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NINETEENTH CENTURY
PREACHERS
AND THEIR METHODS
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NINETEENTH , CENTURY
PREACHERS ;
AND THEIR METHOPS
BY THE
REV. JOHN EDWARDS
WITH AN INTRODUCTION
BY THE
REV. ARTHUR E. GREGORY, D.D.
EDITOR OF
CHARLES H. KELLY
2, CASTLE ST., CITY RD., AND 26, PATERNOSTER ROW, B.C.
I9O2
INTRODUCTION
MY friend of many years, and colleague of long
ago, has asked me to write a brief Intro-
duction to this volume. I do not see that it needs
any such preface, but I am under such manifold
obligations to the author that I am glad to comply
with any request of his. The papers originally
appeared in The Preacher's Magazine. They were
much appreciated by the readers, and were favour-
ably noticed in many reviews. In some cases the
chapters have been revised by their subjects. Mr.
Spurgeon was specially pleased with the sketch of
his sermon -methods, and wrote asking me to convey
his thanks to the writer.
Mr. Edwards has had a long and extensive ac-
quaintance with young preachers, and has won the
grafttude of hundreds who have been helped by his
kindly and judicious work in connection with the
Homiletic Classes of The Preachers Magazine Union
for Biblical and Homiletic Study. In writing this
vi INTRODUCTION
book the author has, I think, had these young men
chiefly in his mind, though there are many others
who will read it with interest and profit.
Mr. Edwards has not attempted anything ap-
proaching to a complete portrait gallery, for some of
the most distinguished preachers of the nineteenth
century are not mentioned. But typical cases have
been chosen, and the result is a volume that will
be of real value to a large number of preachers.
Most preachers are made, not born ; that is, they
\ only attain success by honest work, careful and pro-
^tracted study, and by communion with God. The
\best stairway to the pulpit is the Ladder of St.
Augustine.
The heights by great men reached and kept
Were not attained by sudden flight,
But they, while their companions slept,
Were toiling upward in the night.
It is good to read such records as this book gives
of the methods and the aims of men who have
proved themselves " masters of assemblies." There
are few things better for young preachers than to
know something of the inner life of those who have
been the most influential, the most effective preachers.
For the preacher ought to accomplish something,
ought so to preach that he saves both himself and
INTRODUCTION vii
those who hear him. He is " sent " to " reap " as
well as to sow. He must not be a mere president
or organising secretary of a religious community ;
he must be in the true apostolic succession, and
his word must be in demonstration of the Spirit
and of power. But there is much that a preacher
ought to learn which no theological college can
teach.
And He goeth up into the mountain^ and calleth
unto Him whom He Himself would : and they went
unto Him. And He appointed twelve that they might
be with Him, and that He might send them forth to
preach." 1
This is the beginning of the preacher's training,
and the essential part of it to BE WITH HIM and
to be SENT FORTH BY HIM. After this, many
lessons may be learnt : without it, the preacher is
as sounding brass or clanging cymbal.
This book will, I hope, be read by many young
men whose ministry will be chiefly exercised in
villages, small towns, and comparatively obscure
congregations. These are the men who most
need encouragement, stimulus, inspiration. The
smaller and duller the congregation, the more
necessary it is that the preacher should glory in his
1 St. Mark ii. 13, 14.
viii INTRODUCTION
office. " The country parson preacheth constantly ;
the pulpit is his joy and his throne." He does not
offer to God and his people that which doth cost
him nothing, or think poor preaching is good enough
for poor people. " He procures attention by all
possible art," he chooses " texts of devotion, not
controversy moving and ravishing texts, whereof
the Scriptures are full." " The character of his
sermon is Holiness : he is not witty, or learned, or
eloquent, but Holy." 1 I have heard many of the
greatest preachers of the latter half of the nineteenth
century. The two who made the deepest impression
upon me were Frederick Denison Maurice and
George Miiller, and I heard each of them only once.
They were not " witty, or learned, or eloquent, but
Holy," and for thirty years I have carried with me
the thoughts and aspirations they inspired.
It is good to hear great preachers, good to read
about them. It is not good to envy them, or to
feel that popularity is a thing to be grasped at.
Perhaps there is nothing more needed amongst
preachers to-day than a purer ambition, less alloyed
by thoughts of the world and the newspapers.
It would be a pity if any man should lay down this
book, feeling that he also must strive to become
1 Herbert's A Priest to the Temple : The Parson Preaching.
INTRODUCTION ix
great, or at least popular not that either greatness
or popularity are to be despised if they come to us.
Popularity is like wealth neither good nor bad.
All depends upon the use you make of it. Here
John the Baptist is our model. He escaped the
temptation of all preachers, the special tempta-
tion of popular preachers, forgetting himself in his
mission, not his mission in himself
Who counts it gain
His light should wane,
So the whole world to Jesus throng.
Finally, may I venture to commend to the young
preacher as the chiefest and most fruitful of all
studies that of the Word of God ? We have an
ever-growing number of good books books that
help the preacher to make sermons, and from which
it is easy to make good quotations; but none of
these can compensate for the neglect of daily read-
ing and meditation in the Divine Library.
And from the study of the life and work of the
preachers who are referred to here, let the reader
turn once again to the preaching of the Lord Jesus
Christ, the Incarnate Word. We may have many
teachers, but One is our Master, even Christ.
" Give yourself to God, that you may speak in
the humility of Jesus Christ, confessing that your
x INTRODUCTION
doctrine is not yours, nor of you, but of the Gospel.
Imitate, above all things, the simplicity of the words
and of the similitudes which our Lord makes use
of in Holy Scripture, when speaking to the people.
Think what wonders He might have taught ! What
mysteries might He not have revealed of the Divinity,
and of His admirable perfections He who was the
eternal Wisdom of His Father ! Yet you see how
simply He speaks, and how He makes use of
familiar comparisons of a labourer, of a vine-
dresser, of a field, of a vine, of a grain of mustard
seed. It is thus you ought to speak, if you would
be intelligible to the people to whom you preach
the Word of God." 1
ARTHUR E. GREGORY.
THE CHILDREN'S HOME,
BONNER ROAD, N.E.
1 St. Vincent de Paul.
CONTENTS
NO. PAGE
I. HENRY WARD BEECHER. i
II. BISHOP PHILLIPS BROOKS .... 8
III. DR. W. BOYD CARPENTER, BISHOP OF RIPON . 19
IV. DR. R. W. DALE, OF BIRMINGHAM . . .32
V. DR. F. W. FARRAR, DEAN OF CANTERBURY . . 45
VI. DR. THOMAS GUTHRIE . . . . .56
VII. DR. JOHN KER . . . . . .65
VIII. DR. ALEXANDER MACLAREN . . . -75
IX. ARCHBISHOP MAGEE . . . . .88
X. DR. JOSEPH PARKER . . . . . 101
XI. F. W. ROBERTSON . . . . .113
XII. CHARLES HADDON SPURGEON . . . . 121,
XIII. WILLIAM L. WATKINSON . . . -131
XIV. BISHOP SAMUEL WILBERFORCE .... 141
XV. THE ORDINARY MAN . . . . . 151
XVI. ON PREACHING TO CHILDREN . . . .160
XI
NINETEENTH CENTURY PREACHERS
AND THEIR METHODS
HENRY WARD BEECHER
With all respect to the critics, we confess that our conception of a
sermon is different from that which is sometimes found in the books.
There is all the difference in the "world between a sermon that is a
growth and one that has been bitilt according to plans and specifica-
tions. And important, moreover, as the rules of homiletics are, there
are times when the highest order of preaching transcends them.
/ "T"*HESE words seem to us to express exactly the
JL differences which undeniably exist between
Mr. Beecher's sermons and the homiletic ideal. That
ideal propounds plans, which, if followed, make the
sermon a formal and stately structure ; his sermons
were growths, born sometimes of the mood of the
moment, and springing into gracefulness and vigour
with all the rapidity which is characteristic of tropical
vegetation. His theory of preaching will help us to
understand his style. This was, in his own words :
" To preach the gospel of Jesus Christ ; to have
Christ so melted and dissolved in you, that when
2 NINETEENTH CENTURY PREACHERS
you preach your own self you preach Him as Paul
did ; to have every part of you living and luminous
with Christ ; and then to make use of everything
that is in you, your analogical reasoning, your logical
reasoning, your imagination, your mirthfulness, your
humour, your indignation, your wrath ; to take every-
thing that is in you all steeped in Jesus Christ, and
to throw yourself with all your power upon a con-
gregation, that has been my theory of preaching
the gospel. ... I have felt that man should con-
secrate every gift that he has got in him that has
any relation to the persuasion of men and to the
melting of men that he should put them all on the
altar, kindle them all, and let them burn for Christ's
sake."
Such being his theory, how did he prepare him-
self for the task ? in other words, how did he get
his sermons ? The answer to this question can be
given in one short sentence Mr. Beecher made his
whole life one long preparation for the pulpit. He
lived with that work always in sight, and made
everything contribute its share to the supreme object
which he had in view. But it will be instructive to
the ordinary preacher to learn more of the details of
his methods, and concerning these we have ample
information in the recently published Biography.
Mr. Beecher attributed his power as a preacher to
a close study of the preaching of the apostles, both
in respect to their matter and methods. His early
success he was accustomed to trace to two things : a
vivid realisation of the love of God in Christ Jesus,
and the habit of preparing his sermons with -a view to
reaching some specific object, and doing some definite
HENRY WARD BEECHER 3
work. He studied the Bible and human nature, and,
when a difficult case came before him, would hunt
the Bible through in order to discover the right way
of influencing the mind of that individual, and lead-
ing him to the Saviour of sinners. This it was
which led him to form the habit of studying men,
their dispositions, their wants, and their peculiarities ;
and when this knowledge had been gained, he would
set to work in order to lead the individual to a
righteous and godly life. Such definiteness in
preaching, especially in the wilder regions where the
early years of his ministry were spent, sometimes
provoked the anger of evil men, but it was fruitful
in the best results.
Mr. Beecher carefully prepared for the pulpit by
a close and detailed study of the Bible. 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 giving 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 travelled with him thousands of miles, says that
" Bible reading and study was a part of his daily
work while on the train." One winter he carried
with him constantly Stanley's Commentary on the
Epistles to the Corinthians, which he read and
annotated from beginning to end.
He was constantly on the lookout for subjects
and illustrations for sermons. Many of his note-
books came into the hands of the editors of the
Biography. They were found to contain " subjects,
heads of sermons jotted down at moments of inspira-
4 NINETEENTH CENTURY PREACHERS
tion in the family circle, on the railroad, in the
street car, after a talk with some friend . . . these
were the acorn-thoughts out of which grew up in time
strong, wide-spreading oak-tree sermons." His early
habit of studying men was not only kept up, but
grew with his years ; and during his Brooklyn life
he made it his business to get into conversation
with all sorts and conditions of men, in order to
acquaint himself with their methods of thought, their-
occupations, and their trials and difficulties.
For his preaching there was always going on a
certain kind of preparation, though a great part of it
was involuntary. " It consisted in a certain study of
the processes of nature around him, examining them
and digesting them, until he saw the relations in which
they stood to other facts, and a principle was dis-
covered or an illustration of some deeper moral and
spiritual truth was gained. This action of his mind,
we believe, became almost automatic. He had an
insatiable curiosity to learn facts. But he wanted
them for the same reason that a miller wants grain,
to grind and make bread. So he worked them over
until he had got something from them that fed his
mind or heart, and this was the only way he could
remember them."
So much respecting general preparation, Reading,
observation, the storage of facts, meditation on the
deeper meaning of facts, these are processes well
known to all wise preachers. How did Mr. Beecher
utilise his facts and forces, his wide knowledge and
intellectual power, in the actual preparation of the
sermon? Here his methods were peculiar and all
his own. Few men could successfully imitate his
HENRY WARD BEECHER 5
example. Speaking on this subject, he once said
" My whole life is a general preparation. Every-
thing I read, everything I think, all the time, whether
it is secular, philosophic, metaphysic, or scientific,
it all of it goes into the atmosphere with me ; and
then, when the time comes for me to do anything
I do not know why it should be so, except that I
am of that temperament it crystallises, and very
suddenly too ; and so much of it as I am going to
use for that distinct time comes right up before my
mind in full form, and I sketch it down, and rely
upon my facility, through long experience, to give
utterance and full development to it after I come
before an audience. There is nothing in this world
that is such a stimulus to me as an audience. It
wakes up the power of thinking, and wakes up the
power of imagination in me." Few men could bear
such testimony, and perhaps few men could attain
success by similar methods.
His biographer gives us a graphic picture of his
life on Saturday, and his methods of sermonising.
" The more special preparation for preaching on the
Sabbath began on Saturday, and consisted in doing
as little work as possible doing what pleased him,
making it a kind of active rest-day. Perhaps, if the
weather permitted, he ran up to Peekshill to look
over the place, and get rid of all friction and rasp by
giving attention to its common and homely details,
or to feed his imagination by looking out upon its
beautiful landscape. Perhaps he spent it in the
city. If so, he has probably been over to New
York, looking into shop windows, dropping into
Appleton's to look at books, or into Tiffany's to
6 NINETEENTH CENTURY PREACHERS
look at gems, having a little chat in each place with
some of the clerks. You may be sure he did not
forget his afternoon nap of from one to two hours :
wherever he was he aimed to secure that. He has
fed well to-day, but has been careful not to eat any-
thing that does not agree with him. He will have
the body in perfect order for the great work of to-
morrow. The evening he spent quietly at home, or,
possibly, ran into one or two of the homes where he
was most familiar, where he could have his own way,
and not be bored by anybody's trying to draw him
out into some excited discussion. If you had
followed him there, you would very likely have
found him taking his ease upon the sofa, while the
family life went on around him, in which he took
part by humorous sallies or quiet suggestions, as the
fancy prompted him ; home . . . and to bed by
eleven o'clock. Up to this time he has not decided
upon the subject or text that he will handle on the
morrow ; to have chosen it so early as this, especially
to have written any part of it down, would have
killed his sermon the next day. He could not have
kindled up to it and made it a living thing, if it had
been for so long a time buried on parchment. . . .
" His Sunday morning sermons were prepared
after breakfast, and the evening sermons after tea.
He would retire to his study and think out the result
which he wished to reach, making outline-notes of
the steps by which he proposed to reach it. He
could never preach a sermon on a given topic unless
it was in his mind. It sometimes happened that,
after wrestling with his subject in his study for an
hour or two, and finally preparing a very unsatis-
HENRY WARD BEECHER 7
factory outline of what he wanted to preach, he
would go to his church, and, while the choir were
singing the opening hymn, the whole subject would
come up before his mind in the form he wanted.
Hastily tearing a fly-leaf from his hymn-book, or
taking the back of his notes, he would sketch out in
a few lines the new-born sermon, which would per-
haps occupy an hour in its delivery. These were
very apt to be among his best sermons."
We do not present this method of Mr. Beecher's
as a model for general imitation : the preacher who
is without his special temperament and training can
never hope to rival him in his success. But the
story is not without its lessons to those whose habits
of work are most remote from those which he
adopted. If we follow him in his painstaking study
of Scripture, of nature, and of man, we shall find
ourselves becoming more and more effective in our
pulpit ministrations, and ever more successful in our
methods of proclaiming the gospel of salvation.
II
BISHOP PHILLIPS BROOKS
O Lord and Sovereign of my life, take from me the spirit of
idleness, despair, love of power and improfitable speaking. PRAYER
OF EPHR^M OF SYRIA.
I
J r 1 ^HESE words found in one of the notebooks
JL of the great preacher after his death seem
to give the key to his inner life, and to express with
J great accuracy the spirit in which he attempted and
performed his life-task. Sharing with Beecher and
Moody the honours of the American pulpit, and in
; some points perhaps surpassing both these teachers
(j as an influence in the national life it is as a
preacher that Phillips Brooks will be best remem-
bered. Although the two portly volumes in which
Professor Allen has told the story of his life are not
likely ever to become popular, and are weighted
with too many letters and dissertations to attract
any but the most patient and omnivorous reader,
they will prove a very interesting study to all who
delight in watching the inception and development
of a great preacher's career. If the almost inter-
minable pages could be skilfully condensed, and
brought into the compass of a moderately sized
volume, the book would rival in interest the finest
BISHOP PHILLIPS BROOKS 9
modern biography, and be worthy to rank with
those sermons and lectures which Phillips Brooks
gave to the world, and which have aroused nearly
as much interest as did the writings of F. W.
Robertson.
It is not our intention here to give a detailed
sketch of Dr. Brooks' life, but rather to refer to
his work as a preacher, and to point out those
methods by which he obtained such a command-
ing influence in the religious world.
Born of a sturdy Puritan stock, and trained in
the best traditions of Puritanism under the careful
eyes of a godly father and a praying mother, the
foundations of his character were well and truly
laid, and the young life was early, if unconsciously,
prepared for its great mission. His education was
begun in the Latin School at Boston, and continued
at Harvard ; but at that date there was no indica-
tion of the possession of those powers which ulti-
mately made him one of the world's most potent
religious teachers. He was at first designated for
the teaching profession ; and, although he was earnest
and attentive to his duties, his attempts in that
direction ended in comparative failure. Having at
length determined to give his life to the service of
Christ in His Church, he spent three rather dull
years in a Theological Seminary in Virginia, where,
in addition to studying theology on the somewhat
narrow lines then in vogue, he read widely on his
own account. Here his power of concentrated and
steady work soon began to tell, and those who knew
him best foretold for him a career of usefulness, if
not of popularity. But his real powers began to
J
lo NINETEENTH CENTURY PREACHERS
develop and to reveal themselves after he was
settled in his first rectorial charge at Philadelphia.
Here it was that he began to feel the joy and
the responsibility of the prophet's mission, and com-
menced that career of popularity which made him
in later life one of the foremost preachers of the
age.
Like all great souls, he had to pass through a
period of trial and disappointment. The first and
second years of his ministry brought to him great
weariness of spirit, and filled his heart with a keen
sense of loneliness and of depression. He was
learning not merely the rudiments of the preacher's
profession, but also to estimate his own powers, and
to sound the deepest needs of the human soul. In
these early days he had a fondness for unusual and
peculiar texts; as, for example, Ex. xxviii. 34, 35,
" A golden bell and a pomegranate," etc., which he
expounded in characteristic fashion " the pome-
granate stands for the accumulation of life and
\ its ripening fruit in the soul ; the bell for its
living utterance and proclamation." In later years
the use of such phrases was ridiculed as merely
clerical affectation, and he usually selected texts
which plainly declared either the great truths of
revelation or the great principles of the Christian
religion.
Having at length found his true vocation, he
concentrated attention upon his work, and sought
to make all his powers and capacities contribute to
its forcefulness and success.
He had no ambition to be known as a profound
\ scholar, a great organiser, or a sturdy ecclesiastic
\
\
BISHOP PHILLIPS BROOKS u
for the figment of Apostolic Succession he had a ,
healthy contempt all his energies were employed
in bringing his message home to the heart and,
conscience of his hearers. He studied science,
literature, biography, history, poetry, but always
with the pulpit in view ; and was ever ready to
seize on some rich metaphor, some illuminating
analogy, or some fact of history or life which could
be used to illustrate his chosen themes. He believed
in hard work and careful preparation, and his happiest
and apparently most spontaneous utterances were all
born of careful thought, and developed with the
most strenuous application of his powers. As his
biographer says, " He may be called a genius, but
if so, a clearer light is thrown upon the nature of
a genius; it is a capacity for harder work, more
persistent than in ordinary men." He believed
that human responsibility is only limited by human
power and opportunity ; and, strong in this belief,
he endeavoured to use his own powers to the utmost.
In this he was admittedly successful. Men of all
schools of thought paid tribute to his marvellous
influence and power. Dr. Hort, who heard him
preach during one of his visits to England, wrote :
" There was no rhetoric, but abundance of vivid
illustrations, never irreverent, and never worked up
for effect, but full of point and humour."
Mr. Bryce, in comparing his preaching with that
of Wilberforce, Spurgeon, and Liddon, said
"In all these it was impossible to forget the
speaker in the words spoken, because the speaker
did not seem to have quite forgotten himself, but
to have studied the effect he sought to produce.
12 NINETEENTH CENTURY PREACHERS
With him it was otherwise. What amount of
preparation he may have given to his discourses
I do not know. But there was no sign of art
about them, no touch of self-consciousness. He
spoke to his audience as a man might speak to
his friend, pouring forth with swift yet quiet and
seldom impassioned earnestness the thoughts and
feelings of a singularly pure and lofty spirit. The
listeners never thought of style and manner, but
only of the substance of the thoughts."
Dr. Bruce gives us a further, estimate, which is
perhaps even more generous than the preceding.
Speaking of the preachers of his own Church and
country in comparison with Phillips Brooks, he
says
" Our great preachers take into the pulpit a bucket
full or half-full of the word of God, and then by the
force of personal mechanism they attempt to convey
it to the congregation. But this man is just a great
water main, attached to the great reservoir of God's
truth and grace and love ; and streams of life, by a
heavenly gravitation, pour through him to refresh
every weary soul."
Another keen observer writes
" His secret does not lie in his thought or style ;
not in his utterance, which is rapid almost to in-
coherency : . . . but in his evident honesty of con-
viction, sincerity of purpose, and earnestness of desire,
he does not think of himself or of the impression
he is making; also in that he approaches men on
the side of their helpfulness. . . . He knows what
is in us all. He speaks out of the common experi-
ence, and comes right to the heart of men."
BISHOP PHILLIPS BROOKS 13
It is very interesting to compare with these
estimates of Phillips Brooks and his pulpit utter-
ances his own ideas on the subject of preaching
as they were embodied in his advice to young men
preparing for the work of the ministry. We can
only give one or two brief sentences, but many more
might be culled from his Yale Lectures on Preach-
ing-
" There must be a man behind every sermon."
" The real power of your oratory must be your own
intelligent delight in what you are doing."
" To be dead in earnest is to be eloquent."
" The sermon is truth and man together. It is
the truth brought through the man."
" Never allow yourself to feel equal to your work.
If you ever find that spirit growing upon you, try
to preach on your most exacting theme, to show
yourself how unequal to it you are."
It is in utterances such as these that the aim and
purpose of the man are revealed ; and no one can
study the career of Phillips Brooks without feeling
that in them he was embodying the fruit of his own
ripe thought and practical experience.
The great preacher, like the great artist, has
generally to formulate his own rules and to shape
his own methods. He may learn much from his
predecessors and his contemporaries ; but just as the
artist who possesses originality and genius has to
work out his own ideas in his own way, so the great
preacher has to fashion and shape the unchanging
message of the gospel to his own purpose; he, at
least, can never be a mere imitator. Still the study
of the methods of a genius is always helpful to his
14 NINETEENTH CENTURY PREACHERS
less gifted brethren, and we are fortunate in having
at our disposal a fairly complete account of the
sermon methods of this accomplished orator. The
strong note in all his work is concentration \ and
his chosen motto might have been " This one thing
I do."
" Preaching was the one exclusive object that
occupied his mind. The message to be delivered,
and the form it should take in order to be most
effective, to that simple end he devoted himself.
From morning till night, in every hour of leisure or
apparent relaxation, on his journeys, in vacations, in
social assemblies, he was thinking of subjects for
sermons ; turning over new aspects of old truth,
thrilling inwardly with the possibility of giving better
form than had yet been given to old familiar doctrine.
In a word, he concentrated his thought upon one
thing, it was preaching: that was what he lived
for, and for that cause he might almost be said to
have come into the world."
The first shape which the sermon took was the
brief hint in the notebook. This was the germ
from which the discourse grew. It seemed to be
necessary for him to put it into writing, and thus
fix the idea and prevent it from evaporating. His
biographer states that " every sermon may thus be
traced in its genesis, even every casual speech on
slight occasions." With all his ready eloquence, he
never trusted to the moment to bring inspiration.
His notebooks are full of these germinal ideas, and
some of the specimens given reveal the activity and
fertility of his mind. One or two may be quoted
" Come and See. A proper appeal to a sceptic, to
BISHOP PHILLIPS BROOKS 15
come and test- Christianity, i. The truth of the
Bible. 2. The phenomenon of Christ. 3. The
Christian History. 4. The religious experience by
putting himself into the power of what he did hold."
" Seek after the LORD. Acts xv. 1 7. God
nearer than we think. We are blind to what is
nearest to us always. Christ, the exhibition of a
nearness of God which is already a fact. The dif-
ference if we understood it all. God, the atmo-
sphere of life."
" Psalm xc. 1 6 (Prayer-Book Version). One
generation doing a piece of the work of God, and
the next generation seeing how splendid it is."
