated expressions. On the
whole, however, having regard  to the great object of
preaching, free speech in the pulpit is in my opinion
infinitely preferable to the most finished written composition.
Whitefield, if he can be said to have had any method
of preparation at all, adopted a course which it would
be unsafe to recommend indiscriminately. On this
point Cornelius Winter has given us the benefit of his
personal recollections:  " The time Mr. Whitefield set
apart for preparations for the pulpit, during my connection with him, was not to be distinguished from the
time he appropriated to other business. If he wanted
to write a pamphlet upon any occasion, he was closeted;
nor would he allow access to him but on an emergency,
while he was engaged in the work. But I never knew
him engaged in the composition of a sermon until he
was on board ship, when he employed himself partly in
the composition of sermons, and reading very attentively the History of England written by different authors. He had formed a design of writing the history
of Methodism, but never entered upon it. He was
never more in retirement on a Saturday than on another
day, nor sequestered at any particular time for a period
longer than he used for his ordinary devotions. I never
met with anything like the form of a skeleton of a sermon among his papers, with which I was permitted to
to be very familiar; nor did he ever give me any idea of




DELIVERY.                  45
the importance of being habituated to the planning of a
sermon. It is not injustice to his great character to say
that I believe he knew nothing about such a kind of
exercise. Usually for an hour or two before he entered
the pulpit he claimed retirement; and on a Sabbath
morning more particularly  he was accustomed to
have Clarke's Bible, Matthew Henry's Comment, and
Cruden's Concordance within his reach. His frame at
that time was more than ordinarily devotional. I say
more than ordinarily, because, though there was a vast
vein of pleasantry usually in him, the intervals of conversation evidently appeared to be filled up with private
ejaculation connected with praise. His rest was much
interrupted, and his thoughts were much engaged with
God in the night. He has often said at the close of his
very warm address,' This sermon I got when most of
you who now hear me were fast asleep.' He made very
minute observations, and was much disposed to be conversant with life, from the lowest mechanic to the first
characters in the land. He let nothing escape him, but
turned all into gold that admitted of improvement;
and, in one way or another, the occurrence of the week
or the day furbished him with matter for the pulpit."
Can you wonder, other things being equal, that such
a man was the most attractive preacher of his day?
Could any one have stolen George Whitefield's sermon?
Can you imagine him looking round on Sunday morning for his black book, and showing a little nervousness
because he could not lay his hand upon it in a moment?
Can you fancy him fretful because the fogginess df the
morning would probably interfere with his comfort in
reading his manuscript? Why, George Whitefield was
the sermon: it was in him as part of his very life; and
his word was therefore with living power. If you ask
me what I mean by being as unlike a book as possible,
I answer, look at George Whitefield, the natural, devout, fervid, and impressive preacher. I cannot find
what may be termed a bookish sentence in any of his




46  AD CLERUM: ADVICES TO A YOUNG PREACHER.
sermons; everywhere there is the vivacity, the point,
the abruptness of free and earnest speech. Take the
peroration of his sermon upon " The Kingdom of God,"
and say whether you can imagine such an appeal to
have been written as books are written: mark the simplicity, the directness, the stormy yet tender vehemence
of the exhortation: -
" My dear friends, I would preach with all my heart
till midnight, to do you good, till I could preach no
more. Oh, that this body might hold out to speak
more for my dear Redeemer! Had I a thousand lives,
had I a thousand tongues, they should. be employed in
inviting sinners to come to Jesus Christ! Come, then,
let me prevail with some of you fo come along with
me. Come, poor, lost, undone sinner; come just as
you are to Christ, and say, If I be damned I will perish
at the feet of Jesus Christ, where never one perished
yet. He will receive you with open arms; the cear
Redeemer is willing to receive you all. Fly, then, for
your lives. The devil is in you while unconverted;
and will you go with the devil in your heart to bed this
night?  God Almighty knows if ever you and I shall
see one another again. In one or two days more I
must go, and perhaps I may never see you again till I
meet you at the judgment-day. 0 my dear friends,
think of that solemn meeting; think of that important
hour, when the heavens shall pass away with a great
noise, when the elements shall melt with fervent heat,
when the sea and the grave shall be giving up their
dead, and all shall be summoned to appear before the
great God. What will you do then, if the kingdom of
God is not erected in your hearts?  You must go to
the devil - like must go to like - if you are not converted; Christ hath asserted it in the strongest manner:'Verily, verily, I say unto you, except a man be
born again, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.'
Who can dwell with devouring fire? Who can dwell
with everlasting burnings?  Oh, my heart is melting




DELIVERY.                  47
with love to you. Surely God intends to do good to
your poor souls. Will no one be persuaded to accept
of Christ? If those who are settled Pharisees will not
come, I desire to speak to you who are drunkards,
Sabbath-breakers, cursers, and swearers,- will you
come to Christ? I know that many of you come here
out of curiosity: though you come only to see the congregation, yet if you come to Jesus Christ, Christ will
accept of you. Are there any cursing, swearing soldiers here?  Will you come to Jesus Christ, and list
yourself under the banner of the dear Redeemer? You
are all welcome to Christ. Are there any little boys
or little girls here? Come to Christ, and He will erect
His kingdom in you. There are many little children
whom God is working on, both at home and abroad.
Oh, if some of the little lambs would come to Christ,
they shall have peace and joy in the day that the
Redeemer shall set -up His kingdom in their hearts.
Parents, tell them that Jesus Christ will take them in
His arms, that He will dandle them on His knees. All
of you, old and young, you that are old and grayheaded, come to Jesus Christ, and you shall be kings
and priests to your God. The Lord will abundantly
pardon you at the eleventh hour.' Ho, every one of
you that thirsteth.' If there be any of you ambitious
of honor, do you want a crown, a sceptre?  Come to
Christ, and the Lord Jesus Christ will give you a kingdom that no man shall take from you."
This is not what you would call a finished literary style; it is. too exclamatory and hortative to be
expressed fully in type; but let the words be spoken
with melodious power of voice, and accompanied by all
the signs of earnestness which characterized George
Whitefield's ministry, and one can conceive the effect
which they would produce upon a mixed congregation.
The people would feel that the minister was intent
upon their salvation, and that everything was made
subordinate to that end. There is a marked perso



48  AD CLERUM: ADVICES TO A YOUNG PREACHER.
nality in the appeal; the preacher seems resolved to
address his hearers actually by name, lest any man
should imagine himself excluded from the happy invitations of the gospel.  "He had," says Cornelius
Winter, " a most peculiar art of speaking personally
to you, in a congregation of four thousand people,
when no one would suspect his object," - a wonderful
power, yet one that should be. constantly under the control of the severest prudence.
A very different'"ian was Frederick William Robertson, yet he furnishes a striking illustration of what.
is meant by being as unlike a book as possible. " So
entirely was his heart in his words, that, in public
speaking especially, he lost sight of everything but his
subject. His self-consciousness vanished. He did not
choose his words, or think about his thoughts. He not
only possessed, but'vwas possessed by, his idea; and
when all was over,; and the reaction came, he had forgotten, like a dream, words, illustrations, almost everything...  He spoke under tremendous excitement,
but it was excitement reined in by will. He held in
his hand, when he began his sermon, a small slip of
paper, with a few notes upon it. He referred to it now
and then; but before ten minutes had gone by, it was
crushed to-uselessness in his grasp; for he knit his
fingers together over it, as he knit his words over his
thought."  Why?  Because he was intensely in earnest. I cannot see how a man who is thoroughly in
earnest can content himself with reading a paper to
his congregation.  The man may unquestionably be
pious, sincere, wishful to do good, and very industrious
in all his ministerial habits; but how he can be bound
down by his paper, and stand from year to year reading his literary productions, instead of crying out
with irrepressible emotion that the kingdom of heaven
is at hand, it is beyond my power to explain. "As
every sound is not music, so every sermon is not
preaching, but worse than if he should read a homily.




DELIVERY.                     49.  hat a shame is this, that the preachers should
make preaching be despised!  In  Jeremiah xlviii.
there is a curse upon them  which do the business of
the Lord negligently; if this curse do not touch them
which do the chiefest business of the Lord negligently,
it cannot take hold of any other.  Therefore, let every
preacher first see how his notes do move himself, cnd
then he shall have comfort to deliver them  to others like
an experienced medicine 1which himself hath proved."
These are the words of the' silver-tongued" Puritan,
H-enry Smith. You will probably express a fear that
you will break down if you attempt to speak in the
way which has been recommended.  Your fear does
not deter me from repeating the advice. Break dQwn
in the right way, rather than succeed in the wrong one 
Show yourself so deeply in earnest for the salvation
of your hearers as to deliver yourself from  the snare
of so umlworthy an apprehension; and if you should.
break down, pray God the Helper of the weak to make
your failure a means of magnifying His own grace.
When we are weak then are we strong. There is a
breaking down which is mortifying to our personal'
vanity; there is another breaking down which brings
us closely and tenderly to God, in humble and perfect
trust.  Are you not a servant of God?  May you not
draw  from  the fulness of His love?  Will He not
honor your secret labor with public success?  Cease to
thinkl of yourself other than as the messenger of God,
the ambassador of Jesus Christ; and you shall speak,
probably with many technical'imperfections, but with a
simplicity and power which must do good to  your
hearers.  The words of a celebrated writer are so appropriate to this point, that I am sure you will excuse
the length of the quotation for the sake of the nobility
and pertinence of the sentiment: 
"'There are two ways of regardinig a sermon, either as
a human composition, or a Divine message.  If we look
upon it entirely as the first, and require our clergymen
4




5 0  AD CLERUM: ADVICES TO A YOUNG PREACHER.
to finish it with their utmost care and learning, for our
better delight, whether of ear or intellect, we shall neeessarily be led to expect much formality and stateliness
in its delivery, and to think that all is not well if the
pulpit have not a golden fringe round it, and a goodly
cushion in front of it; and if the sermon be not fairly
written in a black book, to be smoothed upon the cushion in a majestic manner before beginning. All this we
shall duly come to expect; but we shall at the same
time consider the treatise thus prepared as something
to which it is our duty to listen without restlessness for
half an hour or three-quarters, but which, when that
duty has been decorously performed, we may dismiss
from our minds in happy confidence of being provided
with another when it shall be necessary.  But if once
we begin to regard the preacher, whatever his faults, as
a man sent with a message to us, which it is a matter
of life or death whether we hea r or refuse; if we
look upon him as set in charge over many souls in danger of ruin, and having allowed to him but an hour or
two in the seven days to speak to them; if we make
some endeavor to conceive how precious these hours
ought to be to him, a small vantage on the side of God
after his flock have been exposed for six days together
to the full weight of the world's temptation, and he hlas
been forced to watch the thorn and the thistle springing
up in their hearts, and to see what wheat has been scattered there snatched friom the wayside by this wild bird
and the other; alnd at last, - when, breathless and
weary with the week's labor, they give him this interval
of imperfect and languid hearing, he has but thirty
minutes to get at the separate hearts of a thousand
men, to convince them  of all their weaknesses, to
shame them for all their sins, to warn them of all their
dangers, to try by this way and that to stir the'hard
fastenings of those doors where the Master himself has
stood and knocked yet none opened, and to call at the
entrance of those dark streets where wisdom  herself




DELIVERY.                    51
has stretched forth her hands and no man regarded;
thirty minutes to raise the dead in; - let us but once
understand and feel this, and we shall look with changed
eyes upon that frippery of gay furniture about the place
from which the message of judgment must be delivered,
which either breathes upon the dry bones that they
may live, or, if ineffectual, remains recorded in condeinaation, perhaps against the utterer and listener
alike, but assuredly against one of them; we shall not
so easily bear with the silk and gold upon the seat of
judgment, nor with ornament of oratory in the mouth
of the messenger; we shall wish that his words may be
simple, even when they are sweetest, and the place
from which he speaks like a marble rock in the desert,
about which the people have gathered in their thirst."
Let us hear the words of this strange but friendly
watchman, and go resolutely and trustfully in the
direction which they indicate. You will observe that
the whole of my advice has proceeded upon the recognition of special occasions upon which the use of the
manuscript may be justified; occasions, for example,
on which the preacher may be addressing not only his
equals but his superiors in culture and information, or
occasions which demand a high effort in criticism or
controversy. There may, too, be occasions on which it
is important to restrain all passion, and to give a judicial statement of a difficult subject. Nay, more, I will
go even further, and freely allow that a settled minister,
whose duty it is to teach as well as to preach, may now
and again ask his people to listen to an essay or a
series of essays upon doctrines which they may be
advanced enough to understand and appreciate. All
this, however, is very different from the regular work of
the ordinary ministry, and it is to this regular work
alone that the most of my remarks have been directed.
* John Ruskin, " Stones of Venice," vol. ii., chap. 1, ~ 12,
13, 14.




52  AD CLERUM: ADVICES TO A YOUNG PREACHER.
You will of course remind me that Dr. Chalmers read
his sermons, and that several eminent men are in the
habit of doing the same.  Quite so; but though Dr.
Chalmers read, it does not follow that all who read are
Dr. Chalmerses. Don't be startled at the suggestion
that Dr. Chalmers and the eminent men referred to
cannot in my opinion justly be called preachers! Call
them effective reacers of eloquent addresses; call them
dignified or vehement repeaters of elaborate dissertations; but preachers in the apostolic sense of the term
they certainly ought not to be called.  They read
well; their intensity was in their favor, so was their
calm dignity; but they were not preachers. Peter and
Paul were preachers; Knox and Bunyan were preachers; Wesley and Whitefield were preachers; Christmas
Evans and John Elias were preachers; -may their
mantle fall upon our rising ministry!




V.
SENSATIONAL PREACHING.
FROM the tenor of the last letter you may possibly
infer that I am in favor of what is known as sensational
preaching. Before contesting the justness of your
inference, we must clearly understand what we respectively mean by that ambiguous expression. If you ask
whether I am in favor of sensationless preaching, my
answer will be a prompt and emphatic negative, but
you will not be justified in regarding this negative
as committing me to an affirmative upon the question
now to be discussed. What do you mean by the term
"sensational preaching"? I presume that you do not
employ the expression abstractly, but that you have in
your mind certain positive illustrations to which you
refer as embodying its meaning. Unless I know what
~ these illustrations are, I shall be arguing the question
at a disadvantage. At the outset, therefore, I must
be allowed to cross-examine you a little. By sensational preaching do you mean a kind of pulpit mountebankism, in which the irreverent mountebanks play all
sorts of grotesque and ridiculous tricks, pulling off
their coats, swaggering from side to side of the pulpit,
setting up what they are pleased to call penitent forms,
and treating with contempt all the decencies of public
worship? You cannot seriously ask me whether I
approve of such monstrous profanity. Like yourself, I
detest such wicked exhibitions with all my heart. By
sensational preaching do you mean a screaming noise,' an idiot's tale, full of sound and fury signifying
nothing"? Then I am sure you will not attempt to
degrade my understanding by asking whether I approve
58




54  AD CLERUM: ADVICES TO A YOUNG PREACHER.
of it. By sensational preaching do you mean an incoherent raving about things in general and nothing in
particular; a perversion of every text; an insult of
common sense; a recital of anecdotes which are untrue,
and a use of illustrations which are unmeaning? Is
this the sort of thing you describe by the term " sensational preaching"? If so, I need not put my indignant
answer into words. Iwould even say with Lord Bacon,
" God forbid that every man who can take unto himself boldness to speak an hour together in a church,
upon a text, should be admitted for a preacher, though
he mean never so well."  Boldness is not always moral
courage; it is sometimes mere impudence, and only
thought to be religious because it reaches the point of
irreligion. Lord Bacon well says: "It may be justly
thought, that amongst many causes of atheism, which
are miserably met in our age; as schisms and controversies, profane scoffings in holy matters, and others;
it is not the least that divers do adventure to handle
the word of God which are unfit and unworthy."  Today there are undoubtedly many who set themselves up
to preach, who ought to become scholars in the infant
classes of Sunday-schools, and who could be refused
admission into those useful institutions only on the
ground of discouraging the scholars by their ignorance,
and corrupting them by their bad manners. They are
wanting in every claim to respect; their emptiness,
their vanity, their hilarious animalism, which, mistakes
a good digestion for Divine inspiration, their contempt
of men whose shoe-latchets they are not worthy to unloose, their vulgarity which is only rendered harmless
by its disgusting and repulsive intensity, must always
mark such men as reckless intruders upon holy ground,
and condemn them to the censure of all earnest and
thoughtful people. I commit myself to this opinion
with the full consent of my judgment: at the same time
I cannot pause here as if the case were complete; there
are other points which must be considered  there are




SENSATIONAL PREACHING.             55
discriminations to be marked; and in the discharge of
this remaining duty our views may perhaps come into
sharp collision.
If I look at the ministry of our Lord Jesus Christ, it
was undoubtedly, in the highest and best sense, sensational.  " The people were astonished at His doctrine,
for -He taught them as one having authority and not as
the scribes."  Such a ministry must have produced a
sensation.  "And they were all amazed, insomuch
that they questioned among themselves, saying, What
thing is this? what new doctrine is this? And immediately His fame spread abroad throughout all the
region round about Galilee."  You cannot regard this
as a sensationless ministry.  " And all bare Him witness, and wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of His mouth....  They were astonished,
and said, Whence hath this man this wisdom, and
these mighty works?... Never man spake like this
man..... They were  astonished at His doctrine,
for His word was with power... And they were
all amazed, and spake among themselves, saying,
" What a word is this!"   Can we have any doubt
that such a ministry was sensational?  Now  we
are called to preach the same word, and are distinctly promised that our Lord himself shall be with
us alway. With such a doctrine and such a fellowship,
how can we content ourselves with a spiritless ministry?
We may be endued with power from on high, and hyve
grace poured into our lips; we have an inspired volulfe
to expound, and an inspiring Spirit to open our understanding and teach us the word of wisdom and power 
why then should not our hearers say, " Did not our
hearts burn within as he opened to us the Scriptures?"
You will remind me of the difference between the disciple and his Lord, and I listen to the suggestion reverently; but let me remind you in return that our Lord
thoroughly identifies Himself with His servants: He
works in them; He has given them the Holy Ghost for




56  AD CLERU3M: ADVICES TO A YOUNG PREACHER.
the express purpose of leading them into all truth;
all His influence is upon their side; they are the subjects of his intercession; He visits them in their holiest hours, and carries them forever as the burden of
His tenderest love; should they not then be mightier than
their enemies, and bring with them into the sanctuary
the power of an endless life? We are right in believing that we can never carry the Lord's omnipotence in
our poor dying hands, yet let us try not how'unlike
our Lord we can be, and yet be His ministers, but
rather let us plead with Him until He makes us conquerors and princes in His kingdom. I cannot doubt
the largeness of His answer to the prayer of ambitious
love. It must touch Him to the heart to see one of
His redeemed flock spending day and night in prayer,
that he, a saved and thankful sinner, may be taught the
wisdom of winning souls! Can the Lord withhold His
chief blessing for such a suppliant? Will He not
clothe him with power, and give him the rod with which
rocks may be broken and seas be divided?  We have
restrained prayer before God; we have not gone to Him
as if we would take His kingdom by violence;' we have
brought the least of our vessels to the fountain of His
grace; and it is no wonder that our ministry has been
without power and without signs following. May I ask
you to beware of the dangerous place, where our feet
well-nigh slipped?
If we turn to apostolic history, we find a ministry
that was undoubtedly sensational.   These that have
turned the world upside down have come hither also... Long time abode they speaking boldly in the
Lord, which gave testimony unto the word of his grace.... My speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of
the Spirit and of power.... Our gospel came not
unto you in word only, but also in power, and in the
Holy Ghost, and in much assurance.... And now,
Lord, behold their threatenings, and grant unto Thy




SENSATIONAL PREACIING.            57
servants, that with all boldness they may speak Thy
word, by stretching forth Thine hand to heal, and that
signs and wonders may be done by the name of Thy
holy Child Jesus."  Such a ministry must have been
marked by extreme excitement, must have been sensational in an unparalleled degree. Of course it will be
answered that the power of working miracles has been
withdrawn, and that we address ourselves to a civilization which was unknown to the apostles. Let this be
granted, and what then?  This is not a question as to
the particular signs which should follow our ministry,
but whether our ministry should produce an appropriate effect upon our hearers. Should our words be heard
as an idle tale, or as the messages of God? Should
our preaching be languid or fervent? Should our ministry lie remote from the common experience of the
world, or should it fall closely upon the whole daily life
of our people? Should we preach merely as if we had
learned a lesson, or as if we had seen God face to face,
and received a message from his lips? We give but a
poor account of the failure of our ministry when we say
that the gift of miracles is withdrawn, and that the
times have changed. Our complaint conveys the impression that Jesus Christ himself has changed, and
that the truth is no longer what it was. If the times
have changed, our ministry should be adapted to the
altered circumstances; upon the indifference which may
have lulled the public mind we should pour the terrors
and threatenings of the Lord; in the hearing of the
luxurious and effeminate we should preach the doctrine
of the Cross; and on the attention of the worldling and
the scoffer we should force the realities and claims of
eternity. The gospel can be adapted to all ages; we
believe that t t  the end of the world it will be the
power of GOd unto salvation; and we are called to be
watchmen, taking note of the signs of the times, and
changing our voice with the varying aspects of the age.
The tokens which accompany the preaching of the gos



58  AD CLERUM: ADVICES TO A YOUNG PREACHER.
peli, as the seal of God, may not be precisely the same
in any two centuries; but the gospel itself is the same
for ever, and I cannot but feel that as ministers we
should look for the special token of Divine favor which
may be adapted to the peculiar circumstances under
which we labor. If we are faithful servants, God will
not withhold His witness; and though that witness may
not be given as fire upon Carmel, or as the signs and
wonders of the apostolic age, it shall be so obviously
accorded in the quickening and spiritual growth of our
hearers as to leave no doubt that God himself is our
inspiration and strength.
Passing from apostolic times, and  looking into the
lives of men who have done most to establish the character and power of the Christian pulpit, it will be found
that they have been what may be justly called sensational preachers. Look, for example, at the case of
Whitefield. " I hardly ever knew him," says Cornelius
Winter, " finish a discourse without weeping more or
less; his voice was often interrupted by his affections;
and such was the scope he gave to his feelings sometimes, that he exceedingly wept, stamped loudly and
passionately, and was frequently so overcome that for
a few seconds you would suspect he never could recover.  As soon as he was seated in his chair, nature
demanded relief, and gained it by a vast discharge from
the stomach usually, with a considerable quantity of
blood, before he was at liberty to speak."  I am not to
be supposed to regard this as a model which young
ministers should adopt; each man must of course work
according to his temperament; yet he should in my
opinion earnestly try the effect of discipline upon a
temperament which is likely to make lis ministry gloomy
and frigid. Take away the element of joy from the
gospel, and what is left?  The gospel itself is then destroyed. Whitefield's spirit was stirred within him;
the cold message never could have come from  his
tongue of fire; " in Europe, in America, on board ship,




SENSATIONAL PREACHING.              59
in the workhouse, in the jail, in the hall of nobility, in
the parish church or dissenting chapel, in the street,
the market place, or bowling green, pressing the gospel
on the attention of soldiers, mariners, emigrants, outcasts, culprits, lords, and wits, and mixed multitudes,
the man was the same, and his object was one - to save
souls."  When he returned to Bristol after a short absence, "the people blessed him as he passed along the
streets. Though preaching five times a week, he could
not appease the eager crowds. It was difficult for him
to make his way through them to the pulpit.  Some
climbed upon the roof of the church, others hung upon
the rails of the organ loft...... hen he preached
his farewell sermon, the irrepressible feelings of his
hearers broke out into sobs and tears all over the house.
They followed him weeping into the street.  They kept
him busy the next day, from early morniing till midnight, in comforting or counselling them, and he had
to escape from their importunities secretly, during the
night, for London."  And when he reached London,
" constables were stationed at the door to restrain the
multitude of hearers; churches were crowded on week
days, and on the autumnal Sunday mornings the streets
were thronged before dawn with people lighting their
way by lanterns to hear him."@   Or take the case of
Joseph Alleine, the celebrated author of an " Alarm to
the Unconverted."  IIis biographer, the Rev. Charles
Stanford, says:  "' The king's business requireth
haste,' was his constant feeling, and he could not stay
to study the structure of sentences while dying men
were waiting for the word of life.  Had the young
preacher of St. Mary's been advised to think more of
verbal refinement, he would probably have replied in
language like that of John Owen,' Know that you have
to. do with a person, who, provided his words do but
express the sentiments of his mind, entertains a fixed
* Stevens's History of Methodism, vol. i., pp. 89, 90.




60  AD CLERUM: ADVICES TO A YOUNG PREACHER.
and absolute disregard for all elegance and ornaments
of speech.' His addresses had far higher elements of
excellence.  They all breathed a winning tenderness,
and all revealed an amazing power of rapid, homely,
shattering appeal. The thoughts were all impetuous
with a rush of fresh and glowing life; and though there
was the prophet's rough mantle, there was also his
chariot of fire. Every meaning was clear, every stroke
told, every gesture seemed to speak, — vividus vultus,
invidi oculi, vividce manus, denique onmnict vivida. One
of his hearers tells us that' he never preached without
a long expostulation with the impenitent, vehemently
urging them to come to some good resolve before he
and they parted, and to make their choice for life or
death, expressing his great unwillingness to leave the
subject till he could have some assurance that he had
not fought against sin as one that beateth the air; and
that much of his power arose from the point and seasonableness of his words, spoken as they were with an
intimate knowledge of the individual cases of those who
folred his auditory.' There was piercing directness;
the shafts of living Scripture flew straight to their intended mark, and each swift sentence had an aim clear
as had the arrow found on the ancient battle-field, bearing the motto,' For Philip's eye.'.... With
shouting voice, flashing eye, and a soul on fire with
love, he proclaimed a completed and gratuitous salvation to all who were willing to accept it. The Spirit
of God gave his message great effect, and multitudes,
through all the days of heaven, will remember Taunton
Magldalene as the place where they first beheld that
great sight, -' the Lamb of God who taketh away the
sin of the world!'"  Was this sensationless preaching?
Take another illustration.  Of William Burns, the missionary to China, it is said: " While preaching for his
father, and very solemnly pressing upon his auditors
the immediate acceptance of Christ, the whole of the
vast assembly were overpowered; the Holy Spirit




SENSATIONAL PREACHING.             61
seemed to come down as a mighty rushing sound, and
to fill the place: very many were that day struck to the
heart; the sanctuary was filled with distressed and
inquiring souls."  Frederick William Robertson cannot
have been a sensationless preacher: " It was always as
great a mental exertion to recall as to think out a sermon; and he was frequently unable, if he waited till
Monday, to write out the notes of what he had delivered
on Sunday, unless it had been partially written beforehand. After some of his most earnest and passionate
utterances he has said to a friend,' Have I made a fool
of myself?' "  We ought to be very sure, in condemning sensational preaching, that we do not condemn
such men as these; for while they are not by any means
to be classed with the grotesque pretenders described
at the beginning of this letter, they certainly cannot be
classed with the heartless formalists who have turned
the gospel into a metaphysical enigma, or a lofty speculation which has little or nothing to do with the sin
and sorrow of the world.
This view of the subject permits a natural reference
to what may be'termed emotional preaching. I have a
strong conviction that our sermons should be more and
more marked by deep Christian feeling. The subject
is one of extreme delicacy, without question; for nothing is more odious than an affectation of pathos, and
nothing more likely to be resented than an artificial
attempt upon the emotions of our hearers. You will
not, however, understand me as advocating anything so
hypocritical and abominable, so I need not waste your
time in fencing my position.  I wish to draw your
attention to the suggestion that the emotion of our
sermons is not equal to their information.  At this
moment, for example, there is lying before me a volume of really able sermons, in which I have not found
one touch of natural pathos. The sentences have been
carefully constructed; there is no appearance of any
word having been hastily adopted; the logic is good;




62  AD CLERUIM: ADVICES TO A YOUNG PREACHER.
the theology is sound: yet it would almost appear that
either the preacher had no heart, or he preachedl to
hearers who had none. Throughout the whole production there is a cold scholastic air; and in the effort
after scientific precision the emotions have been quite
overlooked.  Surely this is not Christian preaching;
it is vigorous and even eloquent talk about Christianity,
but the spirit of sympathy, tenderness, and anxious
importunity is not in it; the anatomy is good, but
where is the loving and earnest life?  There is, too, in
these sermons a decidedly  controversial tone; the
preacher is always on the defensive: an evil spirit
seems to be looking at him, and constantly threatening
an  assault; consequently the spirit of criticism  is
excited in the hearers, and one feels tempted to say,
" Well, if he is going to be so desperately logical as all
this, we must watch for his tripping." The hearer is
never allowed to rest; his anxieties are stimulated;
and even when the preacher ventures to assure him
that the ground is safe, he gives the assurance in a tone
which suggests that after all there is a little reason for
uneasiness.  In this way the gospel ceases to be good
tidings, and becomes an unprofitable controversy.  Is
this right?  Should not logic lead to something better
than itself? If We fall short of love, do we not fail of
the chief end of our ministry? Let us think of Jesus
Christ, who, when He came near the city, wept over
it; and let us be mindful of Paul, whose argumentative power has never been denied, who said, " many
walk, of whom I have told you often, and tell you now
even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of
Christ," and who ceased not to warn his hearers day
and night with tears. The gospel is adapted to the
heart of the world; it seeks to bind up the brokenhearted, and comfort all that mourn, and therefore
should be preached in a spirit kindred with its own.
A harsh controversial statement of its doctrines may
gain the preacher a reputation as a skilful debater, but




SENSATIONAL PREACHING.              63
it will never give him the high position of an apostle of
Jesus Christ.
Perhaps I shall not have a better opportunity than
in this connection of referring to a fallacious analogy
which is sometimes attempted by the supporters of a
very questionable sensationalism. It has been complained that the minister does not often compare favorably with the barrister; the appeals of the former
are said to be inferior to those of the latter, and the
effect is considered to suffer proportionately.  Without
going into the argument which might be justly founded
upon the difference of subjects which engage the attention of the respective speakers, it may be enough to
refer to two or three points which destroy the tenableness of the analogy.  Are our hearers bound upon oath
to listen to us, and to give their verdict before leaving
the church?  Set a barrister to expoundlan act of parliament eighteen hundred years old) let him  address
the jury upon it twice every week in the year; let each
juror pay five shillings a quarter for a seat in the jurybox; let the barrister call upon the jury for a monthly
collection to enable other barristers to expound the
same act of parliament to other juries; when the court
room falls out of repair, let the jury be called upon to
pay for its restoration; and when the barrister has thus
put himself upon an outside equality with the minister,
let him have five years' work, then five more; let him
double the ten and add five, and then we shall see how
he compares for freshness, variety, and power'with a
painstaking minister of Jesus Clhrist.




VI.
THE HOMILIST: MiAN  AND  BOOK.
SKELETON is a word which means different things to
different people. When a timid lady says it, she shudders as if a cold hand had touched her heart; when a
needy preacher says it, he glows with thankful delight.
To him that hideous word means wealth; and the more
other people are repelled by it, the more he secretly
rejoices. You may have heard of a minister who, on
being told of a volume of sermons which he had not
seen, exclaimed, "I have preached three of the volumes, and now that there is a fourth, I feel as if I had
suddenly fallen on great spoil."  This was candid, if
not ingenious and original.  Now, without for a
moment supposing that you will ever be a needy
preacher, I may take the liberty of pointing out one or
two sources of supply which are not unknown to many
respectable brethren of large, digestive and respiratory
power, As the projector of the Pulpit Analcyst, its editor for the first two years, and its most voluminous contributor up to the present moment, I may be permitted
to say a word on its behalf. Probably its design surpasses its execution; yet, as furnishing variety of
preaching, it is not unworthy of your attention. I am
not aware that any one method predominates; it contains both native and foreign products, and so supplies
the most varied illustrations of homiletic treatment.
Do you know David Thomas, of Stockwell, - editor
of the Homilist? If you do not know him personally,
you will find it to your advantage to know him editorially. The first time I heard him preach he was in his
own pulpit, conducting an ordinary morning service.
Immediately on his opening the vestry door, I was
64




THE 1HOMILIST: MAN AND BOOK.          65
struck with his noble, animated, and expressive countenance, and felt predisposed towards him. David
Thomas is a man, -physically and mentally, every
inch a man. Beyond many even of his most flourishing brethren, he makes " a fair show in the flesh": his
great head is like a rock; his immense black- eyes are
full of gentle lustre; and his mouth, if not very elaborately chiselled, is not without pleasant lines. There
is nothing secret in all the open sunny face; perhaps,
if anything, it is too open; there are no permanent
shadows in which power may be hiding itself, no cavernous marks as if the soul had often been driven back
upon itself and compelled to look out upon the world
from secret places; the soul rather seems as if it had
generally had its own way, - so boldly and shiningly
does it express its dominance in the expansive and
unsuspecting face. Yet the countenance is not without
pensiveness; the eye has occasional shadowings which
to me looked as if the soul was not altogether a stranger
to melancholy, - as if now and again it saw the corruption, the distress and poverty, which lie under the
world's fairest exterior. I can quite believe this to be
the case.  David Thomas has not forgotten other
people's darkness in his own sunshine; to him human
life is not altogether a weddiig festival; he occasionally hears other sounds than the clash of rejoicing
bells, and can heave a sigh when other men cannot
understand his emotion.  Understand? Why, whenever were such men as David Thomas understood?
Sparrows cannot understand eagles, - can the minnow
understand leviathan? David Thomas is intellectually
qualified to be at the head of his denomination, and if
his sectarianism had been equal to his genius, he would
long before now have been as officially conspicuous as
he has been mentally influential. How very hard those
excellent servants of the world, called committee men,
must have winked, not to have seen David Thomas!
They must have blindfolded one another; they must
5




66  AD CLERUM: ADVICES TO A YOUNG PREACHER~
have sealed one another's eyes; they must have actually put each other's eyes out! So much the worse for
the committee men, -not for David Thomas! He has
a most cordial dislike of societies, resolutions, amendments, and those infinite nuisances called sub-committees; and, as a reward for his dislike, he has been
allowed to live without secretarial patronage and offcial promotion. Happily, the world is the better for
this ostracism; David Thomas has exerted a greater
influence (often indirect and unacknowledged) upon the
British pulpit than any living man with whose name I
am acquainted; and his influence will live for good
when those who have done their best to keep him in
the background are remembered no more forever.
What, then, you will say, - is David Thomas without fault, the perfect man and the upright, whom we
are called upon by high authority to mark and behold?
Probably, seeing that he is only a man, there may be
somewhat of imperfection about him; it would not be
unnatural, would it? David Thomas is human enough
to be imperfect, but perfect enough to be above the
reproach of many who are hardly human. Let us
allow, for example, that he finds it very difficult to
adopt the step of intellectually little men, and that he
is impatient of their contradiction, their tardiness, or
their timidity, - what then? Undoubtedly all this
may be said justly of David Thomas; he cannot dwarf
himself to the measure of ordinary society; he delights
to take wing for the open firmament of heaven, while
others may be content to sit in the window of a select
conventicle; he aspires to know the universe, while
others spend their lives in studying a footprint. This
necessarily removes him from the common courses of
the world, —it isolates and individualizes him, and
gives him an appearance of scornful self-sufficiency
which is really not in his nature. Let us further allow
that when an idea fully lays hold of his mind he cannot
accommodate himself to the cautiousness which sug



THE HOMILIST: MAN AND BOOK.          67
gests doubts of its practicability; he condemns it as
little, contemptible, puerile, and absurd; he uses hard
words about those who do not instantly accept his
propositions, and work for them with an enthusiasm
which ignores all difficulty and danger; let us allow,
too, that in referring to his purposes and enterprises he
employs a great many capital letters and a great many
notes of admiration;  I grant all this, but what of it?
We must get behind it all, if we would know the man;
we must know how much of it is essence and how
much accident, and not commit ourselves to the fool's
error of mistaking a flourish of the hand for a habit of
the soul. I have sometimes felt that David Thomas
spoke with impetuous, unreflecting scorn of a certain
class of his brethren; he had no patience with them;
he derided them, and did not always stop to give them
their due. On the other hand, he has been most generous in his recognition of incipient power, and done
much towards its development; he has sought out the
" village Hampdens " and " mute, inglorious Miltons,"
and encouraged them to put forth their strength; and
no man has spoken more stimulatingly to some who
have labored under difficulties which had daunted and
unnerved them. Both these considerations must be
taken into account in estimating the man. Having
looked at them both myself, I give it as my opinion
that the generosity of David Thomas far exceeds his
severity. In a few rare cases indeed his generosity
must have been regarded as somewhat embarrassing;
as, for example, when he has extemporized a eulogium
upon a Welsh minister who may have unexpectedly
presented himself in the Stockwell congregation. The
Welsh brother has occasionally been portrayed as a
prodigy, " full of poetic fire," " his soul ringing with
the music of his native hills"; the unhappy man has
been described as melodious, tuneful, philosophic,
and eloquent, overflowing with pathos and burning
with zeal, and has then been publicly asked to preach




68  AD CLERUM: ADVICES TO A YOUNG PREACHER.
on the spot! The martyr has had no escape,- preach
he must! In two cases out of three his sermon has
probably been one long stammer,- one continuous
grotesque contradiction of every word which the pictorial doctor has said of him! What then?  Why, of
course, the doctor instantly replied to every disappointed objector that the preacher was all that had
been said of him - in Welsh! To this neat answer no
Stockwell man could ever return a contradictory reply.
On this side of David Thomas's character no doubt
there is a fault, but let him that is without sin cast the
first stone.
Dr. Thomas's brain is remarkable for capacity, quality, and strength. Phrenologists would assign him an
extraordinary central brain, giving evidence of unusual
analytic and metaphysical power. This would be just,
though Dr. Thomas has cultivated his analytic gift
more highly than his metaphysical faculty. Probably
this has arisen from the necessity which his work
has imposed upon him; his thinking power has always
been employed in working out results for the pulpit,
rather than in abstract metaphysics, though in so working he has often, almost invariably indeed, worked
quite as much as a psychologist as a theologian. Possibly Dr. Thomas has not had the advantage of the
severest educational drill; possibly also his education
has developed his more urgent faculties at the expense
of faculties which, though latent, were neither narrow
nor feeble. Circumstances may have compelled him to
abandon purely speculative philosophy, and to turn his
attention to concrete effects; yet even under such compulsion he has shown that if he had not been the first
of textual analysts, he would have been amongst the
foremost of abstract thinkers. His metaphysics are
not scholastic; in fact, it may be doubted whether he
is more than ordinarily read in formal metaphysics,
because he always works from intuition rather than
information, and his writings generally convey the im



THE HOMILIST: MAN AND BOOK.            69
pression that he owes less to acquisition than to nature.
David Thomas seldom sees truths in their individuality;
one truth is related to another; no principle works
alone; the many worlds are one universe; the many
waters are one sea; and all the lights which brighten
the firmament are referable to one central and everlasting splendor: to discover their relations., to set
them in order, and to show how they converge in glory
upon the throne of God, and thence operate for the
good of all creatures, is David Thomas's chief joy.
Yet David Thomas cannot be justly described as
imaginative. I have spoken of him taking wing for the
open firmament of heaven, and the figure is not exaggerated; yet while he is on the wing he is rather looking at the relations and proportions of things than singing " songs without words"; when he does sing, it is at
the end of an argument; when he dreams, it is after
the fashion of a syllogism. It may be doubted whether,
in the proper sense of the term, he has much fancy;
there is a finality about most of his statements which
shows that he has reached his limit; there is no colored
haze beyond, which may be concealing continents or
seas; the reader feels that he can go all the way without ever losing sight of clear blue sky. David Thomas
never ascends alone, striking with strong wing into
circles inaccessible to every visitant except dreaming
and contemplative fancy; he is often above, but always
on well-known highways; the cloud never receives him
out of our sight, nor does he ever hear things which it
is not lawful to utter; he utters all that he hears, - in
inspiring and tuneful language indeed, yet capable of
being written in common ink. It may be want of expression rather than want of thought, but certainly
David Thomas, from the one cause or the other, though
fond of poetic language, is never absolutely carried
away by poetic inspiration. He cannot poise himself
on his wings and linger long in the light, as if detained
by sights which held him by some subtle enchantment;




70  AD CLERUM: ADVICES TO A YOUNG PREACHER.
we can hear the flapping of his wings, and see him hurrying along the courses of the wind; and while we admire his strength, we cannot but feel that he has not
trespassed upon the highest fields of poetry. David
Thomas is characterized by ideality rather than by pure
imagination; many of his homilies indeed are flecked
with choice colorings of quoted poetry, but his own
writing was never dictated by visions of the night; he
would cross-examine the spirit of dreams, and know
how far the stranger could justify himself by valid human reasoning. Nor is all this to be regretted. The
servant of Jesus Christ should bear a plain message to
the world; he has to confront the fact of sin with the
fact of salvation; he has to answer the questionings of
the heart with the revelations of God. In doing this
work, Dr. Thomas speaks with the most modern accent,
and never with " the holy tone " which the the Scotch
desiderated in the preaching of Whitefield. His preaching is the New Testament translated into the language
of to-day, -choice enough for the scholar, robust
enough for the man of common business.
David Thomas will be known to a remote posterity
by his great work, The Homrilist. To that work he
has been faithful through many years of hard toil and
anxious care. The slovenly man (for he is slovenly in
some things, notwithstanding his supposed liking for
good tailoring) issued the first seven volumes without
any date, - no date on the title-page, - no date at the
end of the preface! The thing is so unbusiness-like as to
be almost incredible. That David Thomas of Stockwell
should never have thought of putting a date to his work
is quite conceivable by all who know him; that the
somnolent house of Ward & Co. should have omitted
the date is not surprising; but how the printers came
to omit the usual MDCCC., etc., is not easy of explanation. The-omission is of great consequence, and will be
increasingly so with the lapse of time. Suppose that a
minister shall fifty years hence take up a volume of the




THE HOMILIST: MAN AND BOOK.            71
Ilomilist, wishing to know when it was written, that
he may compare it with the current literature of its own
day,- how perplexed he will be   He will not know
from the volume itself whether it was written ten years
ago, twenty, or fifty. This is to be regretted, for it is
one of the little wheels on which good machinery so
much depends.
The Homtilist did not enjoy a very flourishing beginning. On the cover of one of the early numbers the
despondent editor announced that it did " not pay," and
that unless the circulation increased it must be given
up. Happily the circulation did increase, and the Hornilist has since, as a class magazine, commanded unexampled success. Inmy opinion this success has been honestly and most fully deserved. Nothing is due to trickery,
sensationalism, or denominational prestige; all credit is
due to perseverance, ability, and a happy adaptation of
means to ends. Never was the saying " the laborer is
worthy of his hire " more faithfully fulfilled than in the
brightening and expanding history of the Homilist; nor
has the saying " perseverance conquers obstacles " been
more honorably exemplified-than in the steadiness of
its indomitable and fertile editor. When the Homilist
made its appearance, men were becoming tired of dividing everything in heaven and on earth into first, second, and third, with three subdivisions under each head,
three points of application, and with "' finally, one word
more, and lastly" for a melancholy peroration.  At
that dark time any brother who could make a suggestion
bordering upon novelty was privily called for by the
wise men, and diligently inquired of concerning the
birth of the child. Under the old sermonic form scores
of healthy congregations had languished and died; deacons had dropped into syncope, and treasurers had been
found again and again with both hands in a state of
catalepsy. The triangular division of the intellectual
universe had thus been most ruinous in its effects, and
the church sighed for a variation of the geometrical




