' / X tut MhtoUgkat ^ 1^ PRINCETON, N. J. ^ Presented by*T?(S\J. cT. cV ."D uV V <2. 6 BV 4010 .S47 Sheard, Charles. The minister himself THE MINISTER HIMSELF OR The Preachers Beacon Light WITH HINTS, INCIDENTS AND ADMONITIONS THE REV. CHARLES ^SHEARD Author of 'Civil Law in the Ecclesiastical World,'' ''Pointers for Parliamentarians, ' ' Etc. As a light unto my path"— Ps. 119, 105. "'Take heed to thyself"— I Tim. 4, 16. eitex^ creavTcp 1900 COPYRIGHTED BY F. M. BARTON. Published by F. M. BARTON. Association Building, Cleveland, O. 1031 Temple Court-- New York, PROEMIUM. The present volume has been years in contemplation and is largely the result of careful observation, personal experience and extensive reading; hence it is an accre- tion and a growth. No attempt has been made to write an exhaustive treatise, yet no important phase of minis- terial life has been intentionally passed over. My aim has been to make an all-round book on the subject treated. As a circle is complete^ no matter what its size — whether it be as small as a pin wheel or as large as a world — so I have sought to circumscribe the circle of which the Minister Himself is the central point; his va- rious qualifications, natural and acquired, the radii ; and his duties the circumference. All other matters, inn- dental and cognate thereto, have been held strictly 'n abeyance. Assum.ing that many young men looking towards the ministry, licentiates of the various churches and candi- dates for orders will read this publication, I have en- deavored to write just such a work as would have been invaluable to me in the earlier years of my own ministry and which I may consult with profit now and in time to come. I have also written, not for ministers of any one religious cult or denomination, but rather for ministers of every branch of the general church of God in the earth. In doing so, I have had frequent recourse to the< horta- tory and didactic forms of discourse ; because these forms enabled me the better to make my points and applica- tions more direct and emphatic. Hoping, then, that it will be found a valuable and handy manual to those engaged in the sacred office, to which they shall turn occasionally for light in darkness and direction in doubt ; which shall stimulate to renewed efforts and cheer in moments of discouragement; which will fill an hiatus in pastoral literature and supply a real and felt need ; I send it forth on its mission of suggestive- ness, admonition and helpfulness, praying that the bless- ing of the great Head of the Church may attend it. CHARLES SHEARD. CONTENTS. I. BASAI, QUAI.IFICATIONS FOR THE OFFICE. II. Auspicious and Inauspicious Beginnings. III. Personai. Exceli5 Mental Furnishing £9 Merit Wins 38 Mightiness, Scriptural 245 Minister, as Citizen 132 Minister, Evolution of 'J Minister, as Evangelist 118 Minister, at Funerals 125 Minister, at Marriages 123 Minister as Pastor .120 Minister, in Politics 136 Minister, as Voter 137 Minister, a Workman 55 Ministerial Bodies 112 Ministers of Other Denomination?. J13 N Napoleon's Declaration 15 Natural Selection 15 Narcotics 193 Nerve and Brawn 148 Notices 83 o Officers, Church 106 Offices, Political 205 Organizations of Local Church 108 Originality 219 Outlining Mentally 72 P Parsimony 188 Pastor Emeritus 252 Pastor, Minister as 120 Paul's Call 28 Peroration 90 Person, One's 41 PAGE. Piques, Personal 174 Plagiarism 181 Politics, Minister in 13G Politics, Preaching 138 Pol ; tics, Not Partisan 138 Power, Holy Ghost 245 Praying, Inielicitous 176 Prayer, Public 81 Preach, Beginning to 33 Preach, Call to 24 Preach, Desire to 25 Preach, Repugnance thereto 26 Preaching, Censorious 163 Preaching, Doubts 168 Preaching, Principal Division 199 Preaching, Sensational 169 Predecessor, One's 102 Preparation for Sermon, General.. 67 Preparation for Sermon, Special... 68 Preparation, Special for Vocatuin.. 3U Priesthood, Aaronic 13 Prophets and Apostles 16 Prostration, Nervous 151 Prostration, Preventatives of 163 Puffing 190 Pulpit Decorum 80 Pulpit Diction 91 Pulpit Gesture \'- Purpose, Inflexibility of 2-5 Q Qualifications, Physical 147 Qualifications, Scholastic 29 Qualifications, Spiritual 32 R Read's Classification 13 Reading 59 Reading, What, How. Why 59 Recreation ; 158 Refcrnis, Social and Moral 139 Release 259 Rest 258 Retirement, When 248 Rev/ard 259 s Salary, Talking 172 Scripture Lessons 82 Selection,. Natural 15 Sermon, Arrangement of 73 Sermon, Beginning Early with 69 Sermon, Christo Centric in Drift. . 78 Sermon, Delivery of 96 Sermon, Fuller Writing for 74 Sermon, General Preparation of 67 Sermon, Introduction to 88 Sermon, Length of 98 Sermon, Peroration of 90 Sermon, Scripturalness of 77 Sermon, Simplicity of Structure... 77 Sermon, Special Preparation of 68 Sermon, Text and Subject of 86 INDEX— Continued. PAGE. Sermon, Writing for 74 Sermons, First 36 Sermons, Old 166 Sermons, Rainy Day 164 Sermonizing, Best Method of 75 Sermonizing, Methods of 74 Service, Unity of 82 Service, Everything Orderly 81 Services, National 115 Services, Union 114 Sleep 156 Slowing Down 200 Sore Throat, Clergyman's 51 Sore Throat, Prevention of 51 Speculative Lines 204 Spiriti Community 135 Sponging 189 Sports, Manly 159 Stimulants 193 Story Telling 179 Strikes, Labor 142 Study, Location of 56 Study, Light and Airy 57 Studying 61 Studying, Bible 62 Studying, Dictionary 66 Studying, Hymnal 65 Studying, Other Books 67 Studying, Theology 64 Subject and Text of Sermon 86 Successor, One's 105 Superannuation 252 Sympathy, Broad 238 System, Itinerant 36 T Tact 230 Testimonials, Writing 191 Text of Sermon 86 PAQB. Theme Sources 70 Theology, Studying 64 Time, Biding One's 37 Tracks, Changing 212 Training, Academic 29 Training, Theological 30 Truth, Apologizing for 99 u Unction 243 Union Services 114 Unity of Service 82 University, World's 31 V Vacation, Taking 161 Vacations 160 Version, King James 63 Version, Revised 63 Vigorous Old Men 253 Vocation, Preparation for 30 Voice, Cultivation of 53 Voice, Defects of 53 Voice, Good Speaking 50 Voice, Properties of 52 Voter, Minister as 137 Vox Humana 50 w Write Some. Use None 75 Writing, Fuller for Memorizing 76 Work, One • 198 Workshop, lis Occupant 55 Workshop, Light and Airy 57 Workshop, Its Location 56 Worrying 192 CHAPTER I. BASAL QUALIFICATIONS FOR THE OFFICE. When God was ready to make man He had the raw material close at hand. Hence we read, "The Lord God made man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into him the breath of Hfe, and man became a living soul." Nature must have her sedimentary deposits and her rudi- mentary germs, before she can fashion with her mystic fingers eozoic rocks and primeval forests. A Prome- theus, according to classic story, requires earth and water out of which to knead his primitive image of the gods. And a Napoleon must needs have mud, before, in keep- ing with his boastful saying, he could create generals. So it would seem to be necessary^ both in the highest as well as in the lowest order of creative skill, that the' raw material, with its inherent and requisite qualities, be on hand for utilization. Clay, for brick ; ore, for metal ; car- bon, for diamond; admah, for man; arid man, for office. Otherwise, as great a work, creative and formative, will be wrought in our day as was performed when God spake all things into being by the word of His power. In this finding Scripture and mythology, nature and science, his- tory and fable, fact and fancy are univocal. In the evolution of the Christian minister — since it is a formation and not a creation, there being no such claim advanced for him as is offered for the poet, "that he is born and not made" — there must of necessity be a man to begin with. This is doubtless the divine order and should be the order of the Church. Without this basal foundation and accompanying material no superstructure can be raised. Callings and professions are built upon 9 men. As assuredly so, as that houses and cathedrals, which endure the test of time, are erected on solid and granitic foundations. The sacred calling is no exception to this rule. Manhood cannot be superimposed upon the ministerial office, but the ministerial office can be upon man. It must be so constructed if it is to stand. To reverse it is as though one attempted to place a pyramid apex down. A physical impossibility, but no more so than is the effort that has too often been made of ignoring the above fundamental principle in the making of a minister. The old Latin aphorism, "Ex nihilo, nihil fit" — out of nothing, nothing comes — is as scientifically true in its relation to the Ambassador of the Gospel, as it is of the fire mibts and the star dust of Chaos, before the divine fiat went forth and cosmos appeared, these particles of primeval matter were 'here. Out from them have come the beauteous earth aad the starry heavens. Even so the niinister must come out of something. That some- thing is the rough, embryonic stuff called man. Is he a product of nature and of grace? If so, then as is some- times supposed, inhering in him are terrestial and celes- tial ingredients and we have a physical and spiritual com- pound. Howbeit we must say with St. Paul, ''that is not first which is spiritual but that which is natural, after- wards that which is spiritual." That is, the natural pre- cedes the spiritual in point of order in created man. We are to marvel not at this, but accept it as God's revealed plan of the order to be followed in the making of those who are to serve Him and His people in the Christian ministry. Conversion may do much for them, and divine grace more, but even these cannot make up for elemen- tary personal deficiencies. Only the omnipotent finger of God stretched forth in miracle working power can supply these when absent. It is not, however, so stretched forth in these days. 10 The time has long since passed when a man haying several sons, may make of one a doctor, of another a lawyer, of a third a statesman, while another who is phys- ically weak, mentally a dolt, and practically a fool, is re- garded as a fit subject for the holy office and is forthwith inducted therein. No such a disposal of young men would be admissible nowadays. It would be an affront to human intelligence and a sacrilege to Almighty God. The ministry must have men of common sense. This is a primary demand. It is as much so as that it must have men of moral sense. It is self-evident that it must have both, if its morale is to be maintained. Therefore, it should be axiomatic that natural dolts and moral hybrids are disbarred from the sacred precincts of the pulpit and disqualified for the sacred office. Ancestry and heredity should count for much in the man who is to become a minister in the Church of Jesus Christ. It is conceded that the first of these, in the genealogy of some ministerial candidates, as someone has facetiously said, is "hke potatoes, all that is good of them is underground." And of the second, that their inherited tendencies are not on the whole such as are helpful to fit them for this holy calling. Nevertheless, in the Aaronic priesthood, direct descent, and that not of a doubtful character, was regarded as a preliminary requisite to an induction into the sacerdotal order. Certain it is that pre-natal and ancestral influences have always been counted as prominent factors in the case. Chaucer in his quaint way says, "The first stock was full of right- wiseness." And St. Paul, addressing Timothy, adds, "I call to remembrance the unfeigned faith that is in thee, which dwelt first in thy grandmother Lois and thy mother Eunice, and I am persuade4 that in thee also." Even the divine man, the peasant of Galilee, so far as his human nature is concerned, comes under the same laws. Again and again the sacred writers remind us of His line- 11 age, and regard it no mean theme for their inspired pens to record His ancestry, on Mary's side and Joseph's Hne, for many generations back. In accentuating the desirability of ancestral and hereditary influences, it is not necessary to go as far back as William the Conqueror, or the Pilgrim Fathers. Neither is it a matter of all absorbing importance to show the pedigree distinct and uncrossed, as horsemen are anxious to do, in tracing back their blooded stock to sire and dam. Nor again, will it be found to be an irrepar- able defect if the ancestral tree has failed to produce clergymen, statesmen, merchants and orators. "The Autocrat of the Breakfast Table" may express his pref- erence for family men, so called, preceded by four or five generations of gentlemen and gentlewomen ; with numerous, family portraits a la Stuart and a la Josephine, hanging upon the walls of the ancestral domicile; with well filled book shelves and alcoves, some of which have written upon the title pag^, "Hie liber est mens." This, as Dr. Holmes says, "is a first-rate fit out, its cost is nothing." Nevertheless, one's individual preferences touching his antecedents are out of his reckoning. He must take them as they come for better or for worse. To be sure, such an ancestry with such an heredital type, are so many propitious stages that potentially lead up to a well rounded manhood, and are devoutly to be wished by those who are to assume the role of the min- isterial office. Still, "one may have none of these, and yet be fit for councils and courts" and the sacred desk. For notwithstanding what has previously been stated, it is not the length or the greatness of one's ancestry, nor the clear cut type of one's heredity, as itis the virtuous- ness of the one, and the hardiness of the other, which are to be desired in the prospective Herald of the Cross. Yet, fortunate indeed is the man whose father and grand- father before him gave their lives to the public ministry 12 of the Word. For he shall find himself in the true line of Apostolic succession, and all things being equal with a natural bent and natural gifts qualifying him for a like glorious service. Physically the standard of the men for the ministry in modern times should not be below that of the Aaronic and Levitical Priesthood. What that was a cursory ex- amination of Leviticus 21^ 17-21 discloses. They were to be the paragons of men without spot or blemish, or any such thing. Corresponding mental qualities were likewise implied. This standard should obtain to-day. That this may be so, the salient characteristics which go to make up ideal manhood should be notably prominent in all ministerial aspirants. They must be to insure the highest respect for the calhng and the highest success in the same. Furthermore^ these men should be fearless, guileless and magnanimous. Not effeminate, disingen- uous, time serving, nimby-namby, jelly-fish anthropoids. If the virile qualities are lacking and their places are taken by these inferior and less desirable properties^ God Himself — and we say it reverently — cannot make of such individuals Nature's journeymen, much less courageous prophets and faithful-preachers. Read, in his classification, taken from the mineral kingdom^ calls attention to some of the different kinds of men there are in the world. Be it rertiembered that from these ministers are to come. He labels them according to the qualities he finds inhering in them. Some possess the properties of that dull metal we call lead. These are weighty, malleable, dead. They are devoid of heart, of pluck and of sparkle. Others are like iron. They are hard, firm and inflexible. We have their counterparts in such men as Polycarp, the Christian martyr; Wyck- liffe, the English Reformer ; and Bunyan, the Bedford Preacher. Such men may be imprisoned, broken on the rack, or burned at the stake, but seldom are deflected 13 from the performance of their duty as they see it. When, however, they are convinced of the righteousness of any cause and are persuaded to embrace it, then, and here is what Read himself says, "They are your men of steel, possessing all the intrinsically excellent qualities of hard- ness and tenacity, and durability, and general usefulness of the iron man ; and, over and above these, they are fitted to serve some purposes which he does not. They are more elastic, more delicate and flexible, yet abate not an iota of the tenacity and hardness of the man of iron which they inherit as a birthright." Such men have the properties requisite for Christian conquest. They readily take upon themselves the edge, the burnish and the suppleness of a Damascus blade, or what is better still a sword of the vSpirit. Men with iron enough in them to keep them erect before the cyclones of public opinion, unmoved in the presence of gilded vice and popular sins, and yet with steel enough in them to bend and swoop and smite in defense of the lowly, the downtrodden, the defenseless and the degraded. Paxton Hood in seeking for his highest type of man- hood, unlike Read, goes to the animal kingdom and dif- ferentiates thus : "It is with men as with animals ; you may divide them into two categories, vertebrated and invertebrated. Animals remarkable for dignity and elevation in the scale of existence, are vertebrated or backboned ; their backbones give them eminence and place: all animals to which we imply the term 'inferior' want this backbone and they can only crawl or creep, because they are invertebrated. We often have thought, when looking among men, that this is the greatest dis- tinction we notice between them — ^the successful and the unsuccessful, the principled and the unprincipled, the true and the false." The former, or vertebrated, are the men of strong personality and independence. They have views of their own, plans of their own, and a will of their 14 own. They wear no man's collar about their necks. We have this type of man in Cranmer, Latimer and Knox. For the latter class^ or the invertebrated, there is no place in the ministry demanded by the times. Another quaHty of manhood which is indispensable to men set apart to this special work is a high sense of honor, or what is sometimes termed "reUableness." Mar- mont says of the First Napoleon, that in his confidential conversations with him, he drew a distinction between a man of honor and a conscientious man, (or as we should say a temporizing man) giving his preference to the former, because he said "we know what to expect from a man who is bound simply and purely by his words and his engagements, while in the other case we depend on his opinions and feelings, which may vary." David, king of Israel, enunciates this same truth in the Fifteenth Psalm, where he describes the man who sweareth to his own hurt and changeth not. That is, possesses that quality which in spite of loss, or pain, or death itself, swerves not. When found in any man it affords an anchorage to which to tie and in which to trust. It en- genders the comfortable assurance that no matter what comes that anchorage will hold and that trust will never be betrayed. Surely in those who become the priests of the most High God this exalted sense of honor should never be lacking. Such elements of manhood, as above enumerated, and men possessing them, are in demand for every walk in life, for every profession and calling; but for none more than for the Christian ministry. The theory of "natural selection," as set forth by Mr. Darwin, and expounded by Mr. Spencer, under the cog- nate title — "the survival of the fittest" — may not be ac- cepted in all its applications and ramifications by any of my readers. Notwithstanding, there is a sense, both scientific and literal, in which it may be truthfully averred, that so far as a human standard can obtain, and 15 a human selection be made of men for the work of the ministry, they should be select men. The fittest from among all men, who have survived the numerous mala- dies of childhood and the accidents of youth, with rugged constitutions and members intact. None can be too choice for this vocation. None too brainy or too brawny. In filling the ranks of those who are to stand before kings and guard royalty the picked men of a nation are taken. The Queen, the Czar, and the Emperor, must have the most able bodied men, the best favored, and the most symmetrical in person that are to be found in all their realms. Such should be the King's ambassadors and the King's armor bearers. Men like Saul and David and Elijah, goodly to look upon, with natural strength unabated, well formed and fully developed. That such men are needed, out of whom to evolve ministers, a moment's reflection and consideration will make clear. Take any of the prophets under the Old Testament dis- pensation or of the apostles under the New Testament regime. What manner of men were they before they became prophets and apostles? Say, for example's sake, such illustrious characters as Moses, Joshua, Daniel, Isaiah, Peter, James, John, Pnul? Divest any one of these prophets or apostles of their 'sacred vestments and what do we find? In Moses smiting the tyrannical Egyptian, defending the I'lelpless daughters of Jethro and assisting them to water the flocks of their father, on the slopes of Horeb, we have a sublime exhibition of chivalry, valor and cool- ness, qualities which were needed in the ambassador oi Jehovah, at the court of Pharaoh, King of Egypt. With- out these he could not have calmly announced to that monarch. The *T Am" sent me, or thundered into his deaf ear his Lord's message, "Let my people go." Daniel, the Hebrew hostage, in the palace of the great King Nebuchadnezzar, refusing to defile himself with the meat and the wine from the king's table, manifests those same qualities of personal independence and daring which in after days nerved him to pray according to his custom, at morning, noon and night, with his window open toward Jerusalem, to defy the king's mandate and beard the monarchs of the forest in their imprisoned den. John the Baptist, the forerunner of our Lord, is alone in his rugged qualities of manhood which suitably cor- responded to his ruggedness of manner and dress. Here again the man precedes the divine herald. Physically strong, vigorous and invincible. He comes suddenly upon the stage of action and like a Titan levels all before him. His burning words and sledge haipmer blows savor more of the desert than the palace. His one om- nific command "Repent'' he utters in the spirit and power of Elijah. No wonder Herod beheaded him, for this was the only effectual way of silencing him. And yet his native characteristics — steadfastness, brusqueness and unflinching courage — were what made him in the lan- guage of his Lord, "A bright and shining light and the greatest of woman born." Peter, the impetuous, rash and reckless — attributes which at times made him as resistless and ebullient as a mountain cataract — was the same intrepid soul after his conversion and as a disciple of the Christ, as he was as a fisherman on the tempestuous sea of Galilee. Without this fearless dash as a man he could never as a preacher have charged home upon the Jews, in their ov^n chosen capital city, the murder of the Lord of life and glory. Another notable example is found in Saul of Tarsus, afterwards Paul the Apostle. Prominent in him were the elements of conscientiousness, fearlessness and per- severance. Without these in large measure he could never have passed unscathed and unmoved through the varied vicissitudes of his most eventful life, to close it 17 with that triumphant paean, **I have foug^ht a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith." If other and more modern examples are desired, they are not far to seek. What shall I say of Luther, the miner's son? Were not his leonine properties in evi- dence long before he became the monk that shook the world, or the lion of the Reformation? Did he all at once, after his ordination to the priesthood, become bold enough to burn the Pope's bull, or dare to go to Worms though there were as many devils as titles on the house- tops? By no means. W^e simply see in him at these periods the man clothed with divine authority, not simply a man, but a man of God. Time and space would fail me, were I to limn at length Whitefield, the hostler, Wesley, the Oxford student, Livingstone, the piecer boy, Carcv, the cobbler, and numerous others, who long be- fore God called tliem to the greater work of ministering in His name; in field and in factory, in shop and in classic brills, gave unmistakable proof that the raw ma- terial of manhood was there, out of which God by His Gospel, His Grace and His Providence, might make flaming heralds of the Cross. One there is, however, though not strictly in this cate- gory, yet who, on account of his humanity, may be placed there. As will readily be anticipated, allusion is here made to the Christ, who before and after He had entered upon His public ministry was stii generis, The Man. That one concerning whom Pilate could give no grander appellation and ejaculate no higher encomium than "Ecce Homo" — "behold the man." From His in- carnation a most unique character. The truest repre- sentative of the noblest manhood which the world thus far has witnessed. Surpassing even the lofty and poetic descriptions as given by Shakespeare, Milton and Young. A perfect balance in Himself of apposite qual- ities. A composite of all that is grand and noble and 18 sublime in man, and all that is gentle, sweet and good in woman. Mark His candor. His independence. His tact, and His courage, on the occasion when the Jews seeking to entrap Him, brought him the Roman denarius with the wily query on their lips, "Master, is it lawful to give tribute unto Caesar?" Or His native wit. His inexor- able firmness -and His masterful and fearless retort, when the sanctimonious priests brought to the tribunal of His personal judgment the unfortunate woman taken in the act of adultery. Well might they in the presence of such a man and such a judicial decision depart one by one, leaving the culprit alone in the presence of her Judge and Maker to hear her sentence in the words, ''Neither do I condemn thee ; go, and sin no more." Bishop Henry W. Warren very succinctly and forcibly observes of the Christ, "He brought down a nature so vast that no one ever midcrstood it; a knowledge so penetrating that men were amazed at His questions and ansv/ers when he was only twelve years '^Id : so broad that only men skilled in casuistry, laying traps to catch Him in His words and framing horns of dilemna to toss Him, were always caught and tossed themselves, till at length it was said, "After this durst no man anymiOre ask him any questions." It has been the frolicsome delight of mere dialecticians for two thousand years to read how the Man of Galilee used up the proud Pharisees and Sad- ducees. Here, then, is v/hat we find has been and must ever be, if God's order is followed in making up the per- sonnel of the Christian ministry ; first the raw material — man, and afterwards the official and more finished pro- duct — the minister. For with Locke it may be unhes- itatingly affirmed ''that God when he makes the prophet docs not unmake the man,^' but rather takes him as he finds him, Avith all his physical and mental idiosyncrasies and consecrates him for higher service. The sum total of all of which is, when briefly stated, that those in 19 authority should lay hands suddenly on no man to press him into the office and work of a minister in the Church of Jesus Christ. But rather that their hand be laid upon the door of admission that they may keep it closed against the incompetent, the self seeking and the un- manly. In closing this chapter I am constrained to observe that it was never so necessary as now, that constant, vigilant and jealous care should be exercised by all persons in the various ecclesiastical bodies, charged with the high commission of guarding the gate through which men must pass to ministerial functions in the Church of God. Most, if not all, of the denominations, require some preliminary steps to be taken by men seek- ing admission to their inner courts and priestly offices. They have standards of physical, literary and moral re- quirements, none of which, so far as I have examined them are too exalted or too exacting. If then, unqual- ified and inferior men are admitted, through sympathy, favoritism, or lack of due diligence, the gate-keeper, whoever he is, whether bishop, presiding elder, or ex- aminer — lay or cleric — is responsible, and should be held to a strict account by the Church he represents. For here is the place and time to keep out incompetent men, since it is always easier to keep out than to put out. The Rev. J. M. Buckley, D. D., writing on this sub- ject, aptly and truthfully remarks, "Many facts show us that there never was so much need for care in the admis- sion of men to the ministry as to-day. All varieties of applicants should be thoroughly examined. Mere knowl- edge, without common sense, without evidence of a serious character and a genuine call to preach, may simply be the introduction of a person whose influence will be bad, or whose impulsiveness will lead him into disgraceful complications. '•' * * Surely the admission of a man to membership in such a body as an Annual Conference, whereby he has a claim for employment and for support, should be as carefully decided as his admis- sion into a mutual benefit insurance association. Even more closely should he be scrutinized, for morality and religion do not enter into the calculations of such so- cieties, except as they might have a bearing upon the probable length of a man's life. While the work of a minister, to be successful, requires a strict moraUty, a spiritual readiness, a doctrinal soundness, a disciplined mind, discretion, and a lifelong devotion.'' And yet the utmost care and wisdom should be employed, lest in bar- ring the way against undesirable applicants, worthy and God appointed men, by reason of temporarily impaired health, imperfect preparation, or technical defect, should be shut out likewise. Nevertheless, on account of the present tendency to laxity, indifference and softness, (I had almost said cowardice) it is pertinent to repeat and emphasize the exhortation, keep out of the sacred office all inferior, incompetent and unworthy men. While, then, attention will be invited in the chapters which are to follow to various other qualifications — natural and acquired — requisite to the making of an acceptable minister of Jesus Christ ; and while the most efficient way of executing and discharging his many and delicate duties will be pointed out, yet it will be noticed that, as in this chapter, so throughout this volume, the stress is again and again laid upon the necessity of man- hood, per se. For after all has been said and done, it will be discovered that it is not the man's tools or the man's weapons, so much as it is the concrete being that uses the one and w^ields the other, which does the execu- tion. The preacher's sermons may be models of excel- lence, his visits numerous, his logic conclusive and his eloquence convincing, but it is the man that God^ calls and that God uses. All history and alf experience demonstrate this. Being, with Him, is more than the 21 mere Incident of doing, and hiuuan character, than the mere accident of training. Therefore, the man is more than the scholar, or the orator, or tlie pastor. He is God's n.oblest work, possessing hke attributes, and is only a little lower than the cloli'uu. Hence, when he stands forth as the representative of the Almighty, whether it be in the rugged characteristics of a John the Baptist, or with the milder traits of a John the Beloved, he should be the manliest of men. ''Turn, turn my wheel : Turn round and round Without a pause, without a sound ; So spins the flying world around. This clay well mixed with marl and sand, Follows the motion of the hand ; For some must follow and some command, TliQugh all are made of clay." 22 CHAPTER II. AUSPICIOUS AND INAUSPICIOUS BEGINNINGS. Is there such a thing- as a call to preach? If so what is its force and how does it operate? Whence does it come and from whom? These are some of the interroga- tions which, like sentinels at the gate of a citadel, chal- leng^e men at the very threshold of the ministerial career. That there has been such a call has been the universal consensus of opinion in the Church of God from time immemorial. That this call, when o-f the right kind, is both personal and peremptory, is also generally con- ceded ; while no truly devout soul doubts that it is from within and without, from above and below, from God and the Church. St. Paul's asseveration that "no man taketh this honor unto himself, but he that is called of God, as was Aaron" is indicative, at least, of what should be, even though it does not always come to pass. It is both reasonable and scriptural. The Master himself received such a call at the Jordan, if not before when a boy of twelve years in the temple at Jerusalem. He gave public notice of this call when He read His great commission from the proph- ecy of Isaiah, on the sabbath day, in the synagogue at Nazareth, at the same time declaring "this day is this Scripture fulfilled in your ears." Surely the Spirit of the Lord God was upon Him, and He was anointed to preach good tidings unto the meek, to bind up the broken hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and the open- ing of the prison doors to those who are bound, in a sense in which no other man has ever been. Yet our antitype is outlined here and His call represents ours. 23 That some men who have entered the ministry have mistaken their calHng is obvious. How this transpired is not always so clear. Wordly Wiseman says, God called others but these men heard and answered. A shrewd way of relieving- God of the responsibility, but not alto- gether satisfactory as an answer. Whether this is so or not, it is evident that there are some in the pulpits of all the Churches, who, judged from a human standpoint, have but few gifts or graces for the position. So far as outward appearances are trustworthy data they were never called to preach the Gospel. It therefore behooves all young men before entering this profession to make themselves doubly sure that they are called of God to it. A misconception at this point is disastrous, if not fatal. Better, like the king of the parable, go to war without computing the enemy's strength, or begin to build a house without counting the cost, than without a divine commission undertake to lead God's hosts and fight God's battles. This, moreover, because there are so many signs and so many hallucinations which are often- times interpreted to mean a "call to preach." Few persons, perhaps, will be so self-deluded, as to read into every striking event that may transpire in their personal history, or even every vision and dream they may have, as a colored brother did, a call to this offtce. If so some wiser and more practical brother may read therein a call to a more menial work. The story is told of a colored man who much preferred the pulpit to the plantation, and who solemnly informed a worshipping congregation, from whom he hoped to obtain a recom- mendation for license to preach, that he had been unmis- takably called to the ministry in a vision of the night. In the vision, he said, he beheld the heavens illuminated and written, as on an open scroll, in lines of living light, ap- peared the letters G. P. C. In his ecstatic state, after pon- dering for some time as to what these might mean, he interpreted them as standing for the first letters of the words, "Go Preach Christ." This^ to him^ constituted his call. For, said he, with a ring of triumphant assur- ance in his question, "What can G. P. C. mean but 'Go Preach Christ'." Imagine then his dismay and chagrin,, when one of the deacons, who did not take much stock in visions and dreams and less in the brother's preaching ability^ gravely arose and said^ "Our young brother is mistaken ; he did not read the handwriting correctly, for according to the revelation that is given to me, G. P. C. does not mean *Go Preach Christ,' but 'Go Pick Cotton'," and he went. Of course, there is a blending in this inci- dent of the serious and the comical, the sublime and the ridiculous. To many readers of these pages, it may ap- pear well nigh incredible that any rational being should allow himself to be deceived^ or should seek to deceive others, by any such legerdemain. But it has often been so. Men desiring to make the ministry their life work have read into their predilections, special providences, visions of the day and dreams of the night, a call thereto. If the question should here arise, which doubtless it will, "Is no account then to be taken of a personal desire to preach"? I answer. Yes. Furthermore, a strong preference and leaning toward this vocation should be carefully considered and duly recognized. I have dis- covered, however, in the examination of candidates for license to preach, that often when advertance has been made to their call to the work, some of them have seemed to minify their own favorable feelings and individual wishes in the premises. Why they did this, I never have been able fully to discern, unless it was that they labored under the impression that if they confessed to a desire to preach, this would be evidence of itself of their unfitness and that they had received no divine call. On the other hand, others have seemed to think that if they only af- firmed, with some degree of warmth^ that they had a 25 natural shrinking from the work, amounting almost to an abhorrence for it, and that they would rather do any- thing else under the sun, that this avowal and the em- phatic manner in which they made it, were indisputable testimony of their fitness and a valid credential of their divine commission. Such reasoning about one's call is altogether falla- cious, notwithstanding it has found advocates among some of the leading magnates of the Churches. Our posi- tion is this — since the call is human as well as divine — it may be as providentally indicated by one's longing to engage in God's service, as when it comes at the sug- gestion or invitation of another. While we cannot strict- ly speak of volunteers in this sphere, any more than we can of drafted men, yet the middle course lies open to us.. Men may find themselves with a natural bent for the work toward which God is drawing them, and not distinguish, for the time being, the natural inclination from the heavenly constraint. Professor George Adam Smith, of Scotland, corroborates this view. In his Commentary on Isaiah, he makes the following statements: ''Isaiah got no call in our conventional sense of the word. After pass- ing through the fundamental religious experiences of for- giveness and cleansing, which are in every case the indis- pensable premises of life with God, Isaiah was left to himself. No direct summons was addressed to him, no compulsion was laid upon him ; but he heard the voice of God asking generally for messengers, and he on his own responsibility answered it for himself in particular. So great an example cannot be too closely studied by candi- dates for the ministry in our day. There are men who pass into the ministry, by social pressure, or the opinion of the circles they belong to, and there are men who adopt the profession simply because it is on the line of least resistance. From which false beginnings rise the spent force, the premature stoppage, the stagnancy, the 26 aimlessness and heartlessness which are the scandals of the professional ministry, and the weakness of the Christ- ian church in our day. God will have no driftwood for his sacrifices ; no driftmen for his ministers. Self-conse- cration is the beginning- of his service ; and a sense of our own freedom and our own responsibility is an indispen- sable element in the act of self-consecration. We — not God — have to make the decision." Emphasis is sometimes placed upon the fact that men have tried law, medicine, and various other profes- sions and trades, before turning their attention to the pulpit, and failed in each and every one. Immediately they have jumped to the conclusion their failures meant that they must preach the gospel. Suffice it to say, that too often in these cases, they have proved to be more con- spicuous failures in this last, than in any of their former avocations. The fact then remains that an inclination for or against preaching, success or failure in any other call- ing, as signs of a divine call, when taken alone may be misleading or otherwise. Ordinarily, we would regard a desire to preach and former success in business as more favorable remarks of a call to the ministry, than their op- posites. They are more trustworthy. They are clearly indicative of a solicitude and an ability which prognosti- cate success in the Lord's service, as they proved to be in secular pursuits. But no will o' the wisp must be fol- lowed here, it must be a heavenly beacon, a pillar of fire, which goes before the chosen of the Lord. If it is not, then instead of a clear, unclouded pathway and a life of delightsome labor, it will be uncertain groping and a painful drudgery all through one's ministerial career. Hence, we reiterate, a genuine call to preach is subjective and objective, personal and peremptory, from God and the Church. Most religious bodies now require that candidates for their ministries shall be so called. Some go further 27 and exact from all candidates a solemn affirmation that they feel themselves inwardly moved by the Holy Ghost to preach, before they are admitted to the sacred office. True, these Churches are not so unanimous as to the mode or manner of the call, as they are to the fact. In the Disciplines and Theologies of the various religious denominations extant are to be found whole paragraphs and chapters descriptive and explanatory of the nature and manner of this call. These paragraphs and chapters contain much that is valuable and helpful to the conscien- tious neophyte and to examining committees. These books explain what is meant by an ordinary call and a call extraordinary ; a natural call and a call supernatural. The foregoing doubtless are two sets of labels for the same articles. Without dwelling at length on these, it will be found more satisfactory to present a concrete case of a divine call, which will cover all points touched upon thus far under this head. The case we cite is that of St. Paul. Hear his con- fession, "Woe unto me if I preach not the Gospel." From this confession it is conclusively clear that necessity was laid upon him from above to proclaim the Gospel of Christ, and that there was no doubt in his own mind that he must do it, as evidenced by the personal pronoun '7." Furthermore, he was confident that condemnation, loss and woe would attend him, unless he was obedient to this call. On another occasion he thanked Christ Jesus for having put him into the ministry, and counting him worthy of being a co-worker with his Lord in the re- demption of the race. The inference is that he did not put himself there, neither was he put there by any deacon, presbyter, or bishop, but by his Lord and Master. This only can be the meaning of the words, "Go thy way for he is a chosen vessel unto ine, to bear my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel," spoken by the Lord to Ananias, concerning Paul; and the 28 apostle's own language when he affirmed, "and the minis- try which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God." When the Church at An- tioch, under the direction of the Holy Ghost, formally set him apart by the laying on of hands, to the work to which he had been divinely anointed, then his call to the ministry of the word was complete. This Pauline call is ideal. In its brevity and sim- plicity, its clearness and directness, it surpasses all the disquisitions which have ever been written on a call to preach, and all the examples ever cited as illustrations of the same. Therefore, such an assurance of a call to the work of the ministry as this should be desired and sought after by the subject himself, and should be acceptable to the Church into whose fold he goes to shepherd a flock. No other call should be heeded, no other call should be demanded, and with no other call should the candidate or the Church be satisfied. After God has called and like Samuel, answer has been made, — "Speak Lord for thy servant heareth" — then unless one has already attained it, he should tarry long enough to secure the best and most thorough men- tal preparation possible for his work. It should be borne in mind constantly that the era of uneducated ministers has passed, and that we are living in an age and in a land of schools and colleges. Hence, one should act accord- ingly, and if it is within his power obtain a full college course to fit him for his life's work. Such a course is most desirable. It gives one a knowledge of the master- pieces of antiquity. It makes him a man of power in whatever community he may settle. For "knowledge is power," as Lord Bacon says, even though it be a knowl- edge of Greek roots and logarithms. But a full collegiate course is desirable, further, because it gives a man a thorough discipline. It exercises his reasoning faculties and teaches him how best to I'se them in post-graduate 29 days. It enlarges his intellectual horizon. There accrue from it a fine polish and finish which are lacking ordin- arily in those who are deprived of its advantages. That one has successfully passed through college will often be a sufificient recommendation to pass him up and on in his profession. His diploma becomes his passport. He has the prestige of his Alma Mater back of him, and his fraternity influence constantly operating in his favor. His chances in the race for honor and for position and recog- nition are thus greatly augmented. As a preacher, his congregation will have for him a profounder respect, if not reverence, on this account. Hence, one should strive to go to college. However, if this course is not within reach, at least one should manage to graduate from a first-class academy. Following this up with a course of study in a theological seminary of the Church of which he is a mem- ber, and into whose ministry he expects to enter. I am aware that some educators in the Church would advise academic and collegiate training in preference to the academic and theological, where but two out of the three institutions of learning can be attended. Yet, accepting the well founded principle, which has been fully estab- lished, that for special trades and professions special training is requisite ; I advocate the training of the theological seminary for coming ministers. I do this on the same grounds and for like reasons that I would advo- cate the law school for the coming lawyer, clinical lectures for coming physicians, and the carpenter's bench for the would be carpenter. That the drift of our educa- tional processes is more and more in the direction of special preparation for special work, is self evident. This is most clearly evinced by the changes that have taken and are now taking place in the curriculla of our colleges, by which "electives" arc being substituted for the old stereotyped courses. 