In this way he was always accumulating " seed
for sermons." But much laborious work had to be
done before the finished product was reached. The
" seed brought forth fruit after his kind," but the
process of growth was never very rapid. Early in
the week he had chosen the text on which he was
to write. " On Monday he had his friends with
him it was his day of rest; but through all the
conversation he never lost sight of the idea which
had inspired him. On the mornings of Monday and
Tuesday he was bringing together in his notebook,
or on scraps of paper, the thoughts which were
cognate to his leading thought, or necessary for its
illustration and expansion ; collecting, as he called
it, the material for the sermon." The morning of
Wednesday would be entirely devoted to the careful
writing of the plan which he intended to follow, to
shaping the form of the sermon. Hundreds of
these plans were found after his death, preserved
with scrupulous care. They are described as of
i6 NINETEENTH CENTURY PREACHERS
uniform size and appearance; each consisting of
four pages, and containing a dozen or more detached
paragraphs, each paragraph containing one distinct
idea. This done, he went over the whole again,
setting against each paragraph the number of pages
it would occupy when fully developed. The hardest
part of the preparatory process was then accom-
plished ; and the mornings of Thursday and Friday
were used for the purpose of writing out the finished
sermon, each paragraph of this, when completed,
being a work of art. Such a sermon would contain
some five thousand words. This long and pains-
taking preparation was all undertaken with the
purpose of giving him freedom when he entered
the pulpit. There he appeared like one who was
burdened with a message from God, and whose joy
it was to utter it to the people.
Amongst the elements of his power were his
ability to use all the treasures of his wide reading
in his pulpit utterances, and his sure knowledge of
what would touch the heart of man. Of his illus-
trations, it was said that they were drawn " not from
his religious autobiography, but from the spiritual
biography of the race." Another thing that con-
tributed to his success was his steady and persistent
jdesire to really preach Christ. Of the preacher's
> Mperils here he had the clearest knowledge, and ever
sought to avoid the danger. In his Lectures on
Preaching he says
" The disposition to watch ideas in their working,
and to talk about their relations and their influence
on one another, simply as problems in which the
mind may find pleasure without an entrance of the
BISHOP PHILLIPS BROOKS 17
soul into the truths themselves, this, which is the
critical tendency, invades the pulpit, and the result
is an immense amount of preaching which must be
called preaching about Christ, as distinct from preach-
ing Christ. There are many preachers who seem
to do nothing else; always discussing Christianity
as a problem, instead of announcing Christianity as
a message, and proclaiming Christ as a Saviour./
... It is good to be a Herschel who describes the
sun ; but it is better to be a Prometheus who brings
the sun's fire to the earth."
Phillips Brooks believed in preaching on great
themes, the great central truths of Christianity. V
Again and again this comes out in the pages of the
Life. During a visit to Germany he writes in
his notebook : " I want to try to draw out in order
and connection those personal convictions about
religious truth which have slowly and separately
taken shape in my mind." The topics are sugges-
tive " God, Revelation, Christ. Prayer. Atone-
ment The Bible. Moral Life. Personality. The
Church. Death. Eternity."
On another occasion he writes
" These are the great religious words ever deepen-
ing
" i. Separation from the world ; not the desert or
the cell, but independence by service.
" 2. Salvation of the soul, not from pain, but from
sin.
" 3. Prepare to meet thy God, with glorious and
glad welcome. He is always here.
"Be such a man that if all men were like you
the world would be saved."
1 8 NINETEENTH CENTURY PREACHERS
\ i
1 1 It was by constant meditation on themes like
/these that Phillips Brooks gained his attractiveness
v/'and influence as a preacher. He knew that the
true preacher was a man with a " message," and he
made it his single aim so to present that message
that it could not fail to influence men. And in the
pulpit he gained his mightiest influence and did his
noblest work. This is not the place to speak of his
success as a city rector, or of the wide influence he
exerted as bishop ; in both spheres he was enabled
to do noble work. But one other word must be
written. In these days when men talk of the
" decay of the pulpit," and utter their loud lamenta-
tions over " unattractive preaching," it is well to
remember that one of the greatest pulpit orators of
modern days believed in the preaching of the future,
and was sure that the pulpit was not yet dethroned.
Listen to his words
" The world has not heard its best preaching yet.
If there is more of God's truth for men to know,
and if it is possible for the men who utter it to
C\f / , become more pure and godly, then, with both of its
I elements more complete than they have ever been
v^w j before, preaching must some day be a complete
^ I power. But that better preaching will not come by
f any sudden leap of inspiration. As the preaching
of the present came from the preaching of the past,
A so the preaching that is to be will come from the
preaching that is now. If we preach as honestly,
\ as intelligently, and as spiritually as we can, we shall
\not merely do good in our own day, but help in
Isome real though unrecorded way the future triumphs
of the work we love."
" \
\
Ill
DR. W. BOYD CARPENTER, BISHOP
OF RIPON. 1
A man he seems of cheerful yesterdays
And confident to-morrows ; with a face
Not worldly minded, for it bears too much
Of nature's impress gaiety and health,
Freedom and hope ; but keen withal and shrewd.
His gestures note and hark ! his tones of voice
Are all vivacious as his mien and looks.
WORDSWORTH.
HERE are many indications that the pessi-
JL mistic temper of recent years, which gave
rise to the cry that the pulpit was declining in
interest and power, is fast passing away, and giving
place to a much higher estimate of the preacher's
office. The wider range of topics discussed; the
publicity given to present-day sermons in, at least,
a section of the daily press ; the continuous issue
and sale of sermon literature; and the increasing
attention which is given to the art of sermon-
making, are all witnesses to the fact that the pulpit
is again asserting its true position.
The Bishop of Ripon, who is widely known as
1 Lectttres on Preaching. By W. Boyd Carpenter, D.D., Bishop of
Ripon.
19
20 NINETEENTH CENTURY PREACHERS
an effective and popular preacher, has recently issued
a small volume on " Preaching," in which he gives
the result of his ripe experience and wide observa-
tion.
The book contains in all six lectures, dealing
with " The Preacher and his Training " ; " The
Sermon and its Structure " ; " The Preacher in rela-
tion to the Age, and his Aims in his Work." In
this paper we shall endeavour to discover something
of the Bishop's own aims and methods.
i. The Preacher himself, and his Training.
The lecturer recognises at the outset that the
foundation of all powerful preaching is to a large
extent the personality of the preacher. He quotes
the once famous phrase used by an English states-
man, that the State needs men of " light and lead-
ing," and applies the statement to the needs of the
modern pulpit. The preacher must be a man of
" light," he " must have a message which brings light
to the minds of men. He need not, like the poet,
aspire ' to justify the ways of God to men,' but he
must be an interpreter of the eternal moral order, of
the significance of life, of the subtle processes of the
heart of man. He must, in a sense, when once
within
The pulpit place,
Interpret God for all.
Or, to translate the same thought into sacred and
familiar language, he must have an eternal word of
God to deliver to men, a message which is more
than man's word."
He must also be a man of "leading"; the truth
which he utters must be so transmitted through his
DR. W. BO YD CARPENTER 21
own personality as to become a force which shall
influence and persuade men. The preacher must
have convictions, not mere opinions, and must be
able so to express his convictions that they shall
appeal to the minds and hearts of his hearers, and
lead them to embrace the truth.
It is, no doubt, in this " personal force " that we
must seek for the secret of the charm of all really
great preachers, and find the explanation of the vast
difference which is frequently perceived between the
preached and the printed sermon. " Those who
heard Newman preach tell us that it was not exactly
the thing said which impressed them, but the sense
of the preacher's personality as it passed across the
manuscript to the hearer's heart. Another illustra-
tion of the same principle is given us in Dr. Chalmers'
Life. He was fond of preaching his old sermons.
He did so openly, giving notice of his intention ; but
the crowds still came to hear from his lips even
sermons which were in print. The personal force of
the man gave something which the printed words
could not give. The words became luminous as
they sprang from his lips."
The really earnest preacher like Whitefield
puts his soul into his words, and so identifies him-
self with his subject and his work that he is able to
persuade men of the truth of his message. He not
merely teaches, or explains, or instructs, but he per-
suades ; and in order to do this " the whole weight of
his personal character and will must be thrown into
his utterances."
Finding that " personality " is such a prominent
factor in the work of the preacher, Bishop Carpenter
22 NINETEENTH CENTURY PREACHERS
urges that " it becomes our duty to regard this as a
sacred gift, and to do our best to make it an efficient
force." In order to this, two conditions are neces-
sary.
(1) Be yourself. The preacher must endeavour
to gain that sober self-confidence which will prevent
him from imitating other preachers and speakers,
but which will lead him to reliance on his own
powers. " The ambition or effort to be other than
self ends in disaster and confusion. The primrose
should be content to be a primrose, and not try to
rival the rose. The willow with its supple branches
has its place in nature as well as the firm unyielding
oak. It is a safe rule never to violate nature."
This is in harmony with the advice given by the
famous American preacher Phillips Brooks : " In-
dependence and the refusal to imitate and repeat
other people's lives may come from true modesty as
well as from pride. ... It is not pride when the
beech-tree refuses to copy the oak. He knows his
limitations. The only chance of any healthy life
for him is to be as full a beech-tree as he can.
Apply all that, and out of sheer modesty refuse to
try to be any kind of preacher which God did not
make you to be."
(2) Suppress yourself . While the preacher must
avoid being a copyist, he must carefully guard him-
self from the danger of being an ego-ist. " If
self-expression be true instinct, the safe avenue to
self-expression lies through self-repression ; for self-
consciousness is the hindrance of all free expression,
whether by pen or pencil or tongue." True genius
and real success can only belong to the man, be he
DR. W. BO YD CARPENTER 23
poet, or novelist, or painter, or architect, who works
not merely because a certain task is assigned to him,
but because of the enthusiastic joy he feels in the
doing of his work ; who works because it is a supreme
necessity to him to do that one thing. And the
preacher also needs the spring and fervour of spon-
taneity. " The same spirit kindles in the heart of
those who feel that they, have a message from God.
There is no thought of self. The coal from the
Altar has touched their lips. The word of the Lord
is as fire in their bones. Necessity is laid upon
them. Like the apostle, they cry, ' Woe is me if I
preach not the gospel ! ' "
Self-consciousness must be got rid of, if the
preacher is ever to have real joy in his work, or to
bring it to a successful issue. And the cure for it
is found in obedience to the first and great com-
mandment : in the possession of " a pure simple love
the love of work, the love of God, the love of
man." Very earnestly does the Bishop counsel the
young preacher to think not of himself, but of the
needs and sorrows of the people to whom he speaks,
and to endeavour to realise that he is in very truth
the messenger of God. He recalls the example of
Haydn, who " never attempted to compose till he
had prayed " ; of Gounod, upon whose instrument
" the head of the Christ was carved, to remind him
of Him whose presence and power could sanctify
and elevate human work." With this as the inspira-
tion of his life, the preacher will find his work in
any and every place, and will be guarded from those
temptations to depression and pride which sometimes
seem inseparable from his peculiar circumstances.
24 NINETEENTH CENTURY PREACHERS
The preacher should remember that the most
intense devotion to his own tasks does not demand
any limitation of his studies, but rather the con-
secration of all study. " If our consecration is to be
real, it should be the consecration of all our powers ;
none of those powers and faculties which God has
given us should be suffered to wither and decline."
The preacher must strenuously resist every tempta-
tion to onesidedness and narrowness, and endeavour
so to order his studies that all his intellectual faculties
may be kept alert and vigorous. He must cultivate his
powers of reasoning, enlarge his stores of knowledge,
develop his imagination, and, above all, cultivate to
the fullest extent the devotional habit. This latter
aim can best be met by constant and thorough
study of the Scriptures ; the Bible being " the greatest,
purest, deepest, and truest book of devotion in the
world."
It will be necessary, then, for the preacher to be a
diligent and hard-working student. "All the past
teaches us that those have best taught the world
who have best taught themselves. The apparent
ease with which a skilful man does his work, tends
however to deceive us. It seems so easy, that we
imagine it can be easily done. But this is a decep-
tion which reflection will dissipate. The steamship
glides past us as we watch it from the shore ; she
glides over the water like a thing of life; her
movement appears to us easy and noiseless ; but
when we take our place on board we know what
effort, what expenditure of thought, labour, and fuel
has secured this swift and graceful movement. To the
idler on the shore the thing is easy ; to the men on
DR. W. BO YD CARPENTER 25
board it means real and ceaseless work. Can we
expect that we can do any profitable work without
labour ? If we desire to reach skill and power, we
must be prepared to pay the price, and that price is
zealous, sedulous, constant self-cultivation."
2. The Sermon and its Structure. It may be
thought that it is impossible to-day to write or say
anything fresh on this much discussed subject; yet
as every skilled workman has his own method of
reaching excellence, so every preacher has his own
way of sermon production.
" The first qualification for writing a sermon is,
that you should have something to say. No man
can carve a statue until he has the stone ready ; no
man can mould a figure till he has the clay ; and no
man should imagine that he can write a sermon till
he has something to say." How, then, shall the
preacher procure his material? The Bishop's reply
to this question is : " There is one simple method.
... I would bid you remember the three R's, which
lie at the root of all true knowledge the same, with
one exception, as those with which we are familiar.
The three R's I would suggest are, Reflection, Read-
ing, and (the precedent warrants the inaccuracy)
Writing."
That reflection the act of thought is absolutely
indispensable, needs no argument. But the chief
point to be remembered is that it should precede
reading. Richter says : " Never read till you have
thought yourself hungry ; never write till you have
read yourself full."
In reading, as part of the special preparation for
any particular sermon, the preacher should be care-
26 NINETEENTH CENTURY PREACHERS
fill to study everything that " will serve to elucidate
and illustrate the subject." But he should do more
than this he should read until he knows the subject
thoroughly in all its bearings ; remembering Dr.
Fitch's maxim : " No person can adequately teach
any subject unless he know more than the points he
is prepared to put forward."
The Bishop regards " Writing " as one of the
chief points in the preparation of the sermon. The
preacher, and especially the young preacher, needs
to use his pen freely "in the modelling of his
sermon " ; and all the more, if he intends to be, as
he ought to be, an extemporaneous preacher. The
best way to proceed is " by writing down the out-
lines of the subject, and then re- writing it when you
have made up your mind as to which is the best
form. This method will help (i) to rid the mind of
its first crude thoughts ; (2) to penetrate to the very
heart of the subject; and (3) lead to the freshest
and best method of arranging and presenting the
thought."
In the arrangement of the sermon, the guiding
principle should be : " The power of truthfulness."
The desire to be original which so persistently
haunts the mind must be altogether discarded,
and every effort made to be thoroughly and com-
pletely truthful. There must be truthfulness in the
method adopted for the treatment of the text ; it
should be used in its real meaning, rather than in
any ingenious but accommodated sense. It should
be so expounded as to reveal its own inner mean-
ing, and not forced to buttress truth foreign to itself.
The sermon should be true in relation to the people,
DR. W. BO YD CARPENTER 27
and should not merely reiterate phrases with which
they are satisfied and pleased. And it should also
be in true relation with the preacher's personality
the outcome of his own experiences and convictions.
There should be the ring of truth in every sentence
it contains. And, finally, it must be baptized in
prayer. " If we allow our work to drop earthward,
it will vanish in profitless mist ; but if we lift it
upwards in prayer, it will rise to the throne of God.
He will touch it with His inspiration; and filled with
His power it will descend in refreshing rain upon
the thirsty hearts of men."
3. The Preacher in relation to his Age, and his Aim.
Under these heads Bishop Carpenter gives us many
wise and pertinent counsels. Here it is only necessary
to give the briefest summary. The preacher must
recognise that he is the child of his age, and resolve
that he will not be its slave. He must live in its
atmosphere, and therefore should endeavour to learn
its language and understand its spirit. To perform
his duty, which is to be done to-day, he must know
something of the conditions in which he labours.
And his knowledge must come, not merely from
books, museums, etc., valuable as these are, but from
a close contact with the people themselves. Only
thus will he be able to speak a language which they
understand ; to come into vital relation with their
modes of thought ; or be able to apply to the ever-
changing conditions of their life those changeless
truths which are of the very essence of the gospel.
With this knowledge, and with the help afforded by
a confident reliance on the fatherly love of God, the
preacher will be able to speak honestly and fear-
28 NINETEENTH CENTURY PREACHERS
lessly the truth he has learned and knows, and " by
manifestation of the truth will commend himself to
every man's conscience in the sight of God."
Bishop Carpenter has published several volumes
of sermons ; and one or two specimens of his style
will do more than any description to show how care-
fully his own outlines are made, and how skilfully
he can illustrate his points from history and also
from common objects of daily life.
MOSES AT THE BURNING BUSH. Ex. in. 3
"In the vision is the revelation which restored
Moses to faith and to energy. The revelation, if I
mistake not, was threefold
" i . It was a revelation of permanence. Moses was
suffering from that which is a common experience
of life he was exposed to the temptation to cry,
' Vanity of vanities ; all is vanity.' Everything had
slipped from his grasp. . . . But in the unconsumed
bush there was an element of permanence.
" 2. It was a revelation of purity. Permanence is
not to be found in material things, but in purity.
He is reminded by the leprous hand that the cause
of his failure lay not in the want of high purpose,
but in the lack of pure methods.
"3. It was a revelation of personal power. Behind
the purity is a personal God. And this God who
sends him forth is a God of infinite power and
strength.
" The same lessons come to us in these later days,
and will lead us, if we learn them, to worthy
achievement."
DR. W. BO YD CARPENTER 29
THE ASSURANCE OF JUDGMENT. ACTS xvn. 3 1
" St. Paul bases his assurance of judgment on the
reality of the resurrection of Christ. This does two
things
" i . It gives emphasis to the righteousness of God.
"2. It gives emphasis to the responsibility of man.
" On these two the judgment to come may be said
to hinge."
THE CHRISTIAN AS "LIGHT" AND "SALT"
" The influence of light is clear, unmistakable ; it
displays itself by its own light ; it can be seen and
observed. The influence of salt is more subtle. It
spreads unseen. It does not reveal itself to the eye.
It makes its presence known by mingling unseen in
other substances. Its glory is that we rather note
its absence than observe its presence. Its function
is, without obtruding itself, to make food pleasant
and palatable. It thus becomes the fitting emblem
of that unconscious influence which is rather of
character than of opinion. As light represents the
distinct, vigorous, and conscious influence of the
intellect, and of the will in active agency; so salt
represents that quiet, unspoken, felt, but unobserved
influence which disposition or character can exercise."
THE POWER OF CHRIST'S RESURRECTION
" Saul of Tarsus was as impetuous in hostility to
truth as any zealot of modern days. Augustine had
as ardent a nature and as wild and uncurbed passions
30 NINETEENTH CENTURY PREACHERS
as any of you. John Newton was as reckless of
right and as careless of God as any here. Read the
list of the worthies of the faith, the heroes of holiness
Polycarp, Ignatius, Chrysostom, Ambrose, Tauler,
Bernard, Wesley, Simeon, Martyn, Patterson : they
were men of like passions with ourselves. In them
the victory of a risen Christ was won ; in you, too,
it may be achieved. . . . Dismiss the philosophy of
despondency. Adopt the old oracle of the saints :
Sursum corda. The things which are impossible
with men are possible with God."
THE SCRUPLES OF UNSCRUPULOUS MEN
" The scruples of unscrupulous men are among
the marvels of the history of morals. Bishop Odo
so far honours the precept that the priest should
shed no blood, that he will carry no sword to the
battle, but he has no hesitation about arming himself
with the murderous mace to brain his foes. The
Pharisee draws the line of right and wrong in
matters of mint and anise and cummin, but the
weightier matters of judgment and righteousness
find no response in his conscience. There is a
scrupulousness which is a sure sign of moral deterio-
ration ; for it is the mockery of conscientiousness.
The demoralisation of Pilate was complete when he
washed his hands."
FANATICISM OR RIGHTEOUSNESS
" It may be paradox, but it is true, that a man
who holds mistaken views and suffers for his honesty
DR. W. BO YD CARPENTER 31
may be truly a sufferer for righteousness' sake, while
the most scrupulous orthodoxy may miss the bene-
diction. The ethical attitude of the man may be
right while his opinions may be wrong, and the
ethical attitude of orthodoxy may be wholly un-
righteous. Dr. Dollinger pointed out that the want
of justice was called by men fanaticism, and that
there have been times when the best of men have
acted fanatically i.e. without justice. When Philip
Augustus robbed and exiled the Jews, the Pope
declared that he had acted out of godly zeal. Even
holy Ambrose 'pronounced the burning of a syna-
gogue in Rome to be a deed well-pleasing to God/
In the view of Christ the benediction falls on those
whose hearts are set on righteousness. In the quar-
rels and persecutions which have been waged in the
name of religion the blessing of Christ must often
have fallen, not on those who were most stalwart
for true opinions, but on the man, mistaken yet
honest in his error, who would not pretend a faith
which was not his, nor make his judgment blind.
In this he must be truthful. Truthfulness is justice
to conviction. It is better to be honestly wrong
than dishonestly right ; for then the man is right,
though his views may be wrong. It is best of all
to be both right and honest ; but it is indispensable
that a man be honest."
IV
DR. R. W. DALE, OF BIRMINGHAM
He has his arena down at Birmingham, where he does his practice
with Mr. Chamberlain and Mr. Jesse Callings and the rest of his band ;
and then from time to time he comes tip to the Metropolis ; to London^
and gives a public exhibition of his skill. And a very powerful ex-
hibition it often is. MATTHEW ARNOLD.
DR. R. W. DALE was the successful pastor of a
large church, a profound, evangelical, and
liberal-minded theologian, and also one of the ablest
of the Yale Lecturers on Preaching. We may
therefore be sure that he has something to teach us
respecting methods of pulpit preparation, and the
most effective way of sermon-making. Happily, we
have a fund of information at our disposal in his
published Lectures * and other utterances, and, taking
these as our guide, we shall endeavour to describe
the methods which he commends to the youthful
student as the outcome of his own ripe experiences.
As a lecturer on preaching, Dr. Dale had almost
unexampled qualifications. His experience had
been rich and varied, and far removed from the
commonplace routine of the ordinary preacher. He
was brought up in London under the ministry of
Dr. John Campbell, one of the foremost Dissenting
1 Nine Lectures on Preaching. By R. W. Dale. Hodder & Stoughton.
32
DR. R. W. DALE, OF BIRMINGHAM 33
ministers of his time ; took his degree of M. A. at
the London University, with the gold medal in
philosophy ; and then studied theology at Springhill
College, Birmingham, under Henry Rogers. At
this time John Angell James was exercising great
and widespread influence in that town, and took a
deep interest in the young ministerial students. Mr.
Dale was thus brought under his notice, and the
intercourse then begun eventually issued in his being
selected as Mr. James' colleague and assistant. In
1858, after Mr. James' death, Mr. Dale was offered,
and accepted, the sole pastorate of the Carr's Lane
Church a charge which he held until his death, in
1895-
Our object in this paper, however, is not bio-
graphical, but rather to trace and present in the
words of Dr. Dale himself, and in as few words as
possible, " those practical suggestions with regard to
the work of the Christian preacher which have been
verified by his own experience and observation."
In the outset, Dr. Dale strongly and emphatically
recommends careful mental and intellectual prepara-
tion. He does not believe in making the path to
the pulpit an easy one, but holds the sensible creed
that before a man commences to deliver his message
he should have a message to deliver. " Impatience
is not zeal. . . . Self-conceit and intellectual indo-
lence may sometimes disguise themselves under the
form of eagerness to be preaching the gospel of
Christ." The preacher is Christ's servant, and
should devote himself and all his powers to the
faithful accomplishment of his Master's work. He
will therefore be willing to subject himself to any
3
34 NINETEENTH CENTURY PREACHERS
necessary training and discipline. This training
should be twofold in its character " Throughout
life it is a wise practice to have always on hand two
very different kinds of intellectual work work
which is a pleasure to us, for in that direction
probably our true strength lies ; and work which is
a trouble to us, for by that our intellectual defects
will probably be modified and corrected. . . . For
purposes of intellectual discipline, a study which
repels you is invaluable." All the preacher's studies
should have for their end knowledge knowledge
of the truth which he wishes to impress upon others.
He will be anxious, not so much to confute error, as
to proclaim the truth ; and, recognising that he is
God's ambassador to men, he will seek to know the
truth of God, and will endeavour so to preach that
his message shall bring " rest to the weary," the
" inspiration of moral strength to the weak," " relief
from the consciousness of guilt to the penitent," and
" guidance to the soul that is athirst for the living
God."
In order to do this effectually, it will be necessary
for the preacher to discipline well his own heart and
spirit, so that he may have a keen appreciation of
the kind of work he is called to do. " There are
some ministers who think so much about their
sermons that they never seem to think about their
congregations. They have so intense an intellectual
delight in the exposition and defence of religious
truth, that they do not remember that their business
is to teach, to impress, to convert the living men
and women that listen to them." This latter is the
preacher's business, and to perform it effectually
DR. R. W. DALE, OF BIRMINGHAM 35
should be the supreme purpose of his life. " Preach-
ing is an action." " A true sermon is meant to do
something. It is not intended to be listened to
merely." " We shall preach to no purpose unless
we have a purpose in preaching."
Having found his message the message which
suits the needs of his audience, the preacher must
faithfully use every faculty and power which he
possesses for the effective presentation of the truth.