72  AD CLERUM: ADVICES TO A YOUNG PREACHER.
form. No doubt great boldness was required to beard
the tyranny of traditionalism; the man who profanely
declared that any text could be viewed in four aspects,
and discussed without a single subdivision, would have
been in peril of an attack from the very men who had
been sighing for a change; what then would be thought
of the adventurous young minister at Stockwell, who
began his new magazine with "A Homily on the Wants
of the World, and the Weakness of the Church," and
concluded.the first number with " Healthful Rays of
Genius" from Plato,'and Carlyle? What could be
thought of such a man but that he was dying of some
heretical pest, and corrupting the morals of the rising
ministry? Elderly ministers bought the magazine as it
were under protest, on the principle of the pious Quaker, who went to the races "just tQ see if any of our
people were there"; college professors slyly hid it in
their desks, and peeped at it stealthily while the students were (mistakenly) supposed to be absorbed in
gerund-grinding, - yes, quite mistakenly, for the students themselves had put their pence together, after the
fashion of a copper round robin, so that no one could
tell who began it, and procured a copy of the dangerous
magazine, which they read with most immoral avidity.
" That was the sort of thing," they impetuously declared, without waiting for the soberer judgment of the
college committee, or of a sub-committee appointed to
" report on the whole case"; and forthwith every man
of them threw his triangular " skeletons " into the fire,
and began the higher geometry. The awakening
churches said they were startled; the elder orthodoxy
was pained; and the men who had comfortably slept
for years through " first the fact stated, second the doctrine implied,'and third the lessons which may be inferred," adopted atone which in general terms may be
described as threatening. This resentment was neither
unaccountable nor unpardonable: it was not unaccountable, for masculine pewholders like to know that their




THE HOMILIST: MAN AND BOOK.           73
own sentiments are being promulgated from the pulpit
in the very words which they have used to their wives
and children " many and many a time "; it is both comfortable and complimentary, as well as indicative of
theological stability: in the next place, the resentment
was not altogether unpardonable, for sentimental pewholders who have shed rivers of tears over the tender
words, " How doth the little busy bee," and " Twinkle,
twinkle, little star," naturally shudder at the paganism
of " instinctive beliefs," " moral intuitions," and " the
empirical conscience."  Such shuddering is in no wise
to be wondered at; it is the protest of outraged nature
against all new ideas and novel words, and on that
account is to be highly esteemed'
In issuing the second volume of the Homilist, the editor felt " it due to those who take this volume in their
hand with the intent to purchase, to declare some of its
omissions, that there may be none of the regret of
disappointment after the bargain."  The "omissions"
are thus stated: "First, the book has no finish; secondly, the book has no denominationclism; thirdly,
the book has no polemical theology."  The statement is
not properly qualified. As a rule, the opening homily
of each number has "finish," it is elaborate, continuous, and complete; as to the second omission, it is
generally safe to infer that when any man disclaims
denominationalism he is about to constitute himself
into a denomination, or else he has degenerated into
the malevolent sectarianism  of  no  sect; the third
omission is stated pretty accurately, though the book
is by no means without a controversial tone. The
catholic editor does not agree with everybody; he
can adopt an attitude either defensive or defiant,
though as a general rule he is peacefully disposed
towards those who let him alone. David Thomas is a
lover of peace; he would knock a man down. for
peace; he would go to war for peace; no wonder,
therefore, he avoids "polemical theology."  It is a




74  AD CLERUEM: AD.VICES TO A YOUNG PREACHER.
singular fact that the man who has written so many
new sermons has never written a new preface! Year
by year he has said, "As the old key-note will still
rule the melodies of the zfomilist, and no new specific
description is requisite, the preface may be again transcribed."  I draw your attention to this circumstance,
that I may candidly point out that David Thomas's
homiletic method is decidedly wanting in variety.  It is
perfectly true that one preface will do forever. First
of all, the text is made to yield a subject, thus: take
the text, " That which hath been is now" (Eccles. iii.
16), and the subject is, "The impotency of time, or
the eternally permanent amidst the constantly fluctuating"; or the text, "Then he which had received
the one talent came," etc. (Matt. xxv. 24), and the
subject is, "The non-use of power in the feeblest."
This is David Thomas's method with every text; he
does not seem able to move until he has wrought it
into a wide generalization, and in the great majority
of instances the generalization is not only wide, but
legitimate and profound.  Not only is the text itself a
subject, but each head, even of the most severely analytic division, is also a theme. As an illustration, take
the main outline of the subject, "The trial-bearing
Force of Spiritual Religion": I. Spiritual religion
engages the supreme attention of the soul under trial;
II. Spiritual religion recognizes God's superintendence
under trial;  III. Spiritual religion identifies man's
will with God's under trial.  Or take the main outline of the subject, " The Pool of Siloam, or the world
in miniature"  (John v. 1-9): I. The human world
isgreatly afflicted; II. The human world has alleviating elements; III. The human world is pre-eminently
selfish; IV. The human world has a glorious Deliverer.  So unvarying is the substance of his method,
that any careful reader of one volume of his homilies
may almost infallibly predict how  David  Thomas
would discuss any text.  His homiletic mannerism is




THE HOMILIST: MAN AND BOOK.            75
unchangeably fixed. He never surprises readers who
have familiarized themselves with his style, by sudden
variation of method, unexpected adventures of fancy,
or whimsical adaptations of architecture; everywhere
you find order, logic, and proportion; he is never so
borne away by his first thought as to forget his second;
when he begins his journey all his appointments are
complete, and when he returns he has accomplished his
whole purpose. The man of whom this can be justly
said must have unusual self-control, and, according to
his capacity, must have completeness and equality of
mental power.  Still, this rigid regularity does become
monotonous; mile after mile of unchanging architecture, however massive and stately, wearies the eye, and
from  this continuity of formal excellence the constant
reader of the Homilist undoubtedly suffers. He cannot
but wish that a few texts at least should escape the
suspicion of being cunning riddles to which David
Thomas alone can suggest happy answers; he gets
tired of the boundless stretch of small capitals and
emphatic italics, and almost sighs for a little change in
the treatment of subjects. David Thomas deals largely
in " germs," but the germs are nearly all of one sort;
it may be very depraved moral horticulture on my part,
but I should certainly like to see a few deciduous plants
among the evergreens, and even the evergreens themselves might be selected with a view to a vivid and
effective interspersion of coloring. Why not mix the
peach-colored flowers of the almond with the splendid
golden alder or the purple-leaved Darwinii? Why not
alternate the cypress with the cistus?  Why this
boundless contiguity" of cedar? 
Variety is quite as much wanted in the language as
in the planning of the 1Homilist. As a general rule,
the language of the Homilist is specially clear and
strong: yet its range is limited; it is local rather than
cosmopolitan, certainly not rich in allusion, and seldom
equal to the thinking which it is intended to express.




76  AD CLERUM: ADVICES TO A YOUNG PREACHER.
We rarely get any idea of the author's reading from the
variety of his language; we do not find from the gorgeousness of one homily that the writer began it after
a long spell at Burke, nor from the riotous impetuosity
of another that it was written under the inspiration of
Macaulay; we never exclaim, " Here is the quaintness
of Trapp, the splendor of Hall, the sublimity of Charnock, the delicacy of Taylor": we feel, and feel deeply,
that the book which the writer knows most about is the
last volume of the Homilist itself!  Ve do not want
quotation, but inspiration; not garlands and chaplets,
but perfumes gathered from many gardens, the aroma
of the world's genius. We deprecate the absurd
criticism which censures one man because he is not
another; but we admire the universality of mind
which can never be satisfied with its own resources,
but must, with self-misgiving and most emulous determination, intermeddle with all wisdom. It may be said,
if Burke has a style of his own, and Macaulay, Shakspeare, and Scott, and each of the other immortal writers of English, why not David Thomas?  There is no
reason why David Thomas should not have his own
style, nor is there any reason why he should not be
continually enriching and refining his style. Moreover,
his is not so much a style as a mere habit; in a literary
point of view, it has more form than life; provided the
words will barely cover his idea, he cares nothing for
their efflorescence and coloring. This is not altogether
to be admired.  The careful writer will sometimes
pause before electing either of two synonyms; he will
look at the fine shading, he will study the balance and
cadence of the syllables, that his thought may have all
the advantage of perfect rhythm: the preacher, too, will
" seek out acceptable words," remembering that even
in his sacred office there are many opportunities of
profiting by the canon:-         *' True wit is nature to advantage dressed,What oft was thought, but ne'er so well expressed."




THE HOMILIST: MAN AND BOOK.           77
In a standing notice, prefixed to every monthly copy,
the editor of the Homilist says, " We want things, not
words." The notice is bold, but is it discriminating?
Is it not true that in some cases words are things? Is
it not also true that there is adaptation between thought
and language, as between the king and his chariot?
"There would seem at first sight to be no more in
Milton's words than in other words. But they are
words of enchantment. No sooner are they pronounced,
than the past is present and the distant near. New
forms of beauty start at once into existence, and all
the burial-places of the memory give up their dead.
Change the structure of the sentence: substitute one
synonym  for another, and the whole effect is destroyed."*  Perhaps in penning this notice the sagacious editor was preparing friends among the critics of
unrighteousness, that in the day of his exposure they
might receive him into their houses; or perhaps he
admired the conciseness, without thinking of the justness, of his notice.
This you will regard as a candid criticism, not I trust
the less valuable because of its discrimination. David
Thomas has done a great work, and if there be a fault
or a flaw in it here and there, who can wonder? We
must not forget that if he were to review our work, he
might be able to show that there is more in it to censure than to admire; it should therefore be under a
sense of our own imperfection that we offer an opinion
upon the capabilities and services of another man.
The name of David Thomas will increase in honor
and influence, in proportion as the ministry increases
in intelligence and vigor; and long after his noble
countenance has ceased to brighten our assemblies, his
noble thoughts will stimulate our minds: there may have
been a little envious mist thrown  about his earlier
course, but there is before his name an honored and a
splendid future.
*Macaulay.




78  AD CLERUIT: ADVICES TO A YOUNG PREACHER.
"When first the sun too powerful beams displays,
It draws up vapors which obscure its rays;
But even those clouds at last adorn its way,
Reflect new glories and augment the day."
In my opinion, the time for the completion of the
Homilist has fully come. It may now with advantage
coalesce with the Pulpit Analyst, - giving it the prestige of a unique history, and leaving it to supply some
omissions which mark the service even of the strongest
minds.
From all this you will correctly infer that I advise
you to procure the entire set of the Ifomilist, now extending, I suppose, to something like twenty volumes.
This advice I do tender with most cordial urgency,
under the assured conviction that no young minister
can study its method without gaining very much, both
in stimulus and instruction.
Since writing this critique I have seen David Thomas,
after a lapse of nearly ten years. Some changes have
taken place in his appearance; time has just begun to
set its mark upon him; and whilst the old contagious
buoyancy still abounds, there is a tenderer mellowness
in many of his observations upon men and things.  He
is still sermonizing, and is still justly proud of his
Homilist; with the simplicity of a little child he boldly
declares that it is as good as ever; and if for a moment
you doubt it, he is prepared to give half-a-dozen of its
latest outlines, which undoubtedly prove that his right
hand has not forgotten its cunning. Life and peace be
to him in exceeding measure!




VIIL
TEXTUAL DIVISIONS.
IT may be convenient now, considering that you are
expecting shortly to take your place on the college
preachers' list, to give some attention to the various
methods of treating texts, a subject which has occasioned much diversity of opinion, and on which no man
can give a final judgment. All I can hope to do is to
cite a few examples, and to point out where, according
to my own ministerial experience, they appear either
to succeed or fail in giving the most effective expression to the truth of the text. In approaching this
work, allow me to put you on your guard against the
temptation to make what are called clever sermons.
The temptation appeals very powerfully to the youthful
mind; there is much plausibility in it; it stimulates
genius; it calls up individuality of thought; it takes a
man off the common ground, and gives him a standing
place of his own;  all these considerations will present themselves; and if you be taken unawares, they
will vitiate and debase your ministry.  The young
preacher often looks for strange texts, and having
announced them, gazes upon his congregation with an
expression which signifies, "There! what could you,
or what could any man but myself, make of a'text like
that? Now let me show you how clever I am!"  You
cannot tell how deeply your thoughtful hearers will be
grieved by such eccentricity: it may please the idleminded and the vain, but it will distress all who come
to worship God, and receive His word at your lips.
Have you any sermons upon particularly striking
texts?  Take a friend's advice, to put them into the
fire. Don't think I am cruel; the advice is really kind,
79




80  AD CLERUM: ADVICES TO A YOUNG PREACHER.
and you will probably thank me for it in less than ten
years; let all such sermons go into the fire at once; the
loss will be a gain, the sacrifice will be made up to you
if you offer it with a good motive. As a servant of
God, a chosen messenger of Jesus Christ, you have
little or nothing to do with detached expressions,
broken sentences, and perverted accommodations;
your business is with the whole revealed counsel of
God, and you should give yourself day and night to its
prayerful and anxious study. This is your wealth and
strength as a Christian minister. The Bible is not to
be looked upon as a mere repository of texts collected
for professional convenience; it is the Word of God,
with a meaning and a purpose which you must earnestly seek to understand. We shall often be at a loss
what to say to our people if we draw only upon our
own resources; Saturday will find us empty-handed,
Sunday will be a day of painful bondage, and Monday
an occasion of heartless joy. On the other hand, if the 
word of Christ dwell in us richly in all wisdom (Col.
iii. 16); if we can say with Jeremiah (xv. 16), "Thy
words were found, and I did eat them, and Thy word
wvas unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart"; if
we can say with Job (xxiii. 12), " I have esteemed the
words of His mouth more than my necessary food," we
shall never be at a loss for messages both instructive
and comforting.  The Holy Spirit will magnify His
own word; He will make His statutes the songs of
His people in the house of their pilgrimage (Ps. cxix.
54), and clothe His ministers with the garments of
zeal. You will see, then, that I am more anxious about
your knowledge of the Bible as a whole, than about
particular texts and skilful methods of division. Think
what a weapon God has put into the hands of His servants! " The word of God is quick and powerful, and
sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to
the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the
joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts




TEXTUAL DIVISIONS.              81
and intents of the heart" (Heb. iv. 12). What more
do you require? Don't spend your time in extracting
mere particles of steel from this great weapon; let
every text be a handle by which you lift the whole
instrument for the working out of a particular end.
Don't regard your text as complete in itself; it is only
one of a series. Carefully collate the whole class, and
bring, not the text only, but the entire truth which it
represents, to bear upon the mind and heart of your
hearers. You cannot do this without patient study of
the word; but it is by such patience that men become
mighty in the Scriptures, and rich in heavenly wisdom.
As I shall have occasion to recur to this subject in
another connection, we may proceed to the secondary
matter of texts and their division.
You have selected a text, - now what is your first
business? Not how to divide it; not to consider what
particular purpose it may be strained to serve; not how
to exercise your ingenuity upon it; but to find out its
exact critical and doctrinal meaning. Does it contain
any words of doubtful etymology? Have any of the
words ever been used in different senses? What is the
bearing of all the parallel passages? What is the meaning which the Divine Spirit intended the words to convey?  You must be clear upon all these points before
you think of division or elaboration. First have the
truth., and then set about its treatment. Having got
the truth into the mind, next get it into the heart;
pray for a deeper and tenderer love; beseech God to
stimulate your affection for the truth, to make it your
own by happy experience, to shed its light over your
whole life, and to bring you altogether under its influence. In this way God will cause His truth to become as it were part of your very being; and when you
preach it, there shall be evidence that instead of merely
repeating a lesson, you are speaking from a believing
and thankful heart. So long as the text is only an
external object, your discourse will be artificial and
6




82  AD CLERUM: ADVICES TO A YOUNG PREACHER.
powerless; when it becomes a living reality in your
own spiritual experience, it will come to your hearers
with simplicity and effect.' Let it be understood, then,
that in offering an opinion about homiletic outlines, I
take for granted that we are agreed up to this point;
we must be at one about the foundation, before we discuss the best methods of scaffolding.  Enjoying and
loving the truth, you wish to know how to preach it
most clearly and usefully: on this basis let us talk
together freely and at large.
Some divisions are mere commonplaces, others are
distinct propositions, and others again are cumulative
and logical.  I am not prepared to say that any one of
these is best; each has its advantages and its drawbacks.  It is remarkable that Mr. Robertson's divisions
are generally very tame, giving no idea whatever of the
rich suggestiveness of his teaching. Take his sermon
upon the faith of the centurion (Matt. viii. 10); his
main divisions are - I. The faith which was commended,
and II. The causes of the commendation. Probably the
poorest preacher in the world could not have conceived a
less promising outline, yet the sermon is instructive and
pathetic.  Again, in his sermon on The early Development of Jesus (Luke ii. 40), he gives as his planl -   In
the text we read of a threefold growth, (I.) In strength,
(ii.) In wisdom, (II.) In grace"; a less original plan
never introduced any sermon, yet the discourse is by
no means wanting in novelty or freshness.  In a discourse upon an incident in the life of Elijah (1 Kings
xix. 4), he gives as his division -    (I.) The causes of
Elijah's despondency, and (ii.) God's treatment of it.
Who could make anything out of such a plan! Apparently Mr. Robertson set little by the formal division; the merest hint was enough.  This method of
division has been common in all ministries, irrespective
of denominational  training.  In a sermon on Religious
Meditation (Gen. xxiv. 63), Richard Watson, the distinguished Methodist preacher, gives as his outline -




TEXTUAL DIVISIONS.                83
(I.) The greatness of its objects, and (ii.) Its moral
advantages.  In an eloquent sermon upon Excitements
to Missionary Effort (Eccles. xi. 1-6), he has a very
ordinary outline: (I.) A large and liberal benevolence
is enjoined upon us; (II.) Some interesting motives to
the exercise of benevolence are here set before us;
(II.) Several objections are implied in the text; (Iv.)
We have some reasons for diligence and constancy.
Another distinguished Methodist preacher, Dr. Beaumont, was often as inexpressive in his method of division; for example, on  The more excellent Sacrifice
(Heb. xi. 4), he says, "In bringing before you the
character of Abel, our attention is required to the following considerations: (I.) He is the first of whom it
was affirmed that he was justified by faith; (ii.) He
was the first of whom it was stated that he offered an
acceptable sacrifice to God; (III.) He was the first personal type of Christ; (iv.) He was the first martyr for
the truth; (v.) He was the first whose redeemed spirit
entered heaven. Again, in his sermon on the Joyful
tidings by Angelic Messengers, he says: " (i.) Let us
consider the matter of the tidings brought by the angel
unto the shepherds; (iI.) The quality by which these
tidings are characterized; (III.) The extent of application to which they are destined." In a sermon on The
Lamb of God (John i. 36), Dr. Guthrie has this outline:
(I.) Behold Christ before He came to this world; (ii.)
Behold Christ on earth, in His humiliation; (IIi.) Let
this Lamb of God be the supreme Object of our desires,
and the sole Object of our faith.  On The Christian's
Fcaith (Matt. xv. 29), the same eloquent preacher has
this plan: (I.) Her earnestness is an example, as her
success in an encouragement to us; (i.) Observe the
trials to which Christ put her earnestness and faith.
William  Jay, of Bath, had the reputation of being a
skilful divider of texts. Some of his divisions are very
commonplace.  In his sermon on The Gospel Jubilee
(Lev. xxv. 10), he merely says, "Let me explain the




84  AD CLERUM: ADVICES TO A YOUNG PREACHER.
nature of the jubilee, make some remarks upon the design of it, and examine what there is in the gospel to
correspond with it."  These may be taken as examples
of the commonplace method; and for the eminent men
who adopted it, no doubt it was sufficient. Their gift
lay rather in elaboration than in analysis: if you have
their genius, you may adopt their plan; but if not, you
will do well to seek a more excellent way. I venture to
think that the following outline, given to me by a friend
who brings a rare analytic power to his pulpit preparation, is much superior to any yet quoted. The text is
Exodus iii. 14; we have here (i.) The chief inquiry of
man as a responsible agent, - who secds me? what is
His name? what account shall I give of myself?  (ii.)
The highest revelation to man as a speculative thinker,
God's name, "I AM"; not atheism, for God Himself
speaks; not pantheism, for God's personality is declared; not mere deism, for God descends to take an
immediate interest in the affairs of* men.  (III.) The
highest authority of man as a moral worker,  I AM
hath sent me, I am God's servant; this is inspiration,
this is power. Another friend has favored me with a
striking outline upon Job xiv. 10: "Man dieth, and
wasteth away; yea, man giveth up the ghost, and
where is he? "  (I.) If he was a good man, he is where
he has long desired to be; (ii.) If he was a good man,
he is where he was prepared to be; (iii.) If he was a
good man, he is where he will forever desire to remain.
On the other hand, if he was a bad man, then (I.) he is
where he never really desired to be; (ii.) where he was
prepared to be; (III.) where he can never wish to remain.
This is a very happy method of division; but its treatment requires great care, because there is a strong
temptation to study the form rather than the truth, and
thus to degenerate into mere cleverness. The same
skilful friend has a sermon upon 1 Peter v. 7, " Casting all your care upon Him, for He careth for you," in
which he figures every man as a traveller carrying




TEXTUAL DIVISIONS.                 8
three bundles: (i.) the past; (ii.) the present; (III.)
the future. The preacher takes down the three bundles,
and examines them: the first is full of sins, unhappy
memories, neglected duties, etc.; the second is full of
the troubles of daily life, the deceitfulness of riches,
worldly engagements, etc.; the third is full of fears,
anxieties, apprehensions, etc.  The preacher then exhorts his supposed traveller to cast all these cares upon
Divine strength.  The method of division by distinct
propositions embodying the spirit of the narrative is
instructive, and not difficult either of construction or
remembrance. As an illustration, take the narrative of
the journey of Abram, given in the 12th chapter of
Genesis, and regard it as setting forth the journey of a
good man through life: we may then affirm that in his
journey through life the good man (I.) reverently listens to the Divine voice; (ii.) reposes implicit faith in
the sovereignty and fatherhood of God; (III.) maintains
his faith by continual worship; (iv.) often finds his
blessings associated with trials; and (v.) sometimes
feels that his faith is tried more severely by the less
than by the greater affairs of life.  This method is
illustrated in a sermon by Dr. McAll on " the nature
and causes of that joy with which the good man hails
the return of every season wherein it is his privilege to
approach to the house -of God, and to mingle in the
engagements of the sanctuary."  (I.) There he is warranted to expect the peculiar enjoyment of the Divine
presence.  (ii.) The gratification thus expressed on
approaching to the house of God springs also from the
happiness of a near and intimate association with our
brethren in all the exercises of united devotion. (III.)
The truly pious man will delight in approaching to the
house of the Lord, because of those sacred and solemn
employments, so congenial with his best feelings, there
awaiting him.  (Iv.) Because of the progressive improvement in all our character there constantly experienced. I need hardly point out the wordiness of these




86  AD CLERUM: ADVICES TO A YOUNG PREACHER.
divisions, except to put you on your guard against it.
Be concise. Try how many words you can remove without obscuring the sense which you intend to convey.
Take a single sentence from Dr. McAll's sermon, and
see how many of the words you can safely take away:
"We have learned from Scripture, and rejoice in the
noble sentiment, that heaven, even the heaven of
heavens, cannot contain him: that is, perhaps, that if
we should ascend through the nearer and more limited
regions of existence from this speck of earth into those
that rise in magnificence above, vast as they are, and
ever widening on the view; if we should pass through
the heavens that we behold studded with stars, and
gleaming with all the brightness of the firmament, into
the loftier and more ethereal realms beyond them, soaring still, and still stretching forward on the wing to
others yet more distant and more exalted, which are
the heavens to them, encircling them within their glowing sphere, beaming forth on them, as these on us, the
splendors of the Deity; — and if, still untired, we
should mount to the third heavens, those fields of magnificence and glory which are yet undiscovered and
unknown, and wherein there shines no light of sun or
star, no other radiancy but the pure emanations of the
Godhead: even then should we not have arrived at an
expanse- sufficiently capacious to include and shut
within itself the illimitable fulness of His being."
There is a defiant challenge to your pruning-knife!
What long words, what ambition, what panting haste,
what redundant expression, what useless speculation!
Dr. McAll says that the third heavens " are yet undiscovered and unknown," yet he speaks of them as if he
had seen them; how, if they are undiscovered, he knows
that there is neither sun nor stars in them, and how, if
they are unknown, he has come by the intelligence that
they have "' no other radiancy but the pure emanations
of the Godhead," are points which we cannot determine; yet we can fancy how a carriage-keeping con



TEXTUAL DIVISIONS.                 87
gregation would  be thrown  into ecstasies  by this' ascenling,"         soarin   stretching,"   trtmounting 
sentnce, and how dizzy it would become when standing in " undiscovered and unknown fields of magnificence and glory."  Yet Dr. McAll could write short,
glittering sentences, and express himself with childlike
simplicity.  Imitate his conciseness' his refinement,
his courage; but beware of his ascents to the third
heavens! For a grander specimen of the same kind
of verbiage, take the following magnificently finished
balloon passage from the writings of Dr. Chalmers:
" Or if, instead of viewing the Deity in relation to time,
we view Him in relation to space, we shall feel the mystery of. His being to be alike impracticable and impervious.   But we shall not again venture on aught so
inconceivable (yet the reality of which so irresistibly
obtrudes itself upon the mind) as immensity without
limits; nor shall we presume one conjecture on a question which we have no means of resolving, whether the
universe have its terminating outskirts, and so, however
stupendous to Our eye, shrink by its finitucle to an atom,
in the midst of that unoccupied and unpeopled vastness
by which it is surrounded. Let us satisfy ourselves with
a humbler flight. Let us carry the speculation no farther
than our seenses have carried it. Let us take account only
of the suns and systems which the telescope has unfolded; though for aught we know, beyond the farthest
range of this instrument there might be myriads of remoter suns and remoter systems. Let us, however, keep
within the circle of our actual discoveries, - within  lhe
limits of that scene which we know to be peopled wi h
realities; and, instead of trying to dilate our imagination
to the infinity beyond it, let us but think of God as sitting
in state and high sovereignty over millions of other
worlds beside our own. If this earth which we know,
and know so imperfectly, form  so small a part of His
works, what an emphasis it gives to the lesson that we
indeed know but a very small part of His ways.' These
are a part of His ways,' said a holy man of old;' but how
little a portion is heard of Him!m I'ere the revelations
of astronomy, in our modern day, accord with the direct




88  AD CLERUM: ADVICES TO A YOUNG PREACHER.
spiritual revelations of a former age. In this sentiment
at least the patriarch and philosopher are at one; and
highest science meets and is in harmony with deepest sacredness. tence we construct the same lesson, whether
we employ the element of space or the element of time.
With the one the basis of the argument is the ephemeral
experience of oui little day; with the other, the basis of
the argument is the contracted observation of our little
sphere. They both alike serve to distance man from the
infinite and everlasting God."
Dr. Chalmers, too, could write short and pregnant
sentences, though he was more at home in mounting
his aerial car, and joining McAll in a hazardous trip to
the third heavens.  In writing this, it occurs to me to
suggest that it may be well for you to send me a sermon for criticism.  Do so, pray, and give me permission to speak freely about it; don't be offended by a
sharp word; it shall be spoken in honest love. I await
your reply.




IX.
HARRIS AND BEECHER.
ARE you suffering from the effects of the last letter?
If so, probably you would be glad to have an opportunity of returning the compliment, which I have taken
such pains to pay you. No doubt you have instinctively turned to your sword, because you have felt an
abhorrent sense of a heartlessness and injustice which
have baffled and defied your power of expression. You
call me hypercritical; you see where I am wrong; you'
protest that I have misunderstood your meaning; in
a word, you regard yourself as an injured man. Do
you? Do you take my remarks good-humoredly, or do
you burn with an indignant desire to lay hands upon a
sermon of my own? By-and-by you shall have a chance
of repayment; blut not to-day, - to-day you are in a dangerous mood. Let us take a turn upon common ground,
until your good temper is quite recovered.
You are too young to have known Dr. Harris, who
was not, in my opinion, according to a statement in a
former letter, a preacher, but a most pleasant and persuasive reader of sermons. I propose to quote the outline of an eloquent sermon of his upon Christ weeping
over Jerusalemn. "And when H-e was come near, He
beheld the city, and wept over it, saying, If thou hadst
known, even thou, at least'in this thy day, the things
which belong unto thy peace! but now they are hid from
thine eyes" (Luke xix. 41, 42). Speaking of the
Saviour as presented in this text, Dr. Harris says:"1. H-is comprehensive mind reverted to the past;
He remembered the days of old, when Israel was holiness to the Lord."  I think it is a mistake, in taste to
say the least, to speak of Jesus Christ's "comprehensive
89




90  AD CLERUM: ADVICES TO A YOUNG PREACHER.
mind."  If the epithet, which is complimentary rather
than reverential, had been omitted, the sentence would
have been purer and stronger.
" 2. With the self-denying love of a patriot, and the
grace of a Saviour, He looked beyond the spectacle of
His own sufferings, and fixed his eye upon theirs;
He could look at them only through the atmosphere of
compassion."  This, too, seems to me to be pitifully
complimentary.  If the first thirteen words had been
omitted, the sentence would have gained much.'3. The exclamation, regarded as a sentence, was
broken and incomplete; but who does not see that it
is in effect eloquently completed by the tears which
break it, -tears which are the natural language of compassion, and which express its intenseness beyond all
words?" I cannot see why this should have been given
as a separate head, though it is legitimate as a general
remark.  Homiletically, it is certainly not scientific;
this is not unimportant to a student.
" From this amplification and general interpretation
of the text, let us proceed next to consider its partic'
ular bearing on ourselves." I should have liked a less
formal transition; a curve would have been better than
a right angle.
"1. There are things which pre-eminently belong to
your peace.  2. The period allotted to you for attending to them  is definite and brief,  it is here called'yCur day.' 3. Should your. day of opportunity close,
and leave you unsaved, your guilt will be great and
your condition remediless. 4. This is a spectacle calling for the profoundest lamentation.  5. Behold in the
tears of Jesus a proof of His unextinguished compassion for them, and an inducement to apply to Him at
once for salvation."  The chief merit of these points
is that nothing can be said against them, if indeed an
exception may not be made as to the use of the word
" you " instead of " us."  A preacher should be careful
how he separates himself from his hearers; by identi



HARRIS AND BEECHER.                91
fying his own spiritual condition with theirs, he disarms
criticism and conciliates confidence, but by too marked
a separation he exposes himself to the charge of priestliness and professional sanctimony. The whole sermon,
of which the oltline is now before you, is undoubtedly
written with spirit; there is no want of pleading terms
or urgent expostulation.  Yet to my mind it is singularly ineffective, and it is so principally because of the
impression that it is manufactured; the pathos seems to
have been got up for the occasion, and to have been
adapted to the requirements of artificial propriety; the
appeal is entirely artistic, measured to order, and overshadowed by the imagined presence of the printer;
while the very marks of exclamation carry with them a
terrified look, as if they had just seen a critic. I miss
the freedom, the elasticity, and the sympathy of nature;
I cannot shed tears even when the preacher delicately
intimates that such a sign of emotion would be timely
and becoming; I cannot tremble with mortal fear when
the preacher tells me to " reflect, thirdly," that the day
of visitation is hastening to a close. No, no, I cannot
"reflect thirdly"; the preacher should have constrained
me to reflect by his gentle, sympathetic, earnest portrayal of the Saviour's sorrow, and if his own grief had
interrupted his smooth and rhythmic eloquence, I might
have caught the infection of his tears. Away with this
trimly cut pathos! if not to be condemned as blasphemy, it is to be abhorred as simulation; it looks
like mere stock in trade which the sermon-writer keeps
in his inkhorn for business purposes.
Lying before me is a sermon on the same text, by
Henry Ward Beecher; and a greater contrast it is impossible to find. Beecher's sermon is full of life, spontaneity, and tender vigor; you feel throughout that the
preacher derives his power over you from a deep acquaintance with the human heart, and a rich experience
of Christian truth in his own soul; he talks to you, not
at you; there is nothing artificial; every sentence is




92  AD CLERUJI: ADVICES TO A YOUNG PREACHER.
natural; the preacher seeks your salvation, and stands
as if he would not go away until you receive  the
Saviour.  Starting with the inquiry, "What is a Divine
visitation? " he prosecutes an analysis of the influences
which operate upon human life, showing at how many
points God attempts to reach the sinner's soul. " It is
a great mistake to suppose that only technically religious institutions and truths are God's instruments, and
that the world is abandoned of good unless there are
technically religious influences brought to bear upon
it.  It is an error to regard the world as a vast labyrinth of evil, in which religion alone is recuperative.
For I understand that the whole system of the world,
from the outside shell to the inside core and seed, from
the centre back to the remotest circumference, is part
and parcel of one great attempt of God for the development of the human race; that the revelation of the
Lord Jesus Christ, although it is transcendently higher
in its kind, is not more a part of religious culture than
the revelation of God in the natural world, in social
life, in business, in all the appointments in which man
acts or in which he is acted upon. All these constitute,
it is true, only subordinate parts, but nevertheless real
and integral parts, of that general course of education
and development which God superintends in this world.
So that if a man had never seen a church, or never read
a Bible, it could not be said that he was undeveloped
or uneducated. He would be destitute of the best part
of the educating system; nevertheless, he would not
have escaped out of the great, spacious academy of education which this world affords, until he had escaped
out of life itself! " Around this proposition he gathers
arguments and analogies most pressing and apposite;
then come parables, figures, as true as they are ingenious and beautiful.  " If," says the preacher," you look
comprehensively, it may be said that the human soul lies
in the body like the keys of a great organ, and that the
great Organist has not left a single key untouched in the




HARRIS AND BEECIER.              93
whole seven octaves, - touched, not once or twice, but
many times; not in single melodies, but in the most
massive harmonies; so that every person trained in a
Christian family, brought up under Christian institutions, in Christian communities, in the midst of Christian visitations, has been the subject of special influences
on every single one of his faculties, from the top of the
scale all the way down to the bottom."  Referring to
the changeful experiences of the soul in regard to Divine visitations, Mr. Beecher gives the following simple
but effective illustration: -
" I suppose every man passes, at some time, into a
kind of scepticism. I know I have had such times;
I suppose everybody  has them.  At my former
mountain home in Lenox, there were days in August,
when, although I knew there were mountains near, they
were so hazy that I could not see them. I looked to
the north, where old Greylock stood, and he had gone.
I looked to the south for Mount Washington, and he
had gone. I looked to the east for the range of mountains that rose up there, but they had stolen away. I
looked to the west to see if any remained, but they too
had hid themselves, and all were invisible. But when
I slept and woke, all the mountains the next morning,
washed by night showers, came back, so clear and distinct that the old crag upon the ten-mile-distant hill
stood up, vivid as a line against the sky, and my eye
could sweep over all the country round about, and the
truant hills seemed to have travelled  home again
stealthily in the night. I think it is just so in the
soul. There are times when a man goes grieving, saying,'Where are those aspirations which I once felt?
I am now sodded and stupid as a sponge. Where are
those up-reachings that I once enjoyed?  Where is all
that old enthusiasm of honor?  Where are all those
mountings of desire? Ah! they are all gone! Man
is after all but a superior animal; he is but a part of
the material creation; he is but the highest form in




94  AD CLERUM: ADVICES TO A YOUNG PREACHER.
which matter develops.'  Man complains to himself,' I shall live, and, like an autumnal leaf, wither and
die; something else shall grow out of me, and in turn
something else shall grow out of that.'
"But though there are, in every man's life, times of
obscuration, of dulness, of deadness, that come over
the soul, there is no man so bad, so worldly, so obstinately set in his philosophic errors, so bound up in
unbeliefs, that he has not certain other brighter and
revelatory moments, in which he rises superior to his
common life, in which his immortal nature  mounts
mountain-like above him, in which he stands upon the
tops of his own soul, and, looking out, exclaims:'I
born to fall like a sparrow and rot?  I growlike a vegetable that goes back again into the earth?  Never!
This that is in me, so royally, shall live and mount far
above the touch of decay'!' He feels his affinity to
God! He is, in his own consciousness, near heaven;
and there is a throb of immortality in his soul! "
Again, what natural and charming talk is this: —
" It is remarkable, in respect to these visitations of
God, that they do not follow the telescope; they are
rather like comets, that come when they please; for
when you search for God,'by searching you cannot
find Him out.' Often, when I have tried to prepare a
sermon, and have ranged the heavens for higher conceptions of God, I could not find them; but at other
times I have been walling along the street, never
dreaming or thinking of God, when, coming in contact
with some of my fellow-men, I would see some suggestive trait fall out among them, and all at once, from
that little incidental circumstance, there would spring
up such a luminous development of the Divine character that I have said to myself,' Oh, if I could only
have such a thought as that in the pulpit, I could then
preach the truth of God!' But it came when I was
out in the street, and where nobody would hear. I
could only fill my own soul with it for a moment, and




HARRIS AND BEECHIER              95
pass on, till it gradually faded away. Such thoughts
have come to you unbidden, sometimes in your counting-room, or when you were on a journey, or on the
sea; sometimes whny you have been in your house all
alone, your'family in the country;  sometimes in
trouble and adversity; in various ways, -- often coming, though never twice alike, as if the Divine phases
had sought to present, at different times, different
aspects to you. And if, all the way along, you had
treasured up these times —precious times of great
treasure! if you had treasured them as you have when
you have made a good bargain, or gained a new honor;
if you had treasured all these interior peculiarities as
you have the exterior, you would find them, I think,
almost within speaking distance all the way from childhood to manhood. And, although you had never such a
consecutive view of the whole, yet really all along you
have been subject to such impressions!  And they
have come again and again, from childhood clear down
to manhood. There is not a man in this congregation
that has not been dealt with in that way! You do not
know yourself! You have been the subject of culture
when you did not know it! You were unconscious of
it, because it was silent and modest, because it did
not report itself like a bell!"
This is preaching! When a preacher descends after
this manner into the common experiences of life, his
dullest hearer cannot escape his stimulating influence;
he widens his pulpit until it includes the whole world,
and simplifies his theology until little children even
catch the meaning of God's living word. Apart from
the richness and beauty of these quotations, does anything strike you as remarkable? It certainly strikes me
that the preacher could not have read such passages;
there is a freeness about the sentences which could
hardly be attained by a writer; there is, if you will
pardon a whimsical expression, an air of spokenness
about these urgent and sparkling utterances. Harris's




96  AD CLERU3M: ADVICES TO A YOUNiG PREACHER
sermon is an essay, Beecher's is a speech; I-arris'reads
at you, Beecher speaks to you; H-arris is an artist,
Beecher is an orator; Harris conducts you into a
conservatoire of artificial flowers, Beecher leads you
into a garden where all is life and bloom and fragrance.
Most heartily do I commend Mr. Beecher's sermons as
the best models of pulpit addresses with which I am
acquainted.  They are full of matter; they are instructively and pop~ularly philosophical, without being
distractingly metaphysical; they abound in allusions to
common life and the universal experience of mankind;
they  are rich  with  illustrations  drawn  from  all
quarters; they are conceived in the very spirit of the
gospel, and expressed with a pathetic sympathy which
is often most subduing and persuasive.  I have reason
to speak gratefully of Mr. Beecher; his words, so
natural, so human, yet so divine, have stimulated and
blessed me, when the refined analysis of Bushnell, the
vehement eloquence of Chalmers, the waxen beauty of
Harris, and the perspirational rhetoric of Mlelville,
were unsuited to my spiritual condition. Mr. Beecher's
outlines are seldom striking; in fact, he does not, as
a rule, care for a formal mapping of his subject; his
mind and  his heart are full of it, and this dictates
his utterance.  He has been accused of occasional
extravagance, and not without reason; but such extravagance is the result of exuberant life, and is in my
opinion much to be preferred, to the tame propriety
which is the chief characteristic of many sermons.
Mr. Beecher's extravagance appears to me to be only
such extravagance as may be found in nature; the
carved cabinet may be exact in its proportions and
convenient in its design, yet it should not be cited to
the disadvantage of the irregular but living  tree.
Homiletics has become too much of a cabinet-carving
art; the square and compass have been too much in
requisition; it is quite time that we should follow a
little more closely the logic of life and the poetry of




HARRIS AND BEECHER.               97
nature.  Mr. Beecher does this in a remarkable degree,
and is therefore an example to all young ministers
whose aim it is to preach with simplicity and effect.
I wish my space would allow me to present another
contrast which Mr Beecher offers to.  r. Harris in a
sermon upon Rom. i. 16. The sermon by Dr. Harris
on this text contains many fine sentences, and a
good deal of careful painting; it is evidently the result
of the minutest painstaking, and undoubtedly it reflects great credit upon Dr. Harris as a devout and
contemplative essayist.  I heard Dr. Harris preach
the sermon in 1852 at the opening of a chapel in
the  suburbs of London, and my recollection of the
preacher's placid yet animated countenance, his sweet
and tuneful voice, his grave and impressive manner, is
very pleasant; his sermon was an admirable essay,
admirably delivered. In a literary point of view, Mr.
Beecher's discourse is inferior to Dr. Harris's, but as
an address delivered to a miscellaneous assembly, it is,
in my judgment, much superior to it. Its argument is
close, its illustrations are vivid, and its appeal (as indeed is Dr. Harris's) very practical. Mr. Beecher in
this instance, as in the former, has the obvious advantage of speaking; when will call ministers avail themselves of that advantage? You see how easily I am
brought again to this point; it is because I attach to it
an importance which cannot be exaggerated. Again
and again, hoping that importunity will not be thrown
away upon you, I urge you to be a preacher, and not a
mere reader of the gospel. Be resolute, and you will
surely succeed!
" Get the substance of your sermon, which you have
prepared for the pulpit, so wrought into your head and
heart, by review and mneditation, that you may have it
at command, and speak to your hearers with freedom;
not as if you were reading or repeating your lesson to
them, but as a man sent to teach and persuade them
to faith and holiness. Deliver your discourses to the
7




98  AD cLERTuI: ADVICES TO A YOUNG PREACHER.
people like a man that is talking to them in good earnest about their most important concerns and their everlasting welfare; like a messenger sent from heaven,
who would fain save sinners from hell, and allure souls
to God and happiness. Do not indulge that lazy way of
reading over your prepared paper as a schoolboy does
an oration out of Livy or Cicero, who has no concern
in the things he speaks; but let all the warmest zeal
for God, and compassion for perishing men, animate
your voice and countenance; and let the people see
and feel, as well as hear, that you are speaking' to
them  about things of infinite moment, and in which
your own eternal interest lies as well as theirs."-  (Dr.
Isaac Watts.)  This is the counsel of true wisdom.  I
grant that it is counsel which at first involves most
serious difficulty to thoughtful and diffident preachers.
There is a natural anxiety about the proper construction of sentences, the distribution of parts, and the
unity of the whole discourse; and this anxiety is not
favorable to the determined self-possession which is
essential to effective public  speaking.  The young
speaker (I do not mean the flippant gabbler) soon falls
under the tyranny of fear; he is nervous about the
next sentence, he is alarmed by the most triflilng grammatical slip, and any unexpected circumstance distresses and enfeebles him.  Yet this is only one side
of the account; on the other must be put down the
growth of power and its consequent ease, the developnent of sympathy with the varying conditions and
moods of a congregation, and a happy indcependence of
many possibilities which are the terror of artificial
speakers.  There is no finer sight than that of a great
teacher addressing an assembly with a power selfconscious enough to secure perfect ease, yet self-misgiving enough to invest the speaker with the holy and
tender charm of devout reliance upon a strength that
is not his own. Does not such a sight enkindle your
best ambition?  The way indeed into this kingdom is




HARsRIS AND BEECHER.              99
narrow, and the gate is strait; but do not be discouraged on that account, for it is true of all kingdoms
that are worth entering. You cannot have a broad way
and a wide gate into any of Gocd's kingdoms; he
devil makes wide paths for his followers, otherwise he
could never lure them into darkness; but God always
sets the severity of discipline before the reward of
glory.