30 Then, ag-ain, it should not be forgotten that the "classical course" in the academy of today is equivalent to the college course of a quarter of a century ago. It furnishes an opportunity of gaining a fair amount of knowledge of Greek, Latin and the higher Mathematics. This course, supplemented by the theological seminary studies in Hebrew and Theology, will give the theologue a good mental furnishing with which to begin ministerial housekeeping. Nevertheless, it is wise to plan to go through all of the schools, from the kindergarten to the university ; for no preparation can more than fit a preacher for the work to which he is called, as will be more fully realized by him in after years than when just beginning his public career. But even though some men should be so fortunate as to have the culture of all the schools above mentioned, if the root of the matter is not in them, they will discover that there are graduates from the ''World's University" all about them, who with a genius for public speaking and a thorough devotion to divinity will accomplish more for God and humanity, than some other man with their scholastic degrees, who are lacking in this respect. Other things being equal this should not happen. If it has in the past, it should not deter us from so equipping our- selves, so that it shall not happen again so far as we are concerned. In order that this may be so, one will need to do something more than rest upon his oars and glide placidly along, satisfied with the progress already made. The ocean of knowledge, as well as the truth, lies before us. To reach it and explore it we must needs pull against wind and tide. In other words the education thus far received has been preparatory. To make progress and become a master, one must be a student all the days of his life, and study must be co-extensive with his ministry. Neither should he be content with simply keeping abreast of the times, but forge ahead of them. Whether we shall 31 do this or fall back to the rear will not depend upon what school we attended, but what we actually are as scholars. The ajbsence of a collegiate or an academic training must not, however, stand as an insuperable barrier to the work of the ministry, if the call is clear, positive and per- sonal, and the higher schools for any reason cannot be attended. While an educated ministry has always been demanded, and never more than now, yet there have always been many, and those among the most practical and efficient workmen, who did not acquire their skill in the schools. From the time that the Pharisees scorn- fully asked concerning the Christ, "How knoweth this man letters, having never learned"? to the present, there have been those who, like the Master, did not come to the ministry by way of the colleges, but of the shops, of the farm and of the factory. As he was called directly from the carpenter's bench, and Elisha directly from the plough, and Levi directly from "the receipt of custom" to be leaders and prophets, teachers and preachers, so have countless others, whose shoes latchets many of us are not worthy to unloose. And yet, notwithstanding, the formulated and regular order of the Church should be followed, and it should require both a clear call and a thorough preparation before it gives its endorsement and issues its commission to any one to preach the Gospel. There is another phase of preparation for the minis- try which should not be entirely passed over here. It may be differentiated from the former by the descriptive word spiritual. To be sure it is implied in one's call to preach and assumed when the mental furnishing is taking place. Nevertheless, it is not always present. Hence the reason for noting it in this connection. The culture of the schools is largely a man made requisition which must he met, to some extent, before the Churches will invest men with authority to preach. The culture which spiritually fits for this work is largely of the closet. It comes 'by fasting- and prayer. St. Paul lays stress on it in his instructions to Timothy. It is of the soul rather than the head, and consists in the divine anointing and the unction of the Holy One. Our Lord, when He had finished His own earthly mission and was about to con- secrate his successors that they might carry it forward, commanded them that they should not start forth to its accomplishment until they had been endued with power from on high. Consequently, they tarried at Jerusalem until they received the baptism of the Holy Ghost and of fire. Then they were ready to go anywhere and preach Christ and Him crucified. Need I say that this spiritual preparation is paramount to all others? With it the man in the pulpit is a giant; without it he may be a Samson intellectually^ but he is a Samson shorn of his locks. Can- didates for the ministry may not be able to command all the physical, mental and scholastic excellence for them- selves, which have thus far been enumerated. This last and most important is obtainable by all. It may be had in answer to earnest importunate prayer. Ask, then, and receive. The call answered and the most feasible all-round preparation made, the next initiative is beginning to preach. First sermons are always regarded, both by preachers and listeners, as great events. Sometimes be- cause of their length and sometimes because of their breadth^ and again because of the success or failure at- tending them. It is well if their chief characteristics are clearness^ simplicity and brevity. A good maxim to fol- low is not to put the fodder too high for the flock, nor keep them waiting too long for their meat. Give it to them in due season./ This counsel is especially pertinent to young men just^out of the schools. They forget two essential facts : first, that they are in the presence of a promiscuous company of men and women waiting to receive the Word of God and not of man ; and secondly, 33 that they themselves are not there to give an exhibition of their erudition, but to deliver the message of their Lord in the most straightforward and impressive manner possible. In addressing a congregation generally, it would be well to follow the advice Cromwell gave his soldiers and "fire low." In doing so we shall be more liable, to hit the heart, which is the very citadel of Man- soul. It is a fact which ought to be accentuated that few persons are converted through the head. Consequently few through purely intellectual preaching. More execu- tion is accomplished by aiming at the heart. We are apt in our eagerness to prepare and preach great sermons to overlook this matter. Bernard^ whose power came from tenderness and simplicity, on one occasion preached a very scholarly sermon. The learned only thanked him and gave applause. The next day he preached tenderly and plainly, as had been his custom, and the good, the humble and the godly gave thanks and invoked blessings upon his head, which some of the scholarly wondered at. "Ah/' said he, "yesterday I preached Bernard, but today I preached Christ." Paul boasts that his "speech" and "his preaching was not with enticing w^ords of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the spirit and of power." If somewhat embarrassed and one has apparently what is commonly called a "poor time" he ought not to be discouraged or disheartened. Many of the great preachers have done no better on the start. Matthew Simpson, afterwards a peerless pulpit orator and a bishop in the Methodist Episcopal Church, in the beginning of his ministry was so dissatisfied with his own efforts that he was on the point of abandoning his work. But he held on and God made him a polished arrow in the divine quiver. And then again, the preacher's poor time may be a feast of fat things to some poor soul, hungering for just the crumbs of truth and not strong enough to eat the bread of life served up in a more elaborate form. A 34 story is told of a young Scotch minister who made his first attempt to deliver a sermon from the steps of the house of John Knox, in Edinburgh. A propitious spot certainly from which to hold forth the lamp of life ! But alas ! sacred spots^ persons and associations do not always insure a good preaching time, as the young man discovered to his sorrow. For taking as his text the words, "Behold the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world," he talked disconnectedly and incoherently for a few moments and then completely broke down. He was very much discouraged at his own conscious failure, and was hurrying away from the scene of his supposed defeat, when an old woman laid hold of his arm and said, ''Laddie, you've brought my puir wandering heart back to the Lamb of God/' and his rout was suddenly transformed into a glorious victory. Neither if one has what is called a ''good time" should he be unduly elated, for on such an occasion a man may speak with ease, and grace, and great fluency, and yet accomplish little. We older preachers, who have passed this period and look back, often wonder what we said that in any way could have edified God's people in our earlier efforts at preaching His Word. Certain it is that there is at this period a dash almost amounting to recklessness, and a spontaniety which well nigh carries one ofif his feet in the manner and the matter of preaching. These, to a large degree, pass away with the passing of the years. It would have been better for many of us if we could have restrained some of this dash and some of this flow at that time, and retained a modicum of it for use in after years. In the selection of texts for initial sermons in new fields of labor, much discretion needs to be exercised. This same precaution applies to the texts for occasional sermons. f Let them be such as that they cannot make a grotesque or humorous impression, nor from which un- 35 canny inferences may be drawn. Better not, for example, take such as, "Arise, shine, for thy light has come/' or ''All that ever came before me were thieves and robbers," or ''Never man spake as this man." If one does, as sure as man is man, some obtuse, evil minded, or cynical hearer will charge him with egotism, or conceit, or something worse. A little forethought at this point will save one from much embarrassment and chagrin. Such texts as "I am ready to preach the Gospel to you also," "We are laborers together with God," "I come to you in the name of the Lord of Hosts," are much more appropriate and in place on such occasions, or as Cicero says "ut diceat" — most becoming. A first sermon presupposes a first Church. This may not be so and frequently is not. If one is to enter the ministry of a Church having a congregational form of government, he is without a pastorate up to this time. This form of Church government provides for what is known as the calling of ministers. Hence, the first work will be candidating, or preaching on trial. The latter part of this statement is most literally and severely true. For it is both a trial and an ordeal for a young man just out of the Seminary to go candidating. But distasteful as it may be, he must do it before he can become a settled pastor. It will be wise in him if he does not aspire too high as to the grade of Church he will serve. Better for him to accept an invitation coming unanimously from some country parish than to enter the half open door of a rich city church. When one is to become a preacher in a Church which has an "Itinerant" system he will be relieved of the unpleasant work of candidating, yet at the same time his chances of beginning his ministry away up in the scale are greatly diminished. The rotating wheel usually, in its revolutions, leaves the young preacher at the bottom, and not the top. Nearly all ministers under this system 3(3 have to serve an apprenticeship at the trade. Few are placed in charg-e of large, important and influential churches on first entering upon their work, or even dur- ing the years of their novitiate. It is observable that most of them begin on what has become laconically known as ''Hard Scrabble Charge." Here they often find a super- abundance of work and little pay. But even those un- propitious features should not deter one from beginning here. For, if rightly viewed and used, they have their compensations. Here a man may learn how and what to preach. Here leisure will be afiforded him from the most exacting and exhausting duties of upper society. Here he can ibecome master of the polity of his own denomina- tion and familiarize himself with the doctrines, usages and governments of other Churches. And what is still more advantageous, one may so fit himself as that when other fields of labor open to him, he can enter them with- out any hesitation or mental reservation and magnificent- ly maintain himself in the new and larger sphere. If it should ibe urged, in rebuttal, that it is always harder for a man to go up than it is to go down, and therefore one should begin as high up as he can reach even in the ministry ; this may be conceded, but it is also true that some ministers start on too high a plane and have to come down. If the ''powers that be" should suc- ceed in keeping them there for a time, the chariot wheels drag heavily nevertheless, until the break comes, which it is sure to do sooner or later. If it is asked, "Is it not difficult for a preacher, who begins low down, to grade up?" the answer must be, "Yes." If, however, he can pos- sess himself in patience and bide his time, his day will surely come. "Wait a wee and dinna worry" is not only a good definition of that patience with which the toiler in God's vineyard should possess himself, but it is a most useful maxim to follow. If the Knight of Ravenswood could inscribe upon his shield, "I bide my time/' much 37 more the Knight of the Cross. He won by patience and valor what valor alone could never have achieved. If one only grows while he waits, he will be the man for the place when the place is ready for the man. This leads me to remark, by way of encouragement, that merit wins in the ministry in the long run as certainly and surely as it does elsewhere. It may not always and immediately receive recognition. Neither may it be im- mediately rewarded. Still it will be noticed by discerning men and mentioned to one's credit. This in itself is better than the loud applause of the multitude, or the empty honors they are often so ready to confer. Solid worth usually becomes known and receives homage. The Rev. Joseph Butler, author of the masterful and unanswerable "Analogy of ReHgion/' toiled on in comparative ob- scurity for many years, but recognition of his worth came at last in the promotion to the bishopric. The Rev. Dr. DeWitt Talmage, one of the most brilliant pulpit orators, did much plodding as many another has done, before he reached the zenith of his popularity and power. The same may be affirmed of Rev. John Watson, better known by his noin< de plume, Ian Maclaren, who as sud- denly as a meteor flashed forth in the ecclesiastical sky of two continents. These, and numerous others who might readily be cited from a long line of illustrious pulpiteers, enforce the inspiring lesson, that all may make their lives sublime if they will "learn to labor and to wait." The Itinerant wheel, in some one of its revolutions, will doubt- less throw the most worthy oflf at the top, or the long expected call come, if one can only persevere long enough. Various methods of bettering oneself are often sug- gested, and various methods have often been tried. The one worthy of universal recommendation is to make oneself so large by his sermons and labors that a small charge shall not have room enough to contain him. Like Joseph's fruitful vine, we may let our boughs grow over our local church walls. Then some other people^ tasting the quality of the fruity will desire more and possibly seek to transplant the vine itself. As some one has said, "the best way to get out of a small pulpit is to grow out/' and I may add "the best way to obtain a larger is to possess the ability to fill it." "Filling in" should always be the complement of "growing out." But even then one must pray the Lord that he will not send us up, unless He him- self go with us. If, like Israel, we become anxious to hear the sound of the "going in the tops of the mulberry trees", as the signal for advance, we must not yield to the strong temptation which will inevitably come^ to shake them ourselves. Howbeit, when the divine signal is given for us to move forward, we should advance expecting the Lord to be with us and gfive us success. 39 CHAPTER III. PERSONAL EXCELLENCIES AND DEFECTS. To many readers the mere mention of some matters treated in this chapter will doubtless seem trivial and superfluous. Perhaps they will appear as mere trifles — the anise, the mint and the cummin^ — as compared with the more weighty matters pertaining to the minister and his work. They are, however, so closely related to him- self, and have so much to do with his acceptibility in gen- eral that it would be like the play of ''Hamlet" with Ham- let left out, if these notes on the "persona" were omitted. It is true that trifles are trifles, and many times nothing more. Sometimes they are as light as air and as harmless too. At others, as heavy as sand and as destructive as death. The snowflake singly and the tiny particles of hoar frost alone mean but little. A child's breath may blow the one w^hither he will, and a child's hand dash the other from the cup of the lily without harm. But, let these little snowflakes gather, and these little particles of hoar frost aggregate, and what then? Why, a nation's traffic is blocked and a nation's crops are blasted. So with some of the small things which enter into the mak- ing and the marring of the man called to the sacred office. Here there are, strictly speaking, no trifles, but each and all are both weighty and important in their relation to him. It is, therefore, with the greater freedom, if not abandon, that I venture these annotations, for I am per- suaded that the most observing and discerning persons, within and without the profession, will regard them as timely and momentous. 10 An old divine once quaintly said : "Cleanliness is next to godliness." It is not probable that he had in mind at the time men of his own profession, but rather that he uttered it as an epigramatic saying from which it has grown into a proverb. Hence it is universal in its applica- tion_, and is especially pertinent in its present connection. Not that ministers are habitually dirty, but that they are sometimes careless as to their personal cleanliness and slovenly in their dress. It is a wee matter^ forsooth, to permit the finger nails to go uncleaned, or unpared, until they are in a fair way of competing with Nebuchadnez- zar's, which^ as it is written, "were like eagle's claws." Or for the beard to stand out on the chin like quills on the back of a fretful porcupine. Or for the shoes to lack polish^ or for the linen to be soiled. Nevertheless, there are occasions when these marks of personal neglect and untidiness wiW msike them personcs non gratiw , and mili- tate against them as the King's ambassadors and the mes- sage which they bring. It is important, then, that all parts of the person which are exposed to view should be scrupulously clean. If our hands are to break symboli- cally the "Bread of Life/" or actually the bread at the "Holy Communion," we should see to it that they are as clean and sweet as soap and water can make them. For even an inspired writer^ in answer to the question, "Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord?" answers "He that hath clean hands." The pungent odor of the 'barn_, or what, under the circumstances, is more censurable^ the ofifensive smell of tobacco, ought not either to taint the clothes or the breath of those ministering in the House of God. The same precautions need to be taken at other times and in other places than at the sanctuary service ; such as the chamber of the sick, the parlor of the rich, and the hovel of the poor. It is said of the Master that His coming to men should be like the aroma emanating from the new mown grass, upon which the rain and the dew 41 have sweetly distilled. What, then, should the coming of His representative be? Should it not be as fragrant as the incense which ascended from golden censers in God's ancient temple, or like the sweet smelling myrrh which was so closely associated with early Christian customs and ministries? After cleanliness of person the apparel claims atten- tion. Here much care and circumspection are required. The minister is not to be a Beau Nash, neither is he to be a Jack Cade in dress. He should strike the golden mean. Trimness and tidiness and not ''cut" should be the rule. If he prefers to wear the clerical white cravat it should be immaculately clean. Far better to wear a black tie than a dingy white one, even though the former is not so clerical. He will appear to greater advantage in the regulation "Prince Albert" coat than in "sparrow laps," which is dubbed nowadays the dress coat. At home, or on the street, or during vacation, he may wear any other kind, but on the rostrum and in the pulpit, a neat fitting long coat v^^ill best become the man and the place. It produces a dignified and pleasingly illusive effect, seeming to lengthen out the short man and to duly proportionate the man of stature tall. Consequently, it should be worn on all public occasions. This rule does not exclude the wearing of pulpit robes by any, when permissable and in keeping with the rubrics of the Church in which they officiate. But, as aforesaid, the preacher is not to lead the style, but is rather to conform to the fashion in dress which most becomes his calling. Hence, he is not to be a fop or a guy, wearing spindled-toed shoes, or skin-tight pantaloons, or large-ibosomed vests, or flashy neckties, but to dress sensibly, like any other practical and intelli- gent man. As one who adorns the Gospel of Christ in his daily life and conversation, rather than one who seeks to beautify with all the colors of the rainbow and all the showy costumes of the season the temple of his poor per- 42 ishing body. While it is true that great hearts may throb under hodden-gray and blockheads may be blocked out with silk hats of the latest style, yet the advice which Polonius gave to his son regarding dress^ in a qualified sense, might appropriately be given to the minister. "Costly thy habit as thy purse can buy. But not expressed in fancy ; rich, not gaudy ; For the apparel oft proclaims the man ; And they ... of the best rank and station, Are most select and generous, chief in that." In what rank or station, may I ask, should the dress be more select than in the highest station of all, which is the ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ? Whatever the character of the apparel, be sure to ad- just it before entering the church, so as not to make a dressing box or a toilet chamber of the pulpit. Should any part of the attire become disarranged, one may either quietly retire, or if the disarrangement does not discom- mode or embarrass him, finish the sermon and attend to it afterwards. 'Nothing seems more out of place than for the minister, after entering the pulpit, to be smoothing down his hair, or retying his cravat, or fastening some loosened garment. All these matters should receive at- tention either at home or in the vestry. If he do these and like primpings before the people, they will regard his actions as indicative of a fastidiousness and a daintiness regarding his personal appearance which ill become him in the Lord's sanctuary. At this point a word of exhortation touching the wear- ing and the displaying of jewelry will be relevant. Some ministers, hke some men of fashion, have a passion for adorning themselves with various trinkets and ornaments of silver and gold. Sometimes these are gifts from friends or the relics of departed loved ones. They are then worn, not so much for what they are in themselves, but as me- mentoes and tokens of respect. That ministers should 43 not wear jewelry we do not say. But that for their own sake and the Gospel's sake, they will be wise to wear little, and that little the most choice. Rings, ordinarily, should not be worn by men occupying the sacred desk, no matter what their size, or brilliancy, whether they are large or not. They are usually large and dazzling enough to be seen by the audience and the wearer himself. The ^kindly rebuke which an old divine gave to a younger brother at an installation service was well merited. He had noticed that the candidate wore on the little finger of his right hand a sparkling diamond ring, and that dur- ing the service the young man had turned upon it many an admiring glance. When the time came for the charge to be delivered, after some fatherly advice had been given, the aged man of God said : ''And your work, my brother, is to hold up before the people the Cross of Christ. You yourself must hide behind it, and not so much as your 'little jeweled finger' be in sight." It was a mild, a tender and a loving admonition, Avhich was ever afterwards heeded. A like word of exhortation obtains in regard to the wearing of costly studs, pins, charms, and watch chains, only that these are frequently articles which prove themselves to be useful as well as ornamental. Cowper's immortal verse, where he gi"bbets for all time the minister who disregards these homely Instructions, is most appo- site here. He asks : "What ! will a man play tricks, will he indulge A silly fond conceit of his fair form And just proportion, fashionable mien. And pretty face, in presence of his God? Or will he seek to dazzle me with tropes As with the diamond on his lily hand, And play his brilliant parts before my eyes When I am hungry for the bread of life? He mocks his Maker, prostitutes and shames His noble office, and, instead of truth. Displaying his own beauty, starves his flock." 44 Next to neatness and plainness in dress is a noble carriage. This is an essential counterpart of good dress- ing. Proprietors of large clothing establishments^ where ready-made clothing is offered for sale, understand this full well. Consequently they have wooden figures of nor- mal boys and men made, clothe them, and place them on exhibition. But, as is well known, the wooden figures have no earthly use except to fill out the suits and make them more presentable than they otherwise would be. Doff these clothes from the dummy, straight and stout^ and don them on some hollow-chested or hump-backed man, and though the cloth be of the finest fabric, and the cut the most correct, the suit has lost 50 per cent, in its transfer. Why? Well, just because the dummy had a good form and an erect bearing, and the man had neither. Hence, the first sets off the suit, but the second would dis- count the best one in the establishment. The truth is, ministers bend over their books and manuscripts until they get a kind of scholastic stoop, which is as ungainly in them as the Grecian bend was in women a few years ago, the only devarication being that the bend is differ- ently located. It will require an effort to stand straight, to walk erect, to be in form and movement impressive and admirable. It will, however, add weight and force to one's message. This is no small gain. The man who has to do with cannons should seek to be as straight as one, and he whose mission it is to lift up others must occasion- ally, at least, stand up himself. Let us now pass on to notice, under the general head of "deportment," the manner of man the minister should be in his dealings with men and before them. He should certainly aim to be first, last and always courteous, gen- teel and amiable. Gentlemanliness is the term which de- scribes these excellencies, whether in him or others. He may not always be able to develop a commanding phy- sique. Nature has something to say about that, and she 45 may deny it to him. Gentle and affable manners she has put within his reach. All truly noble souls, either orig- inally possess these qualities, or by discipline, and the exercise of the will acquire them. A minister of the Gos- pel is at a great disadvantage if he is lacking in any of them and will always be handicapped in his work with- out them. For, as Emerson says^ "A beautiful behavior is better than a beautiful form ; it gives a higher pleasure than statues and pictures, it is the finest of the fine arts." It is the finished product which is to evolve from the raw material of manliness. The angel, so to speak, which is struck out of the rougher marble, man. Let it not, however, be understood that every minis- ter is to be a Chesterfield in suavity of manners. This is neither feasible nor desirable. It is not so much the pol- ish as the rosewood that is needed, without v^hich a ve- neer and nothing more will appear. Real gentlemanli- ness is the outer coating of which true manliness is the core. Hence, the Christian minister may lack the exqui- site and agonizing punctiliousness of the polite dilettante, his stock of knowledge as to what is etiquette and what is not may be small. Nevertheless, in his words, actions and bearing, in the presence of his equals, his inferiors, and his superiors, he always deports himself as a true gentleman. In this, as in other respects, he is to be like his Master. It has been said of the Man of Galilee by one, who, for a whole lifetime, devoted himself to the social proprieties, that "J^sus Christ was the only true gentle- man that the world has ever seen." High eulogy this, and yet perhaps not much too high. For no man can read the life of Christ, as written by the Evangelists, and note how he mingled with all classes, in public and in private, with the rich and the poor, the learned and the ignorant, the moral and the vicious, and not be charmed with the gentleness, the high breeding, and the perfect propriety of His demeanor. In His intercourse with them there was 46 no rudeness in His manner, nor coarseness in His speech. He was deferential to those in authority, and condescend- ing to the lowly and the fallen. Such ''politeness costs a man little or nothing, but it will disarm prejudice, win friends and captivate hearts." It will do even more than this for ministers, it will give them access to circles of influence which otherwise would be forever closed to them, and open avenues of usefulness which otherwise they would never be able to enter. There will doubtless be times when to be severe would be just, and when to be brusque would be easy. But they must forbear, not forgetting of what spirit they are to be. Still they are not, even in the exercise of this quality, to practice softness and palaver to the extent that the biting words of the satirist shall apply to them, when he said: ''Folks are now so precise, and things so polite, That they're elegantly painful from morning till night." Closely coupled with the above is the grace of civil- ity. It consists largely in affability, approachableness, and genial bonhomie, as the French have it, or as Shakes- peare has it, "the milk of human kindness." It commonly manifests itself in a nod or a smile, a formal salute or handshake, a kind word or a good deed. In brief, in some form of kindly feeling, good will or sympathy, expressed in one way or another, and as far as possible to all men. In no other profession will this grace count for so much as in the ministry. Consequently, it is one of the highest compliments which can be paid to the pastor of any par- ish, for it to be said of him, "he has a kind look or word for all he meets." Certainly urbanity of manner, observ- ance of the minute civilities and amenities of everyday life, considerateness for the feelings of others, and deference to their judgment, often mark the dividing line between the gentleman and the boar, the good shepherd of the flock and the hireling of the fold. 47 Another personal quality to be cultivated is cheerful- ness. Like its predecessors, much depends upon it, whether or no the man of God shall be acceptable or un- acceptable. It is sometimes characterized, and this very properly, ''joyfulness." Like most other graces, it de- pends both upon temperament and effort respectively for its development. Every preacher of the Gospel should possess it in large measure. It exhibits itself to others in various ways, but what it is to him Avho hath it, as much as to him who is helped by it, is what makes it invalu- able to the minister. I have an idea that Solomon adverts to this quality when he speaks of a ''merry heart being a continual feast." It certainly is all this and more. It is like a joyous elan before the battle, and a triumphant paean at its close. No matter what the outcome cheer- fulness helps one to meet it, and often to turn defeat into victory. To study its operation in the lives of such men as Paul and Wesley, Spurgeon and Beecher, Simpson and Brooks, Robertson and Drummond, is an inspiration and a tonic. The last of these, during his two years of acute suffering, kept himself cheerful and buoyant amid it all. Writing to his mother near the close, he pleasantly re- ferred to the title of his great book, by speaking of its author as an exhibition of the "descent" and not the "Ascent of Man." Such a disposition is priceless. Ac- cording to Dr. Johnson, "it is worth a thousand pounds a year to have the habit of looking on the right side of things." When speaking of this ennobling characteristic, we are often led to compare it to sunshine. It will illuminate the heart and make the face to shine. If one cannot have the sheen of glory irradiating his countenance which caused the face of Moses to shine with Heaven's own light, he may have it lit up, and this constantly, by the radiation of the good cheer of his own heart; for it still holds true that "a merry heart maketh a cheerful coun- 48 tenance." Samuel Smiles thus comments on this grace: *'The truest Christian politeness is cheerfulness. It be- comes the old and the young, and is always graceful. It is the best of good company, for it adorns its wearer more than rubies and diamonds set in gold. It costs nothing, and yet it is invaluable; for it blesses the possessor and springs up into abundant, happiness in the bosom of others. In conversation it habitually chooses pleasant topics, instead of faults and shortcomings. It scatters abroad kind words, cherishes kind thoughts, and in all ways sweetens social intercourse. Cheerfulness is the beauty of the mind, and, like personal beauty, it wins al- most everything else. Yet it never grows old, for there is nothing more beautiful than cheerfulness in an old face." It will enable one to light up the hearts and homes of others, for it is diffusive and contagious. We should covet it for our own sake, and for the sake of the sad and sorrowing ones all about us. Then we shall be enabled to scatter sunshine and gladness everywhere we go. This dilatation on the sunny countenance prompts me to say a word or two on facial expression. Avoid all habitual distortion of the features. A frown is in place when denouncing wrong and a pleasant look when com- mending and praising. The eye and the mouth are the most expressive features of the face and will be observed most. Therefore, let the eye be fixed upon the auditors and not upon the ceiling. Let it speak mutely but elo- quently for us to those we are addressing. When one speaks extemporaneously there is no greater aid than the intelHgent and reciprocal communication carried on by the eye. When not speaking let the lips be closed, but not too closely compressed. The mouth is an index to char- acter. To one who understands its unuttered speech, it will inform him whether we are masters of the situation or not. It behooves us, then, to keep it closed. The expressive power of the human countenance 49 renders it capable of becoming one of the most important elements of power in delivery. It is such, in fact, that we can say a speaking- countenance almost as properly as a speaking tongue. In the words of Ouintillian, ''this is the dominant power in expression. With this we supplicate; with this we threaten; with this we soothe; with this we mourn ; with this we rejoice ; with this we triumph ; with this we make our submissions; upon this the audience hangs ; upon this they keep their eyes fixed ; this they ex- amine and study, even before a word is spoken ; this it is which excites in them favorable or unfavorable emotions ; from this they understand almost everything; often it be- comes more significant than any words." Bacon also contends that a visual grasp gives a speaker a wonderful control of his auditors. It behooves the preacher, then, to obtain such a grasp by looking them straight in the eye. But let this be as Rev. John Wesley admonishes, modestly and alternately, turning re- spectively first to one and then another of his hearers. A kind eye and a benignant countenance cow opposition, win sympathy, and prepossess an assembly at once in the speaker's favor. But a weary or worried expression, an abstract or imperious look, such as may sometimes be seen on ministers' faces when about to speak for their Lord and Master, is a sorry recommendation of Him, or the message they bring. Therefore, let the face be open and sunny ; the eye bright and frank. If it speaks of hid- den fire, let it be of that holy fire of love which burns brightly on the altar of a truly regenerated and sanctified heart. Among the most important parts of the ministerial persona is the voice. The vox humana is a marvelous in- strument compared to its delicate strains, the sweetest warbling of the lark, and the dulcet notes of the harp are not half so entrancing and ravishing. Furthermore, it is the most indispensable tool in the minister's outfit. It is 60 with it that his work is to be executed. But, Hke other tools, it is not ahvays in the best condition for use. It may not be one of the best to begin with. Whether it is or not, it will frequently get out of order. It is constantly in need of improvement and repair. Therefore, the best care ought to be taken of it. Let it be used as skillfully and studiously as the artist does his finest and most costly instrument. The clergyman's sore throat has become proverbial, although this malady is not confined to him alone. It is the common heritage of all public speakers, but is most virulent in its attacks on him. Hence, of all others, he should guard against it. To do this successfully a general knowledge of the anatomy and physiology of the vocal apparatus will disclose to him how best to go about it. The principal object to be aimed at being prevention rather than cure. For in this ailment, as in others which afflict mankind, "an ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure." A good rule to follow is to use the voice daily either in reading aloud or in conversation, and on the sabbath, when one has to preach twice or thrice, give it absolute rest during the intervals between services. If the practice of this rule should not entirely prevent at- tacks of this distemper, it will greatly lessen their fre- quency and malignancy. Further, if ministers v/ho have to step into the outer and cooler air, or from the warmer atmosphere of the audience room to the damper and closer atmosphere of the basement, would slip on a silk scarf and a light weight overcoat, bronchitis and sore throat would become less prevalent among them. Es- pecially should this precaution be taken when they have warmed up in delivering the sermon and until such time as the body has gradually cooled ofif and the excited nerves become rested. It need hardly here be said that a good speaking voice to a clergyman is a talisman of success. It is equiv- 51 alent to a legacy to him. Howbeit our progenitors be- queath it to few of their offspring. Dame Nature is not lavish in her endowment of this gift. Consequently a good orating voice, flexible, sonorous and full, is more of an a( quisition than an inheritance. Of course, some in- dividuals are in possession of better natural voices than others are to begin with. And yet these individuals some- times know very little about the management of them. Then there are other persons who have an excellent understanding as to the regulation and the modulation of the voice, who possess one that has neither range, sweet- ness nor strength. But be it observed, that which they have is vastly improved in quality and tone by the exer- cise and discipline they bestow upon it. Many are the receipts that peripatetic elocutionists put upon the market, and sell to clerical purchasers for the cultivation of the voice. These claim to be specifics — cure alls — for squeaking, jerky and obstreperous voices. Beware of these vocal nostrums. If they are used at all it should be charily. Perhaps some of them upon appli- cation will be found beneficial, but most of them are dele- terious, making a bad voice worse. In the absence of a teacher here is a formula which, if it is followed closely, will greatly help. Bring the voice into subjection to the will. Make it speak to the ear, so that it can catch its tones and its range. When it is in actual use, do not entirely forget it and lose yourself in the subject, as some instructors advise, rather intelligently guide and control it. Thus it may be prevented from rising to a high and dropping too low, or continuing too long in one key. Also in all ordinary conversation speak in a clear, easy and au- dible tone. If this is done it will not be long before one will habitually speak thus, and his private conversations and public discourses will be marked by these same vocal excellencies. What then are the properties of the voice which min- 5a isters should desire and seek after? Without controversy it will be admitted by all persons havin^^ a knowledge of voice culture, and judges of good speaking, that nothing can compensate for^ or offset, clearness, melodiousness and volume. These are the three principal notes in the vocal scale. Run these up or run them down, they con- stitute a gamut sufificient and adequate for the develop- ment of the vox humana. Practice therein will result in a vigorous, flexible and mellow baritone, the worth of which will be found to be priceless. Shepherd says : "The value of such a voice for pubHc speaking cannot be over- estimated. It is a richly paying investment. It covers a multitude of sin. It compensates somewhat for defi- ciencies of rhetoric and lack of thought. There is health in it, and dignity, and manliness, and character." The preacher should not desire it because it may serve some of these purposes, but that he may make the most of his message. It may safely be added, with this qualification of endorsement, that there is wealth, power and promo- tion in it. For it will open up to its possessor influential parishes, which aiTord more abundant opportunities for usefulness, and pay larger stipends. Surely, since we are solicitous of possessing the best thoughts and the most felicitous verbal matter for sermonic purposes, we should be equally anxious to have and to use the most ef^cient instrument by which these are to find utterance. Guard against the falsetto, or pulpit strain ; the sep- ulchral tone, and the sanctimonious whine. Better by far have a squeaky or a jerky voice, which speaks up and out, than the sing-song, the nasal, or the lachrymal. We may not be to blame for some of these defects. For others we are wholly responsible, because we are aware of them and fail to remedy them when we might. Then again avoid the common defects of speaking too slow or too fast, too low or too high. The latter alternatives of these pairs are markedly noticeable in some preachers of the present day. 53 Hence the advice given to Aaron Burr by one of the most distinquished men of his day, "Speak as slowly as you can," is pertinent in ours. And the following incidents point out the advisability of avoiding the other ; for it is still true that some preachers shout the loudest when they have the least to say. As Dr. Lyman Beecher, going home from church, once said to his son Henry — who was trying to comfort his father on account of his having preached a very poor sermon : "Why, father, I never heard you preach so loud in all my life." "That is the way," said the doctor, "I always holler when I haven't anything to say." Others rant and bluster and work themselves up into a rage. To listen to such, as Spurgeon facetiously observed, "is an infliction, not to be endured twice in a brother, who mistakes perspiration for inspira- tion, tears along like a wild horse with a hornet in his ear till he has no more wind, and must needs pause to pump his lungs full again." Finally, these personalia, from a shoe string to the tones in which the message is delivered, must receive con- stant and unflagging attention. Then the message will be accompanied with the power of our individuality, backed home by divine authority. And adding a line in lieu of the last to Luther's tavorite triplet, I may say: "Stand up manfully; speak up cheerily," and attend to your own personality. On the observance of all these matters, to a great extent, depends one's acceptability as a man and his success as a minister. 54 CHAPTER IV THE MINISTERIAL WORKSHOP. A genuine minister is a worker. A cure^ but not a sinecure. While his toil is performed mostly by the brain and not by the hands, notwithstanding, he toils long and hard at his tasks, and is as distinctively a winner of bread as a winner of souls. St. Paul gives him the distinguished appellation of "workman," and exhorts him so to labor as not to be ashamed of his workmanship. If the Gospel minister of the twentieth century shall be up to the Gospel minister of the first century of the Christian Era — and there is no reason why he should not be, but every reason why he should be — then it is no misnomer to place over the door of the room where much of his labor is per- formed the lofty and suggestive devise, "The Worshop." True, we often speak of it as the sanctum sanctortim, or the minister's study, biit for reaj dignity and appositeness no other title describes it so accurately or so well — if it is what it should be — as that given it at the head of this chapter. It will be pertinent to observe, in passing, that all the illustrious preachers of the past have been great work- ers. We are accustomed, as we read church history, to count such notable leaders as Luther, Calvin, Wesley and others as most fortunate. Of attributing to them more than ordinary perception and erudition. Perhaps we have gone so far as to classify them with men of genius. And, in some respects, our estimate of them, however high it may be, may approximate to the truth. Howbeit, what made them what they were to the men of their age and what has largely perpetuated their memory, and shall per- 65 petuate it for all time to come, is chiefly that they were assiduous toilers in the Master's vineyard. Luther was a man of extraordinary power, energy and perseverance. A linguist, logican and preacher. And yet he found time, amid his contentions with the Pope, to translate the Holy Scriptures into the vernacular of the German people and write and print pamphlets, tracts and books. So it was with Calvin. He was an indefatigable worker. At the early age of twenty-five sending forth his "Theological Institutes/' and closing his labor and life together. Dur- ing his last illness, when he was scarcely able to breathe, he translated his ''Harmony of Moses" from Latin into French ; revised the translation of Genesis, and finished writing his ''Commentary on Joshua." While it has been said of Wesley by his various biographers that his knowl- edge of human nature was accurate, his will firm, and his intellect clear, still all these remarkable traits of this re- markable man would have availed but little, if he had not been a ceaseless toiler. Up at four in the morning, read- ing, writing, translating, preaching, till the day closed. Doing this constantly and not spasmodically. Doing it not only in the hey-day of life, but when he had become an old man. So that in his eighty-seventh year he writes in his diary, "Blessed be God. I do not slack my labors. I can preach still." If these men, with all their brilliant parts, needed to supplement them with ceaseless and tire- less labor, how much more those who may not be equally gifted. Surely "labor omnia 7'incif' — labor conquers all things. Leaving the workman Tor the present, let us dis- course awhile on the workshop. Where shall it be, and what shall it be? These questions will most naturally arise to the inquiring mind. In attempting to answer them no effort will be made to speak with authority, or to depict what is sometimes called the "Minister's Ideal Study." I shall simply ofifer some practical suggestions 56 as to its location and roughly outline its interior and nec- essary furnishings. It will readily be seen that circum- stances have much to do with zvhere and what shall it be. When convenient it would seem most natural for it to be located on the sunny side of the parsonage^ or church, as it may perchance be part of one or the other, and for it to be large and dry, light and airy. This would be advis- able, if for no other reason than that the character of the work done there is to be full of sunshine for a dark and benighted world. The workman, however, should not be lost sight of. His health and vigor, and life, are frequently jeopardized, lessened and shortened by not giving atten- tion to these matters. His daily task is to be performed there. That he may perform it with the greatest of ease, and the least wear on eye, nerve and brain, is important. That there may be oxygen in his blood, it must first be imbreathed through the lungs, which are often the most quiescent at the time the mind is most active and thought is most concentrated. If the quality, or the quantity of the work, or the health of the workman is taken into con- sideration, no low, dark, damp room will be selected, or used for this purpose. Moreover, let it be isolated. Quiet- ness and remoteness from the din and bustle of the home and the noisy thoroughfares of men, are essential to the accomplishing of the best and most enduring output of the brain. They are the twin conditions which attend all successful literary labor. Having settled these points sat- isfactorily, enter this cleristory, wherever located, early, and abide there through the morning hours ; for "the morning hours have gold in their mouth." Furnish it with a few straight-backed chairs, a wall desk at which to stand, and a table at which to occasion- ally sit in performing the lighter tasks. Have within easy and convenient reach a stationary or revolving bookcase in which are the most frequently needed books for general and ready reference. To these may be added typewriter, 57 duplicator, rubber stamps ; in brief, anythinsf and every- thing which can be used advantageously, and is a time- saver. There should be no lounge here, nor upholstered chairs, nor draperies, except those which may be required to serve as covers or curtains. These other articles are in place in the sitting room and parlor, but this is neither. It is simply and solely a worshop. Fill the cases and shelves with the best books, put up in the most serviceable binding. It will be well to guard against the mistake so often made and not flatter oneself that the number of books possessed and the richness of their bindings are the true indices of knovvledge and scholarship. Select them with care. One should get as many of them as his income will permit and keep his eye on their contents. It is the jewel which enriches and not the casket. Purchase for what is within. Paper backs do not always mean literary trash. Neither do covers of blue and gold always mean that inexhaustible treasures lie be- tween. A leaden exterior in 'books, like Portia's vase, may indicate to the man who has the w^isdom to make the choice, ''for my wealth and my wisdom look within." Therefore, obtain the choicest books of the ablest writers, whether bound in paper or cloth, sheep or vellum. None are too good — as to their subject matter, at least — ^^for the clerical library. Then we should be sure to make the acquaintance of the books we own, whether they be few or many, and 'cul- tivate a very close friendship with them. We are to treat them as we would boon companions. They are such, if we hold the right relation to them. They will be our saf- est counselors and most unfailing friends. One may talk to them and make his obeisance to them. They are not shadows, but substances. They are the noblest memen- toes of departed personalities. The most worthy and en- during part which could remain in these sublunary re- gions. Carlyle says "All that mankind has done is lying 68 in magic preservation in the pages of books/' and Sir Wil- liam Davenant adds^ "They are the monument of van- ished minds." Become so accustomed to the niche each one occupies, that you can rise at midnight and put your hand on anyone of them with which you desire com- munion. Heaven's benediction rests upon the man who makes good books his staunchest friends and his abiding possessions. It is presumed that the minister, like some other special students of literature, will not be as thor- oughly acquainted with some books as with others. This results partially from his difYerent attitude towards differ- ent books. Some he handles occasionally; others are most constantly in use. A book of reference, or a book to be closely studied^ will receive more handlings and therefore become more familiar than one that is just glanced over^ or cursorily read. For it is true that, like food and drink, "some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested." Touching the manner of using books^ we find among the instructions given by a master workman of our crafty this injunction, "Give attention unto reading/' from which we draw the inference that some books are for reading merely. They contain general information upon some subject and are written in easy narrative form. Con- sequently their contents are digested as readily as they are imbibed. In complying with this injunction, care must be exercised as to the zuhat, the how, and the why of read- ing. Most ministers will see the propriety of giving at- tendance to this duty of reading as enjoined upon Tim- othy by St. Paul. All^ however^ will not be equally clear as to what they should read. This has been a much mooted question among them. It has never been defi- nitely answered. Some there are who would require them to confine their reading mostly to works of divinity and devotion. We are not of this number. We, therefore, lay down this broad principle for the direction of any who 69 may be in doubt in this matter, namely ; that ministers living in the dawning light of the twentieth century should read the masterpieces of master minds, and this, whether they are works of fiction or history, or science, or philosophy, or theology, whether biblical or anti-bibli- cal. The only caution which needs to be exercised in reading religious polemics, is to read those which are constructive first and those of an opposite character after- wards. As to the Jiozv of reading, a word of advice needs to be given, else much of what we read will be like exhaust- ing, it will go to waste. A minister should read so as to make the subject matter his own. Also with the intention that ordinarily he will read a book once, and once only. Yet it is fair to say that he will come across some books which deserve more than one perusal. So then that he may be able to correctly recall the impressions made upon his mind, when he takes a book in hand to read it a second time, it will be well to employ some simple notation marks which will instantly furnish a cue to the meaning. For example, if he has no others, he may use the excla- mation point for surprise ; the interrogation point for any- thing questionable ; the x si"-n for "note this" ; and the quotation marks for any passage deemed worth remem- bering. Thus at a glance at the article or book read, he will 'be able either to confirm or correct the impressions made on first reading it. To make these marks intelli- gently requires that there shall be attention and concen- tration of mind upon the contents of the book under re- view. No skimming or conning will answer. It must be reading, or as the Greek word "anagnosis" means, to know again ; i. e., to know for oneself that which another knew before and has recorded for the benefit of others. The "zvhy" of reading is no less important than the "what" or the "how." To read simply for pastime is not 60 only a mental diversion, but too often an intellectual dis- sipation. It should be a rule not to read solely for the sake of reading, or that one may be able to say to some literary dilettante, who dips into the latest productions, that he has read this, that and the other book. A purpose and a plan in this department of work are sorely needed. Books for which one has a predilection should be read. In following this suggestion some ministers will find them- selves turning as unconsciously as the heliotrope is said to turn to the sun, to works of travel, science, architec- ture, philosophy, medicine, law, fiction. If they discover in themselves a penchant for the last, they ought not to indulge it to the full. The appetite for a certain kind of mental Ipabulum is not to be any more unbridled than the appetite for certain articles of diet. If it should be that which taken moderately, wdien taken to excess will soon prove deleterious instead of ben- eficial. We should read for information, or, as Bacon states it, ''that we may be full men." From this exercise there should result a mental glow and exhilaration, a brain quickening and an intellectual stimulus. The read- ing of wide awake books will tend to impart, to young speakers especially, a wide awake style. After the task of reading comes the more arduous one of studying. The same apostle who said "Give atten- tion to reading," also said "Study," etc. This is a vastly different work from the former. The term in the orig- inal is "spouda^o" — to bend over. It is a w^ord picture, and we may see it umbraged in the rower bending for- ward to give greater impetus to his stroke; or the man seeking to lift a heavy weight, bending forward that he may have the resilient momentum of the spinal cord to help him lift it. So the theologian must bend to his task. He must examine and analyze, contemplate and investi- gate ; without this kind of application, he can never show 61 himself approved unto God or be a workman that need- eth not to be ashamed. Among the books which are to be closely and con- stantly read, carefully and critically studied, the first and the foremost is the Word of God. Sir Walter Scott said to Lockhart, 'There is but one book, and that is the Bible." Tliis is the preacher's sine qua non — his chief textbook — his treasury, out of which, as a good scribe of the Kingdom of Heaven, he is to bring forth things new and old. His arsenal filled with weapons of greatest power. Nothing can take its place. Commentaries are good, but the Bible itself is better. He should know it more thoroughly than the lawyer his Blackstone, or the physician his Theory and Practice. To do this he must, to a certain extent, be a homo uniiis libri — a man of one book, and that the Book of Books. If