" There is no power of the intellect, no passion of
the heart, no learning, no natural genius, that should
not be compelled to take part in this noble service."
And for this reason that the preacher may compel
his hearers to listen to his message. Mr. Dale
quotes Emerson with evident approval " Eloquence
must be attractive. The virtue of books is to be
readable, and of orators to be interesting." He is
no believer in the maxim that " dulness is necessary
to dignity," but maintains that it is the preacher's
business to make his sermon so interesting that the
people shall be unable to think of anything else
during its delivery.
A careful study of Dr. Dale's sermons will reveal
how closely he has followed, and how carefully he
has practised, the advice thus given. One feels
sure that Dr. Dale is not troubled with sleepy
audiences. The student will note in reading, e.g.,
the Week-day Sermons^ the evidence they give of
the preacher's close observation of the facts of every-
day life ; his ability to turn to account passing
events, and to illustrate his point by some event
from contemporaneous history, or by a reference to
the world of art or literature. Take one or two
36 NINETEENTH CENTURY PREACHERS
quotations : " It is my habit to read the reports of
bankruptcy cases and of the winding-up of public
companies ; and the inner pages of a daily paper
seem to me much better reading generally than the
articles in large type. The more I read, the more
plain it seems to me that people go wrong almost as
much from want of sense as from want of honesty."
..." We have had a Comic History of England
in our time a frightful indication of the extent to
which the very idea of the sacredness of our national
life has perished. . . . There are some men, I am
told, who, when they come home after a month's
absence, seem to have forgotten everything about it,
except the bills they have paid, the dinners they have
eaten, the wines they have drunk, and, if they have
been abroad, the strange customs of the countries
they have visited."
Further, the preacher must acquire ease and
facility in stating and expounding religious truth.
He must not make the mistake of supposing that
because a truth is fairly well known to himself, he
can easily make it clear to others : because the
" power of exposition is in reality a difficult one for
most men to acquire." Mr. Dale disclaims the
power of teaching men how to acquire this faculty,
but insists that the root of it " lies in honest intellec-
tual habits," in being " sure you know what you
think you know." Here the lecturer is in harmony
with other great teachers, and his advice is on the
same lines as that given by Professor Huxley to
would-be authors 1
" I have always turned a deaf ear to the common
1 The Art of Aitthorship. Edited by G. Bainton.
DR. R. W. DALE, OF BIRMINGHAM 37
advice to c study good models,' to c give your days
and nights to the study of Addison,' and so on.
BufTon said that a man's style is his very self; and
in my judgment it ought to be so. The business of
a young writer is not to ape Addison or Defoe,
Hobbes or Gibbon, but to make his style himself,
as they made their styles themselves. They were
great writers, in the first place, because, by dint of
learning and thinking, they had acquired clear and
vivid conceptions about one or other of the many
aspects of men or things. In the second place,
because they took infinite pains to embody these
conceptions in language exactly adapted to convey
them to other minds. In the third place, because
they possessed that purely artistic sense of rhythm
and proportion which enabled them to add grace to
force, and, while loyal to truth, make exactness
subservient to beauty. ... If there is any merit in
my English now, it is due to the fact that I have
by degrees become awake to the importance of the
three conditions of good writing which I have
mentioned. I have learned to spare no labour upon
the process of acquiring clear ideas to think noth-
ing of writing a page four or five times over if
nothing less will bring the words which express all
that I mean, and nothing more than I mean ; and
to regard rhetorical verbosity as the deadliest and
most degrading of literary sins."
In the next place, Dr. Dale insists that the
preacher must keep his logical faculty bright and
clear, and see that " every subject on which he
intends to speak is in his complete possession as a
whole, and not merely in its various parts." As to
38 NINETEENTH CENTURY PREACHERS
the accomplishment of the first of these, he advises
that in reading great books the student should
endeavour to test the strength of the argument as
he passes on, and not allow himself " to drift passively
down the stream of any man's logic." He should
force himself to follow the author's reasoning step
by step, and to challenge every conclusion until he
is sure that the position taken up is sound, and the
steps of the argument valid and accurate. In relation
to the second, the "habit and faculty may be
strengthened by patient and honest reading. Before
beginning a book it is well to look carefully through
the table of contents, and to learn all that we can
about the general design of the author, the method
he has followed, the relations between the various
topics he has discussed, and the various arguments
on which he has relied. After finishing the book
we should repeat the process. We should look at
the book as a whole and piece together all its parts."
THE PREACHER'S READING should be thorough.
Dr. Dale quotes Lord Lytton " Reading without
purpose is sauntering, not exercise. More is got
from one book on which the thought settles for
a definite end in knowledge, than from libraries
skimmed over by a wandering eye." His own
advice is to read great books to spend one's strength
in studying those books into which the authors have
put the strength of their intellect ; and while reading
to make notes, and " discuss in your notes the
author's arguments and criticise his theories," so as
to obtain a " complete mastery of his position." He
also advocates the study of sermons. Just as an art
student studies the masterpieces of the great painters,
DR. R. W. DALE, OF BIRMINGHAM 39
so that by a thorough knowledge of their productions
he may gain some knowledge of the principles of
their art ; so the preacher should make a careful
study of the sermons of the most successful preachers,
ancient and modern. His purpose should be not so
much the discovery of suggestive thoughts, but rather
to observe the methods of these " masters of pulpit
eloquence"; to note their texts and subjects, their
methods of division and illustration, and the manner
in which the subject is applied to the hearts and
consciences of the hearers. This may seem to be
advice beyond the powers and opportunities of men
of scanty leisure ; but it is really effective counsel
even for them ; for, as Lord Lytton has said, " The
man who has acquired the habit of study, though for
only one hour every day in the year, and keeps to
the one thing studied till it is mastered, will be
startled to see the way he has made at the end
of a twelvemonth."
Dr. Dale's advice respecting the DIRECT PRE-
PARATION OF SERMONS is extremely valuable. He
suggests, first, that the preacher must read the Bible
closely and continuously, not only to become familiar
with its contents, but to " accumulate material for
preaching." This Bible study should be carried on
in the most systematic manner, and with the aid of
all the helps to interpretation which the preacher
possesses. He should remember that " the substance
of our preaching has been given to us in a Divine
revelation," and that " the Bible is not merely a book
of texts, but a text-book." He should read with
notebook at hand, and transfer to it anything he
meets with that promises to be of use for sermon-
40 NINETEENTH CENTURY PREACHERS
making, whether from the Bible or from other litera-
ture. A few sparkling sentences culled from such
sources will often be exactly what is needed to give
force and illustration to one's argument. That Mr.
Dale has a keen eye for such pungent phrases,
readers of his sermons will readily allow. We
give one or two specimens from the Week-day
Sermons.
"The tongue of a busybody," says Bishop Hall,
" is like the tail of Samson's foxes ; carries firebrands,
and is enough to set the whole field of the world in
a flame."
" Though silence," says Jeremy Taylor, " be harm-
less as a rose's breath to a distant passenger, yet it
is rather the state of death than life. . . . By voices
and homilies, by questions and answers, by narratives
and invectives, by counsel and reproof, by praises
and hymns, by prayers and glorifications, we serve
God's glory and the necessities of men ; and by the
tongue, our tables are made to differ from mangers,
our cities from deserts, our churches from herds of
beasts and flocks of sheep."
In the choice of topics for sermons, the preacher
should select those which have a strong moral and
religious interest subjects which will stir the hearts
of men, and bring most forcefully under their notice
the great duties and hopes of life. The text should
be chosen not to display his cleverness and ingenuity,
but to enable him to present, expound, and enforce
the truth of God. On another point many will differ
from our author's judgment, when he counsels the
avoidance of the most sublimely grand and majestic
passages of Scripture as texts, and suggests that
DR. R. W. DALE, OF BIRMINGHAM 41
other and less poetic statements should be chosen
for the starting-point, thus leaving the grander texts
free to contribute their majesty and splendour to the
substance of the discourse. Probably the experienced
speaker will most fully appreciate the wisdom of this
advice. But it must not be forgotten that some-
times the preacher will most readily gain the attention
of his audience by the selection of a startlingly effec-
tive text, although it should also be kept in mind
that only a genius is likely to maintain throughout
the discourse the interest thus created.
The plan of the sermon should take its form from
the aim and purpose of the preacher in that particular
discourse ; and this will also largely determine the
special preparation needed. The accumulation of
materials should precede the making of the " plan "
" The plan of a sermon is the order in which the
materials are arranged, and it seems to me that the
reasonable method is to arrange the materials when
you have got them to arrange not before." The
preacher should be careful to avoid monotony, by
varying the structure of his sermons, and taking care
not to build them always on the same lines or on
similar framework.
When the materials are gathered together, their
fitness for the work assigned to them should be care-
fully tested. Will the sermon " contain an adequate
amount of Christian truth ? or is it likely to secure
any of the great ends for which the Christian
ministry was established ? " These are questions to
which the true preacher will give much and careful
thought. If he is to acquit himself of his duty to
the congregation to which he ministers, he must
42 NINETEENTH CENTURY PREACHERS
endeavour not only to suit his message to their
needs, but at the same time to " declare all the
counsel of God." A friend of the present writer's
himself a successful preacher lays it down as a rule,
never to be departed from, that every sermon should
contain enough gospel truth to lead a sinner to
Christ, even if he never has another opportunity of
hearing the message of God's love. This was also
Mr. Spurgeon's rule.
In addition to guarding well this point, the wise
preacher will, at stated and frequently recurring times,
bring definitely before his people the great facts
which underlie the Christian history and faith. The
festivals of the Christian year may thus be turned to
great advantage, as, by following the suggestions
which these " remembrance days " will bring to his
mind, he will be able to keep the grand foundation
truths of Christianity prominently before his con-
gregation, and his preaching will be in some measure
" according to the proportion of faith." He must
never forget that he is called to publish, " as far as
in him lieth," the full circle of gospel truth.
The INTRODUCTION should be brief, pointed, and
natural, and as much strength as possible should
be spent upon the APPLICATION. It is not enough
merely to state the truth, and then leave it " to do
its own work," to " trust to the hearts and consciences
of our hearers to apply it." This is a fatal mistake.
It means spending a long time in " getting our guns
into position," and finishing " without firing a shot " !
Our aim must always be similar to that of the
apostles to persuade men> and to persuade them to
definite and immediate action. For this purpose
DR. R. IV. DALE, OF BIRMINGHAM 43
all the genius and originality which the preacher
possesses may be summoned to his aid.
Dr. Dale was a warm advocate of extemporaneous
preaching ; but was careful to explain that by this he
did not mean choosing a text on the way to the
pulpit, and saying the first thing that comes ; but,
that careful and exact preparation which provides a
man with " what he is going to say," but not with
the words in which he will clothe his thoughts. He
modified this statement, however, in a later paragraph
" If you have an illustration which requires per-
fection of form, you may write it out carefully and
commit it to memory. You may also prepare a few
keen, epigrammatic, or passionate sentences, in which
to concentrate the effect of extemporaneous passages
which lead up to them. I believe that Plunket, one
of the greatest of our orators, was accustomed to
prepare his speeches in this way. It is generally
understood that on great occasions Mr. Bright
followed the same method." To be successful as
an extempore speaker, one needs to be well versed
in the English language in all its strength and
beauty ; to have a mind stored with great and
majestic thoughts ; and to hold these thoughts with
a firm mental grip.
We have said enough to indicate the helpfulness
of Dr. Dale's counsel, although we have by no means
exhausted the valuable advice given in the excellent
lectures which we have taken as our guide. We can
only say, in conclusion, that Dr. Dale firmly believed
that the preacher should, above all, proclaim the gospel
of Jesus Christ. He " has not to receive a revela-
tion from the new age in which we are living; he has
44 NINETEENTH CENTURY PREACHERS
a revelation to deliver to it a revelation from God."
And, in order that he may be faithful in his mission,
he needs " a special gift of the Holy Ghost," and
" this gift he ought to seek in earnest prayer." Are
not these the real and essential elements of every
successful ministry '?
V
F. W. FARRAR, D.D., DEAN OF
CANTERBURY
He is the best preacher who turns our ears into eyes.
PERSIAN PROVERB.
THE Dean of Canterbury is one of the best
known and most popular preachers possessed
by the Church of England to-day. Gifted with a
charming personality, possessing immense stores of
easily available knowledge, and that earnest en-
thusiasm which constitutes so large a part of the
orator's power, Dr. Farrar occupies an almost un-
rivalled position amongst modern preachers. Few
men have that charm of cultured style which dis-
' tinguishes his utterances, and fewer still speak with
such intense conviction of the truth and reality of
their message. This latter qualification is essential
to pulpit success. " However highly gifted he may
otherwise be, it is a valid objection to a preacher
that he does not feel what he says, that spoils
more than his oratory. An obscure man rose up
to address the French Convention. At the close
of his oration, Mirabeau, the giant genius of the
Revolution, turned round to his neighbour and
eagerly asked, * Who is that ? ' The other, who had
45
46 NINETEENTH CENTURY PREACHERS
been in no way interested by the address, wondered
at Mirabeau's curiosity. Whereupon the latter said,
* That man will yet act a great part ' ; and, asked to
explain himself, added, ' He speaks as one who
believes every word he says.' Much of pulpit power
under God depends on that admits of that ex-
planation, or one allied to it. They make others
feel who feel themselves." J
Dean Farrar has nearly all of the elements of a
popular style: he is bold, vigorous, courageous in
his utterances; his sermons are full of pointed and
racy quotations, and sparkle with poetry and with
allusions to literature ; and, in addition, no one can
listen to his fervid discourses without feeling his in-
tense and deep-seated conviction of truth. Whether
he preaches to schoolboys, to university students, or
to statesmen and business men at St. Margaret's and
Westminster Abbey, you find the same stirring ex-
hortations, the same fearless denunciations of evil,
whatever may be the particular evil under notice at
the moment, and the same earnest trumpet-call to
a nobler and better life.
There can be no doubt that the mental and
literary training of the man has had a great deal to
do with shaping the vigorous personality of the
preacher, and that the sermon is what it is because
of the qualities of the man behind the sermon. The
Dean tells us 2 that he received his early education
at King William's College, in the Isle of Man.
During his stay there books for boys being com-
paratively few in those days he read a good deal
1 Dr. Guthrie.
2 Books -which have influenced me.
F. W. FARRAR, D.D. 47
of poetry. " Before I was fifteen I had learnt by
heart Heber's Palestine, and Goldsmith's Traveller
and Deserted Village , in school ; and from frequently
reading The Parent's Anthology over, when no other
book was available, there were few poems in the
collection with which I was not very familiar. I
count this to have been a very great advantage.
Our minds were made a picture-gallery of beautiful
imagination, and perhaps, at least insensibly, the
poets made us familiar with ' the great in conduct,
and the pure in thought.' "
At sixteen he removed to King's College, where
for three years he attended the lectures of F. D.
Maurice, who exerted a strong influence on his
mental and theological development. His reading
at this time seems to have been mainly confined
to history, theology, and poetry. Hooker's Polity,
Butler's Analogy, Niebuhr's History of Rome, and
the works of Shakespeare, Southey, and Wordsworth
were carefully and diligently studied. During his
university career he became acquainted with many
of the chief works of classical antiquity, and with
some of the greatest English prose writers, e.g.
Burke, De Quincey, Jeremy Taylor, Tennyson,
Ruskin, and Carlyle ; and amongst the writers who
have influenced him most he includes Dante, Milton,
Coleridge, and Robert Browning.
But we must pass on to our particular topic
Pulpit Preparation. Unlike many of our popular
preachers, Dean Farrar has not, so far as we are
aware, either uttered or published any lectures or
addresses on the subject of preaching. But The
Record published a short paper from him on
4 3 NINETEENTH CENTURY PREACHERS
"Sermon Preparation" in December 1894, and to
that we are indebted for most of our information.
From this paper we learn that Dr. Farrar has a
keen and vivid sense of the greatness of the
preacher's task, and the burdensomeness of his re-
sponsibility. Believing that the great aim of the
preacher should be to preach Christ, and so to
preach Him that men may find life in His Name,
he knows that " it is solely on God's aid that the
preacher must rely." He sympathises with Canon
'Kingsley, who " used to say, with the slight stammer
which often gave a charming emphasis to his sen-
tences, ' Whenever I walk up the choir of West-
minster Abbey to the pulpit I wish myself d-d-dead ;
and whenever I walk back I wish myself m-m-more
dead,' " and dreads lest " any folly, any vanity, any
ignorance, any uncharity of one's own should infect
with alien influxes the pure river of the water of God, or
lest the hungry sheep should look up and not be fed."
His own sermons are composed in a compara-
tively short time, three and a half hours being given
as the average limit. Dr. Farrar does not recommend
this swiftness of composition to others, but urges that
no time is too long and no pains too great, if time be
available and additional labour is likely to produce a
better result. Sometimes, and especially to the prac-
tised writer and preacher, over-elaboration is a mistake,
and defeats its own purpose. "If written currente
calamo under the influence of some dominant thought
or deep emotion, the sermon may leap like a spark
from an anvil, and further pains might only envelop it
in the white ashes of euphuism and conventionality."
The Dean's rules for choosing a text are extremely
F. W. FARRAR, D.D. 49
simple, and, in the hands of a master like himself,
highly effective.
" Personally, I seldom hunt for a text. Some
thought or subject is in my mind, and presents itself
spontaneously. Sometimes it is suggested by a
single text, sometimes it is not. When I write on
one dominant theme I often select the most appro-
priate text afterwards. But if by any chance, when
I have to write a sermon, I have no special text or
subject in my mind, I have only to look at the
Epistle and Gospel, or the Lessons, or the Psalms
of the day, and then the only difficulty can be
which text of several to choose, The Bible, if we
read it rightly, becomes like Aaron's pectoral, ' ardent
with gems oracular,' over whose graven letters
as in the Rabbinic legend about the Urim and
Thummim glides the mystic light of heaven, and
spells the letters into ever new meanings and mes-
sages. And then, when we have found one subject
for a sermon, a little meditation soon shows it to be
so inexhaustible in depth and riches that out of a
single sermon there often naturally grow three or
four more, which become necessary to complete the
train of thought."
This is well and strikingly put ; but it does not
profess to be, and we question if it is, an accurate
description of the genesis of the most effective or
the most instructive sermons. There is, of course,
a vast difference between the homiletical rules of the
text-book, and the adaptation of those rules in the
production of a sermon by a skilful and practised
orator. But we venture to think that the truest and
most effective sermons are those which most literally
4
So NINETEENTH CENTURY PREACHERS
and emphatically grow out of some great text or
paragraph which has completely captivated the mind
of the preacher, and forced him to utter its message.
And for beginners, and those who have not yet
acquired the power which comes from long and
constant practice, it is always the safest rule to let
the sermon grow out of the text.
Some of Dean Farrar's sermons are admirable
examples in this respect, and, although his divisions
are not often so terse and clear-cut as those of Jay
or Robertson, they are frequently very simple and
natural. For example, in a sermon on Mic. vi.
68, Wherewith shall 1 come before the Lord? etc.,
the divisions are as follows :
" Many answers are given : I . By doing Will
Levitical sacrifices suffice? 2. By giving Shall I
try to bribe God? 3. By suffering By lacerating
the heart with torture, etc. No ; the true way of
pleasing God is 4. By being By being just,
merciful, humble before Him."
Again, in a sermon on "The Conquest over
Temptation" I Cor. x. 13 the divisions used
spring most naturally from the text
" i. St. Paul assumes the certainty of our en-
countering temptation, yet he teaches 2. You need
not fall: not one of you need fall, for 3. God is
faithful, and 4. He will lay no heavier burden on
any one of us than we can carry well. There is
always the way of escape from each separate temp-
tation. Some methods may be pointed out
(a) Watchfulness over thoughts ; (b) avoidance of
danger; (c) overcome evil with good, kill wicked
passion by religious passion ; (d) prayer."
F. W. FARRAR, D.D. 51
Dr. Farrar wisely recommends " the practice of
occasionally preaching courses of sermons on sepa-
rate books, and also single sermons on each book
of the Bible as a whole. The leaves of the tree
may be beautiful, but the forest is greater."
In his volume on The Books of the New Testament
we have a capital illustration of the value of this
kind of pulpit teaching. Few preachers, perhaps,
in this busy age, can find the time necessary for the
preparation of similar sermons, but there can be
little doubt that the result of such teaching would
be to spread a wider and fuller knowledge of the
Scriptures among the members of our congre-
gations.
Dr. Farrar's sermons abound in illustrations. One
f of his critics has said that " no one else has the
whole popular literature of England at his ringer
ends, and no one else can use it so wisely and well."
His power in this department is manifest on every
page of his writings. Illustrations from history and
biography, forceful and brilliant metaphors, and
sparkling quotations from the poets of ancient and
modern days, seem to crowd upon the preacher's
tongue, demanding utterance. We venture to cull
at random a few specimens of the Dean's fertility of
illustration from the pages of one of his volumes, in
the " Expositor's Bible Series "
" If Jeroboam (II.) was as wise and great as he
seemed to have been, he must have seen with his
own eyes the ominous clouds on the far horizon, and
the deep-seated corruption which was eating like a
cancer into the heart of his people. Probably like
many another great sovereign like Marcus Aurelius
52 NINETEENTH CENTURY PREACHERS
when he noted the worthlessness of his son Corn-
modus, like Charlemagne when he burst into tears
at the sight of the ships of the Vikings his thoughts
were like those of the ancient and modern proverbs
'When I am dead, let earth be mixed with
fire.' "
" So did the dynasty of the mighty Jehu expire
like a torch blown out in stench and smoke."
There is no strange handwriting on the wall,
Through all the midnight hum no threatening call,
Nor on the marble floor the stealthy fall
Of fatal footsteps. All is safe. Thou fool,
The avenging deities are shod with wool ! *
" It has often happened as to Persia, when in
B.C. 388 she dictated the Peace of Antalcidas, and
to Papal Rome in the days of the Jubilee of 1300,
and to Philip II. of Spain in the year of the Armada,
and to Louis XI v. in 1667 that a nation has
seemed to be at its zenith of pomp and power on
the very eve of some tremendous catastrophe."
Our author insists upon " illustrations " as one of
the desirable ingredients of the sermon. He coun-
sels further, that these shall spring " naturally and
spontaneously from our own memory and the stores
of our own reading."
" Direct quotations from others " the Dean regards
with little favour ; he recognises how powerful the
temptation sometimes is, but advises the preacher to
use his privilege sparingly, and always to make his
hearers understand that he is quoting. The sermon
1 W. Allen Butler.
F. W. FARRAR, D.D. 53
should never degenerate into a string of " Elegant
Extracts," no matter how beautiful they may be,
but should bear upon it the stamp of the preacher's
own mind and heart.
Respecting the vexed questions of originality and
plagiarism, Dr. Farrar says
" It is, of course, a base and a wrong thing for
any man to pass off as his own the unacknowledged
thoughts and words of others; but, on the other
hand, not one man in a generation is absolutely
original. It may be said of preachers as the Eliza-
bethan dramatist said of poets
One poet is another's plagiary,
And he a third's, till they all end in Homer.
" We must be ready to seize suggestions from all
quarters
From Art, from Nature, from the Schools,
Let random influences glance
Like light in many a shivered lance
That breaks about the dappled pools.
The lightest wave of thought shall lisp,
The fancy's tenderest eddy wreathe,
The slightest air of song shall breathe
To make the sullen surface crisp.
" One thing, however, is essential. We must make
every thought we utter our own, by re-thinking it ;
by passing it through the crucible of our own
minds."
Little needs to be added to this putting of the
matter. We must recognise that absolute originality
is a great and exceedingly rare gift, and that we
are not likely to be favoured with its possession,
54 NINETEENTH CENTURY PREACHERS
We may, however, be permitted to re-mint the old
thought, to find a new, fresh, and vigorous setting
to the time-worn truth, and give it a new and force-
ful application to the changing circumstances of our
own day.
In conclusion, we may point out that the Dean
has strong and definite convictions respecting the
aim and purpose of the preacher.
" What should be the main object of preaching ?
I answer, without hesitation, the instruction, the
elevation, the salvation of human souls. Every true
preacher is a preacher of righteousness. To dis-
criminate, to understand, and to utter those truths
which God has clearly manifested to ourselves, which
He intends us to utter and to interpret to our
brethren who are in the world ; above all, to feel
and to know, though it passes knowledge, the love
of God in Christ ; to feel and to know that God was
in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself, not
imputing their trespasses unto them, and to make
others partake of this personal conviction, that, I
suppose, is the object of all sermons."
And in order that this may be done with power
and grace, with that varied attractiveness and
spiritual force which commends the truth to the
consciences of his hearers, the preacher will make
himself familiar with God's message to man, and
with everything that will enable him to expound
and illustrate that message with tenderness and
vigour. He will regard " nature and art, and
biography and history and literature, as great
heaven-ordained teachers of mankind. They are
books of God, which, the more wisely and humbly
F. W. FARRAR, D.D. 55
we study them, become more and more fitted to
explain and enforce and illustrate those messages of
God which we read in Scripture, and those which
He speaks to us, to every man, each in the deep of
his own heart."