X.
THE MINISTER IN THE PULPIT.
MICHAEL ANGELO is reported to have said, "Trifles
make perfection, and perfection is no trifle."  Under
the patronage of this high authority, you will permit me
to take note of sundry little things in connection with
the higher matters with which it is now proposed to
engage your attention. Nothing should be despised
which contributes to the increase of legitimate influence, and nothing indulged which aids merely artificial
effect. Everything connected with the ministry should
at least be real. Now for particulars: -
1. You have to go into the pulpit.  You smile at
this trite remark perhaps; there are, however, two ways
of going into a pulpit. To ascend the pulpit with a
hurried step, or with any air of affectation, is indecorous, if not profane. Some ministers have an extraordinary way of rolling into the pulpit;  others are
severely perpendicular in their attitude; others are natural and solemn, without being either flippant or sanctimonious in their manner. Some ministers make their
appearance at the vestry door with a bold and almost
defiant look, others drop their eyes as if ashamed to
hold up their heads; in both cases, perhaps, there is a
little affectation: what you and I have to do is to be
natural, sincere, and modest.
2.  You have to announce hymns and chacpters.
Why announce them, unless you wish the congregation
to follow you? But how can the congregation follow
you, if you announce the numbers in a low or mumbling tone? or if you don't announce them  at all, but
simply gabble them? or if you give out the five-hundred-and-seventy-sixth hymn and three-hundred-and100




THE MINISTER IN THE PULPIT.         101
fifty-first hymn in the supplement, and get half way
into the first verse before you take your breath?  For
my own part, I confess to a difficulty in giving out numbers, arising fiom the change of voiqe which should
often be made, from the tone in which it is proper to
announce the number, to the tone appropriate to the
sentiment of the hymn. For example, in a large place
of worship it may be necessary to say " five hundred
and ninety-five" very loudly, but it might be shocking
to say as loudly, " Alas! and did my Saviour bleed";
a subdued, tremulous tone best becomes the utterance
of such words: on the other hand, the peal of a trumpet would be fitting for the line, " Praise ye the Lord,'tis good to raise."  I have found the best plan of
overcoming this difficulty to be to pause for two or
three seconds after announcing numbers  this plan has
advantages for the hearer as well as for the speaker.
In announcing hymns and chapters, you should be very
careful to distribute the emphasis properly, or your
effort will be a failure. In announcing, for instance,
that you are about to read the second chapter of the
first epistle of John, beginning at the tenth verse, great
care is required: some persons (into whose secret may
you never come!) would announce it thus,   " Let us
read from the tenth verse of the second chapter of
John's first epistle; " others, quite as bad, or perhaps
even a shade worse, would say -" Second CHAPTER
of the first EPISTLE of John, BEGINNING at the
tenth VERSE": what a horrible perversion of plain
common sense! The people do not wish to know that
it is a chapter, but what particular chapter it is; they do
not require so much to know that you are about to read
from an epistle, as they require to know whose epistle it
is. If I can represent emphasis by a variety of type,
I will show you how, in my opinion, the announcement
should be made: "The FIRST epistle of JOHN,- the
SECOND chapter - beginning at the TENTH verse."
Say this twice distinctly, and after a rmomentary




)12  AD CLERUM: ADVICES TO A YOUNG PREACHER.
pause proceed. While giving  out numbers, don't
hold down your head as if giving them  out to the
book, but speak straightforwardly as if you meant to
be heard.
3.  You have to unite in the offering of worship.
HIow can you do so if you fumble in the Bible, spread
out your manuscript, and make sundry arrangements
which ought to have been made before you went into
the pulpit?  Have you no part in the song of praise?
Are you a paid conductor, or a fellow-worshipper? In
my opinion, the minister should enter heartily into the
service of song, for even if he cannot sing, he can show
by a reverent manner that his heart is engaged in Divine praise; he can sing with the spirit and with the
understanding. 
4.  You have to read the Scriptures. Few men read
them intelligently and expressively. Some ministers
read the Bible in a tame and deadening tone, as if they
had mistaken insipidity for veneration; others read it
with a theatrical rant which is shockingly impious;
others again read it in a slovenly manner, as if the exercise was hardly worth attending to, in comparison, as
Mr. Binney truly says, with " their grand intellectual
sermon."  What is the remedy? We must, first of all,
feel that the word of God itself is actually before us,
and our elocution will then be dictated by our veneration. In the next place, we must by private study prepare ourselves for the public reading of the Scriptures.
I doubt whether it is not profane to read in the pulpit
a chapter to which no attention has been paid in private.  FHow can the adventurer who does so know anything of the sentiment of the chapter?  How can he
remember the punctuation?' How can he be prepared
for change of subject, or for parenthetic modification?
He cannot read the chapter; he can only pronounce
the words, and flounder through the meaning. The
indispensable requisite for good reading is an intelligent and sympathetic conception of the author's mean



THE MINISTER IN THE PULPIT.           103.
ing; I say not only intelligent but sympathetic, because
appreciation always suggests the best expression.  It
is said of a celebrated novelist, who occasionally reads
his own compositions in public, that in anticipation of
a public reading, he will spend not less than six hours
a day in studying the most appropriate accent, cadence, and force.  If he does this for a corruptible
crown, what shall we do for a crown that is incorruptible? Surely we should at least read over in secret the
portion of Scripture which we intend to read in public.
Whether the public reading of the Scriptures should be
intermixed with explanatory remarks is still a controverted question; Mr. Binney objects to a running commentary'" as spoiling the force of the simple reading
by a crowd of trite commonplaces," and no doubt the
objection can be sustained by many confirmatory illustirations; Qn the other hand, some ministers have. a
very happy way of interposing an explanatory word:
looking at both sides of the question, I'should strongly
advise that least one portion be read without comment,
and that the minister feel himself at liberty to read
another with such interspersions of his own as may in
his opinion elucidate' its meaning.  A  universal rule
cannot be laid down; each man must work according
to his gift; where a man cannot express himself tersely,
he ought not to attempt an intermixture of reading and
comment; if he should be infatuated enough to do so,
the inspired word will soon be lost in the uninspired
garrulity.
5.  You have to pray. If few men, even ministerAs,
know  how'to read, fewer still, it would unhappily
appear, know how to pray. I have known ministers of
great reputation for pulpit eloquence, whose prayers
were simply discreditable.  The ministers in question
have stumbled, and often done so incoherently, through
a set of the merest commonplaces; they have seemed
to be doing a work which was quite strange to them,
and consequently to be ill at ease.  The poverty of




104  AD CLERUM: ADVICES TO A YOUNG PREACHER.
their prayers was lamentable; take out the " O Lords,"
and the " We beseech Thee, 0 heavenly Fathers," and
what would be left?  In the confession of sin, the sins
have been enumerated as if they were only mistakes;
and in the supplication for pardon, forgiveness has been
asked for as if it cost God's heart nothing, and was
quite a matter of indifference, though common courtesy
required that some notice should be taken of it. Who
can doubt that preparation is as needful for prayer as
for preaching? " The preparation of the heart in man,
and the answer of the tongue, is from the Lord."  That
some men have what may be called the gift of prayer
in larger measure than others is evident, and that conseqLently it is easier for some men to pray than others
is indisputable; yet preparation will secure great advantage to the least gifted.  But how to prepare?  Is
it by writing?  Is it by committing to memtory?  No.
First of all, read the devotional portions of the Bible
largely; in addition to this exercise, read the devotional
writings of the most spiritual divines; and thirdly,
make earnest and  unsparing inquest into your own
heart. To this end be much alone; don't live in excitement; pray God to " search you with candles " (Zeph.
i. 12), and to reveal you to yourself. After such preparation you will, so to speak, prayfrom a spiritual and
not an external centre; your prayer will be dictated by
the Holy Ghost, and not merely suggested by circumstances; you will be inspired rather than instructed;
you will descend upon the wants of life with heavenly
strength, - not struggle towards them in earthly weakness. You have heard some so-called prayers which
were nothing better than catalogues of church institutions and advertisements of church work; such as
"bless the ragged school," "bless the band of hope,"
"bless an institution lately formed in this place, having
for its object," etc., "bless the elder scholars' prayermeeting."  When the devotional service in a large congregation is made up of such petitions, it cannot be




THE MINISTER IN THE PULPIT.          105
wondered at that some persons do not care to be in
attendance " until the prayer is over." Of course there
are times when speciality is necessary; my remarks
apply to the general conduct of public worship.
In seeking a definition of prayer, I have been led to
the conclusion that prayer means different things to
different people, - however strange they may seem.
To the man of strong emotional temperament, prayer
signifies the pouring out of the heart in grateful praise
and passionate supplication; languid and contemplative devotion is abhorrent to him; he must exclaim,
and sing, and shout for joy, in the course of his rapturous prayer. On the other hand, to a man of more
practical mind this rhapsody is distressing; he must
base his prayers upon facts; he prays according to the
circumstances of the time; his thankfulness never
overflows; he is often satisfied, but seldom joyous.
Then there is the suppliant the constitution of whose
mind makes it very difficult for him to avoid an argument in his prayer; he sees life as a long process in
applied logic; he devoutly reasons upon the succession
and inter-relation of events; he prays upon his feet, he
never takes wing that he may pray just outside the
gate of heaven; he never sings his praise, he only
states it in accurate and sequential terms. In strong
contrast is the contemplatist; he knows nothing of
reasoning, takes no heed of common life, never individualizes, and seldom makes a request; to him God is
a Being to be looked at, talked about, and adored;
the contemplatist has wonderful visions of creation,
he sees God upon. the wings of the wind, hears His
going among the trees of the forest, beholds His
shadow flitting over the stars, marks  His hand rolling
back the covering of the night, and sees the pillars of
His throne in the foundations of the universe. His
prayers are dictated by his visions; they are wide in
range, reverent in tone, subdued in feeling; in hearing
them we seem also to hear a solemn silence, as if all




106  AD CLERUM: ADVICES TO A YOUNG PREACHER.
things had paused that his voice alone might be heard;
he never touches the sin, the sorrow, and the poverty
of common human life, - he makes us feel that we live
in a temple, and that we are encircled by Divinity.
Of this kind of devotion Theodore Parker presents a
distinguished illustration; for example:" A greater revelation than this of Thyself hast
Thou made in Thy still small voice, which whispers in
our soul that all this magnificence is but a drop of
Thee, yea a little sparklet that has fallen from  Thy
presence, Thou Central Fire and Radiant Light of all.
We know that these outward things are but a sparkle
of Thy power, a whisper of Thy wisdom, a faint breath
of Thy loving-kindness."  Once more: " Father, we
thank Thee for the world about us, above, and beneath.
We bless Thee for the austere loveliness of the winter
heavens, for those fixed or wandering fires which lend
their splendor to the night, for the fringe of beauty
wherewith Thou borderest the morning and the evening
sky, and for this daily sun sending his roseate flush of
light across the white and wintry world."  Again:
"We thank Thee for the exceeding beauty of this
wintry day, we bless Thee for the ever-welcome countenance of the sun, so sweetly looking down upon our
northern land, and bidding winter flee. We thank
Thee for the moon which scarfs with loveliness the
retreating shoulders of the night, and for all the wondrous majesty of stars wherewith Thou hast spangled
the raiment of darkness, giving beauty to the world
when  the sun withdraws his. light."  And finally:
" Father, we thank Thee for this beautiful day which
Thou hast given us, for the glory which walks over our
heads through the sky, for the pleasing alternation of
light and shade, and all the gorgeous beauty wherewith
Thou clothest the summer in her strength, making her
lovely to the eyes of men. Father, we thank Thee that
Thou never failest to Thy world, but sheddest dew on
meadows newly mown, and rainest down.Thine inspira



THE MINISTER IN THE PULPIT.         107
tion from  the clouds of heaven on every little grass
and every mighty tree. Father, we thank Thee that
Thou feedest and carest for all, Thy creatures, the
motes that people the sunbeams, and the sparrows
which fall not to the ground but by Thy providence,
protecting with Thy hand the wandering birds of summer and the wandering stars of heaven, holding them
all in the golden leash of Thy love, and blessing everything which Thou hast made."  Now all this is very
beautiful; but is it devotional? Is it not rhetoric
rather than religion, or'religion which never gets above
rhetoric?  In my opinion, all this could have been
more appropriately said in an essay than in a prayer:
it is adapted to the human ear; and probably it could
not have been heard without drawing men to praise
and magnify the" Great King above all gods."  Mr.
Parker could be more simple in prayer, and more
human in his petitions, as for example: " We remember before Thee the sorrows with which Thou triest us,
how often we stoop us at the bitter waters and fill our
mouths with sadness; and if we dare not thank Thee
for these things, if we know not how to pray Thee
about them as we ought, we yet thank Thee that we
are sure that in all these things Thou meanest us good,
and out of these seeming evils still producest good,
making all things work together for the highest acvantage of Thine every child, with whom Thou hast not a
son of perdition and not a single castaway.  We
thank Thee for that home whereunto Thou gatherest the spirits of just men made perfect, and for our
dear ones who have gone thither before us, and bless
Thee that they are still not less near because they are
transfigured with immortal glory, and have passed on
in the road ourselves must also tread."  This- is the
voice of the heart, - how much better than the song of
the fancy! You will find much in the prayers of
HBenry Ward Beecher to suggest trains of devotional
thought; as an example of his simplest and best




108  AD CLERUTJM: ADVICES TO A YOUNG PREACHER.
method of prayer take the following: "If there are
those in Thy presence that by ignorance or heedless
mistakes, who by courses of folly and wickedness in
times past, are suffering severe penalties and trouble,
we pray that they may not spend their time in useless
murmuring, that they may not rebel against the past,
but rather may they take hope of Thee, and with all
their heart turn to the living God, and find in a newness of life that peace which they cannot find in the
present nor in the remembrances of the past; and may
every one have hope in Thee i May none feel that
they are in a state without hope; the most guilty, the
most wicked, those that have sinned longest and deepest and darkest, may they remember that there is a
grace of God in Christ Jesus even to them, to those
afar off as well as to those that are near! Oh, make
Thine atoning mercy and the glory of Thy forgiving
goodness apparent unto every one; and may every one
be able to see that in proportion as they are forgiven,
a.ccording to the magnitude of their iniquity and the
greatness of their transgression, will be the glory
transcending which Thou wilt have if Thou showest
mercy unto them; and while we doubt ourselves, and
while we may distrust one another, and while at times
all things seem unstable and unsatisfactory, oh save us
from that last and worst disaster, — distrusting Thee.
May our faith in God be immutable; and even when
we are so guilty that we cannot look up, at least may
we be able to bow the head, to smite upon our breast,
and say,' God, be merciful to us sinners.' And if we
dare not sit by Thee in Thy throne, if we dare not
come to Thee as children to the knees of their parents,
and look up, at least may we sit down at Thy feet, and
find there that we are sitting at the feet of a Redeemer,
pitying, gentle, forgiving, all succoring. We pray
that none may be discouraged; may every one accept
his life-work; may every one, undismayed and undaunted, go forward from good to bQtter, from strength




THE MINISTER IN THE PULPIT.        109
to strength. We beseech of Thee that Thou wilt make us
useful; while we are seeking for our own growth, may
we not treasure up strength gained, or experiences, or
joys, for our own selfish using; but as we receive so may
we give. May our whole life be a life of seed-sowing;
may our life be a work for God and for man."
The use of what is termed " free prayer" may easily
degenerate into the most pitiable barrenness and even
into the most shocking absurdity. It requires the
utmost discipline, the coolest self-possession, and the
highest spirituality both of perception and feeling.
To express the wants of the multitude, to interpret the
common condition of the human family, to condense
within one brief petition all that is most urgent, and
to do all this with appropriate reverence and simplicity,
is not within the reach of indolence or insensibility.
There must be forethought, preparation, and consequent steadiness of mind and fulness of heart. Among
the faults which you should strive to avoid are the
following: -
1. Doctrinalism. - In your public prayer you should
not take occasion to state or argue your theological
opinions.  Why should you tell man, in language
ostensibly intended for God, why you are a Calvinist
rather than an Arminian? Or why should you set up
in your prayers a Trinitarian argument in opposition
to the Unitarian theology?  In a few minultes you will
have an opportunity of discussing your doctrines in
your sermon; why be so eager to drag them into your
prayer?  Have you no sin to confess, no mercy to
implore, no praise to render, no blessings to crave,
that you should turn polemic on your knees, and
defender of the faith with your eyes shut? Your heart
will have forgotten itself when your tongue becomes
controversial in prayer, and it will be no wonder if
God turn away from you as if His ear were heavy that
it could not hear. How unprofitable, too, is such an
exercise to the poor, the sorrowing, and the contrite!




110  AD CLERUM: ADVICES TO A YOUNG PREACHER.
They feel that the prayer lies remote from their experience, and so it becomes to them  an unknown and
unprofitable tongue; they would recognize with instant
thankfulness the voice which expressed feelings which
they themselves could never put into language, and
would feel as if God had sent an interpreter to their
aid. The heart responds to the voice which takes its
tone from the common experience of the world; but
it is silent under the barren words of a sectarian
argument.
2. Personality. - Your office-bearers may have outvoted you upon a debated question; one of the seatholders has offended your wife; a Sunday-school
teacher has called your authority in question; under
these circumstances what a temptation there is to pray
at the miserable offenders! How sweet to remember
them in one condemfinatory sentence  How justto brand
them with one fiery commination! Or there is another
plan: you may make yourself a martyr in prayer; you
can adopt a whining tone of resignation; you can
show the unhealed wounds of your suffering heart, and
refer to them as if they were received and endured in a
very becoming spirit; you can pray for your enemies
with such desperate magnanimity as to create the suspicion that you would behead every one of them if a
fair opportunity ever occurred; and thus by the very
excess of your saintliness you may show how far you
are from the kingdom of heaven. Never, never pray at
your congregation, - that would be profaning the altar.
It is even worse to pray at a mai than to preach at
him: both are bad,- the first unpardonable. When
we go before the Lord, let us go without bitterness or
malice, — how otherwise shall God hear us? Amidst
our remembrances of sin against Himself, have we time
or desire to think resentfully of wrongs which men have
committed against us? Are we ourselves quite unchargeable with social offences? Have we never aimed
a dart that was intended to injure, if not to destroy,




THE MINISTER IN THE PULPIT.           111
our brother?  Think of this, and never make profanity
the medium of forgiveness.  On this subject the words
of the late Rev. Edward Parsons are worthy of your
best consideration:    But what shall be said of that
spirit of rancor which so grossly violates the spirit,
and perverts the design, of prayer?  I am ashamed to
reflect upon the angry and vindictive tones in which
somne are apt to address the God of love, whenever
they happen to be offended with man.  Whatever you
may suffer from the scourge of the tongue, or any other
instrument of a persecuting malignity, never let your
sufferings extort from you a word that would savor of
a retaliatory disposition. If we ought not to hint at
private disagreements, disputes, and discords in preaching the gospel of peace, how much more cautious we
should be against this, when we publicly supplicate the
throne of grace! The man who can be so overcome by
an evil temper as to'pray at' those who displease him,
is guilty of contemptible meanness and, disgusting
impiety."
3. Favoritism. - There is a very subtle temptation,
in this direction.  When we pray in a rich man's
family, how affectionate we are apt to be! " Bless
Thy dear and honored servant; we thank Thee for all
Thou hast done for him and by him, and we affectionately and earnestly commend him  to Thy blessing;
spare his vcaluable life, and may he and Thy dear handmciden enjoy much of Thy presence; we bless Thee
that their praise is in all the churches, and that all who
know them love them for their Christiacn worth."  You
have heard such words?  So have I, and been disgusted with them.  Our prayer for the poor man has
often been much shorter; we have seldom  thought of
him as God's dear servant, we have named him as a
stranger in God's household, and barely admitted that
God might care for him.  Oh, shameful partiality,miserable truckling to gold! But it is not prayer; it
is talk that never goes toward heaven, hypocrisy which




112  AD CLERUM: ADVICES TO A YOUNG PREACHER.
delights the bad angels.  Sir, remember that God is
a Spirit, that He searches the heart, and that His
poorest child is as a prince in His sight; and if ever
you are tempted to dismiss the poor man's case with
one cold word, may you be convinced of sin before you
rise from your knees! When you pray for rich or
poor, be it without partiality and without hypocrisy!
4. Secularity. - Many prayers relate almost exclusively to daily blessings, religious institutions, political
affairs, passing events, and works of charity. These
are not to be forgotten, yet surely they should not
occupy the foremost place in supplication.  Study to
give spirituality to your prayers; pray for enlightenment of mind, obedience of will, and sanctification of
heart; send out your soul in quest of the living God,
and cry mightily for Him, until He draw near and
make Himself known by His brightness and inspiration.
Pray much for the Holy Ghost; from some prayers one
might question that the church had ever " so much as
heard whether there be any Holy Ghost" (Acts xix. 2),
so low are they in tone and so limited in request. We
forget that this is the age of the Spirit; the visible
Christ has ascended into the heavenly place to appear
for us before God; miracle and marvellous sign have
been withdrawn; and now we live in the Holy Ghost,
and He lives in us as temples which Christ has built.
The Holy Ghost is the all-inclusive blessing; to have
Him is to have life and love and comfort: pray therefore for the Holy Ghost; with this great petition as a
groundwork, you may traverse the whole circle of
human need; without it your most elaborate prayer will
be earthly, barren, and heathenish, - worthy of a pagan
altar.
Some advisers would caution you against length in
prayer; for my own part I hesitate to do so. What
are long prayers? The length of a prayer ought not,
in my opinion, to be measured by time. A prayer of a
dozen sentences may be long, a prayer occupying an




THE MINISTER IN THE PULPIT.         113
hour may be short. Everything depends upon the
spirit, the range, the appropriateness, and the purpose
of the prayer. I have heard some prayers which I
could have wished to go on for ever,-so wise, so
tender, so deeply experimental, and so earnest were
they; under their influence one felt that God was nigh
at hand, and longed that He might' abide with us."
On the other hand, I have felt constrained more frequently to sympathize with Whitefield when he said to
a tiresome man, "' Sir, you prayed me into a good
frame, and then you prayed me out of it."  As a
general rule, I should urge you to study brevity; but
there are times of spiritual enlightenment and quickening when you must abandon all technical rules, and
give yourself up to the inspiration of the Holy Ghost.
Above all things be earnest in prayer; mean what you
say, and God will not leave you without a token of
love; remember the words of Brooks, spoken two hundred years ago, but true forever:'" It is only fervent
prayer that is effectual prayer; it is only the working
prayer that works wonders in heaven, and that brings
down wonderful assurance into the heart. Cold prayers
shall never have any warm answers. God- will suit His
returns to our requests; lifeless services shall have lifeless answers. When men are dull, God will be dumb."
Something has been said about preparation for
prayer. I never wrote a prayer for public use, and
never committed a prayer or so much as a sentence of a
prayer to memory, with a view to its being recited in
the pulpit; at the same time I have enjoyed the exercise of writing prayers, and have derived spiritual
advantage from it. Three of such prayers are now
before me, and as they will illustrate my meaning better
than any description I can give of them, I subjoin them
for your perusal:Almighty God, our hearts have longed for Thee with
unquenchable desire; even as the hart panteth for the
8




114  AD CLERUM: ADVICES TO A YOUNG PREACHER.
waterbrook, have we panted for the living God. There
is no fountain in all the earth which can cool our burning; Abana and Pharpar cannot cleanse us, nor can all
the waters in Israel take away our leprosy. We only
know ourselves as we know Thee; out of Thy presence
all is darkness, but when Thou art shining upon us,
every feature of our life is made beautiful. Thou wilt
give us more life, so that we shall grow away from the
littleness of our spiritual infancy, and come to great
stature and power in Jesus Christ. Hast Thou not exhorted us to grow in grace?  And as Thou dost send
down the rain and the snow from heaven, and pour the
light of the sun upon the earth, that it may be covered
with fruitfulness, so Thou wilt give us all help in this
growth to which Thou hast called us, until we attain
Thine own idea of perfectness. We have trembled
under our Saviour's command to be perfect as Thou art
perfect; it seemed to us a hard word, which could only
distress our weakness and lead us to bitter disappointment; it sounded to, us as a challenge to make earth
as large and beautiful as heaven, and when we so regarded it our hearts sank in great fear. Lord God,
our Father, tell us how we can be holy as Thou art
holy! Our foundation is in the dust, and we are
crushed before the moth; how then can we reach the
measure of Thy perfection? Thou art not only holy,
but glorious in holiness; Thy name is holy and reverend, and there is no darkness in Thee. But now we
know wherein we erred when we were made sad by our
Saviour's word; we thought only of our own weakness,
we forgot Thy strength; we looked jn upon our own
poor hearts instead of looking away to the unsearchable riches of Jesus Christ: it is not in Thee to be harsh
with Thy children, Thou dost not strain their power;
therefore do we trust Thee, that in this call to holiness
Thou wilt work mightily in us by Thy Holy Spirit.
It is in our hearts to speak freely to Thee to-day,
and to tarry long before Thee. Though we cannot tell




THE MINISTER IN THE PULPIT.        115
Thee anything, yet we are comforted  exceedingly
whilst we commune with our Father; and in speaking
of our sin and ignorance and shame, we feel as if Thou
wert taking away our old garments, and clothing us
with all.the beauty of king's children. Oh, the sweet
mystery of prayer! Lord, teach us how  to pray.
Open our hearts, that of our own will nothing may
be kept from Thee. Thou hast made our life Thy
care, and brought our feet into a large place. We
remember the littleness of our beginning; how the
scorner contemned us, and the haughty man looked
upon us with disdain, but our secret trust was in God,
and Thou hast crowned our confidence with exceeding
honor. Thou hast made a place for us near the head
stone of the corner, and set us high above many who
prophesied evil of us. Lord, hold Thou us up, and
we shall be safe! Sometimes our feet have well-nigh
slipped in secret places, and whilst men thought we
were good our own spirits smote us with many a memory of distrust and inconstancy and hidden sin. We
shudder as we recall the narrowness of our escapes;
yet they were not narrow, for did not all Thy love
stretch between us and the pit of the enemy? Were
not all Thy angels near us, in overshadowing and protecting hosts? Wast Thou not our shield and buckler?
Yet we have sinned, and our lips are not worthy to
pronounce Thy name. We mourn over secret sins;
in the depths of our hearts we have had thoughts which
have afflicted us with much pain; our words have not
always been sincere to our fellow-men; the importunity
of our own interests has often put to silence the heavenly voice; we have sometimes secured ease at a
heavy cost of conviction and duty; we have dallied
with the tempter, and have borne a faltering testimony
when we might have spoken the word of truth boldly.
What is our hope?  It is still in Jesus Christ; His
blood cleanseth from all sin; wash us, and we shall be
whiter than snow; hide Thy face from our sins, and




116  AD CLERUM: ADVICES TO A YOUNG PREACHER.
blot out all our iniquities. O Lord, have mercy upon
us!
We will speak aloud of our joys, for they are many
and great. The world itself has become a new place
to us since we knew Jesus Christ. Thou hast given us
the spirit of interpretation, so that all things have
meaning to us which aforetime seemed to have no place
in Thy ministry. The earth has become to us our
Father's house, and all the hosts of heaven speak to us
in Thy name; we see all living creatures around Thy
table, they all wait upon Thee, Thou givest them their
meat in due season. We thank Thee for our own daily
bread; when Thou dost break it for us it becomes more
than equal to all our hunger. What shall we say then
of Thine unspeakable Gift?  Thou hast not withheld
from us the Son of Thy love; Thou hast set the treasure of Thine heart before us. At first we did not know
Him; we thought He was without form and comeliness, and there was no beauty in Him to awaken our
desire; we regarded Him  as an intrusion and an
offence, and gave our consent that He should be put to
death. But now our best praise is too poor for I-Him;
our hearts leap for joy; and though we look at Him
through the mingled tears of penitence and thankfulness, we see His heavenly beauty. We need not that
men should tell us& that IHe is God, for we have proved
His Godhead by His work in our lives; we judge Him
no more by the testimony of the letter; we know Him
by our transfigured and sanctified love, and His claims
are upheld by the joyful and never-silent witness of
our hearts. We thank Thee, that being delivered from
the bondage of the letter, we have yet come to see in
the letter itself beauties which had long escaped us, so
Thy testament in Christ Jesus is verily new to us day
by day, and while the Godhead of Thy Son rises
beyond all our thought and draws after it the wings of
our prayer, yet His pure and gentle manhood covers
the, whole breadth of our lives with the sympathy and




THE MINISTER IN THE PULPIT.        117
protection of loving brotherliness. We would that all
men might know Jesus Christ as we know Him; that
they might lay hold upon Him as their Saviour, and
feel how good it is to begin their lives from His
redeeming cross. Hear us on their behalf!
Look upon us as a congregation, and let Thy look
be love.  May the ministry of this house be baptized
as with fire, and may its whole organization work out
the highest ends. Bless all the churches round about
us, by what name soever known amongst men; and
through the united instrumentality of all Thy people,
may Jesus Christ's kingdom be established speedily.
As for our country, may Thy power be its defence.
God save the Queen. We thank Thee for all the gentle womanliness which she has displayed, and we commend her to Thy blessing, 0 King of kings; may her
children be Thy children; and may the God of the
families of the earth be the portion of her household.
This is our prayer; Lord, answer us in peace.
Almighty God, though Thou art unsearchable, yet
in Jesus Christ we have seen the brightness of Thy
face. We have long sought for Thee, but Thou didst
not come closely to us in all the works of Thy hands;
we said, Surely we shall find God in the light, and His
face will shine upon us through the congregation of the
stars; we have gone forward but Thou wast not there,
backward but we could not perceive Thee, on the left
hand where Thou dost work, but we could not behold
Thee, Thou didst hide Thyself on the right hand, so
that our eye could not see Thee. We heard that Thy
way was in the sea and Thy path in the great waters,
but in all the floods we did not hear the voice for which
our hearts longed in sadness.  We have wandered
wearily through the temple of Nature, but it was a
chamber in which there was no light; we have watched
all the seasons, yet they have been to us only as the
beautiful garments of an unknown guest. All this has




118  AD CLERUM: ADVICES TO A YOUNG PREACHER.
often made our heart ache, and destroyed the balance
of our thoughts; we have felt very lonely, and sometimes in our sorrow we have wished to die. This morning we glorify Thee that Jesus Christ has satisfied all
our hunger and thirst, and has given rest to eyes tired
with long watching; Thine only-begotten Son, who
dwelt from  unbeginning time in the bosom  of His
Father, has risen upon us as the dayspring from on
high; and our hearts are sufficed. We thank Thee for
His human form, because it brings Him so near us;
and we thank Thee for His great sorrows, because their
recollection often lifts us above our own griefs. Truly
Thou didst in Jesus Christ give us an unspeakable
gift; we can sooner stretch a line upon the foundations
of the earth, and comprehend the dust of the earth in
a measure, than find out the length and breadth, the
depth and height of Thy love which passeth understanding. Why didst Thou so enrich us with all this love?
Surely we had destroyed our beauty and perverted all
the comeliness of Thine image, and all our dignity had
been thrown down into the dust and covered with
shameful dishonor; yet Thou didst come after us as if
Thy heart was troubled by our absence, and Thou
didst eall us with a voice that was made tremulous by
anxiety, so tender and overflowing was Thy love.
Feeling our own poverty and littleness, we have often
wondered how Thou couldst love us so much; why
didst Thou not throw us into a pit of forgetfulness,
and call around Thee the unfallen children of light, and
throne Thyself above their adoring praises?  Surely
Thou hast purposed a great destiny for us, and in ages
to come we shall know somewhat of the meaning of
onr amazing redemption: we confine our view within
the dying day, and are lost in troubled wonder; but
when we lay hold of our immortality in Jesus Christ,
and think of the revelations which Thou hast yet in
store for us, we are made strong and glad by a great
hope.




THE MINISTER IN TIE PULPIT.           119
-To-day we are once more sheltered in Thy holy
house, sand in our hearts there is a calm.  We are as
men who have escaped from sore toil, and come suddenly to a sweet resting-place; round about us there is
a light above the brightness of the sun, and the air is
rich with reviving odors; surely God is in this place,
and His hand is opened to give us gifts.  We bring but
a poor presence to Thy throne, and we might feel out
of place when we think how many and how pure are
the suppliants now gathered around Thee; the marks
of the ravenous beast are upon us, we are quite without strength or beauty, and all that we can speak of in
ourselves is unworthy of the calling wherewith Thou
hast called us; yet we lift up our heads hopefully
towards Thee because at Thy right hand is seated
Jesus Christ our great High-priest, who has borne
wounds ancd death for us, and who carries us all in the
pain of His crucifixion and in the triumphant power of
His resurrection.  Blessed Jesus, our hearts overflow
with loving thankfulness when we do but touch the ham
of Thy garment, what then shall be our rapture when
we see all Thy beauty and serve forever under Thy
rule in a universe where there is no sin! At present we
have a twilight vision, but we shall yet see the full
day; Thou hast thrown a few spring flowers, we know
not all the riches of the summer that is above; we delight to think that we have seen only the beginning,
that the sabbath and the sanctuary, the book and the
altar, are only as entrances to the palace whose foundations are laid in infinitude and whose top stone is high
beyond all measurement, the palace of the great King!
We are thankful for any suggestion which enlarges the
idea of our destiny, and so calls us to dignity of behavior in the present world: the serpent told us that
we should be as gods, and we believed his lie; but
Thou, blessed and mighty Saviour, hast called us to sit
upon the tihone which Thou dost share with Thy Father,
and our heart's desire is that we may fulfil Thy will.




120  AD CLERUJM: ADVICES TO A YOUNG PREACHER,
Make our present communion very sweet; may our
hearts have rest, and let our minds be filled with the
riches of our Lord: Thou hearest Him alway, and for
His sake Thou wilt incline Thine ear to our prayer.
Amen.
Almighty God, we are glad to be found again in Thy
sanctuary, for our feet are weary and our hearts long
for rest. We have been all the week in the cold world,
and have sighed over its sinfulness and disquietude.
Yet how poor is our estimate of its condition when
compared with Thine! We see only the outside deformity and blemish; but Thine eye searches the
recesses of the corrupt heart, and sees through all the
dark and pestilent chambers of death. There is nothing hid from Thine eye. Our service in the world has
quickened our desire to enter into the praises of Thy
sanctuary, for we have felt as men who sigh in a far-off
land for the sweetness and comfort of home. Now
are we in Thine house, and a sense of safety makes us
glad; we feel that we are in a city of refuge, into which
no manslayer may enter, and where no ravenous beast
may be found. This is our Father's house, and the
enemy has no place in it. Thou dost shut the gate
upon the foe, and he cannot elude Thy watchful eye.
Come, then, and meet us, speak comfortably to our
hearts, and by the infinite tenderness of Thy love rather
than by the alarming thunder of Thy law do Thou bow
down our hearts in the joyful sorrow of penitence. We
do not claim to be better than our fellow-men, for we are
by nature the children of wrath even as others; but if.
there is aught in us well-pleasing to Thy holiness and
love, it has been wrought in us through the brotherliness and priesthood of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom
as unto Thyself we humbly desire to give the adoration and thankfulness due to His Godhead.  Yet
though we are in our Father's house,, we are not altogether at ease, by reason of those whom we have left




THE MINISTER IN THE PULPIT.        121
behind. Our love to Thee fills us with love to men; and
this divinely excited love goes out in sorrowing wonder
and earnest yearning after the wandering and the lost.
How much more does Thy heart go after them! We
are amazed at Thy lingering patience, for we know not
all the depth and tenderness of God's unutterable love.
Yet all our hope is in that long patience, which is
patient above all womanly love and motherly care,
and which would gladly weary out the devices and
temptations of the great enemy. To Thy love and all
the ministry which is centred in Jesus Christ Thou
needest not that we commend all who are not with us
this day. Yet it is in our hearts to pray much for
them, that they may be recovered from the captivity of
Satan.
What shall we say of our own sin?  We cannot
speak of it without shame and confusion of face, especially when we think of all the mercy which Thou hast
shown towards us. Thou hast given us so much that
it would appear as if our very sin could not quench the
fountain of Thy blessing, yet surely this is a foolish
imagining on our part, for we cannot tell how much
Thou canst give if we had but spiritual capacity to receive it. Our iniquities have kept good things from us.
God be merciful to us sinners! We lay our hand upon
the cross, and find all our hope in the blood of Thy Son,
which cleanseth from all sin. Think of us in Jesus
Christ's name, and even yet our sins shall not shut
Thee out. Thou seekest to dwell in us as in a holy temple; come and do so, and be the only Guest in the whole
sanctuary of our love. Thou hast made us for Thyself,
and we mourn that other gods have had dominion over
us; they were unclean and cruel gods, and we would
cast out every sign of their awful presence. While we
are yet speaking of our sin do Thou forgive it, and
though we would not have our sense of its enormity
diminished, we would see Thy love exceeding and overshadowing our great sinfulness. How much hast Thou




122  AD CLERUM: ADVICES TO A YOUNG PREACHER.
already forgiven us! We know not of anly hour in our
whole life that did not need to be purified and brightened by Thy forgiveness, that it might be worthy of a
place in the immortality which is given us in Jesus
Christ. Even now, whilst we are in this Thy house,
let us hear Thee saying that all our sin is cast behind
Thee.
We know not how to tell Thee of our many wants;
our joy is that Thou needest not to be told. As Thy
great waters flood all the beds of the sea, and Thy
rains fall even upon the desert and the rock, and the
light of the sun shines upon all the earth, even more
doth Thy love pour itself. down upon the poverty of
our needy and anxious hearts. We would be wise in
Thy wisdom; we would love more according to the
quality and measure of Thy love; we would:be high
above the world as Thou art, yet ever caring for it, and
helping to make it good; we would partake of Thy
riches, that other men might partake of our bounty.
Thou hast given us ail that has ever been for our good,
every clear idea of truth, every tender emotion towards
human suffering and want, and every aspiration which
has raised us out of the benumbing influences of grovelling pursuits. Nor have we exhausted Thee; Thou
art not a hireling serving an appointed time,'Thou art
the everlasting Father, full of all riches, which Thou
offerest to the children of men; therefore we come
again to the overflowing river of Thy loving-kindness.
We aspire very highly this morning, being encouraged to do so by Thy rich providential mercies.
Thou hast given us the joy of early harvest; and just
as men's hearts were failing them by reason of longcontinued drought, wherein the watersprings did fail
and the rivers shrink from their banks, Thou hast made
a way for the lightning, and through the paths of the
thunder Thou hast poured the cooling and freshening
rain upon the parched fields. Thou hast also showers




THE MINISTER IN THE PULLIT.       123
of blessing for Thy church, yea, even a blessing which
the church has not room enough to contain. Excite in
our hearts intense covetousness for this blessing, that
we may give Thee no rest until Thou hast opened the
windows of heaven. Give us firmer hold of Christ's
truth, and a truer experience of His unspeakable peace;
and may we prove that Thou hast heard us by living
a holy and most heavenly life among men. Father,
Son, and Holy Ghost, receive the praise and trust of
our waiting hearts. Amen.