competent he should read and study the "Hagiographa/' in the tongues in which they were spoken and written. And, though he may not be a linguist, or have had the advantages of the higher schools, even after he has entered upon his public ministry, he may obtain a sufficient knowledge of Hebrew and New Testament Greek, to enable him, with the aid of lexicon and grammar, to translate his sermon texts, if nothing more. If a young man he should not stop short of acquiring such skill. The advantages of being able to do this are numer- ous and lasting. But the feeling of security and com- petency which it afifords far outweighs any which needs to be mentioned here. As Kepler said, when "beholding the heavens, the work of God's hands, the moon and the stars, which he had ordained : 'T am reading God's thoughts after Him ;" so may the man who peruses God's Word say, as he traces out the pictorial and figurative Hebrew, and the euphemistic and expressive Greek: 'T am reading God's thoughts as they were originally uttered by Him." Moreover, a knowleds^e of these languages makes one 62f self-reliant and confident. In these days of critical com- mentaries^ revised versions, polychrome editions, vario- rum texts, higher criticism and exhumed manuscripts, a moderate acquaintance of the originals will enable the minister to interpret accurately, compare critically, trans- late independently, give him a sense of certainty as to the literal meaning of the sacred text for himself, and make him a most competent and trustworthy exegete of the Word unto others. If he can go no further in the acquisi- tion of a knowledge of these languages than to thorough- ly master an ''interlinear" edition of the "Old and New Testament," he will be surprised how much more intelli- gible, suggestive and comprehensive the text will become. But while, as some one has tersely said, ''the Interlinear Testaments are veritably a lantern to those who search the Scriptures," no student of the Word need be satisfied with the "lantern," when he can, by a little labor every day, generate power enough to make the texts themselves self-illuminating. For constant perusal and everyday use, nothing sur- passes our King James' version. It is a pure well of English, undefiled, and the best example of idiomatic EngHsh extant. Here the strength, the beauty, and the rhythm of the Anglo-Saxon speech are found as nowhere else. From its anthology the quaint Chaucer, the peer- less Shakespeare and the chaste Macaulay culled their most picturesque tropes, and learned how to round off their most finished periods. Therefore, with all our read- ing of the classics this, the greatest classic in our mother tongue, should not be neglected. In all our study of the masters of style and expression, we should study the Bi- ble in the vernacular, for this is what made the masters of diction, and it can do as much for us. The revised ver- sion of the Holy Scriptures should not be ignored. It will probably never take the place, either in the public wor- ship of Almighty God, or in the private devotion of the 63 masses, which the older one has taken in the past and holds in the present. Nevertheless, it has its uses and benefits, and on these accounts should be read and stud- ied by preachers. Although the translation of some of the passages is most infelicitous and jerky, lacking both in smoothness and idiom, yet it will be found to be on ex-, amination more true to the original and, therefore, more accurate as a translation. Hence for homiletic purposes, if for no other — and this whether one can read the orig- inals or not — it will abundantly pay for the labor bestowed to read it carefully, constantly and critically. Therefore, turn to these Scriptures, in their oriental and occidental dresses, and examine them daily. Consult them as the law^yer consults the law statutes, for prece- dents, for proof, for authority. Study them textually, topically, by chapters, by books. For, notwithstanding what may be said to the contrary, these Holy Scriptures are the ''Court of Final Appeal" on all matters of faith and practice, and are to be more and more so in the cen- tury upon which we are now entering than in the latter part of the century just closing. Not that the Church and human reason are to become ciphers in the evangeliza- tion of the world ; but borne in the hands of the Apoca- lyptic Angel the everlasting Gospel is to be the prime fac- tor in this glorious consummation. After the Bible the next most important book to be read and studied is a comprehensive system of divinity. By this I mean a treatise, not written from a specifically denominational point of view and suitable only to the religious cult, from one of whose number it may have emanated. Nor even one which is written from a Cal- vanistic, or an Armenian, or any other creedal standpoint, but a work written from a biblical standpoint. Of course, it is here presupposed that we have been thoroughly grounded in the theology of that particular branch of the Church in which we are to officiate. The constant con- 64 sultation of such a book would result in inestimable bene- fits to pulpiteers. It would prevent them from getting into rut?, preaching on trivial subjects^ running empty, and dying of dry rot. It would act as an antidote to that spirit of doubt, skepticism and agnosticism, with which some of our modern sermons are permeated. Said an English bishop some years ago : 'The study of System- atic Theology would have prevented much of that semi- skepticism, which is now so painfully common among so many of the clergy of the Church of England." This re- mark is equally appHcable to the clergymen of some of the churches of America. Such a compendium of theol- ogy ought to be a companion volume of the Holy Scrip- tures. Another book, which is both needful and useful, is a comprehensive hymnal. The natural order seems to be Bibliology, Theology, Hymnology. And here again cau- tion should be exercised against narrowness of view. In the study of hymns, as in the study of theology, let the basal line be as broad as the Bible itself. Indeed, it will be discovered that some of the sweetest songs of Zion were penned by men, who, Derhaps, if measured by our individual definition of orthodoxy, would fall far short of the mark. Few hymns, however, are tinctured with he- terodoxy. When men's souls breathe themselves out in confession, adoration and aspiration, in holy psalmody, they are expressive of human needs and divine supplies, not of dogmas. It will usually be found that while some hymns may be sectarian, the majority are devotional, and therefore, Scriptural, and if Scriptural, then orthodox. A study of the hymns of the Greek and Latin fathers, of the poetic productions of the French and German divines, will prove a spiritual benediction and a most essential and acceptable adjunct of pulpit ministration. Indeed, some of the best lyrics in the hymnals of all the churches are translations, and some of the most effective and moving 65 quotations in the most finished sermons consist of a stanza from some well known hymn. When, O when, will weary and sin sick souls tire of listening to such hymns — whether read, recited, or sung- — as "Come, ye Disconsolate," or "Just As I Am," or "Thou, the Con- trite Sinner's Friend," or "Jesus, Lover of My Soul," or "Rock of Ages," or "Jesus Is Mine," and thousands of others? Never, so long as the human heart has sorrows and the human heart has woes. Another indispensable tool in the ministerial outfit which deserves more than passing mention is a standard dictionary. Let not this suggestion be regarded as a coming down from the exalted to the common place. Words are the vehicles of thought. Without them, though one may think as an angel, he cannot express himself as a child, much less as a man. It is really painful at times to see a giant intellect agonizing to deliver itself in verbal expression and failing for lack of proper words. Of course, words and words only, are not desirable, but words which fittingly habilitate ideas are always in de- mand. And these are just what many of us are constant- ly reminded, both in speaking and writing, that we lack. How are we to obtain this great desideratum? Why, just as we obtain other possessions, by acquiring — in this case — a knowledge of language. Not simply to know words by their sounds when spoken, or their letters when seen upon the printed page ; but to know their origin, history, general and specific import. So that we shall have no thought which cannot be intelligently and correctly put in the most beautiful and elegant English. So that we shall not only have a verbal memory and an extensive vocabulary, but one which contains the words of the finest shades of meaning, which can be called forth at an instant's notice. Words are our currency. We should keep a sto'ck on hand, as the banks keep hy them various denominations of coins to be tendered on demand. We 66 are never sure when a raid will be made on our literary coinage, and should therefore have ready a large amount of every sort of words for immediate use. To insure this, the conning of a page of some standard dictionar}^ daily is the best specific. Other books might readily and heartily be recom- mended for reading and studying, but my purpose is not to furnish a complete list. Each man will see the pro- priety of making himself conversant with Science, Phil- osophy, Church History, Biography, and of having on his shelves encyclopaedias, concordances, and commen- taries. The four above mentioned at length are recom- mended because they are indispensable to all men in the sacred vocation, and if they should study these four and no more, they will awake some day to find themselves English scholars, with a chaste imagination, a profound and sound theology, and a facility to clothe their thoughts in a language both ornate and sturdy. All the work thus far done, while it pays in itself, is nevertheless preliminary and preparatory to the great and more lasting labor of sermon production. It will be ob- served that the sermon is regarded as a product. This it is, in the strictest sense, of the heart and the brain. Although reading and studying may be in part on other than strictly homiletic subjects, nevertheless, even these should contribute their quota of sermonic material, indi- rectly if not directly — a kind of general preparation. This by furnishing the memory with principles, facts, historic events, dates, and illustrations, which may be judiciously and skillfully woven into the fabric of the sermon. Some ministers seldom make other than this kind of prepara- tion. Adam Clark was one of these men. An admirer O'f his, who heard him preach several hundred times, de- clared that no two texts or sermons were alike. Yet the Doctor's rule was never to select the text until after enter- ing the pulpit. But it should be borne in mind that he 67 spent from six to twelve hours daily, for many years, in studying- the Holy Scriptures, and in writing his mas- terly commentaries on the same. Dr. Lyman Beecher's preparation for the pulpit was also desultory in character. Being questioned as to how long it took him to prepare a single sermon, he answered, ''Forty years." His son Henry followed his illustrious father's example in this respect. He informed a clerical acquaintance that Sun- day morning- often found him without an idea in his head for the sermon. But, said he, "when I hear that great organ behind me, and see before me those expectant eyes, I always find something to say, and come out allright." To another friend he laughingly remarked that "he pre- pared for his sermons as some old woman in Vermont prepared biscuit in the autumn, they keep kneading the dough, and have it in the trough ready when occasion calls to twist off the biscuits and serve them up warm in a few moments" ; upon which facetious confession. Dr. J. M. Buckley laconically observes, "the success of Mr. Beecher, when he had made no special preparation, is not wonderful. Dr. Russell H. Conwell of the Institutional Church of Philadelphia is reported as following this gen- eral method. Not everyone, however, called to the min- istry can afford to imitate these examples. These men and a few others like them are exceptions to the rule. Others require time for special pulpit preparation, and must have it, even after many years of active service. Hence, now should follow, what may, by way of dis- tinction, be regarded as special preparation. What shall this l)e? How is it best performed? What is the most practicable way of goinsr ahout this business? These are some of the knotty questions which the professors of Homiletics in our Theological Seminaries, and some of the most able writers on this subject have been trying to satisfactorily answer from time immemorial. And here the Doctors differ. If, then, it shall be succinctly set forth what we regard as the most excellent way of going about this 'work, that the finished article may be choice, com- plete and effective ; you will please understand that other members of the craft, with other tools and by other means may accomplish the end in view. It is prudent to begin the sermonic work early in the week. At least, select the texts and these the most meaty. This order will some- times be reversed, and the texts will be seeking the preacher, which will be so much the better when they are of the right kind. Read the context carefully. Deduce the topics, and get as many sidelights and skylights as possible to illuminate them. We may freely consult the original, but it is wise to turn aside from all help from commentaries, except that of an exegetical or historical character for the present. Dr. Henson, one of the leading divines of America, being asked how he constructed his weekly sermons and delivered them, said : "1 choose my texts early. I get them if possible before going tO' hed Sunday night. I put them to soak — just as when you make soup, you put the bones in a pot and let them simmer, and later skim off what rises to the surface, or just as seed planted in the ground grows day and night unconsciously. Beyond this planting process my methods are very variable. I think it is a bad thing for a man to lie on a- Procrustean bed and have an invariable method of making a sermon. I always carry a notebook in my hip pocket, loaded with texts, and whenever outlines of sermons come to me I at once make note of them. After getting a text I some- times have the whole outline come to me wdth it. It opens up the outlay of the land at once. Then I write in a hierographic fashion — a sort of shorthand — maybe twenty to thirty pages. This I do to clarify my thought, and to freshen my style ; for the man who doesn't write is sure to drop into ruts and repeat himself world without end, which makes the people tired. After I have written I go over the matter thus accumulated, maybe recast it, and make a syllabus, and then go over the syllabus, and from it make a more abbreviated syllabus, and then go over that syllabus till I've got it in my head. In prepar- ing a sermon I make it a point not to read upon the sub- ject immediately beforehand. It interferes with one's own thinking. For what with his own thinking and other people's all mixed up, he is all cluttered up, and the re- sult is apt to be'a kind of pudding-stone, instead of clear- cut granite. The only book that I try to keep in touch with, in the preparation of a sermon, is God's book. I want to hear what he says about it, and the less of con- fusion of human voices the better." This method may be unreservedly recommended. It is always attended with substantial and definite results, which is more than can be said for the many hit or miss, go-as-you-please methods of sermonic preparation now in vogue. Indeed, such a practice posits growth, and growth always augurs the possibility of full fruition, a finality as much to be sought after and aimed at in the sermon, as in any other living entity. The question is frequently asked : ''Where shall suit- able and striking texts and topics be found?" To which answer is made, everyzvhere. Ajmong the most fruitful sources from which they may be drawn are : (1) Current events — local, national and world-wide. (2) The press, secular and religious, with its record of philanthropy and misanthropy, and its daily budget of news from the two kingdoms of darkness and light. (3) Men, their ups and downs, temptations, defeats and conquests. (4) The sea- sons, with their distinct adumbrations of life, growth, ma- turity, decay, resurrection. (5) The Church year, with its great Christian festivals, such as Christmas, Easter, Pentecost. (6) Theology, with its fundamental doctrines of sin, repentance, faith, redemption, heaven and hell. (7) Commentaries, critical, expository and homiletical. 70 (8) The Word of God, with its teeming, pregnant truths, waiting for some sanctified Hfe in which to become incar- nated, and through which to find utterance. What a treasure house, full of suggestive themes, each and every one of these ! They are the commion base of supplies for all preachers of righteousness and, like a perennial stream, that which they send forth is Both constant and fresh. The Biographer of Phillips Brooks tells us that "among the sources from which he drew most deeply were works of art, sculpture, architecture and painting." While in the recent 'biography of Mr. Beecher we are informed that he made a close and detailed study of the Bible for his subjects. "The Gospels he read and re-read with the greatest care, using all possible helps ; making notes of the results of his meditations, and sometimes giv- ing all his strength to a careful analysis of the points of the history or discourse." In later life, when his time was much occupied, he still kept up this practice. Mr. Pond, who traveled thousands of miles wath him, says that "Bible reading and study was a part of his daily work while on the train." One winter he carried with him con- stantly Stanley's "Commentary on the Epistles to the Corinthians," which he read and annotated from begin- ning to end. He was also constantly on the outlook for subjects and illustrations for sermons. Many of his note- books were found to contain "subjects, heads of sermons jotted down at moments of inspiration, in the family cir- cle, on the railroad, in the street car, after a talk with some friend ; these were acorn thoughts, out of which grew up in time strong, wide-spreading, oak-tree ser- mons." While still other preachers of our day find topics embalmed in history and poetry and the lives of great and good men. If we look diligently for them they may be discovered on every hand. For, there are "tongues in trees" to him who has ears to hear, "books in running 71 brooks" to him who can read them, and "sermons in stone" to him who can extract them. Now begins the mental assimilation, or unconscious cerebration. This is a process which corresponds some- what to the hatching out of a chicken from an tgg. Only in this case the glow is of the heart and brain. The ser- mon is now in the embryonic state. It begins to move within and this is the best evidence that it will move with- out. Gestation and formation are slowly but surely tak- ing place. Let them go on unhindered. This may be re- garded as the growing process ; and for brain, as well as for vegetable products, it is certainly the most natural, and usually the most satisfactory. Certainly it will result in a more completely developed entity. In the meantime the subject matter has not only been enlarging, but it has of its own accord been marshalling itself into an orderly arrangement. Perhaps, not such as one will elect that it shall finally assume; but sufficiently so, as that he can get mentally a imore or less perfect outline of the subject as a whole. Better not try to force the process Saturday night, as it necessarily takes time for the roots to strike down and the shoots to grow up. Changing the figure, the mind, like a mystic architect, needs a day or two to draw his shadowy lines before one attempts to materialize them in any form. Let it work in its own way, at its own pleasure, and in any place. You will discover that it will suggest to you as you are walking by the way, as you are visiting the sick, as you are wooing slumber, that you may lay a beam here and put up a pillar there. And like a fairy castle, or a Gothic cathedral, your Aerial will have traced you, in beautiful, strong and lasting mould, a plan of that which should be, to you at least, a thing of beauty and a "joy forever." Nevertheless, this semi-conscious process must l)e supplemented by more or less deliberate labor. This must be done to bring texts and subjects into proper 72 alignment. Also, that the sermon outline may shape it- self into a progressive unit. This is designed or conscious arrangement in contra-distinction to the former process. Such arrangement of one's subject, preparatory to presen- tation, has always been regarded as second only in im- portance to its selection. It is one of the fundamental laws of sermon structure and development. It is indis- pensable to clarity and entirety. The preacher should see his sermon from one end to the other. He must have it in connected and manageable form, or when he comes to its delivery, it will be disjointed and rhapsodic. There will be no interlinking of thought to thought. No yok- ing of division to division. No looming up before him of a complete whole. This comes only when there has been some preliminary labor bestowed upon the adjustment and disposition of its parts. It is immaterial what may be the scientific method followed, whether the analytical, synthetical, paragraph- ical, or divisional, so long as it is orderly and does not result in a heterogeneous mass of undigested thoughts and disconnected ideas, which have no adhesive proper- ties, and no logical sequence. No wonder that when this labor has not been bestowed, some preachers — as has been said — are like birds. 'They hop about a text as the birds hop about a morsel of bread ; eye it shyly and hop away again, only to reappear from time to time to give the text a nibble, as the birds give the bread a peck." The principal reason for this hesitation and trepidation is, that at the proper time and place there was no effort at orderly arrangement of thoughts, no joining together of points, as in the links of a chain, one to the other. Consequently when the time arrived for the presentation of the subject matter, instead of a compact array of ideas trooping forth one after another, like soldiers in a well disciplined army, they come crowding and tumbling one over the other, helter-skelter. Arrangement, then, is the first law of the sermon. Therefore, if one would not present a jerky and disconnected discourse, as loose as sand and as weak as water, special attention must be given to this part of ser- monic preparation. Thus far little, if any, writing should be done. But now we are ready to sit down, and, with the aid of the hand and eye, co-operate with the busy brain and put in more durable form, for present and future use, the result of our mental conception. How much of our thought shall be committed to paper? Well, the answer to this question pivots upon what answer is made to another, namely, what method do we purpose to adopt in the de- livery of the sermon? Are we intending, or are we ex- temporaneous preachers? Or, what is known as memor- iter preachers? Or do we intend to take with us into the pulpit notes and headings, or a manuscript in full from which to read? We must pause here to find out which method we intend to adopt, or have adopted, and prac- tice, before the question "How much shall be written?'' can be intelligently answered. Of these methods of ser- mon delivery the extemporaneous is that which, on the whole, is best for the preacher and the most acceptable to the people. Let this one remark suffice as an answer for the present. It is not intended as a reflection on the other methods in vogue, but only as a vindication and a rati- fication of that method which should 'be more generally followed. Write some, use none — that is, in the pulpit — is a good motto. It largely depends upon how preachers begin as to how they will continue in this matter. No one method, however, of sermonic preparation is so much superior that it should be invariably followed to the ex- clusion of all others. The various methods of sermonizing in general prac- tice are five : (1) The sermon that is written in full and read. (2) That which is written in full and memorized. (3) The composite, consisting of parts that are written 74 and committed, and parts that are extemporized. (4) That which has been carefully thought out and par- tially written, and is preached from notes more or less full. (5) That which has been premeditated, mentally outlined as to general form, and is preached with notes or manuscript, from a full heart and a glowing brain. The last is, in the best sense, extemporaneous. Its advantages make it the most excellent way of all others in the prep- aration and delivery of a sermon. Among them are nat- uralness, simplicity and directness. The power to obtain and retain the attention of an audience. A freedom which leaves the preacher open to catch any stray thoughts, illustrations or facts, which may come within range of his mental feelers, even while delivering the sermon. Southey said of Whitefield : 'The salient points of his oratory were not prepared passages ; they were bursts of passion, like the jets of a geyser when the spring is in full play." It admits of more fire and fervor and force. Any speaker who has the oratorical temperament will be able, after thoroughly working out the subject matter, to step forth and deliver it with more pleasure to his listeners and com- parative satisfaction to himself, than by mechanically re- citing or reading it. While this method may do away with some of the drudgery of writing or memorizing, it will keep the brain and the nerves on a longer tension than any of the others. Nevertheless, it is by far the best way of delivering the message. But to do so with ac- ceptability, observe (1) that an extemporaneous preacher should have a comprehensive, mental grip of his subject. (2) An extensive vocabulary and a ready com'mand of words. (3) He should vary his rhetorical forms of ex- pression, alternating and interchanging freely the inter- rogative, the exclamatory, the didactic and the adverbial forms. (4) Make what, in written composition would be termed paragraphic beginnings and endings. (5) Take a new start, changing the pitch of the voice and the form 75 of verbal construction. (6) See to it that he does not re- traverse his ground and repeat himself. This he can do by observing movement. Method, progress and climax should be the order followed. (7) Give special attention to the exordium and the peroration. Make one simple and gradual, the other forceful, compact and conclusive. While, however, I strongly advocate following the purely extemporaneous method in the preparation and de- livery of a sermon, I would also advise an occasional writ- ing out, in part or in whole, Avithout taking the same into the pulpit, for the sake of logical arrangement, verbal felicity and variety. Also because writing makes an exact man, and this is the kind of man the preacher should al- ways aim to 'be. A wdse course to pursue, on the whole, is to make oneself conversant with the subject matter of the sermon, study it in all its relations, topographically, historically, theologically. Ponder over it until it begins to incubate, expand and fashion itself in thought struc- ture ; then block it out on paper, for the help of the eye and preservation, and finally fill in, by writing more or less, as the subject seems to demand and the material per- mit. Then lay the whole aside and with what has by this time been written on the tablet of the heart and burned into the brain ; go, and in the name of God and one's own concentrated personality deliver to the people the mes- sage divinely received, in the language which the Holy Ghost shall suggest and furnish. When the contents of a manuscript are to be commit- ted to memory and recited, or read verbatim, a fuller writing out is demanded. That this fuller writing may re- sult in a more elaborate product and in a more perfect rhetorical finish of sentences and rounding of periods, is, generally speaking, true. And yet, there is extempor- aneous speaking. The first has all the defects of the lat- ter without possessing any of its merits. If no unpropor- tioned or immature thoughts fc und place for themselves 76 in written composition and they did in spoken discourse, then a clear and strong -case would be made out in favor of the one and against the other. Such a case has never been, and cannot be, successfully made. Whether one write much, or little, he should seek a superlative style and an exalted literary standard. Sermonic coimposition is like all other composition. Its excellency pivots upon a due regard to the same rules and regulations. There is, in a restrictive sense, no such thing as ''sacred rhetoric." The language used in the sermon should be such as is in the best use among lawyers, do'Ctors, journalists and busi- ness men. It must not be bookish, or conventional, or technical. It will, of necessity, be biblical, in the highest sense. But not to the extent that the listener will regard it as being an excerpt, or citation, in toto, from the Holy Scriptures. Whatever may be the method followed in preaching the sermon in its preparation a threefold object should constantly be kept in mind and closely adhered to. First, simplicity of sermon structure. This is absolutely essen- tial in order that it may readily be recalled by the preacher when he comes to deliver it, and also that the people may grasp and retain it. To ignore this plain rule is to burden the memory and fail to present — and this the best for- sooth — what the auditors could comprehend or remem- ber. The enumeration of sermonic divisions, whether an- nounced or not, will tend to burden the speaker, and, if stated, to confuse, if not confound, the hearers. To make points, but not until they run up into the teens, is proper. Divisions also should be made, for without them there is a liability of becoming disconnected in thought and rhap- sodic in delivery. But these should be as simple in char- acter as they can be, and as few as are needful for per- spicuity and force in number. The second end at which to aim in working out the sermon is "Scripturalness of matter." It is marvelous 77 what power there is in the Word of God. It is the ham- mer that crushes out all opposition and breaks in pieces the stoutest hearts. The words of men are frequently most choice, most touching and most potent. Yet for beauty and pathos, and force and power, they fall far short of being comparable with the words of the Bible used in a biblical connection. Of these Jesus remarked : "They are spirit and they are life." They have those germs of vitality and regeneration that the mere words of men^ however grouped, arranged and presented, lack. In the structure of some sermons scriptural matter can enter in great chunks and huge blocks. As for example in the textual and expository sermon. Tliis, because they are largely scriptural in their main divisions, and in their essence. In sermons of other types, such as the "topical" and the "o'bservational," it is not feasible to put in as large lumps of solidified verbal matter from this quarry of God's Word, as in the former. Nevertheless, put phrases, sentences and verses and all. Like the weaver, who, though he may have a rough warp on the loom, when he comes to the weft will throw in a shuttle of white and another of blue, until he produces a pattern of the design sought. So throw into the web of the discourse the shut- tles containing the words that shine, attract and Hve. The third end to be kept in view in the make-up of a sermon is that it shall be, no matter what its text, topic or structure, Christo Centric in drift. I do not mean by this that Christ should be the specific theme of every ser- mon. The Book of Esther, though it does not contain the name of Jehovah, nevertheless teaches in a clear and forcible manner His existence, attributes and providence. So with the sermon. Even though it should not contain the name of Christ it may teach Him, and emphasize His redemptive scheme. To Him all the prophets bore wit- ness, but not all in the same way or manner, as did Isaiah. So did the writers of the Epistles, but not all so emphatic- 78 ally as Paul. Yet the drift of prophets, evangelists and apostles, in their prophecies, narratives and letters, is all Christward. They are like confluent streams which to the ocean run. Or like fire ascending, which seeks the sun. Christ is the ocean into which they empty, the sun they reveal. All texts, like the roads of the old Roman Empire which led to Rome, should terminate in Him. He is the golden milestone of the ages. Around this blessed center all illustrative, instructive and sermonic material should cluster for illumination, as the swinging, swirling orbs about the sun. Let Christ be the centre of the ser- mon, as it is fashioned in thought, written and preached. We are now ready to pass from the travail of the workshop into the sacred precincts of the pulpit ; to step from the work bench to the throne. I have said nothing in this chapter of prayer and the divine agencies, which the minister should seek through prayer in his work of sermon building. It has been assumed that the man of God will not neglect these sources of mental and moral quickening. It has been with the human part of the ser- mon and its mechanism, and of the preacher as a toiler, that I have dealt. It remains true, however, and ever must, in the expressive Latin maxim so often cited by Luther that "bene orasse est, bene stiidiiisse esf — to pray well is to study well — and this should be the motto on the walls of the minister's workshop, as well as the actuating principle of the workman. 79 CHAPTER V. THE PULPIT AND ITS CONCOMITANTS. The transition from the study to the pulpit should produce as great a transformation in outward appearance as would naturally take place in the artisan when in the shop, and the artisan wdien in his Sunday best. This should not be in externals only, but likewise in the feel- ings, emotions and general deportment. The preacher should ascend the pulpit with dignified demeanor and as a king's ambassador. As such he is to represent Him, speak for Him, and in His stead. It is His message which he is to deliver. It is in His name that he stands there. It is because he is the plenipotentiary of His kingdom that he is to speak with authority, and not as other men, or the same .man in another sphere. It therefore be- hooves him to take heed both to himself and his doctrine, that every movement, and action, and word, be such as becometh the accredited servant of the King of Kings. Every look and motion should be regarded, not simply under the eye of man, but of God. Performing, levity and laxity are out of place here. He may play the actor or the poltroon, if he must, in his own house, not in God's. "Would I describe a preacher . . . I would express him simple, grave, sincere; In doctrine uncorrupt, in language plain. And plain in manner, decent, solemn, chaste, And natural in gesture; much impressed Himself, as conscious of his awful charge, And anxious mainly that the flock he feeds May feel it too ; affectionate in look And tender in address, as well becomes A messenger of grace to guilty men." 80 There ought to he nothing about him which savors of artificiahty or affectation. Massilhon says : "I love a serious preacher, who speaks for my sake^ not his own, who seeks my salvation and not his own vain glory. He best deserves to be heard who uses speech only to clothe his thoughts^ and his thoughts to promote truth and vir- tue." And people of common sense still ask for such a one in the pulpits of today, as Cowper describes and Mas- sillion loved. The scriptural rule that everything be done decently and in order should be punctilliously observed. No mounting the rostrum with a skip and a jump. Upon ascending it bow the head in silent prayer. If conveni- ent the arms may rest upon the sacred desk, and the face turned to the congregation, so that when it is lifted from communion with God, the people may behold it irradiated with Heaven's own light. If Moses's face shone after communion with Jehovah, why should not ours? The Mount of Transfiguration is not far, I ween, from one's pulpit. If there is a regular order of service arranged in the Church of which one is pastor it is respectful to follow it closely. It may not permit of the same variety as would otherwise be feasible under an eclectic regime. It will, nevertheless, lead to a uniformity which more than offsets the sameness which attaches to such a regular order. Furthermore, it will be consecutive and logical, systematic and homogeneous ; properties which are con- spicuously absent in the other. Hymns should be announced distinctly in order to be readily foiund. It is not nowadays customary to "line them," as was the practice years ago. But to do so occa- sionally, when the people cannot see to read clearly, will be found an aid to congregational singing and perfectly proper. At other times an impressive reading of the hymn, in whole or in part, will add greatly to the devo- tional part of the service. When doing so it is not alto- 81 gether the elocutionary pause which should be apparent, but what the musician terms ''feeling" which is put into the language and the rhythm, which makes the reading effective. It is pertinent to say here and now that the different parts of the service which are to be read aloud cannot be rendered acceptably, unless some attention is given them beforehand. To read aloud intelligently and well one must see and hear and pronounce the words, mark the pauses and forecast the drift of what is coming without breaking the continuity of the thought or speech. This comparatively few persons can do successfully. Hence so many poor public readers and the reason why all parts of the public service which are to be read aloud should be gone over audibly, at least once, before enter- ing the sanctuary. In selecting the Scripture lessons be governed by one of two rules, either select those pK)rtions which are germane to the subject of the sermon, or else such pas- sages as will most quickly attract the attention of the list- less and edify the whole assembly. A rule followed by the writer for years has been to make the entire service, from the opening hymn to the benediction, a miif, as to the central thought of the whole. It may be said that this method has its disadvantages as well as its advan- tages. This is possibly true, but it certainly accomplishes one of the principal ends to be aimed at in divine worship, which is to present one axial idea in the service, and group around it song, prayer, scripture, exj>osition and admonition. It tends to centralization of thought and prevents scattering. It focalizes, like a sun-glass, the di- vergent rays of truth. It results in a clearer vision of duty, in consecration of heart and life, and frequently in a better knowledge of God's will. Never select the Bible lessons after entering the pulpit. Look them up before- hand, work them over in the alembic of the brain and fuse them in the heart, so that they can be read without halt- 82 iiig or hesitation, expressively and forcibly. Take Ezra as a model. Like him, open the Book and read therein — not recite, nor mumble, nor intone — but read in the sight of all the people, in such a way and manner that they may understand. To do this well requires that the mouth be opened and the articulation distinct. Public prayers should be carefully thought out. Some ministers write them and read them, others have them printed in their Church Liturgies, and intone them. But one may be an extemporaneous petitioner. He doubtless will be, if he is an extemporaneous preacher. But if this method 6i preaching presupposes, nay demands, previous thought and preparation, why should not this way of praying? The incongruity and incompatibility of a prayer for the salvation of the heathen at a meeting called in the interests of temperance or moral purity would be glaring- ly apparent. But not one whit imore so than are some of the prayers offered in our pulpits from Sabbath to Sab- bath, when compared with the subjects of the sermons preached therein and the varied needs of the Church and the world. Before expatiating upon the sermon a word of ex- hortation touching the notices and collection will be in order. These are matters of minor importance to sing- ing, reading, praying and preaching. Consequently they are by custom sandwiched somewhere in the betweenity of the above named. Dr. Durbin made his announce- ments before opening the service proper. There are grave objections to doing this. The best place, on the whole, is somewhere before the sermon and after the scripture lessons. A judicious disposition of the notices is to an- nounce in full all prayer and business meetings and all social gatherings, directly connected with the local church and its organizations from the pulpit, elimmating therefrom, if written, any irrelevant or gushing phrase- ology. For all others, coming from outside sources^ a 83 bulletin board in the vestibule of the Church may be use- fully employed. After examining them have the usher put what you think are proper thereupon, the others cast aside. Never let the pulpit become an advertizing bureau. Shut out of it "Cheap Johns" and their catch-penny plac- ards. It is a sacred desk and not a newspaper editor's tripod from which notices of social events are sent forth. Take little time in making announcements. Cut them down in number and in length. Some preachers occupy more time in discharging this duty than in preaching the sermon. I once heard one take about twenty minutes in calling and commenting upon an annual trustee meeting. We think it a religious duty to teach the people that a collection at each public servdce is a sacred and indis- pensable part of divine worship. It is an act of devotion. Paying is co-ordinate with praying. Cornelius was in- formed by a special messenger from Heaven that his alms, as well as his prayers, were part of the memorial which had preceded him there. The man who objects to give to the Lord on the Sabbath day usually objects on any day. It is axiomatic that anything which costs little is worth Httle. Therefore, never minimize or undervalue, or let any of the people, this part of the public worship of Almighty God. The man who allows the plate to pass him without his contribution will as readily let the truths which he hears pass him by unreceived. The water of life may be free, but it costs something to keep the various conduits through which it passes in repair. The Bread of Life may be furnished without money and without price, but to break it with feeble, fleshy hands, requires some- thing more than faith and prayer. David refused to re- ceive the threshing floor of Oman without paying for it every cent it was worth ; nobly and persistently declaring that he would verily buy it for the full price, and that he would not take that wdiich was Oman's for the Lord, nor offer burnt offerings without cost. "So David gave to 84 Oman for the place six hundred shekels of gold by weight." How much more then should the people be taught that the Church is better than a threshing floor^ and for the privilege of worshipping God there they should cheerfully and willingly pay the full price. Not as Httle as they can, but as much as they can. Not the few- est times possible, but as many times as opportunity permits. What is here said of the collection applies equally to the ''Connectional Benevolences." Dignify and exalt them. Let them be represented to the best of our ability^ for upon our representation of them to our congregation much depends as to what their sum total shall be from year to year. Beware of inflating them by questionable devices. If they are they will fall ^back, like water, to their own level ultimately, or below it. Present them without excuse or apology. We may give to them ourselves and let this be known. The knowledge that we contribute will prompt someone else to do likewise. In the matter of giving some men are hke pumps, they frequently need priming. Or, like siphons, they pour forth of their own contents more readily when well started. We should never give the people an idea that in responding to our appeal they either put us personally, or our Lord, under any obligations. When the Bible or Missionary, or any other special cause has been presented, make them feel that to give of their substance to any or all of these is "more blessed than to receive." And that those who give of the lesser things are the recipients of this benediction, which is of more value than silver or gold. Now for the presentation of the message. It is taken for granted, at this point, that all the preparatory work on the sermon has received attention in its proper place. If this has been done, then all that remains is to cite text and announce theme. As to which shall take precedence, the text or the subject, is not always important, but that 85 they should both be distinctly stated seems to me essen- tial. Why permit at the very comtmencement of the most weighty part of divine worship the hearers to remain in doubt regarding the topic? Better put them at ease at once by stating the suibject. Condense this into few words. Simplify it. If the text is intricate and diflficult to understand by reason of some recondite or archealog- ical allusion, seek to do, as an old divine once quaintly said, "disembrass it." Much will depend upon the after effect and weight of the discourse as to the plainness of the text and the aptness of the theme. We need not seek odd and out of the way texts, neither shun them always. Nevertheless^ we may have an eye out for some which are seldom used, and also take some which are old and well known. A novel and striking text and topic will rivet at once the attention of an audience. This ordinarily is com- pensation enough to warrant its employment. Likewise, preach on great themes. Tlie renowned sermons of the masters of the pulpit have been on such themes. Jona- than Edwards's most celebrated sermon which has come down to us was on "The Sinner in the Hands of an Angry God/' and Thomas Chalmers's on "The Expulsive Power of a New Affection," and Merle d'Aubigne's on "The Three Onlys," and Doctor Candlish's on "The Universal Doom," and John Cumming's on "The Great Tribula- tion/' and Francis Wayland's on "The Moral Dignity of Missions," and George W. Bethune's on "Victory Over Death and the Grave," and Tholuck's on "Christ the Touchstone of Human Hearts." These themes contain in them the very core of the Gospel in somewhat novel but potent phraseology. It is here presupposed that prayer has been offered for divine guidance in the selection of text and subject, so that the preacher can say with much assurance, as he stands up to speak in his Lord's name, the text to which Providence directs this morning is found in the Gospel by St. John, the third chapter, and at the sixteenth verse. Or the message that I am divinely directed to deHver this evening is on "Justification by Faith." While the posi- tion taken by Dr. Horton in his "Verbum Dei/' as to present day inspiration, and of the minister in this nine- teenth century receiving his message straight from God, as did the prophets and apostles under the Old and New- Testament dispensations, is too far reaching and ultra; nevertheless, direct guidance as to one's text, subject and message, has been promised, should (be expected, and earnestly sought. Undoubtedly that is the purport of our Lord's pledge to those whom he had called to preach the Gospel — and to their successors equally — when he said : "For it shall be given yO'U in that hour w^hat ye shall speak." And of the proverb, "The preparation of the heart in man, and the answer of the tongue is from the Lord." It is likew^ise part of the Holy Spirit's office w^ork in the present era. If this heavenly superintendence is not sought and obtained, it will often be pertinent to put the question to the preacher of to-day that Joab put to Ahimaaz, "Wherefore wilt thou run, my son, seeing that thou hast no tidings ready?" But on the other hand, if he has sought guidance from Jehovah, like Ehud, he will be able 'confidently to say, every time he appears in the pulpit, "I have a message from God unto you." Dr. Kidder's practice in this matter is highly com- mendable. Says his biographer, "Upon the mind of a careful Hstener^ Dr. Kidder made the impression that he was a deeply religions preacher. He was willing to under- take the sermon only with the assurance that he was divinely aided." Among his private papers are some pray- ers written out by himsel'f for his own particular profit and guidance. There is one entitled "Prayer for aid in selecting subjects and in preacliing the Gospel." A few extracts will show^ his spirit in approaching this solenm duty : "O, God, I thank Thee that, unworthy as. I am, 87 Thou has not only called me from darkness to light and made me a partaker of the grace of salvation, but hast commissioned me to preach to my fellowmen the un- searchable riches of Christ. Once more the duty devolves upon me of standing before the people to proclaim Thy word of truth. O, forbid that with languid indifference I should content myself with the mere formality of preach- ing; rather may I rise to the highest conception of the greatness of the responsibility and of the eternal interests which ever depend upon the right and faithful discharge of so momentous a duty. O, give felicity and power of thought, readiness and force of utterance, convincing speech, and the demonstration of the influence of the Holy Ghost. Deliver me, O, Lord, from wanderings of thought, from the intrusion of worldly interests or cares or influences, but especially from all vanity of mind or the slightest disposition to seek the applause of men. When I enter the sa'cred desk let Thine overshadowing presence be round me, and let me and the people feel that God is there." Whenever Pericles was about to deliver an oration to the people he was accustomed to pray to the gods, that nothing might go out of his mouth but what should be to the purpose. How much more than should the ambassador of the Most High pray for a like guidance as to his utterance before the people ! What an example for preachers of righteousness to follow. The introduction should be concise and compact, ornate and attractive, bright and, in the best sense, catchy. It is the vestibule, or entrance, to the inner courts of the sermon proper. If this part is not inviting and entertain- ing, we may fail to get our listeners further than the threshold of the opening thought. While explanatory matter is proper aT this point, an illustration, a short story, or a personal incident, will awaken interest, and pique the curiosity. These gained, we may then pro- ceed to develop our subject and enforce our message. 