VI
THOMAS GUTHRIE, D.D.
He cometh to you with a tale -which holds children from their play, and
the old man from the chimney corner. SIR PHILIP SIDNEY.
IF one were asked to describe the preaching of
THOMAS GUTHRIE in the briefest manner
possible, there is one word which would irresistibly
come to our lips, and we should be constrained to
say, it was pictorial preaching. He was of the same
opinion himself. It is recorded that once, when he
was visiting the studio of an artist, he ventured to
criticise an unfinished picture, and to suggest some
change in the method of treating the subject. The
painter, with some little warmth, replied " Dr.
Guthrie, remember you are a preacher and not a
painter." To this there was the instant response
" Beg your pardon, my good friend I am a painter ;
only, I paint in words, while you use brush and
colours." Some of the readers of his sermons may
possibly think that he was sometimes the slave of
this very faculty of illustration, and they may be
ready to endorse the verdict of Bishop Wilberforce
" Eloquent familiar slip-shod some very good
things sheep on the other side of the glen going
in well-beaten tracts Newton coming back from
56
THOMAS GUTHRIE, D.D. 57
another world and finding the people better edu-
cated." But they will still be obliged to confess
that he was a popular and powerful preacher one
who possessed in large measure the power of getting
at other people's hearts, and implanting the truth
there.
It will be interesting and instructive for us to
note the way in which so popular a speaker and
preacher prepared his sermons and trained himself
for his work. He had, of course, being a Scotch-
man, the benefit of a long and valuable training.
For eight years he followed the ordinary college
course; then attended the university two additional
years before becoming a licentiate ; ancj after this
was five years waiting for a presentation to a vacant
church. Those five years were spent in the most
practical way partly in Paris, studying medicine,
etc. ; partly in business as manager of the Brechin
Bank agency. This long period of waiting was
a keen disappointment to the young preacher,
but the experience thus gained became in after-
life of the greatest assistance to him in dealing
with the burdens and temptations of business
men.
From the first, Mr. Guthrie determined to preach^
not read, so that he might have all the advantage
which comes from looking an audience " fair in the
face." However, he found it so difficult in those
early attempts to remember his sermons that he
began to despair, and said to himself, " I shall never
succeed as a preacher ! " In his first charge he
found the task of preaching twice every Sunday
to the same congregation too heavy a burden, so
$8 NINETEENTH CENTURY PREACHERS
he dispensed with the second preaching service,
and substituted for it a service of his own invention.
He formed a class for young men and women, and
met them in the church for examination at a later
hour, but in the presence of the congregation. " The
subjects of examination were, first, one or two ques-
tions from the Larger Catechism . . .; second, the
sermon or lecture delivered in the forenoon was
gone over head by head, introduction and perora-
tion, the various topics being set forth by illustra-
tions, drawn from nature, the world, history, etc.,
of a kind that greatly interested the people, but
such as would not always have suited the dignity
and gravity of the pulpit." This service was emi-
nently successful and popular; and we shall not be
far wrong in seeing in it the beginning of that
peculiarly illustrative style so characteristic of his
published sermons.
Though Mr. Guthrie had the reputation of being
a careful and diligent student, he made no claim to
the possession of " scholarship " in the strict sense
of the term. He was, during his college days, a
great reader of general literature, and had a special
liking for physical science. " The accuracy of his
medical and scientific illustrations has been frequently
remarked. One of his hearers said, ' In his logic you
might often detect a flaw ; in his illustrations, never.' "
Writing to a friend, he says : " I was preaching in
St. Andrew's Church on Sunday night, and have
been greatly amused at two observations which were
told me to-day, the one by Catherine Burns, who
was in the back seat of the gallery, and heard a
man (in allusion to my nautical figures) say to his
THOMAS GUTHRIE, D.D. 59
neighbour before her, ' He is an old sailor ; at least,
he was a while at sea ! ' And Miss Gilfillan heard
one say to another as he came down the stair, * If he
stick the minister trade, yon man would make his
bread as a surgeon ! ' "
And his preaching drew the people, first in the
country, and later in Edinburgh. One of his
Arbirlot elders told a visitor that " after Maister
Guthrie cam', the kirk was filled haigh up and
laigh down. The folk would come miles and
miles to hear him." . . . Did he use illustrations?
" Lots o' illustrations frae the sea, and the earth,
and the air, and onything that cam' handy. Illus-
trations extraordinar' ! He was a ready -wittit
man ; . . . He never had to rummage long for a
word."
One who knew Guthrie well has said that " there
were two voices in nature above others he had
listened to and learned. Wordsworth calls them
the voices of liberty : the one of the sea, the other
of the mountains." There was also another voice
which he listened for, the voice of God in His
word, and that was the source of his inspiration
in preaching. His marvellous power of illustration
" was always employed to set forth the grand old
cardinal truths of the gospel." He believed in
conscientious and thorough preparation for the
pulpit. The oil he brought into the sanctuary
was " beaten oil." He was a man possessed of
the power of ready speech, and, as Dr. McCosh
says, " could have extemporised a sermon at any
time, and thus saved himself much labour. But,
during all the seven years he was in Arbirlot, I
60 NINETEENTH CENTURY PREACHERS
believe he never entered the pulpit without having
his discourse written and committed. ... I have
found him on a Saturday night amending and
correcting what he had written, and filling his mind
with the subject."
Of his 'methods of work we have several pictures.
His brother-in-law, the Rev. J. C. Burns, tells that
when he was settled in Arbirlot he became a more
devoted Bible student than he had been before, and
prepared his discourses with great care. He pur-
chased, immediately after he was presented to the
living, the Commentaries of Scott and Henry, and
other works, but made comparatively little use of
them. His sermons were prepared with the aid
of Cruden's Concordance and Chalmers' Scripture
References. " He preferred Cruden and himself to
them all i.e. his own first and fresh impressions
of the meaning of the passage he was expounding ;
and these he set himself to convey in the plainest
and most familiar language, and in the most vivid
and telling form ; so that, while his exegesis might
sometimes be at fault, and was always defective,
he never failed both to get and keep the attention
of his hearers, and to put them in possession of what
he wished them to know."
His own account of his early endeavours is so
graphic that we transcribe it in full, asking our
readers to bear in mind that, whilst a student in
divinity, Mr. Guthrie had paid great attention to
the art of elociition, and had endeavoured to acquire
as perfect a manner of delivery as was possible to
him. He writes
" When I went to Arbirlot I knew pretty well
THOMAS GUTHRIE, D.D. 61
how to speak sermons, but very little about how
to compose them ; so I set myself vigorously to
study how to illustrate the great truths of the
gospel, and enforce them, so that there should
be no sleepers in the church, no wandering eyes,
but everywhere an eager attention. Savingly to
convert my hearers was not within my power ;
but to command their attention, to awaken their
interest, to touch their feelings and instruct their
minds, was, and I determined to do it. With
this end, I used the simplest, plainest terms, avoid-
ing anything vulgar, but always, where possible,
employing the Saxon tongue the mother tongue
of my hearers. I studied the style of the addresses
which the ancient and inspired prophets delivered
to the .people of Israel, and saw how, differing
from dry disquisitions or a naked statement of
truths, they abounded in metaphors, figures, and
illustrations. I turned to the Gospels, and found
that He who knew what was in man, what could
best illuminate a subject, win the attention, and
move the heart, used parables or illustrations,
stories, comparisons, drawn from the scenes of
nature and familiar life, to a large extent in His
teaching; in regard to which a woman type of
the masses said, c The parts of the Bible I like
best are the likes?
" Taught by such models, and encouraged in
my resolution by such authorities, I resolved to
follow, though it should be at a vast distance,
these ancient masters of the art of preaching;
being all the more ready to do so, as it would
be in harmony with the natural turn and bias
62 NINETEENTH CENTURY PREACHERS
of my own mind. I was careful to observe by
the faces of my hearers, and also by the account
the more intelligent of my Sunday class gave of
my discourses, the style and character of those
parts which had made the deepest impression, that
I might cultivate it.
" After my discourse was written, I spent hours
in correcting it; latterly, always for that purpose
keeping a blank page on my manuscript opposite
a written one, cutting out dry bits, giving point
to dull ones, making clear any obscurity, and
narrative parts more graphic, throwing more pathos
into appeals, and copying God in His works by
adding the ornamental to the useful. The longer
I have lived and composed, I have acted more
and more according to the saying of Sir Joshua
Reynolds, in his Lectures on Painting, that God
does not give excellence to men but as the reward
of labour."
In exactly the same strain is the advice he gave
to a young preacher : " An illustration or an ex-
ample drawn from nature, a Bible story or any
history, will, like a nail, often hang up a thing
which otherwise would fall to the ground. . . .
Mind ' the three P's. J In every discourse the
preacher should aim at PROVING, PAINTING, and
PERSUADING ; in other words, addressing the
Reason, the Fancy, and the Heart."
The success achieved by Mr. Guthrie was not
reached without effort. For some years after com-
ing to Edinburgh he rose at five o'clock, summer
and winter. By six o'clock he was writing at his
desk, remaining there till nine, the family breakfast
THOMAS GUTHRIE, D.D. 63
hour. By this means he secured some eighteen
hours each week for the Sunday's sermon ; and,
keeping it "simmering in his mind all the week
through," was enabled to preach with " fulness, feel-
ing, and power."
Such were the methods of this prince of Scottish
preachers : the results of those methods are to be
found in any of his published sermons. He may
not be a perfect model ; but many present-day
congregations, in town and country, would be glad
to find that the preacher who speaks to them could
present the truth in a similarly attractive form. As
Dr. John Ker beautifully says : "His sermons had
not exhaustive divisions enclosing subjects, as hedges
do fields, but outlines, such as clouds have, that grow
up by electricity and air ; or such as the breadths of
fern and heather and woodland had on the hillside
opposite his door, where colour melted into colour,
with here a tall crag pointing skyward, and there an
indignant torrent leaping headlong to come glittering
out again among flowers and sunshine. Some tell
us that analogy is a dangerous guide, and that
metaphors prove nothing; but when they rest on
the unity between God's world and man's nature
they are arguments as well as illustrations." We
may never become as powerful or as famous as
Thomas Guthrie, but we may follow him in his
reverent and loving study of Scripture, and in his
endeavour so to set forth its truth that the people
might realise its beauty and power. Of him we
may venture perhaps to use words written of his
Divine Master : " The commgn people heard him
gladly." What preacher would covet a higher
64 NINETEENTH CENTURY PREACHERS
eulogium on his own method of presenting the
truth ?
He spoke of lilies, vines, and corn.
The sparrow, and the raven,
And words so natural, yet so wise,
Were on man's heart engraven ;
And yeast, and bread, and flax, and cloth,
And eggs, and fish, and candles ;
See, how the whole familiar world
He most divinely handles.
THOS. T. LYNCH, On the Parables of Christ.
VII
DR. JOHN KER
As a rule, sermons by the best preachers of the last quarter of a
century, of -whatever party, -will be found more helpful in reference
to preaching than the ponderous and stately homilies of the third or
sixth generation behind us. DR. VAUGHAN.
ONE who knew Dr. Ker well, describes him as " a
preacher of rare and manifold faculty, includ-
ing keenness of intellect, a firm grasp of principles
and their practical bearings; philosophic breadth, deep
insight into the human heart, and sympathy with
it in all its moods of joy or sorrow. To these must
be added a fine poetic sense, coming in frequent
gleams like a sudden flush of warmth and light, by
which his words were illumined, but not weakened,
for he never elaborated his images till they grew cold
and formal." He is further described as " a man of
wide and genial humanity, whose conversation
which was one of his great powers, wonderful for
its fulness of knowledge, its variety, and its fluency,
with sparkles of wit and humour constituted such
a fascination as reminds one of what was said of Sir
Philip Sidney : ' He cometh to you with a tale, which
holds children from their play, and the old man from
the chimney corner.'
' "
65
66 NINETEENTH CENTURY PREACHERS
After some years spent in the service of the United
Presbyterian Church as pastor, first at Alnwick and
later in Glasgow, he was in 1876 appointed to a
Professorship in the Theological Hall of his Church,
as the first occupant of the Chair of Practical
Training for the Work of the Ministry a position
which he held until his death, in October 1886.
During these ten years he had a large share in
moulding the minds of successive generations of
students, and by the force of his great personality
was able to produce a lasting impression on the
intellectual habits of the rising ministry.
Few of the many lectures he delivered during this
period have been published ; but his History of
Preaching has gained a place of its own in Homi-
letic literature. Scattered through this book, and
in his Letters and Thoughts for Heart and Life, we
have sufficient information to guide us as to his own
opinions on the importance of the preacher's work,
and the best methods of performing it.
In Dr. Ker's view, the " great work of the Christian
preacher is, not to be an orator but an interpreter, to
teach the people how to read and use the word of
God. He is a conveyance-pipe to draw the water
from the fountain and pour it on grass and flowers
to make them grow, also on consuming fires of sin
to extinguish them." The true minister is one who
" stands between God and man to bring them to-
gether," and to do this he must himself ever be
drawing nearer to God. He must make it his
constant effort to reveal Christ to men, in all the
fulness and richness of His saving grace. He must
preach Christ as the Son of God in heaven, as the
DR. JOHN KER 67
Resurrection and Eternal Hope, as the fountain of
redemption and reconciliation ; and also as the
living helper of men in their daily struggles, as One
who in His humanity is brought close to men as
their Guide and Friend, always and everywhere. He
must so fully reveal to men the helpful sympathy,
the abiding life, and the redeeming power of the
Saviour, that the temptation to rest in confessionals
and spiritual directions, or to find refuge in ritualism
and sacramentarianism, shall be absolutely removed
from their path.
The preacher's PREPARATION OF HIMSELF for his
appointed task should be as thorough and complete
as it is possible for him to make it. He must pay
particular attention to the cultivation of his intellect
and the formation of sound mental habits ; his
character and bearing towards others should be such
as to mark him out as a true Christian gentleman ;
and at the same time he must use all available helps
for, and give all diligence to, the cultivation of his
spiritual life, so as to make that the source and
strength of all his public work.
His reading should be as wide as his circumstances
and time allow, and he should always endeavour to
turn the facts and thoughts thus gained to account
in his work of preparing for the pulpit. Dr. Ker,
however, in one of his letters speaks strongly of the
profitlessness of reading many books : " The best
thing, I think, is to have one's mind made up on the
few great points about God and man that go to
make life, and to read the few great books that deal
with them, leaving the magazine men to pull one
another to pieces as they like,"
68 NINETEENTH CENTURY PREACHERS
Further, the preacher must be a careful student
of human nature of the life and labours, of the
thoughts and needs of the men and women about
him. " Prince Maurice of Saxony speaks of ' study-
ing the human heart,' that he might win his battles ;
and someone has said that psychology, the know-
ledge of minds and temperaments, is part of the art
of war. This is still more true of the preacher who
would gain souls." He must remember that preach-
ing has to do with the whole of man's nature, and
with every part of man's life ; and he must study not
only to know the word of God, but how to bring its
truth to bear upon every man's heart, every man's
conscience and daily life. Dr. Ker quotes the words
of Tholuck, " Every sermon should have heaven for its
father, and earth for its mother " ; and adds, " It is
not needful that we should tell men about ploughing
and bee-keeping, and gardening and weaving ; but we
can bring home to them the great rule, ' Whatsoever
ye do, do all to the glory of God.' "
As to the METHODS OF THE PREACHER, Dr. Ker
would find in the Bible not only the principle of true
preaching, but materials and guiding lines. For him
the New Testament is full of " definite suggestions
of the highest value." He counsels us to study
especially the preaching of Christ and His apostles.
The characteristics of Christ's preaching are thus
stated: "(i) There is great simplicity, and yet there
is a never-fathomed depth ; (2) there is great variety,
and yet there is one constant aim; (3) there is great
sympathy, and yet great faithfulness." The different
spheres of His preaching are also noted : Stated
preaching, as in the synagogue, where He read, ex-
DR. JOHN KER 69
plained, and applied the Scripture ; occasional preach-
ing, on the mountains, by the seashore, or wherever
men gathered around Him ; and preaching to the
individual, as when He spoke to single persons
either in the house or by the way. This latter
course " should still be included in our work, when
we visit Christian families, and in the intercourse of
life. It may seem like a paradox to say that we
shall learn here not to preach at all. Notice how
Christ does. He drops a saying, sometimes little
more than a word : ' Go and sin no more ' ; ' O
thou of little faith ' ; 'One thing is needful ' ; and
He sends them away with this, to think of it and to
preach about it to themselves. See that you follow
His example."
Apostolic preaching was of two kinds. " The one
was ' missionary,' for bringing men to a knowledge
of Christ ; the other was ' ministerial,' for building
them up in the faith and in the practice of it. Both
methods are still necessary, and in the same order.
We have in our congregations children and many
half-instructed people for whom full and adequate
teaching respecting the life, work, death, and resur-
rection of Christ is absolutely required. And there
are others who need to be led into the fulness and
richness of the gospel blessings, who must be in-
structed in Christian doctrine, and its application to
our manifold life."
In the lecture-room Dr. Ker gave considerable
attention to the choice of subjects for sermons, and
to the methods of treating texts to what may be
called practical sermon-building. He utterly con-
demns "sermons of the scholastic type, full of plays
70 NINETEENTH CENTURY PREACHERS
upon words and ridiculous conceits." As an example,
he gives the following outline of a sermon on the
word " Jesus " :
"i. It is declined in three cases, Jesus, Jesum,
Jesu; wherein we have manifestly an image of the
Trinity.
" 2. The first of these ends in s, the second in m,
the third in u ; which is a deep mystery summum,
medium, ultimum.
" 3. Further, if Jesus is divided into two equal
portions, s is left in the middle, which in the Hebrew
is sin, and this in the language of the Scots signifies
peccatum\ it is thus implied that Jesus takes away
the sin of the world."
He also condemns the practice of certain preachers
of the monastic orders who related " stories about
saints and legends of the most trifling and irreverent
kind," or amused their audience with ridiculous
anecdotes and jests, and whose main object seemed
to be to make the hearers laugh. Dr. Ker finds
parallels to these in the modern question-of-the-day
handler and in the sensational advertiser, and advises
his students to find a more excellent way, by making
it their business " to declare simply, faithfully, and
earnestly the word of eternal life." He insists that
the freshness and variety of our sermons can only be
maintained by constant study and ready and untiring
observation.
" Visiting a store for wall-papers, and seeing some
of them very fresh and beautiful, I asked how and
by whom they were designed. * By the manufacturer
himself,' was the answer. ' Whenever he travels he
carries a little sketch-book, and when he sees any
DR. JOHN KER 71
flower that he thinks graceful he sketches it on the
spot, and afterwards works it up.' ... Is not this a
hint for preachers, to be gathering fresh stores from
life, and watching human nature, in order to bring
everything to bear on one great end ? "
Dr. Ker's practice was to prescribe texts and topics
to his students, on which they were required to
construct sermons or sermon-outlines, which would
afterwards be discussed with the whole class. " Some-
times he would ask them to suggest divisions or plans
on the spur of the moment, or after a quarter of an
hour's reflection." Or he would require his students
to go through the Gospels, to collect " the short
prayers addressed to Christ, the questions put to
Him, the questions He puts, etc., characterising them
in some few words " that they might gain " skill in
discerning the facets of the scattered diamonds."
Some of the Professor's outlines prepared for the
classroom are remarkably fresh and vigorous. He
says : " It must have struck you how much interest
is thrown into the Bible from looking at two clauses
which stand sometimes in the way of analogy, some-
times of antithesis. I have been trying some of these
for subjects." -
" Prov. ii. 3, 4. Two requisites for gaining the true
knowledge.
" i. Looking far up cry, lift up thy voice. Observe
how the longing cry becomes articulate, ' a voice.'
"ii. Looking close and near like a man in a
mine. Observe the growing intensity, seek, search.
Prayer and exertion united.
"Amos vi. 6; 2 Cor. xi. 28. Read in their con-
nection to see two characters found long ago and
72 NINETEENTH CENTURY PREACHERS
now, the selfish and the self-renouncing. Sketch their
circumstances, enjoyments, and the result. The re-
sult of their pleasure (see Amos vi. 7,8); the result of
St. Paul's care, which had a Godlike joy in its heart,
in the Christian Church, and in the world ; the end
of consistent materialism and consistent Christianity."
Dr. Ker urges that the style of the sermon should
be simple and sympathetic. The preacher should
avoid all words and phrases which are merely
academic and likely to act as " non-conductors," to
keep him from getting to the hearts of his audience.
His business is to persuade men, and he must use
language which they understand. His topics are
those which concern the personal welfare of every
one of his hearers, and do not need " fine rounded
phrases " to recommend them to the heart and con-
science, but rather simple and living words. He
illustrates this point by the following anecdote:
" When Dante wrote the Divina Corn-media in
Italian, the language of the people was despised.
* Why,' said a monk to him, ' when thou art so
learned, hast thou written such a work in the vulgar
tongue ? ' 'It is,' said the poet, ' that all may know
our hopes, and that the wife of the peasant may com-
prehend our faith.' Should not this be true of the
style of preaching ? "
In this connection, Luther's example is cited as
worthy of imitation. He " addressed the moral and
spiritual nature of his hearers with unmistakable
meaning and directness." Feeling " that the best
preacher is the man who is best acquainted with the
Bible," he made it his business to have a thorough
acquaintance with the word of God, and to set it
DR. JOHN KER 73
forth in homely language. " My best craft," he says,
" is to give the Scriptures, with its plain meaning ;
for the plain meaning is learning and life."
The preacher should find the main thought of the
text, and enforce that. If he tries to speak on every-
thing, he will never reach the end. Such preachers
he " compares to a maidservant going to market, who
wastes her time in talking with this one and that
one on the road, and arrives too late. We should
impress the leading thought, and send away the
people saying, ' The sermon was on such and such a
point.' " Dr. Ker himself thinks that " the first
formal excellence in a sermon is unity " ; and that
the cardinal sin of preaching is " wearisomeness,"
which often springs from want of unity in thought
or aim. He believes that " the heart is made for
the Bible, and the Bible for the heart " ; and that
the sermons of preachers of the evangelical school
attract the largest audiences, and are the most
widely read.
A careful study of Dr. Ker's lectures on Preaching
in Germany would be helpful to all young preachers,
and teach them much which they ought to know.
Some of his ways of characterising faulty methods
are original, and almost startling in their vivid power.
" There are some preachers who cut down the tree
of life, and deal it out in hard dry planks, sometimes
even presenting hard knots and sawdust abstract
doctrines without sap or sympathy. Others give
flowers from parasitical plants which they have
attached to it, things which have no fruit and no
healing leaves. The first is the deadly formal; the
second, the equally deadly fanciful."
74 NINETEENTH CENTURY PREACHERS
Finally, in order to preach well, much study will
be necessary.
"If there is any enthusiast who thinks he will be
able to preach by trusting simply to the inspiration
of the Spirit, or any genius who thinks it will come
to him by intuition, or any sluggard who is waiting
for something to occur, he may be undeceived by
reading the Pastoral Epistles of the Apostle Paul.
The preacher may expect Divine help, but only in
the use of all proper means. He is to stir up the
gift that is in him ; to give himself to reading and to
meditation ; to be nourished in the words of faith
and sound doctrine; to make himself acquainted
evermore with the Holy Scriptures, though he has
learned them from a child ; to distinguish all the
relationships of life, so that he may touch them with
discretion ; and in all things to study to show him-
self approved unto God ' a workman that needeth
not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of
truth.' So, good preachers were made at first under
apostolic guidance ; and so, good preachers must be
made to the end of the world. Oratio> meditatio>
tentatio"
VIII
DR. ALEXANDER MACLAREN
The river that makes glad the city of God must, in right preaching ; be
sometimes full, like Jordan when it overflows its banks, and sometimes
.tender like the rivers of Babylon, on the willows of which the harps of
the exiles -were hiing. DR. JOHN KER.
DR. MACLAREN is by common consent recog-
nised as one of the foremost preachers of the
nineteenth century ; and in many respects he is, per-
haps, the greatest of them all. He possesses in an
eminent degree the true expository genius, the power
of vivid and glowing illustration, a fervent and estab-
lished faith joined to wide and generous culture, and
an attractive and fascinating style. Keenly alive to
and fully abreast of all the intellectual questions of the
day, he is singularly free from any taint of modern
scepticism ; confident and undismayed in presence
of its loud-voiced materialism. He is a truly great
preacher, and his sermons always demand careful
attention ; hence his methods are worthy of study
by everyone who is called to declare the truth of
God to the hearts and consciences of the men and
women of this nineteenth ,pentury.
It is with some diffidence that we make an attempt
to describe his methods. Although Dr. Maclaren
75
76 NINETEENTH CENTURY PREACHERS
has been in great request as a speaker to students
for the ministry, he has published little which has
any direct relation to pulpit preparation ; and very
little of the sound advice so frequently uttered by
him to students has found its way into the public
press. We shall have to carefully study his published
sermons, and, if possible, infer from these fruits of
his genius the methods by which they are produced.