X.
PUBLISHED  SERMONS.
You may not have heard that we have formed a kind
of ministerial club, which we dignify with the name of
the City Temple Council. I propose, therefore, to make
you acquainted with some of our proceedings, that
you may see with what audacity we sometimes talk of
better men than ourselves, and with what consummate
wisdom we dispose of vexed outstanding questions in
the world of the pulpit. We claim exemption from
every species and degree of obligation; we care nothing for missing links; we rather pride ourselves than
otherwise upon informality and abruptness of speech;
and it is our glory that we dare tell what we think,
under the defiant flag of incorruptible independence.
Our number is purposely small; four talkers and two
dummies are all that we care to have, though scores of
brethren would give almost half their goods to be
allowed to sign their names on the list of the dauntless Six. The two dummies are excellent men; we
keep them to save us from the least appearance of
heterodoxy, and most admirably do they serve the purpose. They cannot truthfully be described as men of
ideas, though we dare not so much as hint at such a
thing in their solemn presence; they have nice, shiny,
round heads, which would instantly make the reputation of any society; and as they never take their black
kid gloves off at the council board, they throw a kind
of other-world  air over proceedings which often
threaten to be much too earthly and boisterous. You
must not imagine that they are literally dumb, -if
they were, how could they be members of a Preachers'
Council? All that is meant is, that they very seldom
124




PUBLISHED SERMONS.              125
speak in the club: their nice bald heads shine at' us;
their well-gloved hands chasten the appearance of the
board; now and again they make a joint rush at some
unusual statement; and this is about all, with the exception of a few sonorous " hear, hears," that they do
in their strictly official capacity as members of the
Preachers' Council.  Yet nothing could tempt us to
part with these excellent dummies, so established and
indisputable is their character as Orthodox theologians; it may be wondered, indeed, how they can meet
with such freebooters as ourselves; but when I tell you
that we give them  more than three-fourths of their
homiletic outlines, you will see that they do not serve
the board for nought, and that they have peculiar
reasons for not meddling with our reputation as sound
divines. The talkers should rather be spoken of as
three than four; because, for reasons best known to
themselves, the brethren asked me to be chairman, and
for the same conclusive reasons I granted their request.   Mr. Washington- (thickly bearded, with a
gentle hazel eye, and a voice which says the boldest
things in the most timid tone) is a prince of high
intellectual and spiritual degree. A truer man never
breathed. Often the shiny round heads are doubtfully
wagged when he is talking some of his grandest things,
yet his words are chosen in wisdom, and his thoughts
are drawn from the well. of life. When he says anything severe, he says it with reluctance and moderation,
and thus actually doubles the force which he intended
to restrain. Next to him usually sits a bright little
brother, who is so prudent yet so sharp, so honest yet
so pricking in his talk, that we have agreed, with his
own genial consent, to know him and speak of him as
the Safety-pin.  He knows nothing of self-control; he
first speaks, then thinks, and concludes the inverted
and vexatious process by assuring the brethren that
what he has said has been in the strictest confidence.
I wonder if he fancies that a wound is any the less




126  AD CLERUMTJ: ADVICES TO A YOUNG PREACHER.
deep because it is inflicted behind a screen!  One
thing is certain, he never agrees with any of us if he
can possibly contradict and defy us; and if ever he is
in danger of thinking as we think, he seems to feel his
condition. acutely.  This unamiability is a special
qualification for membership in a controversial club,
and in that light is regarded by his associates. The
third of the speaking members is Mr. Dolson, — a
brother who has a perfect mania for various readings;
he can never be satisfied until he knows whether
BDKLA agrees with CLM2X, and whether C3D confirms CHL.. Mr. Dolson would be an excellent theologian, if he could so far get over the etymological
difficulty as to convince himself that any one word in
any one language has anything like a definite and sensible meaning. As to the chairman, nothing must be
said; he is the chairman, and is not that enough?  I
shall now proceed to report one of our conversations,
with the hope that you may light upon something
which will be of use to you as a student for the
ministry.
" Seen Binney's new volume of old sermons, any of
you? " Safety-pin inquired. 
~ You have, evidently," one of the dummies actually
said, to the amazement of every member, "or you
could not have described it"; and the shiny round
head beamed brightly.
Yes; we had all seen the volume, and had read most
of it.
" A  capital volume, too," said Mr. Washington,
" and I am glad to have such a memorial of such a
ministry."
" Can't see it," said Safety-pin; " I like Binney as
well as any of you, but it seems to me — though of
course what we say here is said in confidence, that's
understood, I hope -"




PUB3LI-SHED SE:ISMONS.         127
"Thoroughly so," said I, with official promptitude
and emphasis.
" It seems to me," Safety-pin continued, " that Binney's book might have been entitled'Bewildering
Essays, or the Gospel made dark, or the Gospel argued
to death," - the shiny round heads moved rapidly in
sign of contradiction. "Well, brethren may shake
their heads if they please, but that is my opinion. I
can understand the texts, but not the sermons; the
sermons seem to me very much like the attempt of a
wry-mouthed man to blow a candle out, the candle
being the text."
Dolson. "'Whatever do you mean? your figure is
extraordinary."
Safety-in.  " But correct. I mean that the texts
are lights, and that Binney blows them out in a very
laborious manner."  Mr. Washington said, " No, no,"
and the two shiny round heads confirmed his judgment
by vigorous shaking. "But I say it is so," added the
Pin, and the brethren laughed heartily at this unsophisticated assurance.
Mr. Dolson proceeded to attack the Safety-pin by
urging upon him the duty of being critically correct in
expounding a text, and of collating the various readings -
"Tut, man!" the Safety-pin interrupted, "bag o'
moonshine! What do people want with such technical
arguments and cumbrous judicial summaries as some of
you deal in! They make me cry out,'whenever will
the man get done? we know all about that; do get on,
and let us have something to bless our trembling and
anxious life.'"
" Does Mr. Binney not give you the gospel! " Dolson
boldly inquired, amid the repeated -and sonorous " hear,
hears " of the dummies, who spoke both at once.
"Certainly not," said Safety-pin, "that is exactly
what he does not give us "- (the.shiny round heads
nearly shook themselves off); "he talks about the




128  AD CLERUM: ADVICES TO A YOUNG PREACHER.
gospel, he goes round and round the gospel, he makes
hard riddles and problems out of the gospel, but the
gospel itself, in its simplicity and adaptation to human
want, he seldom preaches in this volume."
We all protested warmly against this, and most justly.
The two solid brethren both spoke together, and thus
destroyed the individuality of their testimony, which
seemed to be one of great indignation against the
censorious critic. Mr. Washington strongly resented
the opinion of the Safety-pin, and sharply demanded
what was meant by so libellous a statement.
The Safety-pin was not only unabashed, but rather
proud, for he detested the stagnation of unanimity.
" Gentlemen," said he, vivaciously, "'rage away, and
when you have cooled yourselves I shall tell you what
I mean. Now it so happens that I have the volume with
me; and I shall, if you please, open it at random, and
read a few of the long words and technical expressions
which have led me to infer a want of fervent earnestness on the part of the preacher, and to fear that he has
been, however unconsciously, trying to make an iinportant figure of himself. Now I read at random, and you
may read with me if you like:' limits of human consciousness; piercing intuition; system of natural law;
re-establish the harmony of things; passive impressions; subjective excitements; concentrate the action
of the mysterious force in this subjective process;
revealing the objective faith; would infallibly flow, by
way of necessary effect, from an ever-operating cause;
slender and superficial hypothesis; the hypothesis of
such Divine Persopality; stoppage of the actions of
moral law; an acknowledged philosophical course of
thought; the most perfectly philosophic and satisfactory solution of all the admitted phenomena; philosophical naturalism; revealing the objective- -'"
We all cried stop; the two solid brethren went so far
as to say that by this plan of picking out a word here
and a word there they could make nonsense of any




PUBLISHEiD SERMIONS               129
book in the world; iMr. Dolson said it was shocking;
Mr. Washington, that as a method of criticism  it was
simply ridiculous, an opinion in which the chairman
concurred,
" Very well, gentlemen," said Safety-pin, " you may
misunderstand me if you like, but for your own sakdes
don't run away with the notion that I am  setting this
up as a method of criticism. I am not doing anything
so insane: I mIean to say that Mr. Binney has talked a
kind of semi-philosophical jargon, and that he has
chopped up Christian doctrine into little technicalities,
instead of boldly proclaiming it to sinners as a way of
salvation and to saints as a hope of final sanctity. He
always seems to be talking to people who are either
infidels or scoffers, for every sermon is just like a
pitched battle with foes that are more imaginary than
real."
The shiny round heads were shaken again, and the
face of Mr. Dolson settled into the aspect of despair.
" I am not prepared to deny," said Mr. Washington,
" that, in one view of the matter, there is force in what
Safety-pin has said. There can be no doubt that there
is a strong tendency in Mr. Binney's mind to get round
to the purely intellectual side of every subject, aidc to
discuss his texts as if in the hearing of captious men,
who were mentally contradicting everything he said;
he wants to give reasons for everything, and to ennoble
common sense by assigning it a responsible function in
the sanctuary; he is always anxious to marry Reason
and Faith, and consequently he defies all comers justly
to forbid the banns."
"And is that a commendable way of preaching the
gospel? " Safety-pin inquired.
" As a general rule I should say not," Mr. Washington replied, " and probably Mr. Binney himself would
agree with us; but you must bear in mind that we do
require defenders of the faith, and that their work
is second to none in importance.  Now, Mr. Binney is
9




130  AD CLERU3M: ADVICES TO A YOUNG PREACHER.
distinctively, perhaps above all his brethren, a defender
of the faith; to his own mind Christianity is so eminently recsonable that he becomes almost impatient
with those who hesitate to accept it as such; to Mr.
Binney's mind there seems to be hardly any space at
all between common sense and Christian faith, and he
himself has such a joyful satisfaction in receiving
Christianity through his reason, that he wishes all that
hear him to be as he is."
" But where is there a congregation  made up of
doubters and infidels?" said Safety-pin.
"' True," Mr. Washington replied, " and therefore I
say that as a general rule such preaching would very
likely not be acceptable, because it would  not be
appropriate."
One of the dummies here interposed that " such
preaching would make its own congregation."
"' Precisely so," Mr. Washington continued; "a and
no doubt 3Mr. Binney has had a unique congregation;
probably more sceptics have found their way to his
chapel than to any other chapel in England.  I should
say that'is very likely; and if so, it is very satisfactory."
" He takes nothing for granted, you see," said Mr.
Dolson, " not one thing in the world."
"And there he's wrong," said Safety-pin; "men
don't want to hear a preacher who is eternally prove,
prove, proving, and arguing their very hearts out of
them; it's absurd."
"But is it not better to argue than to declaim?"
one of the dummies softly inquired, in a tone that
sounded like' beg your pardon for speaking! "  The
Safety-pin took no notice of this exciting inquiry, but
after looking quizzically at the questioner turned round
and said, " Now, Mr. Chairman, let us have the pleasure of your opinion."
" Well, gentlemen," said I, ".you have spoken very
frankly on this matter, and I shall not commence the




PUBLISHED SERMONS.             131
game of ambiguity. I have read Mr. Binney's volume
carefully, and I am bound to say that there are three
things which I could not honestly do with it: (1) I
could not put it into the hands of a scoffer, and say
this is Christianity; (2) I could not put it into the
hands of an inquirer, and. say this is the way of salvation; (3) I could not put it into the hands of a student, and say this is the method of sermonizing which
I advise you to adopt. On the other hand, there are
three things which I could most sincerely and cordially
do with it: (1) I could put it into the hands of a
scoffer, and say, see how the strongest-minded men
adore what you deride  (2) I could put it into the
hands of an inquirer, and say, Keep this book to read
when your mind is in the best condition for studying
Divine truth; and (3) I could put it into the hands of
any student, and say, Learn from this how to labor in
composing a sermon. I can't deny that in attempting
to form an impartial judgment of this book I have considerable difficulty. This difficulty arises partly from
my admiration of the man. I cannot keep Mr. Binney himself quite out of view; I see him and hear
him, and instead of helping the reading, this rather
spoils it, because M3r. Binney cannot be printed;
all the way through I say,' Where's the illuminating
smile? Where is the bold, clear tone? Where is the
explanatory shrug? Where is the keen steady glance?'
And this kind of feeling damages the book. I feel,
even when my fancy is most vivid, that after all I am
only sitting behind the preacher, and I want to go
round and look him in the face."  I paused a moment.
"After all," said Mr. Washington, " what we want
most is preaching that goes directly to the life of our
hearers; we have but a short time to preach, and they
but a short time to hear, so our words should aim
always at the one ppint of saving the souls of them
that hear us."
"But ought not our ministry to be colored by the
times in which we live?"




132  AD CLERUTJM  ADVICES TO A YOUNG PREACHER.
" To some extent, Mr. Dolson; yet I confess if I
had my ministry to begin again, I should not pay so
much attention in the pulpit to passing controversies
as I have done.  I should preach with greater clearness and fulness the doctrine of the Cross, for that, I
am persuaded, is the doctrine that best meets the whole
difficulty of life, —it is the answer of love to the
problem of sin, and when men get hold of it they are
unspeakably glad; and  as to  our criticism  upon
brethren in the ministry, we should be very careful not
to inflict the slightest injury on their reputation, and
specially not to inflict the slightest injury on their
feelings -"'"Fair criticism is quite allowable, you know," Safety-pin defensively interposed.
" I allow that; and so long as it is confined amongst
brethren, it may do good. Even fault-finding may be
educational; what I insist on is, that we should honor
our brethren in our general conversation with the public, and so help to strengthen and extend their influence."
The two dummies openly applauded this view of the
case; the Safety-pin was silent.
" Gentlemen," said I, "Mr. Washington has said
for me all that I could have wished to say for myself.
I do think that criticism may be made advantageous,
as I trust in our own case it will prove to be. At the
same time it may become an infinite vexation and
nuisance, and when it becomes derisive of good men, it
must be a grievous offence in the sight of God. We
have been speaking to-day of brethren [we had spoken
of others whose names are withheld] who have most
conspicuous and influential talents, and whose work in
the church is valuable beyond calculation; no doubt,
they themselves would gladly increase their adaptation
to services which some of us can render with comparative ease; and we, on the other hand, would be glad
to possess qualities by which those brethren are so




PUBLISHED SERMONS.             133
highly distinguished. We belong to one another, we
cannot do without one another, and therefore we should
magnify and honor one another. Gentlemen, with
these just sentiments, allow me to dismiss you to your
several engagements."  So saying, I left the chair amid
the subdued applause of my honest fellow-councillors.
In concluding this chapter, I cannot but feel that
some good may be done by the interlocutory method of
criticism. A reviewer may find it difficult to put all his
objections and all his commendations in his own name;
he may feel that some expression of adverse opinion is
needful, and yet may shrink from the responsibility of
giving that opinion as distinctively his own; it may be
an opinion pretty widely entertained, and there may be
considerable force in it; at the same time the reviewer
may be unwilling to have it charged directly and exclusively upon himself personally.  The interlocutory
method may be so adapted as to give a very impartial
and complete view of any book; there may be such a
successful blending of animadversion and commendation as to secure for the reader a good general idea of
the merits of the work under review. I think, too, that
some advantage may be derived by authors from such
remarks as are made by a man like Safety-pin: he is,
indeed, often reckless, and generally destitute of regard
for the feelings of any writer, yet his exaggeration will
not deprive his criticisms of the value which undoubtedly belongs to them, whilst it will protect the feeling
which would be lacerated by a cooler attack.  Mr.
Bimney himself will smile at the manner in which Safetypin lays hold of his noble volume, yet Mr. Binney will
consider whether in the next edition he will not insert
a sermon or two which will show that his genius in
argument is fully equalled by his power of pathos. Better still, Mr. Binney may be led to see the necessity of
preparing a second volume of discourses,-sympathetic,




134  AD CLERUM: ADVICES TO A YOUNG PREACHER.
consolatory, and affirmatively (not controversially)
evangelical. Mr. Binney's first volume will be prized
in the college and in the study; Mr. Binney's second
volume will be a favorite in the retreat of weakness,
sorrow, and penitence. I cannot allow this chapter to
leave my hands until I have expressed my sorrow that
at length Mr. Binney has felt himself called upon to
relinquish, to a very large extent, the great pastoral
responsibilities which for more than forty years he has
sustained in the city of London. He has done a work
which can never be forgotten. I cannot but think it a
happy coincidence that the place will be removed as well
as the man. A feeble succession in the Weigh House
pastorate would be intolerable; better that the pulpit
and the preacher should go down together, leaving a
memory which men will " never willingly let die."




XII.
SUBURBANISM.
A SUBURBAN pastorate! my friend Mr. Washington,
though too robust to be unsettled by idle fancies, or
seduced into self-indulgence by morbid sentiment, had
sighed for such a pastorate as a happy release from the
clouded and restless city in which he had ministered
for twenty years. IHe longed to escape from  thetumult
and roar of crowded thoroughfares, and to enjoy the
silence and contemplativeness of country life, - specially of country life on Suncdays, when the quiet of rural
scenery is hushed into a deeper calm, and made to harmonize with the peaceful joy which trembles in the good
man's heart. I did not wonder at his passion for the
country, because he had the trained ear which quickly
hears the going of God in the paths of nature, and the
penetrating eye'which sees more than the mere letters
which are written on the earth and sky. God had made
him a deep interpreter of natural signs, and given him
that enriching gift of amplification and ideal development by which poets are able to make for themselves
new heavens and a new earth. I-e walked as a free
man in the most charming haunts of nature; he knew
the voices of the birds, and was familiar with the names
of many trees and plants; like an ardent lover, he never
tired of the sunny scene, and long after phlegmatic
observers had exhausted its attractions some new blush
caught his watchful eyes, or some winged minstrel
detained him to listen to a wordless song. That such
a man had a desire for a suburban pastorate is easily
imnaginable, and therefore, though too reverent' to force
the gate which separated him from the enchanting land,
Mr. Washington would gladly have assisted a higher
135




136  AD CLERUM: ADVICES TO A YOTG PREACHER.
hand than his own in opening it. To a fancy so fertile
as his, there were many urgent allurements: the church
on the hill-side, happy families trooping from all directions to the house of the One Father; the book of revelation illustrated by the book of nature; opportunity
for self-introversion; and that refinement of spiritual
education which to some men is almost impossible amid
scenes which incessantly strain their activities;- all
these things charmed and tempted him, and at length
brought him into bondage. Why not? Is it not hard
for the poetic mind to dismiss the idea of an intermediate heaven, - a quiet and sunny place just on the
border-land, lying between the great Shadow and the
greater Light? To such a mind it seems a long way to
heaven from the thronged streets through which Mammon drives its sweltering votaries, and but a step from
the flowery and fragrant landscape to the City of peace.
So it appeared to Matthew Washington, and he desired
its realization, though he had not lost one impulse of
his generous humanity; his pitying heart had not been
chilled or shrivelled.  So sure was I of this, that I had
a deep conviction that he would carry with him all his
city memories, and. that they would very probably add
a thorn or two to the tempting rose which he was so
eager to pluck.
In talking over his experiences in a suburban pastorate, Mr. Washington gave me a little insight into that
intermediate heaven of which he had been dreaming
for many a day; and as it is quite lawful to utter everything I heard about that murky and deceitful sky, I shall
take the public into my confidence, and interpret the
vision of a few kindred dreamers.
Mr. Washington told me that he never knew what
respectability was until he saw it in the suburbs. He
had been accustomed to its presence in the city, doing
its business, eating its public dinner, buying its pennyworth of literature, and pleasantly mixing with all the
varieties of personality and costume which go to the




SUBURBANISM.                137
making up of a city crowd. This was quite familiar to
him. But when he saw respectability away from  its
mixed and softening surroundings, when its decorations
were prominently displayed, and it seemed to have
written out its claims after the manner of a bill of particulars, he told me that his first sensation was that of
intense coldness, -he shivered as if a hand of ice had
suddenly touched him, and looked round for the old
kind friendships which had often made him glow with
love to the whole world. When the broadcloth, the
kid gloves, the jewelry, and fancy decorations are more
prominent than the man; when the shell is exaggerated
to a maximum, and the soul is confined to a small dark
corner; it is not to be wondered at that guileless
and earnest men are conscious of a change of climate
which threatens their very existence.  No respectability of culture, of nobleness, of benevolence, could have
been too refined or too conspicuous for Matthew Washington; he would never have complained of this; he
would rather have revelled and gloried in it with
exceeding appreciation and thankfulness.  But when
respectability  exhausted- itself  in  cabinet-making,
upholstery, and tailoring, he shrunk from it as from an
effigy which he had mistaken for a living friend.  In
the suburb which Mr. Washington had chosen as the
scene of his ministry, there were forests of mahogany,
whole potteries of elegant ware, and nearly every house
had a fancy bazaar of its own. To his unconventional
mind it seemed that there must be quite a dearth of
household articles in the rest of the world, and that his
suburb had laid itself open to a just charge of voracious
and heartless monopoly. The influence of this oppressive respectability was felt everywhere, - on the road,
in the house, at school, but specially and cruelly in the
sanctuary. Mr. Washington was very earnest in his
manner of speaking about this; it was the chief difficulty of his pastorate, and he chafed under it without
any attempt to conceal his pain. He felt that he was




138  AD CLERUM: ADVICES TO A YOUNG PREACHER.
expected to determine his sermons by the local standard of respectability; he was to preach quite as much
to the mahogany as to the men;  he was to think
of the Turkey carpets in his exposition, and to remember the porcelain in his peroration; the idol was constantly before him, clipping the wings of his fancy,
cooling the fervor of his passion, and whispering with
cold breath, " Sir, look at me, and mind your manners!"  To a man of Washington's make, this was
intolerable; he suffered patiently for a while, but at
last the soul made a way for itself, and delivered a
startling and burning testimony.  The earnest witness
had of course to reap the consequences of his temerity;
several seat-holders protested, a few besought him to
return  to  his "beautiful" sermons, and an indignant boarding-school abandoned the desecrated place
forever. Were they not right?  Is it a proper thing
to let loose a whirlwind upon a genteel suburb? Is it
becoming or agreeable to thunder the terrors of the
Lord in the hearing of rate-payers who keep three servants each, and sneer at every house which has less
than four rooms on the ground floor?  Here was Mr.
Washington's error, in not discriminating between the
rough and worthless creatures who occupy the ungainly
city, and the genteel and peerless lives that keep up
the respectability of the nation.  His hearers required
doctrine without controversy, a lavish interspersion of
rhyming couplets, and a loving assurance that, whatever became of the rest of the world, they themselves
only wanted wings to become beautiful and happy as
angels. This would have met their modest expectations,
and secured their well-regulated applause.  Instead of
this, their bold and ardent pastor committec the unpardonable  impertinence  of metaphorically  dismissing
their coachmen, setting fire to their mahogany, sending
back their ornaments to the goldsmith, and talking to
their souls the pure and revolutionary language of the
gospel. This "sort of thing" would have done admi



SUBURBANISM.                139
rably for the people who spend their Sundays under the
city cloud, but was insufferable to the human nature
that kept gigs, and formed intelligent opinions upon
the prevailing fashions. When human nature keeps a
gig, and is sufficiently refined to discriminate between
one perfume and another, it is only proper that its theology should be at least abreast of its civilization. The
ten commandments must subdue their tone, the sermon
on the mount ihust be republished with emendations of
every alternate sentence, and the New Testament must
be bound in vellum, and so arranged that it opens
most easily at the precious promises. Let this be done,
anld the world will enter into rest. The Dean of Canterbury, in the year of grace 1869, asked, " Why is not
an attempt made to get rid of religion?" and the bold
interrogator added, " Men of the world must find it a
great plague. It robs them of one day in the week, as
far as outward business is concerned. It obliges them
to submit to, and bear part in, a great deal of what
they must feel to be atrocious humbug." Let the Dean
talk the matter over with Mr. Washington, and perhaps
he will learn that in some suburbs " religion " has been
most genteelly entombed, and that a guard has been
set lest any of its fanatical believers should attempt to
take it away. Men' get rid of religion " more respectably by chloroform than by a poleaxe.
Pedantic respectability was not the only difficulty
with which Mr. Washington had to contend. Alongside of it, so to speak, there stood a grim opponent,
properly called Sciolism. Every one in the congregation seemed to know a little about some out-of-the-way
subject; not one had drunk deeply at the Pierian spring,
but all had tasted its delicious waters. Mr. Washington's church became like an incipient university, wanting nothing but genius and learning to make it almost
moderately respectable. Every household  had  its
hobby, and every child felt himself at liberty to put Mr.
Washington through " the larger catechism with proofs."




140  AD CLERUM: ADVICES TO A YOUNG PREACHER.
Mr. Washington thus came by some strange experiences, not without instruction to the rising ministry.
One family, for example, proud of a garden thirteen
feet by seven, had undertaken the study of botany, and
had duly classified a guinea's worth of plants into
Phanerogameae and Cryptogameae. Mr. Washington
amiably admired the happy distribution, and thought
he was coming off with flying colors, when a young
lady, in her thirteenth year, utterly humbled him by
asking whether the Primula farinosa belonged to the
epiphytic or parasitic series of plants? Of course the
young lady herself knew, and of course her heart struggled between pity and contempt as she looked upon
her uncultivated and plebeian pastor.  The famous
" schoolboy" tc whom Lord Macaulay so often and so
flatteringly refers (unklnown, however, to all the world
except the omnivorous baron himself), would have
instantly answered the trifling question off book, but
the unmannerly Washington bluntly replied that he
knew nothing about it. The blunder had serious consequences, -the young lady could never comfortably
place herself under the guidance of so ignorant a pastor.
Another family had taken up the science of geology
with consuming ardor. The importance of a knowledge
of the structure of the earth was paramount: no man
was fit to live who was not deeply versed in paleontology and mineralogy, or who did not know the difference between an argillaceous rock and a mammaliferous crag. This was the noble creed of the amateur
geologists; from morning till night their inspiring talk
was about fossils, specimens, and remains; every mantelpiece in the house bore some sign of felspars, hornblendes, mioas, and zeolites; every child who;had
escaped long clothes had heard something of lamination, interstratification, and lateral variation; the proud
parents, blinded by the dazzling genius of their offspring, glowed with admiring and speechless love as
they heard their youngest son expatiate upon the con



SUBURBANISM.                 141
temporaneity of beds, and the distinction between anticlinal and synclinal curves. Poor Mr. Washington
was " nowhere" on this deep subject; but he little
knew the blankness and culpability of his ignorance,
until a youngster, in the act of finishing a muffin, asked
him if he could tell when the Jurassic period ended and
the Cretaceous period began. The union of such splendid intellect with so ordinary and useful an accomplishment, while it intoxicated the parents with. delight,
filled the pastor with humiliating dismay. Other families had their favorite pursuits,- astronomy, ethnology,
history, chemistry, and even ontology in all its abysmal profundity and hazy amplitude; but the most
conspicuous instance of scientific devotion was represented by a little company of three families, numbering
on an average six members each, associated for the
purpose of studying music. As the improvement of
congregational psalmody was one of the subordinate
objects of the association, Mr. Washington was occasionally invited to attend the meetings.  My reverend
friend was so6n distracted by subtle discussions about
dispersed harmony, dominant sevenths, and the percussion of dissonances, - the last being forcibly illustrated by two eloquent ladies.  Mr. Washington was,'of course, delighted with the rare accomplishments of
his people.  He said so; said so with hearty and generous emphasis; said so again and again, as if he had
nothing else to say; his only wonder was that with
eighteen such brilliant singers in his comparatively
small congregation, the singing was not of a higher
type; though he was bound to acknowledge, in common fairness, that since the association was founded, he
had heard of several of its eighteen members singing a
common metre tune or two in a genteelly mumbling sort
of style so perfectly scientific and refined that not a soul
could hear them at the distance of more than four inches.
With all this pedantic respectability, and still more
pedantic sciolism, there was, of course, a good deal




142  AD CLERUM: ADVICES TO A YOUNG PREACHER.
that was unnatural in the spirit and habits of the
people. Everything was done by rule; everybody was
secretly endeavoring to find out " the correct thing,"
and was determined to do it, whatever pain it might
involve. To have made a morning call before three
o'clock would have degraded the caste of the oldest
inhabitant; to have shaken, with anything like corciality, the hand of the most intimate friend, would
have damaged the most established reputation; and to
have laughed heartily, would have blighted the fairest
prospects of life.  It was of course forbidden that
anything even remotely approaching surprise should
be expressed; a comet was to be looked at in a most
composed manner, a total eclipse of the sun was to be
regarded as a commonplace affair, no notice was to be
taken of so trifling an event as an earthquake; and
as for shipwrecks, railway collisions, and colliery explosions, to have so much as named them, would have
plunged the excited newsmonger into the depths of
vulgarity. This frigidity chilled Mr. Washington to
the core; it chilled his sermons; and, worst of all, it
chilled his prayers, — those great prayers, so rich, so
simple, so wise! He still had the solace of God's fair
field of nature, and he enjoyed it to the full. Early in
the morning he worshipped in the waving woods, and
carried forward the sweet song of birds to a higher devotion; great nature was kind to him as a welcoming
mother, opening many a hidden door to his appreciative eyes, and adding many a modest and pleasant
acquaintance to the long list of his quiet friendships
within the circle of the wood.  As a thinker who
worked rather from the spiritual centre than from the
base of information, his field rambles were very helpful
to him: his mind was quieted and toned by the most
potent yet gentle influences, and he gathered in those
lonely rambles the vivid and truthful images which
give to his writings the living charm which allures the
busiest reader to their close.




SUBURBANISM.                 143
Yes; we owe Matthew Washington's writings very
largely to his suburbanism.  When he was in the city
he wrote hurriedly, merely hinting at his subjects, aInd
never doing himself justice either as a thinker or as a
writer. It was enough for him to throw out an idea
in its boldest form; he almost despised artistic garniture and studious elaboration, - there was the idea,
what more could people possibly require? The consequence was, that a certain class of sectarian reviewers
handled him very roughly; they described his style as
jagged, abrupt, almost coarse, and one reviewer so far
patronized him as to say "Mr. Washington -is improving."  How these words made me tingle and burn with
anger! Washington himself merely smiled at them.
" Why, sir," said I, " it were better to be cursed outright, than to have such dead praise! " I cannot forget the beaming of his face as he listened to this burst
of youthful enthusiasm, -"It is being cursed outright," he answered, " if you did but understand it;
the writer of these words means to sink me with a
heavy compliment."  I did not comprehend the sentiment then, but it has since come to have a clearer
meaning. When Mr. Washington went into the suburbs he pleasantly said he would " try to spin better";
it was like him to speak thus modestly; there was resolution in the words, though they were so simple and
unpretending; how far they were fulfiled is known
only to those who were made acquainted with the extent of his anonymous writings. I never knew any
man's style undergo a greater change; where it was
short, edged, and rasping, it became flowing, persuasive, and conciliatory; and where once it would have
but pointed a directing finger, it now revelled exultantly over the whole space which the writer's thought
was intended to occupy. In addition to many essays
upon some of the deepest problems in theology, he
indulged in repeated excursions into more cheerful
districts of literature, and enriched the serials of the




144  AD CLERUM: ADVICES TO A YOUNG PREACHER.
day with many an airy dream  and tuneful lyric, of
whose authorship the noisy world never knew. He has
listened to praises of his writings by men who never
would have looked at them had they known their author, but not once did he yield to the pleasant temptation to say " wrote them"; he heard the verdict, and
his reward for years of hard schooling was enough to
satisfy him. I wanted to publish his claims as an author, but he reminded me that silence is older than
speech, and that fame is better for the dead than the
living. I disputed this, and flattered myself that my
logic was better than his.
" Why, sir," said I, " is not fame but another name
for iufluence? and is not every one bound to increase
his influence to the farthest possible extent?"
"Possibly so," he replied; "but where an author's
discovered personality might substitute aversion for
applause, he might diminish his influence by attempting to augment it."
" On the other hand," I ventured to rejoin, " is it
not probable that in many instances the force of prejudice might be broken, and men be brought to own
their mistake and repair it?"
" Now and again such a conversion would probably
occur," he admitted; " but taking a wide view of life,
I believe that it is better not to risk the influence of
the thought by disclosing too early the personality
of the thinker; that is, if his personality be in any
way likely to excite prejudice. What does a moment's
popularity amount to? Let a man give his name at
last, if it so please him, for death is the best answer to
prejudice; a stern and terrible answer I admit."
With these views Matthew Washington continued his
literary vizor to the end. Never was workman more
punctually at his post than was Washington at his
desk; he wrote with his heart as well as with his
hands; and though I was honored with his confidence
for years, I never heard him say that any paragraph of




SUBURBANISM.                  145
his own fully satisfied his critical judgment.  He could
have improved a word, or strengthened a sentence, or
burnished an image, or filed off an asperity, or done
something which perhaps nobody else ever thought was
in any degree necessary or desirable.  My fear was
that his suburbanism was making him too finical, and
that for the old abrupt vigor he would substitute an
insipid  refinement.  Happily my fear proved to be
unfounded, for though the change in his style of expression was most marked, the pungency and strength
of his thought escaped deterioration.  His literary
pursuits saved him from  the melancholy which upon
such a temperament as his would have been superinduced by suburbanism; he had a secret world all to
himself, a world bright with stars and beautiful with
many flowers, and in this world he found bread to eat
of which his suburban friends did not know. Yet
there was a grief darkening and depressing the good
man's heart; and that grief arose from  the fact that
his people looked upon suburbanism  as a providential
exoneration from a good deal of the hard work which
falls to the lot of what may be called city Christianity.
The poor, being out of sight, were to a large extent
also out of mind; Sunday-school service was unknown;tract distribution would have been an elaborate insult;
open-air preaching would have brought eternal disgrace
upon the whole suburb; and any other form of work
would  have ruined the reputation of its projector.
Religion soon becomes a superstition when it ceases to
be a practice; and in proportion as the second commandment is neglected, the first commandment becomes
the occasion of the most corrupt selfishness,- necessarily so, for reverence -without benevolence destroys
the universality of relationship which stimulates and.
strengthens the best affections of human nature.  To
do the simplest work is to save religion from the most
aggravated misanthropy. -For a man to light his last
candle, and set it in the window of his cot, with the
10




146  AD CLERU I: ADVICES TO A YOUNG PREACHER.
hope that its ray may catch the eager eye of the struggling mariner, who would give the world for light, is to.
please God more than to perform the most stately ceremony, as if the earth were no longer the abode of
suffering humanity. True, we must not forsake the
temple; but, equally true, we must not neglect the
disabled man who lies daily at its most beautiful gate.
It is not denied that the picture of suburbanism now
drawn is purposely exaggerated, but it is solemnly
affirmed that there is enough of reality in it to demand
the serious consideration of all who wish to do the work
which Jesus Christ undertook throughout the whole of
His ministry.  No doubt the city is less pleasant than
the green country; no doubt the elegant sanctuary is
more agreeable than the great meeting-house which
stands in the thoroughfare of an ill-kept town; no
doubt there is a powerful charm in select society.  All
this is freely admitted. But' when the whole case is
viewed from  the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, I
cannot but hope that there will be a nearly complete
inversion of the effects of suburbanism; surely the
happy day will come when the members of Christian
families will say to one another, as regularly as the
dawning of the Sabbath,   We have a enjoyed during
the week many of the sweet and healthful blessings of
the country; let us go to-day to visit in Christ's name
and for Christ's good purposes the great city, that we
may teach little children, that we may relieve and cheer
the poor, and that we may support the ministers who
witness for Christ under many discouragements." Such
a holy resolution would add keener relish to the enjoyments of the whole week, it would gladden ma-ny cheerless lives, and give robustness to the finest graces of the
soul.  Would not such a course be troublesomze?  Not
if lovingly pursued for Christ's sake. Would it not be
expensive?  A few less luxuries, a diamond ring or two,
half a dozen gay parties fewer, would go a long way
towards the annual cost; but what of' the annual, the




SUBURBANISM.                 14-7
incessant compensation?  What enlargement of mind,
what satisfaction of heart, what thankfulness, what
peaceful joy! Undoubtedly there would be trouble and
expense; but are not these among the chief modern tests
of our love for the Saviour?  Aforetime men risked
their liberties and even their lives for Christ's sake,
and now we murmur if we have to endure the slightest
inconvenience in His cause! We may have left our
poor brother in the city, but he is our brother still, and
we are his keeper! Parents have taken away their
children from the sad sights of the great city, but their
children may be weaker men as a consequence of this
fancied privilege. Great men are trained by great discipline.; the soul must have a great. school; the conservatory may be full of beauty, but it is in the great
storm-rocked forests that men find the timber for the
temples of the land and the navies of the world.




XIII.
DR. JOHN CAMPBELL.
THE circumstances under which I first met Dr. Campbell were likely to make a vivid impression upon the
memory. By his invitation I went to London to assist
him in his ministerial work, and on reaching my temporary home in Hackney was informed that the Doctor
wished to see me precisely at seven o'clock the following evening in his own house. At that time (1852) he
was the popular and influential editor of the British
Banner, which was published at 69 Fleet Street. In
order to graduate my approach to what was then, in
my estimation, a formidable presence, I made it my
business to spend part of the following morning in walking backward acnd forward in front of the Banner window, in the hope of catching a glimpse of the notorious
denominational editor, - so little, alas, did I then know
of editors and their windows! The window might have
been opaque, for any good it did me; no editor, no
publisher, no clerk, was to be seen, - nothing, in fact,
was to be seen but the last number of the British Banner laid out at its full length, having, to my eye, quite
a defiant aspect. I looked, and wondered, and looked
again, and again wondered; what if the editor should
come out and I should see him without his being aware
of that circumstance! Very foolish, no doubt; yet
such was my plight. To my rustic simplicity the second
great fact in creation was Dr. Campbell, and my rustic
timidity quite staggered -under the probability that
there might be only a sheet of plate glass between us.
A youth who had been born within hearing of Bowbells would probably have felt a contemptuous pity for
such backwardness, for what could he know of life
148




DR. JOHN CAMPBELL.             149
among the hills, where the proportions of supposed
greatness were exaggerated partly by distance and
partly by denominational pride? Be that as it imay,
my preliminary survey brought me nothing but disappointment. In the evening I set out for Dr. Campbell's residence; but, being a total stranger in London,
I had the misfortune of getting on the wrong track, and
landing, not at Tabernacle House, but at Tottenham
Court Chapel, — something like three miles from my
proper destination. While standing there, lost in such
wonder as only a youth from the far-away hills can know
anything about, - a half-stupid wonder which made me
feel as if every cabman knew my mistake, and every
policeman thought that I. was meditating a deep and
dangerous design,- a taunting clock pitilessly struck
seven. There was a malevolent mockery in the deliberateness with which it struck, as if the whole metropolis were sneering maliciously at the provinces. In less
than half an hour, however, by the aid of a cabman who
seemed to know by cruel instinct that I had come from
that barbaric region which the cockney knows as "the
kentry," I stood, or rather trembled, on the steps of
Tabernacle IIouse. I am not sure whether the right
hand had forgot its cunning, but I have a distinct recollection that my tongue would gladly have cleaved to
the roof of my mouth. Bow-bells will say again that
this was very silly, but Bow-bells cannot know the disadvantages of being born in " the kentry." On ringing Dr. Campbell's bell, I felt as if I had brought upon
myself a storm which might end in my ruin; it did
ring; I heard the tingling through the door and through
the windows, and all round about me, - oh! how it
rung. Poe must not have heard it. when he wrote of
the bells, for if he had heard it, another verse would
certainly have suggested itself on the spot, In half a
minute my hand was in Dr. Campbell's, and there was
comfort in the warm grip! Commend me to a man who
has a hearty way of shaking hands, and save me from




150  AD CLERUM: ADVICES TO A YOUNG PREACHER.
cold bones and palms of steel. Dr. Campbell shook
hands in a most welcoming manner, and so did much
to recall my ease. Look at him! Broad, erect, with
abundant gray hair standing up as if it had been suddenly startled into disorder, and with linen enough
around his neck to dress half a denomination. What.
a collar! At the back of the head it rose as high as
the organ of philoprogenitiveness, on the cheeks it
stood up like a protest against the ears, and in front
pointed itself against society with a desperation that
would have been alarming if it had not been comical.
I had seen collars like it in engravings, but until that
moment had seen nothing like it in actual linen. Then
the voice, - what nervous young man from the mountains could be quite easy under such gruff tones? Its
very gentleness was a kind of muffled roar; what then
must it have been when sounding in full compass!
There was positively a sound of doom in it. Who could
safely contradict what it declared?  In the Doctor's
hand there, was a long strip. of paper, such as I had
never seen; I did not know what it was, but afterwards
found that it was the proof of a newspaper article, - in
other words, a long, thick, rough rope for the scourging
of any man who ventured to have a will of his own.
That was the beginning of my acquaintance with newspaper proof-sheets, - excellent material no doubt, provided always that they are in excellent hands. I could
not but notice a peculiar habit of breathing in my reverend host; that operation seemed to be conducted
entirely through the mouth, and appeared to have
been reduced to a system  of powerful gasping, by
which he was  constantly  declaring that he was
not in the least asthmatic, notwithstanding the plainest evidence to the contrary. Happily I soon forgot everything in the geitle smile, which quite enlightened and softened the rugged Roman face, and almost
overflowed the snowy collar. Dr. Campbell's friends
will often think of his characteristic smile, how it played




DR. JOHN CAMPBELL.             151
upon his shaggy eyebrows, wreathed his Caesar-like
lips into dignified complacency, kindled a genial glow
on his broad brow, and lost itself in the forest of his
upright and redundant hair. Does not everybody's
smile do pretty much the same thing?  Grant that, if
you please, and still there will remain a peculiarity of
expression which distinguished Dr. Campbell's smile
from every other which I have seen.
" What age are you, sir? " the Doctor inquired in his
blandest manner, laying down the proof-sheet, and
breathing in the way described.
6 Twenty-two, sir."
"     Ah!"  (gasping and smiling) " You are very
young, very young; and though, sir, this is not the day
for boys," (smiling very kindly) " we must have youthful energy; yes, yes" (gasping as if punctuating).
" Well, sir, and what texts have you for to-morrow?"
" In the morning, sir, I think of preaching from Heb.
xii. 18:' Ye are not come unto the mount that might
be touched,' etc.; and in the evening from Luke ix. 9:' John have I beheaded, but who is this of whom I hear
such things?'"
"Just so, sir, just so," the Doctor ^replied, with an
ominous gasp, "very good; but now let me see, tomorrow is Easter Sunday, alid some reference should
be made to the resurrection. I tell you therefore what
we shall do. I shall read a portion of Scripture bearing upon it and offer a running comment; I shall then
offer prayer, and leave you about forty minutes for ycoir
sermon."  Having said so, he smiled, as if the brightest
of ideas had been propounded.
The idea did not lay hold of me in the same happy
manner, but there was doom in the voice! Secretly I
wished that the running comment could be postponed
until some other Easter Sunday, but dare not have said
so for the world. My own sermon might, I thought as
I returned to Hackney, pass muster if it went by itself,
but it will utterly fail under the strain of contrast. My




152  AD CLERUM: ADVICES TO A YOUNG PREACHER.
own dream  was a running comment, in a sense that is
not exegetical, and in fear and trembling I appeared on
the following morning to undergo the culminating trial
of my life. When we met in the vestry, the first time
I had seen the Doctor in daylight, I thought I had
never looked upon a more intensely masculine and powerful face.  There was not one weak line in it, one soft
and plastic spot to which a young man from  " the
kentry" might trust in the event of failure.  All was
solidity, massiveness, force; and in the daylight I
thought I saw even in the smile itself a curious wrinkle
which looked a good deal like a mark of interrogation.
Certainly it did not look so credulous as it did the
night before; there was evident inquiry in it, and, as
it appeared to my terror, a touch of prophetic success
in the matter of the running comment.  The forehead
did not convey to me a strongly favorable impression
of the Doctor's benevolence; but the whole head, by its
magnitude, its broad base line, and its firm set, showed
that its owner was a man of no little intellectual
capacity.  The eye was small, deep-set, not piercing,
but calmly observant. I never saw the faintest sign of
fire in it; it seemed to be a merely receptive eye, taking minute and general surveys, but never telegraphing
to others any hint of the surveyor's impressions and
reflections.  One can sometimes catch a revelation in
other men's eyes, even when the men themselves are
doing their best to keep their secret thoughts; but Dr.
Campbell's eye never showed a sign that betrayed his
feeling.  The nose was of the boldest Roman type,
extremely large and most clearly outlined, the nostrils
being particularly well curved and expressive.  Not
one man in ten thousand has such a nose; if it was not
really as good as ten talents, it was certainly an excellent fortune to begin the world with. Behind so vast
and energetic a nose there might have been volumes
of martial poetry, several military romances, and at
least ten victorious battles.  And, such lips,- lips




DR. JOHN CAMPBELL.             153
enough and to spare! They overhung, they revelled in
strength, they shut like iron doors!  As for the
mouth, it was not a mouth, it was nothing short
of a cavern; and when a laugh came out of it, the
sound was not the most refined which has ever been
heard among men. There he stood on that memorable Easter Sunday morning, primed with a running
comment; and there was I, rustic, hesitant, wonderstruck, with a few sheets of paper in my pocket, which
seemed to me to be the most unsatisfactory sheets that
ever were written. Friends at home had seen them, or
heard their words, and with too partial love had spoken
well of them; but on that Easter Sunday morning the
very ink had almost faded out, and the orthodoxy
appeared to have got a heretical twist. To my great
alarm, the Doctor decided that we should go into the
pulpit together; and having taken several papers in his
left hand, away he went, his right arm  swinging energetically, and striking back his coat with regular blows.
He might have been going to fight a battle instead of
giving a running comment; his port evidently meant
war to any one who might have come in his way. Having opened the service very solemnly, he gave his proposed comment very much to my satisfaction. Without
any attempt at verbal criticism, there was an intelligent
apprehension of the idea, and an evident desire to bring
the hearers into sympathy with the historic spirit of the
day of triumph. There was no attempt at style, no
critical choice of words, no aim at rhetoric; but there
was a very solemn and urgent earnestness which well
befitted the occasion. Most of the sentences were short,
some of them coldly glittering, all of them practical,
and throughout the whole a reverence mingled with joy
which became those who were in imagination standing
beside the empty tomb of their Lord. Dr. Campbell
did not strike me, either on that occasion or any other,
as a pulpit orator in the ordinary sense of the term. In
the pulpit he was very formal, quite stiff in fact, as if




154  AD CLERUM: ADVICES TO A YOUNG PREACHER.
he had suddenly become all collar together; he never
fell into ease, or conciliatory familiarity, but always
stood aloof as an imperial, an unapproachable presence.
What soul would ever dare to go to such a man in the
night of its trouble and wonder and weakness?  His
pulpit, a very volcano in the days of Whitefield, seemed
to be a mountain of ice, and his words like storms of
hail. This was the impression which strangers would
often take, but I am bound to say that such an impression did not do Dr. Campbell full justice. H-le could be
tender and sympathetic; after the hail could come the
dew; out of the terrible mouth could come the gentle
and healing word. Probably he knew nothing of the
agonies which torment many speculative and sensitive
souls; very likely he thought the Assembly's Catechism
furnished " a sovereign balm for every wound"; and
possibly he did not know what to do with those adventurous spirits that prefer flying to walking; still, within
the limits of technical theology, he was no unskilful'physician.  In the pulpit he was lofty and stern;
in the house he was familiar and gracious. His platform appearances were often very effective. IHe had a
happy word for everybody, and an agile way of escaping difficulties. Sometimes he half threatened to be
humorous, and though he never could sharpen a sentence
into wit, yet he could nod his gray plume in a manner
which indicated that only the restraints of grace kept
him from the dissipation of jocularity. There was not
much coherence in his speeches; they were like baskets
full of fragments, -- a bit for everybody, not excepting
his critics and opponents.
From the Easter.Sunday in question Dr. Campbell
and I worked a good deal together, and my association
with him enables me to say something about his character and habits which no one else has the means of
saying. His method of directing my own labors was
highly characteristic, while the spirit in which he gave
his advice was often that of a truly Christian father.