88 Whether one shall announce his propositions beforehand — as the preachers of the past invariably did, and some of to-day do — is purely a matter of personal choice. Bet- ter do this than be as some preachers without proposi- tions to announce. This custom has, however, been largely superceded and the trend to-day is for less and less of the mechanical structure, or skeleton of the sermon, to appear in the delivery. Nevertheless it must have some general outline to it or it will be formless and pointless. While it is well to keep out of sight much of the frame- work of the sermon, we like to hear the preacher occa- sionally give the salient divisions of his discourse, present his propositions, and establish them. Whether this is done or not it should always be apparent to the intelli- gent listener that an orderly classification and arrange- ment of the subject matter of the sermon exist in the mind of the preacher. Without these the sermon will be dis- connected, rhapsodic and forceless. This is liable to be more conspicuously the case in extemporaneous preach- ing. Bishop Simpson advised that **if divisions be an- nounced, they should be simple in their character, and few in number." To give point and pith to his advice he tells the following incident: 'T remember once to have heard a preacher on the text 'Behold the Lamb of God,' announce in rapid succession twenty-four characteristics in which men might behold him. When he reached the twelfth there was a look of surprise, and at the sixteenth of amazement ; when he announced the twentieth a broad smile,, and when he reached the twenty-fourth a sup- pressed titter through the whole congregation." Probably but few, if any, of these points were impressed upon the listeners, whereas three or four of the principal ones out of the twenty-four might have been judiciously selected, earnestly presented and carried thence to be meditated upon and observed. Here is the place and time to bring all native and acquired gifts into line. Marshal them as a general would an army. Mother wit, sanctified common sense, logic, rhetoric, philosophy, theology should all be ready as sub- sidiary forces to obey the command of the will and to present themselves in single file or in one solid phalanx. Be direct, pointed, pungent, but not personal. Smite sin in high, as wefi as low, life when found there. Yea, even though it be in the person of a mitred prince, or purple- robed royalty. Take aim in preaching. Bring your guns in range with sin and never lower them for men or devils. Make the sinner feel that sin is heinous and deadly and damning and that it cannot be gilded over with the trap- pings of wealth or office. Be as faithful in discharging your embassy as was Nathan before David, Samuel be- fore Saul, and John before Herod. Special attention must be paid to the peroration. Not so much as to the form it shall take, whether admonitory, recapitulative, or deductive, but rather to its matter. Much which has been said from the exordium up to this point will perhaps have been forgotten before the close is reached. Hence, the closing sentences should stick like goads fastened by a master of assemblies in a sure place and in a sure way. Just the particular form it shall take will depend upon what the theme is, and Avhat the design is in presenting it. Sometimes an abrupt stop at the end of the discussion, that is followed by a solemn repetition of the text itself, will furnish a most weighty and im- pressive conclusion. This especially if the text be admon- itory in its nature. Much depends, however, as to the character of the concluding remarks, on the sermon itself. A mild exhortation at the close of a strong fiery rebuking of sin would be too tame an ending for such a discourse. There needs to be a cracker at the end of such a whip which shall not only make a whir but which shall snap and sting and bite. What would Christ's invective against the desecrators of His Father's house have been, with- 90 out its closing remark, ''Ye have made it a den of thieves !" Doubtless the overturning of the tables of the money-changers and the laying on of the knotty thongs made those sacrilegious Jews cringe and wince. That they felt half so bad^ or smarted half so long from these, as they did from those stinging, biting words, is exceedingly questionable. What would John's sermon to the multi- tudes of Judea have been, without his ringing, peremp- tory command^ "Bring forth meat for repentance!" Or Peter's at Pentecost, if he had left out the words, "Re- pent and be baptized, everyone of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of sins." Other types of sermons will require other material with which to sum up. Usually no better way of conclud- ing this part of divine worship will ofifer itself than to re- peat a striking and appropriate passage of Scripture ; a brief prayer, or to ascribe honor and praise to the Deity. But one will doubtless readily conceive the kind of matter which should be used on each occasion. Much, then, should be made of the termination of the discourse. Make it a paean of victory, or a solemn warning, as the occasion may demand. Pulpit diction may now receive brief mention. That it should differ in some well marked features from that employed in the shops, the marts of trade, courts of law and halls of legislature passes without being stated. Yet enough attention and discrimination are not given to it. It is so easy to formulate glittering generalities which mean Httle or nothing ; to get into the habit of using pet phrases, set speeches and a crass language, both in prayer and sermon, that one needs to be constantly on his guard against these common faults. All slang words should be avoided and every other kind which would demean the man, the place, or the message. Still there is danger from the other extreme. While the diction of some preachers is too commonplace that of others is too stately 91 and starchy. It is bookish, pedantic and polysyllabic. It dates back to Chaldea, or Rome, or Greece. It is too fine and too antique. The diction best suited to the sermon is that clear, lucid English, which a constant perusal of the Bible and Shakespeare will unconsciously impart. Words short and easily understood. A sample of which is found in Christ's parable of the Prodigal Son. Imitate this. It should contain few words that are not in the best and most general use^ and fewer still of words which are distinctively theological and metaphysical. In using illus- trations from the sciences or the arts, then, for the sake of accuracy, words may be employed which pertain strictly to them, and are technical and conventional. Such terms, however, as metempsychosis, trans-substantiation, et al., should be expunged from one's pulpit vocabulary. Closely connected with ''pulpit diction" is "pulpit gesture." That certain gestures should be made during the delivery of a sermon is both natural and desirable. If appropriate and becoiming they set ofif, and add much to its effectiveness. That a man should stand stock-still like the town pump, because he is in the pulpit, is not abso- lutely requisite. Neither that his hands should hang down limp at his sides. He should move about easily and gracefully, anon giving emphasis to what he is saying by a wave of the hand, or moving forward, or pointing with the index finger, as will best accord with the sentiments he is at the moment desirous of expressing. But here again caution and vigilance are in demand lest this ad- junct be overworked. To run back and forth, pound the desk, swing the arms, like the sails of an old-fashioned windmill, are not becoming, much less helpful as aids to pulpit eloquence. The dramatic art is not to be practiced on the sacred dias. If anywhere, its place is the rostrum or the stage. Furthermore, few preachers make good actors. No audience that wishes to see the Gospel acted out would . . 92 be pleased with their performance. If acting and not preaching are wanted the theater and not the Church of God is where it is most hkely to be found. A Garrick, a Keene, or a Booth, may pose on the "boards/' not in the sacred desk. That there is an admixture of the art of depicting in preaching is doubtless true. It is Such, how- ever, as was practiced by Savonarola^ Irving, Massillon, Whitefield and other noted divines of later date. Or per- haps such as follows the instruction of Hamlet given to the players, which instruction is equally pat to all public speakers, namely : ''Speak the speech, I pray you^ as I pronounced it to you, trippingly on the tongue, but if you mouth it ... I had as lief the town crier spoke my lines. Nor do not saw the air too much with your hands thus, but use all gently, for in the very torrent, tempest . . . whirlwind of your passion, you must acquire and beget a temperance that may give it smoothness. . . . Be not too tame neither, but let your own discretion be your tutor, suit the action to the word, the word to the action ; with this special observance, that you o'erstep not the modesty O'f nature ; for anything so overdone is froin the purpose of playing, whose end, both at the first and now, Avas and is to hold, as it were, the mirror up to nature ; to show virtue her own feature, scorn her own image and the very age and body of time his form and pressure." Or forsooth, what is still better, such as we may conceive the Saviour himself employed, when he de- livered His matchless sermons and spake His inimitable parables. Can we not almost see the majestic wave of His hand, as He begins, ''Behold, a sower went forth to sow." Or, as with outstretched arm, extended aloft He says : "Behold the fowls of the air." Or again, as He looks upon the fields clothed with verdure, He calls upon His auditors, with index finger pointing them out, to "Consider the liHes of the field." Thus aiding, by the hand, the eye and the movement of different members of the body, the deHneation of the thoughts and feehngs of His great mind and heart. In buttressing the foregoing observations, it may be well to note that there are two kinds of gesture recog- nized by elocutionists. They are the "rhetorical" and the "colloquial." The first of these is suitable to pulpit dis- course generally. It is the concomitant of forensic ora- tory, whether at the bar, in the pulpit, or on the hustings. The second usually accompanies conversation and famil- iar talks. Care needs to be exercised lest in adopting the conversational style in public speaking, the delivery be- comes too quiet and the action too tame. For this fault Addison roasted the pulpiteers of his day. "Our preach- ers," he says, "stand stock still in the pulpit, and will not so much as move a finger to set ofi the best sermon in the world. They talk of life and death in cold blood, and keep their temper in a discourse which turns upon every- thing that is dear to man." Sidney Smith, also, anim- adverting on the frigid and languid manner in which some of his associates presented their message, adds: "The sermon has come to mean a piece of writing in which there is an absence of everything agreeable and inviting." And goes on to ask: "Are preachers holy lumps of ice? Is sin to be taken from men, as Eve was taken from Adam, by casting them into a deep sleep? Why call in the aid of paralysis to piety? Is it a rule of oratory to handle the sublimest truths in the driest manner?" These strictures and these interrogatives are as relevant and as applicable to some of the preachers of to-day as they were of the cotemporaries of Addison and Smith. Such tame- ness and masterly inactivity in the Baptist, in Peter, in Paul, would never have brought the proud Pharisees to repentance, or caused the crowds at Pentecost to charge the impetuous Apostle with drunkenness, or prompted Felix to declare Paul mad. Too few and too inept gestures are common in the 94 pulpit of every age. Professor Porter tells of one preacher — and he, iby the way, has many imitators^ who had only three gestures^ his first was with his right hand, his sec- ond with his left, and his last with both. And yet these are preferable — for they are orderly and timely — to aim- less gyrations, automatic twitchings, see-saw and pump- handle movements of so many of our public speakers. Quintillian undoubtedly had such men in his mind's eye, when he exclaimed : 'They saw the air, they use their hands as if they were claws, pawing with them, they thrust out their arm, inverting the thumb and call this speaking in a commanding gesture, while another blows and wipes his nose without necessity." Still another form of infelicitous gesture is in always putting the hand on that part of the body which may be adverted to in the discourse. If it be the heart it is appro- priate to lay the hand impressively over it. But care should be taken that the hand finds the proper locality. For if it should rest a little too far to the right, or a little too low the exact spot, as is frequently the case, the ges- ture will arouse the risibilities of the audience, and create an impression other than that intended. It is incompati- ble with the hest taste, ordinarily, to touch the eyes, the nose and the ears, when these organs are mentioned, but in speaking of some place, or o'bject, it is well to give it a local habitation, and with index finger, or up-turned face, or outstretched arm, to indicate to the audience the direction in which it lies. Daniel Webster was chary in the use of gestures. The only one that it has seemed fit to record is one that violated all the rules laid down in man- uals of elocution. In his great speech on the Buffalo platform in 1848, he said : "It is so rickety that it will hardly bear the fox-like tread of Mr. .Van Buren." As he said "fox-like tread," he held out the palm of his left hand and ran the fingers of his right down the extended arm, with a soft, rapid motion, as if to represent the kit- ten-like advance of the foxy advocate upon the rickety platform. A shout of laughter testified to the aptness of this sig-n-teaching. It is incumbent upon preachers generally, since they are not all Daniel Websters, to give some attention to elocution in all its departments. Better be as indefatig- able in pursuit of its adornments as was Dr. Guthrie, than to proudly and self-complacently ignore them. He tells us "that during his student life in Edinburgh he attended elocution classes winter after winter, walking across half the city and more, fair night and foul, and not getting back to his lodgings till half-past ten." There he learned to find out and correct many acquired and more or less awkward defects in gesture ; to be in fact natural ; to ac- quire a command over his voice so as to express the feel- ings, whether of surprise or grief, or indignation, or pity. Thus these acquirements became part and parcel of him- self. He used them with just as little consciousness of deliberate purpose and intention at the moment as one uses his limbs in walking, or his tongue in articulation, and everyone who has listened to his sermons from the pulpit, or his speeches from the platform will attest that they lent a charm to his eloquence. Three or four things need to be kept clearly and con- stantly before us ; among these the message, the aim, the congregation, and oneself. He is the. general, and if he loses his head he will lose the battle. Hence, let the de- livery be clear in its enunciation, moderate in its flow, mellifluous in its rhythm, and deliberate in a goodly de- gree in its utterance. Do not try to speak in the tongues of other men, nor of angels for that matter. Clothe the thoughts in clear, chaste, vigorous English. Let it scin- tillate, flash and sparkle betimes. Merge your personality into your message. Let your watchword be like Gid- eon's, "The sword of the Lord and his servant ." The sermon should be like the man. If he is naturally calm 96 then this quality will find its place in the message. If im- petuous, then look for the dashing torrents. If firm and rigid, then chain logic and unswerving principles will be conspicuous. As an old French writer has said: "The style is the man." It should be in the minister of the Gospel and will appear unless, like Shelley's description : "The priests are all of one sort, For they were educated so to be." The literary style will likewise take its distinctive tone and coloring from the subject treated, and the object in view. If the subject be instruction regarding some Christian grace or virtue, the style will be didactic and dis- passionate. If it be on some one of the crying and colos- sal sins of the day, such as intemperance, or social im- purity, it must to be compatible be rousing, fiery and fre- quently denunciatory. One need not use a keg of gun- powder to execute a knat, nor pepper Gibralter with paper wads. But when your subject demands it use both gunpowder and dynamite, and pepper hell's gates with the biggest and heaviest shot you can find in the arsenal of God's Word and World. In writing on the "conversational style," which is to be commended as a whole to preachers. Dr. Carlos Martyn correctly defines and describes it, in a passage in which he holds up Wendell Phillips as its "grand past master." "Like everything else about his oratory, it >yas natural, or seemed so. In tone and manner, although thus conversational, Mr. Phillips was at the sajme time elevated. It has been said that speaking which is merely conversational has no lift in it ; the mind may be held by it, but is not impressed. On the other hand, speaking which has no everyday manner is stilted and fatiguing. The orator should frame his style on the level of plain, common-sense talk ; then this ought to lead out and up toward vistas of cloudland and the music of the spheres." 97 This is corroborated 'by Col. T. W. Higginson, who says : "The keynote to the oratory of Wendell Phillips lay in this ; that it was essentially conversational — the conversa- tional raised to its highest power. Perhaps no orator ever spoke with so little apparent effort, or began so en- tirely on the plane of his average hearers. It was just as if he simply repeated, in a little lower tone^ what he had just been saying to some familiar friend at his elbow. The colloquialism was never relaxed, but it was familiarity without loss of dignity. Then, as the argument went on, the voice grew deeper, the action more animated, and the sentences caime in a long, sonorous swell, still easy and graceful, but powerful as the soft stretching of a tiger's paw." How long — as to the time taken in delivering it — should a sermon be? This question frequently comes up in the present day in ministerial and other gatherings for discussion and settlement. Reflection and experience will disclose that it is somewhat difficult to affirm just what the exact length should be. As in some other matters relating to pulpit duties, much depends upon the occasion — the man, the theme and his audience. I am, however, candid enough to admit that ordinarily some preachers would gain in acceptability, if not popularity, if they would shorten their sermons. That it is impracticable, all things considered, to preach longer than thirty or forty minutes, is apparent. Some writers on this phase of our subject would cut these figures in two. I am of the opin- ion that twenty minutes is too short a time for a full- fledged sermon. And, not being an advocate of the ser- monette, so called, I prefer for myself more time and would accord it to others. Nevertheless, prolixity and tautology are as reprehensible in the pulpit as at the bar. Perhaps more so, because the man who occupies the first should have ordinarily more to say that is to the point than the other. Also weightier reasons for saying it. The 98 "grace of continuity" is not an adornment from the hear- ers' ansfle of vision. It may accompHsh one thing for them if they will allow it, and that is, expand and develop their patience. Never see how long you can hold out. It will be far preferable, as soon as one discovers that his message has been delivered, to sit "down presently," as Luther has it, than hang on to one's own weariness and that of the congregation. At the end of thirty minutes be on the lookout for good terminal facilities. Nevertheless, occasionally take time to fully round out the sermon, even though it should require an hour to do it. The dicta of writers on "delivery" are legion and they are as diverse as they are numerous. No one may be said to contain a complete and wholly satisfactory out- line, much less an all comprehensive and definite system. But for brevity, succinctness, compactness, completeness and rotundity, nothing equals the advice of the old Itin- erants, which, as I recall it, is : "Begin low, go slow, rise higher, take fire, be most possessed when self-impressed." Herein, at least, is what in my judgment is found a true philosophy of delivery. It postulates deliberation, gradu- ation and animation. And these are the chief character- istics of all good speaking. After the message has been proclaimed never apolo- gize for it. If before one's well directed blows some dar- ling sin or pedestalled Dagon should fall, let it remain prostrate and helpless. Neither be alarmed if someone whose conscience has been smitten cries out against us. All that we have to do is to speak the words which our Master gives us, if they shall be a savor of life unto life, well ; if of death unto death, v^e have delivered our souls. Should one be disposed, upon reflection, to notice that some portions of what he purposed saying were omitted, and that some matter which came to him in the pulpit was only falteringly stated, be not worried at this. Only 99 aim, like Sir Joshua Reynolds, the great painter, to do the best every time and leave the results with the Lord. Indeed, doing one's best and leaving the rest are equally good philosophy and theology. If we put into constant practice this adage we shall not fret about our reputation as preachers. Our ability will appear in the sin we slay and in the many souls we make alive unto righteousness. Perhaps much of our work will be per- formed in comparative obscurity, or in rural districts, and the tempting thought may arise that it matters little as to the character of the work we do, whether our best or otherwise. If it should, remember the answer of the sculptor, who had taken more than ordinary care in chis- eHng out the locks of hair of a statue which was to fill a niche in a temple of fame. When asked why he had taken so much pains with those locks, since the statue was to be placed high up in the temple, and the locks were to 'be turned towards the wall, where nO' one could see them, he answered "The immortal gods will see them," So God sees our work and will reward it — ^whether men see it or see it not — if it is only our best. If we are fully assured that we have been conscientious and guileless, that we have proclaimed the whole counsel of God, so far as each particular message can contain it, then we are ready to step down from our pulpit, either to la:bor on at the Lord's command, or, like Elijah, to enter the waiting chariot, to alight therefrom in the palace of the Ever- lasting King, and to hear Him say, "Welcome and Well Done." 100 "The pulpit Must stand acknowledged, while the world shall stand, The most important and effectual guards Support and ornament of virtue's cause, There stands the messenger of truth, there stands The legate of the skies ; his theme divine^ His office sacred, his credentials clear. By him the violated law speaks out Its thunder; and by him, in strains as sweet As angels use, the Gospel whispers peace. He 'stablishes the strong, restores the weak, Reclaims the wanderer, hinds the broken heart. And, armed himself in panoply complete Of heavenly temper, furnishes with arms Bright as his own, and trains by every rule Of holy discipline, to glorious war The sacremental hosts of God's elect." Are all such teachers? Would to heaven all were. 101 CHAPTER VI THE PREACHER'S OFFICIAL RELATIONS. Of necessity these are numerous, intricate and deli- cate. Some are in their very nature perfunctory, others close and intimate. Many pertain to the secularities, while others have to do with the spiritualities. Upon them all much depends as to what manner of man a minister shall be, whether like the wax which receives the impress, or the seal which gives it. Whether he shall be content to drift, or putting his hand on the rudder shall steer. Usu- ally he enters into other men's labors and is not a pio- neer in the place where, in the Providence of God, he finds himself. Neither is he ordinarily the last man to occupy that particular field. He doubtless had a prede- cessor in the pulpit of the Church he serves, and with- out much doubt will have a successor. The mutations of this present life afifect him as much as they do the incum- bent of the more secular offices. For one cause and an- other removals are constantly occurring. Sometimes God moves His w^orkmen, more frequently men move them. But, like the ibrook of which Tennyson sings, the Church may say of its ministers, as of its members, "They may come and they may go, but I go on forever." Nearly every minister therefore holds relations to the man who came before him and to the man who fol- lows after him. These should be close, hallowed and in- violable. He cannot waive nor ignore them. They exist and grow out of the very exigencies of the case. They are often most difficult of observance, sometimes because of the indiscretion or the animus of the other party. Or 102 perhaps because of some ardent admirer of the man who has just vacated the pulpit, or some zealous advocate of the man who has been called to fill it. It is well, then, to show a positive disinclination to listening to any account of a predecessor's faults or failings. We are almost sure to come across someone, or someone will invariably come across us who has some evil report to bring about the former pastor. If we must listen to it, in order to be re- spectful, no comment need be offered as a general rule. If one should be ventured, let it be favorable to our ab- sent brother-minister. It will not take long for it to be known that we do not desire to hear anything which is in any way derogatory to the former administrator or ad- ministration of Church affairs. Should it be necessary, where rumors of immoral conduct are rife, to bring mat- ters to a head, we should be brave enough to do as a preacher in the M. E. Church is said to have done. Soon after reaching his appointment he was informed by some of the stewards that his predecessor had received money on salary for which due credit had not been given to the Church. He simply remarked that it was possible that these were gifts of a personal character, and if so the preacher had a perfect right to receive them without re- porting them to the treasurer. To this answer was made that this was not the w^ay in which the money had been obtained, but that it had been solicited by the minister from persons who were regular contributors to the Church. This injurious story was told and dwelt upon, ad naiiseum, until it was mentioned at the first quarterly conference at which the Presiding Elder was present, when the new pastor arose and said, "Mr. President, these rumors have been dinging in my ears ever since I came here, they are on the lips of these official members, and now I most respectfully ask, either that a bill of charges be formulated against my predecessor and duly presented to him, that he may have an opportunity of defending 103 himself, or that these accusations cease." It need not be said that this was the end of the nimors. Bear in mind that at some other Church somebody may have occasion to defend our administration. We should therefore keep the spirit and the letter of the golden rule, and "do unto others as we would that they should do unto us." It is always proper to pray for and speak well of the man who is retiring at our first sabbath service. He has been breaking up the fallow ground, sowing the seeds of the Kingdom, which perhaps we shall be permitted to culti- vate and harvest. He may not be our ideal of a minister, neither may we be his, but that is neither here nor there, he is our yoke fellow in the Gospel, and it is altogether likely that we shall accomplish more for God and the Church by taking up the work where he has left it, than by acting or speaking in a disparaging manner of what he did and the way in which he did it. Beware of being so vain, egotistical, and unfair, as to publish abroad in some Church periodical, a few weeks or months after taking charge of a parish or accepting a call, that the prayer meetings and public services are larger and more enthusiastic than they have ever been in the history of that local church. This may be so or it may not be so. Whether it is or not, the new incumbent is unqualified to say. He is a comparative stranger and has no data at hand sufficient to warrant him in making the deduction, much less in publishing it, or permitting some gushing admirer of his to publish it. Then again one must be a very shallow-minded observer of men and churches, if he has not discovered that a new preacher is almost always hailed with great eclat. And that, in the homely language of the old adage, like "a new broom, he sweeps clean." It is his inauguration and exaltation. Hence, congregations may enlarge for a time, finances flourish, the machinery move without friction, and en- comiums be galore ; but if he will wait until the close of 104 the second or third year of his pastorate, he will not feel so much like puffing himself and snuffing his predecessor. For, as someone has humorously said, ''there are three stages in most ministers' experiences. They are first eulogized, then they are criticized, and finally they are cauterized." A fourth may be added in the history of some, and that stage, if it should ever come, is that they are "canonized." In going about among the people he may meet persons who will speak a kind word about the man who came before him. If they should, he must not seem to be indifferent about these commendations. Nor wince or draw back as though he had been hurt by them. If he can stand by and hear the former pastor praised and rejoice, he is not far from being perfectly sanctified. Re- member what the Master said of His forerunner John, "He was a burning and shining Hght." If you cannot speak likewise of yours, at least be glad when others do and can. The preacher's relations to his successor are not quite of a piece with those mentioned above. They are, how- ever, both complicated and trying. He should arrange to give him an open field in which to exercise his gifts. If he knows him familiarly, he can commend him to the good will and prayers of the people. He can extol his good qualities, and this is not to say that he may not have some poor ones. But if so, the folks will soon discover them, and he need not mention them. He can plan to leave him without embarrassing debts, without any schisms or cliques, with a working Church membership, and a parsonage as clean as a pink. He can wish him God speed, and leave him to do the work of the parish in the way in which he and the Lord shall fix upon. His aim should be "Hands Off." Being out, he should stay out, and make no contracts to return to officiate at mar- riages or funerals. If he does not, he must not be sur- prised if he perceives that the residentiary and the most 105 judicious of his flock, neither receive him with open arms nor with open doors. He may, forsooth, be Honized by some, but others will snub him, and serve him right too. If they will only do this to the extent of teaching him to mind his own business, and not that of the man who has followed him, they will have taught him a wholesome lesson and have done God service. Take this bit of ad- vice from one who has seen what estrangement and heart burnings have been caused among ministers simply be- cause these little comities have been disregarded, and keep away from your old charge until your successor has become firmly and solidly settled. Then, if you receive invitations from former parishioners to return, that you may marry the living or bury the dead, you may grace- fully comply. But even then, it would be proper that they should come through the present pastor. If they do not, and you consent to accept them, associate your successor with you. Give him part of the service, and part of the fee, if there be one. Should it be discovered that he is not in favor with whose who send for you, this is a reason, not why you should go, but why you should excuse your- self from going. Whenever you return and whatsoever the occasion, if you should learn that he has succeeded, be thankful. O for the spirit of such self-abnegation that with John you might at least say, as he said of his suc- cessor in the Gosepl, *'He must increase," even though you may not wish to add the other clause, *'but I must decrease." The officiary of the church should receive the preacher's first attention and regard. They may be deacons, stewards, trustees or vestry men. No matter what, their office postulates a relation that he holds to them, and this relationship determines not only their duties to him but his duty to them. It is with the latter that we have to do here. As soon as convenient he ought to make the acquaintance of the officials. If it will not 106 discommode them, he may take up his abode with them while the parsonage is being prepared for his reception. Then he may call upon them severally and inform him- self as to the position each one holds in the church. Should it appear that some of them had a preference for some other preacher, diplomacy would lead him to pay no attention to the coolness or stifrness of their manner in receiving him. He might give these a more cordial greet- ing and if need be a heartier shake of the hand. Thus he will most efifectually shake down and break down the bar- riers raised against him. Let them see that confidence is placed in them and that it is expected that each one will meet the responsibility accruing from his office and discharge it conscientiously and to the best of his ability. He may kindly, but firmly, indicate that the success of his pastorate depends upon them, as much and perhaps more, than on himself. It is well not to discharge any duties which rightfully belong to them, unless these duties undischarged should mean disaster to the church. Never infringe upon their special prerogatives and never allow them to infringe upon yours. You neither own them, neither do they own you. Therefore, do not domineer over them, and should they seek to do so over you, it will be proper for you to assert that independence which a man should never surrender, even when he becomes a minister of Jesus Christ. Keep your place, and require them to keep theirs. If you discover that there are one or more of their number who seek to centralize all power in themselves, or to monopolize all the offices, it will be within your jurisdiction to broaden the base, and equal- ize the power, by a larger distribution of the honors, and by urging all to a more personal and earnest participation in the business of the church. In discharging your duties toward them, let the relations, in general, be like those existing between the President and the members of his Cabinet, or the Commander-in-Chief and his officers. In 107 consonance with this last figure, the Sunday School Sup- erintendent, the President of the Young People's Socie- ties, the Trustees and other officers, are the pastor's lieu- tenants and subordinates. They will, if they know their place, consult him, and receive whatever advice he has to give before they make any movement of significance. Seldom will it be found necessary for him to do more than give a general oversight to the work performed by these godly men and women. But keep his hand on them he must, in order that he may be able to secure their co- operation in carrying on the financial, the social, and the spiritual work of the church. In unity is strength. Co- operation should be the watchword. Let me now proceed to dwell upon the relations ex- isting between the pastor of the church and the various organizations within its pale. These are sometimes numerous and unweildy. Like the wheel which Ezekiel saw in his vision, which had wheels within, so the modern Church of Christ in the earth may be said, in a restrictive sense, to have Churches within itself. These, for vv^eal or for woe, are constantly on the increase. The principal ones which require more than passing mention are the Sunday School, the Young People's Organizations, the Women's Societies, Men's Guilds, Brotherhoods, Trustee Boards and Vestries, and in some churches the Official Board, composed of some of the members of the afore- named bodies, and a Board of Stewards. These bodies should always be regarded as auxiliaries of the Church proper. Or perhaps, more accurately, departments of the Church, or component and integral parts thereof. Not independent, but dependent branches. Without the trunk of the tree, which is the Church, these branches could not flourish, even though some of them might have a sepa- rate existence. For the efficiency and success of each and every one of them, the preacher is held responsible by "the powers that be." He should, therefore, regard him- 108 self, and be regarded by others, as the official head. He occupies a like relationship to these departments that a comimander does to the different army corps which com- pose his army. Hence, they must be ready to receive orders from headquarters, and when he gives the com- mand to ''go forward," they should go. It is very essen- tial to the welfare of the whole church that these bodies are both subservient and subordinate. If otherwise, friendly forces will come into collision, and trouble will ensue. If, however, all these organizations act together in unison, they will be able to 'bring things to pass. If not united, they will illustrate and exemplify the saying of the Great Teacher, ''A house divided against itself cannot stand." It must fall. No Sunday School, or Young Peo- ple's Society, or Woman's Organization, or any other organization, no matter by what name known, which is within the pale of the local church, should 'be permitted to be autonomous, or independent, of the church in which it is, and of which it forms a part. The preacher's rela- tion to any one of these should move him to prevent any such abnormal condition. Wherever the canon law makes him a member of these different boards and bodies, whether ex^officio or otherwise, there he should take his place and do his duty, without left or hindrance. We are moved, as the Quakers say, to be more explicit on this point, because there seems to 'be a tendency in some parishes to make one or mort of these organizations equal to, or a substitute for, the church proper. Many preachers find trouble arising from these causes. What is to be done? Shall they for th^ sake of false peace let this condition of things continue, or shall they set them to rights. The latter by all means. We once heard of a church in which the Sunday School was drilled into the notion, by the Superintendent, that it was of greater importance than the Church. Nay, that 109 it was the Churchy so far as its members were concerned. They must attend its sessions^ support its gatherings and finances. If they cared only to be present at one service, it must be that of the Sunday School, and not public worship. The pastor was continually reminded, and at last covertly given to understand, that his absence in that Sunday School was more desired by the Superintendent and a few of his followers than his presence. What was he to do? Why simply his duty as set forth in the Disci- pline of his Church. That made him ex-officio Superin- tendent, required his presence in the Sunday School, and that he should catechise the children there. While he was not disposed to magnify his ofifice under the circum- stances, as may well be imagined, neither was he disposed to surrender his rights and prove recreant to his ordina- tion vows. So very quietly and discreetly, yet firmly and in the fear of God, he informed the Superintendent, that if one of the two must leave the Sunday School, it must be the latter, for by the law of the church the pastor could not do so, without resigning his pastorate, and that step he was not just then ready to take. A similar danger looms up before us in some of our Epworth Leagues, Christian Endeavor Societies, and Young People's Unions ; the devotional services being allowed to usurp the place of one or both of the church assemblies on the sabbath. This is the trend in quite a number of churches, where it is such the pastor must interpose his good ofifices and check it. What has been said thus far of one's relationship to the officiary and the organizations of the local church, discloses only the obverse side of the shield. If on this side is inscribed, in indelible characters the word ''Com- mander," on the reverse side should stand out in equally bold letters, the word "Leader." This certainly, if the cue is to be taken from Isaiah, who employed both terms, and regarded himself as standing in both relations. 110 Leadership implies going before^ setting an example, as a brave general goes before his troops^ or a good shep- herd before his sheep. The preacher is to be an ensample unto the flock in charity, in faith, in purity, in spirit, in word, and in work. With winsome presence, and con- sistent example, he can say^ ''Come and let us do this or that." "We are co-workers together with God." When he puts his own shoulders under the burdens, and his own neck into the yoke, then he may reasonably expect that the largest debts will be lifted, and the heaviest loads gotten out of the ruts and out of the way. This will be found to be a more effectual way of meeting our official responsibilities, as they relate to these church boards and bodies, than to point with the stafif of oflfice, pull with the crook of authority, and command in that little word "go," which too often finds a response in the hearts of those to whom addressed in that equally little, but naughtier word "no." Instead of being leaders, some preachers are drivers. They arrogate to themselves a power, nowhere relegated to them in the New Testament Scriptures. They seek to "lord it over God's heritage." After a time they are cha- grined to find that they have aroused an opposition which will brook no such attitude. They make themselves .odious and objectionable, and fail to accomplish wHat, with a little tact and conciliatory spirit, they might have achieved. Indeed, by a wise leaderships frequently much more can be effected in church circles, than by driving and commanding. In this way it will likewise be possible to keep these relations sweet, and pleasant, and lasting. And as the French so fittingly express it, to keep up the "esprit de corps," without which neither church hosts, nor militant hosts, can affiict very great losses upon the enemy, or gain many brilliant victories in the conflict. At this junction the question may very properly be asked, "What is the relation a minister holds to that par- Ill ticiilar ministerial body — whether presbytery, convoca- tioiij or conference — of which he finds himself a member by virtue of his position in the Church of God"? The answer is, one of fraternity or brotherliness. As soon as he has received ordination, his initiation is passed, and admission has been tendered him into the grandest and noblest brotherhood on earth. This fact cannot have too much emphasis placed upon it. If this were continually borne in mind and acted upon, some of the jealousy and animosity and rivalry, which sometimes may be too clearly discerned at these gatherings and among these brethren,, would depart forever. At these assemblies will be found men of different temperaments, with their own peculiar views of how business should be transacted. Some of them will have very pronounced notions and convictions on matters coming before the body. Others will have no option whatever on any, or few^ of the sub- jects which arise. As for 3^ourself, 'be a master of cere- monies, whether it is your province to take the chair or the floor. Attend to the routine work. Master the de- tails. Give direction according to your own godly judg- ment and conviction to all business transacted. Obtain for your own edification, as well as for use, a competent knowledge of canon and parliamentary law. Do not be over punctilious in enforcing the same, unless you are trying to check the stampede of a body which is facing in a dangerous direction. Then use your points of order, as you would the rowels of a spur in the sides of an unruly steed, and accomplish by skillful management what you could not by force. There are men in all bodies upon whose knowledge of routine business the presiding officer can rely. In moments of hesitancy, and when any pro- posed action is questionable, the president will instinc- tively turn to these men on the floor. If they object, or challenge, or raise a doubt as to the propriety of a matter, the chair will pause before entertaining it. If they are 112 silent, and no query arise in the mind of the president, then he entertains it and it is acted upon by the body. Be one of these men. It should be a matter of conscience, neither to flitter away one's time nor one's influence, when in attendance at these assemblies. Make plans to participate in the dis- cussions and if prompted to say anything, on any ques- tion before the house, and the floor can be obtained, say it. We are not, however, to talk for the mere sake of talking-, but speak intelligently and to the point. Neither are we to be blufTed, nor try to bluflf others, nor interrupt, except to raise a point of order, or to explain. Neither be personal in our remarks. If, in the heat of a debate, we should forget ourselves and say that which is not courtly and gentlemanly, let the "amende honorable" be made immediately. Be brotherly in manners and affable to all. Never intimate, or let it be intimated in our pres- ence, that our ability as debaters or our rank as preachers, or our relative standing in the Church, places us upon a higher plane, and gives us greater prerogatives than those of our brethren. Nor let any of these fictitious marks make us unapproachable. Speak kindly and en- couragingly to the young men, but never in a patroniz- ing manner. To the older men, be deferential, and if necessary condescending. Be charitable, forbearing and magnanimous. By an easy and natural modulation, we may now pass to the consideration of the minister's relation to churches and ministers of other denominations. This is a large subject, and what might be said with but little effort, could be expanded to fill a chapter, if not a volume. But we must compress. In a comimunity where there are churches of other denominations, it is proper that we should recognize them, not as those of the "sects" or as "societies," but as churches. To speak of one's own as "the church," and of others as even "chapels," much less 113 ''sects" and ''societies," is unpardonable arrogance and bombast. They may not be as ritualistic or aristocratic as ours, nevertheless, if the Word of God is preached there, and the ordinances duly administered, they are churches both in the philolog-ical and theological sense.. It is possible that, in doctrine and polity, they differ widely from the churches of which we are pastors. Should it be so, the converse is likewise true. Therefore, if we desire that the pastors of these churches should recognize the one in which we ofTficiate as a church, we should cer- tainly recognize theirs as such. These statements are not intended to carry with them the implication that one church endorses the theology and government of other sister churches. By no means. Neither that the mem- bers of one should necessarily unite with the members of the other. Indeed, the rubrics of some churches preclude this. Where this is not the case the propriety and dis- tinctive usuages of others forbid it. As to Union Services, a word in passing. Ordinarily it is far better for each church to keep open doors, and attend to its own work, doing the same according to its own peculiar methods. Some union services are attended with anything but unity. They are too often the means of robbing St. Peter's to build up St. Paul's. My per- sonal belief is that it is far better for each to do its utmost to build up the Kingdom of God within its own fold and in its own way in the 'community where Providence has planted it. Storekeepers keep open their own stores, and bankers their own banks. They would not find it profit- able business to close up two stores out of three, or have a union sale. No ; their motto is "Competition is the life of trade." And this business maxim, with a little quali- fication, is as true of churches as of mercantile houses. In several towns in which I have been stationed I have witnessed all the churches externally and internally built up, by emulating some thrifty, energetic church in their 114 midst, which would not have happened if they had acted exckisively on the union plan. The rule should be "in the unity of the spirit," but in the separateness of opera- tion. Organic unity is the dream and theme of some good men. It is a dream notwithstanding, and does not look at times as though it would ever materialize. As all rules, however, have exceptions, so has the above. In national services, such as the observance of Memorial Day, Thanksgiving Day, and perhaps a few others, union of the churches is commendable. But even these may not always be held in an edifice that has been consecrated to the wordship of Almighty God. At such a time, in order to obtain unanimity of action, it may be found necessary to hold the services in a hall, or some other building, rather than in any one church edifice erf the town. Perhaps too, in the rural districts, it may sometimes be feasible to hold union services. Every pas- tor in such a section must be his own judge. Experience, however, teaches us that if each church would expend the same amount of time, energy, and effort separately, that it is expected each will expend unitedly, more good would be done and more souls be won, than by holding union meetings. One's relation as a minister to ministers of other re- ligious denominations should be similar to the relation that one church holds to another : namely, one of comity and good will. We are accustomed usually to speak of this as ministerial courtesy by way of distinguishing it from that courtesy which is due to all, irrespective of call- ing or profession. In no more manly and acceptable way can this courtesy be shown than in a proper recognition, at all times and under all circumstances, of the official character of these men. If we wish the people to respect and in a restricted sense reverence our calling, we must set them the example by honoring and highly esteeming those who occupy like positions as ourselves in sister 115 churches, for their work's sake, if for no other. Hence in speaking of our ministerial brethren, we are never to apply to them approbrious epithets or undignified descrip- tions, such as ''light weights," or "five hundred dollar men.'' In doing so, we are employing standards of meas- urement which cannot render trustworthy results. They are not only unfair and objectionable but often false "de facto,'' if ajbility enters into the computation; for many are the men who are serving small churches on small pay, who intellectually, scholastically, and oratorically are the superior of other men, occupying larger, richer and more influential fields of labor. Ill health of themselves, or members of their families, or other equally cogent rea- sons, may have led them to these parishes. Therefore, let us repudiate such false standards for ourselves and others, whenever and by whomsoever raised. True courtesy will not call for an exchange of pul- pits -where the rubrics of the denomination prevent. Neither will it require us to ask ministers of such de- nomination to participate in any of our special church services. It will, however, constrain us to recognize them as ministers and priests of other faiths, and to speak of them as Reverends and brothers in the ministry. The proper exercise of this grace will also furnish us an op- portunity of exhibiting that true Christian liberality, which stands opposed to the narrowness of bigotry, by which we can unite with them in all social and moral re- form work, in all municipal and national issues, that are in any sense ethical and patriotic. St. Augustine's motto, "In essentials unity, in non-essentials liberty, and in all things charity," needs reiteration and accentuation even in these days of liberalism. Likewise the saying of Wes- ley, 'T desire a league offensive and defensive with every true soldier of the Cross." For, when all has been said and done: 116 *'Our little systems have their day. They have their day and cease to be, They are but broken lights of thee, And thou, O Lord, art more than they." Beware of the men who, though in the shepherd's garb, talk much about the one "fold," and the one *'flock." They often mean, though they may not possess the courage to say so, their fold and their flock. Do not be guilty of speaking of your own particular denomina- tional superiorities in the presence of ministers of other churches, unless you are controverting some derogatory statement which may have been made against your church; then defend your own like a man. Infractions of ministerial courtesy at these points are both common and flagrant. Sometimes a preacher will so far forget himself in the presence of his ministerial peers as to speak of himself as being in the direct line of apostalic succes- sion, or as having received episcopal ordination, or as being the pastor of the richest, the largest, or the most popular church in town. For instance, at a Memorial Service — held in the public hall of a certain town, at which four ministers, rep- resenting the four congregations which united in these services, were present — when the time came for giving the notices of the different churches represented, two of the pastors simply announced that the usual services would be held in their respective churches, a third gave his more in detail, while the fourth arose and said : "A people's service will be held this evening in my church, and all are most cordially invited to attend." Amid other surroundings such a notice might not have been out of place, or a breach of ministerial courtesy, but at a union service, for any one preacher to say that his was the "Peo- ple's Church," and to invite the members of the other three denominations to leave their own services to attend his, was the quintessence of self-conceit and impertinence. 