This plan will have many disadvantages ; but it will
be very instructive to search for those evidences of
the methods of preparation which come into promi-
nence in the finished sermon.
Alexander Maclaren devoted himself to the ser-
vice of God in his early youth, and was publicly
baptized when only thirteen years of age. He was
educated at the Glasgow High School, and Univer-
sity, and at the age of sixteen entered Stepney
College as a student for the Baptist ministry. He
took his B.A. degree at London University before he
was twenty, and in the following year commenced
his ministry at Portland Chapel, Southampton.
Here he was face to face with a bit of hard, dis-
couraging work, but his earnest and fervent labours
soon wrought a marvellous change ; and, after twelve
years of successful toil, he was widely known as an
attractive and powerful preacher. At this time he
received and accepted an invitation to the pastorate
of Union Chapel, Manchester, and his splendid
achievements there have given him a world-wide
reputation.
Those of our readers who have not had the
privilege of hearing Dr. Maclaren will be glad to
read Dr. Cuyler's description of him. In an article
DR. ALEXANDER MACLAREN 77
contributed to the Treasury a short time ago he
says
" Maclaren wears no { Geneva gown,' and not even
a clerical white necktie. He does not look old for
a man of five-and-sixty (the date is 1889); his face
is thin and sharp; he has an eye like a hawk; his
iron-grey hair is brushed back from an ample fore-
head ; and even long study has not brought him to
the need ofxusing his glasses. So superbly intel-
lectual a head 1 did not see in England after William
E. Gladstone's. ... Of course we ' forgathered ' at
once in his study, which is about the only place
where two parsons can stretch their legs at ease and
get into each other's true inwardness. My friend's
study was well lined with books, and the only two
portraits on the walls were those of Tennyson and
Thomas Carlyle. He told me that Carlyle was his
delight, and an endless quickener of thought : ' No
man of our times stirs me like him.' "
Dr. Cuyler attended the service at Union Chapel
on the Sunday morning following this interview :
Dr. Maclaren " read two lessons of Scripture, offered
two most fervent and beautiful prayers, and gave out
four hymns from a book of his own compilation,
which were sung ' with a will.' He then announced
his text from the fourteenth chapter of John, . . . and
for forty minutes, without a line of manuscript, he
poured forth a bright, pure, clear stream of devout and
quickening thought, like one of the crystal rivulets of
his own Scottish Highlands. . . . He never preaches
but once on the Sabbath,jand into that single sermon
he puts his whole concentrated strength."
But our main business in this paper is not so
78 NINETEENTH CENTURY PREACHERS
much to describe the personality of the preacher, as
to try and discover what we can of his methods of
sermon-making. The best possible preface to any
remarks of our own will be the following letter,
received from Dr. Maclaren a few years ago, when
we were collecting materials for this series of papers.
He says
" I have really nothing to say about my way of
making sermons that could profit your readers. I
know no method, except to think about a text until
you have something to say about it, and then to go
and say it, with as little thought of self as possible."
Have we not here the secret of success in preach-
ing put into the fewest and simplest words possible?
The advice thus formulated touches those primary
elements which must necessarily be found in all
Successful preaching, namely, careful preparation, a
distinct and definite message, and the forceful delivery
of the same. Readers of Dr. Maclaren's sermons
will soon discover that he has not himself spared
the process of thought; that he has unmistakably
something to say; and that he is more desirous to
utter his message than to obtrude his own person-
ality on the hearer. Here, at least, the reader will
find nothing to cause him to suspect the preacher of
self-exaltation.
Before a preacher begins to build any particular
sermon, or to " think about a text," it is necessary
first to find the text. The start will be all the
easier, and the sermon all the more forceful, if the
text has found the preacher; if it has gripped his
DR. ALEXANDER MACLAREN 79
soul with such a sure grasp that he is absolutely
unable to shake off the impression it has made upon
him, until he has delivered its message with all the
power at his command. There is no surer way of
discovering these " master texts " than a careful and
systematic study of the Scriptures ; and there can be
no doubt that this has always been Dr. Maclaren's
practice. We have been told on good authority
that it has ijeen his habit for many years to read
a chapter of the Hebrew Bible and one from the
Greek Testament every day. Speaking at a meeting
in Manchester some time ago he said, " A minister
who does not live a great deal alone, a great deal
with God, and in study of God's word, is not worth
much, as his teaching will soon lose that freshness
and power which alone comes from communion with
God." The fruits of such careful and concentrated
study on his own part may be seen in any volume
of his published sermons ; and more particularly,
perhaps, in The Holy of Holies^ the Epistle to the
Colossians, and the Life of David as reflected in the
Psalms. This habit will also help to explain his
faculty for finding truth in unexpected places. He
has " explored " the Bible, and can therefore bring
from his treasury "things new and old." What
marvellous illustrations of this are to be found, eg.,
in his Week-day Evening Addresses: Lev. xxvi.
10 "The Old Store and the New"; Ezra viii.
22, 23, 31, 32 "Heroic Faith"; Ps. lix. 9, 17
" Waiting and Singing " ; " Mnason, the Old Dis
ciple " ; " Quartus, a Brother," etc.
Having thus secured the text, the next business
of the preacher is to " think about it until he has
So NINETEENTH CENTURY PREACHERS
something to say." It is, of course, taken for granted
that the sermon-builder will use all legitimate " aids
to thought." There is a story told in this connec-
tion which illustrates exactly " how not to do it."
Dr. Maclaren is reported to have told a certain group
of students that " he made his sermons on his back,
looking at a sheet of paper with the text written on
it." The result was that soon afterwards some of
these students were to be seen lying on their backs,
and gazing at a sheet of note-paper, " but no
inspiration came ! " We are not surprised ; the
wonder is that anyone ever expected inspiration to
follow such a process. Thinking about a text im-
plies, first of all, hard work with the Lexicon and
Concordance. The text must be closely interrogated
and analysed, and made to render up its deepest
meaning. In Dr. Maclaren's own words : " A
minute study of the mere words of Scripture, though
it may seem like grammatical trifling and pedantry,
yields large results. Men do sometimes gather
grapes of thorns ; and the hard, dry work of trying
to get at the precise shade of meaning in Scripture
words always repays with large lessons and im-
pulses." l We give a few quotations from Dr.
Maclaren's volumes.
Ps. LVI. 3, 4
" What time I am afraid, I will trust in Thee.
Scholars tell us that the word here translated f trust '
has a graphic, pictorial meaning for its root idea.
It signifies literally to cling to or hold fast anything,
1 Some admirable examples of the results of such study will also be
found in Bishop Lightfoot's Ordination Addresses,
DR. ALEXANDER MACLAREN 81
expressing thus both the notion of a good tight grip
and of intimate union. Now, is not that metaphor
vivid and full of teaching as well as of impulse ? . . .
We may follow out the metaphor of the word in many
illustrations. For instance, here is a strong prop,
and here is the trailing, lithe feebleness of the vine.
Gather up the leaves that are creeping all along the
ground, and coil them around that support, and up
they go straight towards the heavens. Here is a
limpet in some pond or other, left by the tide, and it
has relaxed its grasp a little. Touch it with your
finger and it grips fast to the rock, and you will want
a hammer before you can dislodge it."
PS. LIX. 9, 17
" Because of His strength will I wait upon Thee.
... I must notice that the expression here, ' I will
wait, is a somewhat remarkable one. It means,
accurately, ' I will watch Thee,' and it is the word
that is generally employed, not about our looking up
to Him, but about His looking down to us. It
would describe the action of a shepherd guarding
his flock ; of a, sentry keeping a city ; of the watchers
that watch for the morning, and the like. . . . These
two things vigilance and patience are the main
elements in the scriptural idea of waiting on God."
COL. II. 8
" That maketh spoil of you. Such is the full
meaning of the word and not ' injure ' or ' rob,'
which the translation in the Authorized Version
suggests to an English reader. Paul sees the con-
verts in Colossse taken prisoners and led away with
6
82 NINETEENTH CENTUR Y PREA CHERS
a cord round their necks, like the long strings of
captives on the Assyrian monuments."
Such passages as these and there are many of
them suffice to show that a wise use of the
student's reference-books will help him greatly in
his work of sermon-making.
The preacher is to think about his text until he
has something to say about it. He must never be
content merely to say something, but must find the
real message of his text, and then use all the
powers of his intellect and imagination to give to
the message a living and perfect form. His aim
should be to apply the truth of the word to the
everyday needs, perplexities, sorrows, and sins of
his congregation. The two things most helpful to
him in this work (next to the power and unction
of the Holy Spirit) will be a wide knowledge of
human life, and a cultivated imagination. Dr.
Maclaren's sermons reveal how admirably he has
solved the problem of finding not only something,
but the right thing to say. One or two matters of
detail may be noted.
He has a wide and accurate knowledge of human
nature, and knows not merely its weaknesses and
failings, but its great capacities and possibilities.
He is thus enabled to speak to the heart, and press
home the abiding claims of the revelation of Jesus.
He is not satisfied with a mere presentation of the
truth, but seeks by its means to rouse the inert con-
science and to quicken the dead soul.
" The whole meaning of the death of Christ is not
reached when it is regarded as the great propitiation
for our sins. Is it the pattern for our lives? has
DR. ALEXANDER MACLAREN 83
it drawn us away from our love of the world, from
our sinful self, from the temptations to sin, from
cowering before duties which we hate but dare not
neglect? has it changed the current of our lives,
and lifted us into a new region where we find new
interests, loves, and aims, before which the twinkling
lights, which once were stars to us, pale their in-
effectual fires? If so, then, just in as much as it
is so, and not one hair's-breadth the more, may we
call ourselves Christians. If not, it is of no use for
us to talk about looking to the cross as the source
of our salvation."
"No asceticisms and no resolves will do what we
want. Much repression may be effected by sheer
force of will, but it is like a man holding a wolf by
the jaws. The arms begin to ache and the grip
to grow slack, and he feels his strength going, and
knows that, as soon as he lets go, the brute will
fly at his throat. Repression is not taming. Nothing
tames the wild beast in us but the power of Christ.
He binds it in a silken leash, and that gentle con-
straint is strong because the fierceness is gone."
In this connection it is impossible to overlook the
felicitous and sparkling illustrations which charac-
terise all Dr. Maclaren's writings and utterances.
In finding " something to say " he brings into
requisition all the stores of a cultivated intellect
and the rich treasures of a retentive memory.
Every page is illuminated with exquisite analogies
and the most apt illustrations. Every thought
sparkles and flashes with the light which is thus
thrown upon it. And so numerous are these gems
that a large " Treasury of Illustration " might be
84 NINETEENTH CENTURY PREACHERS
compiled from his writings alone. We have only
space for two or three examples ; but every reader
can easily test this matter for himself.
" The grace that is coming to you has started
on its road. It is being borne towards you as by
a flight of angels down through the blue. And
is that not so? Does not every tick of the clock
bring it nearer? Does not each moment that
passes thin away the veil ; and will it not be
dissipated altogether soon? The light that set
out from the sun centuries ago has not reached
some of the stars yet, but it is on the road. And
the grace that is to be given to us has started from
the throne, and it will be here presently."
" You and I write our lives as if on one of those
manifold writers which you use. A thin filmy sheet
here, a bit of black paper below it ; but the writing
goes through upon the next page; and, when the
blackness that divides two worlds is swept away,
there the history of each life written by ourselves
remains legible in eternity."
" The coals were scattered from the hearth in
Jerusalem by the armed heel of violence. That did
not put the fire out, but only spread it, for wherever
they were flung they kindled a blaze."
" The worst man is least troubled by his conscience.
It is like a lamp that goes out in the thickest darkness."
" Beware of the slightest deflection from the
straight line of right. If there be two lines, one
straight and the other going off at the sharpest
angle, you have only to produce both far enough,
and there will be room between them for all the
space that separates hell from heaven."
DR. ALEXANDER MACLAREN 85
" There then sit the two kings, like the two in the
old story, ' either of them on his throne, clothed in
his robes, at the entering in of the gate of the city.'
Darkness and Light, the ebon throne and the white
throne, surrounded each by their ministers ; there
Sorrow and Gloom, here Gladness and Hope ; there
Ignorance with blind eyes and idle aimless hands,
here Knowledge with the sunlight on her face and
Diligence for her handmaid ; there Sin, the pillar of
the gloomy realm, here Righteousness in robes so as
no fuller on earth could white them. Under which
King, my brother ? "
Illustrations like these seem to be woven into the
very texture of the discourse.
There remains one other point. When the text
is found, and the sermon built, how can it best be
presented to the audience ? What is the best
method of delivery? "Think about a text until
you have something to say, and then go and say
it, with as little thought of self as possible? Here
again we must supplement Dr. Maclaren's advice
by a reference to his practice. One question we
may ask here : What are those things, other than
vanity and conceit, which are sure to hinder a
public speaker from that self-forgetfulness which
is one of the prime elements of success ? Are not
two of the worst evils, those of confused arrange-
ment and ambiguous language ? Here Dr. Maclaren
has much to teach the young preacher. He is a
master of analysis and logical arrangement, and is
equally at home when unfolding the sequence of
thought in an expositor/ discourse, or unweaving
the various strands of some complex idea. This
86 NINETEENTH CENTURY PREACHERS
faculty will be best displayed and illustrated by one
or two sermon-outlines.
COL. I. 9-12
" This prayer sets forth the ideal of Christian
character.
" i . Consider the Fountain or Root of all Christian
character: 'that ye may be filled with the know-
ledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and under-
standing.'
" 2. Consider the River or Stem of Christian con-
duct : f walk worthily of the Lord unto all pleasing/
" 3. We have, finally, the fourfold streams or
branches into which this general conception of
Christian character parts itself: (a) 'bearing fruit
in every good work ' ; () ' increasing in the know-
ledge of God ' ; (c) * strengthened . . . unto all
patience and longsuffering with joyfulness ' ; (d)
' giving thanks unto the Father.' "
i KINGS xvii. i
" i. Life a constant vision of God's presence.
2. Life echoing with the voice of the Divine com-
mand. 3. Life, on the prophet's part, full of con-
scious obedience."
THE PRAYING CHRIST. LUKE xi. i
" i. The praying Christ teaches us to pray as
a rest after service; 2, as a preparation for
important steps ; 3, as the condition of receiving
the Spirit and the Brightness of God ; 4, as the
preparation for sorrow."
Little need be said here as to Dr. Maclaren's
DR. ALEXANDER MACLAREN 87
command of a rich, vigorous, and clear style. There
is little haziness or ambiguity about either the
thought or language. His sentences are clear as
crystal, and admirably adapted to bring the claims
of the truth home to the consciences and hearts
of men. And, assuredly, Dr. Maclaren cannot be
charged with preaching- himself, or with using the
pulpit as an instrument of intellectual vanity. His
varied culture, his large gifts, his broad charity,
his firm grijxof the essentials of the truth, together
with his large-hearted faith and his power of edifica-
tion, are all used for the purpose of extending the
knowledge of the gospel, and making larger the
Kingdom of Jesus Christ. Such an intense loyalty
to Christ enables the preacher to utter the message
which has been entrusted to him "with as little
thought of self as possible," and with that boldness
of speech which is the heritage of faithful men.
Every true preacher must make Paul's words the
law of his own life : " We preach not ourselves,
but Christ Jesus the Lord, and ourselves your
servants for Jesus' sake." Dr. Maclaren evidently
believes that this is the one all-sufficient and all-
powerful theme for the pulpit to-day. In one of
his later volumes he writes : " It is becoming
more and more plain that the tendencies of thought
now are bringing us full front with this alternative
either Jesus Christ or none. Either He has
shown us God, or we are left to grope in the dark."
From this serene standpoint of faith, our preacher
still proclaims the efficacy of the gospel. May he
long be spared to continue his glorious work !
IX
ARCHBISHOP MAGEE
The office of the preacher is to smite the rock, that the living -waters
may gits h forth to satisfy the thirst of the age.
SUCH was the conception which Archbishop
Magee early formed of the great work of
his life. The careful reader of his sermons can
hardly fail to notice that he was, in the main,
true to this conception, and that it was his con-
stant aim to bring the living truths of Scripture
home to the hearts and consciences of his hearers.
Amidst all the varied duties and multifarious calls
of his episcopal work, he never forgot that he had
been " called to the ministry of the Word of God."
And probably it will be on his pulpit power that his
fame will chiefly rest.
Dr. Magee was a man of strong, vigorous person-
ality; who, in stirring and eventful times, gave
evidence that he was able to "rule well in the
Church of God"; and was quite competent to
face and, if need be, do battle with both political
opponents and recalcitrant clergymen. His method
of dealing with the latter reveals something of his
spirit, and shows what manner of man he was :
" My maxims in governing are, first, never hit if
ARCHBISHOP MAGEE 89
you can avoid it ; second^ when you do hit, smash ;
third) when the smashed man admits that he is
smashed, then apply the plaster of forgiveness and
civility."
It was as a preacher that Dr. Magee first came
into public notice. When quite a young man he
was chosen to occupy the pulpit of Quebec Chapel,
which was considered at that time "the most
prominent and important post for a preacher in
London." From that day his promotion was rapid :
from London he removed to Enniskillen, and then
became successively Dean of Cork, Bishop of Peter-
borough, and Archbishop of York.
Preaching was Dr. Magee's lifework, and to it
he devoted all the energies of his mind and heart.
He looked upon himself as a Divine Ambassador,
and was careful to prepare himself adequately for
his great mission. His wife tells us that "he
always made his sermons a subject of prayer ; he
never preached without praying for guidance and
wisdom. He was very near God, God was in all
his thoughts. He never thought of self; for though
on going into the pulpit he was always nervous the
first few minutes, he often said, * After a minute or
two I forget that anyone is present ; my subject
has such possession of me, I can think of nothing
else.' "
Having such a lofty conception of the work which
the pulpit has to accomplish, he was careful to
base his teaching on the foundation of Holy Scrip-
ture. He knew that the preacher's task was to
make men understand the counsel of God, and to
bring the commands and exhortations of Scripture
90 NINETEENTH CENTURY PREACHERS
so clearly and forcibly before them that it should
touch the conscience, and give inspiration and
illumination to daily life. Hence, while willing
to gather suggestions from all sources, he felt that
the true authority and real power of the pulpit
rested on the "Word of God." And it was the
preacher's duty to see that the Bible was regarded
as a living book, always in touch with the life and
thought of to-day. Speaking at the Church Con-
gress in 1866 on the " Preaching of Dogmas," he
defined the attitude of the preacher towards the
authority of the Bible, in view of the repugnance
of modern thought to what it regards as obsolete
dogmas
" The remedy lies, not in perpetual alteration
of the original but in perpetual translation; lies
in the art of rendering these old and fixed forms
into modern thought and language, not in the book
but in the pulpit. Then there should be a per-
petual clothing of the framework of truth with the
flesh and colour of modern life, and thought, and
feeling. This is the special office of the pulpit,
to mediate between what is in danger of becoming
the dead book, and the living hearts of the people.
The book is to be the standard of the preacher, and
the preacher is to be the illustrator of the book."
The best and clearest statement of his own
method of sermon preparation is given in a letter
found in the Biography written by his friend Canon
Macdonnell.
" My plan was, never to look about until I had
the idea (in the Coleridgean sense) of my sermon
sketched, and then to read everything bearing on
ARCHBISHOP MAGEE 91
the subject. The great aim of the preacher who
wants to excel is to master the mind of his hearers :
to do this he must first master his subject, so as to
be able to present it in a new light. He who can
do this will always command attention.
" Another rule I always followed was never to
have more than one idea in my sermon, and arrange
every sentence with a view to that. This is ex-
tremely difficult. I don't recollect succeeding in
doing this more than three times.
"A good sermon should be like a wedge, all
tending to a point ; eloquence and manner are the
hammer that sends it home ; but the sine qua non
is the disposition of the parts, the shape. I am
convinced this is the secret of sermon-making. I
gave two years to the study of it.
" If you want to excel, never read a sermon, and
study arrangement and effect!'
In an address on " The Art of Preaching " he
further emphasises the same ideas. Preaching is
described as " the art of word - painting in the
pulpit," and is distinguished from all other forms
of word-painting. In the pulpit the word-painter
is not showing a completed work, but is painting
a picture in full view of those to whom he speaks,
filling in the details before their eyes, and he
necessarily aims at inducing the spectators to wait
until he has finished. He must therefore, in the
first place, secure and keep the attention of his
audience. He can only do this by making " the
backbone and the skeleton firm and strong," and
by " a clear logical connection between the various
parts of the discourse." " The secret of power
92 NINETEENTH CENTURY PREACHERS
in attracting attention lies in this: arrangement,
arrangement, arrangement. . . . The great secret
of arrangement is to have an introduction in which
the whole of the Sermon lies mapped out."
Secondly, he must aim at being understood by a
mixed congregation. An important requisite here
is unity of idea. " Stick to one idea. This ensures
it being better understood and better remembered.
If when you have written your sermon you cannot
give it a name, tear it up and begin a new one."
Nothing must be allowed to overshadow this main
idea; and the preacher need not "be afraid of
repetitions," but should endeavour to " set the same
idea before the mind in various ways, and exhibit it
in different forms of words."
Examples of the Archbishop's skill in concentrat-
ing his powers upon a single idea, and urging that
idea upon his hearers with all the might of his
eloquence, are easily found in his published sermons.
In a short series of " Sermons on the Creed,"
preached in Peterborough Cathedral during Lent
1887, this characteristic is very prominent. The
first sermon of the series is occupied with " A
Defence of Creeds " ; and this is followed by four
others, in each of which one idea is predominant.
The titles of these sermons are sufficient to indicate
the thoughts which govern them, namely, " God the
Father," "God the Creator," "Jesus the Saviour,"
and " Jesus the Christ." Dr. Magee had little
respect for sermons which left nothing but a vague
impression upon the hearer. In a letter to one of
his friends, which contains a criticism of one of
Stanley's discourses, he says
ARCHBISHOP MAGEE 93
" It was, like all Stanley's sermons, full of elegant
and graceful speech, you can hardly call it thought,
and full, too, of allusions to facts and names, and
circumstances known to his hearers, which riveted
their attention ; and yet, no one sentence in the
whole that bit or burned itself into your memory ;
nothing that made you think, but only what made
you, somehow, feel pleased with the preacher, and
the subject, and yourself."
The Archbishop set great value on the practice
of extempore preaching, and urged upon young
preachers especially the cultivation of this powerful
adjunct to pulpit efficiency. The needed qualifica-
tions for it were, in his judgment, three, namely,
nerve, fluency, memory. Concerning the first of
these, he says : " Hardly any man has the full
possession of his nerves when he preaches extempore
for the first time. . . . But, after all, that nervous-
ness is the greatest secret of success. It indicates
an excess of nerve-power that is, the power of
impressibility on the audience; and none will ever
thoroughly impress an audience without having had
some such experience. This nervousness is what
even the greatest speakers feel when they come face
to face with their audience. It is only the excess of
the feeling which is really painful, and the excess is
very soon got rid of."
Fluency is explained as the power to choose the
best and most fitting words ; not merely an easy
and quick flow of language. The memory which is
most helpful to the extempore preacher is a memory
for ideas, so that they unfold themselves in logical
order while he is speaking.
94 NINETEENTH CENTURY PREACHERS
The very best preparation will be found in the
combination of logical and consecutive thought with
clear, bold, definite divisions ; and then, after this, a
full and carefully prepared manuscript of the sermon.
An outline analysis of the leading thoughts should
then be written not for use in the pulpit, but to
give confidence to the preacher and to impress the
subject on his memory.
In the pulpit the preacher should aim at deliberate
delivery and the clearest possible enunciation; the
points of the sermon should be made clear and
emphatic ; and the concluding sentences should be
carefully prepared so that he may end his discourse
in a powerful and impressive manner, and not spoil
a good sermon by " not knowing when and how to
stop."
Illustrations are not so frequent in the sermons of
Dr. Magee as in those of some of his contemporaries ;
but he knew where to find and how to use them.
" The colouring of the sermon with thought, illus-
tration, argument, and application. I cannot give
any rules, or tell how this is to be done. The colour-
ing is to be got from the human life with which we
come into contact, with all its endless varieties of
sunshine and shade. Watch the tide of human
nature, and mark how it is broken by the stirring
influence of joy or sorrow or fear. And as we watch
it we learn how to steep our picture in the colour of
life itself. Let us inquire of our own soul's experi-
ence, listen to the argument of the unbeliever, to the
lament of the sorrowful, to the cry of the despairing,
let us watch the strong light which comes from many
a Christian's deathbed."
ARCHBISHOP MAGEE 95
We have selected two or three quotations to show
how readily the Archbishop could use the common
facts and incidents of daily life to illustrate Christian
truth.