DR. JOHN CAMPBELL.               155
To pronounce him a perfect man would be to ignore
many most distressing evidences of imperfection; to
pronounce him always a just man would be to wink at
some of the gravest and cruelest injustice which disfigures the honor of public life; yet at the particular time
of which I write there was enough about him to inspire
confidence and beget a very cordial love. His advice
was too mature to be treated with levity, and his
generous consideration disarmed a very rigorous criticism. The general impression which he made upon
me was that, in all cases requiring sound judgment, he
was capable of rendering very valuable service; though
if any prejudice should be at work in his mind, he could
never rise above it, and speak with the serenlity and
candor of impartiality.
A  sketch of the Doctor's manner of directing amy
work as his assistant will show one view of his various
life. Suppose it to be Saturcay morning, and probably
I shall receive a note to this effect: " My dear young
friend, tea at five o'clock, after which the preachers
will go about their business. Yours cordially, J. G."
Half an hour is spent at the tea table in the pleasantest
manner; everybody is happy; the Doctor addresses
minute inquiries to each guest as to health and pursuits,
and hits each case so exactly that the guest supposes
himself to have been enjoying the Doctor's consideration for some time past, - a very innocent delusion on
the part of the guest, yet showing to an observer the
great advantage to a pastor if he can only remember
every toothache, every cough, and every fever, which
may have afflicted his congregation.  This was the
Doctor's forte.  If there were twenty people at the
table, he could have spoken to each some word indicative of strong individual interest, and left the impression upon unsuspecting minds that when all other
friends failed, he would be their friend forever.
" Now, sir, let us leave the ladies and betake ourselves to the study," the Doctor would remark, smiling




156  AD CLERUM: ADVICES TO A YOUNG PREACHER.
upon the ladies in a manner which made our exit very
easy.' Well, sir, read your morning's sermon, if you
please, and let us see what can be done."  I would then
read the morning's sermon from  beginning to end.
On concluding it, the Doctor would offer his criticism.
" Too long, sir, I am afraid. Suppose you cut down
the first division, say one half. Yes, do that." Or
again, " Too many heads, sir, too many by far. I
don't like to hear a sermon that is broken up into a
thousand fragments.  A good many of the heads may
be given without formal specification."
" Did not many of the old preachers use a good
many heads, sir?"
" They did, but then they were old preachers, and the
manners of the people were different. We must study
what will be most effective and useful."
On another occasion the Doctor would say: " The
morning text is hardly suitable for you; come, now,
suppose we try something else: let me see; yes; take
so and so (naming another text), and let me hear what
you can make of it in the morning."
"But there's no time, sir!"
"No time!  So, so!  Never say that, sir; time
enough! Come, now, let me break the bones of the
text for you; in the first place there is," etc. And so
he would go through the leading ideas of the passage,
and wish me to write according to his exposition, never
for a moment allowing me to escape on the plea that
there was not time to do what he proposed.
" Now, sir, will you proceed with the evening ser1on11."
The evening sermon was read accordingly. "I am
not quite sure, sir, that you are right in your exegesis;
let me see."  The original would then be appealed to,
and one or two of the best critical authorities consulted.
On  all occasions the grammar, the rhetoric, and
the theology of the sermons which had been prepared




DR. JOHN CAMPBELL.              157
were freely criticised, so that I received the benefit of
a life-time's education and thirty years' varied ministerial experience.
The sermons having been disposed of, I was next
called upon to read my literary diary. Every Saturday the Doctor gave me theological, critical, or biographical works which I was expected to read, and on
the following week I had to present him with a careful
analysis of their contents, with criticisms upon the
argument and style of each author. The thing which
struck me most was the Doctor's clear recollection of
books which he had read twenty or thirty years ago, a
recollection which was shown not only by precise reference, but occasionally by almost literal quotation. I
was glad of this, as I had the advantage of it, not only
as a moral check, but as an intellectual stimulus.
When the sermons and the diary had received due
attention, a part of the evening's engagement came
which I can seldomn recall without tender emotion.
We knelt together in the study, and the Doctor offered
prayer, which was truly the " preparation before the
Sabbath."  I never heard any one so gifted in private
prayer. The solemnity, the simplicity, the fervor, were
deeply impressive. The special supplications which he
never failed to offer for myself were most pathetic, and
so powerfully did he plead for a blessing that often my
heart was enlarged in holy and loving desire towards
God, as if the answer had been given " whiles he was
praying."  However much business the Doctor had on
hand, the prayer was never omitted; and each prayer
was as new  as if the spirit of devotion was never
exhausted.
So ended the Saturday evening in Dr. Campbell's
study, and I returned to my own to give effect as far as
possible to his suggestions. On the Sabbath morning
there was always a smile for me, and some word of
encouragement in relation to the day.  On Sabbath
evenings we spent many a happy hour in the Taberna



158  AD CLERUM: ADVICES TO A YOUNG PREACHER.
cle House, reviewing the public engagements, relating
incidents which illustrated the doctrine which had been
taught, or listening to the Doctor's reminiscences of
pastoral life. The Doctor, though ever genial, never
allowed us to sink into frivolity; in his most relaxed
moods he was always so self-restrained as to be able,
without violent transition, to advert to the.most serioms
subjects; and even in his liveliest moments, when
he was indulging his most humorous sallies, he was
quoting poetry, epigrams, or biographic incidents, all
of which gave his lightest conversation a rare and most
graphic instructiveness.
On the Monday morning after my first Sunday at
the Tabernacle, I went by invitation to the editorial
office of the British Banner, - a dark, dirty room, literally crammed with books and papers of the most miscellaneous description. Near the window sat the editor
at his desk, and before him lay ta scrap of paper on
which he had jotted what he called a few  " catchwords."  On the other side of the table sat one of the
Doctor's short-hand writers. The process of dictating
a leading article was about to begin, and the Doctor
having warned me to be " as still as a mouse," the
editorial steam was turned on. A look at the scrap of
paper, and then a paragraph; another look, and another
paragraph; the great voice sounding, and the gray
plumage of the noble head nodding, in the most characteristic manner. Sentence after sentence, paragraph
after paragraph, now very epigrammatic and anon bordering on the rhetorical; here very sensible, and there
nearly bombastic; one sentence striking like a dart,
and another stunning like the blow of a hammer. As
soon as the first leading article was finished, the bell
was tingled, and reporter No. two came to the desk.
The process was repeated; with a Johnsonian copiousness and often with a Johnsonian precision, the editor
proceeded. Was it a personal article?  Then let the
victim be pulled bone from bone, and limb from limb,




T)O. JOHN CAMPBELL.             159
and let him  be pounded in a mortar, and let the
pounded victim be thrown to the dogs. Was it a church
article? Then let great principles be asserted, let
"'the law  and the testimony" speak, and  whoever
opposes, let him  fall. Was it a favorable article?
Then let all superlatives be called to the front, and
summon every word that can be pressed into the
service of praise; then the delineation will stand thus 
unrivalled, matchless, magnificent, stupendous, overwhelming. Was it a condemnatory article? Then
reverse the process, and the case will stand thus —
presumptuous, outrageous, mendacious, flagitious, infamous, and diabolical. It may easily be conceived that
as a young man I listened to this literary Niagara with
some alarm, and not until I had learned that the.
Doctor did not really mean all that he said did I feel
in any measure composed as a listener. When I say
that he did not really mean it, the expression must not
be misunderstood.  He himself was personally sincere,
else he would not have braved and even defied public
opinion as he did; but he did not accept the great
words in the sense in which they would be generally
understood. For example, where an ordinary man
would  express simple regret, Dr. Campbell would
express the uttermost anguish and horror of soul;
where such a man would say that he did not approve
of a certain course, Dr. Campbell would characterize
that course as one which outraged alike reason and
propriety, and rose to the point of shameless and scandalous mendacity; where the said ordinary man would
nod approbation, Dr. Campbell would pronounce the
commended object as the most mnagnificent and illustrious display of genius on which he had ever fixed his
admiring and enraptured attention. Both the ordinary
man and Dr. Campbell would mean pretty much the
same thing, only Dr. Campbell always carried a longer
ladder than was necessary to reach the object he had
in view. Dr. Johnson speaks of somebody laying a




160  AD CLERUMi: ADVICES TO A YOUNG PREACHER.
forty-pounder to the door of a pigsty, and certainly Dr.
Campbell would not have hesitated to have turned an
Armstrong gun upon a dove-cote or a dog-kennel. I-ls
weapons were very often out of proportion to the
battle; he often overlaid himself with instruments and
armor; and so came in many cases to have the appearance of defending a garden wicket with a park of artillery. There was nothing ordinary in Dr. Campbell's
world. All the geese were swans, all the swans were
eagles, all the eagles were seraphs in disguise.  It was
a very stupendous world. Some of the German horsetrainers are said to be in the habit of putting highly
magnifying spectacles upon young horses, that they,
being deceived as to the magnitude of the stones upon
the street, may acquire a high step. By some means
the same kind of spectacles had'been put upon Dr.
Campbell's nose; so pebbles became paving stones,
and the paving stones were the hugest boulders.  I-He
believed it most sincerely, and all his public course
was more or less affected by the strange infatuation.
Hence we find that if any speculative brother broached
a novel theory, we were, according to Dr. Campbell,
about to be lost in German mysticism; if any man
hinted that the Westminster Confession of Faith was
strict, the spirit of scepticism  was coining in like a
flood; if the pope wrote an extra letter, England was
about to be carried away as with a whirlwind!
The habit of dictating his articles, instead of patiently
and critically writing them with his own hand, while it
enabled the Doctor to get through an immense amount
of work, exposed him to very great peril. He often
became rhetorical when he should have been judicial,
and in rounding a period he was apt to be more careful about the curvature of a sentence than the absolute
justness of the sentiment. Had he done less he wo.uld
have done more. There can be no doubt that while
the works which were written without the aid of an
amanuensis contain many most vigorous and even beau-,




DR. JOHN CAMPBELL.                161
tiful paragraphs, replete with intelligence and exact in
expression, many of his dictated productions are little
better than waste paper. Undoubtedly there are sentences, and not a few of them, even in these productions, which are as accurate as they are vigorous; yet
the productions as a whole are unworthy of the occasionally eloquent and graphic style of " The Martyr of
Erromanga."  For correspondence and brief notices of
unimportant books, dictation may serve every purpose;
but close, correct, and polished composition demands
most patient and critical elaboration.  But how could
such elaboration possibly be given to all the works
which Dr. Campbell undertook?  Think of one man
editing two weekly newspapers and two monthly magazines, bes ides conducting a voluminous correspondence
and  occasionally preaching, and  addressing  public
meetings!  Nor was this all: in the midst of such
engagemeents he wrote a commentary on the Bible!
That all this could have been done by his own hand is
simply a physical impossibility; hence the truth of a
remark which he once made to me in his own house.
Thlowing himself into his arm-chair, he said, " I have
done more work to-day, than any six men could have
done without the aid of short-hand."  That he soon
felt the limit of his merely manual power is pretty evident from a paragraph written in the Clhristian, IVitness
eighteen months after he undertook the editorship.
"Experience," he wrote, " has already taught us that
most, if not all, our labors in connection with committees, public business, and public meetings appertaining to religion and humanity, with special services of
all sorts both in town and country, must be abandoned. Nor is this all; regular courses of general
study must henceforth subside into general excursions,
and all further attempts at solid authorship be at an
end."  When these words were written, Dr. Campbell
was doing the full work of the pastorate; yet even allowing for that, it is almost incredible that he could have
11




162  AD CLERUM: ADVICES TO A YOUNG PREACHER.
added so much more literary work to the editorship
of a magazine which taxed so heavily his time and
strength, -  indeed, it would  have been  absolutely
impossible to have done it, apart from the assistance
of short-hand.  But with a free use of short-hand
came the most of his public mistakes, which were
neither few nor trivial.  Of course it is an easy thing
for a man who to strong feeling adds an ample commandc of language, to sit in his editorial chair and
fulminate against men and things in general.  There is
a pleasant excitement about the exercise; the use of
short-hand relieves the physical labor, and what is saved
in fatigue of body is added to zest of mind; oratorical
excitement, too, inflames the editorial mind, and gives
a keen interest to all combative engagements.  So long
as the language is vigorous, who cares for the absolute
equity of the sentiment?  If the sentences fall rhythmically, it is of small consequence what may be thought
of the doctrine.  This is the peril of dictation; the dictator finds it difficult to stop, the short-hand writer is
waiting, the printers are crowding round the door, and
the article must be finished. Under such circumstances
many an ill-selected word and many an ill-fashioned
sentence are allowed, to meet the exigency of the moment. Beyond most men Dr. Campbell was in danger
from literary dictation.  Iis sensibilities were strong;
his turn of expression was naturally exaggerated; his
prejudices were often unreasoned and generally very
obstinate; so that to be hurried where he ought to have
been calm, to be compelled to produce where he ougllt
to have had leisure for the most critical revisiQn, was to
be put in the way of a mnost urgent and flattering temptation.  It must ever be nmuch the same where any man
has to Vrite by quantity, where work is weighed by
avoirdupois and not by troy, or where square yards of
type are of more importance than literal exactness. In
this way I find it less difficult, knowing Dr. Campbell
as I did, to account for many of the extravagances




DR. JOHN CAMPBELL.               163
which justly offended those who knew the man only by
his fervid and often bombastic leaders.
One circumstance I remember well, as illustrating
not only the perils of dictation, but the method of Dr.
Campbell's reviewing. A book called "The Eclipse of
Faith" was sent to the Banner for review; and the
Doctor boldly began his dictation with the sentence,
" Another dart from the quiver of the enemy! "  That
book, I need not say, is one-of the ablest defences of
Christianity which has appeared during the century,
yet it was so described by the rhetorical dictator.
When he came home on the evening of the day on
which that review was published, I was in his parlor,
and well I remember him throwing himself into his armchair, and exclaiming, " I have made the greatest mistake ever I made in my life! XI would have recalled
the whole edition of to-day's Banner if I could."
Others, however, must be left to offer judgment upon
Dr. Campbell's public position and services; my object
is rather to cite such of his opinions and exhortations
as were addressed to myself as a young preacher.  In
my youthful devotion I found time to write nearly all
that my Mentor ever said to me respecting the ministry; and as many of his remarks have more than a
personal interest, they may be useful to other students
and young ministers. Take a sample: 
When I was a young minister a wet Sunday was a terrible annoyance; I would mourn that, after having labored
in preparation for a whole week, the chapel would be half
filled. Age has taught me this lesson —to preach as willingly to two hundred as to two thousand, knowing that
men are accountable as individuals, and not in their
aggregate capacity. Pride is not entirely wanting, when
a preacher can only minister to crowds. Always remember that one soul saved is enough to repay the most
laborious preparation.
Be careful in rebuking ill behavior from the pulpit; it
is difficult sometimes to restrain indignation, yet when an




164  AD CLERUM: ADVICES TO A YOUNG PREACHER.
angry word has been spoken it cannot be recalled; there
is therefore great necessity for exercising discretion. In
some cases a rebuke has been effectively administered by
aged ministers, -their seniority has been the best possible shield from retaliation; a word from their lips would
be useful, when the very same expression from the mouth
of a junior would be considered ill judged and worse than
wasted.  Private  expostulation is more commendable
than pulpit correction.
In the course of a lengthened ministry I have met with
some mighty nuisances in the form of one-eyed men, onelegged individuals; for example, there are those who will
liberally subscribe to local missions, who Would not give a
coin to the support of foreign missions; they will patronize the Bible Society, but have nothing to do with Sundayschools; they will be superintendents or nothing. They
have their own peculiar notions as to Christian duty and
propriety, and to those they cling with unyielding tenacity.
It is impossible for young ministers to work harmoniously
with such one-armed men; and not only so, but they frequently prove sources of intense annoyance to all who
are earnest-hearted and willing to do anything that goodness and truth may universally prevail.
All young ministers should abstain from  occupying
much of their time in political or other controversy. Their
business is to preachc the gospel. As a father, I would entreat you to devote the first ten years of your ministerial
life to the pulpit. There will be numerous calls upon you
to advocate this and the other good cause; but if you
spend your energies to any considerable extent in platform work, your preparation for the pulpit will be scanty
and unsatisfactory. Nothing great will be accomplished
without singleness of aim; there are indeed men who
appear equal to any amount of work, however diverse;
yet the majority of preachers are not so: therefore, whatever may be the exceptions, the general rule should stand
thus, - devote supreme attention to Sabbath duty, and if
you have any leisure time you can devote it to other good
purposes. After ten years' laborious study you will be
surprised to find how comparatively easy your work will
then become; much, however, depends on the habits you
form in the early part of your public life.




DRI. JOIN CAMPBELL.                165
Dr. Campbell's public prayers were unusually rich
and impressive.  On the subject of prayer in public, he
said to me:
My custom for many years has been to ponder on a
Sabbath morning such facts concerning the fellowship as
might have come to my knowledge during the course of the
week. I have taken a slip of paper and jotted down the
several items, e. g.:  Are any sick? Is any member suffering from sorrow, relative or personal?  Has any death
occurred?  What is there in the Sabbath-school demanding special notice?  Are there any inquiring the way of
salvation?  By asking those questions, you will be in a
position to meet the wants of the people in an acceptable
manner. Be assured that if you wish the congregation to
follow the line of petition you must touch every heart, and
as far as practicable allude to every case; in this way, the
devotional exercise becomes thoroughly congregcational. It
is lamentable to observe how much of our petitionary
agency is mere vapid formality, performed in so perfunctory a manner that the congregation feels quite relieved
when the prayer is concluded. It has frequently happened that men have been brought to God in the act of
public prayer, - their case has been so strikingly marked
out, and mercy so fervently implored, that they have been
brought to consideration and penitence. It must of necessity arouse attention, when a professed worshipper can say,
"' that's my case," while the minister is leading the devotion; and having excited attention, there is every prospect
of creating sympathy.  Observe, we must have prayer,
not talk; the difference is essential. True prayer is the
language of the heart; it is simple, earnest, scriptural.
To succeed in public petition I know nothing so useful
as a previous reading of the devotional portions of the
Bible. There is no liturgy equal to many parts of David's
psalms,'  there you have the man's heart poured out in
the fulness of simplicity. In order to preserve variety in
prayer, - for it is as necessary in prayer as in preaching,
- endeavor- to ground the main line on the Scripture just
read; it will be easy to bring in congregational thanks
and necessities on this as a basis. Never try to be eloquent, flowery, or fine in prayer;'be lowly, reverent, and
simple. Avoid all eccentric expression, all trite, smart




166  AD CLERUIM: ADVICES TO A YOUNG PREACHER.
sayings, as incompatible with the spirit of acceptable
devotion. When man communes with God, he should be
utterly abased and filled with self-distrust; for only as man
sees himself as nothing, and God as everything, will he
learn to worship " with reverence and godly fear."  Some
men have a peculia hhabit of quoting scraps of hymns and
even couplets from poems of another order, while engaged
in prayer. Abjure this practice: it is unbecoming and
unnatural for a beggar to ask an alms in rhyme; men would
consider it so were the case their own. On every ground,
therefore, sing your hymns and pray your prayers, for this
is the path of nature and propriety.
In the course of a lengthened pastorate Dr. Campbell
did a good deal of Bible-class work. His opinion as to
the value and conduct of such service will be approved
by many pastors: -
Some men are pre-eminently adapted to this kind of
work. Men who could never occupy any distinguished
pulpit position have made their way most effectively by
devoting supreme attention to Bible-classes. The talent
required in these separate departments is quite of a different nature; the eloquent and impassioned orator seldom
makes a calm and judicious teacher. He is too rhetorical
to meet the wants of inquiring minds on the fundamental
outlines of Christian theology. The same remark is conversely true respecting the mere teacher; he can break
the truth into pieces, so to speak, suited to the capacities
of all, but in the pulpit is destitute of that synthetic power
which is necessary for rapid combination, so as to produce
forcible and lasting impression on the minds of a popular
auditory. Supposing, however, that a minister is adapted
for class instruction, much of his success will depend on
the manner in which it is conducted. As a rule, all contoversial subjects should be avoided, and attention entirely
confined to standard doctrine. When once young men
begin to dispute and cavil, there is no saying where the
matter will end; let them therefore in the first instance
be thoroughly grounded in the "faith once delivered to
the saints," and afterwards they will be in a position to
encounter the various forms of error everywhere so abun



DR. JOHN CAMPBELL.                  167
dant.  Free inquiry should by no means be discountenanced; at the same time, reason and experience concur
in affirming that all men should be conversant with certain
first principles before they venture to appear in the arena
of intellectual or theological contest. To enunciate and
develop those first principles is one of the leading objects
of every well-conducted Bible-class.  So far as the students are concerned, it is well to cause them  to speak as
much as the case may require; such a course will deepen
indcividual interest, and facilitate correct and fluent expression. When a man feels that he is expected to do something, he is quickened into action, he thus begins to feel
his own deficiencies and manifest anxiety for their supply.
On the contrary; when he knows that the interest of the
class depends entirely on the conductor, he sinks into a
kind of intellectual passivity, assenting to everything and
examining nothing. A portion of Scripture- say, one of
the epistles -should be chosen; a given number of verses
should be announced as the subject for the ensuing week;
every member should then be separately interrogated as
to the scope and design of the passage; it being understood that the verses are read in rotation, and that each
reader has the priority of expression as to the signification
of the verse read. In this manner an interest is excited
and sustained, which would not attend any individual
exposition, however apt or luminous. It is also an excellent practice for each student periodically to prepare an
essay on some scriptural subject.  By this means he is
instructed in composition, and is affording to others an
opportunity of exercising their critical skill. There is
one difficulty attending this matter, viz., when the choice
of a subject is left to the class, an amount of hesitation is
felt which prevents definite action; to the end that this
difficulty be obviated, it is well for the minister himseli-  o
announce a theme and request an essay or essays upon it.
This plan has been found to work admirably in the higher
class of biblical tuition.
There is another object never to be forgotten, viz., at
the conclusion of the service the conductor should detain
one or more of the attendants, for the purpose of holding
private spiritual conversation. This may be easily done,
by stating that he wishes a brief interview in the vestry;
persons who would shrink from  close religious scrutiny




168  AD CLERU1I: ADVICES TO A YOUNG PREACHER.
in the company of others will feel quite at liberty to converse on personal godliness under such circumstances as
now defined. The conversion of the soul is the great end
of all pastoral labor, therefore every possible means should
be employed for realizing this momentous object. In the
pulpit you can only speak in generalities, even in your
most fervent and searching appeals; but when you are
speaking to only one individual, there can be no mistake
as to the identity. In the sanctuary men hear for others,
but in this close address the individual is compelled to
hear for himself. Never shrink from this duty; sometimes it calls for much fortitude and self-denial, but be
assured the reward is most abundant. The person will
feel that his soul is cared for; he will see that whatever
may have been his own carelessness, there is at, least one
who has ventured in faith and love to introduce the most
important of subjects. The most hardened have been
subdued in this manner; the man who would charge a
minister with preciching for money may be undeceived by
that same minister daring to arrest his attention on the
matter of his personal salvation.
No man values the pulpit more than I do as an instrumentality in the propagation of religious principle. At
the same time there are certain adjuncts which are inconceivably important, if not absolutely essential. Among
these the Bible-class is worthy of high rank. It affords
opportunities for conversing upon subjects which could
not be handled with equal advantage in the public ministry. The voice of inquiry may be heard, and the response
of wisdom  be returned.  Wherever the exercises of the
pulpit are sustained with vigor, the Bible-class will be
found powerfully instrumental for good; and where pulpit
duties are inefficiently discharged, something is. requisite
to supplement their deficiencies and compensate for their
weakness.  Devote, therefore, your best energies to the
encouragement and instruction of the young. They are
the hope of the church, and as such imperatively demand
the attention and sympathy of all who love the Lord
Jesus.  Wherever practicable, it is well to encourage
suitable reading among the members, by forming a library
of select literature; financially, this could be easily accomplished by each individual contributing a given proportion
towards a general fund.




DR. JOHN CAMPBELL.                 169
The following advice upon church discipline commends itself alike on the ground of prudence and feeling:A  meeting of the church should never be convened
until mhere is sufficient business to warrant doing so. To
act otherwise is simply to squander time.. Church meetings are seldom  conducted in a proper manner. Some
men appear to be so entirely ignorant of public usage and
decorum that they deport themselves on such occasions
in the most unbecoming spirit. It is certain, however, that
the wisest men are never the most forward to call attention to themselves. One of the most noted men of his
day has been heard to say that, while a private member
of a church, he never once opened his mouth in its meetings. Small fellowships are most likely to fall into mistakes on this particular; every man thinks he has something to say which will enlighten the brethren, and very
frequently when he has told his tale it amounts to nothing.
The best way of preventing the introduction of foreign subjects is to establish the rule that no business of immediate
importance shall be transacted, except such as has been
previously submitted in the fobi  of notice. In pursuing
such a course the pastor can never be taken by surprise;
he will have time for reflection, and will be thereby enabled to take a comprehensive view of the question in its
varied ramifications. Every minister should talk over the
forthcoming business with his deacons, so that the whole
official staff may be prepared to move in harmony. Never
be anxious to find out cases for church discipline; some
men have wrought their official ruin by making every
little annoyance a subject for church interference. Be
fiithful in p)rivate remonstrance, but until every other
means has failed, refiain from submitting the matter to
the judgment of the fellowship  A trifling sore may be
healed by a little address, but if it is fretted it may enlarge
and mortify. Remember, however, that when a case of
known delinquency presents itself, it is at the peril of the
church to connive thereat. If the church is to be peeaceable,
it'must first be 1pure; the stillness which is caused by impurity is the orinous quietude which precedes the thunder
shock and the earthquake! Care not about lessening the




170  AD CLERUM: ADVICES TO A YOUNG PREACHER.
numerical strength of the body; be jealous for its purtity,
and labor patiently for its increase. It is well to call the
church together for special prayer; this practice ever
reminds the people of the Source of all their strength and
mercy.
Another hint on preaching is worthy of recollection: -
In choosing a text, don't be anxious to find anything
very peculiar. Some men indulge a kind of pride in
preaching from mottoes; for example, such words as "if,"
so," "now,1" but," etc., have been adopted as texts.
The ignorant and childish may be struck with admiration
of the preacher's talent who can " make a sermon out of
so little "; but the more steady and intelligent will be
grieved that God's word is so little honored. Never disjoint the sentence, always have complete sense; take the
whole idea, and then you will have some ground to work
upon. Here again comes up the old plan of expository
preaching. lie who honors God's word may expect his
people to grow in knowledge and in understanding; he
who continually sets forth himself and introduces controversial subjects, which are of minor importance, can
scarcely wonder if the people become dabblers in polemics,
and captious to an inconvenient degree. Having chosen
a suitable text, confine yourself to it entirely,- make it
speak: there is music in it; pray that your fingers may
touch the chords aright, so that melody may be evoked.
You are not expected to preach a body of divinity in
every discourse. Some pulpit ramblers range the whole
field, flying everywhere, but diggizg nowhere. Be you a
digger; sink the shaft fearlessly, the gold is embowelled
in the deep places; go down, persevere and bring it up.
There is water even in the rock; smite it with a heavendirected hand, and it will gush most freely: there is poetry
in the old historic page; breathe on it with prayer, and
the song will be heard: whatever your text be, it is
capable of turning out plenty of material to sustain a
separate discourse; honor it so, and you will never lack
scope and variety




DR. JOHN CAMPBELL.               171
Dr. Campbell would have spared himself many a
battle if he had acted upon his own advice, as given in
the following extract:Be careful to form and maintain a character; as to reputation, that must be left to take its own course. Character is what a man really is; reputation is what people
say he is. A man may have a good character and a bad
reputation. You cannot fail to enjoy esteem if you truly
deserve it and thoroughly work for it. It will not come
in a day; it may be a slow growth, but none the less certain on that account. Be firm in your principles, modest
in their avowal, straightforward in your dealing, and men
will value you at a proper price. A man's character will
be formed by his thought, reading, society; his reputation
will be the estimate which observers place upon his
objective developments.  Character applies to spirit,
feeling, desire; hence, when these are brought to bear
upon daily life, we profess to see what a man's character is
by the actions which he performs. Be careful how you
enter into any public defence of character; if you are
called upon to sustain charges, your course will be to
acknowledge them if true, and to leave them to a natural
death if false. There are doubtless circumstances in
which a minister may be imperatively called upon to
refute charges and  "answer fools according to their
folly," but generally speaking it is best to "live" your
enemies "liars."  Whatever you do in this particular, be
careful how you write, either privately or for the press.
Never write in a passion; the document may remain a
perpetual monument of your folly; a hasty word may be
forgotten or modified in its- meaning, a written statement
will be judged by a different standard. Never think of
going to the press with any " Appeal," " Statement," or
" Defence," except you be placed in such circumstances
as no minister ever was before you; and even then pause
-pause! The public have nothing to do with church
annoyances. A vitiated taste is ever craving for such
disclosures, but men of wisdom and piety will be very
slow to gratify such a morbid propensity. Speak with
caution - fast and pray before you write!




172 AD CLERUM: ADVICES TO.A YOUNG PREACHER.
Such is a sample of a rather large stock. It is not
my present business to offer any detailed criticism
upon Dr. Campbell's public life, as such criticism
would be out of place in a paper devoted to personal
recollections. There cannot be any doubt that the
severest charges against many of Dr. Campbell's opinions and public practices could be sustained, as there
cannot be any doubt that in innumerable cases he
proved himself to be wise, generous, and just. One
thing is pretty certain, the Congregational body will
happily never have a second Dr. Campbell; it will
have many men who can do the same kind of rough
and ready public work, but if they presume to touch
his hammer, they will soon be compelled to lay it down
again. The reign of the hammer has gone, and as
civilization pursues an ascending course, there is happily no prospect of the return of so rude a sovereignty.
H-onoring the memory of Dr. Campbell in one or two
of its aspects, I cannot but feel that he outlived the
time in which his peculiar influence could have any
value, and that increasing life would have meant decreasing power. For patience, perseverance, and selfexpenditure in hard work, probably the most industrious man amongst us would yield the palm to Dr.
Campbell; for vigor, sententiousness, and fervor of
hurried composition, high praise is undoubtedly due to
the most voluminous of denominational editors and
authors; and if his defences of orthodoxy were often
the severest blows that could be aimed at the object
which he sought to serve, he was not the only man
whose services would have been improved by moderation.




XIV.
A CHAPTER ON PASTORAL THEOLOGY.
A GOOD many most gifted and scholarly young men
have failed rather in the administration of affairs than
in the discharge of their pulpit duties. This circunstance has chafed them, has rendered them impatient,
and in the long run has occasionally wrecked their
public usefulness and honor.  I have known a few
marked instances of this unhappy experience; and
have seen how strong is the temptation to fasten upon
the supposed imperfections of a system the faults which
are distinctly traceable to want of practical discipline
on the part of unsuccessful men. Believe me, it will
be of small service to you as a pastor if you know how
to parse a chapter in the Greek Testament, but do not
know how to accost an unfriendly critic or give the turn
to a disagreeable debate. Not a few young men who
have been able to discuss Aristophanes have been
utterly routed by a third-rate shopkeeper as to the order'in which resolutions and amendments should be put to
a meeting. No doubt this is very humiliating: the
third-rate shopkeeper was utterly ignorant of " The
Clouds" and "The Frogs," yet he had a grain of common sense, and with that he was able to overthrow the
Goliath of scholarship. Too often the said Goliath
has abused the' church system  which gave such
men an opportunity of displaying their tiny abilities,
never dreaming that he himself might have been
qualified to beat such opponents on their own ground.
Now, I wish you to be a sensible man in all practical
affairs, to have a knowledge of men and things,
and  in  all departments of your work to be a
workman who needeth not to be ashamed. Happily in
173




174  AD CLERUIM: ADVICES TO A YOUNG PREACHER.
your case there is no occasion to reply to the senseless
conceit that business is vulgar. Some dazzling geniuses
of the clerical order solace themselves with the comfortable falsehood that men of their rich culture need not
stoop to the engagements and distractions of common
mortals. It is enough that they discuss various readings, that they bestow a languid patronage upon the
literary club, and that they dream of their own overshadowing greatness and destined immortality. It is
amazing how many of those gigantic men manage to
slip out of the world's sight into total oblivion! They
began so blazingly, their programme was so polished,
their tone so elevated in unearthly refinement; and yet
in less than two years people hardly care to inquire
whether they are yet in the world: this, I say, is very
amazing, and yet perhaps after all it is not so very
wonderful, when we remember in what a crooked, hardgrained, vulgar world our lot has fallen. Do you remember Mr. Washington's story of the truly learned
and thriftless snob who astounded a ferryman by a display of his attainments?  G3"My good man," said he,
"clo you understand mathematics?"  The boatman
ingenuously answered that he had never heard of them,
whereupon the man of learning assured him that onefourth of his life was lost.  " Do you, then," continued
the refined inquirer, " understand astronomy?"  The
boatman shook his head.  "Then," said the mighty
man, " another fourth of your life is lost."  After a
pause, the sage put a further question: " Do you know
anything of the science of chemistry?"  The ferryman replied that he knew  nothing  about it, and
instantly the scholar assured him that three-fourths of
his life was lost. The boatman looked uneasy; he
turned to the right hand and to the left with the air of
a frightened man; a powerful steamer was bearing
rapidly down the river. Addressing the intellectual
fare, he said, ""Did you ever learn to swim?"  And
when the illustrious scholar said "No," the boatman




A CHAPTER ON PASTORAL THEOLOGY.         175
replied, "lThen all your life is lost together!"  The
man of genius went cown into that dreary cemetery
where no marble is allowed to mark the pillow of the
sleepers. The story is its own moral, whether applied
to common people or to manufacturing and machinemade scholars, -beware of knowing everything except
the one thing needful!
It would be easy to show you that in practical life
common sense is better than genius. Of course, if you
can have both common sense and genius, by all means
have them, for it must be 1an advantage to have wings
as well as feet. My object is to guard you against the
genius that has no sense, and to save you from the
colored bottles that carry nothing but labels. It would
not be difficult for a minister of twenty years' standing
to name half a hundred of his brethren who by common
sense, without brilliance or scholarship, have preached
the gospel and administered the affairs of the church
with the most marked efficiency and success; brethren,
too, who have been sneered at by clerical fledglings,
who have sought to make their way through the ministry
into gentlemanhood. You need not trouble yourself
with the sneers of such men; they cannot injure you;
you have time as your vindicator, and in seven years
the sneerers will have been " buried with the burial of
an ass."  It is no doubt troublesome to the flesh to be
exposed to the small remarks of small men; but if you
live in your work, and never lose sight of your Master,
you will soon be inaccessible to the influence of critics
who work from  the point of personal mortification.
What you have to do, then, is to make yourself master
of the affairs which must necessarily engage your attention; for a time they may be irksome; for a time you
may long to escape to more congenial pursuits: but
you must resolutely fight out the battle, and in your
chief difficulty find your chief joy.  Some of your
people may mistake sciolism for scholarship, and others
may not be able to distinguish between noise and




176  AD CLERUMI: ADVICES TO A YOUNG PREACHER.
music; but the majority of them will not be long in
forming a just opinion of your business capabilities,
nor need it be matter of wonder if you gain their
respect and confidence by showing yourself their equal
in departments with which they are most familiar. On
the other hand, a sensible man will be careful not to be
fussy and meddlesome in the discharge of his duties; he
will not force himself into everything as if nothing could
be clone without him, but by timely withdrawmient, by
seeing as if he were not looking, by leading as if he
were following, he will double his influence and multiply
his friends.  I know a good man who has never been
out of hot water simply on account of his self-importance in the matter of church business; his only fault
is his omniscience; he knows everything better than
anybody else; he writes all the resolutions, nominates
all the officers, dictates all the programmes, dismisses
his helpers without notice or reason, and so keeps himself in about as hot a bath as flesh and blood can bear.
He is quite a terrible man of business; he strikes the
business with a steam  hammer; he thunders and
lightens at the business; fire and brimstone cannot
keep him back from busines. An wht  business. A wat a usiess
he makes of it! He knows the trust-deed off by heart;
he can quote all the acts of parliament which relate to
public meetings for political and religious purposes;
he can beard revising barristers and claim his vote as
the minister of the few  mouldering bricks which he
calls his chapel; he knows about magistrates, summonses, subpoenas, and affidavits; and all this knowledge he has so far turned to account in his ecclesiastical
arrangements as to make his church into  n1othing
better than a baptized police court. And such a man
he is for technicalities! If a member of his church
has a simple and inoffensive resolution to propose, he
must give three weeks' notice thereof to the pastor; a
copy of it must be sent to a preliminary committee;
the name and address of the seconder must be duly




A CHAPTER ON PASTORAL THEOLOGY.          177
entered in a book kept for that purpose; and the
unfortunate speaker must be thrice assured that if he
say one word contrary to the trust-deed (of which he
never had an  opportunity of reading  a sentence),
he may be ecclesiastically dismembered on the spot.
You will readily believe that the wretched man is a
martyr to his insane devotion to business, andL that
he no sooner gets a respectable seat-holder than he
loses him. He does not know the mystery of artlessness; he cannot preside unless he is in the chair; he
is so burdened with rules as to be utterly without law;
in a word, he is so orderly as to necessitate his living
in a state of chronic disorder.  If the light that is in
thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!
A few nights since we held another council meeting,
and as the subject is immediately related to the topic
now before us, I will give you a rough note of our proceedings.  The Safety-pin was in full force, and as is
usual under such conditions, he boldly plunged into the
first subject that occurred to him.
"'As to church meetings," said he, " I should like to
know the opinion, of the brethren; I confess they are
my bete noir."
The dummies were shocked, for they are both managing men; their idolatry of prudence has kept them
at a long distance from  everything that looked like a
lion's den.  " For thirty years'" said the elder of them,
" I have never had a divided church meeting, nor even
the appearance of divided sentiment ": this he said in
a tone which nearly meant something.
"You must have been an awfully dead set of fogies,
then," Safety-pin replied; " why, in one-tenth of that
"time, two of my officers prayed at me because I had
not candidates enough to propose, and one old sinner
hinted that he would like a little less theology and a
little more Christianity in the sermons of'Thy dear
servant our esteemed.pastor' —a prayer tuanswered
to this day."
12




178  AD CLERUM: ADVICES TO A YOUNG PREACHER.
The dummies looked uneasy, for they had patiently
listened to the same solid devotions regularly once a
week for many years, and had never ventured to dream
of the possibility of one sentence being changed, or
one new petition being conceived.
"A very wicked thing is that of lecturing people in
prayer," our critical friend observed.
"A little prudence on the part of the minister -"
one of the dummies was saying, when Safety-pin cut
him short with a malediction on prudence which I will
not repeat.
" Still," said M[r. Washington,' we should not forget that sometimes courage is concealed under prudence, and it has often been shown that wisdom is
better than defiance; in fact, as to all these questions
of management, I may give it as my opinion, founded
on considerable experience, that in nine cases out of
ten a minister may have his own way if he will only
manage things properly."
"That is," said Safety-pin, "' a man may live as long
as he likes, if he will only keep out of the way of
death."
"Well, not exactly so," M[r. Washington answered;
" at the same time a man should not expect to live
long if he indulges pretty frequently in poisonous
doses, and amuses himself by trying the effect of
edged instruments on his throat."
The dummies were satisfied: the nearest approach
to pleasure which they ever made in our meetings was
when a keen word was said to Safety-pin; they dared
not attack him themselves, but they warmly cheered
the brother who laid a heavy hand upon him. We
think ourselves courageous when we applaud courage
in others.
As chairman of the council, I requested Mr. Washington to give us his idea of managing things properly; for, though secretly, I had a suspicion that there
was room enough in that elastic expression to admit




A CHAPTER ON PASTORAL THEOLOGY.       179
the meaning which Safety-pin intended to convey by
his blunt remark.
" I cannot do better," he courteously replied, " than
refer you to a few points which my old pastor wrote
out for me. He said they had saved him from a good
many mistakes in a long public life."
"Who was your old pastor, by the way?" Safetypin interposed.
Mr. Washington would have answered, but it was
ruled from the chair that we must have the points.
Accordingly we set ourselves (with the exception of
Safety-pin, who lay back in his seat and surveyed the
ceiling with the air of an injured man) in an attentive
posture, and Mr. Washington read the instructions of
his venerable pastor: —
1. When a poker falls out of the fire, never take it
up by the hot end.
2. When a man has anything to say in opposition,
insist upon his having the fullest opportunity of being
heard, and when he is approaching a conclusion, beg
him not to think of giving over.
3. Never water a weed.
4. Never allow an opposition motion to be put to
the meeting on its first proposition. Express your
interest in the novelty of the suggestion, and tell the
proposer that it is due to him that a resolution so important and so far reaching in its bearings should have
the advantage of careful study in private, and that you
will feel obliged to him if he will politely allow you to
take it home for critical reflection.  (Few men can resist the pleasure of being publicly strangled in the
noose of a compliment.)
[Safety-pin groaned, as he thus saw prudence degenerating into deceit.]
5. If you want to have thepulpit lowered a little,
begin by asking to have the spire taken down.
6. If you suspect opposition in any quarter, privately request the suspected opponent to take charge




180  AD CLERUM: ADVICES TO A YOUNG PREACHER.
of the very resolution which he is expected to oppose;
tell him you feel the importance of his doing so (which
is perfectly true); say that such resolutions ought to
be introduced by the ablest men in the church; if he
hesitate, ask him to dinner.
["What an old ras  " Safety-pin said, but the
chairman called " silence" peremptorily.]
7. If a man oppose your preaching, instantly request him to supply the pulpit.
8. If the deacons suggest that " a change is desirable," say that is exactly your opinion, " mutatis mutandis."  The Latin will save you.
When Mr. Washington ceased, the Safety-pin sprang
to his feet, and declared that the old pastor was neither
more nor less than a crafty old fox, and he was glad
that no name had been given.
"Wait awhile," said Mr. Washington, anxious for
his pastor's honor; " calm yourself for a moment, and
be good enough to answer one question, - are we not
commanded to be wise as serpents?"
Both the dummies instantly showed, by rapid motions of their shiny heads, that they had a lively recollection of the command.
" I say," Safety-pin boldly replied, "' that the honesty of a minister should be immaculate."
"And has anybody in this council said anything to
the contrary? " the elder dummy inquired.
" That paper is full of deceit," was Safety-pin's curt
reply.
"I must claim a hearing on this point, Mr. Chairman," Mr. Washington exclaimed, with more than
ordinary resolution in his voice, "because my old
pastor has been misunderstood. Of course, his words
are to be taken in an accommnodated sense; he did not
know what it was to truckle to any man, or to conceal
an opinion where any great principle was involved:
at the same time he did not voluntarily run his head
against a wall, nor jump into a ditch just to see how




A CHAPTER ON PASTORAL THEOLOGY.        181
deep it was. He was a consummate tactician, so that he
did by skill what others attempted by force; and if you
will read his paper in the light of this fact, you will find
nothing objectionable in it."
" A man's morality should not require a glossary to
explain it," Safety-pin persisted.
" Nor should it need a flaming sword to defend it,
amongst brethren," Mr. Washington sharply rejoined.
" Brethren," said I, " I agree with you both -"
" Nay, nay," said Safety-pin;' be honest, and fight
one of us."
"I can be honest, and agree with both of you," I
firmly continued. " The paper which Mr. Washington
has read was never intended as a lesson in Loyola-ism;
it was evidently meant to be humorous, rather than
serious, and to take the study of human nature out of
the list of hard subjects. The very fact that the bright
old man allowed the paper to be copied, and to pass
from hand. to hand, is to me evidence enough of his
candor and simplicity. If he meant it as a lesson in
snare-making or man-trapping, he certainly outwitted
himself, and put the collar round his own neck as a
public deceiver."
This view of the case had a happy effect upon the
council; and here I may note that the most successful
reasoning in such circumstances is to show that no man
would willingly make such a fool of himself as your
opponent is anxious to prove. For a few moments
our conversation was suspended; we were looking for
that most useful and much-worn old bridge by which
unskilled interlocutors cross to a new subject. Bridge
or no bridge, we soon found ourselves discussing the
question of pastoral visitation, which we did in a tone
of general dissatisfaction and complaint.
"An infinite nuisance  " said Safety-pin, " at least
so far as I am concerned. Talk about old pastors," he
continued, with recovered good humor, " I'll match my
own against any of yours for pastoral visitation. I




182  AD CLERUM: ADVICES TO A YOUNG PREACHER.
never saw such a man in all my life. No sooner was
one of his people ill than the old boy was down upon
himn twice a day the first week, and once a day ever
after, until the poor patient was glad to get better in
order to escape him, I can assure you. And as for a
memory, it was perfectly astounding; if you met him
after an interval of a month, he would say,'Good
morning, Mir. So-and-so; is your toothache quite
gone?' Of course you would look half stupid, as if
you had no recollection of what he was talking about,
and then he would remind you that when he saw you
last you were crazy with toothache, not having slept
for a week, and so on; and then you would suddenly
remember your old torture and laugh at it, and thank
the old man, and say how kind he was, and all that
sort of thing."
" I know the style of man," Mr. Washington replied,
"and have often coveted the memory you speak of, for
it is really marvellous. For my own part, I should be
thankful to remember people's names, whatever might
come of their ailments: it is very humiliating to be
talking to one of your members, and yet to be unable
to mention his name, and that kind of thing is after
all set down to a man's disadvantage."
"I am rather fortunate in that way, so far as adults
are concerned," I replied; "but when I go into a
family where there are from six to ten children, I am
often at a loss to recollect their names."
" Legitimately so," the younger dummy interposed,
with his usual simplicity of speech.
"Yet, as necessity is the mother of invention," I
continued, " I have hit upon a plan which serves me
very well. When an unknown youngster runs up to
me I hail him with the challenge,' Now you can't spell
your first name?"   Then  he begins:'Tho-,'' Jose-,'  Hen-,' and he is mine safe enough. You
will find that to remember a child's name will cover a
multitude of sins in-a sermon."