117 This is only one instance of many which could be cited. Uetter things are expected of you. Further, if a minis- ter, in intercourse with you, should be rude in his be- havior or haughty in his manner, never so far forget yourself as to assume a similar attitude towards him. P>y far the 'better way will be to give him, as the sailors say, "a wide berth.'' You are to 'be a gentleman at all times and under all circumstances, and the observance of a courteous demeanor towards your yoke-fellow in the Gos- pel is one of its salient marks. There are, at least, two other official relations which the preacher holds that call for remarks more or less ex- tended. He is first, by virtue of his call, and the nature of the work devolving upon him, an evangelist. It does not seem to me that there is any incompatibility, or in- congruity, in his being such. Indeed, if we may set him forth under the figure of a triangle, then to be complete he must be a minister, evangelist and pastor. The three are one and the one three. Notwithstanding, this should be so, frequently we find it otherwise. For example, there are many preachers who exalt the ministerial function and seek mostly the edification of the saints. This work is necessary and must be done. The saints are to go on to perfection. To this end part of all pulpit ministrations nmst be specifically for them. But not solely, nor wholly, as some ministers seem to think. These saints will pass away. Others must take their places. Then, again, in every congregation are the unconverted. How to reach these so as to bring them to Christ, and fill the places of the former in Christ's Church is one of the problems that confronts the man in the pulpit. The Scriptures he is called upon to read and preach were not inspired or committed into his hands that they might be simply profitable for doctrine. This they doubt- less are and should ever 'be. But they were also given "for reproof, for correction, for instruction, in righteous- 118 ness." If he is a man of God, thoroughly furnished unto all good works, he will not regard himself as unfitted for the work of an evangelist. He will feel that he can exhort sinners, and warn them, and reprove them of sin, and point them to the Lamb of God. This work was in- cluded in his call to preach, and therefore he should do it, and do it more efTficiently than the traveling evangelist does. If he cannot point them to the Cross, it is doubt- ful if he will ever be able to help them materially in win- ning the crown. Therefore, make up your mind to be an evangelistic preacher. To conduct your own special re- vival services. If you feel that you have no adaptation for this work, ask Him who hath promised to make you fit for his service to quaUfy you. Go into the work. Learn how to do it by doing it, just as you learned how to preach to the edification of saints by preaching specifically to them. Sometimes it may be expedient to call in outside help when holding special Pentecostal services. If so, call a man who will not want too long a tail to his kite before he consents to fly it. One who does not make too many conditions and provisos. Should he come to your assist- ance let it be to assist, and not take your place. Do not throw the lines to him and sit with nothing to do or say. You must not be relegated to the background. You are still preacher in charge. Much harm has been done by men that meant good, who have traveled as evangelists, by their methods and by their arrogating to themselves the whole of the pastor's work, minus his responsibility. They have not only left few permanent results in the form of regenerated men and women, but they have, in too many cases, left the impression upon the flocks that their stated shepherds were only able to perform part of the labors of the fold, and that some other shepherds, like themselves, had to be sent for when an increase was de- sired and looked for. These midwives of the Church 119 never hide their Moses, but frequently announce him be- fore he is born. That thou niayest, then, make full proof of thy ministry, "do the work of an evangelist." I have purposely left the largest of these relations to the last. It is that of pastor of the whole flock under our care. As such we must make pastoral calls, marry the living, bury the dead, and perform other rites, made incumbent upon us by reason of our headship. Taking up these duties in the order named and beginning with pastoral visitation, I note that to do this and to do it methodically, is needful for our own as well as our par- ishioners' spiritual welfare. It is essential to the preacher that he may learn the condition of his flock and privately impart timely counsel to the erring, and consolation to those who mourn. That he may know what his people are thinking about. Listening to them, answering their inquiries, and pointing out to them how they may over- come the dif^culties that beset them, will many times sug- gest passages of Scripture or lines of thought which are suitable for pulpit use. This is the way some ministers obtain their themes, and get the most practical and help- ful matter of their sermons. A few suggestions here as to how to do this work best will be in place. Unless our church membership is so large that it is a physical impossibility for us to do pas- toral work among our people ourselves we should never relegate it to others. In some parishes this may have to be done. Spurgeon had to do it, so did Parker. If we have a membership equal to the Tabernacle or the Tem- ple, we may also follow them and have an assistant pas- for to do this work for us. Ordinarily, however, our con- gregation will not be more than hundreds to their thou- sands. When this is so, we can see the people for our- selves and not by proxy. Make stated calls. Some' preachers make one and some more rounds of calls every year on every family. 120 Two a year, if the town is geographically large, should be sufficient. Call, if convenient, when all the members of the family are at home. The evenings usually are better than the afternoons. Our calls count for much more at that time. If we cannot make it convenient to call when the men are at home v^e can seek them^ out at the stores and the workshops, and if permissable pay them a short visit there. It will sometimes be found a great saver of time and strength, if pastoral work can be performed by streets, or districts. Also, if it can be made the special business of the days or weeks allotted to it. When this arrangement is not found convenient, then let a portion of each day be free to take up this work whenever it needs to be done. Give special attention to the poor, the men and the young people. The first are sometimes a little over sen- sitive regarding their social status. In the words of Solo- man, "They are often strangers to their neighbors." Few persons call on them. Hence they will appreciate our visits. While it is equally true ''that the rich have many friends," wq are not to slight them on this account. Some preachers neglect this class more than they do the other. Look after both. Then the men should be won for Christ and the church. They will not, as a whole, be over anx- ious to receive us.. But we must call on them, and im- press them that we are men of like passions with them- selves, workers, men of business, and full of cares. And that we know how to sympathize with them when they are out of employment, and when seeking to better their condition. Many of them are disposed to stay away from church, and need to be looked up, given a cordial invita- tion to come, and when they respond, a hearty welcome. We must also look carefully after the lambs of the flock. The young people need our constant pastoral oversight. They are inexperienced, thoughtless and full of fun. They will sometimes annoy us by their laughing 121 and talking-. At otlicr times they will be willful and way- ward, declining to speak when it would be proper for them to do so. They will fight shy of us. The worldling has told them that we desire them to renounce the pleas- ures of this world, its pomp and fashion. Therefore, we require the wisdom of an angel of light to win them and make them our friends. Be sure and bear with them when thoughtless and giddy. Pray with them, visit them ; learn their names, their occupations and their aspirations\ Plan some little outing for them. Enter into their inno- cent amusements. But never fail to warn them of those pursuits and pleasures which like vortexes in the sea of life suck under the richest argosies and the noblest crafts. The sick, like the poor, are always with us. They must also receive our pastoral attention. Much tact is requisite in calling on the sick, that your calls be neither too frequent nor too long. Learn at what part of the day the parishioner would be pleased to see you, and go at that hour if you can. Do not talk much about diseases or death. Be cheerfully but not frivolous, solemn but not gloomy. We may also find that it is necessary to make more numerous calls upon the official brethren and those who are at the head of departments of church enterprises, than upon the membership in general. These calls, how- ever, will often be of a business and not of a pastoral na- ture. Shall we pray every time we call? No. It may not always be convenient for those upon whom we are calling, neither may our mission always demand it. A few may ask for a word of prayer before we leave. In the ma- jority of cases, however, it will be our province and our privilege to ask if we shall offer prayer. Talk with the people about their health and estate. Let them open for you a way, if one is not open, by which you can speak to them about their soul's eternal welfare, then if the op- portunity permits offer a brief earnest prayer and depart. 122 The pastor will be called to enter the homes of his people to join together in holy wedlock their sons and their daughters. At other times they will seek his ser- vices for this purpose at the parsonage, or occasionally in the church. No matter where the marriage is to take place, all that will be required will be to tie the knot. Not to miake a snarl instead of a pretty bow of it, we should familiarize ourselves with the civil and canon law relat- ing to marriages. In some States the church law sets forth what qualifications ministers need in order to legally perform this ceremony, in others these requisitions are outlined in both the civil law of the State and the ecclesi- astical law of the denomination. The age of consent of the contracting parties also differs in different States of the Union. We should post ourselves on these points. In no instance marry them if under age (which is eighteen years in the State of New York) without the consent of their parents or guardians. If the ceremony is at the parsonage it is usually an informal affair, there being very little posing or posturing. Should it be at the home of the bride, or in the House of God, then it will be more or less public in its character. We may under such circumstances very properly meet the bride and the groom beforehand, and instruct them as to the positions they are to occupy, the answers to be given to the questions, when to join hands, and so forth. On this occasion the ring and the ritual are called into prominence, neither of which has so conspicuous a part when the service is private. In making out the certificate never date it back, no neither for love nor money. Write it legibly in the church record, adding the names of the witnesses to the date. This is important, for on this rec- ord may hang a pension, or an estate in after years. If it is desired, a notice of the ceremony may be published in the newspapers of the town or city. Be sure and file a full notification of the marriage with the Bureau of Vital Sta- 123 tistics. If the marriage takes place in public it is an act of courtesy, not only to shake hands with the newly-mar- ried couple first, but to wish them much joy, and then in- troducing them to those present, say, "Congratulations are now in order." Be pleasant in manner and speech throughout. It is, or should be, a cause of rejoicing and not of sighing or making long faces. We are to decline all invitations — though attended with the pledge of a liberal fee — which would require us to perform the marriage ceremony under conditions which would make it a mockery, if not a blasphemy. Invi- tations, for instance, which would make us a party to a marriage ceremony between actors or spectators, con- ducted as a draw in a theater ; or on the stage of a mu- seum, in the marriage of freaks ; or in the circus ring, in the marriage of clowns ; or at a menagerie, between train- ers of wild beasts ; or in a ball room, casino or saloon. If we do not, while we may please the rabble by our disre- gard for decorum, we shall become a laughing stock in the immediate community, be despicable in the eyes of people of good sense, bring reproach upon the church and earn for ourselves the unenviable notoriety of being either poltroons or knaves. To participate in any such service, amid any such low and vulgar surroundings, should be regarded by those in authority as furnishing sufficient ground of indiscretion, lack of good taste and disrespect for one's calling, to warrant severe censure, and if brazen- ly persisted in, for removal from ofifice without delay. Don't drabble your cassock in the dust nor the outermost fringe of the seamless robe in the mire. Furthermore, before consenting to marry strangers be sure to find where and under what circumstances the ceremony is to be performed. Then it can be declined if there is any impropriety as to time or place. It will also help to an intelligent understanding of each case, prevent embarrassment and confusion, guide in the mat- 124 ter of outlay, clerical work, kind of marriage certificate and other details, if, in addition to the inquiries prepared bv the Bureau of Vital Statistics, and the ritual formula, the following questions should be asked: (1) Do you wish to be married with a ring? (2) Do you desire a long or short ceremony? (3) What fee are you prepared to pay? (4) What kind of certificate would you like? (5) Do you want a notice of this marriage published in the newspaper? Moreover, in the further discharge of pastoral duties, we shall be called to the homes of parishioners and others to perform the solemn rites attending the burial of the dead. Here our decorum should be more grave and the tone of the voice naturally more subdued. Different min- isters have different rules regarding what they should do when death enters the homes of their people. Some think it advisable when they hear that one of their members has passed away to go immediately to the bereaved family to condole with it. Others wait until they are directly noti- fied and invited to call. Circumstances, as a rule, must suggest what are the proper steps to take in each case. I can conceive instances in which to go would be just the thing to do, and others in which to go would be just the thing not to do. When Lazarus died Jesus delayed his visit for a while that the grief of Mary and Martha might be uninterrupted. So many times it is best, unless one can be of some help to the bereaved, either in furnishing money or clothing, or in making arrangements for the funeral, to await until the poignancy of the grief has abat- ed and nature and grace have quieted their nerves and calmed their troubled souls. A little sanctified common sense touched by the sympathy of the divine Master will be ah that is needed to guide us as to what is best to do at such times. As to funeral services, w^hether held at the home of the deceased or in the church auditorium, make them 125 short, appropriate and scriptural. Vary the theme to the age, moral condition and family relations of the subject that calls it forth. It will be advantageous to oneself and the cause of the Master not to be over personal or eulo- gistic. Unless it be the funeral of a person who is well known for his piety and consistent Christian life, it is better to dwell little on his virtues. Comfort those who mourn. Bind up the broken-hearted. Speak a word to the living, and in a number of cases leave the dead with th I Judge of all the earth. He will do that which is right. A\'hat may be said will in nowise effect the destiny of the departed either for weal or for woe. While the sermon should not extol too highly the good qualities of the de- parted good, neither should much be said of the demerits of the bad. We can afiford to leave much unsaid at such times. Avoid especially speaking of the personal char- acter of strangers when called upon to render for them the rites of Christian burial. It has been my duty to offi- ciate at the funerals of several suicides, and also of a man who died while in the act of breaking the fourth com- mandment. In the last instance, the widow of the man first warned me against preaching her husband to hell, and then, when I informed her that this was not within my power, wanted me to preach him to heaven. Much to her dissatisfaction I again informed her that I was powerless to do this either, and that she must permit me to conduct the services as I thought befitting, or call in someone else to officiate. She finally subsided and I preached a short sermon to the living, leaving the dead with his Maker. If requested to preach a funeral sermon or assist in the funeral services of any deceased member of any secret or other order, compliance with the request is usually proper. If there are to be two services, one of the church and one of the order, conduct the church ser- vice first and let the other follow. If our engagements are such that we can tarry to the after service and there 126 is nothing- in the rites of the order to preclude us, we may stay and with respectful mien give attention thereto. Shall you receive a fee? Yes, if one is offered you. When one is not proffered, and yo'U have been put to any expense,, if not too poor, the friends of the deceased should at least meet it. We may attend the funerals of our own parishioners without expecting or exacting a fee. When, however, we are called upon to officiate for those outside otir church and congregation and they are abundantly able to remunerate us for time and la'bor they should do so. At these services promptness is a virtue. Do not keep the undertaker and the mourners waiting. If the burial is to be several miles distant and for any reason known to yourself, you do not desire to go to the cemetery it is decorous for you to read the committal service at the house, or arrange for a brother minister who resides near the cemetery to meet the procession and read the committal in your stead. Should such an arrange- ment as this not be feasible, and the undertaker is a Chris- tian man, hand the ritual to him and request him to per- form this brief part of the ceremony for you. That certain reforms are demanded in funerals has long been apparent. How to effect this is not so clear. This may be said, and should not only be said, but be put in force, namely : That at the funerals of unbelievers the hymns, the ritual and the sermon should be entirely different from those which are employed at the funerals of Christians. If it were not so solemn it would be ludi- crous to have such a hymn as "Asleep in Jesus" sung, or such a benediction as ''Blessed are the dead" read over the bodies of those who, to use the expressive language of Christ, "died in their sins." It is sacrilegious and tends to remove the impressive distinction which should exist be- tween those who have done righteousness and those who have done it not. Another improvement that it would be well to make is that these last services of the blessed dead 127 should be bright and hopeful. Why not instead of cast- ing the 'clod upon the cofifin lid either cast in a sprig of evergreen or a fragile flower? Either of which would be beautifully suggestive. One, the emblem of fadeless memory, and the other of man's frailty. The practice coming into vogue in some of our cities of holding the religious services on the evening preceding the burial is also an improvement over the old custom. Until these and other desirable reforms are effected it is for us to be as passive and patient as we may under the present regime. Country funerals are, indeed, most exacting and many times exasperating, because of the time they consume. In some instances they take a half or three-quarters of a day, besides the exposure to rain and heat and cold^ and the demand that they proceed at funeral pace, whether the distance be one or twenty miles. The living have their rights, and when they are infringed upon by foolish customs and unreasonable demands, they should not be yielded to. But if we are kind and cour- teous and Christ-like the Lord will deliver us at these trying times. In closing this chapter let me briefly reiterate some of the observations it contains. It has been seen that the pastoral relation brings the preacher into closer touch with the people as a whole than any other he holds. It should, therefore, receive his constant attention, for it is a truism that "a. house-going pastor makes a church- going people." A good pastor has been 'regarded by some writers on Homiletics as rarer than a good preacher. If this is so, it is to the credit of the preacher as such^ and to the discredit of the pastor as such. You will soon come to understand, however, that some people in your parish do not care particularly for you to call on them that ycm may impart spiritual instruction or consolation, but because they hear you have called on their neighbor on the next street or the next. If you pass them by they 128 ! ^ will construe it into a personal slight or perhaps conclude that you do not think as highly of them as of others. Then, again, some people's vanity is tickled by having the minister call often and stay long. Now while we should call on all of our parishioners, and as far as it is con- sistent with Christian comity, from house to house^ yet it is pertinent to avoid gratifying those who desire our visits for trivial or sinister motives. Shorter and fewer calls if strictly pastoral are more to the edification of the flock and to the economizing of time, which should always be a consideration with us, than are longer and more fre- quent visits which are largely social or gossipy in their make-up. You will also discover that some people when they cannot find any other ground of complaint against their pastor will say: "He does not call often enough to suit us." This may (be strictly true. For who shall say how many calls would suit them? But the criticism is some- times in the pastor's favor^ and not against him. Rightly interpreted, it may mean that the parishioners are over exacting in their demands upon him, or that he is a stu- dent and is toiling away in his workshop. If either be true, he is exonerated from all blame and is deserving of praise and not censure. There are people who will wish you to go to their homes and spend the day with them. Well, if you comply with this request very often you will never make much headway in your studies. You will only be a man of mediocre ability — if that — and nothing more. Then_, again, you will meet many ministers and speakers who, like the writers on Homiletics aforesaid, essaying to give instruction on "pastoral relations/' will often extol the pastor at the expense of the preacher. They get to ringing the changes on the need of the times, which say they "is not better preachers but better pas- tors." Or they will take up the cry of some disaffected 129 deacon, or steward, or vestryman, and vociferate, **give us a pastor." Now far be it from me to discount the pastor. I cannot help but feel, however, when I hear these breth- ren thus energetically make this demand, somewhat as the old Yorkshire woman felt when she said to her min- ister : "I often feel afflicted that ye do not ca' oftener, but mon, when ye get into the pulpit, I ala's forgives ye." I would not magnify the pastor and minimize the preacher, but would say that one may be forgiven if he does not call much, 'but there is no forgiveness for him, if when he stands in the pulpit as the King's ambassador he fails to represent Him and to deliver His message as it 'becometh a legate of high heaven. Therefore, magnify your ofifice as pastor, if you will, but never at the expense of your pulpit ministration. What we should be in the twofold performance of our pastoral and ministerial functions is nowhere so accurate- ly portrayed as in these lines of Chaucer: 130 "A good man there was of religioun, That was a poure Parson of a town ; But rich he was of holy thought and werk, He also was a lerned man, and a clerk. That Christe's gospel trewely wolde preche. His parishens devoutly wolde he teche. Benigne was he, and wonder diligent, And in adversitie full patient . . Wide was his parish and houses fer asonder. But he left nought for no rain ne thunder, In sicknesse and in mischief to visite The ferrest in his parish, high and low, Upon his fete, and in his hand a staf. This noble ensample to his shepe he yah. That first he wrought and afterwards he taught. He dwelt at home and kepte well his fold. So that the wolf ne made it not miscarrie. He was a shepherd and no mercenarie. . . A better preest I trowe that nowher non is, He waited after no pompe ne reverance. He maked him no spiced conscience, But Christes lore, and his apostles twelve, He taught, but first he folowed it himselve." Let us be Hke this "person'' of ye olden time and the Lord will give us many seals to our ministry and many souls for our hire. 131 CHAPTER VII. CIVIC DUTIES AND THEIR PERFORMANCES. Among the manifold public duties Imposed upon the mmister are those accruing from citizenship. These should never be ignored or waived. The danger too often is that they will be submerged under the greater and more oner- ous duties of his pastorate, or that he may be forgetful, or neglectful, of the fundamental fact that the immunities, rights and privileges, common to all citizens are inalien- able to him. If he be eager to meet these civic obliga- tions and disposed fearlessly to discharge them some offi- cious person is sure to rise up and seek to restrain him. This under the fallacious excuse that he is a minister of the gospel and consequently these lesser relationships are unworthy of his time and attention. He should counte- nance no such implied abridgement of his rights as a citizen. The fourteenth amendment of the Constitution of the United States prohibits it. This is an aegis for his protection when he needs it. And this, especially if an adopted citizen, or if by reason of a former condition of slavery then existing, he still be looked upon by some as a chattel and not as a man. St. Paul, the apostle to the Gentiles, magnified his citizenship. At the time when Rome was the proud mis- tress of the world he was a denizen of that magnificent empire. In his various writings he adverts to it, explains how he came by it, glories in it. He made it the bulwark of his defence in times of danger. Pie asserted his rights as such on all occasions by the utterance of those talis- manic words, ''Ciz'is Roinaniis siiiuy If these failed to 132 afford him the protection he sought, then — as his prero- gative as a Roman gave him tlic right — he appealed to C?esar. Tims carrying out to its extreme Hmits the priv- ileges it afforded. His example is worthy of emulation. In his preaching also he enlarged upon the duties this relation carried with it, and urged the Phillipian Chris- tians to "play the citizen worthy of the Gospel of Christ." A lofty sentiment, but surely one worthy of being re- peated in our day and country. It is the supreme demand of the hour. That this demand may be promptly met, the minister should enhance the supply both by precept and example. It is doubtless true that he is seeking a bet- ter country, even a heavenly. But this quest should not preclude his active participation in the affairs of the pres- ent one, though earthly. In a republic like ours, which magnifies the burgher and not the ruler, which exalts the mdividual and not the state, which invests vast and far- reaching prerogatives in its exercise of franchise, he can- not in justice to himself waive these rights or ignore these obligations which citizenship imposes upon him. It will, however, be seen at a glance that to discharge these intelligently, and with the most beneficient results to the commonwealth, a general knowledge of the insti- tutions which are national in character and scope is in- dispensable. The Church, the State, the Public School System, the American Sabbath, Freedom of the Press, and of the individual, are among the most important of these. With an imperfect knowledge of what these are and what they stand for, preachers can neither exemplify that good citizenship which loyally supports them, nor in times when they are assailed and in danger successfully defend them. 'Tn a republic guaranteeing freedom of conscience, and of the press, sustaining pubHc schools, making laws regulating churches in various aspects and dealing with such moral questions as war, the social evil, gambling, intemperance, the saloon and human freedom 133 in its various forms, that a pastor should be so withdrawn as to have no sentiments, or having them, not express them by the highest act of a free man, the depositing of a free ballot, could not ingratiate him with the people as a teacher of spiritual religion. If he were a monk, emerg- ing at intervals, and retiring to his oratory, there would be a consistency, as he would know nothing about the country, he would be wise, in the absence of a special revelation, to say and to do nothing political unless his monastery or his church should be attacked." It should not be so with the minister who is in touch with the people and the times. His citizenship will be worthless unless he discharges its obligations fully. Un- less he speaks out on all occasions when the Magna Char- ter of Liberty is assailed, or the palladium of national institutions is threatened. Opportunity is constantly being furnished him for the largest exercise of these civic duties. Continentalism, sectionalism, political bossism, saloonism and anarchism, have already, like Samson of old, laid their hands upon the very pillars on which our institutions have been reared and upon which they stand. Their downfall is imminent and sure, unless he awake to the stupendous responsibility which rests upon him and others in conserving and preserving them in all their national insulation and power. It is obvious to me that the reason why preachers are not more influential as citizens is either because they do not regard their civic relations as being of the highest importance, or else they feel that what they can do is so small and insignificant that they content themselves with doing nothing. If I am correct in my conclusion they are in error. As already affirmed, the relation of citizenship is an exalted one. As to preachers effecting little in this sphere is doubtless due to their attempting the great things and omitting the less. For example, in meeting these various duties how few fully realize that its best 134 exemplification is in fostering and exhibiting a "commun- ity spirit." In identifying themselves with the interests of the hamlet, town or city, in which they are pastors. In entering heartily into any movement for its betterment — industrially, educationally, socially or politically. In com- mending and seconding efforts at any and all improve- ments. In the establishment of night schools, relief bu- reaus and reading rooms. In becoming part and parcel of the community life which surrounds them. In taking a hand in the selection of town officials or city magnates. In speaking out boldly against corruption, fraud and vice. Not that they should be Comstocks or Parkhursts; but that they should become active factors in the public affairs of their own township or municipality. There are preach- ers who come out of their shell as do some fish, periodi- cally. Just before a State or national election you will see them and possibly hear them as they act out their part at the polls. No wonder under the circumstances that they fail to make themselves felt in their community. They are not corporate with it and therefore do not count for much as men of affairs. Before passing on to enumerate the larger duties of good citizenship as seen in the exercise of the political franchise and pulpit political utterances, I desire to note a few exemptions from civic obligations from which min- isters are released on account of their distinctive calling. They are partially exempt in their own right from taxa- tion on personal or real estate. All other citizens are taxed to the full if possessed of property. The moral m- fluence and community interest of the first class should offset the monetary value of the latter class always and everywhere. They are likewise exempt from the drudg- ery of jury duty, and further from military draft in most of the States of the Union in time of war. All these ex- emptions come to them, not by their own seeking, but because they are ministers of the gospel. Being thus vol- 135 untarily released from these they should the more ener- getically and wisely perform those which come to all citi- zens, yet seem to be doubly incumbent upon them be- cause of the position they hold and the influence for good they can wield. Shall preachers have anything to do with politics? Certainly, how otherwise can they discharge their obli- gations as citizens? Or how otherwise can they be that which good citizenship implies — patriots? Here again some good men, as well as bad men, will be found who will disparage preachers so far as they can from having anything to do with politics. Indeed, some religious de- nominations as a whole discount them. But let us keep constantly in mind our former contention that the citizen is not swallowed up in the parson, nor citizenship in the pastorate, and conform our dicta and conduct accord- ingly. Therefore, as a citizen, the minister has a right to be a member of any political party which he rnay select. He is free to espouse any political principles or platform which may be formulated. Furthermore, he may advo- cate the election of any candidate who may 'be running for office, great or small. If he chooses he may call him- self by the party name and utter the party shibboleth. But while all this may be lawful, it will not always be expedi- ent. Because it is not advisable that he should be known so much as a party politician as a citizen, a patriot, a statesman and a supporter of the best government poli- cies. He should have something to say about the men who are selected for public office. But someone says: "This is well nigh impracticable in view of the shrewd- ness of the politicians who make out their slates before an opportunity is given the people to make their selec- tion." This is conceded. Nevertheless, it happens some- times that the 'best laid plans of these men "gang aft agley." When they do then the politicians disagree. This is the time for the preacher to use his influence for the 136 election of the cleanest men in the field, or with the help of others put them in the field. The bane of American politics lies in the fact that too often the citizens of the highest repute stay away from the primary and the cau- cus. Here is the fountain head. It is here that direction is needed. The preacher should then be there to give it, if he can be with propriety and without loss of dignity or personal independence. The reason for this last remark will be obvious later on. If it is not always compatible for him to be present at the primary he should at least be prepared in a manly way to exercise the elective franchise. There will come times when he will feel that he may reasonably be excused from so doing. Times when there will be a multiplicity of un- desirable candidates, unsatisfactory platforms and per- plexing issues. Perhaps not one of these, as a whole, will be- to his liking. What shall he do? To vote may not exactly please him, not to vote would be the easiest way out of the dilemma. This is what some good Christian men do. They are the stay-aways who frequently permit the worst elements in society to prevail. It would seem better to vote for the best in the batch, and thus put one's approval on them, rather than not to vote at all. But in following this advice do not confine yourself necessarily to party candidates or principles. Rather take the cream and leave the skimmed milk to those who prefer it be- cause served up by party caterers. To be an independent voter will frequently result in occupying a far more su- perior position than that of a party man. One will then be at liberty to consistently repudiate the wrong and help forward the right in whatever party found. He will rise above partizanship, disregard the beck of party managers and be himself a leader and an example here as elsewhere. Thus far the minister may have done no more to further the interests of any political candidate, party or platform, than any other good and loyal citizen has done 137 or should do. Neither has he superceded his prerogatives as a citizen. Now arises the question : ''Shall he preach politics in the pulpit?" Our answer is that he may and should occasionally preach what is in its philological sense a political sermon. But such a sermon, in its com- mon and conventional meaning, seldom if ever. It is pos- sible that once in a year, or a quadrennium, a politico- moral issue may come to the front which is of such mag- nitude as to call for specific comments from the pulpit. Even then its utterances must not be of a partisan charac- ter. Dr. Broadus says : "Political preaching has long been a subject of vehement discussion in America and presents questions of great importance. Government here does not interfere with religious sects to support some and to prosecute others, and we have in this respect no occasion to discuss governmental affairs. Still, political measures often involve, and are sometimes almost identi- cal with great questions of right and wrong. The notion that political decisions are to be regularly made on grounds of mere expediency is dishonoring to the religion which many of us profess, and would ultimately ruin any nation. That truly pious men shall carry their religion into politics, shall keep religious principles uppermost in all political questions which have a moral character, is an unquestionable and solemn duty. Of course it is right that the preacher should urge them to do so, and should urge it with special earnestness in times of great political excitement, when good men are often carried away." Nevertheless, even at such times, one must not be a political partisan, neither must his pulpit discourse be such as that it can be construed into an harangue for some particular party. This should be obvious on the ground that if one preacher has a right to present the claims of his political party another, of a different stripe and name, has an equal right to present his. The line must be drawn somewhere, and it should be one which 138 excludes all. As to preaching politics in the sense of ad- vocating the gist principle espoused 'by a party, is ordi- narily proper, if the gist principle and not the party is kept to the fore, and if the modus operandi is left mostly to others. This the most judicious preachers did in the settlement of the slavery question. They urged the liber- ation of the blacks on the grounds of humanity, equality and the golden rule. That is what the preachers should do in the settlement of the liquor question ; that is, so far as their preaching is concerned. They should advocate the abolition of this infernal traffic by shovv^ing that it is the breeder of crime, a corrupter of morals, a foe to the home, inimicable to the church, and a blot on the fair escutcheon of the State ; that it deserves no quarters, and that all men who seek its abridgement or its extermina- tion deserve not only the moral but the electoral support of all who love their fellowmen, their country and their God. Preachers may and should go further in that they ought to preach against the evils of the license system, and advocate "No License'' movements, Anti-Saloon Leagues, Temperance Guilds, or anything else which will lessen or destroy this monster evil in our land. Some presidential campaigns play havoc with the preachers. The wily politicians seek to inveigle them and make them special pleaders in their pulpits, according to their predilections and sectional environment, in favor of some phase of the currency, revenue or tariff question. Many of them are entrapped and betrayed into giving ut- terance to the most unseemly partisan statements in the place from which should be disseminated the doctrines of the Holy Scriptures. Those who yield to the pressure of influence from without are regarded, by church-goers in general, as desecrating their pulpits and prostituting their God-given opportunities to the cause of filthy lucre and the buying and selling (not of doves) but of paltry ware. Do not understand me, however, as meaning that 139 there are no moral issues in a presidential campaign when the rallying cry is ''silver and gold," or "territorial expan- sion," and others of a like nature. There are and these are frequently great and vital issues to the masses. The way for ministers to get at them, however, is not by men- tioning them under the conventional appellation of "silver and gold," "expansion" and "imperialism," but to dis- cover whether any such radical changes as are proposed will work an injustice to any man or nation. If so, the principle of right should be maintained and espoused by divines. I would not say in their pulpits, for it would seem to some Christian people to be out of place there. It would be better to take up all the politico-moral ques- tions in the lecture room or lyceum hall. As to whether ministers should make lecture tours in behalf of any poli- tical party — I think not. Let the preachers take to the pulpit and the politicians to the stump. The work of one is to save men, of the other to preserve the State. The latter the preachers can most efYectually assist the poli- ticians in doing by saving the individuals, who in the end make the State. Never so far forget yourself as to take a vote by any method in any of your distinctively church meetings on municipal or national affairs. It is grossly inconsistent with the ministerial function, and glaringly out of place, for a pastor at a public Sabbath service in the church of God to ask all present who favor the election of a speci- fied person to a political office, or the policy of a mayor against an alderman, a fire, water, school, police board, or vice versa, to stand and be counted. If you may not do this yourself under these circumstances without vio- lating the proprieties, neither should you permit it to be done by another. It has sometimes been proposed by leaders of Young People's meetings, and chairmen of Men's Church Guilds to do so. When for example, the "gold and silver" standards, tariff and free trade, distinc- 140 lively prohibitory and high license nieasures, colonial ex- pansion have been the issues, an open expression has sometimes been called for in church meetings on these questions. When this has been done it has usually re- sulted in the sowing of discord, and in some instances the rupture of the church. Where these baneful effects have not immediately followed, much damage has been done by secularizing the House of God, in turning it for the time into a polling booth and by making it the object of well-merited censure from all sides and by members of all political parties. When we come as men of God to enter the realms of sociology and moral reforms, we shall find ourselves more at home, our duties more in harmony with our call- ing, and withal more congenial. Preachers hesitate at times to take an advanced position in political affairs. First, because they desire to respect the political aiBiia- tion of the members of their churches, and secondly, be- cause they do not wish to be regarded as dabbling in poli- tics. Such words have a very unsavory and ominous sound to themselves and others. It is vastly different when they enter the arena as champions of sobriety, per- sonal purity, Sabbath observance, or as advocates of in- ebriate asylums, Magdaline homes and charity hospitals. They feel now that they are on firmer ground and on their own ground for that matter, and can in their own right advance to the front. Here they are leaders and are so recognized. It therefore follows that in all reforms for the betterment of the individual, community, or State, the preacher should at least lend a helping hand. The allega- tion has been made by some reformers of the radical type that some of the reforms so much in demand are delayed by the apathy or opposition of the clergy. Its utterance is its own refutation. History unmistakably demonstrates that they have brought about more humane customs, more amelioratory measures, and the establishment of 141 more institutions for the housing of the poor, tlie naked and the sick, than any other body of men. What I need to lay stress upon is, that if, as minisers of the Gospel we desire to be leaders of the people, we must put our hand to every good work. If pertinent and desirable take the initiative, if otherwise give our co-operation. This may be the place for me to say that it is seldom wise for preachers to go the whole length of certain pro- posed reforms with some of their most rabid advocates. If they do they will not be trusted by the people. These men usually only see the evil to be eradicated, or the boon sought. Forgetful of all else, they frequently strike right and left, and in doing so work injustice to many in order to obtain their end. They unchurch brethren of their own household of faith, and unfrock the clergy of their own and other religious denominations. This simply be- cause these persons decline to conform to their peculiar methods or shout their battle cry. By reason of his official position the man of God will find himself where he may become like his Master, a peacemaker. Differences arise between employers and employes. Strikes follow. In his church are the rich and the poor. Capital and labor are perhaps both largely rep- resented there. To remain silent under such circum- stances is the highest prudence. At other times to speak out with no uncertain sound is his imperative duty. What shall he say and what shall he do? This is not always clear. It is always safe, however, to seek to be a medi- ator. To stand up valiantly for the oppressed of his peo- ple, as did Moses. To advise moderation and toleration. But, mark you, he must know no masses, no classes, no high, no low, no rich, or poor, as such among his people. As the Lord is the maker of them all, so he must be a conciliator and a pastor to all. He must not alienate from himself or the church either party. It would be well for the clergy of the Protestant churches to seek to exer- 142 cise in labor strikes equal powers of melioration and arbi- tration as those we see wielded by prelates of the Catholic church. It may be that this cannot come to pass in view of the different degrees of authority exercised by the clergy therein. If not, let us do what we can to further prosperity and harmony among all classes. That there is constant need that this should be done is patent from the continued discontent among the toilers and the combina- tions among the capitalists. The country is kept in a state of constant alarm on account of the strikes of coal miners, motor men, and others. Hence, ministers should be as wise as serpents and as harmless as doves^ in their dealings with all factions. Wave, then, the olive branch of peace^ and not the red flag of discord from your posi- tions of influence and power. When war arises the preacher finds himself suddenly confronted with new and strange duties. By calling he is a man of peace; by birth a citizen; by love a patriot. These three relations call for the performance of duties that are somewhat conflicting. Shall he pray publicly for success to attend the arms of one host in the combat? Shall he speak on the conflict? Shall he exhort men to leave the plough, the forge, the marts of trade^ and pro- fessional pursuits, and march to war? Shall he shoulder a musket and go himself? These queries will arise in his mind, and be forced upon his attention by the pressure of the hour. It may seem a little grotesque^ but yet it is true, notwithstanding, that some of the most religious men have been warriors and some of the most renowned of these have been fighting parsons. In the War of the Revolution^ and the Rebellion^ some of the most impor- tunate praying, the most recruiting preaching, and the hardest fighting were done by preachers. And during our sharp, brief struggle with Spain — which so happily terminated for us as a nation, and the oppressed people in whose behalf we entered it — the ministers of all the 143 churches were among the most outspoken against Span- ish tyranny and cruelty, among the foremost to respond to their country's call, helping to create that sentiment which preferred a recourse to arms in behalf of the lowly and the helpless, rather than a state of masterly inactivity and criminal indifference. They promptly and loyally and patriotically supported the President in the discharge of the many arduous duties which the war imposed upon him. They were not slow in recognizing the propriety and equity of holding for commerce, education and evan- gelization those gems of the sea, which, 'by the fortunes of war and the decree of the God of battles, had come into our possession and which sued for our protection. The policy of relegating these people back again to ignorance, barbarism, and superstition of the dark ages, instead of giving them the light and liberty, the civilization and Christianization of the closing decade of the glorious nineteenth century, found few advocates among them. Hence, they were desirous, nay, urgent, that the flag which floats over this land of the free should likewise float over those islands of the sea, and that the inhabitants thereof should come out from the rule of an effete and dying dynasty, and come under the more mild, humane, and beneficient sway of a civilized and Christian govern- ment. Should a similar crisis arise, or a foreign force in- vade our shores, there would be no hesitancy on their part to do what duty demanded. Nevertheless, it is their special and their benign province to foster ''peace on earth, good will to men," and to pray for the time to speedily come "when men shall beat their swords into plough shares, and their spears into pruning hooks, when nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more." Then war drums shall throb no longer, and battle flags be furled, *Tn the Parliament of man, the federation of the world." 