SELF-DENIAL
" Why is it that on the drill - ground and the
parade-ground the soldier goes through the various
exercises of the combatant? He does on the drill-
ground and the parade-ground where no man is
attacking him or threatening him he does that
which he would do on a natural battle-ground and
someone were threatening him. The soldiers hold
themselves in this or that posture, ready to repel an
imaginary foe. Why? Because they are doing on
the parade-ground what they know they will some-
time have to do on the battlefield. And so in our
Christian discipline. It is the parade-ground of the
Christian soldier in which he practises, in things per-
fectly lawful and innocent, that self-denial he may
require in the day of trial on the battlefield ; and the
Christian practises it because he never knows when
he will find himself engaged in a deadly struggle
with the enemy of the soul.
ISOLATION NO REMEDY FOR WORLDLINESS
" You can no more keep out unreality by going
away from it than you can keep out the fog by
building a wall. It will rise above the wall, it will
penetrate through the crevices, until it fills the in-
terior with its dark moisture because no mechanical
contrivance can keep it out ; and so no isolation of
96 NINETEENTH CENTURY PREACHERS
cell or convent can keep the world out of man's
heart. It is the unreality of the world, the vanity
of the world, we are called to renounce."
MAN'S CONDITION GROWS OUT OF CHARACTER
" Most of you have heard of a place well known
as Norfolk Island a far-away island beautiful in
itself to look at, healthy, charming. It was made
for a time the residence of convicts so desperate and
evil that they were banished from the other convict
establishments as being too bad for them, and sent
there. They were sent to a place of their own, for
which they had specially fitted themselves, and what
happened ? Why, the place became such an absolute
hell on earth, so detestable, miserable, so horrible
the life these unhappy creatures lived there, the
life they made for themselves, remember, that at
last the establishment had to be broken up, and
these men had to be dispersed, and Norfolk Island
cleared of their presence. They had made that of
all places naturally a paradise a hell, and by them-
selves ! They were succeeded by another body of
men men who had been brought up in a secluded
island of their own in the love and fear of God, and
they made of it a paradise. But hell and heaven
were respectively of these men's own making, and
that is true always, believe me men go to their
own places when they die ; and there never was a
man who went to hell, or will go there, who has not
fitted himself for it ; and there never will be a man
go to heaven who has not, by God's mercy, been
fitted for heaven."
ARCHBISHOP MAGEE 97
CHRIST IN Us
" Every living thing has its own form or type to
which it is always true, which always appears in it,
and so makes it different from every other form.
The acorn that we plant springs up always an oak.
The seed of wheat, springs up always wheat. The
root of the vine we set sends up always the branch-
ing stem, the clustering grape. Its seed is itself,
never another. And this is true of our own race
and our own life. The race, the family, are true to
their ancestral type. The ancestor, the parent, re-
appears in the child. Much he may have in com-
mon with all other men. Something he always has
in which he is unlike to all others save to his own
ancestor ; so that it is a common form of speech to
say, when any such ancestral likeness is seen, there
is the father, or the mother, or the ancestor over
again. So, when we speak of Christ being in Chris-
tian men, we mean that He, the Perfect Man, has
produced on earth a new type of humanity ; some-
thing that the world before had never known ; some-
thing which should be found in every true member
of the Christian family, and which can be seen and
recognised as the likeness of Christ."
Dr. Magee had little sympathy with those
preachers who take no pains with their work. One
can imagine how emphatically he would have en-
dorsed the opinion of the late Bishop Thorold :
" The grand secret of the meagreness and flimsiness
of modern sermons is the indolence of men, who
will not take the trouble to read and acquire fresh
knowledge, but are continually trading on their old
7
98 NINETEENTH CENTURY PREACHERS
stores until the well is dry." Such a charge could
not have been brought against the Archbishop.
His sermons show that he was ever on the alert for
any fact or allusion which could be made of service
in the pulpit ; and that he knew much of the history
both of the present and the past, and could use it
with effect. In one of his speeches to working men
he " described a despotic monarch, in times past,
surrounded with his courtiers and flatterers. He
said the same danger which had been the ruin of
kings was now threatening the working men. He
drew a picture of a modern demagogue paying the
same court to the people that royal flunkeys paid to
kings, and finished off by saying that a demagogue
was only a flunkey turned inside out."
Another of his statements shows that he was
fully alive to the weakness and inefficiency of many
occupants of the pulpit : " Thicknesse gave us a
really good and useful sermon on the blossoming of
Aaron's rod a text I never heard applied to the
ordaining of ministers before, but which fits it very
well : only the idea of what a number of sticks there
are in our ministry that never blossom would keep
occurring to my mind."
No one would rank Magee with the great theo-
logians of the Anglican Church ; but there is evidence
that he studied closely the tendencies of modern
theology, and formed his own judgments on points
of current controversy. Thus he was able in his
preaching to meet the needs of his own times ; and
sometimes his sayings are such models of condensa-
tion as to sum up a current controversy or plausible
argument in a few plain words.
ARCHBISHOP MA GEE 99
" Christianity solves, as no other philosophy can,
the enigmas of life. Christianity (strangely) is at
once the most pessimistic and the most optimistic
of all the philosophies of life. . . . You tell me of
sorrow, suffering, and the misery of humanity, of
mystery and difficulty and perplexity, and I tell you
of the time when all shall fade away in the white
light around the throne on which sits the Lamb
that died for mankind.
****
" That Scripture is God's word, seems to me
exactly parallel to Christ is God.
" But the humanity of Christ had its infirmities
and imperfections ; so has the humanity of Scrip-
ture. Nevertheless, the whole book and the whole
Man are the Word of God, pfjpa and \6yo<$ re-
spectively.
*
" Gambling has in it this element of sin that it
stimulates the passions of avarice and covetousness ;
and therein lies the close proximity of all betting to
sin."
Such extracts as these are of value in showing us
the sources of the preacher's illustrations, and the
manner in which he uses them. But they can give
us no conception of the preacher's power, and they
are quite inadequate as a measure of his influence.
Dr. Magee knew that the man the man as a
pastor and a Christian makes the preacher. For
preaching was to him a great and glorious calling,
worthy of all the powers and capacities of the
soul
" The art of preaching ! It is a great and noble
ioo NINETEENTH CENTURY PREACHERS
art. He who would attain success in it must culti-
vate the art of a diligent, faithful, and thoughtful
pastor. . . . The very core of all secrets in preach-
ing is to be possessed, controlled, directed by the
Spirit of God."
X
DR. JOSEPH PARKER
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
As thunder ; and by him, in strains as sweet
As angels use, the gospel whispers peace.
DR. PARKER has an intense and inspiring
belief in the importance of preaching, and
in the power of the preacher's great theme the
Cross of Christ. A lady is said to have asked him
once, "What is your hobby, Dr. Parker?" And
the reply came instantly, " Preaching." " But I
mean in addition to preaching ? " " Preaching,
nothing but preaching ; everything with me ministers
to preaching." In one of his later books he has
given us his mature opinion as to the great themes
of the preacher. " The Apostle Paul has laid down
the subjects of his ministry, and I do not see why
I should change them. They are great subjects.
They are at once historical and prophetical. Let
me slowly repeat them : Christ died, Christ was
buried, Christ rose again, Christ was seen, Christ
was seen of me. This is the true modernness.
101
102 NINETEENTH CENTURY PREACHERS
The element of personal experience and testimony
is essential to true preaching. No matter who else
has seen Christ, if I have not seen Him myself, I
cannot preach Him."
In discussing the question, " How does Dr. Parker
get his sermons ? " we are face to face with a difficult
problem. The story which is told of the painter of
a bygone generation rises irresistibly in the mind.
Being asked by one of his acquaintances how he
mixed his colours so as to produce the vivid impres-
sion which always characterised his pictures, he
replied, " With brains, sir ! " Dr. Parker's sermons
are so much the product of his own personality that
no other answer than this is possible, save the one
which he has himself given us. In an " interview "
with Mr. Blathwayt he is reported to have said
" I feel more and more, when preaching, that I
have next to nothing to do with the holy exercise.
When I stand up to preach I hardly ever know the
sentence I am going to utter. The subject itself I en-
deavour to know well. I mark out two or three main
lines of exposition. As for words or sentences, I am
not only the speaker, I am also one of the audience.
I could honestly tell you at the end of the discourse
that I have enjoyed it, and that I have profited by
it as much as if it had been spoken by another man.
Under such circumstances, I take no credit whatever
for the sermon. I feel Christ's words have been
true for me, ' In that hour it shall be given you what
ye shall speak.' I never think of it as my own. . . .
This is the only answer I can give to your very
plain question ; this is a brief note, as it were, out of
what to me is a very deep and sacred experience."
DR. JOSEPH PARKER 103
This, of course, is the experience of the practised
and mature preacher, and is not of much value for
guiding those of us who are commencing the great
task. Fortunately, however, Dr. Parker published
some years ago a volume of counsels to preachers, 1
which we may assume to be the outcome of his
early experiences ; and we shall endeavour to give
our readers some idea of the views which he then
held on the subject of sermon- getting.
In the first place, Dr. Parker believes that the
discipline of broad intellectual study is necessary for
the preacher. For his great work he needs the gifts
of intellect, native shrewdness, and spirituality. But
the intellect must be trained if it is to do efficiently
the work which is required of it. And in the train-
ing and discipline of his intellectual powers the
young preacher must be on his guard against the
perils to which this training exposes him. He must
not so fully absorb himself in intellectual pursuits
as to look with contempt on the ordinary occupa-
tions and pursuits of life, or to blunt his sympathies
with the practical men and women who are engaged
in them. To intellectual training he must add the
vigilant cultivation of the heart in a loving fear of
God, and must so maintain the freshness and force
of his spiritual life that his heart may be aglow with
love to Christ, with love that will express itself in
enthusiastic service for his fellow-men.
Dr. Parker was educated at University College,
and in the early days of his ministry had the benefit
of Dr. Campbell's criticism and advice for a con-
siderable period. The story of those early days is
1 Ad Clerum.
104 NINETEENTH CENTURY PREACHERS
full of interest. On Saturday evening the Doctor
would invite his young colleague to his study, and
would hear him read his sermons for the next day.
Then would come an examination on the reading of
the week the Doctor giving out each week some
theological, critical, or biographical volumes to be
read, and on the following Saturday expecting a
careful analysis of their contents, as well as a
criticism of the argument and style of the author.
Sometimes Dr. Campbell would give advice on the
choice of texts, e.g.
"In choosing a text, don't be anxious to find any-
thing very peculiar; some men indulge a kind of
pride in preaching from mottoes : for example, such
words as ' if,' ' so,' f now,' ' but,' etc., have been
adopted as texts. The ignorant and childish .may
be struck with admiration of the preacher's talent
who can * make a sermon out of so little ' ; but the
more steady and intelligent will be grieved that
God's word is so little honoured. Never disjoint
the sentence, always have complete sense, and then
you will have some ground to work upon. . . .
Having chosen a suitable text, confine yourself to
it entirely make it speak, there is music in it ; pray
that your fingers may touch the chords aright so
that melody may be evoked. You are not expected
to preach a body of divinity in every discourse.
Some pulpit ramblers range the whole field, flying
everywhere, but digging nowhere. Be you a digger ;
sink the shaft fearlessly, the gold is embowelled in
the deep places ; go down, persevere, and bring it
up."
Dr. Parker himself recommends to young preachers
DR. JOSEPH PARKER 105
the following method of preparation : Take a text
from the apostolic writings, read it carefully, in the
original language if you can trace the various
meanings which may be attached to the principal
words in other parts of the New Testament ; satisfy
yourself as to the meaning and grammar of the
passage ; commit your decision to writing, then take
the opinion of two or three of the most critical
expositors.
Having thus secured a firm standing-place, write
in regular order the principal thoughts which the
passage suggests to your mind; this will be. the
skeleton of your sermon. Next proceed to elaborate
your thoughts, writing on wide lines so as to leave
room for erasure and interlining. When the full
draft is written, begin at the beginning and strike
out all the long words and superfine expressions,
e.g. " methinks I see," " the glinting stars," " the
stellar heavens," and similar phrases. Then re-write
the discourse with the most watchful care, deter-
mined that everybody who hears you shall have no
doubt of your meaning, write as if every line might
save a life ; and, when you have made an end of
writing, put the manuscript away, and go to your
public work with the assurance that all faithful and
loving service is accepted of the Father, and will be
crowned with His effectual blessing.
Continue this practice diligently for five or seven
years, and the advantage of the discipline will show
itself down to your latest efforts as a preacher.
And never forget that nothing less than the severest
preparation will avail; or that anything else will
secure success, if the requisite labour be withheld.
io6 NINETEENTH CENTURY PREACHERS
Dr. Parker earnestly exhorts young preachers to
avoid what are called clever sermons sermons which
are built on detached expressions, broken sentences,
or perverted accommodations of texts ; as such dis-
courses easily lead to the display of the preacher's
gifts, rather than to the edification of the hearers.
The preacher must take care not to "handle the
word of God deceitfully," but remember that it is
his duty to reveal and manifest, so far as he is
able, the whole revealed counsel of God. " The
word of God is living and powerful " ; and, by careful
and prayerful study the preacher must seek to
understand its meaning and purpose, so that he may
rightly use the marvellous weapon which God has
put into his hands.
The text should not be regarded as complete in
itself, but only as one of a series ; and, by patient
and earnest study of the whole class, the preacher
should endeavour to grasp the entire truth which
they express, and so impress it, in all its strength
and beauty, on the mind and heart of the audience.
His first duty in regard to the text is, not how to
divide it, but to find out its exact critical and doctrinal
'meaning. Every word should be interrogated, so
that words of doubtful etymology may be rightly
understood, that the sense of ambiguous words may
be discerned, and. the bearing of parallel passages
made clear. Thus he must try and discover the
particular truth which it is intended to convey, and
when he has found the truth^ and not till then,
proceed to discover the best method of treatment.
In the treatment of his subject the preacher should
avoid sensationalism, but at the same time should
DR. JOSEPH PARKER 107
take care to prevent his sermon from being sensation-
less. He is not an irreverent mountebank sent to
play grotesque and ridiculous tricks in the pulpit,
but he is there to make an impression. He should
study the example of Christ and of the apostles,
and strive by following them to make his preaching
sensation-creating in the best sense.
To this end there should be some variety in the
plans of his sermons ; they must on no account be
all of one pattern. If possible, all commonplace
divisions should be avoided. Some of our great
preachers have used at times very commonplace
divisions ; they had the gift of elaboration rather
than of analysis, and were able from a very unpre-
tentious beginning to build a powerful and impressive
discourse. But men who are without their genius
should find a more excellent way. As an example
of fresh and forceful divisions, Dr. Parker gives the
following outline by a friend :
" I Pet. v. 7. Every man is a traveller carrying
three bundles: (i) the past, (2) the present, (3) the
future. The preacher takes down the bundles and
examines them.
"(i) Is full of sin, unhappy memories, neglected
duties, etc.
" (2) Is full of the troubles of daily life, the deceit-
fulness of riches, worldly engagements, etc.
" (3) Is full of fears, anxieties, apprehensions,
etc.
" Then the preacher exhorts the supposed traveller
to cast all these cares upon the Divine strength."
We give another, and a vastly superior outline,
taken from one of the Doctor's published sermons
io8 NINETEENTH CENTURY PREACHERS
THE DEFENCE OF STEPHEN. ACTS vn.
" This great apology shows the method of Divine
revelation and providence.
" I . Notice how God has from the beginning made
Himself known to individuals. Stephen relates the
great names of history.
" 2. Stephen recognises the great fact that God
has constantly come along the line of SURPRISE.
Revelation has never been a commonplace.
" 3. Stephen, looking over the whole range of
human history, shows how God has all the time
been overruling improbabilities and disasters.
" 4. Mark how exactly this whole history of
Stephen's corresponds with Christ 's method of revela-
tion and providence."
Mr. Beecher's sermons are commended as the best
models of pulpit addresses known to Dr. Parker (in
1870); but we should counsel the young preacher
who is seeking examples of fresh and forceful divi-
sions, to study both the earlier and later sermons of
Dr. Parker and Dr. Maclaren.
The business of the preacher, however, is not
merely to make skilful and effective outlines, but to
bring men to the Saviour ; and, if this great purpose
is to be achieved, every sermon must be prepared
with that end in view. " Some preachers plan
beautifully, but build nothing ; they are nothing but
outline." You must " study the idea of your text ;
try to pierce it to its very heart, and, having seized
the truth, expound it with all simplicity and earnest-
ness." The man who aspires to be a faithful preacher
must " preach on the right subjects " ; his " preaching
DR. JOSEPH PARKER 109
must be founded on authority the authority of the
abiding and unchangeable word of God " ; and
must be concerning those things which are necessary
to salvation. In order to do this the preacher must
not only labour diligently, but must maintain a close
and fervent communion with God. " Believe me, in
proportion as a sermon is a mere effort of the intellect
will it be a failure, and in proportion as a sermon is
an expression of the heart will it succeed in doing
good. . . . To be truly effective, a sermon must be
part of the preacher himself"; he must therefore
have life in his soul, the very life of life, the very life
of God.
The preacher is counselled to pay particular
attention to his language, and to all that pertains to
a correct utterance, so that his style may be at once
simple, clear, and effective.
" Simplicity is the last attainment of progressive
literature ; and men are very long afraid of being
natural, from the dread of being taken for ordinary." l
Further, Dr. Parker counsels the preacher to
cultivate to the fullest extent the great gift of
mental composition. He should be able, at least
after he has conquered his early difficulties, to
arrange his thoughts in his own mind without the
help of written memoranda. " Some preachers can
compose a sermon from beginning to end without
writing a word, others must be shut up in the silent
study with writing materials in order to compose a
dozen sentences." This habit, if acquired, will be
invaluable in later life, when time cannot be spared
for the toilsome preparation which is so necessary to
1 Lord Jeffrey,
i io NINETEENTH CENTURY PREACHERS
the beginner. It will also aid very materially in the
acquirement of the power to preach extempore.
The counsel of Dr. Watts on this point is pertinent
and valuable
" Get the substance of your sermon, which you
have prepared for the pulpit, so wrought into your
head and heart, by review and meditation, that you
may have it at command and speak to your hearers
with freedom ; not as if you were reading or repeat-
ing your lesson to them, but as a man sent to teach
and persuade them to faith and holiness. Deliver
your discourses to the people like a man that is talk-
ing to them in good earnest about their most im-
portant concerns and their everlasting welfare ; like
a messenger sent from heaven, who would fain save
sinners from hell, and allure souls to God and
happiness."
Dr. Parker endorses this as " the counsel of true
wisdom " ; and those who watch his pulpit utterances
will be constrained to admit that the advice is well
embodied in his own example.
One other thing the preacher must carefully cul-
tivate : the power to discover and use illustrations.
" Most unquestionably, the use- of figures is to be
highly commended; and it is because of a strong
belief that a good deal can be done to improve
what I may (for want of a better name) call the
metaphorical faculty, that I urge you to insist upon
your mind giving you something in the way of
illustration. Look for figures ; work for them ; take
them in their rudest outline, and improve them. It
is hardly necessary to remind you that figures are
not to be expected to meet all the points of a sub-
DR. JOSEPH PARKER in
ject; let it suffice to have one main line of applica-
tion, and to shed light. on one particular point."
Above all things, the preacher must remember the
great part which his own personality and experience
play in the work of sermon-making, and the utter
uselessness of instruction and example where char-
acter and reality are wanting. " No preacher was
ever made by rules. You may have a bag of
excellent tools, but if your fingers be unskilled
your instruments are of little use. Does the spade
make the gardener ? Does the easel make the
painter ? A man may read guide-boards and finger-
posts all the days of his life and yet never take a
walk ; or he may be profound in Bradshaw and yet
never enter a train."
In Dr. Parker's opinion, in order to be a successful
preacher, a man must keep diligently his own heart,
and ever remember that his salvation is derived en-
tirely from the Cross of Jesus Christ. Such personal
duties as retirement from the world, self-examination,
close and devout study of the Bible, are indispens-
able to any man who would grow in grace and
qualify himself for usefulness in the pulpit. Above
all, he must pray fervently and unceasingly for the
Holy Ghost, and discharge all his duties in the
spirit of the Master. He must remember that the
great object of his ministry must always be the
glory of God in the salvation of souls, and that in
this, as in all other spheres of labour, " God always
sets the severity of discipline before the reward of
glory."
These are some of the principal counsels we have
noted in a perusal of Dr. Parker's book. We feel
ii2 NINETEENTH CENTURY PREACHERS
that however true they may be in their portrayal of
the methods of the author in his earlier days, they
very inadequately represent that process of sermon-
making which has given to the world as its most
finished product The Peoples Bible. Genius, even
the genius of the pulpit, can neither be analysed nor
explained perfectly. But, while such a task is utterly
beyond our powers of exposition, we may devoutly
thank God that the proclamation of the gospel of
His Son is still entrusted to men who can say with
Dr. Parker, " It is to me a pleasant conviction that
no office is to be compared, for interest, reality, and
importance, with the office of the Christian ministry."
XI
F. W. ROBERTSON
There are many echoes in the world, but not many voices. GOETHE.
FEW sermons of modern times have been so
widely read, or have won such favourable
criticism from all classes, as those contained in the
small volumes which preserve for us the substance
of the pulpit teaching of Robertson, of Brighton.
The reason for this may perhaps be found in one
of Goethe's terse sentences : " There are many echoes
in the world, but few voices." Robertson belongs to
the select company of those who possess a voice, and
know so well how to use it, that their teaching reaches
the ears of thousands who would turn with scorn
and contempt from the utterances of less original
teachers.
His fame was indeed posthumous, for he published
nothing of importance during his lifetime ; although
he wielded a marvellous influence in Brighton during
the later years of his ministry. Of this period the
Rev. G. J. Davies writes : " Many a business man
from London, many a young officer, many a person
from the fashionable world of Vanity Fair, dropped
into Robertson's chapel, and came away with a set
purpose in life, feeling that after all there was some-
113 g
H4 NINETEENTH CENTURY PREACHERS
thing better than this world, and that a sermon from
such lips need not be a dull thing, but a fountain of
thought - suggestive, satisfying teaching an enjoy-
ment, at the same time that it led to good resolves,
and became a means of grace to the listener."
Our present purpose is not to sketch Robertson's
life history, nor to analyse and criticise his religious
teaching, but to endeavour to give some answer to
the question, How did he prepare his sermons ? A
full and detailed reply to this question is impossible,
owing to lack of information ; but we find scattered
here and there in the Life and Letters^ some valu-
able hints, which enable us to get a glimpse of his
general preparation for the pulpit.
That preparation began early in life, and was life-
long. He entered upon his clerical studies with some
disadvantage, as he had been destined to, and was
preparing for, a military career ; but, having once
chosen his profession, he devoted himself to prepara-
tion for it with characteristic energy and ardour.
At the university he disciplined his mind by a care-
ful study of some of the great masters of human
thought. Plato fascinated him ; but, noting the
defects of his philosophy, he turned to Aristotle,
" to balance the scale of his thought." He also
studied the writings of Edwards and others, and
made himself completely master of the Sermons
and Analogy of Bishop Butler. He found re-
creation in a close study of nature and natural
history, and careful readers of his sermons will not
fail to note how effectively he could use illustrations
drawn from these departments of knowledge. At a
1 Life and Letters of F. W. Robertson, by Rev. Stopford A. Brooke.
F. W. ROBERTSON 115
later period he confesses that his college reading was
too discursive, and that he was often lured away from
the required studies to other subjects suggested by
his reading. In a letter to a young student he
strongly insists on the necessity of a good plan for
reading
" At college I did what you are now going to do
had no one to advise me otherwise; . . . and I
now feel I was utterly, mournfully, irreparably wrong.
The excitement of theological controversy, questions
of the day, politics, gleams and flashings of new
paths of learning, led me at full speed for three
years, modifying my plans perpetually. Now I
would give two hundred pounds a year to have read
on a bad plan, chosen for me, but steadily."
In another place he writes : " The man who suc-
ceeds in life is, allowing for the proverbial exaggera-
tion, generally the man unius libri"
He was early led to see the necessity of gaining
a clear and accurate knowledge of the Bible. He
formed the habit of committing to memory a certain
portion of the New Testament daily, during the
time occupied by dressing in the morning. Before
leaving Oxford he had in this way gone twice
through the English Version, and once and a half
through the Greek. He possessed great powers of
arrangement; and long afterwards, in conversation
with a friend, he said that, " owing to this practice,
no sooner was any Christian doctrine or duty men-
tioned in conversation, or suggested to him by what
he was writing, than all the passages bearing on the
point seemed to array themselves in order before
him."
ii6 NINETEENTH CENTURY PREACHERS
He gave part of every day to devotional reading^
and found it of great service for his work. " He
read slowly The Imitation of Christ \ but, when he
could, he chose as his books of devotion the lives of
' eminently holy persons, whose tone was not merely
uprightness of character and high-mindedness, but
communion with God besides.' . . . He read daily
the lives of Martyn and Brainerd. These books
supplied a want in his mind, and gave him im-
pulse."