A CHAPTER ON. PASTORAL THEOLOGY.        183
" But, after all," said Mr. Washington, " ought not
the preacher and the pastor to be two different men?
You have men who devote their whole time to the
study of the human eye, and others who devote their
whole time to the study of the human ear; why should
it be thought unreasonable that another class of men
should give their days and nights to the study of
preaching, and others spend their lives in the equally
important work of comforting and directing the disconsolate and perplexed?"
"You overlodk a point, I think," the Safety-pin suggested.  " You will find that sympathy on the part of
the people is established in connection with what they
hear from the pulpit; the preacher excites their admiration; satisfies their judgment, and so secures their
confidence; the natural, and, I must confess, happy
consequence is, that when they come into circumstances
requiring special solace or counsel, they wish to see
the man whom they love and trust as their public
teacher.  Send a stranger to them; and however wise
and excellent he may be, there is no point of sympathy to begin with, they do not know his voice, they
can make no references to his teaching, they have no
cause of thankfulness in relation to him, and the consequence is a prevention of hearty communication."
Mr. Washington instantly allowed the soundness of
the doctrine.  "I only contend," said he, " that it is
to be regretted that men who have a marked gift of
preaching, should be under the necessity of attempting
a kind of work for which they are quite unfit; where a
man- has the double gift of the preacher and pastor, his
service must be the source of the purest joy which the
heart can experience upon earth: my remarks must be
understood to refer solely to ministers whose one gift
is the gift of preaching, and yet who have to undertake
engagements for which they have no fitness."
"Ani unavoidable necessity though, I am  afraid,"
said I, "especially considering what has now  been




184  AD CLEIRUM: ADVICES TO A YOUNG PREACHER.
said about the sympathy which comes naturally from
gratitude for pulpit services. There are men in our
ministry who ought never to leave the pulpit; they
should be chained to it if ever they are to do any good;
they seem to have a knack of getting into blunders;
by levity, by love of eating and drinking, by a fatal
habit of always saying the wrong word and never
hitting the right time, they somehow bring themselves
into contempt.  On the other hand, there are men in
our ministry who ought never to be allowed to enter
the pulpit: in the parlor they are charming men;
they can set their voice at the right key, they have
nice little sentences for nice little occasions, they
can make inquiries  about a headache  in  a tone
which exquisitely combines sympathy and  hopefulness, and they can ask for the children in a manner
which wins the parental heart most entirely. In higher
matters, too, they are quite as successful; they know
what passages of Scripture to read under any given
domestic circumstances, and with most consummate
tact can throw into a supplicatory form the most secret
desires of the heart. I know two or three such men,
most admirable and useful men in their own way, yet
when they get into the pulpit they are stiff, cold, pointless preachers, always drivelling upon the brevity of
time, the uncertainty of life, and a place which they
refer to as  yon bright world above.' The consequence
is that the young (unless they happily escape to a livelier ministry) become prematurely old, the old fall
asleep, and the lackadaisical report to them that they' have had such a bezautifid sermon.' Still, in the face
of all these things, I see no prospect of separating the
pastoral from the ministerial, so far as Congregationalism is concerned."
"' There is one point you have omitted," said one of
the brethren with the shining heads, 6' in making out,
the list of qualifications possessed by some ministers
who are not preachers; I mean their qualification for




A CHAPTER ON PASTORAL THEOLOGY.         185
Bible-class teaching, - an important department of
our work, you will allow."
Safety-pin anticipated me. He said that he had no
opinion of men who had young ladies' Bible-classes,
young  men's  Bible-classes, and  children's  Bibleclasses; he always thought there was a screw loose
when men had to get up so much collateral machinery
to keep their ministry going.  My note of our proceedings on the occasion in question ends here; yet I must,
in the absence of Safety-pin, give it as my opinion that
he was wrong in his judgment of his brethren, and I
can give this opinion the more freely that I have no
claim  to the high title of a Bible-class teacher. I
question whether you can get at the deepest veins of
biblical wealth in the pulpit; the process, besides
exposing you to the charge of pedantry, is too minute
and (for want of a better word) scientific to be followed by a miscellaneous congregation; not only so,
there are portions of Scripture best developed by crossexamination-on the part of the class, and that, so to
speak, will show their brilliance only after prolonged
and careful friction.  You will find, when you come to
this department of work, one thing requiring special
attention: many of your pupils will seek to engage you
in useless speculation, they will start unprofitable
inquiries, and try to detain you upon all the points
which are in debate among Christian thinkers.  I have
always found it best to acknowledge at once that there
are unsettled questions which it would be presumptuous for any but the ripest scholars and theologians
to attempt to discuss, and to decline on that honest
ground to intermeddle with such subjects in an ordinary Bible-class. At the  beginning of the second
period of my ministry, a few conceited sciolists made
a determined attempt to force such difficulties on my
attention; but happily, though perhaps at the expense
of their self-complacency, I was enabled to escape
their importunity, and ultimately to drive them from




186  AD CLERUM: ADVICES TO A YOUNG PREACHER.
the field. A remembrance of that fact causes me to
put you on your guard against a very powerful temptation to vindicate yourself from a charge of incapacity
or cowardice, by "rushing in where angels fear to
tread."  In the Bible you will find scope enough for
the exhaustion of all your ability and resources without frittering away your time on things too high for
you. I have found it very convenient and profitable to
follow up in a Bible-class a course of expository preaching: say, for example, you are expounding one of the
gospels in a series of Sunday morning lectures; get the
members of your Bible-class to take notes of your
exposition, and to give the criticism or argument in
their own words. This will supply an excellent basis
for further discussion in class; and if your experience
correspond with my own, you will often receive suggestions enough to enable you to prepare a second and
better lecture on your last Sunday morning's subject.
You will probably find a difficulty in getting some of
your members to adopt the habit of taking notes and
making abstracts or paraphrases, but a little gentle
persuasion in private will often secure the object you
have in view. In conducting processes of this kind, I
have received many a hint as to the best method of
preaching. You find out the ignorance of your hearers;
you see how they mistake the meaning of words which
to the preacher are quite simple; you feel how slow
they are to comprehend any process of reasoning, and
how little account they can give of arguments on which
you set great store.  These facts will often clip the
wings of your soaring rhetoric, and force you, if you
are an honest steward, to preach not to yourself but to
others.  This is the condescension which comes of
being crucified with the Saviour, and this the holy
desire which is intent on the one infinitely blessed
object of saving the souls of them that hear the holy
word from your lips.




XV.
UNSUCCESSFUL MEN.
As a matter of fact there are several scores of educated men who have not been able to secure pulpits in
which to- exercise their ministry; there are also hundreds of pastors who would be heartily glad to see a
way of escape from  their present position to more
congenial spheres of usefulness.  I cannot pretend to
exhaust the reason of this unsettledness; probably it
would be safe to say that " there are faults on both
sides," and so leave the matter without going into
detail. There are, however, a few things which have
been made so clear to my own mind, that a candid
statement may be of use to you, either in directing
your personal ministry, or giving you a hint as to the
best method of meeting some difficulties ill your pastoral relations. It may be prudent to premise that
there are several proper though differing interpretations of the word success. One minister may succeed
in overcrowding his chapel; another may have a very
limited congregation, and yet may succeed in exerting a most stimulating and healthful influence upon
special classes of Christian  thinkers and workers.
One minister may succeed in doing a most useful
pioneer- work;  another may  succeed in  organizing and edifying undisciplined and uninstructed beginners: so, also, one minister may succeed in binding to him the affections of the young, and another
may have a special adaptation to teach and comfort the
busy, the afflicted, the speculative, or the indifferent.
I think it well to point out this difference in the bearings of the word success, and thereby assist to remove
the mischievous impression that all success is to be
187




188  AD CLERUM: ADVICES TO A YOUNG PREACHER.
measured by one arbitrary sign or standard.  Success
is a question of individual adaptation.
1. The first place on the list of unsuccessful men is,
of course, occupied by those who, in seeking admission
into the ministry, have evidently mistaken their calling.
In such cases it is not a question of a distinct call or
an indistinct call; there is simply no call at all. A
youth, on becoming conscious of living in Jesus Christ,
on seeing heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending as ministers of the church, feels a
most pure and urgent desire to preach the gospel:
with this end in view he appeals to his pastor for the
requisite introduction to college. The pastor hesitates,
suggests further consideration of the important subject; by and by the appeal is renewed, the parents of
the youth express a strong opinion in favor of his
request, and sanguine friends join in the ill-advised
opportunity. At length the minister yields, with a
reluctance which is met by exclamations of angry surprise, and the youth is admitted into college.  In a
short time the most favorable reports are received; in
a few months more, the youth passes an examination
in a highly creditable manner; at the end of the first
year he takes a prize, and at the end of the second he
gains a scholarship; thus the opinion of friends is abundantly confirmed, and the hesitation of the minister is
openly ascribed  to an unworthy motive.  Ask the
minister himself what his opinion is in the face of this
rapid and flattering success; he will probably reply,
" My opinion is the same now that it ever was; I
never doubted the young man's conscientiousness; I
never questioned the young man's ability to read
books and get off lessons; but I say now, what I said
at the beginning, you may cover him with gold medals
and give him  an armful of certificates, but he will
never persuade a congregation that he is called of
God to preach the gospel."  This reply is perfectly
sound; the great error is that fitness for literary pur



UNSUCCESSFUL MEN.  189
suits is not distinguished from fitness for public speaking. We need not go far for proofs that literature
and eloquence are not interchangeable terms: in the
houses of parliament you will find the most learned and
polished men, who are quite unable to express themselves with perspicuity and effect; yet, if as Christian
youths they had applied for admission to one of our
colleges, they would have been instantly admitted, and
would have passed their curriculum with the unanimous
and cordial applause of the professors. The minister,
whose case we have been supposing, awaits the justification of time. The young man leaves the college well
supplied with the most commendatory credentials, and
in the flush of academic success indulges an innocent
sneer at the expense of men who know more about
preaching than they know about the differential calculus.
The parents and friends of the young man perhaps
triumph over what they consider must be the disappointment and mortification of the minister whose
judgment has been so signally dishonored. Still the
minister bides his time, and what is the upshot? For
two years the young man carries his credentials round
the churches, but the churches never give him a chance
of settlement. The young man then discovers that
deacons are vulgar and selfish, and quite unfit to guide
the opinion of Christian communities; for another year
he continues his melancholy round of applications, but
nothing in the way of a settlement is offered. People
say they have " no doubt he is a clever man in his own
way," or that "his sermons have been elaborately prepared," or that " he is more fit to be a professor than a
preacher"; the young man, however, cannot live upon
these compliments, and therefore, under stress of various
kinds, he cannot resist the impression that " the system is all wrong together," and so he settles down into
shopkeeping and churlishness.  Or if he succeed in
getting a settlement he soon becomes uneasy; he says
that his people don't appreciate him, that he cannot




190  AD CLERUM: ADVICES TO A YOUNG PREACHER.
stoop to their low habits of thinking, and that he is
open to an invitation to another pulpit.  He thinks if
he were in a large town he could do better, he would
draw his own class around him, literary people would
flock around his pulpit, and he would lead the highest
sentiment of thte community. But, no! It won't do!
He stumbles,-falls, lies down, grumbles, and then perishes out of the way.  Now it was a cruel kindness to
urge such a man to seek admission into the ministry.
He was a man of ability, and as a private Christian
might have been of much service in the church; but
his friends sacrificed him to an unreasoning if not an
ungodly ambition. Let me at this point strongly
advise you to keep back as many men as possible from
the ministry.  Of course, where you have a distinct
persuasion of a young man's fitness for the pulpit, you
will encourage him most earnestly to give himself to
needful preparation; but be doubly sure of the fitness
before you offer him  the  least assistance. -Where
there is most fitness, there will often be most selfdistrust.
2. Another class of unsuccessful men may be ironically described as hyper-super-intellectualists, - something, in spite of the ugly word, very aerial and sublime. These magnificent and unapproachable royalties,
throned among the stars, and clothed with clouds of
many colors, expend their lives in one desperate determination to say something that is not. in the New
Testament.  The moment they are about to put one
word of gospel into their sermons, they recoil from the
vulgarity as from  a temptation to be profane.  As a
consequence, they excel in not preaching the gospel.
They delight to prove to their pew-holders that they
" are abreast with the foremost thinking of the day"
they refer with great familiarity to " a certain modermn
school of thought," and with infinite skill gibbet neoPlatonists, transcenfdentalists, pantheists, and positivists, before a wondering if not applauding audience.




UNSUCCESSFUL MEN,              191
But their chief joy --  their sweet, precious, transporting joy, their joy of joys, their dancing, screaming,
delirious joy  - is to discourse upon a most mysteriously dangerous individual called Comte. When a reverend snob of the hyper-super class can bring in the
name of Comte, he is sure that it will instantly show
the greatness, and the might, and the majesty, and the'
glorious glory of the learned minister. He wouldl not
for the world refer to Baxter, or Henry, or Doddridge,
or Watts; Owen, and Bates, and Charnock, and Howe,
he does not deign to know;- he knows Cornte (as far
at least as translations can reveal that personage), and
is not thaet the last reach of culture, the crowning-point
of attainment? M. Comte himself would wonder if he
could know how many magnificent nobodies conjure
with his name. It is no consequence that not a soul in
the awe-struck congregation knows whether Comte is
the French for devil or the Italian for an angel; the one
thing to be sure of is that the minister is " abreast with
the foremost thinking of the day"; as to saving the
souls of them that hear him, is it not better to extinguish an absent speculator than to save an unlettered
man?  Cultivated reason can have but one answer to
the impertinent inquiry.  The congregation of the
hyper-super is a curious medley, the chief feature being the advanced young man who belongs to the new
Lyceum, and who simpers over the top of the penny
newspaper that in his opinion the day of the pulpit is
over forever. This is a very formidable young man;
from the serene heights of his noble culture he could
not think of descending to consult so ancient a personage as his father, and all filial duty is exhausted
when he languidly smiles at the practical suggestions
of his mother. The young man loves to hear of Cornte,
Comte is so bold a fellow and so very common-sense;
he dotes on Comte, he dreams about Comte, and if
anybody should innocently suggest in a tremulous and
deprecatory tone that he " is becoming quite a Comt



192  AD CLERUM: ADVICES TO A YOUNG PREACHER.
ist," his manly bosom heaves, his flashing eyes blaze
with double brightness, and his towering head stoops
lest he should injure the ceiling, which is not more than
seven feet higher than himself. The reverend snob
glories in the youth; he looks on him with pride; and
in grateful recollection of his intellectual presence comforts himself that he will draw around his pulpit the
genius and the culture of the neighborhood.  How
much genius and culture there may be gathered around
his Comtean pulpit, it is impossible, in consequence of
their invisibility, to say. But, as a matter of fact,
weary, troubled, sorrowing men do not gather round it;
people who are tempted, overborne, crushed in heart,
do not gather round it; and in about twelve months
the reverend lecturer on Comtism  gathers his neat
little essays together and looks out wistfully for another
charge. The common opinion of such a man is that
he is " fit for a college "; alas, how many distinguished
geniuses there are at this moment waiting for the shoes
of honored professors! You will observe that in all
this description of a certain class of unsuccessful men,
I do not say one word against learning, culture, or
mental ability; my remarks are directed against the
chilling pedantry which works at so remote a distance
from the sin and sorrow and hunger of the soul. In
view of this shocking mockery of all that is honest and
effective in Christian preaching, let me pray you to be
ever on your guard against the temptation to preach
what are mistakenly called " great sermons"; don't
preach for the gratification of your own vanity, but for
the salvation of all who hear you; don't preach, I
once more entreat you, to the two or three most intelligent or most pretentious men in your congregation,
but speak to the common heart of humanity with the
pathos of unaffected sympathy; and the blessings of
many will cause the cup of your reward to overflow.
You may preach with such ostentation of learning as
to excite wonder in the vulgar, and disgust in the




UNSUCCESSFUL MEN.               193
devout; you may win the reputation of being a clever
man, who is not afraid of hard texts and difficult subjects; but no heart will ever own you as a messenger
from  God. What do we want with all this so-called
grecat preaching? Do you say we are obliged to occupy
a certain time, and that to do so we must avail ourselves of references and quotations for which  we
ourselves care nothing?  I have an instant and, to my
own mind, a sufficient answer to this suggestion: it
ought not to be inecessary slavishly' to occupy exactly
so much time; we should take our time, not from the
clock, but from the heart, and, according to the inspiration which may have been granted to earnest prayer,
speak to those who trust us as God's servants. How
good it is, when the heart is weary and the sight of the
soul fails through long watching, to hear a preacher
who  speaks simply and lovingly the word  of the
Saviour!  How  tuneful, how soothing!  But when a
man is aiming at something that lies far from  the
trouble which darkens upon us, when he meets us with
sentences artistically turned, in which he proclaims
nothing but his own vanity, we shrink with mortification and anger from  his sapless, mocking ministry.
Nor is it we that shrink, but the dishonored Spirit of
Christ that is in us; the voice of' the stranger" torments and insults the heart.  Be you a man who
reveals and exalts the mystery of the Cross!
3. A  third class of unsuccessful men may be described as coisisting of ministers who regard precching
as quite a secondary consideration; ministers they may
be, but preachers certainly not. You will express surprise at the statement that men so devoid of commonsense can be found in the Christian ministry; but your
surprise will decline as your observation extends.  As
the class is somewhat diversified, it may be necessary
to particularize a little.  One of its representative men
figures conspicuously at the public library, and is generally seen with a new book and a bundle of news13




194  AD CLERUM: ADVICES TO A YOUNG PREACHER.
papers under his arm. He lives on pew-rents, but
certainly not among pews; he has a neat little world of
his own, well stocked with heretical books and other
delicacies; occasionally he may so far condescend to
acknowledge his pastoral relations, so called, as to
turn a telescope on that dim speck of distant matter
which he mistakenly denominates his chapel; otherwise, except on well known quarter-days, he is grandly
independent of his people.  His people, in fact, are
very much like a necessary and remunerative nuisance; they read nothing, they go nowhere, they are
commonplace and vexatiously uninteresting, - a very
sore trial, in short, to any man with a taste for reading.
Another representative man of this class is known for
his appreciation of good society, and a strong liking for
fine scenery. When he left college he said he would
not settle except amongst a refined people, a delicate
people, who call hell hades, and dilute damnation into
condemnation; he could never do with vulgar people,
who bluntly call a spade a spade; he could only do with
shoemakers when they described their places of business
as boot-halls, and he always referred to the butter-merchant as one who was in "the provision line." As to saving the souls of those to whom he preached, he would have
recoiled from the suggestion, - except the said  souls
could be saved by distant references to moral intuitions
and innate ideas; if they chose to be saved from hades,
Gehenna, or sheol by that way, he had no strong objection, for their religion might then become a suitable
frame for the picture of their social graces. When he
settled in the pastorate, his boast was that all his people belonged to the uppermost stratum of the middle
class; and this he said with the air of one who had
made great sacrifices for his principles, intimating
thereby that but for conscientious scruples he might
have been surrounded by the aristocracy of position
and genius. This very refined brother seldom  spoke
above a subdued  whisper, and when  in a forgetful




tUSUCCESSFUL MEN.               195.
moment he shook his forefinger, in sign of earnestness,
he received with thankfulness the solaces of those who
were sure that he must have exhausted himself.  He
heard with shuddering disgust of preachers who spoke
in a loud, clear tone, and occasionally lifted up both
hands in the pulpit; they were wanting in taste, they
were pandering to the wishes of the ignorant mob, they
were lowering the dignity of the pulpit; in short,
they had proved themselves to be very despicable persons. The career of this dear brother was short and not
merry; he was so very super-refined that even his most
longsuffering friends lost patience with him, and those
who clipped their own words most gradually grew into
the conviction that he was a heartless snob.  This
made it very difficult for the dear gentleman; he knew
that he was a first-class traveller, who could afford only
a third-class ticket; and the look of annihilating contempt with which he took his seat in a third-class carraiage, confounded the ticket collectors, and sobered
several of his fellow-travellers.  A cruel providence
seemed to dog his elegant footsteps, and but for one
consolation he would have fallen into despair, -the
consolation that all his mischance befell him because he
would not stoop to the habits of the common herd!
He persuaded himself that if he would only throw off
the gentleman, and do as other people did, success
would flow upon him like a river, and he would be the
first man of his day. But the sacrifice was too great, -
to the last he remained by far too refined for so disorderly a world as this. You will not ask whether it is
impossible for refinement to succeed in the ministry;
you know perfectly well that I am not condemning or
ridiculing refinement, but rather its detestable simulation. There is no necessary discrepancy between refinement and strength; on the contrary, true refinement
is power, as certainly as pedantry is feebleness. Of
course, we must be particular as to the relation between
the fineness of the weapon and the special quality of




196  AD CLERUM: ADVICES TO A YOUNG PREACHER.
the work which it is intended to do. A razor, for example, has a keen edge and a polished surface, but no
razor will ever fell a tree or dress a beam; on the other
hand, an axe may be sharp and strong, yet it might be
inconvenient to use it for shaving.  So with men, and
so specially with ministers. We must not be too fine
for our work. We must so far go away from our own
little preferences, as to live for the advantage of others; we must, in effect, say to our hearers, "this is not
for my own gratification, but for your benefit," and by
so much as the spirit of the Cross regulates our ministry, will the blessing of reward, crown our labors.
In thus endeavoring to describe some of the unsuccessfnl men whom  I have known more or less, my
object is to point you to the unchangeable conditions
of a permanently successful ministry.  If in your heart
of hearts, you do not love the work of preaching the
gospel infinitely above all other work, you must fail;
for this work must be either the most thrilling joy or
the most unendurable torment which any man can
experience. I shall assume, then, that you love it; that
you love it supremely; that without it you would be
wretched and hopeless.  The instant inference from
this all-absorbing love is, that you will study the best
methods of bringing the gospel to bear upon the sin,
the sorrow, and the aspirations of the human heart.
The Gospel will not be to you an abstract science, or a
recondite theory; it will be God's messsage to the disquiet and need of sinful and hungering souls, and your
constant anxiety will be to interpret and apply it accordingly.  Under such a hallowed and constraining inspiration you will not allow yourself to be driven to a position
that is remote from the most pressing need of your
hearers; you will rather suffer the imputation of being.
an unlearned and ignorant man. than run the risk of
concealing any truth that tells immediately upon spiritual character and destiny. You will give men to feel
that you know them, that you live for them, that your




UNSUCCESSFUL MEN.              197
sympathy flows along the whole course of their experience; and you will show that all this knowledge and
devotion on your part arises entirely from your incessant and adoring communion with Jesus Christ. To
know Jesus Christ is to know man; to be as Jesus
was, will be to draw all men unto you. There will
undoubtedly arise temptations to discuss speculative
subjects, to show off your own talent, and to gratify
your own tastes; but you must break such temptations
upon the cross, and out of your own crucifixion bring
a richer tenderness to bear upon the spiritual condition
of your hearers. Believe me, in proportion as a sermon is a mere effort of the intellect will it be a failure,
and in proportion as a sermon is an expression of the
heart will it succeed in doing good. This leads me to
repeat that, to be truly effective, a sermon must be
part of the preacher himself; when it is so it will be
delivered naturally, with unaffected pathos, and with
a nobler earnestness than can be secured by the most
artful preparation. Better not to preach, than not to
preach from the heart; better to stand before your
congregation  dumb  and confounded, than to talk
merely for talking's sake; when you are true enough
to do this, you will be strong enough to put to flight
most of the difficulties that interpose between you and
the highest success.
You will of course remind me that many ministers,
known to be most spiritually minded and devoted to
their work; zealously pursuing what may be called the
most intensely moral purpose of the ministry, have
failed to secure anything like distinguished success.
You can lname such godly men in quick succession, and
prove how far short their ministry has fallen. All this
I allow, as a simple matter of fact, and yet the ground
of my exhortation is untouched. You must remember
that I have never insisted upon goodness as the sole
condition of a successful ministry. The goodness must
be vitalized; goodness must, in a word, become virtue,




198  AD CLERUM: ADVICES TO A YOUNG PREACHER.
- strength, force, activity; goodness must have manly
faculty, an eye that brightens and melts, a heart that
rejoices and saddens, with all the sudden changefulness
of the world's daily drama. There is a goodness that
is negative rather than positive, contemplative rather
than active; a goodness that must be inquired into,
before its existence can be distinctly recognized: on
the other hand, there is a goodness modestly selfaffirming, full of life, revealing itself in a thousand
delicate insinuations, and in many public proofs of
power; a goodness that becomes genial, tender, severe,
judicial, pitiful, with a rapidity of alternation that may
easily be mistaken by the superficial for inconsistency;
a goodness.that rules the intellect, by first correctly
determining its province and compass, and'that rules
the life by a gentleness that is mightier than the most
studied austerity.  No amount of training can impart
this living goodness to any man; it cannot be taught
in the schools; it cannot be assumed by an artist; it
is the holy and sublime individuality wrought in the
soul by the Holy Ghost; and where it is absent there
can be no true, far-reaching, and long-continuing service for Jesus Christ. I will not allow that a man is
good, simply because he prays, reads the Bible, and
engages in regular religious exercises; he must have
life,- not life in his bookshelves, his outlines, his sermon book, or his professional desk, but life in his soul
- the very life of life, the very eternity of God. When
a man is delivered from himself, with all the petty
considerations and tyrannies that torment the ill-kept
soul, and centred in Christ; when his supreme passion
is love of his Master, he is good, and his goodness is
pungent as salt, purifying as fire. Brother, are we
thus. deeply and lovingly good? Not ascetics, not
churls, not scorners, but saintly, gentle, heavenlyminded?  0 Holy Spirit, bring us evermore under Thy
great power; work in us all the mystery of Thy holy
purpose; deliver us from the harsh exactions of the




UNSUCCESSFUL MEN.                199
mere letter, and prostrate us under the better dominion of the living Spirit.  So enlighten us, so enrich us,
so inspire us, that we may be amongst the simplest,
the wisest, the strongest, of our blessed  Master's
servants.




XVI.
BEWARE OF MEN.'TAKE this advice, and your steps will be ordered
wisely. As a young man, you will naturally take a
hopeful view of everybody, and be disposed to give your
confidence without asking much in the way of idemnification.  It is not pleasant to me to awaken suspicion
in an unsophisticated mind; yet as every man's experience should be regarded as a fund for the benefit of
society, I must force myself to point out a few traits of
character which you may expect to meet in the course
of your ministry, and which will invariably signify what
is bad. I have sometimes thought that the Christian
ministry developed human character in a way strictly
peculiar to itself. The feeling subsisting between pastor and people differs from almost every other feeling.
The minister enjoys the freedom of his people's hearts,
if they be true to him; where other counsellors would
be treated with stubbornness, he is met in a' spirit of
conciliation; himself the representative of the Cross, he
is regarded as bringing with him all the calming and
rectifying considerations which attach to the highest
form of self-crucifixion: hence men will often yield to
his word, through veneration for the blessed Master,
whose interests he is supposed ever to represent. Under such circumstances they will either show  the very
best aspects of their character, or they will cloak themselves under the most detestable simulation. As I have
undertaken to deal with some of the' darker shades of
character that will surprise you in the course of your
ministry, I think it right to claim  your attention to a
preliminary word on the other side.  After a course of
pastoral service extending over more than seventeen
200




BEWARE OF MEN.                  201
years, it would be unjust on my part if I did not most
gratefully and cordially acknowledge that there are in
nonconformist churches many most noble-minded men.
I have been made their deep debtor in many instances;
on occasions without number I have witnessed their
steadfastness in the faith, their self-denying and zealous
perseverance in Christian service, and their high-minded
honor in cases in which by dexterous temporizing they
could have escaped difficulty and loss.  Were I to commit myself to a portrayal of the excellencies which have'
come directly Tunder my own observation, I know not
when the sunny picture would be completed; you will
not understand me, therefore, as writing in a cynical
or unthankful spirit, but in a spirit of honest criticism, without fear and without malice.  It is with deep
reluctance that I pit aside for a moment the happy
memories which form by far the largest part of the ministerial scenes through which I have passed; it pains
me to ask even one friend to stand aside until I point
out the blemishes which disfigure this character or that,
yet I must, as your guide, be faithful, and lead you
through shaded valleys when I would gladly linger with
you where the light is brightest.
In the course of my ministry I have met with men
who have concealed their true dispositions under a thick
coatin'g of false amiability. In my early ministerial
course, I was much victimized by smiling men.  The
young heart refused, to disbelieve the sincerity of a
pleasant voice or a cheerful countenance.  I remember
one man, a minister too, who concealed the heart of a
wolf under the wool of a lamb; and as his characteristics were so broad, I may remark upon him as the type
of the men whom I have now more particularly in view.
HIis great weapon was flattery, and his most successful
flatteries were lies.  He sought to open his way in
society by the key of indiscriminate praise. Hardworking men were cheered by his commendations,
unsuspecting women were won to confidence by his




202  AD CLERUM: ADVICES TO A YOUNG PREACHER.
beguiling attentions, poor men were flattered by his
patronage, and rich men were occasionally befooled by
his compliments. His face was always putting on a
smile which he intended to be fascinating, and his voice
was artistically softened to suit the ear of his devoted
prey.  In fact, he called himself " an artist," and
prided himself on successes which honest men instinctively regarded as crimes. With him, to fail in selfpromotion was an unpardonable sin.
" Man," he would say to me with a feigned and mocking laugh, the recollection of which makes me shudder,
" you should not speak out so boldly; you should do as
I do, if you would get influence in the denomination."
When I repelled the proposition with indignant disdain, he would repeat his horrid laugh, and say, -
" That is all very well, but I have a cunning way of
getting behind fellows, and warming them up into my
notions. I go in for the artistic side of life, - I never
offend a man as long as I can get anything out of him."
" Then I hate your policy," said I; " there's nothing
I would not do to get at the truth."
"Don't mistake me," he would add, in an altered
voice. "I know what I am about with these fine
fellows: don't you see how I do? I smile upon them and
get everything out of them; but if they turn awkward
in my hand, I soon let them feel the poleaxe. Men tell
me things in confidence, and I assure you it is a fine
thing to have a sting in your box for every man; it
keeps him quiet, you know."
" You wretch 1 " said I; 6 that is the creed of a murderer "; knd from that day I abhorred and disowned
him.
Yet you will be surprised how that man holds on his
crooked course to this day, and how many honest men
he holds in his well-arranged but most cruel coils. His
deluded victims have told me he " shows such a Christian spirit," that " he never says an unkind word against
me," that he " holds out the white flag of truce"; and I




BEWARE OF MEN.                203
suffer under the imputation of being less magnanimous
than he! I glory in the imputation, knowing the falseness of the man; God has given me power to look into
the deep den of the wretched heart, and truly it is full of
unclean and venomous reptiles. This is the language
of the most dispassionate charity. I write it in the
interests of truth and of social honor, and with the
sobriety and self-restraint of a man who appeals to the
judgment seat of Christ. I am aware how difficult it is
to maintain a position like this by mere argument; you
can hardly believe in the possibility of such dissimulation; you feel that my statement must be, perhaps
unconsciously, exaggerated by resentment; your love
of truth, your honor, your charity, will not allow you
to believe that any professedly Christian man could act
in the way described. I do not complain of your
incredulity; it is natural, and it is creditable. Meet
me ten years hence, and we shall talk on more equal
terms. In the meantime do be careful not to commit
yourself to men on the mere ground of their amiability.
I have suffered more from  simulated amiability than
from any other cause; it has betrayed my confidence,
it has lured me into dangerous paths, it has disappointed my best expectations, it has wounded and exasperated my most generous sensibilities. Think of a
man calling you his " dear pastor," and then condemning you to your friends or to strangers; or think of
him praying for you as " Thy dear and honored servant
our beloved pastor," and then complaining that your
salary is too large; or think of him pledging the most
cordial friendship, and avowing the most entire disinterestedness in a trade transaction, and all the while
having ten per cent upon all that he does for you; or
think of him involving you in deep obligations by making you the most solemn promises, and when you ask
him to redeem his promises, telling you that now your
friendship must cease. Can you bear any more? Then
think of office-bearers wishing you a happy holiday,




204  AD CLERUM: ADVICES TO A YOUNG PREACHER.
and immediately summoning your hearers to take counsel as to the best way of getting rid of your ministry.
But I forbear.  Such things have happened in the experience of ministers whom I have known, and for that
reason I feel that it is quite within my duty to put you
on your guard against the amiability which. may conceal the worst degrees of evil-mindedness.  You will
not misunderstand me as saying anything against amiability.  Amiability is a Christian grace, and as such
should be cultivated and displayed in all the intercourse
of life: but in proportion to its value is the temptation
to its perversion; were it less Divine, it would be less
enlisted in the service of the devil.
In the course of my ministry I have met with men who
have wished to enjoy the good-will of all parties.  Such
men ought not to be spoken of indiscriminately, yet
it is not easy to classify them. One section may be
described as simply timid, —another as selfish timeservers. The timid man  is very difficult to understand.  In the sunshine he will be as bold as a lion;
he will even venture to talk about " nailing his colors
to the mast "; and in private, where no one but the
minister hears him, he will go any length in committing
himself to the ministerial cause. Nor do I think him
insincere in doing so; he is faithful to his mood; his
full intention is to take the very next lion by the beard
and to slay the beast with a stroke, yet when the said
lion puts in an unexpected appearance, the timid man
prudently gets out of the way with all despatch. I have
known some men who really could not fight; men of
distinguished excellence of character, willing to give
any amount of money and to render any extent of service, provided there be no controversy; they would
hardly contend even for the right, - they would give for
it, work for it, pray for it, but never fight for it.  If the
minister came into collision with any of the people,
his timid supporters would quietly move off to the
seaside until the result was known; if the minister felt




BEWARE OF MEN.                 205
himself called upon to engage in unpopular controversy, the said friends would never be found at his
side; but if he succeeded in turning the popular current into his favor, they would boldly acknowledge that
controversy has its uses, and that Christian ministers
are bound to contend earnestly for the faith once delivered unto the saints. They will go even fruther: if
public excitement be turned in favor of the minister,
if he become the hero of the hour, if newspapers extend
his reputation, and if great men give honor to his
name, the timid friends who deeply felt the necessity
for sea air at the beginning of the fight, will courageously suggest in a very private meeting whether a
testimonial ought not to be presented to the champion
of great principles. And in both cases the timid
friends will be quite sincere. The simple fact is, they
cannot overcome their natural timidity; they cannot
bring their moral courage abreast of their moral impulses; to will is present with them, but how to perform they find not. I have often had occasion to hear
of the unhappy consequences of defective courage,
especially in the working out of the most republican
forms of ecclesiastical life. Take the case of'an Independent church, in which there is some division of
opinion upon an important question, and the course
of events will probably be as follows: a few talkative,
self-confident, and pertinacious individuals will lead
the opposition; around them will be gathered'half-adozen youths (apprentices, clerks, and errand-boys),'who have studied the art of impertinence in what are
called " mutual improvement societies," and who are
just eloquent enough to cry out "hear, hear," and
"fair play," when the elder opponents are being hard
driven. When such a state of affairs arises, nearly
every man of intelligence and good feeling will absent
himself from the church meeting; men and women who
are desirous  to cultivate spiritual-mindedness, and
who wish the church to be the centre of their happiest




206  AD CLERTIJI: ADVICES TO A YOUNG PREACHER.
associations, will not subject themselves to the annoyance and exasperation of carping and malicious criticism;- hence it may be perfectly possible to pass a
resolution at a church meeting, and to pass it unanimously, from  which all the educated, refined, and
earnest members of the church most strongly and
determinedly dissent.  You will say this is a most
anomalous state of affairs, and I allow it; yet it is
matter of fact, and admits, I think, of easy explanation. In proportion as any man lives a deeply spiritual
life will he shrink from frivolous debate, and especially
from offering opposition to the Christian ministry: he
will have no taste for resolutions and counter-resolutions, for committees and sub-committees, for amendments and riders; he has a nobler and diviner idea
of church life, and nothing will tempt him  from  his
high  eminence to mingle in the dusty frays which,occasionally disgrace the working out of ecclesiastical
republicanism.  This is, on  some grounds, to  be
regretted; the minister often suffers most painful
injury by it; he is left in the hands of a few men who
are quite capable of driving roughly over all the sensibilities that have been refined by high education and
deep communion with the Spirit of truth; and whilst he
may have the sympathy of the largest and best portion
of his people, he is left to smart under an official resolution which may have all the effect of a virtual falsehood. You will say that the men who could pass such
a resolution ought not to be in the church; this is true,
but unfortunately we have to suffer from facts, and not
to discuss opinions. With all the supposed care with
which the gates of church membership are guarded, lowminded and worthless men do secure public standing;
and as they are men who have nothing to lose, they are
often reckless in their opposition.  They regard the
church as a kind of debating club; their piety is limited
to impious discussions; they think the church is dead
if a stirring controversy is not proceeding, and that the




BEWARE OF FMEN.               207
world is in mortal danger of damnation if the ballotbox and the sub-committee are not in constant requisition. Rely upon it, these are.not timid men; they are
rather what the apostle Peter describes as " natural
brute beasts made to be taken and destroyed."  I refer
to them, though with infinite repugnance, merely to
show how little the minister has to hope for from timid
supporters. The coarse men will always be foremost;
to them a fight is a revival, a secession is a means of
grace, and a change of ministry is a gracious device
of Providence. Now, between the very boisterous and
the very timid men, there is a class that attempts to
please all parties; the members of this class are often
very clever; by a nod they can encourage the opposition, by a smile they can cheer the timid, by a shake
of the hand they can strengthen the minister, and by a
shake of the head they can aid those who are seeking
to drive the minister away. There is undoubtedl.)
great versatility of power in all this, and the most
perfect security too; for who can publish a nod? who
can report a smile as an item of denominational intelligence? what is the practical value of a shake of the
hand? and how many contradictory ways are there of
shaking a head that has nothing in it? The all-pleasere
do not commit themselves by speech or writing, they
express themselves with a significance which admits of
no repetition, and defend themselves by a look of surprise which may be made to mean anything the observer
pleases. This manifestation of character will often
distress you. As a man of God, you will demand truth,
honor, courage, and individuality of conviction, in those
who claim you as their pastor; but I forewarn you,
in the recollection of many a bitter disappointment,
that there are staves that look strong and trusty that
will break when you lean upon them, and pierce your
hands!
In the course of my ministry I haye met with men
who, without intending it, have put hindrances in the




208  AD CLERUM: ADVICES TO A YOUNG PREACHER.
way of.mty work. Chief among these have been overzealous defenders. I don't know how it is with-other
men, but to me it is an infinite nuisance to be defended. Some kind-hearted people have told me with
an air of intense self-satisfaction that they have " defended me through thick and thin,"    whatever height
of insanity that expression may be intended to signify.
Over-zealous defenders don't appear to see that they
actually provoke opposition.  Men like to torment
them; reports are taken to them by men who have a
comical vein in their nature, and are with mock solemnity submitted for confirmation or denial; dull hours
are enlivened by quizzical comments upon the ministry,
and harmless inquiries are put with well-simulated
anxiety to know the truth. Instantly the over-zealous
defender takes fire, and soon puts himself by extravagant statement~ into the hands of his friendly tormentors. I advise you to ask your friends never to
defend you; beg them to let you alone; assure them
that when you need defence you need to be put an end
to. I do not know whether your friends might not
occasionally be permitted a disdainful retort upon your
critics, for I believe in disdain as the best answer to
some evil questions. I know a boy who defended his
father in the best possible manner; said boy was in
the habit of expressing himself somewhat quaintly on
things in general, so much so that he had quite a local
reputation as a budding genius. On one occasion,
whilst visiting the boys in a neighbor's house, the head
of the family (a very stiff and important personage)
took opportunity of putting the young philosopher to
the test.' So," said he, in a grave and dignified
manner, " they tell me, my boy, that your father
drinks?"  The youth (whose upper lip is singularly
expressive of scorn) turned upon him with. the utmost
quietness, and said, " You great daft thing! "  Not a
word more; it was enough. In that way I should' like
ever to be defended: first, so to live as to be like the




BEWARE OF MEN.                209
boy';s father, above suspicion; and then to be so
trusted and beloved as to expose all slanderers to the
just charge of being " great daft things."  I prefer
abuse to defence. Undeserved abuse always does a
man good; defence is almost sure to do him unintended
injury. Count it a blessed day in your ministerial
history when low-minded men write against you in the
newspapers, and speak against you in the social circles;
the time for doing good has then come: but when the
devil is quiet, when he is treating you with indifference,
when he does not think it worth while to set his very
least imp upon you, be sure there is something wanting in the energy with which you strike him. The
probability is that the over-zealous defender will also
be the over-zealous reporter; this you will find to your
cost when he comes to you with tale after tale, not one
of which is worthy of a moment's attention, but all of
which, taken together, may irritate and unsettle you.
The officious though well-disposed reporter will say,
"' You know, sir, one can't help hearing those things";
"the other day I was compelled  to hear so and
so"; "of course, having a place of business in the
very middle of the town, a good many people drop in
and tell me things I should not otherwise hear "; " of
course you know, sir, I don't tell you these things to
trouble you; it is only to put you on your guard that
I venture to name them"; and in this self-excusing,
yet self-deluding manner the poor man constitutes himself into the very sewer of the church, and imagines
that he is doing service to his minister! I have known
not a few good men pestered in this way. Things
they ought never to have heard have been carefully
told them by indiscreet sympathizers, and in moments
of despondency such things have been exaggerated by
nervous apprehensions, and so a thoughtless friendship
has given them more pain than open enmity. On this
matter I have two simple pieces of advice to offer you,
-first of all, never believe a word you hear. Be sure
14




210  AD CLERUM: ADVICES TO A YOUNG PREACHER.
a tone has been altered or missed, a circumstance' has
been altogether forgotten or mistaken, so that the
meaning of the original speaker has been lost, and that
consequently if he were to hear the tale to which his
own name is attached, he would be amazed at his own
cleverness or knavery.  It is next to impossible to
relate anything exactly as it was first told. Every
word may be carefully repeated, yet the savor may be
lost; the bottle may have been steadily carried, yet as
the glass stopper has been exchanged for a common
cork, the spirit of the contents has exhaled. To this
recommendation of universal disbelief let me add a
second piece of advice - never defend yourself. I know
what the ardent young minister is apt to do. Immediately that he hears of some unlucky man who has
been criticising his sermons, he makes it his business
to wait on the unhappy critic and to pommel him well
by a high-wrought defence of himself and his method
of preaching, he turns on the great wheel for the purpose of killing a fly, and the probability is that he
cannot stop the wheel when the magnificent slaughter
has been accomplished.  Or there is another way in
which the young enthusiast may attempt self-vindication, - he may stacad utpon his dignity when he meets
offenders. He may speak'to them coldly, he may hold
them at arn's length; he may assume the most chilling
airs of haughty self-reliance; and a hundred other
foolish things he may do. Now, my dear sir, hear me;
don't stand oni your dignity; please don't stand on your
dignity; forget your dignity; leave your dignity at
home, and be a Christian gentleman. A  Christian
gentleman never stands on his dignity, and therefore
he is never undignified. Suppose you stand on your
dignity, what then? Why, of course, Mrs. Tallowchandler will stand on her dignity, so will Mrs. Laundress, so will Mrs. Charwoman; you will all stand on
your dignity, and your fall into the ditch will be all
the greater for your elevation.  There is yet a third




BEWARE OF MEN.                211
way in which a fiery youth may put in a word for himself; he may rush into print. In a blaze of indignation
he declares his intention not to be put down. " No,"
says he, " I shall appeal to a discriminating public! "
The excited youth forgets that the public is not discriminating; the public is an overgrown fussy baby, so
busy weaving cotton and selling potatoes as not to
care'one iota who is right and who is wrong in an
ecclesiastical brawl. Never print whilst you are angry;
and whether you are angry or not, never print anything
in your own defence. Print poetry, becaurse nobody
will read it; print sermons, for that is the most decent
form of burial; but never print personal defences,
because every gossip in the neighborhood will buy your
hot preparations, and scald you with them some other
day. May you know the blessedness of those who
have neither pens nor ink, who never condescend to
write a letter, and who hold original composition in
contempt.'Twill save you from a thousand snares, to
throw your pens away.
I shall take my own advice, at least for the present;
so let my final word be upon the desirableness of not
committing yourself to anybody. Never tell all you
know. Never mix yourself with the petty confidences
of cliques. Dine as seldom as possible in company,
especially in company with the members of your own
congregation. Select your friends with the most critical care, and when you find a really true man give him
your heart, let him feel the influence of a strong, deep
love, and he will prize your confidence when he knows
that it is not indiscriminately bestowed. I am afraid
you will think me somewhat severe, yet I make my
appeal to time. I have trusted many, I have found a
few chosen men in whose keeping my very life would
be perfectly safe; yet looking at the breadth of a lifetime, I feel constrained to repeat the Saviour's words,
" Beware of men."