144 CHAPTER VIII. HEALTH, EXERCISE AND RECREATION. A "father in the church" in his cogitations once said: "Courage, my soul, and let us defy the weakness of the body.'' Too many of his successors in the sacred office have been possessed of a similar thought, even though they may never have given it utterance. To think it is bad enough, to conform to it is worse. The body is not to be defied. It has its rights and frequently asserts them much to our discomfort. The will in its majesty and the soul in its grandeur may seek to dominate it, and may do so for a time. Alas, it is only for a time ! Their triumph soon comes to an end ; for man is largely made of matter, and this calls for constant care and attention. Good health is the elixir of life. It is the harbinger of success in almost every vocation. The majority of men who have accomplished the most for themselves and the world have had a modicum of it. Not that they have always been brimful of animal vivacity and vitality. Nor have they been uniformly among the giants physically, nor the athletes muscularly. Only perhaps that their gen- eral health has been firm. While they have sought after knowledge, wealth, and position, they have not forgotten that much depended as to the attainment of these on their physical energy, their staying bodily properties, and their powers of application. Consequently they have sought to conserve their strength at every point. "It must be admitted that, in order to secure the full working power of the mind, and to maintain it in its healthy action, the bodily organs must receive their due 145 share of attention. Man must live in accordance with na- ture and conformably with the laws under which his body has been designed and framed, otherwise he will suffer the inevitable penalty of pain and disease. For the law of the body is no more to be at defiance than the law of gravitation. It is not necessary that one should be con- stantly thinking of how this or that function is being per- formed. Self-consciousness of this sort amounts to a dis- ease. But, in order to live according to nature, some rea- sonable knowledge of the laws of life seems to be neces- sary in every complete system of education, for our daily happiness as well as our mental vigor entirely depend upon the healthy condition of the bodily frame, which the soul inhabits and through which the mind works and creates." To none is the blessing of good health of more im- portance than to ministers of the gospel. The ancients were right in seeking a sound body as a dwelling place for a sound mind. In our preparatory training, and in our post school discipline, we should aim at nothing short of its attainment. Some of us start in the race handicapped in this matter, we have then the greater incentive to fos- ter health and husband strength. A complementary dic- tum of St. Paul's "Epccke Seauton' — "take heed to thy- self" — is Solon's ''Gnothe Scauton' — ''know thyself." Take a comprehensive view of the body and its vital or- gans. Remember that to do the work demanded it must be kept in the best condition possible. That it is merely a fine piece of mechanism. Its every part duly and beau- tifully adjusted to every other part. That it is composed of flesh and blood, nerve and tissue, brain and brawn. Upon the healthfulness of these severally depends the health of the body as a solidarity. Too much stress cannot be laid upon the desirability of retaining the organs of the human body in a state of normal activity and vigor. On these are conditioned use- 146 fulness, happiness, and progressiveness in every walk of life. It is a misfortune that so many men are prema- turely disqualified for mental labor occasioned by some physical ailment. The sequel is a lack of harmony and a derangement of the functions of the body. They perform their toil under constraint and pain, if at all. The product of their labor is neither the best in quahty nor the most in quantity. In short, their general usefulness is greatly curtailed and hindered by their impaired condition. As to one's happiness, no less an authority than Sidney Smith puts it moderately when he affirms that ''it is not impossi- ble without health, but it is very difficult of attainment." By "health" he here means not an absence of dangerous complaints — for all of us cannot always ward them off — but that the body should be kept in perfect tune, as vig- orous and as robust as its constitution and antecedents will warrant. It is said of Chancellor Thurlow that he ''rushed like Achilles into the field, and dealt destruction around him, more by the strength of his arm, the deep tones of his voice and the lightning of his eye, than by any peculiarity of genius." And the biographer of the Rev. John Angell James tells us that when that gentle- man had completed his education "he was remarkable for nothing but impetuosity, breadth of chest, and such strongly developed tendencies as to warrant this blunt summary of his character, 'the thick-headed fool was fit for nothing but fighting.' " Notwithstanding, he proved the contrary and became a great preacher. Those bodily qualities which would have made him a much dreaded antagonist in the wrestler's ring, helped, to a marvelous degree, to make him a tremendous power in the pulpit. The same is true of the prelates of to-day. Without citing individual instances, it is evident that size and avoirdu- pois are among the co-efficients of the most acceptable service in the ministry of the present age. These facts having been noticed have given rise to 147 that peculiar and perhaps, in a strictly philological and theological sense, contradictory phrase, "muscular Chris- tianity." Charles Kingsley declared ''that this expression had but two positive meanings, one of which was useless and irreverent, and the other untrue and immoral." As to the time concerning which he made this comment he was doubtless correct. The religion and practices of the early Christians were passive and feminine ; while the profession of a high physical organization never has and never will, in the light of the ten commandments, absolve a man from the practice of moral virtues. But a new in- terpretation of this phrase has been given since Kings- ley's time. It has come to mean that there is no piety necessarily connected with a puny body, or a face sickled o'er with the pale cast of thoug^ht. Neither does sanctity as a matter of course consist in a cadaverous counte- nance simply because it happens to be the visage of a man who wears a black coat and a white cravat and stands once a week in a pulpit dispensing the Bread of Life. No, if possible, let these marks be the exception and not the rule. That steady confinement and sedentary habits tend to produce them is apparent ; the more need then of con- stantly following counter-practices which will produce more healthful results. In this commonly accepted sense it is our hope that muscular Christianity has come to stay, and that the thorough development of the body and the maintenance of the best condition of health will obtain a place in the college curriculum and in our private re- gime. Nerve and brawn should be developed and conserved side by side. They are not strictly speaking equivalent counterparts in brain workers, they are co-relatives and co-dependents. It may be possible for such men to have too much muscle or too little nerve force. Either in ex- cess is a disadvantage rather than an advantage. It will be seen at a glance that a preacher does not require as 148 much brawn as a farmer or a blacksmith in order to per- form his work well. He does need sufficient, however, to prevent much waste and loss of nerve energy. Enough to enable him to recruit rapidly after excessive mental la- bor. Unless the body is kept in constant repair, the brain, like a two-edged sword, will quickly wear out its scabbard body. The nerves are continuously being strung and unstrung. If man is a nervous machine gov- erned by a temperament, as Esquirol affirms, then its ten- sion should be wrought with as much care as the musi- cian makes taut the strings of the most delicate instru- ment. More men break down nervously than physically in the ministry. Here is where the strain comes. Hence, here is where reserve force should be stored. That man is most fearfully and wonderfully made is shown in every part and function of body and soul. In none ^o strikingly as in his nervous system. Let this become disarranged and the whole man is like a machine out of gear. Moreover, the nerves are greatly affected by emo- tion. By a joyous and happy mood, nervous action is in- creased, the vital organs are stimulated to do their work well and a glow of health pervades the whole body. Grief diminishes nervous action. Both these forces are present and have to be frequently confronted in the ministerial vocation. His religion furnishes him the one, and his mingling with the poor, the sick and the disconsolate the other. If the joy of the Lord stir the emotions more largely and continuously than the sorrows of man, then the benefit shall accrue to the heart and the nerves alike. As the nerves control all the movements of the body, both conscious and unconscious, and these affect its nourish- ment, we need to take the greatest care to keep them healthy, and especially to avoid all causes likely to injure them. Let the laws of digestion be observed. Avoid breathing foul air. Give the brain some thinking to do daily. Take healthful exercise. When weary give brain 149 and nerves rest. Do the hardest studying and closest thinking when they are the most vigorous. This is usually in the morning hours. Take nutritious food and an abun- dance of sleep. A decimated body and atrophied nerves in brain workers are frequently due to two causes. Both of these are common and would need no specification here were it not that their very commonness has led many to regard them as trivial and of little significance. The first is neg- lect. One's general health may be and oftentimes is for- gotten under the exhilerating and exciting glow accom- panying brain work. Or when not forgotten, it may be regarded as equal to, or more than equal, to any strain which may be put upon it. Which of the two, neglect or over-estimation of health, is the more prevalent, or the more to be deplored, is difficult to decide. That they both lead to the same end if continued is sadly and invariably true. Brain excitement re-acts upon the nerves, the stom- ach, the heart, the liver, and upon the entire framework of the human system. Its effect upon it is exhausting in proportion to its intensity and duration. Notwithstand- ing, the strain is often continued, change^ rest and exer- cise are not thought of, until the body has become im- paired. A little attention and fore-thought here^ with a determination not to neglect the body, would save many men from becoming physically weak while they are seek- ing to become mentally strong. Another prolific cause of general debility is due to over 'brain work and to a too constant application of the mind. There are instances on record of men who have studied from ten to sixteen hours daily. Few of these have ever amounted to much corporally. Neither have they been examples of longevity. Such men as Summer- field and Robertson, the distinguished divine of Brighton, England, may serve as examples of an innumerable com- pany. The Rev. John vSummerfield, never of a very rug- 160 ged or robust constitution, began his marvelous career amid great promise. Churches in the principal cities of this and other countries were not capacious enough to accommodate the multitudes which thronged to his minis- try. But his zeal and labor were so excessive that his brilliant course terminated within a few years of its in- auguration. The Rev. F. W. Robertson furnishes an- other lamentable instance of an injudicious and over- worked divine. Nervous in temperament, supersensitive to public opinion, too introspective and self-conscious by nature. By turns he studied, preached and lectured. His preaching being largely extemporaneous, was followed by that mental after-glow which is usual to such mental operations. After seeking medical advise and rest by travel, he continued to work on as sedulously as ever. The result was brain fever and paralysis, of which he died in his thirty-seventh year. Had Robertson given more thought to his fcody and its crying demands he would doubtless have come to his grave "like as a shock of corn cometh in his season." The lives, yea, the deaths, too, of these men should remind us that if we overwork we must pay for it. We are no different from other men physiologically. Our calling will not shield us if we infract nature's laws. We reckon on this too much. To do so, however, is super- stition. Few of us recognize that this is so, until the dull pain in the head, and the exhausted feeling in the chest remind us that it is time to call a halt. To heed these admonitions is life, to ignore them is death. The most prevalent evils consequent upon the neg- lect of health laws and over 'brain work are those com- mon pests of all literary toilers known in the "Materia Medica" as dyspepsia, insomnia and nervous prostration. It will be unnecessary for me to describe them. Like other ills, to which flesh is heir, they have to be felt and experienced to be fully understood. Blessed is the man 161 who is ignorant of their gnawings and their stabs. Preach- ers are among the most easy victims of these maladies. The first often lays its hand upon them in the form of kindly hospitality. Their friends load them with goodies and fete them with dainties. The temptation proves too strong for many. They indulge to their fill, only to find themselves suffering a few hours afterwards from a severe attack of indigestion. If they are prudent, ever after- wards they will heed the admonition of Solomon : "When thou sittest down to eat with a ruler, consider diligently what is before thee. And put a knife to thy throat, if thou be a man given to appetite. Be not desirous of his dain- ties, for they are deceitful meat." If imprudent they pass on and are punished. Indigestion gives place to dyspep- sia, which in its most virulent attacks even curdles the milk of human kindness and sours the gospel leaven. Insomnia is superinduced not alone by excessive mental toil, but by pursuing such toil late into the night. The great Erasmus of Greek Testament fame gave this advice : "Never work at night, it dulls the brain and hurts the health." He was a prodigious toiler, as is clearly evinced in the history of "Erasmus and His Times," and consequently was thoroughly qualified to give it. As we have before said — the morning is the proper time for lit- erary work. The brain then has opportunity, like over- heated machinery, to cool off gradually. It will be found well nigh impossible to distuiib it in pottering with liter- ature, or wrestling with problems, or cogitating for com- position, just before retiring, and then fall into a sound sleep. This you will soon learn cannot be done. It will go on grinding when you have ceased to put grain into the hopper by sheer force of momentum. Here is where the danger comes, for the fret and the friction now wear the delicate machinery itself. Dyspepsia and insomnia are the sure forerunners of nervous prostration. They usually appear in the order 152 named. They constitute a series, the last being immeas- urably worse than the first. Physical wrecks shock our sensibilities and stir our sympathies. Nervous and men- tal wrecks are still more lamentable. Such sights are enough to stir the pity of the angels. If brain workers will eat and drink inordinately, if they will at the same time force the brain to overwork, then the inevitable con- sequence will be dyspepsia, melancholia and sleeplessness. Further on it will be proper to show how to restore oneself when these ailments have become deep-seated and chronic. At this point attention is simply called to some of the preventatives. These have always (been found more pleasant and less expensive than remedies and re- storatives, and when taken in time have warded off the attacks of these foes. But not all literary men are sickly, not all are dyspeptics, and not all are poor sleepers and poor eaters. The causes are sometimes constitutional. More frequently they are the result of nonobservance of natural laws. After many years of special reading and study on the subject I am convinced that the beginning of impaired health is in unnatural and meager breathing during the hours of literary work ; half breathing, if you please. The mind becomes so absorbed in its work as that the lungs at times seem to be in a state of suspension. Then a free and full expansion seldom goes on. And yet, if it were only constantly remembered that the blood must pass through them no less than once every two minutes that it may be revivified and redistributed, the im- portance of a fuller inhalation and exhalation would be readily recognized, and being recognized would be acted upon. *'Age," says Dr. Reveille Parisse, ''begins and ad- vances through the lungs ; that this organ, essentially muscular and permeable, absorbs air, and in a measure digests it and assimilates it to our substance, and that here the deterioration of the human organism begins. If it were possible to bring the sanguinification of the blood 153 to its full perfection, I have no doubt that the true means of prolonging human life would be found." Another authority of note professionally avers 'That when the lungs are not properly inflated, the blood cannot be oxygenized. Sanguinification is imperfect, and it fol- lows that nutrition is imperfect. The action of the heart becomes languid, the blood is not propelled to the ex- tremities of the system, but accumulates in the internal organs." Such breathing moreover is needful for the re- vivification of the brain, equally with that of the muscles, and general health of the body. Pause occasionally in your work and rising from your desk pace across the room, at the same time expanding your chest, and take in a few full inhalations of pure air. If you find yourself in so passive a state as to scarcely discover a respiration visible, purchase a breathing tube, or ''inspirator/' and use it during labor hours. In addition, when walking, in- hale a long breath by installments and exhale it in a like manner. In treating the subject of breathing, Dr. Lenox Browne remarks : "It must 'be borne in mind that un- flinching regularity in this matter is of the greatest im- portance. Exercise in moderation, regularly and consci- entiously repeated, will increase the 'breathing capacity, improve the voice, and make speaking easy. It may change, and has changed, the falsetto of a full grown man into a full, sonorous, man's voice ; it may restore, and has restored, a lost voice, as it may also cure, and often has cured, clergyman's sore throat. It will certainly turn a greater quantity of dark, blue blood into bright red blood, the appetite will increase, sounder sleep will be enjoyed, flesh will be gained and the flabby, palid skin will fill out and get a healthy, rosy color. All this, and more, may be, and often has been, the result of lung gymnastics carried on in moderation and with perseverance." The diet should be simple, regular, and nourishing. The simpler during the period of hard work, the better. It 154 will then be more easily digested and assimilated. Never fill the stomach with food and immediately afterwards proceed with your reading, writing or studying. Give the brain, the hand, and the eye a respite, even though it may be of short duration, while the stomach is engaged in the first stages of digestion. The more liberal you are in your menu the more caution needs to be exercised against over-indulgence, and also against eating pastries and ices. Soups, meats, vegetables, eggs, and fruits, should consti- tute the staple articles of diet. To prevent indigestion and its train of evils one must take constant oversight of his daily fare. Do not fall into the erroneous custom of eat- ing to please when at the table of another. Neither when dining at a hotel, or great dinner; think that you must begin — as the "countryman'' thought he must — at the be- ginning of the "bill of fare'' and go through it from soup to toothpicks. When ofif work, as one should be when near the close of the week, or when taking considerable outdoor exercise, you may venture to eat more heartily and a greater variety. Rev. H. W. Beecher was accus- tomed to eat hberally on Saturdays, and sparingly on Sab- baths. This rule is a good one to practice, providing that one rest and recreate on Saturdays, not otherwise. Even then care should be taken that the stomach is not over- burdened or indigestible food eaten. Exercise and its benefits will more appropriately come under the head of "Recreation," and will be there more fully treated. It is pertinent here to briefly mention only those evolutions of body which need to be taken reg- ularly and moderately, from day to day, in order to keep up one's; general health. Nothing takes the place of walk- ing. T^kp^': at least a constitutional daily, unless the weather is extremely inclement, or sickness prevents. In addition to this exercise which will develop the legs, a special gymnastic exercise for the chest will prove greatly beneficial to clergymen. A pair of dumbbells, or Indian 166 clubs, swung vigorously for a few moments twice or thrice every twenty-four hours, will strengthen the muscles of the forearm, the chest, and the throat. A new theory re- garding vocal culture is gradually taking the place of the old, in which less attention is given to the "explosives" and "expulsives" and more to the development of the pec- toral muscles and the vocal chords by means of various chest expanders. Both drills, however, are scientific and requisite, and both should be sedulously practiced. Regular breathing, nourishing diet, and moderate exercise should have the efifect of producing such a healthful langor as that sleep would at the proper time naturally ensue. Should it do so, it becomes at once one of the most potent agencies against a physical or nervous break-down. Sleep is indispensable to the preacher. He can do without food or exercise with less damage to the brain than he can wdthout sleep. If it does not ensue in a short time he is incapacitated for work and disinclined to eat. He must have sleep, and the more of it, within reasonable bounds, the more salutory the effects. Do not scrimp yourself of it. You cannot do so with impu- nity. An error into which some ambitious students fall is that such men as Wesley, Edwards and others accommo- dated themselves to four or six hours' sleep and they can do likewise. How bitter their disappointment after a few trials. More sleep, rather than less, should be one's aim and practice. Twice four hours is not too much for one who gives six or more hours a day to hard concentrated brain work. Fenelon and Wesley represent a long line of divines who have done a prodigious amount of literary lalbor by devoting fewer hours to sleep than the majority of their brethren. But even these men had a habit of sleeping almost at will. They could go to sleep under circumstances which would ordinarily have kept other men awake. It is said of the "Father of Methodism" that he could lie down and sleep whenever he desired. But 156 while Napoleon is said to have slept in his saddle, it has never been recorded that Wesley ever slept in his pulpit. He was always wide awake there and kept his auditors awake as well, however late or protracted the service. For procuring sleep various devices have been rec- ommended. Dr. Southey's advice was : ''Make your last employment in the day, something unconnected with the other pursuits, and you will be able to lay your head upon the pillow, like a child, and sleep." To preachers this is sage counsel. Follow it, generally, but especially on Sat- urday and Sunday nights. There are some people who believe that the sovereign remedy for sleeplessness con- sists in countjj^gLbackwards and forwards^ or repeating mentally froM^m^or|j«Hj'thingUjiat can be produced. The most Jm^s e^ecaent wlTiclv' has come to my knowledge \As one a(|^^d and. pr^ticed by a mission- ary, who is s Jd to havi reit^ate(|jhe I^ord's Prayer until his Satanic m|jesty puf him to sleep to get rid of it. This is unique, to say the least, but not over devotional. Phy- sicians also have their prescriptions. Here is an excerpt from the "Medical Record," which contains some prac- tical suggestions : ''A light supper just before retiring is usually of advantage. Baby and brute animals are usual- ly somnolent when their stomachs are well supplied with food, the activity of the stomach withdrawing the excess of blood from the brain, where it is not needed during sleep. On the other hand, people who are very hungry usually find it very difficult to sleep. And then a habit of sleep at a regulated time and during proper hours should be cultivated, in case this habit has been lost. In accom- plishing this the attainment of a favorable state of mind is of great importance. Sleep cannot be enforced by a direct exercise of the will. The very effort of the will to corrimand sleep is enough to render its attainment nuga- tory. The mental state to be encouraged is one of qui- escence, one of indifference, a feeling that the recumbent 157 posture is a proper one for rest, and that if the thoughts are disposed to continue active, they may be safely al- lowed to take their course without any efifort toward con- trol. This state of mind and thought is next akin to dreams, and dreaming is next to sound sleep." These are the most efficacious preventatives of the evils named, which are so common to men of active literary labors in the ministry. It is possible, however, that these neutralizing agen- cies will come to the notice of many too late to be of any material aid as dcterents. What they need to meet their case is a restorative. The body has been neglected, the brain has been overworked, the stomach has been abused, and the train of ills, above mentioned, have followed. What panacea have you to offer is the query on their lips? What will cure dyspepsia, insomnia, and nervous prostration? The remedies which we venture to suggest as curatives, after the patient has been afflicted, are the same as we have been recommending to forestall the on- coming of the disease. If you are subject to any of these ailments then give heed to your general health. Work moderately. Look well to your breathing apparatus, your food, exercise, and to sleep. In addition to these recreate. The word means a re- creation. When the mind and body have become so ex- hausted that they cannot perform their respective func- tions, then more than ordinary methods must be adopted to revivify them and impart to them new vigor. The most heroic measures sometimes have to be employed, such as entire mental rest, travel, medical skill, and anesthetics. These should be resorted to for the prolongation of life and service. It will also be found expedient to betake oneself to various other pursuits. When this is done, whether the recreation is to forestall a break-down, or to build up wihen the break-down has come, choose those, forms of exercise which will call you most into the open 168 air, and afford you the most pleasuralble physical exhiler- ation. P'^or convalescent preachers at sanitariums, or on the parsonage lawn, a game of tennis court, or croquet, may furnish enough movement of body and activity of muscles compatible with returning health and strength. But these pastimes are not, on the whole, for any but lady's men and sickly men. Neither of these types is min- isterially ideal, nor is either of the games. The kind of recuperative strength which one should seek is that which comes from a moderate indulgence in the manly sports. Walking has already been mentioned, to which may be added fishing, rowing, hunting, baseball, football, garden- ing, and horseback riding. It was a rule which Loyola placed upon his followers that after two hours of work the mind should unlimber by some diversion or recre- ation. Perhaps it is not generally known that most of the masters of English, although some of them in early life suffered from the evils of over brain work, and lack of proper bodily exercise, in after years forced themselves to take those relaxations and diversions which were most congenial or most accessible, and so prolonged their lives and labors. Yet this is undoubtedly so. The renowned Archbishop Whately was as great a walker as he was a talker among the men of his day. Timothy Dwight, an- other divine, by walking cured himself of a disease of the brain which would doubtless have curtailed his literary work and usefulness and shortened his days. Other brain workers equally as illustrious in the realm of letters have turned to the streams, the woods, the saddle, and in these days to the omnipresent bicycle, for the desired means of mental rest and recreation. Others have planted trees, dug ditches and jumped them, built fences and performed various other feats as their favorite pastime. Have a penchant for one or more of these yourself. If feasible, one which will require you to be out of doors and neces- sitate a more or less vigorous movement of the limbs. If 159 any of the above methods suggested are not within your reach, others are. Take those which are near at hand. Seek entertainment, also, in some suitable by-study, some subject which will take you out of the groove of your profession. Newton, the astronomer, delved into the my- steries of the Apocalypse ; Pitt, the statesman, into the Greek and Latin classics ; Brougham, into optics ; Fene- lon, the French divine, into geometry. In our own day, and among men of our own calling, some turn aside to the study of history, law, physics, sociology, drawing, en- gineering, photography, printing, and other like literary and scientific pursuits, as a relief from the constant rou- tine pressure of the pastorate. A word or two about ministerial vacations shall ter- minate this chapter on "Health, Exercise and Recrea- tion.'' Shall preachers have stated vacations? If so, shall these vacations always be taken during the heated term? To these two questions diverse answers might be given, each of which might appear correct. Something must depend on the local circumstances centering around the churches and the preachers as to whether the answer shall be Yes or No. A definite answer is probably not forthcoming from any quarter on account of the com- plexity and complicated nature of the questions. While it is my own candid opinion that preachers, like others whose work is largely with the brain, need a vacation and should have one, I am, nevertheless, convinced that it should not be stated, as once every so many months, but rather when the opportune time seems to be indicated, and the state of one's health demands. It is always bad policy to close a church during a part or the whole of the summer. Or for all the ministers in a community or ward to be taking a vacation at one and the same time. Neither will it create among the multitudes of toilers who must stay at home and labor for their daily sustenance a favor- able impression of the mission of the churches, or the 160 office work of the minister. To be sure, it is delightful and desirable too to be under the leafy bowers of the for- est, or taking a dip in the ocean, in the summer. Never- theless, we are supposed at least to practice self-denial. Here is the opportunity. The sick need visitation, the dead must be buried, and the mourners comforted. If consonant with our own health, let us stay and do what we can to alleviate the sorrows of others, and help bear their burdens. This does not mean that we should take no vacation. It means, rather, that when other ministers in our vicinity leave their posts we will stand by ours. When they re- turn, if we so desire, and can so arrange, we will go when we shall be least missed, when we most need rest, and when the work of the Lord shall not suffer. Time your departure and your stay. Go in the spring, or the autumn, or the winter, and not always the summer. Horace once gave to a legal friend of his this piece of curt advise : "Et rebus omissis atria servantem postico falle clientum," which, being freely translated, is this: "Take once in a while a holiday as a cure, and give a slip to your clients through the back door." It is as sound counsel for the clergyman as for the lawyer. Act upon it, and you will find that rest, that recreation, and that stimulus, which will enable you to return with new zest, energy, and power to prosecute your noble work of preaching the un- searchable riches of Christ to dying men. 161 CHAPTER IX. BEACONS OF WARNING. Whenever the trainman displays the red flag, or swings the red light, he always means, "Beware," "Look Out," "Danger Ahead." The man in the caboose of the express with his hand on the throttle valve may neither see the dangers nor heed them. But when they have been discovered, and warning given, it behooves him to shut off steam, put down the brakes, and if necessity shall require, come to a standstill. Should he do otherwise, property and Hfe are jeopardized. It would be, presuma- bly, more to his liking to go thundering on his way until he reached his destination. But in view of the perils ahead, unknown or only guessed by him, that destination might never be reached. So with the man in the pulpit, he dislikes to see the danger signals put forth by some cautious and observing ministerial brother, whose line of travel may have led him past these hazardous places in the road. He feels confident that he will neither run into any snare nor off the track. Alas, that so many do ! And because they do, we venture to flash out the red light of danger, and to utter a word of warning concerning these dangerous curves and turns. The first beacon of warning is beware of allowing yourself, even occasionally, much less habitually, to preach censoriously. A preacher never finds his ideal church, or flawless congregation, any more than either of these finds a perfect pastor. Little incongruities, incon- sistencies, and imperfections will appear as he becomes familiar with his flock. Petty annoyances will show them- 162 selves, such as a lack of church enterprise, an inclination to stay at home from one or more of the weekly services, a disposition on the part of some to keep the salary down. These and manifold otfier irritants, too numerous to men- tion here, will sometimes lead to unadvised and untimely remarks in the pulpit. The preaching will take on a cen- sorious or fault-finding tone. The minister will frequently deplore the paucity of the audience. He will contrast the alacrity and regularity with which some of his people attend entertainments, and the dilatory and intermittant methods of going to church ; and how the weather does not keep them from the performance of business and so- cial duties. Now it may be very proper to make mention of such delinquencies once in a while in a spirit of love and with much plainness of speech, nevertheless it must be done with delicacy and tact. Never as though you were provoked or that those present were to blame for those who had absented themselves. I have read somewhere of a minister who had be- come a common pulpit scold. He censured everybody and everything. A good deacon who saw the peril threat- ening his pastor kindly invited him to spend a few days at his home. When the hour for morning prayers came, in- stead of inviting his pastor to lead in the devotions, the old man selected the twenty-first chapter of St. John's Gospel, and proceeded to read. When he came to the Master's injunction to Peter, "Feed my sheep," he read, ''Beat my sheep." The pastor detected what he supposed a slip of the tongue. The old man read on until he came to the words, ''Feed my lambs," when again he purposely read "Whack my lambs." By this time the pastor began to suspect that this new reading was intentional. He in- quired if it were so, and was kindly informed that it was to illustrate the fault into which some "good shepherds" fall of using the shepherd's crook as a rod with which to beat, instead of with which to lead the flock of Christ. 163 Again quite recently a prominent clergyman of Ohio is said to have taken up fifteen minutes in berating the stay- aways. How much better it would have been had he preached to those who had come out and who certainly deserved more courteous treatment at his hands than they received. In so doing, he would have spared his own feelings and theirs, and possibly have done some good, which would have been as lasting as the soul itself. Let these be as beacon lights which shall serve to prevent us from falling into this fault-finding habit. Then, again, beware of what is commonly known as the "rainy day" sermon. It is a great drawback to preachers, in rural districts especially, to have stormy Sabbaths. While in the city worshippers are detained at home on this account, there are more proportionately in the country villages. The preparation for the pulpit has been made during the week with the expectation that the ordinary congregation would be on hand. When the day dawns, the wind blows and the rain descends, and the people — well, they stay at home, and the sanctuary has more unoccupied than occupied seats. Under these cir- cumstances some preachers will lay aside the seniion they have prepared and give a talk on some familiar text. Others will hold a prayer or fellowship meeting. Still others will decline to hold any service, and let the few persons who have come go home after the announcement has been made that in view of the storm and the small congregation, public worship will be omitted. Any one of these substitutes for the regular service is out of place and withal disastrous to the growth of the church and the usefulness of the pastor. It is only justice to those who come that they should hear a sermon. The wise minister will let his members understand that on stormy Sabbaths they may expect it, and that he will do what he can to make it his best and deliver it in the most acceptaible manner feasible. That he will do this whether 164 there are many or few at church. On such occasions he will prudently avoid saying much, either in his remarks or his prayer, about the promise to the twos and the threes. To call attention in this way to the paucity of the congregation is to detract from the anticipation and ani- mation of those present. He will be discreet enough to husband his forces and rouse himself to unusual energy and earnestness, that he may counter-act the depressing influences of a small gathering and inclement weather. Many a clergyman has so done until the people, instead of saying: "Oh, there will not be a large number out to- day, and Dr. Holdback will not preach to a few/' will say, "Our preacher. Rev. Do Best, will be on hand and we shall have a spiritual feast." If our Master could afford to preach the greatest sermon which was ever delivered on "Regeneration" to a solitary man, who came to him by night; if weary and at noontide, under the penetrating rays of the scorching sun, he could preach a sublime ser- mon on the "Spirituality of God" to a woman of the city, we need not withhold our most elaborate discourse from the ear of even one who has come to hear us speak forth the words of eternal life. Nicodemus never forgot the preacher or his theme. Neither was the Samaritan wom- an possibly ever oblivious of Jesus, "who told her all things that ever she did." It may be so with us if faith- ful in the performance of duty under difficulties. Anyway we should preach, to one or more, to the utmost of our ability whenever the opportunity presents itself. These rainy day sermons can often be made most effective by reason of the chances they give for direct and personal application, if we make the most of them when they come for souls and for Christ. Do not be like a certain minister who one evening had present only one auditor, and he a distinguished General, tainted with lep- rosy, not like Naaman's, the Syrian, of the skin, but the leprosy of sin. The parson read the prayers, but did not 165 preach. At the close of the service the General ap- proached him, and is said to have uttered these words: "Doctor, you missed a great opportunity to-night, for you had me alone and might have preached right at me." Who knows but what if that pastor had done his duty he might have said something which in the providence of God would have resulted in the General's conversion. Whether or not, it would have been so, no mortal can positively say. It was for him to do it, 'but he did it not, and ever afterwards that sinner felt, at least, that one preacher had failed to show him the way of Life when he was willing and ready to be instructed and directed therein. Elizabeth Stuart Phelps, in the "Life" of her distin- guished father. Professor Austin Phelps, D. D., of And- over, says of him : "He had an unusual respect for the comprehension of the average parishioner. He had an ordinary faith in the pliability of the few brave and hardy villagers who dared a New England sleet storm, at its worst, to hear him — it seemed with more than his usual fire and with all his accustomed elegance. He never talked down to a small parish. He never slighted a hum- ble people. He never patronized the appreciation of plain hearers." In this, as well as in the performance of other ministerial duties, Professor Phelps is an example worthy of the closest imitation. The old sermon, what shall be done with it? Shall it be repreached or destroyed? Something depends upon what answers shall be given to these inquiries as to its matter, the incidents that originally called it forth, and the manner of its delivery. If it be a written sermon, preached directly from the manuscript, it should seldom be repeated, unless it be purely a doctrinal discourse. If it is an extemporaneous sermon it cannot be repreached verbatim. Some sermons are born of the needs of the flock. Others spring up from peculiarly attending cir- ICG cumstances. These needs and circumstances may never again repeat themselves. Consequently, the discourses to which they gave rise should never again be preached. There are, however^ sermons the gist of which will bear repetition, without fostering indolence in the preacher, or afflicting the audience. Some of the greatest pulpit orators have proclaimed the same message forty, fifty and even a hundred times. The marks on one of Dr. Griffin's manuscripts show that he must have delivered it no less than ninety-eight times by actual count. Whitefield preached his famous sermon on the ''Nature and Neces- sity of Regeneration" over a hundred times. It is proba- ble, however, that extensive changes were made in its verbiage from time to time. The extemporaneous preach- er must have a new subject to pique his mind and stir it into activity, before he can present a subject with that freshness, vigor and vivacity which will stir the minds of his hearers. If, therefore, he desire to repeat an old dis- course, the best way is for him to examine the sketch carefully, note its salient points, reconstruct them rhetor- ically and logically, add any new matter, illustration, or incident, and then deliver it. Of course, it will be by this time a comparatively new sermon. There is a marked difference between old bread warmed over and the old leaven put into new meal ; between water drawn from a cistern and water drawn from a spring. There is just as much difiference, and it is just as perceptible to one whose spiritual taste is sharp, between an old sermon and a new one. This difference is not so readily recognized, perhaps not recognized at all by some, when the manu- script is not employed. It is recorded that Caesar burned the bridges in the rear of himself and his army. This he did to prevent a retreat, if one were essayed. It would be a good plan, likewise, for many preachers to burn some of their old sermonic material to effectually prevent its being repeated. 167 I do not wish by these remarks to convey the idea that all sermons in full or in outline should be consigned to the flames. No^ but rather to point out that for a min- ister to depend upon them as a staple supply for the pul- pit, it would be a more lasting advantage to him intellec- tually if they were so destroyed. A wide awake progres- sive preacher seldom has to revert to his old stock. He has more sermon norms than he can find opportunity to develop and present. The embarrassment which con- fronts him is which theme to select out of the multitude which press upon him for more immediate filling out and presentation. Professor J. M. Hoppin gives four rules touching this phase of our subject, which I here insert: "First — Never depend upon old sermons for your minis- :ry; this is fatal. Second — Never preach an old sermon where you can preach a new one, even on the same sub- ject and the same text. Third — ^If you preach an old ser- mon, always recast it in a fresh form, using the thought that is good in it^ rather than using its special form of presenting the truth. Fourth — Having remoulded the material of an old sermon into a new form thrust it once more into the furnace fires of divine love, of ardent pray- ers and spiritual desires for the highest good of men and the pure glory of God." If you have a barrel of them, hoop them up, and look out for new matter and new methods of communicating your message. For your own growth, intellectually, theologically and spiritually you should do this. Never be guilty of airing and parading personal doubts, or the doubts of others, in the pulpit. Never serve up to the people the so-called findings of the Higher Critics as being final and authoritative. Indeed, the age we live in is in a state of transition. Doubt is giving place to credence. The swing of the pendulum of authority is back to Christ and His Word, as recorded by the New Testament writers. Again, doubts should not be flaunted 168 by the man in the pulpit, because the man in the pew, if he is mentally wide awake, will have enough of his own. Moreover, it may be rightly assumed that most people will find numerous difificulties in their interpretation of the Scriptures, and preachers ought not to add to them. You are within the citadel of truth to defend and not to 'betrav the garrison. Should you discover that you can- not do this^ then a change of regimentals and of standards will be in order, and you can take your place like a man on the outside of the 'breastworks of orthodoxy. A trai- tor is always worse than an open foe. Therefore, when you stand upon the battlements of Zion, give forth no uncertain alarm, but stand by your guns and your colors. These are your ordination vows and your standards of doctrine, and these you should preach and defend. Another danger that threatens the modern pulpit, and against which a warning note must be raised, is "sen- sationalism." American preachers go to seed here, and it is one of the most prolific causes of a decline of pulpit power. The sacred desk has been brought to a level with the lecture platform, the dais of the professional de- claimer^ and, alas, in some instances, with the boards of the theater. Far be it from me to take up a railing accu- sation against the brethren. It would be more in conson- ance with my desire to be silent at this point than to speak out. But someone must speak out against this clerical montebankery, and since this subject is within the perview of this book, I am constrained to do so. Let none think for a moment that the sensationalism of the pulpit is a mere peccadillio. Or that it is confined to one set of ministers or takes on one peculiar form. True, its two favorite methods of making itself known and felt are by using various advertising mediums, and adverting to the spectacular and grotesque in execution. The ad- vertising columns of the Saturday and Sunday newspa- pers usually contain a list of the subjects which are to 'be 169 treated in the pulpit by the ministers of their respective cities. Run your eye down the list. Do not be startled if you discover that a number of them are grossly secular, and others border on the irreverent and blasphemous. Here are a few samples : "The Devil a Bar^ber," ''Tlie Church's Bowel Complaint," "Old Clothes for New Souls/' "Crumbs of Comfort for Chickens of Grace." Do you wonder that people who have been taught to regard the Church of Jesus Christ as a place where they may hear the gospel preached, stay away from the sanctuary, and prefer the park, the seashore, or the home with its liberty, to the Church and its semi-comical preacher? In a New Jersey town not long ago, according to the Associated Press reports, a preacher advertised tliat he would take as his subject the next morning "On Guard/' and would illustrate it by a living picture. When the morning service began, there sat the preacher with a satisfied look overspreading his countenance, while at his feet lay a large Newfoundland dog. The program ar- ranged to be carried out was that the dog should by his posture on the platform portray the meaning of the ser- mon in which the Christian was to be represented as "on guard." But, O horrors ! just when the preacher was ap- proaching that part of his homily which his canine friend was to carry out, and when the congregation was at the point of qui vive, the dog arose, shook himself, yawned, and leisurely trotted ofT the platform, down the aisle and to his home whence his clerical friend had brought him that morning. The scene which followed can be better im- agined than described. It were as though the dumb dog, like Balaam's dull ass, had rebuked the prophet. We trust it was so regarded and that for all time to come that preacher, nor any other, will ever again make a spectacle of his lack of common sense in the House of the Lord. Almost every new fangled machine which becomes popular has to be "churched" by some poltroon of a 170 preacher. Hence, the phonograph has been placed on exhibition in the sanctuary on the Lord's day, and made to preach, in squeaky tones, the inconsequential discourse of the man with a white cravat and flowing locks. The prophet Ezekiel, we fear, neve*- surmised what a service he was rendering to the hard-put sensational pulpiteer, when he spoke of that mysterious 'Svheel within a wheel." If he had, he might have hesitated to give utterance to that sublime passage, for it has come into use in these days like a new revelaion. According to some of the seers of our day, Ezekiel must have meant the coming into vogue of that wonderful wheel — the bicycle. Accord- ingly churches have been decorated with cycles. They have been sv^ung up over the pulpit, adorned with gay flowers and ribbons. They have been stacked in rows upon the rostrum, and couped up within chancel rails. Invitations have been extended bicycle clubs to attend divine service — a travesty on the words — in costume, that they might Hsten to encomiums on the wheel, and lauda- tions of themselves. O, Lord ! to what extremes of folly will such men descend? To what sacrilegious purposes will they put Thy house? Beware of all forms of sensa- tionalism. One may advertise his subjects and may seek to make his services spicy and attractive. There are legi- timate ways of doing all this and more, without adverting to means and ways that are, to say the least, questionable in their character. It is commendable to seek constantly for the best methods of drawing and holding a congrega- tion. One of the very best of which I know anything is to lift up Christ in every service, for He himself has said : "And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw men unto me." St. Paul also found this to work admirably, and hence declared of himself and co-workers: "We preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumbling block, and unto the Greeks foolishness. But unto them which are called, both Jews and Gentiles, Christ the power of 171 God and the wisdom of God." It has endured the test of time, is as efficacious as ever, and unlike all others shall never lose its power. Spurgeon could crowd his taberna- cle with six thousand eager listeners every Sabbath with it. Robertson, Parker and Simpson have filled the larg- est churches with it. This is the only magnet which will effectually draw and hold the children of men. Another form of sensationalism is the dramatic. There can be no doubt that pictures and gestures are aids in comprehending difficult and obstruce subjects. The eyes of the multitude are more learned than their ears. It is therefore commendable on the part of teachers and preachers of the Word to convey the truth they seek to impart in the most impressive manner. And yet caution needs to be exercised here. A pictorial sermon, either by chart or lantern, may edify the young and old. On the whole^ however, I am of the opinion that nothing takes the place of the voice of the living oracle. Especial- ly when it is attuned and guided by love and wisdom. It should not escape your notice that you are to preach and not to act. This monition does not preclude a reasonable amount of gesticulation. It does warn against the too frequent use of the clenched fist, pounding the cushion or the desk, stamping the feet, and running from one side of the platform to the other. These pulpit antics should be tabooed. They are gyrations in which the younger and more demonstrative preachers are apt to indulge. They detract on the whole from pulpit dignity and power. Therefore put them under the bane. You will be among the more fortunate ones if there shall not come times when the due bills will come in, and the brethren, in their slackness or impecuniousness, shall have failed to keep the stipend paid up. Such a state of affairs is aggravating and irritating. You will be lead to think that if the people knew your financial condition, they would come at once to your relief. Perhaps your 172 conjecture is well founded. This being your belief, after vainly having sought alleviation at the hands of the offi- ciary of the churchy you are tempted to present the mat- ter to the congregation. You cannot see that any harm will come from so doing. It may not have occurred to you that unless you are unusually wary and skillful in the presentation of your case^ the people will construe your words into a dunning notice. Occasions may arise, and doubtless do arise, when it may be proper for a financial statement to be made to the whole assembly of worship- pers. When this is to be done, and your salary is largely involved, induce the treasurer or a trustee to present the matter. If you feel that you can add anything thereto, it is your privilege, and you can do so with a little better grace on account of Avhat has preceded. Never, if you can avoid it^ say anything about your salarv, which will sound like dunning, or that will be harsh or denunciatory. To talk it, as some preachers are in the habit of doing, every tew Sabbaths, is not only grossly inconsistent with their calling and the place they occupy, but tends to give the impression that they are preaching for money and not for souls. And yet there are times when something must be said and done, or men of God will be under the neces- sity of discontinuing their labors or hampering themselves with debt. When such a crisis arises^ the best way is to lay the matter before the officers of the church. If they heed you not, and you cannot supplement your depleted income by writing for the press, or teaching school, or in some other dignified way — until you can find a new field of labor — state your case in a manly, straightforward manner to the congregation, and if succor does not come to you, either by the salary being paid, or those in author- ity releasing you, then release yourself^ and go elsewhere. The Lord himself has assured us that "the laborer is worthy of his hire.'