He lived in an atmosphere of prayer. It had be-
come the habit of his life at Oxford ; and at Win-
chester he had a list of " subjects for prayer " for each
day in the week. All through life it was his con-
stant resource : in hours of gloom he would pray
until he was brought into the felt presence of God.
To this he added the practice of rigorous and
severe self- examination. With his over - sensitive
temperament this habit of constant self-dissection
had a morbid tendency. He mapped out his in-
ward life, marked down his sins and failures, and
noted the graces and gifts more especially needed
in his character. It is easy to say that such rigorous
self-inquiry speedily develops into a species of self-
torture: but does not this habit explain, to some
extent at least, the power he had of dealing with
men who were struggling with sinful habits and
doubts, and leading them to the true Source of
strength ?
In Robertson's earlier days as a curate he gave
Saturday morning only to the preparation of his
sermons for the following day ; but under the in-
fluence of Dr. Boyd, his rector at Cheltenham, " he
F. W. ROBERTSON 117
studied for them on Thursday and Friday, and wrote
them carefully on Saturday." In Brighton, however,
he seems to have abandoned this practice of care-
fully-written preparation, and to have been content
with a well-thought-out plan of the discourse, of which
he had no other record than a few jottings on scraps
of paper. In fact, many of his published sermons
are printed from notes written out after the sermon
was delivered, or from shorthand reports preserved
by the care of friendly hearers.
It must not be supposed, however, that this meant
less preparatory work : it was only changing the
form and method of preparation. Robertson gave
much time and thought in order to store his mind
with material for preaching. His mornings were
sacredly reserved for study, and his habits of work
were systematic and thorough. His advice on
" reading " is an embodiment of his own methods
" The book is worth reading in this way : study
it, think over each chapter and examine yourself
mentally, with shut eyes, upon its principles, putting
down briefly on paper the heads, and getting up
each day the principles that you gained the day
before. This is not the way to read many books,
but it is the way to read much ; and one read in
this way, carefully, would do you more good, and
remain longer fructifying, than twenty skimmed."
Again " I have got a small popular book on
chemistry, which I am reading now, of 160 pages.
I have read little else for a fortnight; but then I
could bear an examination on every law and principle
it lays down ... I know what reading is, for I
could read once, and did. I read hard, or not at
ii8 NINETEENTH CENTURY PREACHERS
all never skimming never turning aside to merely
inviting books ; and Plato, Aristotle, Butler, Thucy-
dides, Sterne, Jonathan Edwards, have all passed
like the iron atoms of the blood into my mental
constitution."
Thus his mind was disciplined, and his memory
charged with the noblest utterances of the world's
great thinkers. But, above all, he had a definite idea
of what he wanted to teach to his fellow-men.
Mr. Robertson possessed a marvellous faculty for
clear and logical arrangement of thought, and he
was "acutely conscious of the melody of ordered
words." He could plan his divisions, and keep to
them from beginning to end of the discourse, without
recourse to the few notes he had previously prepared.
His mind was full of his subject, and as he spoke
thought followed thought in regular and due order.
" Without method," he said on one occasion,
" memory is useless. Detached facts are practically
valueless. All public speakers know the value of
method. Persons not accustomed to it imagine that
a speech is learnt by heart. Knowing a little about
the matter, I will venture to say, that if anyone
attempted that plan, either he must have a marvellous
memory, or else he would break down three times
out of five. It simply depends on correct arrange-
ment. The words and sentences are left to the
moment ; the thoughts methodised beforehand ; and
the words, if rightly arranged, will place themselves.
But upon the truthfulness of the arrangement all
depends."
Special preparation was made for his courses of
sermons. For his lectures on the Book of Samuel
F. W. ROBERTSON 119
he read, not the usual commentaries, but Niebuhr's
Rome, Guizot's work on Civilisation, and some
books on political economy. For the " Lectures on
Genesis " he prepared fully and thoroughly ; reading,
amongst others, such books as Pritchard's Physical
Theory of Man, Wilkinson's Egyptians, and some
German authors. He tried always to preserve his
independence of thought. Mr. Brooke writes : " He
endeavoured to receive, without the intervention of
commentators, immediate impressions from the Bible.
To these impressions he added the individual life of
his own heart, and his knowledge of the life of the
great world. He preached these impressions, and
with a freedom, independence, variety, and influence
which were the legitimate children of his individu-
ality."
He was very painstaking in his endeavours to
convey truth to even the dullest intellect. No work
was too small for him, and he tried to be fair,
patient, and calm in argument, even with those who
opposed him most bitterly. " Somehow he reached
the most dense in a Sunday-school class. He led
the children to elaborate for themselves the thought
he wished to give them, and to make it their own."
Yet even this highly gifted and cultured preacher
needed the stimulus which comes from contact with
other minds, in order to fit himself for the duties of
his office. In a letter written towards the end of his
short life he says : " I have spent this evening in
reading thoughtfully and meditating on Neander's
Doctrine of St. John, imbuing my mind with a tone
of thought for Sunday next. I find that to be the
only way in which my mind works. I cannot copy,
120 NINETEENTH CENTURY PREACHERS
nor can I now work out a seed of thought, develop-
ing it for myself. I cannot light my own fire;
but, whenever I get my fire lighted from another
life, I can carry the living flame as my own into
other subjects, which become illuminated in the
flame."
The above is only a meagre and very general
reply to the question with which we started, yet it
contains nearly, if not quite, all the available in-
formation. Robertson has told us little of his own
methods of sermon - making ; but one paragraph
written by him reveals the fact that his own ex-
periences were a most valuable help, and taught him
the best methods of meeting the wants of the weary
and heavy laden
" The most valuable book I possess is a remem-
brance of trials at which I repined, but which I now
find were sent in answer to my prayer to be made
a minister. Oratio^ meditatio, tentatio. And those
sermons in which these have had much share I have
found tell most ; and I trust that God will bring in
His flock by such a thing as I. I am sure if He
does, it will be strength made perfect in weakness
indeed."
XII
CHARLES HADDON SPURGEON
Whenever I have been permitted sufficient respite from my ministerial
d^lties to enjoy a lengthened tour, or even a short exciirsion, I have been
in the habit of carrying with me a small Notebook, in which I have
jotted down any illustrations which have occttrred to me by the way.
My recreations have been all the more pleasant because I have made them
subservient to my life-work. The Notebook has been useful in my
travels as a mental purse. If not fixed ^lpon paper, ideas are apt to
vanish with the occasion which sitggested them. A word or two will
suffice to bring an incident or train of thought to remembrance ; and
therefore it would be inexcusable in a minister, who needs so much,
not to preserve all that comes in his way. C. H. SPURGEON.
DURING the latter half of the nineteenth cen-
tury no preacher was more widely known, or
more affectionately regarded by the masses of the
English - speaking people, than Charles Haddon
Spurgeon. When the history of preaching for this
particular period is adequately written, the historian
will find it necessary to describe the achievements,
and record the fame, of a greater number of preachers
of the first rank than have ever before been crowded
in the short space of fifty years. And amongst these
" princes of the pulpit " no one will take higher rank,
or be more deserving of lasting fame, than the re-
nowned preacher at the " Tabernacle."
Mr. Spurgeon has, on many occasions, given to
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122 NINETEENTH CENTURY PREACHERS
theological students and embryo preachers a large
amount of valuable advice on the subject of preach-
ing; and we shall assume that in so doing he has
drawn largely from his own experiences, and there-
fore described (even if indirectly) his own methods
of work.
Few preachers are so well worth studying as Mr.
Spurgeon. Popular as a preacher from the begin-
ning of his career, and always drawing large audi-
ences, he was no less popular as an author. Every
week he published one sermon, sometimes two ; the
average number for the year being about sixty.
Nearly 20,000 copies of each sermon were circulated
on publication; and, as the whole of his sermons
from the beginning are kept in print, and have a
steady sale, the number issued must be immense.
In addition to this, the Sword and Trowel had a
circulation of about 12,000 copies monthly; while
for the Treasury of David and the various other
volumes from his pen there is a constant and steady
demand. A mind capable of producing fruit of such
quantity and quality must be characterised by " great
energy, fertility, and force " ; and the counsels which
are the outcome of such wide experience and un-
bounded activity are certain to be exceedingly prac-
tical and useful.
We are quite aware of the danger we run in trying
to describe Mr. Spurgeon's methods. Some years
before his death, when addressing a company of
students, he said, "You all know how I prepare.
You have read descriptions. So have I, but I never
recognised any of them as true." We may be only
adding one more to the long list of failures ; but if
CHARLES H ADDON SPURGEON 123
we cannot succeed in describing " how Mr. Spurgeon
worked," we shall not go far astray if we give his own
advice, and point to him as an example and guide for
other and less competent workers.
There is no doubt that Mr. Spurgeon owed some
of his power and forcefulness in preaching to his early
training. He began to speak to village congregations
when quite a youth very much in the same way
as a young local preacher would commence in the
Methodist Church. Speaking of those early days, he
says
" During the last year of my stay in Cambridge,
when I had given up my office as usher, I was wont
to sally forth every night in the week except Satur-
day, and walk three, five, or perhaps eight miles out
and back again on my preaching work ; and when it
rained I dressed myself in waterproof leggings and a
mackintosh coat, and a hat with a waterproof cover-
ing, and I carried a dark lantern to show me the way
across the fields. I had many adventures ; . . . but
what I had gathered by my studies during the day I
handed out to a company of villagers in the evening,
and was greatly profited by the exercise. I always
found it good to say my lesson when I had learned
it. Children do so; and it is specially good for
preachers, especially if they say their lesson by heart.
In my young days I fear I said many odd things
and made many blunders, but my audiences were not
hypercritical, and no newspaper writers dogged my
heels ; and so I had a happy training - ground, in
which, by continual practice, I attained such a degree
of ready speech as I now possess. There is no way
of learning to preach which can be compared to
124 NINETEENTH CENTURY PREACHERS
preaching itself. If you want to swim you must get
into the water ; and if you at the first make a sorry
exhibition, never mind, for it is by swimming as you
can that you learn to swim as you should."
One of his hearers in those early times tells of
his own misgivings when he first saw the youthful
preacher misgivings which were speedily allayed
when the youth rose to read and expound " the
lesson for the day." This gentleman soon felt that
the lad was no ordinary preacher, and, as he could
not make him out, ventured to ask one day " wherever
he got all the knowledge from that he put into his
sermons." " Oh," was the reply, " I take a book, and
I pull the good things out of it by the hair of their
heads."
For general preparation Mr. Spurgeon believed
in hard study, wide reading, and long-continued
meditation. He started life with a fair education
for an English youth who was debarred by religious
convictions from the advantages of a university
training. But he never neglected the cultivation
of his own mind, nor ceased to pursue his own
studies. He had always been a great reader, spend-
ing a good deal of time over the old English divines,
and filling his mind and memory with the teaching
of God's word ; not neglecting any branch of study
that could help his own work. From statements
made in London newspapers we gather that he had
given attention to astronomy, chemistry, zoology,
ornithology, etc., and that field sports also had
helped to enlarge his knowledge and extend his
store of illustrations. He had been found sometimes
busy over a pile of technical books on fox-hunting
CHARLES HADDON SPURGEON 125
or salmon-fishing, deer-stalking or grouse-shooting. 1
He was a firm believer in the theory that nothing
strengthens or improves the mind so much as pour-
ing a stream of new ideas through it constantly, to
preserve its freshness and prevent that stagnation
which is often the product of a specialist study.
One of the main difficulties in the path of a young
preacher relates to the selection of texts. A preacher
who has published more than two thousand sermons
has acquired a right to be heard on such a subject as
this, especially when he confesses that he himself
has experienced similar troubles. Mr. Spurgeon did
not believe in any careless or haphazard selection,
but earnestly advised every preacher to seek for the
guidance of the Holy Spirit, that he might be led to
the right message for the people who listen to his
words. His own difficulties, however, arose chiefly
from an embarrassment of riches, and not from the
bewilderment of poverty. " I confess that I frequently
sit hour after hour praying and waiting for a subject,
and that this is the main part of my study ; much
hard labour have I spent in manipulating topics,
ruminating upon points of doctrine, making skeletons
out of verses and' then burying every bone of them
in the catacombs of oblivion, sailing on and on over
leagues of broken water, till I see the red lights, and
make sail direct to the desired haven. I believe that
almost any Saturday in my life I make enough out-
lines of sermons, if I felt at liberty to preach them,
1 Before this paper was published in The Preachers Magazine, a. proof
was submitted to Mr. Spurgeon. In his reply he denied having read
anything about grouse-shooting, but admitted that he had read books
on " deep-sea fishing, salmon-rearing, and bird-fancying."
126 NINETEENTH CENTURY PREACHERS
to last me for a month ; but I no more dare to use
them than an honest mariner would run to shore a
cargo of contraband goods." How can the right
text be known, in the midst of such profusion ? By
the way in which it grips your mind. " When the
text gets a hold of us, we may be sure that we have
a hold of it, and may safely deliver our souls upon
it. ... You get a number of texts in your hand,
and try to break them up ; you hammer at them
with might and main, but your labour is lost; at
last you find one which crumbles at the first blow,
and sparkles as it falls in pieces, and you perceive
jewels of the rarest radiance flashing from within.
It grows before your eye like the fabled seed which
developed into a tree while the observer watched it."
Having found a text, we need to pray over it, and
to use all " fitting means to concentrate our thoughts,"
and direct them into the right road ; and one of the
best methods of doing this is to consider the needs
of our congregation, that so we may adapt our mes-
sage to meet their wants, or their trials and tempta-
tions. It is wise also to take stock of our previous
topics, and thus avoid a monotonous repetition of a
few truths. " I think it well frequently to look over
the list of my sermons, and see whether any doctrine
has escaped my attention, or any Christian grace has
been neglected in my ministrations." If, sometimes,
the mind is sluggish, and the preacher can neither
find a suitable text nor proceed with his sermon, his
best remedy will be " to turn again and again to the
word of God itself," and ponder over it until his
understanding and intellect are roused to vigorous
activity ; or " to read some good suggestive books "
CHARLES H ADDON SPURGEON 127
e.g. Gurnall, Trapp, or similar authors until he
" finds himself as free as a bird on the wing."
Mr. Spurgeon's advice on the subject of sermon-
making contains much worth pondering. He believed
that every sermon should contain real teaching \ like
the sower's basket, it should always contain good
seed, seed of the finest quality. " Brethren, weigh
your sermons. Do not retail them by the yard, but
weigh them out by the pound. Set no store by the
quantity of words which you utter, but strive to be
esteemed by the quality of your matter." The matter
should always be congruous to the text^ or, at least, in
very close relationship to it; and thus, in order to
obtain variety, we should endeavour to expound that
precise truth which is taught by the passage of Scrip-
ture under consideration. " The words of inspiration
were never meant to be boot-hooks to help a Talka-
tive to draw on his seven-leagued boots in which to
leap from pole to pole."
Sermons should be full of really important teach-
ing, and should be so arranged as that in time the
preacher will give a clear testimony to all the
doctrines which lie round the gospel ; always using
as his master- theme the glad tidings of great joy,
the good news of salvation through the atoning
death of the Saviour. Trifling, even holy trifling,
should find no place in the pulpit, which is sacred to
the delivery of soul-saving truth.
A sermon is not to be overloaded with too much
matter. " All truth is not to be comprised in one
discourse." " An old minister walking with a young
preacher, pointed to a cornfield and observed, ' Your
last sermon had too much in it, and it was not clear
128 NINETEENTH CENTURY PREACHERS
enough, or sufficiently well arranged ; it was like that
field of wheat it contained much crude food, but none
fit for use. You should make your sermons like a
loaf of bread, fit for eating, and in convenient form.' "
Above all, Christ is to be preached, always and
evermore. This is what the world still needs, and
nothing but the crucified Christ should form the
chief burden of our sermons.
Mr. Spurgeon believed in illustrations, and preachers
will find his sermons excellent models for study in
this particular.. " Our life," he said, " has been mainly
spent in direct religious teaching, and to that work
we would dedicate our main strength ; but men need
also to hear common everyday things spoken of in
a religious manner, for to some of them this round-
about road is the only way to their hearts. Theology
is dull reading to the unconverted ; but mixed with a
story, or set forth by a witty saying, they will drink
in a great amount of religious truth and find no fault.
They like their pills gilded, or at least sugar-coated ;.
and if by that means they may be really benefited,
who will grudge them the gilt or the sugar ? "
No doubt, Mr. Spurgeon's facility for making ser-
mons and finding illustrations was gained by atten-
tion to one of his counsels to students, namely, " to
be always in training for text-getting and sermon-
making." This seems to have been his constant habit.
While residing at Cambridge he was once unable to
find a text for his evening sermon in a certain village.
Do what he would, " the right text " would not come.
Presently he walked to the window, and saw on the
roof of the opposite house a company of sparrows
worrying a poor solitary canary. While observing
CHARLES HADDON SPURGEON 129
this, the words of Jer. xii. 9 came into his mind :
" Mine heritage is unto me as a speckled bird, the
birds round about me are against me." After a
short time Mr. Spurgeon "walked off with the
greatest possible composure, . . . and preached upon
the peculiar people and the persecutions of their
enemies." Here both observation and reading have
been wisely used.
Many things have been related respecting the
rapidity with which Mr. Spurgeon prepared his
sermons. An American writer, professing to speak
from knowledge gained in a personal interview, says
" that he commonly devotes but a half-hour to this
purpose; only the heads of the sermon are put on
paper, and the rest is left to the pulpit." Dr. Cuyler
writes to the same effect : " It was six o'clock on
Saturday when we bade him ' good-bye/ and he
assured us that he had not yet selected even the
text for next day's discourses ! ' I shall go down
in the garden presently,' said he, ' and arrange my
morning discourse, and choose a text for that in the
evening; then, to-morrow afternoon, before preach-
ing, I will make an outline of the second one.' " If
this was sometimes Mr. Spurgeon's plan, he did not
recommend it to young preachers. When addressing
the students at Hackney College only a year or two
before his death, he said : " I knew a good minister
who prepared very elaborately. He told me he got
tired of the hard work, and one day preached a
simple sermon, such as he would have preached in
his shirt sleeves if he had been wakened up in the
middle of the night. The people were far more
impressed than by his usual discourses. I said,
9
130 NINETEENTH CENTURY PREACHERS
1 I'd give them some more of that.' But I should
not say so to you, young men. This was an elderly
man, full of matter." For lazy preachers, and men
who are so clever that they can preach without study
or labour of any kind, Mr. Spurgeon has only scorn
and contempt. " A man who goes up and down
from Monday morning till Saturday night, and in-
dolently dreams that he is to have his text sent
down by an angelic messenger in the last hour or
two of the week, tempts God, and deserves to stand
speechless on the Sabbath." The preacher should
be always " foraging for the pulpit," and laying up
stores of knowledge for future use.
And this may be done even by the preacher with
a small library and a few aids. To such workers
Mr. Spurgeon gives admirable counsel : purchase the
very best books ; master every book you can get
hold of; study well and prayerfully your Bible;
make up for the lack of books by much thought ;
and study carefully yourself the needs of inquirers
and of dying persons.
Our paper would be left incomplete if we did not
mention what seems to us to have been one of the
main factors of Mr. Spurgeon's success, namely, his in-
tense and vigorous faith. He knew how to use the
language of the market-place, and spoke in plain,
clear, forceful language ; but he knew also the power
of the gospel to save mankind, and no shade of
doubt was ever allowed to weaken the decisiveness
of his utterances. The motto of his life seems
always to have been, " We preach Christ crucified" ;
and in this steadfast aim may be found the secret of
his persuasive eloquence and his abundant success,
XIII
WILLIAM L. WATKINSON
Preaching is a subject of which we can never weary ; it has for us
an abiding charm. For my own part, I love a book on homiletics as
nnich as ever 1 did in my life. I read with eager expectation the last
published lectures on the art of preaching, trusting to know how to do it
before I die. It is to be hoped that you have the same curiosity and
passion. From "An Address to Theological Students."
MR. WATKINSON the accomplished Editor
of the Wesleyan Methodist Magazine, and
an ex-President is an omnivorous reader, and a
vigorous and profound thinker. He is well known
to his brethren not only as a fresh and original
preacher, but as an earnest and powerful debater;
quick at repartee ; able to discover the weak places
of an opponent's logic, and in the most good-
humoured manner expose them to ridicule.
It is as a preacher, however, that Mr. Watkinson
is most widely known, and his finest work is accom-
plished through the agency of the pulpit. A
thoughtful, brilliant, and effective speaker, he is able
to attract large congregations of business men at
Leeds or Manchester in the middle of a working-
day, and to hold them spellbound by his incisive
and sparkling utterances. He can be sarcastic
and humorous in turn, but knows how to keep
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132 NINETEENTH CENTURY PREACHERS
these qualities under wise restraint when in the
pulpit. He is never dull, never commonplace; his
sermons are studded with fresh and suggestive illus-
trations, apt and effective quotations, and with bright,
sparkling sentences which linger in the memory like
proverbs.
One wonders sometimes why Mr. Watkinson has
never been selected as a Lecturer on Preaching, or
induced by some genial editor to unburden his soul
and enlighten his brethren, by revealing his own
methods of study and his secrets of sermon construc-
tion. But we have no information that this has
ever been done. Without the knowledge which
comes from such " stores of information," the present
paper will lack that full illumination which only the
master's own lamp can supply. But, occasionally,
Mr. Watkinson has broken the silence, and, in
addresses to students and others, has uttered his
convictions with regard to this great work and the
spirit which should inspire the preacher for his great
task. From these addresses, and from his published
sermons, we may learn much that is pertinent and
valuable.
Mr. Watkinson believes that it is the mission of
Methodism " to preach, and to preach to the people."
And he by no means shares the opinions of those
who think that the pulpit has had its day. Preach-
ing, in his judgment, is not going out of fashion, at
anyrate in Great Britain.
" Some imagine that the priest is coming in and
the preacher going out. A newspaper has just
announced that fifteen hundred clergymen are to-day
receiving confessions, when only a few years ago
WILLIAM L. WATKINSON 133
perhaps only a score of them favoured the con-
fessional. Despite these appearances, however, the
world is not going that way. The twentieth century
will demand something more serious than ritualism ;
a keen, active, intellectual age will find other work
for the minister of Christ than the work of the
priest. ...
" On the Continent you see churches with two or
three organs, but in which there is no pulpit : that
does not express the genius of Methodism. There
may be no organ, but there is always a pulpit ; the
essential thing is preaching, not music. We see
many churches on the Continent, and many at home,
where the conspicuous thing is the so-called altar ;
everybody can see that, whilst the pulpit is an
insignificant object hidden in a corner; on the
contrary, Methodism makes the pulpit the conspicu-
ous feature of her sanctuaries. ... I believe if Paul
were to come back again he would approve our
disposition of Church furniture. . . .
" Dissent in England has before it a tremendous
struggle, but it will never die whilst it sticks to the
great evangelical doctrines, and whilst it continues to
produce a race of preachers who can state those
doctrines with lucidity and power."
This is sufficient to prove that Mr. Watkinson has
no mean idea either of the preacher's position or his
power, and that he is full of hope respecting " the
preaching of the future." There can be no doubt
that he is right ; the verdict of history is on his side,
and this verdict is strikingly corroborated by the posi-
tion which the true preacher holds in this country
to-day. Wherever the pulpit is filled with a man and
134 NINETEENTH CENTURY PREACHERS
a preacher^ there it holds undivided and undisputed
sway. It is unfettered and unbridled ritualism
which causes the " decay of preaching."
But if the pulpit is to maintain its power and the
preacher to fulfil his mission, he must thoroughly
prepare himself for his arduous task. What are
the principles which must guide and inspire him
in this great work ? Our author would reply that
first and foremost the preacher must be loyal to
Jesus Christ, and to the great evangelical truths
preached by Him and by His apostles. If this is
to be done, we must train ourselves to do several
things.
I . " We must be prepared to take infinite pains
'with our task" Mr. Watkinson puts great emphasis
on this point. He quotes, with approval, the late
Prof. Drummond, who said, " The crime of evan-
gelism is laziness; and the failure of the average
mission church to reach intelligent working-men
arises from the indolent reiteration of threadbare
formulae by teachers, often competent enough, who
have not first learned to respect their hearers." He
endorses this statement, and illustrates it in his own
effective manner : " A friend of mine the other
day showed me a parrot that drops at once a
hollow nut; it instinctively knows when a nut has
nothing in it, and immediately drops the fraud
with curious disdain. The people have a similar
instinct about preachers and sermons, and they will
not waste their time over empty shells. The
popular preacher of to-day, if he is to last, must
speak out of a full understanding as well as out
of a full heart."
WILLIAM L. W ATKINSON 135
2. The preacher " must learn to be simple and
interesting? In his judgment, the fault of much
really able preaching is that it lacks simplicity. It
is characterised by that <f stateliness " which Dr.