XVII.
DIRECTORIES.
You are not to suppose an intention on my part to
review all the Helps, Guides, and Aids to the power of
public speaking which have appeared from the tile of
St. Augustine. My modest wish is to say a word or
two upon books which are of recent production, and
which, as will be seen, deserve notice-both as warnings
and examples.  The other day I laid out a small sum
in the purchase of the most magnificent work ever
penned upon the subject to which it is devoted, —
nothing less than " a complete guide to the attainment
of purity and elegance of style in speaking  and
writing."  The sum expended was " two and eleven,"
-how far the investment was such as to tempt you to
follow my example you shall presently see. Please to
remember that the book in question is not merely a
guide, but a complete guide, and not a complete guide to
rudimentary writing, but to the attainment of purity
and elegance of style. What is said on the title-page is
repeated on page 33, -" our treatise being designed
for the advanced student," etc.  Notwithstanding this
high design, the condescending author gives on his 16th
page "Preliminary Hints to Juvenile Readers," the
originality and value of which do not admit of two
opinions. Here they are -
"Be careful to pronounce each word deliberately,
with a clear and distinct utterance of every syllable,
and with due attention to the vowels, diphthongs, and
final consonants. Read as if conversing inpolite society,
not as a task, not thinking of your voice and how you
impress your listeners, but, as far as you can, forgetting
yourself, and entering into the feelings and sentiments
212




DIRECTORIES.                 213
of the author: and a caution to youthful readers may
here not be ill-timed, viz., that they especially guard
against an over-serious and formal' tone and manner.
The object of reading is to give pleasure, while imparting information; therefore the voice, as well as the
expression of the countenance, should indicate cheerfulness, making it apparent that the reader takes an
interest in the subject, and is gratified by the exercise.
There is a natural charm  in  a lively and unaffected
tone; and, to  conclude, we recommend  the oldfashioned couplet as a very good rule for beginners,
viz., -'Learn to speak slow, all other graces
Will follow in their proper places.'
" A  variety in exercises gives mastery, and for this
it is advisable to practise alternately the different styles
of composition, from the light and humorous, to the
more grave and dignified."
The comprehensive advice to be careful about vowels
and diphthongs, yet not to think of the voice; to forget
yourself, and yet to let the countenance indicate cheerfulness'; not to think of the voice, and yet to aim at a
lively and unaffected tone, is most charming, enabling
the author to come in at the front door and go out at
the back, and to say contradictory things in such a
manner as to be bound to neither of them. The youthful reader is not to think of how he impresses his
listeners, yet he is to show that he is gratified by the
exercise; he is to be indifferent to his hearers, and yet
to remember that his object is to give them pleasure
and impart to them  information.  They must be very
juvenile readers for whom such lucid hints are designed.
You will be pleased to observe that the countenance is
to indicate cheerfulness, as a proof that the reader
takes an interest in the subject, whether the subject be




214  AD CLERUM: ApVICES TO A YOUNG PREACHEII.
"light and humorous," or "the more grave and
dignified ": the great object with our pleasant author
is to be cheerful, in whatever direction the rhetorical
wind may blow.
So much for juvenile readers. Coming to' advanced
students," the author  "doubts whether the strict formality of methodical systems may not often prove rather
a hindrance than a help to minds of a superior cast."
Keeping his eye upon " minds of a superior cast," the.author sublimely says: "1 Had the early genius of
Shakspeare been thus cramped and rigidly tied down
to precise modes and details of study, we much doubt
whether his imagination would have expanded with the
noble freedom, and bold and graphic originality, which
constitutes the great charm of his dramatic compositions. We admit that, so trained, he might have been
eminently shrewd and clever, but he would not have
been Shakspeare as he has come down to us, and as
we delight to know him."  This is, of course, a most
satisfactory explanation of Shakspeare. We now see
clearly all about him. Avoid precise modes and details
of study, and you will probably be a Shakspeare;
keep clear of' " hints to juvenile readers," or you will
never write "Hamlet."  The judicial mind of the
author admits that had Shakspeare read such hints,
and been foolish enough to take them seriously to heart,
he would have been a tolerably shrewd man on the
whole,   nay, more, "eminently shrewd and clever,"
which is a poor encouragement to the public to buy our
author's " complete guide."  How any man can have
brought himself to imagine that Shakspeare could
have been " cramped and rigidly tied down to precise
modes and details of study " is not to be satisfactorily
accounted for, except on the principle that he himself
was " rigidly tied down " in his youth, and has never
been able to shake off his bonds.
Having thus explained the majesty of Shakspeare,
the author adds with wonderful simplicity: " We have




DIRECTORIES.                 215
therefore purposely omitted much of the introductory
matter commonly found  in  school treatises,"  etc.
This is one of the collateral blessings which Shalkspeare has conferred upon the world. Because Shakspeare might have been spoiled by modes and details,
our author shrinks from the possibility of nipping some
young Shakspeare in the bud, and the)efore avoids' precise modes and details of study."  This was very
daring on the part of the author, yet he recovered himself by the aid of a great name.  "Nor," says he, " are
we without support in this our view. It was the advice
of Dr. Johnson," etc.; clearly showing how impossible
it is even for the strongest minds to proceed far in
original thinking without coming upon unexpected and
illustrious companionship. Dr. Johnson advised a young
man to give his days and nights to Addison, and our
author adds this important remark, "We hold the
counsel advisable, for his writings exhibit a faultless
style and classic purity, while breathing a cheerful
spirit, enlivened with a rich vein of humor and a playful but harmless satire, and as a moral essayist he has
rarely been excelled." After this, no one will be at
liberty to question the " advisableness " of Dr. Johnson's advice: in the first instance, Dr. Johnson supports our author's opinion, and in the next, our author
supports Dr. Johnson's opinion, and thus the whole question is settled.  Still, remembering that " by some this
celebrated essayist is regarded as out of date," the
author judiciously adds: "We deem it well, then, to
begin with Addison, but by no means to end with
him." Certainly not! Begin with an author of" faultless style and classic purity," but " by no means end
with him."  Give your days and nights to Addison,
and the remainder of your time to somebody else!
One brief division of this " complete guide " is
entitled " The Suggestive Faculty," and  in  giving
" Hints for its Exercise,"  the  author says: "In
order to be fluent in speech, we must be fertile in




216  AD CLERUMK: ADVICES TO A YOUNG PREACHER.
thought, for words being but the signs of our ideas, to
have a copious command of the former we must multiply the latter.  Whatever, therefore, sets our thoughts
actively at work, will serve our turn, and claims our
first attention. For this, formal rules are not needful,
a single suggestion may suffice. We will then at once
commence."  Prepare yourself, my friend, for one of
the most pathetic illustrations ever addressed to your
heart, and please to remember that it forms part of a
book intended for " advanced students," -not for
tyros, but for men of capacity and strength. The
author's object is to teach his advanced students how
to " multiply ideas"; and how admirably the illustration is fitted to serve this useful purpose you will see
without the aid of a commentator: " You have received,
we will suppose, two invitations, each being to spend a
month, one with friends in town, the other in the
country; you must choose between them, and perhaps
are puzzled in so doing. Ere you decide, you will
think and turn over in your mind the pleasure and
advantage you may expect from either.  On the one
hand, the country tempts you with its freshness and
beauty, its rural scenes, its walks and rides, and
healthful recreations. On the other hand, the town
attracts with its gayeties, its social pleasures, and diversified entertainments; in either case, not omitting the
companionship you may prefer, and the society you
will enter into. Here is no lack of matter for thinking, if you would choose discreetly; and it will be helpful to note down separately the pros and cons, and then
weigh and consider. We have merely thrown out the
hint for the youthful composer."
"' Here is no lack of matter for thinking"! You
will observe that the town attracts you with its gayeties; you will also observe that you are not only to
think, but to turn over in your mind, and the difficult
part of your work is to think and turn over " the pleasure and advantage" which exist only in expectation,




DIRECTORIES                 217
and therefore don't exist at all. It is very prettily
said that the country tempts you with its rural scenes.
Observe the intellectual process through which you
have to pass before going out for a month's holiday:
" think —turn over in your mind —note down separately - then weigh and consider"; that's all! Why,
you could not do more if you had to choose between
life and death!  I am afraid that if anything could
have enfeebled the wings of Shakspeare, this process
of " thinking" would have succeeded in doing so. If
you should ever avail yourself of this absurd advice,
pray don't tell the friend whose hospitality you accept
that you have made your way to his house through the
briers of such sharp logic, and especially keep the
secret fiom his wife, or she will not ask you whether
you will take tea or coffee, for fear you should retire
for an hour to " note down separately the pros and
cons." It is, however, a great relief to find our author
saying, " We have merely thrown out the hint for the
youthful composer"; if the youthful composer will do
the same thing, the hint will be treated exactly as it
deserves. No, no; we must have something better
than this, worse is impossible: why, this is infinitely
better — a minister, whose command of words was positively alarming, was asked by what method he had
acquired such amazing fluency, and he frankly owned it
was the result of practice; said he, " when I go out to
walk, I say to my stick' long stick, hard stick, strong
stick, smooth stick, thick stick, light stick, nice stick,"'
whereupon his waggish listener added " dry stick," and
left him.
You are not to be deterred from the practice recommended by our author by its- difficulty, because " such
a process constitutes the element of solid improvement," and, besides this, "the task becomes easier with
practice, one thought begets another, till at length we
master the difficulty, and become conscious of our
power  we then begin to take a pleasure in duly order



218  AD CLERUM: ADVICES TO A YOUNG PREACHER.
ing our ideas, and in giving a becoming expression to
them."  This word of encouragement is needed, considering the painfulness of the task appointed by the
exacting author.  Some of us have great cifficulty in
"commanding our thoughts "; judge therefore of my
delight in coming upon this luminous passage:"It is most desirable to acquire betimes a habit of
fixing the attention, and concentrating the thoughts,
which are ever prone to wander, especially with the
unpractised; a watchful guard is therefore requisite
to counteract this propensity; and it is no less needful
to be able to control our ideas than to-have formed
them  aright. In the choice of words, also, to give a
judicious expression to our sentiments, due care and
discretion are indispensable."
That settles the question, by putting you up to the
art and mystery of mental concentration. You see
now exactly how it is, don't you?  Appoint a watchful
guard, and give due expression to your sentiments, -
that's all, nothing easier, myn dear sir, if you know
how, which is not the business of the "complete" guide
to tell, especially for the trifling sum of two and elevenpence.  Still, our author must have felt that in putting
the case in this clear manner, he had made a considerable contribution to that form of authorship which, as
George Eliot says, "is called suggestion, and consists
in telling another man that he might do a great deal
with a given subject by bringing a sufficient amount
of knowledge, reasoning, and wit to bear upon it."
You will admit, I am  sure, the importance of
"variety in forms of expression"; on this subject our
author is conspicuously great, as you will see by the
following: -
" This is effected by changing the position of the
component parts of a paragraph, or compound sentence,
without altering the words.




DIRECTORIES.               219
EXAMPLE.
1. When a good man dies he leaves all his bad behind, and carries all his good with him. When a
sinner dies he leaves all his good, and carries all
his bad.
2. When a good man dies he carries all his good,
etc.
3. A good man when he dies leaves, etc.
4. A good man when he dies carries, etc.
5. When he dies, a good man, etc.
6. A. sinner when he dies-When a sinner dies, etc.
N. B.  This sentence admits of twelve variations."
Now, sir, no more talk of want of variety in preaching! By a skilful use of this novel permutation, one
sermon will last you a lifetime. When I'reflect on this
it is impossible to begrudge the two and eleven-pence
for so complete a guide. Query: if one sentence ad-.
mits of twelve variations, of how many variations will
two sermons admit? Then the text may be varied;
begin one inch from the beginning, then begin in the
middle, then read it backwards, anid then try it from
the beginning. If the order of words may be varied,
why may not the emphasis of the words be varied too?
See how rich a field is opened by this simple plan!
Take the text, " Go thou and do likewise"; and the
results are truly wonderful. Thus:Go thou and do likewise; that is, don't do it here, but
go out and do it.
Go thou and do likewise; don't work by deputy, do
your own work.
Go thou and do likewise; it is not enough to go, you
must also do.
Go thou and do likewise; don't merely think or approve, but act.




220  AD CLERUM: ADVICES TO A YOUNG PREACHER.
Go thou and do likewise: don't be original; copy and
reflect, but don't originate.
N. B.- This emphasis is adapted to all subjects
and occasions."
The native delicacy of the author's taste is strikingly
shown in his remarks upon " Qualified or Softened Expression."  Some of us have an unfeeling way of calling a spade a spade, and a shameful habit of calling
a liar a liar. To all this rudeness there may now be a
happy end. Speaking upon " Qualified or Softened
Expression," the author says: "This serves to mitigate the severity of rude and harsh sounding words,
by avoiding all such as are highly offensive. Thus,
instead of branding the individual with the odious epithet of liar, we may accuse him of misrepresentation.
Instead of the stigma, sot, sluggard, or idler, we say,
deficient in energy, the reverse of diligent, prone to
inaction. Insufferable pride will be exaggerated selfesteem - for madness, alienation of mind; and instead
of brutal folly, a lamentable want of prudence."
This rule would considerably change (not improve)
the method of putting things in some parts of the New
Testament.  For example:' If any man say he love
God, and hateth his brotherhood, he is a liar," would
be — he is guilty of misrepresentation: a much gentler
method of dealing with the. case.  Even Solomon,
wisest of men, might be amended; when he says, "Go
to the ant, thou sluggard," he should be read as saying,' Go to the ant, thou who art prone to inaction!" When
Jesus Christ calls I-lerod a " fox," He should be understood as calling him " that animal of the genus Ccanis,
with a straight tail, yellowish hair, and erect ears," 
decidedly more polite, and considerate of human feeling.
It is with much relief that I turn to an eighteen-penny
book, by Mr. Holyoake, called " Rudiments of Public
Speaking and Debate."  Get this book if you can; I




DIRECTORIES.                221
am afraid it is out of print.  It is full of wise and
practical counsel, and rich with allusion and quotation
of the best kind.  An extract from the chapter on
Effctiveness will show what I mean. " Young men,
poetical from ardor, and enthusiastic from passion
rather than principle, will often rush from libraries
crammed with lore with which nobody else is familiar,
and pour out before an audience what the speaker believes to be both sublime and impressive, but which
his hearers cannot understand.  They grow listless
and restless, and he retires overwhelmed with a sense
of failure. A B, a young friend of considerable promise, thus failed in my presence. I endeavored thus to
divert his despondency.
" Failures, I urged, are with heroic minds the stepping-stones to success.
"'Why have I not succeeded?' he asked.'I can
never hope to say better things of my own than I said
to-night of others.'
" The cause of your non-success is obvious. You
commenced by addressing your auditors as men, and
you left them as children. A young preacher who had ascended the pulpit with great confidence, but who broke
down in the middle of his sermon, was met by Rowland
Hill as he was rushing from the pulpit.'Young man,
said Rowland,' had you ascended the pulpit in the spirit
in which you descended, you would have descended in
the spirit in which you ascended.' Something of this
kind will explain your case. In your exordium you
should address your auditors as though they were
children, state your argumeits as though they were
learners, and in your peroration only assume them to
be men. On the threshold of a new subject men are as
children; during its unfoldment they are learners;
only when the subject is mastered are they as men,
with manhood's power to execute their convictions.
Had it struck you that probably no man of your audience was familiar with the habits of society in the days




222  AD CLERUM: ADVICES TO A YOUNG PREACHER.
of Spenser's' Faery Queene,' or of the high and mystic imaginings of the solitary Paracelsus, would not the
thought have caused you to recast your whole lecture?
Take care. that you do not render yourself amenable to
the sarcasm of Swift, who, when Burnet said, speaking
of the Scotch preachers in the time of the civil war,' The crowds were far beyond the capacity of their
churches or the reach of their voices,' Swift added,' And the preaching beyond the capacity of the crowd;
I believe the church had as much capacity as the minister.' "
An extract relating to debate will show you Mr.
Holyoake's spirit and somewhat of his method: " The
object of discussion is not the vexatious chase of an
opponent, but the contrastive and current statement of
opinion. Therefore endeavor to select leading.opinions, to state them strongly and clearly, and when your
opponent replies, be content to leave his arguments
side by side with your own, for the judgment of the
auditors.  In no case disparage an opponent, misstate his views, or torture his words, and thus, for the
sake of a verbal triumph, produce lasting ill feelings.
Your sole business is with what he says, not how he
says it, nor why he says it. Your aim should be that
the audience should lose sight of the speakers, and be
possessed with the subject, and that those who come
the partisans of persons shall depart the partisans of
principles. The victory in a debate lies not in lowering an opponent, but in raising the subject in public
estimation. Controversial wisdom lies not in destroying an opponent, but in destroying his error; not in
making him ridiculous, so much as in making the audience wise."  The wisdom of these counsels may be
turned to advantage even in the pulpit, for though you 
do not there enter into debate in the ordinary sense of
the term, yet you have to reply to objections, to anticipate difficulties, and to commend your cause to the
judgment of all who hear you. It is specially needful




DIRECTORIES.                 223
in a minister who has the entire conduct of a service,
that. he should be noble in his treatment of all supposed objectors.  Their arguments should be stated
with all possible clearness and force, and courtesy
should never be sacrificed to victory.
Have you seen Paxton Hood's book, with the singular title, " Lamps, Pitchers, and Trumpets"?  Get it,
by all means.  The mere arrangement of the subjects
might be considerably improved; but the matter, the
spirit, the enthusiasm, and the poetry leave nothing to
be desired.  The book has called me out of many a
gloomy fit, and helped me to begin again after I thought
the end of my work had come. There is not a tame
sentence in all the book; if there is, I have not seen it.
Wisdom, anecdote, individuality, illustration, parable
-plenty.; insipidity, monotony, cold exhortationnone. Mr. Hood gives his reader to feel how sublime
a thing it is to be a preacher.  We are not allowed to
drop the preacher into a secondary rank; he is called
of God, he is inspired by the Holy Ghost, he is the
interpreter and  revealer of the'Redeeming  Heart.
Read this book if ever you be tempted to give up the
exercise of your ministry..Vinet, Baxter, Bridges,. Greswell, Porter, Cotton
Mather, and others will have a good deal to say that is' profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction,
and for instruction"  in homiletics. Remember that no
preacher was ever made by rules.  Yqu may have a
bag full of excellent tools, but if your fingers be unskilled, your instruments are of little use. Does the
spade make the gardener?  Does the easel make the
painter?  A  man may read guide-boards and fingerposts all the days of his life, and yet never take a
walk; or he may be profound in Bradshaw, and yet
never enter a train. It is possible, too, to be a critic
without being an artist, and to be able to find fault,
without being able to do better. Many of your hearers




224-  AD CLERUM: ADVICES TO A YOUNG PREACHER.
will complain of your sermons, who could not write a
sermon if they were to be rewarded with heaven for
doing so. Don't upbraid them  for their inability.
Faultfinding is a distinct and special talent. What
would you have thought, if, when you told your shoemaker that your shoes did n't fit, he had challenged
you to make a better pair?  Remember this, and
be humble!




XVHIIL
THE GUARANTEES OF A SUCCESSFUL
MINISTRY.
TO-DAY I feel as if I would much rather speat to you
than address you in writing, as my heart is full of a
subject which requires to be explained in the tenderest
and most urgent manner, and in secrecy, as between
friend and friend who are both conscious of the presence and looking forward to the judgment of God. I
do you no injustice.assuredly in presuming that you
are most anxious that your ministry should be successful. Success, when applied to Christian work, is a term
which requires to be carefully explained. Already I
have given you my views pretty fully upon this point;
but as the subject is one of extraordinary importance,
you will excuse me repeating that success in ministerial
service is not to be confounded with success in any
other engagement of life. Naturally you think of success in connection with crowded chapels, ample pecuniary resources, and a sounding reputation: far be it
from me to say that these things are not to be desired
in a proper measure; at the same time I hold distinctly that it is perfectly possible to fall short of them,
and yet to be realizing a very high degree of success
in the Christian ministry.  I think it exceedingly
unreasonable on the part of any person to ridicule large
congregations, or to attempt to undervalue outward and
visible signs of a powerful ministry.  It is certain that
if people do not come to hear you, you cannot do them
any good; on the other hand, it is probable that if they
do come to hear you, the word which you preach may
touch their hearts; on this ground I hold it to be unreasonable to say one word against able ministers of the
15               225




226  AD CLERUM: ADVICES TO A YOUNG PREACHER.
gospel whose ministry secures an overflowing attendance of hearers.  Success, in fact, is a term which has
different meanings according to the different circumstances under which it is employed. One man is a successful preacher,- his style of thought and his manner
of expression are such as to constitute him a master of
great assemblies:  Another man has a style of thinking
and a manner of expression which give him  a quieter,
but not less useful influence.  One man is qualified to
direct a crowd; another is capable of exerting a most
beneficent influence on a few  select minds; in both
cases there may be the highest ministerial success,
though the outward signs differ so mlluch. I hold that
no ministry is successful that does not work in men a
profound conviction of the sinfulness of sin, and an
earnest desire to know Jesus Christ and H-is blessed
salvation.  Assuming that we are equally earnest in
endeavoring to reach the highest point of success in
our holy vocation, allow me to put before you a point
or two vwhich will show you my own view of the case,
and may lead your own mind into still further pursuit
of the conditions which are essential to the highest service for Christ.
It is perfectly clear to me that our first business is
to keep diligontly our own heart.  For a moment let
us exclude the idea that we are called to any special
office in Christ's kingdom; forgetting that we are ministers, let us think of ourselves as individual Christicns.
As sinners recovered by the grace of God, we are never
to lose sight of the fact that our salvation is derived
entirely from the cross of Jesus Christ, and not at all
from the exercise of our ministerial gifts.  We are not
first ministers, and then Christians; we are first Christians, and then, by the grace of God, we are called to
minister in Jesus Christ's name.  What, then., is our
spiritual condition before God?  Is our heart really
alive to the grandeur of the redemption of which we
profess to have been made partakers?  Do we find rest




THE GUARANTEES OF A SUCCESSFUL MINISTRY. 227
in the blessed fact that we ourselves have cast our soulk
entirely upon the Saviour, and given up our destiny to
His keeping?  There is, as you will come to know, a
dread possibility of our sinking the Christian in the
minister, and of our seeing even God's own book rather
for ministerial than for strictly personal and spiritual
uses. Holding, as I do most tenaciously, that the ministry of the gospel is not a profession, but a vocation,
I am yet well aware how powerful is the temptation to
regard all things appertaining to our ministry in a professional light, to turn Christian meditation into a kind
of professional study, and to discharge our obligations
as hirelings rather than sons of God. Retirement, selfexamination, devout study of the Holy Scriptures, are
entirely indispensable to any man who would grow in
grace and qualify himself for public usefulness in the
church. Are we much alone with God? Do we turn
away from the world with all its distractions and allurements, and enjoy the secrecy in which God is our only
companion? Rely upon it, we shall be mighty only in
proportion as we are devout; and only as we walk with
God, and enjoy deep and constant fellowship with I-lim
through His Son, shall we be able to speak in a manner
which will commend our ministry to every man's conscience. I know the difficulties which lie in the direction of profound spiritual culture in the individual
heart: there is so much excitement, there is so much
to be read and to be heard, there are so many conflicting opinions to consider and balance, so many inroads
are made upon privacy by the demands of custom, that
it is next to impossible, apart from the severest econ-.
omy of time, to secure opportunity for deep and loving
intercourse with the Father, the Son, and the Holy
Ghost. I don't know why I should hesitate to say that
there is great danger, in the multiplicity of claims
which are constantly made upon our attention, of overlooking the distinctive claims of God's own book;  I
do not know how far your observation and my owri




228  AD CLERUM1: ADVICES TO A YOUNG PREACHER.
may coincide, but to me it is a very painful and humiliating fact that few books seem to be less known, even
by ministers themselves, than the book of inspiration.
I have known men of very limited culture, whose ministry has yet been signally owned, through a devotion
to the Scriptures, which has enabled them to meet the
necessities of the people with an appropriateness and
sufficiency even which no man of general reading could
ever have secured. Truly in is who are called to preach
Jesus Christ, the word of God ought to dwell richly and
abound. We ought not to stumble in our quotation of
the Divine word; that word ought to be hidden in our
heart, and ought to be so precious to us as to be within
instant call of our memory whenever occasion arises
for its application to our own spiritual condition or the
interests of those to whom we minister. Do not imagine that I am in any degree enforcing my own example
upon.you, when I venture to say again and again that
unless you be shut up as it were with the Father, the
Son, and the Holy Ghost, in secret retirement, no unction will rest upon your ministry, however eloquent
your language, or splendid your illustrations, or vehement your public appeals. It is impossible to disguise
the spirit which comes of profound contemplation of
religious subjects; it is impossible to conceal the fact
which is produced by prolonged and loving intercourse
with the Saviour. If the countenance itself do not
shine with unearthly lustre, there will be in the whole
manner an influence which will proclaim itself to have
been originated by the highest intercourse. Let us,
then, seek to deepen our Christian conviction and Christian feeling. Let us live very near the cross; let Jesus
Christ be the one all-commanding Object of our attention and our love. If such be the case, we shall know
what it is to long with unspeakable desire for the presence and guidance of the Holy Ghost. Some of us,
indeed, are in danger of forgetting that this is the
dispensation of the Holy Spirit, and that all Christian




THE GUARANTEES OF A SUCCESSFUL MINISTRY. 229
usefulness is now to be conducted and directed by Him
alone.  The Holy Ghost is to be given in answer to
fervent and unceasing prayer; let us wait diligently
at the throne, until we receive this most blessed and
inspiring Gift.
Our work in the ministry will be a failure unless we
seek to discharge our obligations in the spirit of Jesus
Christ. We must work as He worked, and for the
purposes which formed the great object of His ministry.
The spirit of Jesus Christ was a spirit of true sincerity,
courage, unselfishness; Jesus Christ was always seeking the redemption of men. We shall grow cold in our
work, if the fires of our heart be not renewed by the
love of the Saviour. We must seek to obtain his view
of human life, alike in the individual and in society.
Jesus Christ did not work on great occasions only, He
sought to make every occasion great.  He devoted
Himself as entirely to the service of one sinner, as to
the teaching of the greatest multitude that thronged
upon His ministry. The spirit of Jesus Christ was the
spirit of hope; He did not discourage the worst persons
who sought His counsel and His sympathy. His delight was to seek and to save the lost. Are we not in
danger of attending almost exclusively to the sections
of society which are distinctly denominated respectable?
We think it a great thing to see a respectable congregation; we speak applaudingly of the men who gather
around them the rich and the learned. I fear that in
doing so we may miss the influence of the spirit which
inspired Jesus Christ.  Jesus Christ.sought the lost,
the lowest, the vilest, the outcast, and the despised.
You will no doubt remind me that in connection with
most ecclesiastical organizations there are agencies for
the recovery of the lowest class of the population   I
am quite aware of this, yet I feel a danger even here,
because some of us may be seeking to do by deputy
what we ought to be doing in our own proper, person.
Believe me, it does not appear to me to be sufficient to




230  AD CLERUM: ADVICES TO A YOUNG PREACHER.
delegate to others the work of informing ourselves of
the condition of the most ruined people; there is not a
minister amongst us, how remarkable soever his gifts
or exalted his position, who would not be stimulated
and encouraged in his work by spending a little time
now and again in visiting the darkest haunts of our
incomplete civilization.  I cannot but think that Jesus
Christ Himself would not always be found on the busy
thoroughfares of our cities or in their attractive suburbs;
I cannot but feel that oftentimes I-Ie would be found
in the lowest places, speaking to men, women, and
children out of whom all that is human has almost perished.  Ought not the spirit of our Saviour to constrain
us to make some personal sacrifice in this direction?
Of course, there must be adaptation on our part to meet
such as those now specially referred to; at the same
time it is quite possible that when we put ourselves into
the right circumstances, adaptation on our part may
be unexpectedly developed. The highest talent is often
required to meet extremities. It appears to me to be
quite a mistake to imagine that inferior talent is good
enough to meet the requirements of the outcast masses;
on the contrary, my conviction is that the highest gifts
may be most profitably employed in meeting the difficulties, the objections, the hardships, and the perplexities of men whose case has too often been regarded as
utterly hopeless. Now nothing can enable us to undertake with spirit and determination work of this kind,
but deep sympathy with  Jesus Christ. We cannot
engage in such service with any personal satisfaction;
our taste will be disgusted, our energies will be impaired, our whole nafture will recoil, unless we go into
this work animated by the self-sacrificing and all-loving
spirit of the Redeemer. Not only so, our own morality
will be corrupted if we take with us anything less than
the protection of the holiness of Jesus Christ.  We
ourselves are but men; if we touch pitch, we shall be
defiled; but if we seek Christ's companionship, and




'THE GUARANTEES OF A SUCCESSFUL MINISTRY. 231
defend ourselves by Christ's righteousness, we shall be
enabled to pass through the most revolting scenes without loss of virtue, and not only so, but with a positive
gain of moral strength in our hearts.  I do not ask you
to undertake work of this kind as a man of letters, or
as a mere philanthropist, or as a political or a social
reformer; I ask you to undertake it because of the
cross of Jesus Christ, which is the symbol of all that is
Divine and blessed in sacrifice.
The great object of our ministry is the salvation of
souls. The terml salvation, as I here employ it, is the
most inclusive term  which occurs to me to describe
the whole service of our holy vocation.  It includes
not only the persuasion of men to go as penitents and
believers to  the footstool of mercy and the cross
of Christ, but the teaching, the enlightenment, and
strengthening of all Christian principle in the hearts
of those who have avowedly given themselves to the
Lord.  It will be of poor value to us, on the great day
of final judgiment, that we have been applauded for
preaching great sermons, if we have not brought sinners
to a knowledge of the way of salvation.  I know of no
bitterer irony, or more humiliating satire, than to be
told that we have delivered splendid discourses, and
yet to know that not one soul has ever been led to
Jesus Christ by a ministry so flatteringly described.
I do not despise the uses of criticism, nor do I say one
word against the charms of speech; but I do increasingly feel, as my experience of men extends, that there
is nothing worth living for compared with the grand
object of winning souls, working in them, by the aid
of the IHoly Ghost, those Christian convictions which
save men from death. To be told by any poor creature
that yon have been the means of turning his attention
from  things that are earthly  to  things that are
heavenly, is to receive the highest reward which is
possible to Christian labor in the present scene of life.
It is a hint of what will be said to you on another day




232  AD CLERUM: ADVICES TO A YOUNG PREACHER.
and in higher circumstances.  Let us seek for this
applause, - the applause which testifies to the rousing
and converting power of an inspired ministry. I know
you will be tempted to engage in controversies; you
may also be tempted to show off in some degree your
many acquirements and your distinguished abilities;
but let me entreat you, as I would in the fear of God
entreat myself, to pray, study, and preach more distinctly for the conversion of men. " He that winneth
souls is wise."  If we convert a sinner from the error
of his way, we shall save a soul from  death, and
hide a multitude of sins. " They that turn many to
righteousness shall shine as stars for ever and ever."
I see not why we should not enter into a vow, to give
our souls no rest until we have used every endeavor
to bring men to a knowledge of the truth as it is in
Jesus. We cannot indeed command success; we cannot say that this and that result shall assuredly, accrue
from our ministry; but if we work as if we were determined to command success, the grace of God is such
that we shall surely not go without the highest reward.
For your encouragement, as well as for my own, I
would remind you that no minister ever knows the
extent of his usefulness. We see again and again
instances which save us from despondency; but we
cannot tell what may be the indirect influence of our
Christian service. Strangers hear us; we never know
their names or their circumstances; yet some word of
ours may have been to them as unexpected and precious
light, and they may go on their way rejoicing; words
of which we thought but little at the time may have
sunk into the hearts of.some who have been burdened
with secret grief; a cheerful tone may have animated
others who had not courage enough to lay before us
the circumstances which gave them pain. I think we
do right to remind ourselves of these possibilities, lest
we be cast down for want of evidence of a more distinct
and public nature,




THE GUARANTEES OF A SUCCESSFUL MINISTRY. 233
When you enter upon your sphere of service, let me
advise you to confine as far as possible the energies of
your first years to that sphere. You are to be a pastor,
a shepherd, a man who loves men, and desires their
salvation and Christian instruction and refinement. It
must be a poor sphere which is not large enough to
exhaust all the energies of a young minister. Let
me implore you to work for your own church as if it
were all the world to you. I know there is a supposed
magnanimity which looks beyond details, localities,
and individual claims, and luxuriates in large ideas
and boundless enterprises. Without saying one word
against this, I venture to appeal to you on every
ground that you consider sacred, to keep diligently the
vineyard to which you have been appointed in the
providence of God. I am afraid that some of us will
have occasion to say at last, "other vineyards have I
kept, but mine own vineyard have I not kept."  When
in the fear of God you can truthfully say you have
exhausted the sphere to which you were appointed,
when you have taxed every power, when you have
carried light into every home that is accessible, when
you have taught every child who is willing to be
instructed, when you have carried the inspiration of
Christian conviction and stimulus into every household
belonging to your church, then it will be time enough
for you to consider whether you cannot do something
beyond  the limits of your particular appointment.
You will consider that I am warning you against public
work, and I do not hesitate to say that my advice is
intended to operate to a large extent in that direction.
You'will tell me that you are a patriot as well as a
Christian; that you are a citizen as well as a minister,
and therefore you have rights of this kind or of that
kind, which are not distinctly ministerial. I know,
my dear sir, all that can b.e said upon this point. I
am not speaking to you as to a man who has had
twenty years' experience in the ministry, but to a




234  AD CLERUM: ADVICES TO A YOUNG PREACHER.
youth who is just putting on the ministerial harness;
and I say again and again, with most urgent importunity, let me entreat you to devote the first of your
years and the best of your powers to the interests of
your own church and congregation. After you have
been seven years with your people, and become accustomed to the work which is expected at your hands, I
do not say that you will not feel yourself at liberty to
help in services which lie somewhat remote from your
ministerial and pastoral engagements. You may be
able to serve your day and generation by authorship;
you may have a useful wcod to say on the. passing
topics of the time; you may be able to teach on the
platform, and stimulate useful courses of thinking;
you may increase your influence by several kinds of
collateral engagements; but let the strength of your
life, the richest power of your nature, be still devoted
to the exposition and enforcement of Divine truth.
You are a minister, not an author; you are a minister,
not a lecturer; you are a minister, as was Paul; be as
devoted as he was to the Cross and the kingdom of
Jesus Christ. How noble and glowing was the enthusiasm which said, " God forbid that I should glory,
save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ"; how
resolute was the will which declared, " I determine to
know nothing among men but Jesus Christ, and Him
crucified."  Believe me, there is scope enough in the
Christian ministry to exhaust the fullest resources of
any man; no man who gives himself entirely to the
work of the ministry has occasion to complain of having
too little to do. Let us then, giving our days to study
and our nights to prayer, endeavor to show ourselves
6 able ministers of the New Testament."
You will observe that in this letter I have changed
my usual style, and sought to express myself with the
utmost simplicity and earnestness. I feel the need of
doing so more and more. The work of the ministry
becomes to me daily more exacting in its demands.




THE GUARANTEES OF A SUCCESSFUL MINISTRY. 235
I know not that I ever had so high an idea of what a
Christian preacher should be, and of what Christian
preaching may be, as I have to-day.  The pulpit will
go down if the preacher goes down; the preacher will
go down if the Christian goes down; but if there be
due service at the sacred altar, if there be profound and
earnest meditation upon the Divine oracles, if there
be earnest searching of heart and continual desire to
live as before the judgment seat of Christ, if there be
anxious study and preparation for public appeals and
for pastoral services, the Christian pulpit will retain its
hold upon the sanctified judgment and affections of all
men.