* It is well to learn the lesson at the very beginning 173 of your ministry that little of a personal character is to find utterance in the pulpit. If you may not, as a rule, speak of your support there, neither may you make it the forum in which to air your personal piques and misunder- standings. Perhaps someone has said something about you which was very unkind and unjust. You may have been compared unfavorably to your predecessor. Or you may not have called on someone often enough, and for this you are severely criticised. But this has not been done in a dignified manner, nor by the critic in person. It has come to you in a round about way, nevertheless in a way which makes you feel that you would be justified in vindicating yourself against such aspersions. If you are naturally a man of belligerent tendencies, the temptation to boldly defend yourself is well nigh overpowering. If you conclude to do so, when and where shall it be? You cannot very well find out the originator of the criticism. And then it has spread all through the congregation. You come to the conclusion that the only place open to you for making your defense is the pulpit. And yet this is just the place where it should not be made. It will be far better to be silent there than to enter upon either a mild or vigorous defense. For these reasons, among others, there will be some in your audience who will hear of your grievance for the first time when you yourself speak of it. Further, some will regard your explanation or defense as unsatisfactory. Then again you take an undue advantage of your critics, for they cannot reply if they were so disposed. This is what our English breth- ren call ''pulpit proof/' which is no proof at all. There- fore, avoid carrying differences into the Lord's house. If you have a grievance with any brother, seek its settle- ment in the proper place and in the proper manner. That fortitude of which St. Paul speaks is never more in de- mand by the man of God than in his silently ignoring many of those little irritating complaints which he some- 174 times hears reported about him, and in refraining from making any mention of them from the sacred desk. In your capacity as pastor, you will become the one person in your parish to whom much that transpires, whether it be good or whether it be bad, will come. You will hear of the misfortunes and the good fortunes of your people. If there is any news, or gossip, or scandal, going the rounds, you will probably soon be posted re- garding it. You will be asked what you think of the con- duct of this and that person? If this and that person has not had an altercation? Tliere will be individual mis- understandings and family feuds brought to your atten- tion. You will feel at times as though some of them have been greatly exaggerated and that you should speak about them. You ask yourself, ''what shall I do to set matters right when they have gone wrong?" First when any such matters come to your ear, keep your own counsel. Take time to investigate the truthfulness or falsity of what you hear. If the statements are confirmed and you conclude that it would be wise for you to inter- fere, do so in private, and as a peacemaker, and not as a meddler or busy-body. Under no circumstances what- ever repeat what you have heard in one household which may be derogatory in another. You are to be a house going pastor, but not a tale bearer or news monger. Strange as it may seem there are men in the ministry who, instead of allaying strifes among their members, stir them up and sometimes foment broils where there are none. True there are black sheep and unruly bucks in every flock. They are constantly wandering or striving. The shepherd's business is to bring the wandering ones back to the fold and the tuppers under su'bjection. It is not for him by word or act to make it easy for them to continue their course. He must, therefore, never incite or encourage them, but restrain them. This he may most effectively accomplish by private admonition and 175 personal care. Nothing can be more disastrous or de- moralizing than for him to make mention of any of these incidents in the sanctuary service. Should he do so^ he will advertise from his pulpit the gossip of the parish. Then instead of his efforts making for peace and quiet- ness, they tend to keep the rumors afloat and the trouble brewing. Many a community has been kept in a state of unrest and disquietude by the uncautious and unwise comments of the preacher regarding the private and fam- ily affairs of the members of his church. And many a church has been honey-combed and rent asunder by the differences of its members or by the pastor repeating his confidential disclosures and reiterating the reports of some of this mischief-making gossip. Public prayer, like preaching, is not always flawless or unobjectionable. It is frequently marred by infelici- tous petitions and glaring improprieties. If there is such a thing as playing to the galleries, there is such a thing as praying to the galleries. Almost everybody has heard of the newspaper correspondent who^ in reporting the account of a religious meetings very naively described the prayer as "one of the finest ever made to a Boston audi- ence." The reason for thus writing it up was that it was offered to the people and not to the Lord. Another form of infelicitous praying is in making mention of parties present. During presidential campaigns, some ministers, when the candidates for office are in the audience, pray in such a way as to clearly indicate that the prayer was for their ear rather than the ear of God. It is likewise common to hear some ministers pray for this highly in- tellectual audience and for the highly cultured brother who is to preach to us, and for the most eloquent sermon that we have just heard. These and kindred other phrases are entirely out of place in public petition. Still another form of maledroit praying has been per- ceptible and palpable in many pulpits of late years. In- 176 stance the many petitions which have been offered for Cuba, Greece and Ireland at periods when there has been a kind of religious jingoism in the air. The praying too often has been to the sympathizers of these people and these countries and not so much to God for them. To pray for the oppressed and down-trodden, to seek divine help and divine favor in behalf of those who are strug- gling against unnumbered foes, is perfectly in accord with the teachings of God's word. It should, however, only be made in cases in which there is no doubt as to the right of the oppressed, and then in language suitable to supplication and not to special pleading before men. Guard against these common and glaring faults. If you do not, you will be liable to disgust the men for whom you are praying, injure the cause for which you make en- treaty, shock the more devout of your congregation, and stultify yourself as a minister of Jesus Christ. But because pulpit prayers are sometimes injudicious and unappropriate, I most emphatically dissent from the latest move which is being made in some quarters to abolish them. For example. Dr. J. E. Roberts, pastor of the Church of the World (a portentious appellation) re- cently organized at Kansas City, Missouri, announces that prayer will form no part of the services hereafter. He proceeds, 'T believe that praying in pubHc has become to be a purely perfunctory performance, that had better be abandoned. It lacks the spontaneousness which should characterize the effort. Sincerity also is absent. The minister in the regular program at the due intervals arrives at the stage where a prayer is prescribed. He may or may not feel like it, but his instructions are plain and he prays. It is sentiment rather than reason, and he talks to the crowd more than to the great unknown. If we have prayers they will be free and rational. I would as soon make a prayer anywhere else as in a church. Prayers in church are always influenced by surroundings 177. and traditions. Did you ever take short-hand notes on the average prayer in the church? No? Well try it, and you will be surprised at the collection of words you ob- tain. All these prayers at the opening- of congress, at political meetings, and other public gatherings are a travesty.'' All of which may be true, when the form and the letter are prominently present in the prayers and the spirit and feeling arc conspicuously absent. This fact, however, is not sufficient to justify their abrogation. Making light of sacred things, persons, and places, is extremely reprehensible. To speak flippantly and jauntily in the pulpit on such subjects is grossly irrev- erent, and, I fear, borders on the unpardonable sin. There is in most men that which may be called "wit" or "humor." Many preachers have quite a modicum of it, which occasionally needs repressing. But not because it is not as legitimate to provoke a smile as to draw a tear. Indeed, unless you can do the one, it is doubtful whether you will ever accomplish the other. And yet both may be the outward evidences of an inward emotion which is the precursor of an acceptance of some divine truth. The objection to the exercise of the gift of fa- cetiousness or the gift of pathos, by which either of these results is brought about, lies in its employment for the mere sake of provoking a laugh or shedding a tear. If the utterance of some pungent truth or some pathetic in- cident produces either it is not necessarily wrong. It is in trying to be funny for the purpose of making your auditors laugh. It is in trying to 'be smart by giving a comical turn to some serious event, or in making ludi- crous that which is momentous and awe-inspiring. As when, for example, one jests about Jonah and the whale, or Balaam and his ass. Such a practice is censurable in the minister, at any time, and under any circumstances. It is bad enough in private conversation, in the pulpit it is nauseating and disgusting. When a pastor once gets 178 the name of joker or a reputation as a jester, whether this is among his ministerial brethren, or the people of his Piock, his power for good and his standing for that which is weighty and grave in import, has been greatly lessened if not destroyed. Another fault closely akin to the above, to which some ministers must plead guilty, is the prevalent custom of story telling. Now a good story teller of a good story will relieve the tedium of many a long journey and wile away the hours of many a long night. The danger is that story telling may become a habit. It may be, and has become a sort of rivalry among ''men of the cloth," one vying with another to see w'ho can tell the best story. Alas ! truth compels me to say that in some instances it is not the best but the worst story which is regarded as the best. There are few of us who cannot tell a story and fewer still who do not enjoy hearing one told. But far be it from anyone called to the sacred office to repeat or give countenance to any anecdote or incident which is in- delicate, smutty, or irreverent. Remember the rebuke General Grant once administered to one of his officers who, being about to tell an indecent incident, inquired if there were any ladies present, to which the General made reply, "No, but there are gentlemen." This answer had the efifect of keeping the officer's lips sealed. Pity it is when men of God exaggerate and stretch a story about a fish, a horse, or fabricate a story to beat one that someone else may have told. When they hesitate not to repeat some salacious tale they have read or heard, which should make a man blush to know, much more to recount. Neither tell nor listen to anything which purports to be about a woman's escapades, or a lecher's adventures, or anything that would be regarded as immodest or impure. But "whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are 179 of good report, if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things," Hsten to these things, and concerning these things speak. Just now much is being written and said about plag- iarism. What is it? Briefly answered it is theft. The word is a derivative from "plagiary" of Latin origin. The Romans regarded a plagiary as a kidnapper, a person who stole men, and sold them into slavery. One of their writers applies this epithet to a man who steals the ideas and words that belong to another, hence the significance attached to the word plagiarism to-day. It seems to be an incongruity to warn men who preach ethics and moral- ity against theft. And yet, that some of these very men have been guilty of the crime has been again and again put beyond a peradventure. How they could do it, is either because they do not see the heinousness of the act, or else their moral perceptions are naturally obtuse^ or by practice of the evil have become blunted. Much diffi- culty attaches to the treatment of this subject because most of our knowledge comes to us from other sources. There is little originality in the sense that our thoughts, information and language differ essentially from others who might write or speak on the same themes. The spider spins his gossamer web from his body, and this gossamer line may be said to be original with the spider. The matter, however, of which it is composed was in existence as matter before it took the form of a thread of gossamer. It was incorporated into the corpus of the spider, but was first animal or vegetable matter, if we go far enough back in our analysis. If in following the analogy, the student will take into his mental apparatus what he sees, hears and reads, and spin it out not as it went in, but as he desires it to take shape, the output will be original both in matter and form. To explain further, that which he saw was an action, he depicts it; that which he heard or read was 180 general in its character, he transmutes it into the con- crete; it was without any application, or object, he fo- cuses it, and applies it. Metaphorically speaking, it was round when it entered^ square when it came out. It was in chunks when appropriated, in fine sinuous form when it was disgorged. When a man thinks for himself, even though he may have ideas that are almost facsimiles of the ideas of another, and even though he may express them in almost identical language, this, unless he has in- tentionally compared or omitted the thought and verbal construction, is not plagiarism. The question then re- currs, "what is plagiarism?" It is to take a sermon or a speech as a whole and deliver it verbatim et liter{itim, without giving credit to the author. It is to take the sketch or outline of a sermon and use it, filling in your own matter,, unless it is stated that the framework is from the hands and brains of its constructor. I am of the opinion that extemporaneous preachers are not tempted to purloin others' sermonic matter to the same extent as those who write out their sermons in full and read the same. The reason for this is that they are compelled by their very method of preparation and delivery to think more for themselves. The others become accustomed to insert whole sentences and paragraphs from other writers into their own compositions. It is charitable to suppose that they forget to put the quotation marks around them, or give due credit to them when delivered. Not always though; for it is certainly alarming to what an extent literary theft has been practiced by men of the craft. Only a few months ago a celebrated doctor of divinity preached a sermon belonging to another D.D. taken from a printed volume. He was detected^ and gibbeted by the press. It has been reported that the pulpit of one of the First Churches of an inland city of the State of New York being vacant, two of the candidates preached identically the same sermon. 181 Undoubtedly the story of the licentiate who preached before the presbytery a fine sermon on trial is familiar to some of my readers. When he had retired that his case might be considered, a brother arose and said, "the ser- mon was a masterpiece^ but, it was not the young man's own production, for I myself have seen it and read it in a printed book of sermons." The young man was sent for, confronted with the facts, acknowledged their correct- ness^ but added, 'T heard this sermon preached by the brother who objects now to its being preached to me. I was so impressed with it that I concluded to preach it at this time." No record is made of what was done with the older minister, but the younger one was dropped, and so should the older have been likewise. Great care then needs to be exercised at this point. Do not see how near you can come to this danger line, but how far you can keep away from it. I have heard of a preacher who bought a volume of printed sermons and began to preach them in order and in general outline. When expostulated with, he tartly replied that he had bought the sermons, and now could do what he pleased with them, because they were his own. A strange kind of ownership this ! It is sometimes legitimate and proper for one preacher to take the same text and subject in preaching a sermon as some other preacher may have selected and used before him. But even when he does this it would be best that he should do so only when the subject is a scriptural or the- ological one. In such a case, both preachers came at it indirectly, or directly, from the Word of God. But even this should be done charily, and with great caution, cir- cumspection and conscientiousness. It seems to be generally conceded that in using mat- ter from standard authors, and particularly when the ci- tation is familiar, it is not necessary to give credit in pub- lic discourse. For example, in quoting from Longfel- low's "Psalm of Life," or Bryant's "Thanatopsis," or one 182 of Shakespeare's tritest sayings, it is supposed that their authors will be instinctively and instantly recognized without their names being mentioned. The same remark holds true of proverbs, and fables, and apothegms. In these last instances, it would puzzle a wiser than Solomon to say who first wrote them. The practice of the Rev. John Wesley as outlined in the preface to the first volume of his printed sermons regarding the use of knowledge is to be commended. "My design," he tells us, "is, in some sense, to forget all that ever I have read in my life. I mean to speak, in the general, as if I had never read one author, ancient or modern (always excepting the inspired). I am per- suaded that on the one hand this may be a means of en- abling me more clearly to express the sentiments of my heart, while I simply follow the chain of my own thought, without entangling myself with those of another man, and that on the other I shall come with fewer weights upon my mind, with less of prejudice and prepossession, either to search for myself, or to deliver to others the naked truths of the Gospel." The position taken in this excerpt I believe to be the best for the man of God to occupy, both as a student and as a minister. Meddle with all knowledge from all quarters. Let it become thor- oughly assimilated, and then present it in the peculiar mould of his own mentality and the rhetorical structure of his own style. Before leaving this most interesting and important topic, I desire to insert a few words from the inimitable Simpson. They are as follows : "The materials collected should be thoroughly digested; they should be trans- formed and transmuted into one's current thought. In this way, the individual's performance will be original in its character and in its structure, and will be enriched with thoughts and illustrations of 'beauty and grandeur which shall give to it a higher character and greater force. 183 This will not be plagiarism, for it is not the simple use or quotation of another man's work,, but, like the stream whose own channel^ making its own music as it goes. We coin few new words. The greatest inventors create no material, they simply place in new relations what has been already known." Think out what you speak, or write, or read, even though it may not seem to you as chaste, vigorous, or superb as that which someone else may have written or spoken. Its compensation lies in the fact that it is your own, and not another's. This is com- pensation enough to the truely independent and consci- entious man. Such an one will never answer to the pic- ture limned by Cowper, when he asks : "Is it like? Like whom? The things that mount the rostrum with a skip, And then skip down again ; pronounce a text ; Cry -hem ; and reading what they never wrote Just fifteen minutes, huddle up their work^ And with a well-bred whisper close the scene !" The gravest and greatest peril which confronts min- isters generally is the infatuation of woman's charms. This is peculiarly true of youngerly and unmarried men. They find that mothers have marriageable daughters, and that the daughters themselves know they are marriage- able. There will be coquetting and rivalry on the part of 'both mothers and daughters to capture the young domine. Unless he is wary and wise, he will find himself in a silken mesh which will as eflfectually bind him as the coarser and stronger strands of a hempen cord. Paul's advice to Timothy, under like circumstances is, "Treat the elder women as mothers, the younger as sisters, with all purity." Pattern after this precept and you will not sustain loss of reputation or influence among your people. Disregard it and you cannot prevent either. Be careful about trifling with the feelings of your fair parishioners. Should you discover that you are raising hopes by your 184 attentions to anyone of them which you do not intention- ally plan to originate and consummate, discontinue them at once. Never be guilty of making love to a number of "hellae feminaeJ' Should you desire to become the fiance of some fair maiden be manly and open in your advances to her. But always have a practical side to your affection, and let it, if within your power, center upon someone who will be a real help-meet to you in your chosen profession. Not only_, however, are the youngerly men entangled at times by the entrancing and winning graces of the fair sex, but it happens (not frequently, thank God)xthat min- isters of accredited wisdom and abiHty so far forget them- selves, as to be overcome by beastly sensuality, make de- bauches of themselves, and bring their brethren into ill- repute. Right here, "let him that thinketh he standeth take heed, lest he fall." And for this reason, there are so many ways by which a man's downfall is brought about that he may be tottering to the fall before he knows it. David's sin is not extinct in David's priestly line. Not- withstanding, no extenuation or exoneration is offered for it here. Whenever this transgression is committed the culprit should be exposed and punished. This should be done to vindicate the purity of the ministry and the sanc- tity of the church of God. In writing on "The Evil Deeds of Ministers," Dr. Buckley — after referring to jealousy which led a Southern negro preacher to shoot fatally another colored preacher — with his usual outspoken positiveness, justly declares: "When ministers commit crime the last plea that should be entertained in their behalf is the nature of their pro- fession. Violators of the law should be tried, acquitted or condemned, without distinction of creed, cassock, or race." Ministerial crimes are certainly increasing in num- ber, and it behooves all denominations to co-operate for the purity of the ministry. All organized communions should exercise a strict discipline, and conscientious lay- 185 men should allow no scandal to arise concerning their pastors, and no suspicious conduct to pass unnoticed. Whatever be the true translation, the English version of the passage, ^'Abstain from all appearances of evil" is safe, and the only safe rule for the Christian's practice ; and it is vital to the minister's influence not only that he should be above suspicion but that he should be able to resist that subtlest of all temptations, "No one will be- lieve evil of me" — a suggestion as beguiling as "Ye shall not surely die." Beware of the fair callers who come to the parsonage alone and after dusk, but are afraid to return home alone. Do not admit any such to your study. If they wish to see you privately receive them in your parlor. In your rela- tions with women avoid the very appearance of silly fond- ness or over familiarity. Be chary in your intercourse with them and circumspect in your conversation. Shun the coquette and the flirt. It may needs be that occa- sion will arise when you will be compelled to manifest a brusqueness and rudeness which almost amount to un- gentlemanliness. If your reputation is at stake you should not hesitate to do so. Better be divested for a time of this grace than your good name, which is better than anything which can be compared to it. Some most painful instances have come under my observation where much damage has been done the cause of Christ by the indiscretion of its chief exponents. Such as for example where ministers have carried in their buggy the organist, or chorister, back and forth to the afternoon or evening church service. Where preachers, under the pretext that it was stormy and dark, have re- mained all night at the homes of widows, when their own homes perhaps have not been a mile away. Where, after church, the fair admirers of the pastor have tarried with him in the church for a tctc-u-tctc. Such conduct shows a lack of thought, a want of discretion, and a carelessness 186 well nigh amounting to criminality. Under such circum- stances no wonder gossip and scandal and calumny spread. The marvel would be if they did not, in view of the actions of those who furnish such prolific causes on which to base them. The above acts may be perfectly harmless and innocent in themselves, nevertheless they will give rise to uncanny comments, damaging remarks, and sometimes are the sure forerunners of a fall. It is sad to read occasionally in the public prints of some in the sacred office who have totally forgotten themselves, given way to their animal propensities, yielded to temptation, and made a shipwreck for both worlds. Alas ! that there should be any. There will be fewer in time to come if the broad hints here given are duly considered and heeded. Avoid debt as you would plague. Make no purchases unless you are able to pay cash, is generally one of the best maxims to follow. It is preferable to do without some articles than to become involved financially in ob- taining them. If one never buys anything unless he abso- lutely needs it, he will ordinarily be able to keep within his income. Bear in mind that nothing is cheap unless you must have it. Do not be tempted to make a purchase simply because it seems to you to be a bargain from a commercial standpoint, when as measured by your re- quirements it may be decidedly expensive. If you cannot aft'ord a servant get along without one. Should you be unable to keep a horse for family and parish purposes, try walking. It is expected that of all men who will leave bills unpaid, ministers are the last. Notwithstanding it is said of some of them that they owe everybody in the community. When this is the case the cause of religion is greatly retarded. Any man of whom this may be truth- fully averred is standing in the way of sinners. It will be more by good luck than by good management if he does not become one^ if to be in debt is sinful. Of this there 187 is no doubt in some instances. Observe the apostalic rule and "owe no man anything." Be not a borrower unless you intend to pay back again. This is what some so-called men do not, and thus immerse themselves in debt and obloquy. When leaving one town to take charge of a church in another, be sure and settle up little bills. If you must owe anyone, it is better to owe one person than twenty. These observations may seem im- practicable of observance. Sometimes it may be found that they are. Shortages in salary, extravagance in living and dressing, sickness and financial losses may interdict and prevent their being carried into effect. These causes furnish the exceptions. By practicing economy, by being* scrupulously honest in business relations, by excluding the luxuries, and being contented with the necessaries, it will be within the possibilities of preachers in general to pay as they go. In doing so, due care needs to be exercised that they become neither impecunious nor parsimonious. To be a close figurer in all business transactions is better than to be embarrassed by debt. The inference is not that you are to barter or "go on tick" in making your bargains. Ask the price of the article, and if you think that it is a fair one and within your means pay it and take the article. If not, leave it without making any comments. You are to be an example unto your flock in liberality as well as in charity and the other Christian graces. Hence because you are a pastor you are not excused from giving unto the Lord according as he hath prospered you. It must be apparent that precept will not always answer in the matter of raising church finances and the benevolent col- lections. Give yourself and urge the members of your family to give at the same time you urge others. Never pretend to give by subscribing and say you did it to prompt someone else, but you wish to be excused from paying it. This is a false pretense and beneath the ethics 188 of men of the world, much more men with high moral standards. Stinginess is not compatible with Christian- ity. It makes the churl liberal, it opens hearts and homes and purses when it enters. Let its influence be broadly and blandly exemplified and exhibited in you. A continuation of this theme leads me to inveigh for a moment against a kindred evil. It is sometimes labelled "cousining," or more expressively sponging. It mani- fests itself in asking for clergyman's discounts, half-rate permits, and free passes. It is the mendicant spirit of the friars of the middle ages which still lingers among us. In some quarters it is becoming obsolete. Many self-re- specting members of the profession discountenance it, while the persons who have been in the habit of extending such favors are beginning to regard the clergy as equally able to pay for what they receive as any other class of m.en. Thus a pressure is being brought to bear from all sides which will, I trust, lead to a reform in this matter. Should it be the custom of merchants and according to the regulations of corporations to make a discount or a rebate to ministers, and they should extend these cour- tesies gratuitously to you, it is not discreditable for you to receive them, but never at the expense of your man- hood, your independence, or self-respect. If Jonah, the runaway prophet, paid his fare, you ought to pay yours. In traveling, either for pleasure or on business, do not go to your ministerial brother's for entertainment unless he knows you are coming and should give you an urgent invitation to be his guest. Be fraternal and if time permit call and see him, but give him to understand that you are not present to encroach upon his hospitality, but out of respect for him go to the hotel and pay your way like a man, or stay at home and put your feet under your own table. About all the use some country domines have for their brethren in the larger towns and cities is to utilize them as caterers and hostlers. Here they find provender 189 for themselves and beasts free gratis. A quarter of a dol- lar would save the parson's larder and the parson's wife a depletion and expletion^ which to him and his spouse are worth twice that amount in worry and inconvenience. There is an old proverb which reads : "Self-commen- dation is no recommendation." Its teaching is frequently i^-.iored by all classes of men. There is a natural desire which scientifically may be called instinct in most public men, which makes them pleased to be noticed and praised. The man in the pulpit is no exception to this. He likes to have someone speak well of him and his efforts. Also to insert in the local or church paper occasionally a write-up concerning his church and its enterprising pastor. He will gladly be interviewed by the reporter. A hint is suffi- cient to call forth for publication an abstract of a great sermon recently preached, data of increasing resources and large congregations. Kept within proper bounds all this may be legitimate and commendable. Give this ten- dency leash enough and it will run to extremes. It will not be satisfied with a mere notice once in awhile of actual facts. It will seek to be continually in print. It will lead 10 eulogistic and egotistic remarks which savor of self- conceit and self-aggrandizement. Sometimes, when the news cannot be furnished the editor through any other channel, the pastor will himself become the medium. Then it is that he sings his own song, and puffs and in- flates himself. And he will, at times, exalt himself and the work under his care much to the disparagement of his predecessor. This, on the principle that he cares not who sinks if he only swims. This puffing of preachers and churches by lay admir- ers and the occupants of the pulpits themselves has some- times amounted to a perfect fad in this country. Let us be thankful that it now seems to be on the wane. Totter- ing fences will require buttressing, so do tottering churches. When the local or church paper contains a 190 gushing account of how Dr. All-right is speaking as man never spake, drawing multitudes and booming the finan- ces, look out. An inflation nearly always goes before a collapse. In church matters the second usually follows close upon the heels of the first. Should others desire to speak well of you, or write laudatory words concern- ing you and your work without your personal solicitation, accept them with becoming humility. But never puff yourself. "Let another praise thee, but not thine own mouth, a stranger and not thine own Hps." Next to declining the writing of eulogies for one- self and his church is that of writing testimonials for others. Out of the natural goodness of their hearts, the desire to be helpful, and speak kind words to others, some preachers have besn led astray in writing letters of intro- duction and recommendations of character. There is no mark of ''greenings" so conspicuous as the glaring and gusliing encomiums that they wTite about men, books, organs, nostrums, patent medicines, and countless other articles too numerous to mention. Their names are on the advertisement sheets of newspapers, pamphlets and books. Not only so, but in these days they allow the photographer to vie with the chirographer and throw their picture in in the bargain. When a lad I remember having read this wise saw, from whose pen I know not, neither is it material, namely: "Fools names like fools faces are always seen in public places." A severe stric- ture, doubtless, and yet, with some qualifications, never truer than today. We have struck a puffing age with a picture craze attending it. The two together are almost too much for the vanity of some of the clericals, but are viewed as comparatively worthless appendages by the shrewd man of business. The name of Rev. attached to any commodity with the physiognomy of the man who bears it are no longer regarded in the mercantile world as credentials of a superior article. They are considered to 191 be unmistakable marks of conceited men who are longing for notoriety, and can come at it in no other way than by writing recommendations and presenting simulta- neously their pictures for anything that may be put upon the market, all the way up from a pill to a tract of land containing thousands of acres. The persons in whose interests, financially or other- wise, these advertisements are sent forth^ know that there is no other class of men who can be so easily induced to comply with their requests for favorable representation. They never apply to lawyers and seldom to doctors. Oh, no, they know better than that. The people will listen to the preachers ! Yes, for a while they have. Now they are no longer gulled and duped by them. They may ac- cept from their lips the Gospel as truth, but no longer what they say or write about patent medicines and desir- able city lots. Withhold your autograph and photograph from any paper which claims to be advertising anything which purports to heal all the diseases to which flesh is heir, or to give unprecedented bargains for the money, or that will make one as rich as Croesus in a few years. Worrying is another common mistake which many make. Somehow the thought seems to possess us that in proportion to our worry will be our eflfort and success. Hence the anxiety felt as the sabbath draws near. The solicitude before the sermon and the recrimination after its delivery. The fear that what should be said will be left unsaid, and that which we intended not to say we have said. Preachers not only worry over their sermons but over their work among their people, and the interests of the church, until, if they are not watchful, they become loaded with cares and anxieties that stifle peace and pre- vent rest. Sometimes, in spite of the most herculean ef- forts and faithful parochial work, the church seems to be declining in interest, power and numbers. The causes may be seen and known, or they may not. Removals by 192 change of residence, death and disaffection may account for this decHne. Or some new departure or taking ser- vice. Whatever they are, this condition of affairs frets the vigilant and devoted shepherd. Then there is the worrying connected with a change of pastorate, the precariousness and paucity of one's in- come. The fear of becoming unacceptable and in conse- quence being retired before one's time. In view of all these and many other causes which lead to worrying and fretfulness, our daily prayer should be for hopefulness, cheerfulness, and trustfulness. Fret not thyself against evil doers, neither against those who should be doers of good, but do it not. These are often a more prolific source of worryment to the pastor than the others. No "do not fret thyself in any wise." Do not let your work, in whole or in part, master you or drive you. Rather the converse, which leads to placidity, tranquility, and freedom from corroding care. This chapter on "Beacons of Warning" would be in- complete if I should fail to warn you against one of the most destructive which threatens the brain worker. This is seeking from stimulants and narcotics exhileration and recuperation when worn out, and wxary with mental toil. Among the most common are tea and coffee, beer and spirits, tobacco and drugs. For the sake of doing better and more protracted thinking and composing, some lit- terati in all departments have resorted to one or more of these stimulants and narcotics. It is on record that some persons have taken twenty cups of strong tea or coffee to keep them awake, and spur their jaded mentality. Others have resorted to snuff-taking, tobacco chewing and smoking. Still others to ale and wine. And others still to drugs of various names and powers. And yet the notion that a little wine, or alcoholic liquor of some kind will help a person to do better brain work has long since been exploded. Crabbe punctured this bubble in his lines running thus: "With wine inflated, man is all upblown, And feels a power which he believes his own ; With fancy soaring to the skies, he thinks His all the virtues all the while he drinks; But when the gas from the balloon is gone^ When sober thoughts and serious cares come on, Where then the worth that in himself he found? Vanished — and he sinks grov'ling on the ground." Numerous are the men who have adverted to these brain excitants and exhilerants. Among the pulpiteers of ability, Pastor Spurgeon has been reported as saying that he could ''smoke a cigar to the glory of God," and strenuously defending the habit. The Rev. Robert Hall and some other pulpit lights have indulged in the weed. So have many in former years both in America and Eng- land in the use of ales and spirits. And many, alas ! have been the wrecks, physical and mental, which have result- ed from their use. The time has come when physiology, cleanliness, temperance and religion combine their forces with tremendous and unyielding prestige^ against the use of any of these or others which might be cited. There is further a growing sentiment which demands that preach- ers shall neither touch, taste, nor handle those things which defile and make unclean the temple of the body. This public sentiment is making itself felt to such an ex- tent that in the ordination service of preachers in some of the churches, the question is being asked the candidates if they will wholly abstain from the use of tobacco. The local church boards are also asking before they call men to take charge of the flock, whether they use tobacco or liquors. If so, they decline to extend the call. The medical side of this subject is giving its supp.-^rt to the moral side. Dr. Lio Lewis, speaking in the name of "physical trainers," declares that "a long experience has taught the fraternity of trainers that tobacco is an enemy to muscle, and a still greater enemy to nerve tone 194 and endurance." Alcohol in any form is deleterious to the brain. It paralizes the cerebrum much more quickly than it does the cerebellus. Consequently, it dethrones the intelligence and moral nature^ and gives loose rein to the appetites and passions. For this very reason we see that the bibulous among the novelists, poets, essay- ists, historians, and even the clericals, have all in their writings magnified the sensuous and at times the sensual. Instance Burns, Byron, Keats, Lamb, Goldsmith, Swift and Logan. The last, Rev. John Logan, author of the "Cuckoo;" and many hymns and sacred paraphrases, sought relief from melancholy in the solace of drink. On one occasion he went into the pulpit drunk. His end was hastened by dissipation. Sometimes, in cases of in- somnia drugs are employed, such as chloral, cocaine, and opium. These mean dearth or death in the end. Hence do not use them unless by the advice of a physician and under his direction. But as smoking and imbibing seem to be the most prevalent forms in which narcotics and stimulants present themselves to the clergy, the following account, taken from a memoir of a learned divine will be appropriate : The Rev. Robert Hall learnt to smoke in the com- pany of Dr. Parr, who was a profound scholar as well as a thinker. A friend one day found the preacher blow- ing an immense cloud of smoke and looking surprised. Hall said, "O, I am only qualifying myself for the society of a Doctor of Divinity, and this (holding up his pipe) is my test of admission." A member of his congregation expostulated with him as to the injuriousness of the habit, and left with him a copy of Dr. Adam Clarke's pamphlet, ''On the Use and Abuse of Tobacco," with the request that he vv^ould read it. In a few days Mr. Hall returned it with the remark, 'Thank you, sir, for Dr. Clarke's pamphlet, I cannot refute his arguments, and I cannot give up smoking." He was more vehement in 195 his denunciation of brandy. A minister of his own de- nomination, too much addicted to its use, said to him one day : "Friend Hall, I will thank thee for a glass of brandy and water." "Call it by its right name," was the reply, "ask for a glass of liquid fire, and distilled damnation^ and you shall have a gallon." The man turned pale and seemed for a time struggling with anger. At last he stretched out his hand and said, "Brother Hall, I thank thee from the bottom of my heart." From that time he ceased to take brandy and water. Beloved, these are some of the dangers that confront us. Let us seek to avoid them, one and all, from the least to the greatest. Any one of them will be like the dead fly in the precious ointment, which will cause it to give forth an unsavory smell. Or like the rift in the lute which will turn the sweetest harmony into the most doleful dis- cord. Let there be spots on the sun, if it must be so, but let there be none on us to mar our moral beauty and de- tract from our usefulness in the Lord's service. Should there be, we not only give an occasion for a railing accu- sation to be brought against us, but likewise for the pessi- mistic conclusion of the ancient philosopher — ^to be pro- nounced correct — when he said, ''Nihil est ah omnia, parte bcatiiiii/' — there is nothing from among all things that is more than partly perfect. 196 CHAPTER X. QUASI-CLERICAL SIDE TRACKS. "Beacons of warning" suggest "side tracks." To be more liberal and less figurative we should say "side is- sues." We, however, prefer the metaphorical form which heads this chapter, even though at intervals the metaphor may not be quite as apparent as a strict rhetorical con- struction would demand. It is certainly more striking and more forcible and consequently more desirable. Some of the deviations noted here might with almost equal propriety have been included in the preceding chapter, except that some of them are looked upon as legitimate and co-relatives of the ministerial profession. But while this is true, others are both incongruous and illegitimate to persons engaged in the gospel ministry. Therefore, among the side tracks which will be pointed out are those which may be termed "parallel lines." These will be found to diverge gently from the main track, but usually converge further on. There are others which are distinctively divergent. These run off from the main cler- ical line and seldom coradiate again. Switches to both are numerous and lie invitingly open all about us. To enter them and run upon the tracks to which they lead will be to traverse other lines and reach other termini than those originally designated and scheduled in the table of our ordination vows. For men who are called of God to prea'ch the Gospel there ought to be but one principal aim. and that should be to go forward in their ministry. Nothing in the way of pleasurable diversion, mental or manual pursuits, 197 should for any consecutive leng^th of time be permitted to deflect them therefrom. They should neither permit themselves, nor others, to side track or "stall" them. For a stalled train on the main track is as inoperative, so far as locomotion and progress in the right direction are con- cerned, as is a train on a side-track. Not only should they seek to keep on the trunk line, but they should re- gard it from the beginning as a through line. When they once start thereon it should be with the intention of com- ing to the end of the road. All along they will perceive open switches, sidings, and byway stations. To run into the one, and onto the other, or stop at the third, will be as easy, and perhaps will appear to be as proper, as to remain on the track and move forward. Indeed, to do the latter often means limitation, a straight course and a rough, hard road bed. But it likewise means a reaching of the temiinus for which one set out, and this is a con- summation much to be desired. It may be recalled by some with what pleasure they have stood and looked upon some panting railroad engine which has drawn them across a State or a continent. And as they have thought how it has plunged through the val- leys, tunneled the hills and crossed the rivers without be- ing side-tracked, stalled or derailed by the way, they have been filled with admiration and almost unconsciously made obeisance to it. It had done nobly and well, and had reached its destination without any casualty. How much more admiration does the minister of the Word deserve who finishes his course with joy ! Who, notwithstanding the various side stations and easy turning ofif places, not to say jumping-ofi places, pushes forward along the main line upon which he started and comes to the end still on the track. So much for the figure, although we shall turn to it again and again. Let us continue by noticing that the minister is to be a man of one work. He must continually remind himself 198 that he is not to seek for a division of laibor in the sense that any other pursuit is to share equally with his pastoral labors. His motto should be : "This one thing I do." It was by adopting this and carrying it into effect that Paul became the great preacher and apostle. By following it he was able to make full proof of his ministry. If in the early Christian church, under a common regime, the early teachers and preachers of the church refused to serve tables, how much more in these days should those who occupy a like position in the modern church decline to take upon themselves that which would lessen their power to preach Christ and Him crucified. Concentration is as much in demand at this point as consecration. Indeed, it is questionable if the latter can exist without the former in those who are called to this special work. To be di- verted from this one purpose and pursuit is to be a tyro, a novice, and a journeyman, and not a master workman. It is not simply poetic fervor which breathes itself forth in the lines of Doddridge, as he sings : " 'Tis not a cause of small import, The pastor's care demands ; But what might fill an angel's heart, And fill a Saviour's hands." But the conviction that to do well the work which was committed to him demands the co-operation and uni- fication of all his ransomed powers. It must remain true to men in the holy office as of men in the various trades and professions, that to be a "jack of all" is to be master of none; hence there should be no such thing as "jacking it" — as we may expressively but perhaps not very elegantly phrase it — known among them. Therefore, give thyself wholly to this one work — thy time, thy strength and thy ability. Let everything else go if need be that thy efficiency may appear here It is with this end in view that some of the great branches 199 of the Church are requiring men to enter into a covenant relation in which they solemnly promise that they will keep themselyes unto this one work. This is rig'ht and should become a general custom. It will be found that nowhere is a diyersity of interests so inimicable to the accomplishment of the principal object as in the ministry. It is not common to find business men succeeding in sev- eral departments of trade of a diverse nature. Neither is it usually so with a minister. The man who does so, if he should not make a botch of preaching, often fails to attain the high water mark of profiiciency in the delivery of his message from week to week. The reflex influence, like- wise, of these engagements, pursuits, and diversions upon his own character is such as to militate against him minis- terially in the long run. While it will be conceded that it is pertinent to in- veigh against a diversion from ministerial pursuits, by taking- up some of minor importance along with them, but totally different in nature, here is the place to accen- tuate the fact that indolence, or ''slowing down," is equal- ly reprehensible. It may be preferable for preachers to have some dignified side issues than that they be re- miss in the performance of their professional duties. This, on the principle that they are moving with some purpose in the one case, and in the other are lia'ble to come to a standstill, if they have not already done so. For them to sit around in the store, and other places of rendezvous all the week, or to listlessly con over the newspapers or fish, hunt and play croquet, and then expect the Lord, when Sunday comes, to furnish them with a message and supply them with thought and language appropriate to its delivery, is to certainly get off the main track. It will be fortunate if they do not find themselves hopelessly and helplessly derailed. And yet there are ministers who thus fritter away their time. They furnish some of the most striking examples extant of arrested development. They 200 slow down and cease studying, either because of a satis- fied feeling of sufficiency, or from a lack of an exalted ideal, or from downright mental laziness. Some of them have discovered what all brain workers sooner or later discover, namely: The accuracy of Solomon's dictum — that ''Much study is a weariness of the flesh." Because it is they content themselves with the progress that they have made, and the positions of place and power in the Church of God they have attained. Many of them would doubtless be like the domine of whom the following pithy story is told : He was a mentally lazy and shiftless fellow, spending his time anywhere and everywhere except in his workshop among his books. Having committed some of- fense which made him amenable to the civil law, and on account of which he was momentarily expecting arrest, expressed his fear of not being able to find a place of hid- ing to one of his friends. It so happened that this man was a Quaker, and he, with the plain straightforwardness for which the Quakers are noted, said: ''Friend, thee hast no need of fear. I can tell thee where thou canst hide, and where no one will ever think of looking for thee." When eagerly asked where it was, the old Quaker quaint- ly answered, "In thee stoody." The strongest temptation at this juncture arises fre- quently from the possession of an abundance of sermonic material. To use the trite saying, such men have only to turn their barrels of sermons upside down and use from the opposite end every time they make a change of pas- torates. Now the changing of parishes should be an in- centive to new and better work, rather than one which leads to a reliance upon Avhat has already been done in the way of sermon preparation. Long pastorates have this in their favor among other benefits — tto those who are fortunate enough to enjoy them — ^they spur men up- ward and onward. They do not furnish the same abun- dant opportunities for a re-hashing of old material as 201 shorter pastorates do. Still, as much depends upon the man as upon the circumstances. Shirks are found in all walks and spheres of life. When one desires after a few years in the active pastorate, especially under an itinerant system, he can, if he is so constituted, rely on his former pulpit preparation, while under other polities other sub- terfuges are resorted to, such as a new text for an old sermon, or the dove-tailing together of two or more sec- tions taken bodily from their respective wholes. In pass- ing I may here make another point in favor of the extem- poraneous method. It fosters constant application and discourages indolence. It does not furnish the preacher with a mass of cut and dried matters. Beware of settling down satisfied with your previous attainments. Push for- ward. For the sake of perspicuity and clearness I deem it best to invite attention now to some branches which, per- haps, may be more specifically termed quasi-clerical lines, than some which have been given before and some which are to come after. Tliese will be found to run side by side w^ith the ministerial branch and in some instances are a part of the same system. Judging from St. Paul's enumeration given in his Epistle to the Ephesians, in the ministerial office there may be various grades. These differ according to the grace given unto them. His ex- act words are these: ''And he gave some apostles, and some prophets, and some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ." From which it would appear that all these are depart- ments or branches of the work of the ministry. In these days these branches have been increased numerically and extended laterally. Moreover, it has seemed to many of us that in some instances they have been made convenient side tracks for slipping ofT the main ministerial line, when the road bed has become a little uneven and travel there- 202 on has become a little unpleasant and irksome. Hence it is 'becoming- exceedingly common and convenient for some men to leave the pulpit for the editor's sanctum, the professor's chair, or to become financial agents for literary institutions, to make lecture tours, or take up with author- ship and secretaryships. Or, if they remain in the pulpit to make ulterior o'bjects the end of their ministry. They continue amid these varied pursuits to be known as min- isters, but make their preaching subservient to their other aims. There is no doubt in my mind that all these pursuits and aims are legitimate and proper in and of themselves. There is a question sometimes as to their propriety as ministerial functions per sc. The most which can be said of them is that they are adjuncts to the ministry. And even this qualified statement is more applicable to some of them than it can be to others. It is my opinion that if preachers regarded the pastorate as the ideal function of the ministry, there would not be so many who are always found ready to leave it for professorships, editorships, secretaryships and authorship. Neither would they exalt the money raising function over and above the spiritual function of the pastorate. Far be it from me to reflect in any. manner upon good men who have felt called to these positions. It is necessary that these sidings exist. But, would it not be better if they were made independent lines, and not easy switching curves for men called of God to the specific work of the ministry? I am fully convinced in my own mind that it would. At any rate, it will be well for men who feel that their life work is to preach the Gos- pel, and not to engage in any other work, to carefully ponder these things in their heart before turning aside therefrom to any other kindred profession. This view may be regarded as high church. If so, its palliation is found in the expectation of the people and the call to preach, which seem to be that the distinctive work of the min- 203 istry is the grandest and noblest vocation followed by men, that it is a life tenure, and not an office that is to be exchanged for any other, just because the other offers another kind of operation, more honor, salary, or leisure. Furthermore, it is only fair to say that to the preacher in rapport with his calling, the pulpit must always be re- garded as occupying a more exalted position than the platform of the lecturer, the tripod of the editor, the chair of the professor, or the desk of the author. And yet after one has served his apprenticeship in the ministry, he may see how he can enlarge his sphere of usefulness to his generation by authorship, or by having something to say on the passing topics of the day. He may be able to thunder from the platform, or stimulate and disseminate thought from the pedagogic's chair. Indeed, it is possi- ble that he will be able to increase his influence for good along numerous collateral lines. But, if he should make this discovery, let him keep in mind that the strength of his life and the concentrated powers of his being are to be devoted, not to these, but to the exposition and enforce- ment of the ''Word of God." These remarks are not to be construed into animadversions on the men or the pur- suits mentioned. They are intended rather to point out some of the places where these side tracks are. If they shall tend to lessen in time to come that eagerness ob- servable in some ministers of to-day, to turn aside to any- thing and everything which is quasi-clerical, the end de- signed in penning them will be accomplished. I pass now to notrce some of the most flagrant de- partures from the ministerial main line, the foremost of which in the present epoch is speculating in building lots, mining stock, and city shares. Onto one of these sidings have gone, metaphorically speaking, many a car of salva- tion. Men called to preach for no other reason than a desire to be rich, or a lust for filthy lucre, have deserted this high calling, in part or in whole, to engage in these 204 lower, and under some circumstances, lesser ones. Some- times when a preacher has lost his voice or has broken down physically or mentally, it may be opportune for him to engage in such pursuits, but not if he is qualified for the pulpit. According to a statement recently made by a celebrated bishop, "there is a young city in the West into which no minister of a certain denomination has gone for many years who has not slipped out of the pulpit into business." This state of affairs is lamentable. But we have not need to go out West to find these clerical boom- ers, they are notoriously conspicuous here in the East. Before the inflation of Western land and stock collapsed there was scarcely a ministerial body of any respectable size which did not furnish an example of these specu- lating domines. At one time they became almost as prolific as the frogs in Egypt, but they differed in this re- spect; the frogs in Egypt plagued the Egyptians, these plagued the people of God, both the laity and ministry alike. These men had farm mortagages, corner and city lots for sale, and watered stock of gold and silver mines at a discount. They took advantage of their min- isterial credentials to play upon the credulity of their par- ishoners and ministerial colleagues. Doubtless many readers of these lines were made to smart for their misplaced confidence. I shall not harrow their feeHngs by dilating further on their losses. The most serious phase of this whole matter was in the fact that to induce former parishioners to buy these reverend gentlemen falsified. They played upon the credulity and inexperience of the members of the church, they became land sharks, lost their ministerial character and brought reproach upon the Church of God. Another of the side tracks leads to political prefer- ment and office. When the devil cannot reach a preacher through his cupidity, and turn him out of the way, he will sometimes operate through his vanity. Consequently 205 there have been those who have been led to believe that their nomination for a political position — assemblyman, senator, governor, — without the least shadow of a suc- cessful election was cause sufficient to exchange the pul- pit for the stump. That there is a great temptation here to men who are fond of the arena and with a penchant for statesmanship is obvious. But these are not usually the men who yield to it. No, but rather the men with an itching palm and an egregious love of pomp. That a man cannot serve God in politics I would not affirm, or as a statesman, or in any other legitimate calling. I do not, however, hesitate to say that it is extremely questionable whether one who is engaged in the gospel ministry can serve God as efficiently in the political arena, as an office- seeker, as he can in following his own peculiar line of work. The two are too much for any one man, as Car- dinal Wolsey and lesser magnates of the Church have discovered to their sorrow. If any feel called to be re- formers by accepting a nomination to a political office, or desire to obtain a political plum, let them retire from the ministry, surrender their parchments, and take up the work for which they have so strong a predilection. This advice is to the point in these days when some divines regard a nomination on a so-called temperance or reform ticket as not being as grossly political as it would be on any other ticket, and further because sorne social and moral reforms are so near akin to the work of preaching the gospel. Nevertheless, the tickets, the candidates of such parties are strictly and conventionally political and partisan, and therefore do not differ from any other polit- ical candidates or parties or tickets in these respects. Secular fraternities are on every hand and frequently furnish easy sidings for ministers — coming as many of them do into close proximitywith them — especially in their social relations. On one or more of these they too often switch off before they realize it, and become 206 "jiners." This they do many times under the delusive hope oif winning the members of these organizations to the Church; but the truth requires us to say that more generally they themselves are won over by them. When this is the case, they permit themselves to be elected chaplains, read the prescribed ritual of the order, devote their time and attention to its interests, and sometimes manifest more enthusiasm for its success than they do for the church they serve. Some have even been known, in their ardor and zeal for the brotherhood^ to exalt it pub- licly above the Church and to count themselves more honored by being among its chief promoters and man- agers than in being ministers of the gospel. It is not necessary to say here that in so doing they have exceeded their authority and prostituted their official prerogatives. When they do these things, it is usually because they re- gard it as a mark of distinguished honor to be dubbed "Sir" this or ''Grand" something else. Or that they have had a mercenary object in view, as that the order will attend the donation or some other entertainment given for their benefit. Some preachers work this "lead" for all it is worth. In return they invite the fraternity to a service held for its special benefit in God's house and laud it to the very heavens. Simon Magus would blush at the way these men use their beneficies in return for the be- stowment of empty honors, buncombe and filthy lucre. Now^ in view of these facts, which may be verified, every one, why should ministers unite themselves with these organizations, become the representatives of small coteries and lessen their general influence for good? Would it not be better for them^ under all circumstances considered, not to league themselves with any? We are fully convinced that it would, although we are aware that this answer will not be entirely satisfactory to many of our clerical brethren. But we are lead to make it not be- cause of any crochet or prejudice, but after mature reflec- 207 tion. It may be buttressed by many weighty reasons, and we ibelieve cannot be easily controverted. If a man is a Christian minister, then he is in possession of all that the best of these secular fraternities promise. He has a fel- lowship and brotherhood and lias an opportunity for do- ing good of every possible sort and all the honor one man can bear in being a King's Ambassador. True he may not find in the Church the Accidental and Life Insurance features which are sometimes offered as an excuse by ministers and others in becoming members of these orders. If not, he may obtain these securities in com- panies doing such business by direct contract without any circumlocution. He will also discover that among other reasons why some of these bodies 'desire ministers is^ not that they may receive their godly counsel, or pattern after their godly example,, but that the influence which these men of God have in the community may be used in inducing men who think well of this or that clergyman to unite with this or that lodge. 'Some of these organizations use ministers — as huntsmen use decoy ducks — to decoy others. And also, because if they should be members they will preach them annually a sermon, not for their spiritual edification but for the good of the order. To accomplish this they will make them honorary members and notify them afterwards. Or they will receive them minus the initiation fee, or having them, as they say, ride the goat. Or still further to induce them to cast in their lot with them, they will club together and pay their dues, or, by a vote, remit them. You must not be so unsophis- ticated as to believe that all this is done because, like the man in the Old Testament, these organizations want a "Levite for the priest." By no means ; they rather, in too many instances, desire him for the reasons assigned above. Again, the Church of Christ is a divine institution. These others are human. They spring- up all around us like mushrooms. They are here today and gone tomor- row. But this abideth ever. If you are seeking that which is permanent, that which survives the rise and the downfall of empires and kingdoms^ that which is to go on for all time, you have it, not in any outside organiza- tion, but in the Church. Hitch yourself to this as with everlasting cords, let others who have the disposition and are not called to such an exalted work as you are, take care of those which are human in their origin and tem- poral in their aim. Some distinctively benevolent or tem- perance guilds may expect your presence and influence. You may, if you do not wish to unite yourself to them in memibership, give them your sympathy and cooperation. All these fraternities and bodies should come church- ward, and not the church or its official head go lodge- ward. Then by and by when it is seen that the mountain will not go to Mohammed, why Mohammed will possibly come to the mountain, and the kingdom of heaven, its righteousness and its ministers will be first as they should. Therefore, on the whole we would not advise extend- ing invitations to these outside organizations to attend divine service in a body. If you do they will come ex- pecting to hear from your lips words of adulation. They will look to you to set forth their special merits and to commend in highly eulogistic terms the salient features and work of the order. Should you fail to do so you will displease and not please. Should you do so, you assume the role of a special advocate or solicitor of the order. And not only so, but you take up the time of divine wor- ship in speaking of the excellent features of this or that lodge, when your Master should be set forth and the at- tractions of his earthly court emphasized. Should they, however, desire of their own accord to worship with you and your people, welcome them, see to their comfort, and preach to them a gospel full of helpfulness and hopeful- ness. 209 We regard the christian ministry as the highest order among men and the Church of Jesus Christ as the most exalted institution. Hence we feel no need of uniting with any other body outside its pale. Years ago the specious reasoning of the initiated and the hope of accomplishing something for Christ and His Church constrained some of us to become members of a few of these fraternities. We soon discovered^ however, that we could do little in the direction desired and dropped out. Then we have learned that the preacher will have work enough and honor enough in being wedded to his Church and in per- forming the duties she imposes upon him. It gives us more freedom to look after the work committed into our hands and for study. It afifords us leisure for those lesser and minor obligations which are self-imposed, and for the more onerous and exacting one also. Take heed to the Apostle's words then — if not to mine — and let "no man entangle himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please him who hath chosen him." In modern times enterprising book publishers, pat- ent medicine venders, musical instrument manufacturers, soap makers, and countless other firms have sought after and obtained men of the cloth as agents to canvass for their wares. They have said, ''continue your work in the ministry, give us a little of your time and your influence, advertise and sell our goods for us, and we will pay you a commission." After a while they have offered stated salaries and uiirabile dictii some of these men have turned aside to engage in these trades, hoping to make themselves rich. In doing so, those of their number who have continued in the sacred office have become grossly secular. Their influence for good in the community has been minimized. They have become unacceptable to the flock they serve and undesirable to other parishes. As preachers their power has waned. They have become drugs in the market. Alas ! that this should be so. But 210 it is so, and must ever be so as long- as there exists, in any sense, a distinctive difference between things secular and thing-s spiritual ; and it does not seem possible in the pres- ent state of affairs that these distinctions will disappear. Whenever, therefore, men are enticed away from the work of God to enter upon more secular pursuits, it is usually evidence either that they were never called, or being called, they have forfeited their commission. In either instance it is better they should depart from us. It would be a great advantage if there could be a rule universally operative in the ministry of all the Churches to the effect that any man, except from sickness, who turns aside from the legitimate line of the pastorate shall be divested oi ministerial prerogatives and be classified in his proper category. In the words of Dr. Parker, which are strikingly apposite in this connection,, and which I fully endorse, **You are a minister not an author, you are a minister not a lecturer, you are a minister as was St. Paul ; be as devoted as he was to the Cross and Kingdom of our Lord 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 determined 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 powers of any man ; no man who gives himself entirely to the work of the ministry has occasion to complain of too little to do. Let us then give our days to study, and our nights to prayer, endeavor to show ourselves able ministers of the New Testament. The work of the ministry becomes more exacting in its demands. I know not that I ever had so high an ideal of what a christian minister should be and of what christian preaching may be as I have today. ''The pulpit will go down if the preacher goes down." The preacher will go down if he make anything 211 but preaching his main business and chief delight. Changing tracks, or leaving the main division of the ministry of one religious denomination for that of an- other is not uncommon. Ordinarily it w^ill be found to conduce to the best order, lasting harmony, and greatest utility for preachers to continue not only in one v^ork but under the same system. Should you start out on the Methodist, or Presbyterian, or Baptist, or Episcopal course, it will be found better all things considered for you to continue there. Unless you find yourself v^ith a deep conviction that you made a mistake and that you are not on the right track, stay v^here you are. If it should be that you feel you cannot make the best time or draw as many souls to glory here as you could by mak- ing a change, it will be proper for you to make it. But be doubly sure of this before you begin shunting. The circumstances should be pressing. The course should be a bona fide one. It should not be simply because you can obtain a larger compensation, or that you will be furnished with ibetter accompaniments. Many a preacher like many a train has been derailed or telescoped in changing tracks. There are some men who never find one of the right gauge to suit them. The Methodist is too wide, and the Baptist too narrow; the Presbyterian too straight, and the EpiscopaHans too curved. Tliey first try one and then another, until they run into the- osophy, spiritualism, moslemism, or some other ism. While care should be exercised not to jump one track for another at every curve and turn in the road, neverthe- less, as soon as you perceive that you cannot run on the scheduled time of the system you represent, get off it at once. In so doing, you are at liberty to switch on to another, providing you can find one to your liking. But never ridicule or denounce the one you have left. Speak- ing literally there is no more contemptuous act of which a clergyman can be guilty than to go out of the pale of 212 one ecclesiastical body into that of another^ and as soon as he is nicely ensconced in the second, begin to speak disparagingly of the doctrine and polity of the one which he left. If you must make a change for conscience sake^ let it be effected with as little ringing of bells, blowing of whistles^ and hissing of exhaust steam as possible. Many opportunities will be furnished and many inducements ofifered to make such a transfer. Finally, let your conversion, your convictions, and your call settle for you on what division of the Church your course lies. Get on it and keep on it. Shun all side- tracks, quasi-clerical and others, and go through to your destination. Stop not, till you come to the terminus. Then you shall receive the reward of a faithful minister of the Lord Jesus Christ. 213 CHAPTER XL THE BRIGHT LIGHT ON THE HEIGHTS. Success may properly be spoken of as the "bright Hght on the heights," for while others lure downward to disaster, this charms and draws us upward and onward. It would be very strange then if ministers, like other men, should not desire to succeed in their work of faith and labors of love, in preaching the gospel to the inpenitent and in taking oversight of the flock they are to shepherd. It is comparatively easy to affirm a universal here, and say ''all ministers have a laudable desire for success." Anyway I never knew one who could not and would not declare in the language of the eminent Scotch divine, Robert McCheyne, "I would rather beg my bread than preach without success." But what is ministerial success and how is it to be obtained? These questions have ever been found most difficult to answer. That it is not what some people take it to be, nor obtained as easily as is generally thought, should be obvious at a glance. Hence it is not to be estimated by any standards of what success is in other spheres of life. Nor is it necessarily in draw- ing the multitudes to hear one, nor in gathering about him the rich and the learned. Neither is it comprehended altogether in being scholarly or becoming popular. Nor again, in the advance made in rising from a lower to a higher grade of churches. These may or may not be marks of true success in the pastorate. That they fre- quently are cannot be denied. They are all desirable and in a qualified sense should be sought after. They may be, however, and sometimes are, the mere outward trap- 214 pings which are often regarded 'by the multitude as the indubitable insignia of good fortune. But crowded churches, large financial and social resources and a repu- tation for learning and pulpit power do not and cannot of themselves make a minister successful. It may briefly be said to consist in bringing to pass to the greatest degree consonant with one's environment those results for which the preacher has been ordained and set apart by God, among which may be mentioned the regeneration of the unregenerate, the edification and sanctifi'cation of the saints, the building up of the visible Church of God^ and the bringing in of Christ's kingdom among men. He who accomplishes any or all of these results to the fullest extent of his ability, opportunities, and surroundings, is a success. And he is this whether he have many or few to hear him, whether he is scholarly or illiterate, popular or unpopular. Indeed it is compat- ible with true success in the ministry that it is being at- tained even when all outward and superficial marks are absent. The earthly ministry of Elijah, the Baptist, the Christ and the lesser evangelists of the gospel have clearly evidenced this fact. Much depends upon one's success in the ministry as in other spheres of human activity upon the personal equation. It was because Paul understood the impor- tance of this that he said to Timothy, *'Take heed unto thyself." It will not be necessary for me to reiterate how essential a good physique, voice and presence are as ad- juncts. These qualifications are duly set forth and em- phasized in preceding chapters. It is the man as an organic whole, who is to be considered here. His in- dividuality, in its physical, mental and spiritual make-up. The man consecrated and set on fire with divine love. The man declaring his message as though it were evolved in its entirety from his own inner consciousness and ex- perience and at the same time backing it up with a "Thus 215 saith the Lord." All true preaching acquires a flavor, coloring and force from the personal character of the preacher. Hence, if he would have his message attended w^ith power, and accomplish that whereunto it is sent, he will not fail to put his egoism into it. When this egoism is merged into the same person as was Paul's when he declared, "I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me/' it will be seen how great is this consecrated and sanctified personal equation in the pulpit. Among those who have been greatest in the Christian priesthood were some who not only had a marked and unique personality, but who made it count for all it was worth in their ministry. Note this characteristic in the seers and prophets of Old Testa- ment times. What would the prophecies of Isaiah and Jeremiah be with the personal factor left out? Or the Psalms of David or the drama of Job? It is the ego with its vicissitudes, temptations, lapses, triumphs, which im- press us as being used of God in their own times and for all time in setting forth his will. Revelation in character is equally visible as in message and is often much more persuasive. The two combined are irresistible. So with the preachers of the New Testament — John, Peter, Paul, Christ. What are their utterances, profound as they are, without the personality which gives them mo- mentum? True, they contain words of the sublimest wis- dom and philosophy, but it is the personal quality, the individualistic coloring which gives them convincing and enduring power. How different the words of these in- spired teachers sound when uttered by another. It is difficult to say of what this personal equation is always composed. It is a mysterious something in the man which analysis has failed thus far to discover. Like the life germ, the knife has not touched it, nor the retort dis- closed it. Sometimes it is called animal magnetism, per- sonal polarity, atmosphere, air, potentiality, or the preacher's power to attract and rivet the attention of men. 216 Well, no matter what its name or modality, it exists and has powerfully operated in the great preachers of all ages. The time was when the notion prevailed that systems and not men constituted one of the chief factors of success in the ministry, and there can be little doubt that if a latitudinarian creed and an esthetic ceremonial have any influence on the masses^ they have a tremendous power to draw. But we must bear in mind the conclusion which we reached some time ago^ that true success is not always indicated by crowded churches, or drawing the masses. Howbeit some systems of theology do possess some ele- ments of attractiveness in them, but these do not inhere in them essentially and independently, as much as in the men who expound them. This will be seen at a glance when it is remembered that the great pulpit personalities of the past were not of one creed or denomination. Neither are the pulpit lights of today. Such men as Augustine^ Calvin, Knox, Swingli, Wesley, Whitefield, Simpson^ Chalmers, Robertson were not all of one creed nor nationality. Yet they were great as preachers. If their system of theology had made them such^ then we should naturally expect that all others subscribing to and preaching the same theology would have been giants too, but they were not. Their personality made these men what they were. The same is true of such preachers as Hall, Park- hurst, Paxton, Taylor, McArthur, Storrs, Tififney, Abbott, Brooks^ et al. Some of these are Presbyterians, others Methodists, Episcopalians, Baptists and Congregation- alists. They are all considered men of God. They have all succeeded in the best sense of the word in their minis- try. To account for this either their theology^ or their polity, or their individuality must be credited with it. But it has been clearly demonstrated that it was not their theology, for this was diverse; nor their polity, for this was distinctively antithetical. It must be, then, that their 217 success lay in their consecrated personality. Here I deposit it, and record my confirmed conviction that the personal equation is one of the most powerful co-efficients in a successful ministry. Hence today strong churches are growing up around strong personalities^ and it is the man after all, imbued and filled with the divine message, who makes a success possible and is one of the chief fac- tors therein. George William Curtis aptly puts it thus : ''One thing is plain, that with the decline of sacerdotal authority the influence of preaching must depend more and more upon the personal character and ability of the preacher." The next quality is originality. This is more than the ability to construct and compose sermons, or even the freedom from the bondage of borrowing other men's thoughts or stealing other men's words, which as we know is plagiarism. It consists in what the Germans call the ''::citgcisf/' the spirit of man, which reveals itself through his features, motions, and words. He sees ob- jects from his own angle of vision. The colors are his own perspective and shading. These objects may be the same as other men see and depict, but the picture of them is different. His preaching has his own person woven into it. It is God's truth tinged with man's mental and emotional idiosyncrasies. The Gospel of Jesus Christ ac- cording to St. Luke or St. Paul, or the man of God — whatever the name and age in which he lives — to whom a divine revelation has been given from heaven and who declares it to men through the trend of his own well marked peculiarities. "A right conception of what constitutes originality should be one of the first lessons in clerical culture. It does not consist in the creation of matter, for that has been done by the thinkers who went before, but in the selec- tion, combination and manipulation of the matter already in existence. He who thinks he can add a distinctively 218 new contribution to the subject matter of pulpit teaching must either be an insufferable coxcomib or a candidate for a lunatic asylum. Originality is denied even to men of genius in these days of searching criticism. Lowell has shown very clearly in one of his charming essays, that Geoffrey Chaucer was an inveterate borrower of the thoughts of other people, taking something that suited his purpose and making the most of it. And Shakes- peare is proven to have been still less original, if that were possible. Yet Chaucer and Shakespeare were original with a regal originality all their own. Their greatness lay not in the creation of matter, but in the use they made of it. This is the only kind of originality possible or desir- able in the pulpit." 'Tf you want to be an original preacher/' wrote Dr. Dale, "look at heaven and hell, life and deaths sin and holiness, with your own eyes; listen for yourself to the voice of God ; ask Him to reveal to you the glory of His love, the steadfastness of His truth, the energy of His righteousness, and tell the world what you have seen and heard. Pierce to the heart of things. Get at the facts which lie behind appearances. In this way originality will come to you when you are not seeking it." This advice could not be improved upon. It comes from one who was a great man and a great saint as well as a greait preacher. "He who would preach well must see the Vis- ion and hear the Voice. In the chamber of communion and from the pages of a Bible, illuminated by the Holy Ghost he must seek the originality of heart which is widely different from the originality of mind. The great common-places of religion must become as new and vivid and real to him, as if he saw them for the first time. Then he can enter the pulpit with a decision on his lips, a fire of intense conviction in his soul, and a freshness of truth pouring out of the fountain of spiritual experience, that shall invest his sermon with real originality. The way 219 may be narrow to intellectual pride and self-conceit, but it leads into the large place of green pastures and still waters. Try it." Moreover, it consists largely in the truth being trans- mitted by the individual subjectivity and then presented with all the striking and salient marks of the man upon it. The preacher's own convictions, experience and singu- larity are stamped as clearly upon his message as are the image and superscription on the coins of the realm. The material may be similar, such as copper, silver, or gold^ the form, the expression, and consequently the impres- sion, dififer. All preachers of power in all ages have pos- sessed this power of originality in a large and marked degree. Instance the Gospel as preached by St. John, St. James and St. Paul; by Massillon, Butler, and Chan- ning. Hence, "By thy own soul's law learn to live. And if men thwart thee, take no heed, And if men hate thee, have no care, Sing thou thy song, and do thy deed. Hope thou thy hope, and pray thy prayer. And claim no crown they will not give." Another factor of success which, if it does not form part of the personal equation, is closely akin to it, is en- thusiasm. The root of the word is even more significant than its English equivalent. It is a compound of "en~ theos-stao," literally meaning to "stand in God." Per- sons anciently described as enthusiasts were supposed to be divinely inspired. The more modern meaning of the term is inclusive. It embraces a lively imagination, in- tensity of feeling, earnest action, fervor of soul. The whole man — body, soul and spirit — is enswathed in a divine atmosphere. It is conceded by some writers that an exhibition of enthusiasm is proper in almost any and every cause but the cause of religion. Why this excep- tion? It is permissible, say they, in the cause of human- 220 ity, politics, sports, business, fraternities, and one's country, but not of one's religion. It is our opinion that the last named is its special and native sphere. If a man has a right to be thoroughly in earnest and enthusiastic over anything in this wide world, it is in the service of Jehovah. Of course we discriminate between enthu- siasm and fanaticism. The latter danger does not immi- nently threaten the modern pulpit. Neither does the former. It has seemed to us in listening to some minis- ters that they were cold and phlegmatic, unmoved them- selves, and therefore did not move others. Brilliant, for- sooth, but their brilliancy was as the shimmer of an ice- berg, when the rays of the sun slant genially upon it; they reflected and glanced ofif to chill and not to warm. "The sincere milk of the word may be dispensed from the pulpit, yet given out so frigidly and unfeelingly as to make it hard to receive. In Siberia the milkmen some- times deliver their milk in chunks, not in quarts, it being frozen solid and thus carried about to the customers. Alas, is this not the way many pulpits deliver the milk of the word? It is the pure article, sound, orthodox, and unadulterated, but it is frozen into logical formularies and hardened and chilled by excessive reasonings. Let us preach so that our sermons shall not have to be thawed before they can be digested. ' Whether the stories told about certain great dramatists and preachers are authentic or not, it is certainly true that while some players, by their earnestness, make the fictitious seem real, some preachers make the real seem imaginary, and soulless, yea and bodiless. Emerson is right in postulating that ''nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm." Certainly nothing great for God and humanity. Get in rapport, then, with your work. Let your message thrill you. Be like a Leyden jar yourself, and the people will feel the trill of your energy, power, and fire. Another indispensable integer needed in favorably 221 impressing an audience with revealed truth is imagina- tion. Napoleon credits it with enormous power. "Tlie men of imagination," said he, "rule the world." That some ministers, otherwise possessing many fine parts, fail because they arc destitute of it or do not exercise it, is obvious. They have a severely logical bent, or matter of fact turn of mind. They regard themselves as being des- titute of this gift, when perhaps they have it in large measure by nature. There are others who are conscious of its possession, but never allow it play in their pulpit ministration. This perhaps because they regard its exer- cise as being out of place in this sphere. A great mistake no doubt, but one which the more serious minded and solemn are prone to commit. It is their "napkin talent" safely stowed away. And yet, this gift and its exercise may be said to take the place, in the modern minister, of vision in the prophets of old. It is a powerful adjunct to any public speaker, and especially to one who has to do with the supernatural. If such an one were wholly lack- ing this quality, it seems as though his contact with the unseen, the spiritual and eternal would be sufficient to create it, and call it into action. It looks like attempting an herculean task for one totally devoid of this gift to undertake to preach ; for it has to do with the thoughts, the words, the construction, the delivery and the efifect of the sermon. Touched by it, the thoughts become mental pictures ; the words, colors ; the divisions, scenes, and the whole a grand and stately panorama which stirs, startles, and moves men. So much depends upon its possession and legitimate use by the preacher, that he should seek its development at all costs. Hence, he should be a close student of Nature; **For to him who, in the love of nature, holds Communion with her visible form, she speaks a vari- ous language" — and of art — painting, statuary, architecture — also, of the 222 imaginative in literature. Communion with, contempla- tion and consideration of these, will contribute largely to the end designed, while it furnishes the mind with whole- some entertainment. Exercise the imagination "in con- structing and inventing, in picturing and illustrating, in reproducing the past, and giving vivid reality to the un- seen world ; but everywhere exercise it under the control of sound judgment and good taste, and above all of (de- vout feeling and a solemn sense of responsibility to God." In army life commissions are constantly running out, for one reason and another. Sometimes the term of en- listment has expired, and at other times inefficiency ter- minates them. In the service of the Lord Jesus Christ there should be, and strictly are, no time commissions. They are for life. This is specially true of those called to be leaders and commanders in God's army. But it may happen, nay it does happen, that inefficiency of one kind or another causes the commissions of some of these men to lapse. No one can read Baxter's "Gildas Salvamis'' — "The Reformed Pastor" — without being convinced that this position is correct. Neither can he look around him and note in the pulpit men who were once proficient and efficient there, but who have lost their Samson-like strength and become weak as other men, without being fully satisfied that something has happened to them. What is it? What are they lacking? They have been growing intellectually. They preach more rhetorical and highly finished sermons than formerly. There is more profound erudition, and philosophy, in their sermons than of yore. What then, is the matter? Why simply this, their com- mission has lapsed. It needs to be redated and reissued from headquarters. Some of these men have been dabbling with phil- osophy, rationalism and science, falsely so called. They have forgotten the stipulations imprinted in their com- mission. They have, likewise, failed to enforce others to 223 the extent that they have become null and void. How many there are who are now in this predicament ! Like ships which have lost their moorings, they are dragging anchors with nothing to which to grapple which will keep them from drifting. I remember a noted preacher who in his latter days seemed to have become fogged. In early life he was a clean-cut preacher of evangelical truth, but his pulpit efforts later became mere metaphysical dis- quisitions. This is the condition of many in our pulpits today. What these men need is to come back to the simple terms of their original commission, or what is tantamount to the same thing obtain its renewal. Indeed, strange as it may sound, it is nevertheless true that in scholarship, in native and acquired ability, in an all round equipment for the performance of the work to which they are set apart, the clergy were never as a whole more thor- oughly furnished than they are in this age. Some, how- ever, have forgotten to obey the orders of the great Com- mander "to preach the gospel," and consequently they have preached tradition, history, biography, criticism, science, philosophy, and anything and everything else. The old order has been inoperative so long that now the only recourse open to them, which amounts to an alter- native, is either to resign their command or seek for a commission which is up to date and strictly follow its directions. In some religious circles this want is being keenly felt. Ministers are seeking a reconsecration of person and a rededication to their work. When this movement shall have become general, there will be as much difference in these divinely appointed leaders and their hosts as there was in the dry bones which lay strewn along the valley, very many, and very dry, and that "ex- ceeding great army" that "stood upon their feet." The first part of the vision represents the Church of God and its leaders with commission run out, the other with com- mission up to date. 224 To have and to hold such a commission will require an inflexibility of purpose or sanctified stubbornness backed by divine grace. This quality is one of the fac- tors entering into a successful ministry, and it has always been prominent in preachers who have attained it. There are so many events which arise, as well as side issues, which present themselves that it becomes necessary to set one's face as a flint, and determine like Daniel that you will not be turned aside, no not even by a king's dainties, from your heaven-born pur- pose to be wholly the Lord's. Remember, there are not press gangs today which can force you out of your Master's service into that of another. No person can compel you to leave the King's highway of holiness and duty. But you will, nevertheless, find that to swerve off here and there will not only be easy but frequently de- sirable to the flesh. There will come times when you must hold yourself to the one purpose of seeing the end of the Christian ministry, as with the grip of a giant. A flattering offer will come to you to become partner with some relative in a mercantile firm, or a law partner, or a correspondent of some leading journal. The enterprise oflfers in the way of remuneration as many thousand dol- lars per annum as you are receiving hundreds. Your sons and your daughters are springing up as plants about you. They desire to rise. To this end, they will need the cul- ture and training of the schools. On your present salary, and in your present calling, it will be well nigh impos- sible for you to do for them what you could under other and more propitious circumstances. Then again, there loom up before you the days which are coming on apace when you will be considered by some too old to preach, but, alas ! perhaps, when you have no means on which to retire. How much different would it be if you would only yield to the Siren voice call- ing you to enter other fields of labor. Shall you do it? 225 Are there not many reasonable considerations why yon should? Doubtless there are, but hold on the even tenor of your way and all shall be well. If the disinherited and unknown Black Prince, although afterwards Prince Ed- ward, and heir to the English throne, could inscribe upon his shield, despite adversities and difftculties : ''Ich dien'* — I serve ; if Moses choose ''rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season, esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt" ; and if your Master could leave the glories of heaven, ''humble himself, and become obedient unto death, even the death of the cross" ; surely you and I, with less to lose and more to gain, may hold ourselves by an iron will to the work of the gospel minis- try and win success therein. In addition to the exercise of that will power which will keep us from deflecting there must be that heart quality which is sometimes described "moral courage,'' or fearlessness. If anywhere a man needs to be as bold as a lion it is in the ministry. And if ever one human quali- fication, more than another, contributes to victory therein it is moral courage. To strike one's colors, to forsake one's flag, to surrender one's cause, will invariably hap- pen when fearlessness predominates. Thank God that the trial of our faith is not so severe and so crucial as formerly. There are few men who are driven from their pulpits in these days for presenting the truth, and fewer still who sufifer martyrdom at the stake for conscience sake. xA.nd yet courage is needed, for it is as true now as it ever has been that "the fear of man bringeth a snare." To lower the standards from the battlements where the Scriptures place them to that where the world would have them is constantly being demanded. There is a continual outcry for a diluted gospel and a rose-water theology. Give us savory meat is the request of many hungering souls who know not what they ask. What answer shall 226 we make to these demands? To comply would not be hard, but it would prove us recreant to our God-given trust. We must, therefore, be bold enough to preach the truth, even though it may be unsavory and unpalatable. Doubtless Jonah did not crave the undesirable mission of going to the Ninevites with the message, "Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown." Neither perhaps did Peter in accusing the Jews of having "crucified the Lord of Life and Glory." Neither does the gospel evangel delight in carrying to the sinful and erring the denuncia- tory deliverances of the great Judge against transgres- sors of His law. It requires fearlessness of a high grade oftentimes to do this. But it must be done and there should be no shirking. What sublime examples of the exhibition of this quality have been given in the world's history. It is said that when Massillon preached at Versailles, Louis XIV paid the following most expressive tribute to the power of his plain and pointed preaching; "Father," said he, "when I hear others preach I am very well pleased with them, but when I hear you I am dis- satisfied with myself." Bishop Latimer, having, in a ser- mon at court in Henry the Eighth's days, much 'dis- pleased the king, was commanded the next Sunday after to preach again and make his recantation. He prefaced his sermon with a kind of dialogue: "Hugh Latimer, dost thou know to whom thou art this day to speak? To the high and mighty monarch, the king's most excellent majesty, who can take away thy life if thou offend, there- fore take heed how thou speak a word that may dis- please." But, as if recalHng himself, "Hugh, Hugh," said he, "dost know from whence thou comest, upon whose message thou art sent, and who it is that is present with thee, and beholdest all thy ways? Even the great and mighty God, who is able to cast both soul and body into hell foreve'-; therefore look about thee, and be sure that 227 thou deliver thy message faithfully." What he had de- livered the Sunday before, he confirmed and urged with more vehemency than ever. The court was full of expec- tation what would be the issue of the matter. After din- ner, the king called for Latimer, and asked him how he durst be so bold as to preach after that manner. He an- swered that "duty to God and his prince had enforced him thereunto, and now he had discharged his conscience and duty both in what he had spoken, his life was in his majesty's hands." Upon this the king rose from his seat, and, taking the good man oiY his knees, embraced him in his arms, saying, "He blessed God that he had a man in his kingdom that durst deal so plainly and faithfully with him." When Mary, Queen of Scotland, began her bloody reign, John Knox was among the exiles on the continent. After a time he reproached himself and said : "I will arise and go to my fatherland and work God's work, I will do or die." He went^ and Mary feared him more than an army with banners. When laid in his grave behind St. Gile's Cathedral in Edinburgh, Lord Norton, looking down upon his coffin, said^ "There is one who never feared the face of man." What a eulogy ! That same kind of fearlessness is requisite in the gospel herald today. , Closely connected with the above, as Hnks in a chain, I are promptness, faithfulness, and conscientiousness in the / discharge of all duties, great and srnall, which inhere in the work of God. Then men "shall account of us as of the ministers of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God." To be prompt in attending to the various and numerous duties which devolve upon us is a sure har- binger of the attainnient and accomplishment of that to which we put our hands. Its observance prevents pro- crastination, which means doing tomorrow what we should do today. In these days of the telegraph, the elec- tric motor and telephone^ ministers must be on time and 228 to the point. For, as Dr. Gregory trenchantly states the case, "in an age when man is intensely active^ and all other ideas come to him on the wing, it will not do for the truth of God to crawl, like a snail, or slumber like a crow. It must fly with the celerity of a carrier pigeon to bring its messages to men in the thick of life's battle, or it must mount like an eagle to command attention, and carry its glad tidings upon swift wings to every corner of the earth." To this end those who bear it must be as swift as Mercury, as eloquent as Apollo, and as prompt as Aurora. It precludes the possibility of overlooking a matter on the ground of its smallness and apparent in- significance. It is difficult to always practice Christ's in- junction and do those things which are least at the very moment they should receive attention. And yet, *'he that is faithful in that which is least, is faithful also in much." Moreover, more may depend upon the faithful discharge of the minor duties of our office than appears on the sur- face. Did we but know how little things into great ones grow, there would be no putting off or omission. On the performance of a single act, the utterance of a single word, may hang the present and future happiness of some immortal soul for whom Christ die, ►W-- ^