XVIII.
FIGURES, PARABLES, AND ANECDOTES.
IT is easy to tell a preacher to adopt a figurative
style of preaching; but what if he have no figures?
This difficulty is not provided for by the rhetoricians
who lay down rules, and illustrate them by borrowed
examples. Most unquestionably the use of figures is
to be highly commended, and it is because of a strong
belief that a good deal can be done to improve what I
may (for want of a better name) call the metaphorical
faculty, that I urge you to insist upon your mind giving you something in the way of illustration. Look
for figures; work for them; take them in their rudest
outline, and improve them. It is hardly necessary to
remind you that figures are not to be expected to meet
all the points of a subject; let it suffice to have one
main line of application, and to shed light on one particular point.' I may confess to you in this confidential
correspondence, that I cannot do much in the way of
metaphor; yet this confession, coupled with the fact
that I use all diligence to turn my fraction of talent to
account, does not deter me.from urging you to glean
even where you cannot reap. To provoke your criticism, to encourage the feeblest of your efforts, and to
awaken your emulation, I venture to send you a sample of figures and illustrations which my poor fancy
has yielded with infinite reluctance.
What do you do when, in reading the massive folios
of ancient English authors, you meet passages written
in an unknown tongue?  Paragraph after paragraph
you read with all possible fluency, instantly apprehending the author's purpose; -but suddenly the writer throws
before you a handful of Latin or a handful of Greek:
236




FIGURES, PARABLES, AND ANECDOTES.    237
what then? If you are absorbed by the interest of the
book, you eagerly look out for the next paragraph in English, and continue your pursuit of the leading thought.
Do likewise with Gods wondrous providence-bQok.
Much of it is written in your own tongue,- in largelettered English, so to speak. Read that; master its
deep'significance, and leave the passages of unknown
language until you are farther advanced in the rugged
literature of life, until you are older and better scholars in God's probationary school. The day of interpretation will assuredly come.
You have seen an old man tottering with the gathered infirmities of a weary lifetime, and wandering in
darkness on which no summer sun could shed the light
of morning: blind! blind from his birth! never saw
God's outer robe of many colors; never saw God's
shadowed outline,- his own mother's face! You have
seen such a man, led along the thronged highway by a
little child, to whose young, bright eyes he committed
himself in hope and faith. I am that poor blind wanderer through the way of God's mysteries, and that
little guide represents the benevolence, the mercy, the
tenderness, with which God leads me from horizon to
horizon, until I stand amid the encircling glories of the
perfect revelation. The commonest mercy of the daytime flames up into a fire-guide, that lights men through
the gloom and trouble of the night.
I am afraid that many of us are defective in moral
symmetry. Some men are great Christians upon one
point, and some are great Christians upon another.
One man is a great Christian in the matter of Sabbathschool teaching, and another a stupendous Christian in
the matter of total abstinence from all strong drink.
We may be too much in the habit of singling out special
virtues, to feed them up to a high pitch, in order to
carry off the prize at the ecclesiastical show. This would




238  AD CLERUMl: ADVICES TO A YOUNG PREACHER.
give but a poor idea of the roundness, the completeness,
and the inclusiveness of the Christian life. Suppose
that next summer should grow little but sunflowers,
and the following mainly abound in roses, and the
third be chiefly cistinguished for violets: however rich
might be the product of each, the summer, as a whole,
would be accounted poor and ill clad. Summer develops all the growing power of the soil, and so moral
summer does not bring forth an isolated excellency,
but clothes the human tree with " all manner of fruit."
Mysteries! What are they but as the earth at nighttime, speeding on with swift wing to the all-revealing
brightness of morning!
We say of\some men: " They are not altogether
bad; every now and then they come pretty right; so
much ho that it is hard to distinguish between them
and Christians."  It is much the same as if we should
say of a clock that is not going: " Really, that clock
is not so bad after all; every now and then, twice in
the twenty-four hours, it is perfectly right; it may be
right all day by and by." No; not until the mechanism
is put in order, and the pendulum is started. So with
man: the heart must be right before the life can be
true.
Every man must bear his testimony in his own way.
Standing in a watchmaker's shop near noonday, I was
surprised to find how many different ways there are of
announcing twelve o'clock. One bell tolled it out in
most solemn tones, leaving  a considerable space
between the resounding notes; another rattled off the
hour in a most flippant manner, and seemed to say to
the first, " Get on with you; put some spirit into your
work, don't stand droning there!" One clock spoke with
a silvery voice; another gave its message with a shivering clang; a third repeated the hours as if burdened




FiGU1ESI PARA BLES, AND ANECDOTES.       239
with the effort; a fourth, having struck twelve very
cheerfully, began to chime most sweetly. Every man,
like every clock, has his own way; the one important
thing is to keep true time, and not to be ashamed to
tell it.
Some clocks don't strike.  You must look at them if
you would know the time.  Some men don't talk their
Christianity; you must look at their lives if you would
know what the gospel can do for human nature.  A
clock need not be incorrect because it strikes; a man
need not be inconsistent because he speaks as well as
acts.
I dream: far out on the waste of waters there moves
a pirate vessel; day by day it preys upon the lawful
commerce of all countries; its decks are wet with
human blood, and its coffers laden with plundered gold.
It is the terror of all navigators.  Its every pursuit is
destruction to the pursued. It fights no losing battles;
the mightiest quail, the stoutest surrender.
I dream still: over the yielding billows there rides
in proud majesty another vessel,-vaster, stronger,
quicker; on board is a captain surpassing all in genius,
in courage, in  resources.  Against his assaults all
artillery is but as the rattle of a child's toy against the
eternal granite.  He strikes the pirate ark once, and
again he strikes, and once more; until the timbers
rend, and the enemy is engulfed in the great deep.
What is the interpretation  of my vision?   What
but that death is the great enemy coursing ever on the
seas of human life, slaying the strong, blighting the
beautiful, plucking away fthe young, and striking dread
everywhere?  And that great counteracting force, what
is that but Christ, who came to "abolish death," and.
give His saints full triumph?  And ages upon ages
hence, if men should inquire " Where is death?" they




240  AD CLERUMI: ADVICES TO A YOUNG PREACHER.
shall be answered as with the voice of many waters,SWALLOWED UP IN VICTORY!
Preachers and teachers of all degrees may know the
way to heaven, yet never walk in it, just as a man may
know every detail of the railway time-table, and yet
never take a journey. Men who spend their lives in
preparing other people for heaven, but never advance
themselves towards it, may be likened to the inspectors, porters, and other railway servants, who are occupied in setting out travellers, but who themselves never
see the ocean or the landscape.
It is right for you, young men, to enrich yourselves
with the spoils of all pure literature: but he who
would make a favorite of a bad book, simply because
it contained a few beautiful passages, might as well
caress the hand of an assassin because of the jewelry
which sparkles on its fingers.
A  great deal of misery would be prevented, if
ministers would' endeavor to form an honest estimate
of their qualifications, and, as a consequence, seek
appointments for which they are specially qualified. If
one might teach unpleasant doctrines through the
medium of figure, one can imagine how inconvenient it
would be, in the event of a great cathedral clock wearing out, for a neat Geneva watch to put itself forward
as a candidate for the vacancy. The Geneva might be
a beautiful little thing, and might keep the most exact
time, and might be called endearing names by the
ladies and little children; yet, to. speak the language
of charity, it might hardly be adapted to be set a hundred and fifty feet above the ground, in a circular
vacancy at least ten feet in diameter. In such a case
its very elevation would become its obscurity. On the
other hand, it would be quite as inconvenient if a great
cathedral clbck, weary of city work, should ask to be




FIGURES, PARABLES, AND ANECDOTES.    241
carried about as a private timekeeper.  There is a
moral in the figure. That moral points towards the
law of proportion and adaptation. One can imagine
the petted Geneva looking up from a lady's hand, and
calling the cathedral clock a great coarse thing, with a
loud and'vulgar voice, which indicated the most offensive presumption; and we can imagine the cathedral
clock looking down, with somewhat of disdain, upon
the little timekeeping toy. Oh, that some sensible
chronometer would say to the rivals, -' Cease your
contention; you are both useful in your places." The
one as a private chaplain, the other as a city orator,
may tell the world to redeem its flying time.
Though mysteries culminate in the Cross, yet there
is enough revealed in the Cross for man's present pardon, and his final enfranchisement in heavenly immortality. The secret things are not ours, - the revealed
things are. We have not so much to do with the top
of the ladder, which is lost in the effulgence of the
heavens, as with the foot of it, which rests on the
earth; nor have we so much to do with the bright
angel ministrants who throng it, as with the messages
of mercy and hymns of hope which escape their tuneful lips. Fool is he who, in running from a town in
flames, will not cross the river until he speculates concerning the architecture of the bridge, and makes
inquiry into the origin and the date of its building.
"Speed away from  the pursuing  flame," say you;
"tarry not undtil you are far beyond its range, and
afterwards, if you please, discuss your speculations
concerning the bridge."   The illustration may be
applied to the sinner who wishes to escape from his sin.
His first business is to reduce to practice all that he
does understand, to manifest a disposition to accept all
the arrangements of Divine wisdom, and in chidlike
trust to give himself up to God. The Cross has a side
that is " secret," and a side that is " revealed," - a
16




242  AD CLERUM: ADVICES TO A YOUNG PREACHER.
side that shines towards God, and a side that shines
towards a sinning world. It lights the heavens as well
as the earth, but nman's whole business now is to accept
the beam which falls upon!himself, and in its light to
penetrate his way to the higher and better spheres...
Do not anticipate the course of study. The volumes
will be given by the great Librarian, one by one. Understand what you can, and in doing it you will increase
in knowledge; understand that in all the wastes of folly
there can be no greater fool than he who will not believe his Father's telegram, because he cannot understand the mystery of the telegraph.
Circumstances have much to do with the formation
of opinions. I overlook from my window a field which
in April looks like a desert; it is flat, sterile, and most
dreary in aspect; not a green thing visible in all the
breadth of its twenty acres; it looks like a plague spot
on the landscape, and the eye turns from it as from a
repulsive spectacle. In August that same field is the
richest, the grandest in the whole prospect, for then it
is laden with golden wheat. It is the same field, yet
how different the appearance!  So I have observed
that young men who modestly begin life with little or
no demonstrativeness, often have a very luxuriant and
substantial maturity. It is well to defer our judgments
until August.
The gospel of Christ may be either the savor of life
unto life to a hearer, or a savor of death unto death.
How so? All depends upon the man himself. The sun
brings life to some branches, and death to others. If a
branch is on the tree, and the tree is properly rooted in
the soil, the sun will bring life to it; but if the branch
be amputated, the sun will wither it to death. It is the
same sun, and the branches have grown in the same
forest,~or even on the same tree; and yet the shining of
the sun means life to the one and death to the other.




FIGURES, PARABLES, AND ANECDOTES.       243
It is precisely so with the gospel: if a man will not put
himself in a right relation to it, it will be his utter
destruction.
All men cannot work in the same way; " there are
diversities of operation." Upon the face of a watch
you may see an illustration of my meaning. On that
small space you have three workers: there is the second-pointer, performing rapid revolutions; there is the
minute-pointer, going at a greatly reduced speed; and
there is the hour-pointer, tardier still. Now any one
unacquainted with the mechanism  of a watch would
conclude that the busy little second-pointer was doing
all the work, -it is clicking away at sixty times the
speed of the minute-pointer; and as for the hour-hand,
that seems to be doing no work at all. You can see
in a moment that the first is busy, and in a short time
you will see the second stir; but you must wait still
longer to assure yourself of the motion of the third.
So is it in the church.  There are active, fussy men,
who appear to be doing the work of the whole community, and others who are slower. But can we do without the minute and the hour pointers? The noisy
second-hand might go round its little circle forever
without telling the world the true time. We should be
thankful for all kinds of workers. The silent, steady
hour-hand need not envy its noisy little colleague.
Each man must fill the measure of his capacity. Your
business is to do your allotted work so as to meet the
approbation of the Master.
I saw a man watering the roads this morning.  He
was very careful where he began and where he ended.
Three hours afterwards a heavy shower of rain fell, and
it blessed the whole neighborhood with its impartial
benediction.  Thus it is with law and grace; and thus,
too, it is with people who work from the point of duty,
and the nobler people who work from the point of love.




244  AD CLERUM: ADVICES TO A YOUNG PREACHER.
From figure to parable is not a difficult transition.
I have found in the course of my own ministry that
parabolical representations of truth have excited a
most healthful and profitable interest. All men have
somewhat of the dramatic element in them; hence they
watch with eagerness the development and consummation of a plot, or a plan, if you like that word better
in this connection.  HIow will it end? is the anxious
inquiry. If you keep your eyes open, you will see the
working of this dramatic element in many of the common concerns of daily life. Dispute with a cabman
about his fare, and the baker, the milkman, and the
lamplighter will soon gather round you to see how the
controversy will end; offer to put a hundred pieces of
curiously shaped wood together, so as to make a complete figure of them, and all the children in the house
will give up their lessons, and press upon you to see
how the mystery is solved; tell a child that it is his
duty to be honest, and he will infallibly pronounce you
a bore; but give him  a hint that you can tell a wonderful story about the hair-breadth escapes of a thief,
and he will tease you to relate the tale, and will perhaps beg you to go over parts of it again and again.
What of it — and especially what of it in relation to
the ministry?  We must seek the readiest entrance to
the human mind, and through that entrance must convey Christian instruction. I know that you will ask,
whether this, that, or the other is legitimate, or is in
keeping with the dignity of the pulpit. Enough for
me to know that Jesus Christ dramatized truth: all the
elements of a most exciting romance are to be found in
the parable of the prodigal son; why therefore should
we hesitate to follow, with such power as God may
give us, the example of the Master? Everywhere
there is keen interest in life, character, destiny; little
children feel it, and old men are not superior to it.
This interest has undoubtedly been debased by vicious
novels and corrupt dramas, but this is no argument




FIGURES, PARABLES AND ANECDOTES.    245
whatever against novels and dramas that are good.
You can convey just as much solid truth  through
the medium of a drama as through the medium of an
exposition or exhortation, with this most valuable
advantage, -you carry the attention of your hearers with you from beginning to end, and are likely to
give the subject an abiding-place in their recollection. Of course, if you construct a clumsy or inconsistent parable, you must bear the mockery which you
deserve. I am speaking of parables that recommend
themselves by a basis of strong common sense and a
fair share of fancy and eloquence; such parables, delivered with a simplicity which is at the farthest possible distance from theatrical affectation, will never fail
to secure the best results.
In writing thus, a great fear comes upon me lest
you should be indiscreet enough to ask me to show
you how such parables may be written. Perhaps I do
you injustice in supposing that you would condescend
to ask such a question; yet I feel some relief in being
permitted to indulge a supposition so dishonoring to
your proud powers. It would display sound judgment
ou my part, were I to try to bring the requisite fancy,
wit, and wisdom to bear upon the outline and execution of your task; but I am afraid the advice would
not be of much service to you. Frankly, then, I own
that the power of writing parables is not so freely distributed as the power of reading them.  If you have
not the power, don't waste your time in parable grinding.  A poor sermon is bad enough, but a poor parable is intolerable. A parable that is cumbrous, mechanical, labored, will offend and weary the unhappy
victims on whose patience it is inflicted, and their maledictions will be the fit reward of the foolish speaker.
There must be no display of mere cleverness in the
construction of the parable; the moment the hearers
are so far released from the grasp of the thought as to
think anything about the forms, the highest object of




246  AD CLERUMI: ADVICES TO A YOUNG PREACHER.
teaching is lost.  This being so, the Christian parabolist cannot allow himself to dally over points on which
the mere artist may lawfully linger; the preacher is
more than an artist, and is therefore bound to watch
himself jealously lest art become a temptation to him.
The preacher is an architect, it is true; but he is
especially a builder.  His plans may be good, what if
he build nothing?  He must build, and he must build
completely. Each parable must have its own distinct
lesson; if it be fragmentary, it will be distracting and
useless, and truth will be dishonored.  The execution
may not be polished, but the conception must be complete. The parable of the prodigal son is complete,
though there is no attempt at literary embellishment.
You must have an object, and towards that you must
move steadily and fervently.  Before beginning your
parable, put to yourself the question, What end have
I in view? Suppose the answer be, to prove that the
way of transgressors is hard; or, to show that the
paths of wisdom are pleasant; or, to point out what
may be done by faith, -you have then to outline a
narrative which will most graphically illustrate your
meaning: you have the main point, and it remains to
gather around it elucidatory material.  This is perhaps an infelicitous way of insisting.that your teaching
must be distinct; it must not be simply allusive;
people must not be thrown upon their skill in drawing
inferences; the doctrine must be clear, the lesson must
be emphatic.
I confess to some difficulty in giving advice about
the use of anecdotes, as, in my opinion, nearly everything depends upon the taste and skill of the relater.
The same anecdote told by two different men may produce two contrary effects,- it may disgust, and it may
please. When there is drawling  over unimportant
points, or heaviness in the expression, or a long preamble before the story, the effect is sure to be bad.
As soon as I hear a preacher say,-' My beloved




FIGURES, PARABLES, AND ANECDOTES.    247
brethren, let us illustrate this by one of the most beautiful and affecting anecdotes which it was ever my
privilege to hear," I make up my mind to endure a
dreary recital of very painful nonsense. Anecdotes'should not be prefaced.  Anecdotes should not be
long.  Anecdotes should be true.  I have heard of a
preacher who in one discourse related twenty-seven
anecdotes, yet they were so skilfully introduced and so
pithily told as to be quite enjoyed by educated and
critical hearers. This is an exceptional case; don't
set set it up as a model, or I shall never hear a good
account of you. If you can now and again put a simple and telling anecdote into your sermon, do so; but
be very careful not to go anecdote mad. People will
believe in parables when they will distrust anecdotes.
They know that a parable is imaginative, but they
expect an anecdote to be literal; and if once they
catch the relater tripping, there is an end to their confidence, not only in the speech but in the speaker.
In all our ministry  we have to  magnify  Jesus
Christ as the Saviour of the world; and whether it be
by figure and parable, or by the plain statement of
doctrine, let us be sure that we reach the highest point
of our vocation. At the base of your ministry let there
be sound, enlightened, fearless, and reverent exposition of the Divine word; without that your ministry
will be a failure, you will never train men; you may
please giddy and shallow listeners, but no manly host
will prove the vigor of your teaching.  Having laid
your foundations, you may call up all your powers alnd
attainments to give scope, massiveness, and beauty to
the building.  Don't lay an interdict upon your fancy;
don't be afraid of the occasional service of humor;
don't always put a seal upon your wit; let your whole
nature preach; let fancy, humor, wit, sarcasm, contribute their share of help to your ministry; they will be
of use as allies, if you be careful to have something
stronger on the main line.  If you honor Christ in




248  AD CLERUM: ADVICES TO A YOUNG PREACHER.
your ministry, you will be honored by Him in return.
When the fisherman goes to the river, it is that he
may attempt to take fish; are not you a fisher of men?
Why not then go to every sermon with the one set
purpose of bringing men to the Savior? That is the one
object of the true ministry. We have to bring men to
Christ as a Saviour, and we have also to bring men
to Christ as a Teacher. Repentance and faith are not
the end, they are but the beginning of Christian life.
We seek conversion first, then we aim at edification.
Throughout the process we are the agents, the servants, the ambassadors of Christ, —He will honor
those who wait upon Him, if they forget themselves in
the glory of His blessed name.




XIX.
FRAMEWORKS.
I HAVE given you a few hints upon figures; let me
now further expose myself to your criticism by offering
you a few crude outlines of discourses. I have not
spared you; there is no occasion for you to spare me.
Use your keenest edge, and give full swing to your
young strength. I care less and less for mere outlines,
and more and more for a sympathetic and intelligent
discussion of the subject of any text. Some preachers
are outline mad; they are nothing but outline; they
plan beautifully, but build nothing. Give them  the
word thinking as a text, and they will see in it: (1)
Man in a reduced physical state - thin; (2) man in a
high social state- king; (3) man in a true intellectual
state - thinking. Give them as a text the wordfeeblest,
and they will see in it: (1) a professional income —
fee; (2) an indication of supreme happiness -blest;
(3) a description of a human state deserving commiseration -feeblest. Give them for a text the words Come
unto Me, and they will see in them: (1) a state of activity- conme; (2) activity well directed - unto; (3)
activity terminating upon the best of beings - Me.
The outline of which this is hardly an exaggeration is
irreverent trifling with the inspired word; it shows off
the poor powers of the textual gymnast, and by so
much degrades and insults the holy vocation of the
Christian ministry. Study the idea of the text; try to
pierce to its very heart; and having seized the truth,
expound it with all simplicity and earnestness. With
these introductory remarks, let me place before you a
few outlines which may be quite as useful as warnings
as examples.
249




250  AD CLERUM: ADVICES TO A YOUNG PREACHER.
I.  The Private Ministry of the Gospel.
" Philip findeth Nathalael, and saith unto him, We have found
Him, of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets, did write,"
etc. - JOHN i. 45-51.
The scene: one man-speaking to another about Jesus
Christ!
I. EVERY CHRISTIAN HAS A MESSAGE TO THE WORLD:
"We have found Him," etc. The message is founded
upon matter of fact, and is supported by personal testimony. The responsibility of silence.
II. EVERY CHRISTIAN MAY EXPECT TO ENCOUNTER CONTROVERSIAL INQUIRIES. Nathanael put the question of
prejudice: others will start critical, metaphysical, and
ethical difficulties. No subject more deeply agitates
the mind than Christianity. This is in its favor; so
profound and comprehensive a revelation must appeal
to all that is highest and mightiest in man.
III. EVERY CHRISTIAN HAS A PRACTICAL ANSWER TO
SUCH INQUIRIES: "Philip saith unto him, C.ome cand see;"
-not discussion, but fact. Jesus adopted the same
method with the disciples of John. The works of
Christianity are its best defence. We know that the
Bible is inspired because of its inspiring influence upon
human life. The Christian advocate should always
take the inquirer directly to Jesus Christ. A Christian
man should be a convincing reply to all scepticism;
his life should be his argument.
IV. EVERY CHRISTIAN WILL WITNESS THE HAPPIEST
RESULTS OF AN ACCEPTANCE OF HIS MESSAGE. It was SO
in the case of Nathanael.  (1) Jesus Christ showed
familiarity with his history; every man feels that Jesus
Christ speaks to him personally; in no case did Jesus
Christ require any information respecting those who
came to Him. He seemed to carry each man's history
in His own great life.  (2) Jesus Christ wrought in
him the joy of personal conviction: " Thou art the Son




FRAMEWORKS.                   251
of God," etc.  Christianity is not altogether a matter
of external evidence; it becomes part of the man's very
soul; hence the authority with which men can speak
of their Divinest experiences.  (3) He gave him the
prospect of still fuller revelation; " hereafter ye shall
see heaven opened," etc. Acceptance of Christ is not
a final act; it is the initiation of the soul into an
unending course of development of strength and love.
The Christian will ever have more to " see " than he
has yet seen.  " Eye hath not seen," etc.  " He is able
to do exceedingly above," etc.
Application: Preach to one man; preach Christ to
him; preach Christ to him on the authority of personal
experience.
II.  The Divine Echo in the Human Heart.
"Well, Master, Thou hast said the truth." - MARK xii. 32.
God's word may be received controversially, speculatively, or lovingly;'men may argue about it, or let
it argue with them to their conviction and redemption.
Take, for example, the doctrine, Man is a sinner.  You
may make it a matter of controversy, and by all the
poor devices of self-conceit may endeavor to escape its
consequences; it may be met by flat denial, or received
with many modifications.  But take it into the heart,
when the heart is in its best mood, ponder it when far
from the influence of the world's excitement and flattery, and say whether there be not a voice which responds affirmatively to the tremendous charge.  Take
again the doctrine, Man needs a Saviour. It is possible
to meet such a doctrine in a captious and resentful
spirit; it denies the possibility of self-redemption;' it
dismisses all the fancies which the soul has been treasuring, and shows man his poverty and weakness.  But
take it also into the heart, under circumstances which




252  AD CLERUM: ADVICES TO A YOUNG PREACHER.
allow it to be fairly considered, when the heart knows
most of its own bitterness, and has seen the limit of the
world's little power, and say whether there be not a
voice answering God's appeal with, " Well, Master,
Thou hast said the truth."  We do not ask for the
acceptance ofc doctrines which ignore or override the
instincts and experience of the world; on the contrary,
Christianity addresses itself to the intuitions of every
mali.
What are the practical consequences of our having
this responsive faculty? I. MAN IS MADE A CO-WORKER
WITH GOD; not a machine, but a co-operating agent.
This gives confidence to personal hope, and authority
to personal teaching.  II. MAN ENJOYS THE RESTRAINTS
OF CONSCIENCE. Upon practical morals man is his own
Bible; he carries an unwritten law which warns him
from forbidden ground. The conscience is God's witness in our apostasy.  The Bible appeals to it, and
works with its full consent. III. GOD BASES HIS
JUDGMENT UPON THIS RESPONSIVE FACULTY: " To him
that knoweth to do good," etc.; " Thou wicked and
slothful servant, thouknowest," etc. The judgment day
will be short, because every man will be his own witness.
iApplication: Is there nothing in you which responds
to the appeals of the gospel, which says, " Master,
Thou hast said the truth"?  Your treatment of that
voice will determine your destiny.  " Quench not the
Spirit."  " He that knoweth his Lord's will and doeth
it not," etc.
III.  God's Revelation of Himself.
"I am the Lord; the God of all flesh; is there anything too hard
for Me?"- JER. xxxii. 27.
This is Gocd's revelation of Himself; not the fancy
of a speculator, not the dream of a poet, but a Divine




FRAMEWORKS.                  253
and authoritative declaration of personality, relationship, and power. Peculiar importance attaches to the
very form of expression, inasmuch as it assumes to be
the precise language which has fallen from the lips of
the Almighty. No man is at liberty to adopt the
words; if they are not what they profess to be, they
are the utterance of daring blasphemy. It is our joy to
believe in their simple truth, and to govern our lives by
the holy principles which they imply.
" I cta the Lord": here is a direct assertion of personality; it is not the voice of creation, but the voice
of the Creator; not only life, but the living One. We
have need to be assured of God's personality; He never
appears to our natural vision; we see the works, but
not the Worker; and many a time the heart desires a
clearer revelation of the Divine nature than is supplied
by the sublimities and beauties of creation. In all
ages man has desired to come near his Maker, to get
beyond the  courts of the temple in which He is
enthroned, and to behold Him  as it were face to face.
Job said: " Oh, that I knew where I might find HIM."
It was not enough to live in His light, and to be surrounded by the tokens of His power; he wished to look
upon Him and to speak to Him, as a man might speak
to his friend. We cannot enter into all the reasons
why we are excluded from a sight of God's personality;
but we have rest in the belief that in another theatre
we shall be satisfied that while in the flesh, oppressed
by its guilt and limited by its weakness, we could not
have borne the revelation for which, in our ignorance, we
have often sighed. Surely God will not reproach us
for our desire to look upon Him, if that desire be the
expression of filial love and not of sinful audacity. Is
it unnatural that a child should wish to see his Father,
especially when that Father is so near as to be able to
speak to him, often by name and always in the langauge
of wisdom and love?  The very nearness constitutes a
temptation.  Were the name announced in distant




254  AD CLERUM: ADVICES TO A YOUNG PREACHER.
thunder, as if it were too awful to be uttered in the
language of men, we might tremble, and reverently
abide the time of more intimate revelation; but when
the voice is nigh us, when it is even in our souls, stimulating and comforting us, it is not to be wondered at
that we should wish to see the all-gracious and everabiding Speaker.  Denied this sight, we take refuge in
such declarations as the text; we accept the abounding
manifestations of goodness as a pledge that when our
discipline is complete and our faculties are mature, we
shall assuredly see the King in His beauty.
" I am  the Lord."  Here is a direct assertion, not
only of personality, but of absolute dominion.  God
does not announce Himself as a lord, one of many;
but as the Lord, the one and only Sovereign, whose
glory is incommunicable, and whose empire is the universe.  There is no hesitation in the language; it is
complete, absolute, and final. To accept it is to be
saved from all wandering of heart towards the " lords
many and gods many " of pagan superstition or semiChristian speculation. This gives steadiness of heart;
it defines alike the Divine and human position, and
develops the strength by showing the weakness of all
finite life.
IV.  Christian Experience.
"I am crucified with Christ."
"I would to God that all that hear me were such as I am."
" By the grace of God I am what I am."
I. Christian, experience is personal.  " I am": (a)
internal; (b) intense; (c) vital.
II. Christian experience is benevolent.  " I would
to God," etc.: (a) Christianity enlarges human sympathies; (b) Christianity compels to noble action in
behalf of others.




FRAMEWORKS.                     255
III.  Christian experience is Divine.  "By the grace
of God."  It is a Divine effect: (a) mysterious; (b)
generous; (c) complete.
V. First Efforts.
"This beginning of miracles did Jesus," etc. -JOHN ii. 11.
I. The memorableness of first efforts (in every department of life).
II. The determining effects of first efforts (eicouraging, discouraging; beginnings often determine ends).
III. The modesty of first efforts  (compared with
Christ's other miracles, this seems, in many respects,
to be the simplest of them  all).  Encourage men to
make first efforts, -first efforts in family prayer, public
prayer, Christian service, etc.
VI. The Mission of Christ.
"The Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was
lost." - LTKE xix. 10.
1. The most magnificent historical fact: "came."
II. The most appallingly significant mission: " to
seek."
III. The  most transcendently  beeficent purpose:
" to save."
IV. The most perfect description of the state of
humanity: "lost."
(a) If  Christ  came, man's  responsibility  is increased.  (b) If Christ came to seekJ then seek ye the
Lord while He may be found.  (c) If Christ came to
save, then the sinner is without excuse. (d) If Christ




256  AD CLERUM: ADVICES TO A YOUNG PREACHER.
came to save the lost, then the worst may welcome
Him. (e) Christ will come, will come to seek, once
more.
Such is a handful of outlines. Every man must
have his own way of making plans of sermons; there
is no best way; that way is best which the preacher
himself has proved to be best.  We should aim at
variety in division; sometimes the division may be
very formal, sometimes it may be quite subordinate.
It is not always necessary to describe the outline to
the congregation; occasionally it may be specified
with  advantage.  You must judge of the circumstances, and act accordingly.  Beware -suffer this
word of exhortation —of having an artistic framework and a lifeless expansion. Men will be affected
more by your tones than by your heads.




XXI.
EPILOGUE.
THERE can be no doubt that the ministerial market,
if the expression may be allowed, is overcrowded.
Serious inconvenience arises from this fact. The applications which ministers make to one another for
introductions to vacant pulpits are not only excessively
numerous, but often.most embarrassing. There is, of
course, a disposition to be kind to worthy men, and
not seldom this disposition sets aside the discrimination which ought to be exercised in relation to the
merits of the applicant, and the special necessities of
the position to which he wishes to be introduced. The
difficulty is much increased by the fact that the applicants are men of excellent character, of good attainments, and of unquestionable orthodoxy: the one thing
which is wanting is pulpit efficiency.  In many cases
the defect in this particular is most obvious. I know
men whose moral reputation is above suspicion, whose
scholarship is sound, and whose doctrine is unexceptionable, men who have college certificates and even university honors, who find it extremely difficult to obtain
a livelihood in the ministry. How so? Simply because
they can do nearly everything except preach.  In conversation they have no difficulty in maintaining their
ground; in point of information they are decidedly
above the average; in manners they are fit for the best
society; -yet as preachers of the gospel they are utterly
incompetent.  In looking at such cases we must come
back to our old doctrine, viz., ministers cannot be mzcae.
Let colleges exist for purposes of scholarship, let theology even be taught to all who wish to study that
greatest of the sciences, let a special effort be made by
17            257




258  AD CLERUM: ADVICES TO A YOUNG PREACHER.
the establishment of evening classes for teaching scholars to read the Scriptures in the original languages, -
do everything that is possible for the extension of biblical study; but do not continue to multiply a class of
able and worthy men having no adaptation to the public
work of the ministry. To teach a man tlat he is a
minister, simply because he has completed a prescribed
curriculum, is to put him into an altogether false position. He is not a minister because of that; he may be
a scholar, a theologian, a critic, but it does not follow
that he is a minister. Adaptation to the ministry is
quite a distinct question. Every Christian should study
theology; the study of theology should not be a merely
professional exercise; every Christian, too, should make
it his special business, so far as possible, to acquire a
knowledge of Greek and Hebrew: then, when the highest education has been made available to the whole
church, let those men who have the gift of preaching
give public utterance to Divine truth. My call is not
for a learned ministry, but for a learned church. Of
course, there are difficulties in the way of such extension of education as is proposed: there will be just
complaints of want of time, and in some cases want
of capacity; but these do not touch the main question
at all. Popularize, not professionalize, theological education; as in classics or mathematics, let the doors be
thrown open to all, and when it is made clear that certain men can excel in this department or that, let an
inner circle be established, and the highest advantages
be offered to such as have fully shown claim to the
most advanced culture which the resources of the
church can furnish. To my own mind it is perfectly
clear that a considerable proportion of the young men
who during the last five and twenty years have undergone preparation for the ministry would to-day have
been doing much more good had they never aspired to
the pulpit. At the same time it is equally clear that
most of them were patient and successful students, and




EPILOGUE.                 259
well deserved every commendation and honor accorded
to them. The mistake was, in my judgment, to encourage the idea that they were ministers, and to set them
apart as members of a distinct professional class. In
addition to its being a mistake, it inflicted considerable
injury upon the men themselves: if they had entered
college to become scholars, critics, and theologians, the
end would have been answered; but inasmuch as they
claimed to be ministers, they were compelled to bear
the stigma of failure where they might have enjoyed
the honor of success. To this there is an obvious
answer. The students could not afford the time if they
were not by study qualifying themselves to obtain a
livelihood by preaching. There is force in the answer;
yet instead of putting an end to the difficulty, it rather
suggests a further inquiry. Can any other method than
that of the ordinary collegiate system be adopted for
the extension of theological knowledge and of accurate
biblical learning? The university lists clearly show
that degrees and honors have been attained by means
of private study. Is it not possible, then, to encourage
private study in theology and related subjects, and to
give such recognition of results as shall remove all
doubt of the competency of the student? I venture to
think that it is quite possible, and possible in this way:
let an unsectarian theological council be established,
and let all men of all churches, who wish to be examined
in any given number of subjects, present themselves for
examination at such times as the council may appoint;
and in the event of their satisfying the examiners, let
them be certificated accordingly. Suppose that such a
man as Dean Alford should consent to conduct the
examination in the Greek Testament, and should certify that the student had creditably answered all the
questions proposed, would not such a certificate carry
with it the highest scholastic and social value? So
with such a man as Dean Stanley and the Old Testament; so with Henry Rogers and Butler's Analogy;




260  AD CLEtRUM: ADVICES TO A YOUNG PREACHER.
and so with other competent examiners in various subjects.  The council should, of course, be thoroughly
unsectarian; no questions need be asked as to the denominationalism  of the candidates for examination;
even the names of the candidates need not be known
until the result was declared; the whole process would
have reference exclusively to the merits of the papers
returned to the examiners.
To the establishment of such a council it may be
objected, that in private study young men lose the
advantage of conversational teaching, of stimulus, of the
discipline of criticism and comparison, enjoyed by those
who study in company. True: yet as it is not proposed to compel them to study in solitude, this objection does not apply. In some cases, solitary study
would of course be inevitable; but in others, by far
the most numerous, existing college systems could
be adapted to meet them. Evening classes might be
established; small companies of young men might
engage the assistance of competent teachers to assist
them in special difficulties, - in these ways the objection might be met to a large degree, and if it can be
shown that the proposed examination has great counterbalancing advantages, the objection will be removed
altogether. Let it be known that twice a year a Theological Council will be held in London for the purpose
of examining members of all Christian denominations
who wish to have their knowledge of given subjects
tested, and the probable consequence would be an
instant and powerful stimulus to theological study.
The unsectarianism of the council, its indisputable
competency, its perfect impartiality, would secure for
it profound and universal confidence. Six months
beforehand, or twelve, the council might publish the
list of subjects for the next examination: for example,
in Hebrew, a historical or prophetical book (to be
named); in Greek, the Gospel by Luke and the Epistle
to the Romans; in theology, six subjects, with text



EPILOGUE.                   261
books, to be named; and the same with moral philosophy and ecclesiastical history.  Students would thus
have something before them worth striving for, and by
the time they attained it they would have had opportunity of knowing themselves, and forming a tolerably
sound judgment as to their fitness for the Christian
ministry.  For  the education of preachers, special
provision should be made. Their preparations should
be superintended by men who themselves excel in
preaching, and who are enthusiastic in their convictions
respecting the power of the Christian pulpit.  Even
though an orator cannot reduce to rules the passion
which gives him  supremacy in the pulpit, he can by
that very passion arouse and encourage those who have
latent power of public address. The students should
be nade to, feel that their teacher illustrates in his own
ministry the grandeur of the vocation to which they
have committed themselves. What if their teacher be
languid in his appreciation of the pulpit? What if he
be a preacher from  whose ministry the public have
withdrawn?  What if he be not a preacher at all, but
a layman who could not interest an audience for ten
minutes?  It is not at all to the point to reply that he
is a scholar, a man of taste, and a good judge of literature. Granted that he is all that, what does it prove
if he is not a preacher? This kind of service would
not be tolerated in any other line of life; why should
it be tolerated in the highest of all?  Because a man
is an excellent judge of leather, and has correct information as to the anatomy of the human foot, is he
therefore qualified to teach the art of shoemaking? If
a man never played a tune on a piano, would you send
a scholar to him to learn the use of that. instrument
because the man had a fine ear for music and had written some excellent tunes?  It does not follow that
Shakspeare was an actor, any more than that Garrick
was an author. I hold that essay writing aaid sermon
preaching  are totally  distinct;. that literature and'




262  AD CLERUM: ADVICES TO A YOUNG PREACHER.
oratory are not identical; and that it is as awkward
for an orator to consider his oratory a qualification
for teaching literature, as it is for a scholar to consider
his scholarship a qualification for'teaching men how
to preach. He can listen to their essays with a critical
ear, he can correct their style, he can give direction
to their courses of thinking; bft all this does not
touch the one question of preaching with earnestness,
with power, and with success. It will not do to say
that good  scholarship, sound  theology, competent
criticism, are to be considered before preaching.  I
say nothing about their comparative merits; I have
to deal with the one fact that students are being sent
forth to preach. It is as preachers that they seek to
engage the confidence and support of the churches;
it is by preaching that they have to maintain themselves; and if they fail in preaching they miss the end
at which they aimed in offering themselves as candidates for the Christian ministry.
Turning from this point, which I cannot but regard
as of growing importance, I may relieve you by indulging in a little speculation. The time will come when
Sunday services will be modelled upon a new  and
better basis. The minister will have to preach less
and to preach better.  There will be one service in the
day, - beginning say at twelve o'clock, and continuing
about two hours; in the evening, parents will have
time to teach their children; and those members of the
household who could not go out in the morning will
have opportunity of going to special services here andthere in the evening; and it will be matter of surprise
if any be present in the evening who attended. service
in the morning. It is better to have one well-prepared
and  thoroughly  appreciated  service, than  to drag
through two services with the heaviness of indifference.
Those who have been at service in the morning will
be doing work in the evening. Their children will be




EPILOGUE.                   263
instructed, the poor and ignorant will be gathered
together, and'taught the way of truth; and wherevel
Christian teaching is needed, it will be eagerly and
gladly supplied. The idea of a man hearing two sermons on one day will be considered either a punishment
oi a waste of time; and the days that are now passing
over us will be laughed at for their oddities, or pitied
for their endurances. I know of no body of men so
hardly worked as the Nonconformist ministers of
England. The lawyers are hardly worked, but they
are helped by the variety of their labors, whereas the
ministers are depressed by the monotony of their
engagements.  It is easy enough to reply that no
monotony ought to be felt in Christian service; but
human nature is not to be put off or satisfied with- a
remark which is not sanctioned either by piety or common sense.
It is to me a pleasant conviction that no office is to
be compared, for interest, reality, and importance,
with the office of the Christian ministry. I have followed the course of many men with most anxious
watchfulness, -the lawyer, the statesman, the physician, the dramatist, the poet; and it is the sober conviction of my mind that not one of them is to be
compared with the earnest, intelligent, and powerful
preacher of Jesus Christ. Having regard to the scope,
the urgency, and the far-reaching results of our ministry, we may truly exclaim, " all things are ours."  The
statesman operates within very narrow limits, so does
the lawyer, so does the physician; and whatever there
may be of depth, vitality, and inspiration, in the highest intellectual activities, is all at the service of the
interpreter of God and the Christian teacher of man.
I magnify mine office! Get a low notion of your
work, and your soul will go down, you will not bring
to bear upon it your passion and your strength; have
a high notion of it, if you would work with enthusiasm
and success. You must. pray to be saved from the




264  AD CLERU1M: ADVICES TO A YOUNG PREACHER.
service of the mere letter; it is drudgery, it is bondage,
it is pain.  Preaching should be as natural and as easy
as healthy breathing. There is no occasion for it to
be a toil.  It should be the expression of the heart's
best life,  not the effort of a pump, but the blessing
of rich and genial rain.  Men talk of. mza7cing sermons
and getting off sermons and begging sermons, - flee
from such men as from  enemies! Let your acquaintance with the holy word be accurate and profound; let
the word of God dwell in you richly; be careful and
constant in your study of human nature; live not in
the clouds, but in the commnon experience of the world;
rely upon the inspiration of the Holy Ghost; and never
submit to the servility of making pretty sentences and
preparing for pampered seat-holders packets of fancy
confectionery.  What some  ministers will have  to
answer for in this particular! Many a sin will be
found in well-trimmed rhetoric, in neat couplets, in
stanzas forced in for effect, and in perorations intended
to elevate the speaker rather than advance the truth.
The heart is deceitful above all things! How we catch
at any text on which we can show  our cleverness!
How we cheer ourselves with the anticipated effect of
this happy allusion or that telling illustration! How
we turn some sentences to please the chief subscriber,
and give emphasis to some doctrine we care nothing
about, just to keep the old man in the great pew in
tolerable  sympathy with our ministry! How often
our prayers are mere investments, and our tears the
price of popularity! Our ministry should be in spirit
and in truth, but how often is it formal and practically
false! "'Many walk of whom I have told you often,
and now tell you even weeping, that they are the
enemies of the cross of Christ."  We are abashed and
utterly confounded when we read what was done by
the mighty men of old, who led the cause of God, and
suffered  for it even  unto  death.  They  "subduel
kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises,
stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of




EPILOGu,  -                  26
fire, escaped the edge of the sword, waxed valiant in
fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens; they had
trials of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover, of
bonds and imprisonments; they were stoned, they were
sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the edge of
the sword; they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented."  And are
we the self-seeking successors of such men, writing
pretty sermons and fattening ourselves with luxury?'I We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed;
we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but
not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed; for Thy
sake we are killed all the day long, we are accounted
as sheep-for the slaughter."  Are we worthy successors
of those princes of God?  If we speak of having in any
degree been inconvenienced in the discharge of our
ministry, how instantly are we rebuked by the testimony of Paul: " In labors more abundant, in stripes
above measure, in prisons more fiequent, in deaths oft;
of the Jews five times received I forty stripes save one;
thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice
I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day I have been in
the deep; in journeyings often, in perils of waters, in
perils of robbers, in perils by mine own countrymen,
in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils
in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among
false brethren; in weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fasting soften, in
cold and nakedness, - even unto this present hour we
both hunger and thirst, and are naked, and are buffeted,
and have no certain dwellii'g-place."  What is our lot
to this experience of pain and sorrow and loss! In
the hearing of such heroic words, we feel as if we
aggravate our sin by professing to be ministers of
Jesus Christ, so poor is our service, so faint our devotions, so deep our self-indulgence.  God be merciful
unio us sinners! Enter not into judgment with thy
servants, 0 Lord!




266  AD CLERUM: ADVICES TO A YOUNG PREACHER.
My brother, we have now had long converse with
each other.  Month by month, for two years, I have
spoken to you such things as were intended  to stimulate, instruct, cheer, and bless you. On some occasions, I have used great plainness of speech; on others,
I have taken the liberty of teaching by exaggeration,
thereby saying many things which are to be interpreted
with charity, and applied with discrimination.  We
part now.'What is writ is writ; would it were
worthier " I Be assured that wherein I have spoken
harshly, I have felt the smart of the scourge myself;
wherein I have yielded to humor, I have not been
umlmindful of the reality and sadness of human life;
and wherein I have extolled my office, I have desired
to magnify only the grace of God.  For the present,
let us say farewell.  When you want to know what I
have to say that is intended to help you, read " Springdale Abbey" and  iAd Clerun."  In these two books.
I have exhausted all that is at present in my mind
upon chulrch questions, general oratory, pulpit prleparation, and ministerial work.  I commend you to God
and to the word of his grace.  " That good thing
which was committed unto thee, keep by the IHoly
Ghost which dwelleth in us."  Be steadfast in G od.'I charge thee, therefore, before God, and the Lord.
Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead
at His appearing  and His kingdom, preach the 7word
be instant ini season, out of season; reprove, rebuke,
exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine, - watch
thou in all thills, endure afflictions, do the work of an
evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry'; and in
the solemnl end, when the full light shineth, and we see
things as they really are, thou shalt have the abiding(
honor which cometh from God.
Rtereotyped by ALFREmD TMUOG & SON, Boston, Mlae.




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