Dale, in his later years, recognised as the great
mistake of his own pulpit discourses. The preach-
ing needed to - day must avoid technicality and
scholasticism. " A brother in my circuit exhorted
the people to ' trust in Christ with a simple, fiducial
faith.' The blessed result of such an appeal I did
not learn." . . ., " A preacher with affectations of
scholarship warned one of our congregations that ' a
spirit of German transcendental ratiocination was
creeping into the Church,' and as a menagerie of
wild beasts happened at the time to be in the town,
the congregation took alarm and a panic ensued."
Scholarship the preacher must have, but it must
never be paraded in the pulpit. The preacher must
" find out acceptable words " ; still he must not be
professional, academic, or pedantic, but must deal
with the people as they actually are, and speak in
language which they readily understand.
The preaching of to-day should be full of life and
colour and movement. " The immense popularity of
the novel ought to teach us the value of a concrete
and pictorial style." Mr. Watkinson illustrates this
point by calling attention to the style of some of
our most illustrious preachers, and points to Dr.
Maclaren as " the Raphael of our pulpit, and Dr.
Parker as its Rubens." But if we venture for a
moment to differ from our mentor here, it is to say
that neither in Spurgeon nor Beecher, in Maclaren
nor Parker, will the homiletic student find a better
136 NINETEENTH CENTURY PREACHERS
example of "the perfect illustrator" than in Mr.
Watkinson himself. Study any of his sermons, say
his recently published Studies in Christian Character,
Work, and Experience^ and note how brilliant and
abundant are his exquisite illustrations. Here he
stands almost without a rival, and is the best exem-
plification of his own counsel.
3. Again, the preaching of to-day should be
timely. " Eloquence is timeliness ; and immediate-
ness, seasonableness are specially called for in this
generation." . . . The preacher must " treat the
great evangelical truths in the light of present-day
knowledge and conditions." While his theology is
fixed within certain limits, and may not perhaps be
regarded as a progressive science, it must perpetually
define itself afresh, and " make itself intelligible to
society with all its new facts, experiences, and con-
ditions." To enable him to do this, the preacher
must be familiar with the great teachings of science,
he must carefully study " all that the scientist can
teach him concerning the new facts and teachings of
nature," and thus enrich his sermon with new and
forceful illustrations and analogies, and make it more
authoritative to the people of his own generation.
He must also watch the developments, the strivings,
and the aspirations of the social world. While not
ignoring the Fathers, the Puritans, and the com-
mentators, he ought to know something of the
discontents and scepticisms, the ideals and the
aspirations which express themselves in modern
" Social Science."
4. Mr. Watkinson further advises that "the
preacher should speak to the life from the life" He
WILLIAM L. W ATKINSON 137
must know and love men. He ought to know
theology, science, literature, but he must know the
joys and sorrows of the human heart. This means
that the preacher must possess and develop his own
spiritual life, must understand and feel the truths
which he preaches. " The preacher turns so swiftly
and eagerly to the telling of things that he does not
give them time to sink into his own soul. There is
a passage in George Meredith bearing on this matter
a passage I earnestly commend to you : * You see
how easy it is to deceive one who is an artist in
phrases. Avoid them, Miss Dale; they dazzle the
penetration of the composer. That is why people
of ability like Mr. Mountstuart see so little; they
are so bent on describing brilliantly.' There is a
world of truth here for the preacher. Many of us
' see so little,' because we ' are so bent on describing
brilliantly.' " The true preacher of the gospel of
Jesus Christ realises in his own heart the truth which
he proclaims.
We now turn from Mr. Watkinson's counsels to
his published sermons, and note two or three of their
most striking features. He has, like many great
preachers, a happy faculty of finding his subjects in
unexpected and sometimes startling texts. For
example Esth. iv. 2, " The Transfigured Sack-
cloth " ; Rev. ix. 7, " And on their heads (the
locusts) were, as it were, crowns like gold"; Mark i.
23, 24, "The Plea of Evil"; Psa. vii. 15, "Social
Sappers." The list might be greatly extended, but
is sufficient to show the preacher's power in this
direction.
Sometimes Mr. Watkinson's outlines are models
138 NINETEENTH CENTURY PREACHERS
of what outlines ought to be. Take, for example,
the following:
2 Chron. xxxiii. 9, "Worse than the heathen."
The penalty of rejecting the fuller light is that
1. We become worse in faith and worship.
2. We become worse in hope.
3. We become worse in character.
4. We become worse in happiness.
5. We become worse in destiny ;
or
2 Cor. xi. 14, "The Transformation of Evil."
1. The transfiguration of evil by (a) imagination, (p) phil-
osophy, (f) society.
2. We indicate the path of safety amid these dangerous
illusions.
(a) The chief danger of life lies in this moral illusion.
(b) Let us be sincere in soul.
(c) Let us respect the written Law.
(d) Let us constantly behold the vision of God.
Almost any other of the preacher's published dis-
courses would furnish additional examples, if they
were needed ; but these well indicate his skill in
sermon-building, and his ability in setting forth
different aspects of his subject.
Mr. Watkinson excels, as we have pointed out
previously, in rich and varied illustrations. Pages
might be filled with quotations showing his felicity
and facility in this department of the preacher's art.
But a few sentences from his most recent volumes
must suffice. The reader will notice their freshness,
their variety and spontaneity.
" The Chinese are said to be fondest of that dress
which most effectually conceals their true figure ;
and by a variety of sophistries we hide our real
selves from ourselves."
WILLIAM L. W ATKINSON 139
" There is much about a man that cannot be put
in a coffin."
"In Derbyshire some strange flowers spring up, the
seeds of which were brought by a Crusader return-
ing from Palestine. All other relics of the family
have perished, yet these sweet frail flowers still
bloom, keeping alive a certain memory of brave
and saintly deeds . . . parables of that immortality
of beautiful and noble deeds ; ruin cannot breathe
on them, age cannot wither them."
" Life seems to many people like that African
forest which a traveller described as a forest of fish-
hooks, varied with an occasional patch of penknives."
"Diderot said that the world was for the strong
what a message for some of us ! But the whole
course of history and literature contradicts him. If
there is a place for power, there is also a place for
weakness."
" Man opens a blossom with a crowbar ; God
opens it with a sunbeam."
" Ruskin tells us that only a great artist is fit to
restore a picture. Most of us think differently.
We are ready to rush in with our sandpaper and our
pumice-stone, and we will try our hand at the finest
picture in the National Gallery. The work of
restoring a soul is far more delicate than that of
restoring a picture, and it requires such delicate
methods as only God can use."
" In the East the nest of the humming-bird is some-
times seen fastened by a spider's thread to the face of
a rock ; and in this marvellous combination of strength
and weakness the frail beautiful creature is secure."
" When our sense of weakness drives us to the
140 NINETEENTH CENTURY PREACHERS
Eternal Rock we are sheltered and safe, and live a
life of delight and sweetness, as the jewelled bird
does amid flowers and sunshine."
" Plato believed in moral beauty for a few aris-
tocratic souls; Jesus Christ brings that beauty to
the man in the street."
" Many a man black as a raven asks for the wings
of a dove. Stay until you are as white as a dove,
and wings will soon shoot after that."
" A cold magnet attracts to itself a variety of
substances, but if heated its magnetic force gradually
diminishes. So the heart of man draws to itself
silver and gold ; . . . but as God quickens it with
spiritual life ... its terrestrial magnetism dies
down, ... it finds its complete satisfaction in God
and in His love."
Mr. Watkinson's sermons should be studied and
his methods observed by all students of homiletical
literature. Here, at least, the reader will find nothing
of that " decay in preaching " which the critics some-
times talk about. In a French newspaper a sermon
critic recently asked, " Who will give us back the great
sermons of the past ? Preaching lags behind in the
general progress of the modern mind. It is becom-
ing petrified in archaic forms, and has no contact
with life. The language of sermons is hardly even
the language of modern literature." And the critic
goes on to ask for a " thorough modernisation of
sermons." If he is really seeking for " modernisation
of sermons," he might find all that he asks for, and
more, in the published utterances of William L.
Watkinson.
XIV
BISHOP SAMUEL WILBERFORCE
He is a combination of Mac aulay^ his own father (William Wilber-
force), and Ezekiel. LORD CARLISLE.
A M ON GST the many scholarly, devout, and in-
JL~\. fluential men who have graced the English
Episcopate in recent years, we cannot recall any
name more popular or more widely known than that
of SAMUEL WILBERFORCE. Men of widely different
opinions in other matters, concur in extolling his
wise administration and gifted pulpit utterances.
Dean Burgon sums up his character in few but fitting
words : " An exquisite orator, ... a persuasive
preacher, ... a faithful bishop." Guizot is reported
to have spoken with great admiration of his preach-
ing, saying " it was the only good preaching he had
heard in England." The Earl of Carlisle, after hear-
ing a speech of the Bishop's, which occupied two
hours in delivery, wrote that, in his opinion, he
" combined the qualities of his father, Macaulay, and
the prophet Ezekiel."
There can be no doubt that Samuel Wilberforce
owed much to his natural gifts, and that these were
very largely assisted by the wise discipline to which
he was subjected in his youth. He was himself
141
142 NINETEENTH CENTURY PREACHERS
deeply conscious of the help which he had thus
received. One who knew him well, writes : " He
said that he owed his facility^of speech mainly to the
pains his father had taken with him that he might
acquire the habit of speaking. His father used to
cause him to make himself well acquainted with a
given subject, and then speak on it, without notes,
and trusting to the inspiration of the moment for
suitable words. Thus his memory and his power of
mentally arranging and dividing his subject were
strengthened."
Though neither a close student nor a great scholar,
he took pains to prepare definitely for the work of
preaching. In his early days he kept a record of
the course of preparation for each sermon, together
with memoranda as to its efficacy when delivered.
He was a keen and voluminous reader, could get
through a book with great rapidity, and, as he
possessed a retentive memory, the results of his
studies were available for future use.
But his reading was not merely discursive, and
such as was adapted to meet the pressing needs of
the moment. His diary gives evidence of the breadth
of his studies, and shows that he gave considerable
attention to solid literature. Clarendon, Mosheim,
Davison on Prophecy, Hooker, Leighton, Jebb, A.
Knox's Remains^ Kaye's Tertullian, Owen, and
Romaine, are some of the authors mentioned. At
this time, also, he learned the Epistle to the Ephesians
by heart.
Another great help in his pulpit preparation was
his power of concentration and observation. He
was able to give his whole and undivided attention
BISHOP SAMUEL WILBERFORCE 143
to any subject under consideration, and equally
ready to turn aside and fasten upon any new object
which came before him, " If unexpectedly called
on to preach, though as a rule he wrote his sermons,
a few minutes of extremely concentrated attention
sufficed for the arrangement of his thoughts and the
preparation of his matter ; the words seemed to follow
as a matter of course." He seemed, also, to be
able to take an interest in everything; and that his
faculty of observation was well trained is evident
from the fact that he was an excellent naturalist.
This power of accurate observation often furnished
him with illustrations for his sermons. For example,
he notes in his diary : " Struck exceedingly by faces
history or prophecy in ; a poor woman especially
in the street to-day poor, sickly, and most dis-
tressed looking suddenly lighted up with a face of
perfect pleasure. I saw she was carrying a baby
which smiled. Then she relapsed." This is ac-
curately reproduced some time after in an Address
to Working People. Again he writes : " Blackdown.
. . . The morning views from my window wonderful.
The cloud fringes lowering down with such wonder-
ful shades of light. Suggested sermon on the hills
about Jerusalem."
The facility he had of using thoughts suggested
by passing events and familiar objects appears to
have grown with use, and to have aided him greatly
in addressing village congregations. In one of his
Confirmation Addresses given in a Berkshire village
he was explaining " that forgotten is not forgiven
sin," and he reminded the lads how their footprints
in yesterday's snow were all still there > although the
144 NINETEENTH CENTURY PREACHERS
slight snowfall of last night had effectually hidden
them from view.
Another trait in the Bishop's character, which was
also a help to his preaching, was the intensity of his
devotional life. When urging on some friends the
use of the evening service of the Church of England
as a help to personal devotion, he met the objection
of " no time " by saying that he found " a cab an
excellent place to say it in." His diary frequently
records his inner thoughts respecting habits of de-
votion. He " fears being scourged into devotedness"
he wishes to be as " a flame of fire in God's service,"
..." passionless for earth, impassioned for Thee."
After his death a paper was found among the memo-
randa for his guidance during his episcopate, with
rules for personal conduct.
" To serve God in His way through His grace
is all.
" Supreme importance of much study of Holy
Scripture.
" Time for retirement before great occasions ;
ordinations, etc.
" The first necessity ', to maintain a devotional
temper.
"The first great peril SECULARITY."
Again : " What I want is to have Christ in me, a
presence, a power, a moulding life. . . ."
" After breakfast, prepared sermon on f The Re-
newer.' Oh for some touch of His renovating hand
in my deepest being ! "
Those of our readers who are acquainted with the
Bishop's Addresses to Candidates for Ordination a
book which every preacher will find helpful to his
BISHOP SAMUEL WILBERFORCE 145
spiritual life will remember with what eloquence
he insists on the necessity of being " diligent in
prayer." " A praying ministry must be a powerful
ministry. For it is prayer which joins our weakness
to God's strength ; it is prayer which honours God ;
it is in answer to prayer that the Blessed Spirit
works. . . . He that goes without prayer about his
ministry defies a host of cruel enemies to instant
battle, and leaves behind him all his strength."
Bishop Wilberforce was not only himself a great
preacher, but he was a frequent hearer and a keen
critic of other preachers' sermons. His diary abounds
in entries respecting preachers and sermons. And,
while keenly observant of the good points, he was
by no means blind to the weak places of a friend's
discourse. Such entries as the following show what
a high ideal he had of the requirements of the pulpit
orator.
"Sept. 24, 1867. Bishop of Illinois' sermon a
flow of words without ideas, and very long, and
nothing to the point."
"Sept. 29, 1868. The Congress began with
service in St. Patrick's : admirable sermon from Dean
of Cork, of which the Bishop of Cork said, c It was
an admirably arranged and delivered sermon, clever,
eloquent, argumentative, illustrative, and had not in
it gospel enough to save a tomtit ! ' "
" Stanton preached an earnest, useful, practical
sermon on fasting, its duty, uses, difficulties, and
temptations, thoroughly evangelical ; but rather an
imitation of Liddon, and, though successful as an
imitation, failing by suggesting the original."
" read wretchedly ; feebleness and affected-
10
146 NINETEENTH CENTURY PREACHERS
ness. Confirmation, cold and few. I fear his
ministry is ineffectual."
There is much more of the same kind. He seems
never to have missed an opportunity of hearing a great
preacher, or of recording his opinion of the sermon.
His early sermons were prepared with great care,
and usually written out in full ; and even when he
was at the height of his popularity, and preaching
extempore or from the scantiest notes, he usually had
some sheets of paper before him, lest his example
should hinder younger men from giving due care
and attention to sermon-making. Even when long
practice had given him great command of language,
and wide reading and experience had enriched his
mind with their ripe fruits, he rarely seems to have
entered the pulpit without thorough and immediate
preparation. In later life he often rose at five or
six o'clock, to secure time for careful preparation.
He seemed to his friends to have a passion for work;
yet he confessed that naturally he was indolent, and
had at first " to flog himself up to his work." But
he believed in overcoming difficulties. The following
advice, given to some ordination candidates, is prob-
ably the outcome of his own experience :
" Settle thoroughly in your minds the greatness
of what you have to do. Never mount the pulpit
without having your whole spirit awed by this thought
you are to speak for God to men. The prepara-
tion for the work of preaching must be habitual and
immediate. Habitual, that the mind may be full of
the subject, without which we soon degenerate into
narrow, technical, and frigid statements of the noblest
truths, and also that accuracy may be obtained.
BISHOP SAMUEL WILBERFORCE 147
Loose, Inaccurate declarations of God's truth make
preachers of the word unawares the slayers of souls.
Immediate preparation. Prayer. Patient labour to
secure for our discourses depth, solidity, and order.
It is mainly idleness which ruins sermons, which
makes them vague, confused, powerless, and dull.
Remember the somewhat caustic words : * The ser-
mon which has cost little is worth just what it cost. 1
"Never preach habitually the sermons of others,
whether taken in mass or in fragments mechani-
cally rearranged into a composite whole. Nothing
short of incapacity can excuse this as a habitual
practice, and then its use and its cause should be
avowed with a humble shamefacedness which will
preach for the unfurnished man. The practice of
reading some full discourses of others on the subject
on which you are about to preach is widely different,
and is a most useful course."
Such advice, from one who was himself a master
of pulpit eloquence, is extremely valuable. His own
sermons were often the outcome, not merely of his
studies but of his inmost feelings. When he was in
great distress, arising from the knowledge that his
brother Robert had resigned his archdeaconry pre-
vious to being received into the Church of Rome, he
preached a sermon in Lavington Church on " They
that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the
affections and lusts? One who heard it said that " he
could never forget it, nor the insight that it gave
into the sorrows of the heart of the preacher."
His advice as to the best methods of sermon-
making is worthy of careful attention
" To secure thought and preparation, begin, when-
148 NINETEENTH CENTURY PREACHERS
ever it is possible, the next Sunday's sermon at least
on the preceding Monday. Choose the subject
according to your people's need and your power.
Let it be as much as possible resolvable into a single
proposition. Having chosen the subject, meditate
upon it as deeply as you can. Consider, first, how
to state correctly the theological formula which it
involves ; then how to arrange its parts so as to
convince the hearer's understanding. Think, next,
how you can move his affections, and so win his will
to accept it. See into what practical conclusions of
holy living you can sum it up. Having thus the
whole before you, you may proceed to its actual com-
position. And in doing this, if any thoughts strike
you with peculiar power, secure them at once. Do
not wait till, having written or composed all the rest,
you come in order to them : such burning thoughts
burn out. Fix them whilst you can. I would say,
Never, if you can help it, compose except with a
fervent spirit ; whatever is languidly composed is
lifelessly received. Rather stop and try whether
reading, meditation, and prayer will not quicken the
spirit, than drive on heavily when the chariot wheels
are taken off. So the mighty masters of our art
have done. Bossuet never set himself to compose
his great sermons without first reading chapters of
Isaiah and portions of Gregory Nazianzen, to kindle
his own spirit. In some such way set yourself to
compose and, until you have preached for many
years, I would say, to write, at least one sermon
weekly. Study with especial care all statements of
doctrine; to be clear, particular, and accurate. Do
not labour too much to give too great ornament or
BISHOP SAMUEL WILBERFORCE 149
polish to your sermons. They often lose their
strength in such refining processes." .
The Bishop's power as a preacher did not lie so
much in careful exposition of Scripture, or in de-
ducing important ethical teaching from forgotten or
unpromising texts, as in the way he had of bringing
home Divine precepts to the heart and conscience of
his hearers. From a perusal of some of his published
sermons we should have said that there was a lack
of proportion in the subjects of his preaching, and
that he rarely brought his great powers to deal with
the unconverted persons in his congregations. Yet
a writer in the Guardian, in reporting a sermon
preached by him at Banbury in 1850, says that it
was a " vivid heart-stirring picture of the sinner in
death and judgment, with earnest exhortations to
repentance."
His sermons are not so interesting to read as those
of other preachers we could mention. Compared
with those of Guthrie, they are tame and dry. But
still there is no doubt of his dramatic power. In his
Heroes of Hebrew History we see how vividly he can
paint old-time scenes, and make the past reveal its
lessons for our life to-day. How well he uses an
illustration from English history on the very first
page of the book ! " Abram's birth was but two
hundred and eighty years after the Flood : a shorter
period than has passed since Queen Elizabeth sat
under a tree which is still alive in Hatfield Park,
and saw the approach of the royal messenger who
brought her, instead of the expected warrant to a
dungeon and a scaffold, the tidings of her succession
to the throne of England." He had also a happy
150 NINETEENTH CENTURY PREACHERS
way of sometimes summing up the substance of an
argument in a terse, proverb-like sentence. This is a
habit which it would be well for preachers to follow
more frequently than they do. Such phrases linger
in the memory when all beside is forgotten. One
of the Bishop's hearers was so impressed with a
sentence of this sort, that she remembered it when
she could only describe the effect of the rest of the
sermon. " Remember, respectability is not conversion"
If we cannot rival the Bishop in his widely ex-
tended influence, or imitate his polished eloquence,
let us endeavour to put into practice the lessons
which he teaches us by precept and example. Those
lessons are : Careful Preparation for the pulpit ;
Constant Prayer and communion with God to enable
us to do our duty when in the pulpit ; and a Con-
suming Desire to benefit and bless those who listen
to our words.
" Get you up to the Cross of Christ ; look at those
wounds ; see in them what sin is ; see in them what
is the greatness of your Master's love, and, as a
ransomed sinner, minister to ransomed sinners ; take
your censer and run in and stand between the dead
and the living, for verily the plague is begun."
XV
THE ORDINARY MAN
Take no model. Say or -write "what yott have well considered in the
most simple and straightforward way you can, and then you will make
a style for yoztrself. DR. HOOK.
IF it were possible to get a truthful record of the
methods employed in manufacturing, or pro-
viding, the sermons preached on any single Sunday
it would prove very instructive, and certainly most
entertaining reading. The methods adopted by the
great living preachers of to-day would, if fully de-
scribed, furnish most of us with admirable examples
and with various helps ; while the story which would
have to be told of those who purloin or borrow or
buy " the sermons of other men " would provide ample
material for serious thought respecting plagiarism and
the ethics of the pulpit.
That this accusation is not made without clear
and abundant evidence of its truth, may be proved
by any one who will purchase copies of certain
religious " weeklies," and scan the advertisement
columns. A copy of a well-known paper (of recent
date) lies before me as I write, which contains the
following, amongst a number of other and equally
promising advertisements :
151
152 NINETEENTH CENTURY PREACHERS
"THE PULPIT SERIES. Original Sermons for
current quarter, now ready. Single Sermon, any
Sunday, I s. Clergy write, ' Full of matter.' * Teach
personal holiness and practical religion.' ' Beauti-
fully simple.' ' Far superior to anything I have seen
of the sort.' Rev. ."
Other manufacturers cater specially for particular
occasions and services ; while, if you wish for a
" sermon " manufactured to order> it can be specially
prepared for the modest fee of los. 6d.
This is not the only method in vogue. A short
time ago the writer was examining, in a friend's
house, a recently purchased second-hand volume of
sermons by a well-known American divine. One
sermon was missing, having been cut very neatly
from the book, without damaging the binder's stitch-
ing, and in such a manner as to suggest irresistibly
that it had been done with a purpose.
Some clergymen, in giving advice to their younger
brethren, counsel them to make one sermon for each
Sunday ; and if they have to preach twice, to borrow
the second. Others, again, make a judicious com-
pilation of sentences from other men's sermons, or
carefully adapt for their own congregation the
published discourse of some able divine. Canon
Twells in his Colloquies on Preaching gives ample
testimony to the truth of this statement. He de-
scribes a long conversation between two clerical
friends, one of whom is relating his own experiences
in the early days of his ministry : " Between break-
fast and dinner I did manage to scribble a few pages,
but even my own imperfect taste voted them so bald
and unsatisfactory that in a paroxysm of vexation I
THE ORDINARY MAN . 153
tore them up. What was to be done? The rapid
approach of Sunday was inevitable. My eyes kept
wandering towards certain volumes which were ranged
upon my shelves. Only a few weeks ago I should
have scouted the idea of preaching another man's
sermon ; but the climax of that day's work was the
settling down to copy, with but few alterations, the
admirable though somewhat stately discourse of a
divine of the last century."
In another place, and where the speaker is supposed
to be making an attempt to justify the practice alluded
to : "A clergyman very rarely copies a man's sermon
just as it is. He adapts it, or tries to adapt it, to
his own delivery, and to the special circumstances of
his congregation. He omits, he inserts, he alters, he
makes it more or less his own by recasting, probably
simplifying, many of the sentences. The sermon as
a composition may not be improved by such a pro-
cess, but it may suit the preacher better, and, as he
hopes and believes, his people. . . . Sermons are
frequently made up from various sources, the different
portions being so dovetailed into one another as to
defy intelligible description."
But passing from these, which can hardly be de-
scribed as legitimate methods of obtaining sermons,
let us describe the plans adopted by an average
preacher > or; as we have written at the head of this
paper, by The Ordinary Man.
I should hardly have ventured to print the follow-
ing pages, but for a suggestion made to me by a
preacher of remarkable ability and freshness, origin-
ality and force : " We have been told how great
men get their sermons ; why don't you tell us how an
154 NINETEENTH CENTURY PREACHERS
ordinary man goes to work ? That would be much
more useful." This, it must be confessed, is a some-
what difficult task, because, as a rule, ordinary men
publish very little respecting their methods of work ;
and, moreover, do not make good subjects for popular
biographies. It is hard to " make bricks without
straw." From actual experience, however, one does
know something of the difficulties which lie in the
path of a beginner; and I will endeavour to relate
briefly the methods which were most helpful in my
early work, and which have proved themselves well
adapted also for the needs of to-day.
Some years ago, at the expiration of my college
course, I .found myself on the way to my first pastoral
charge, with some twelve sermons in my possession ;
these being, in my deliberate judgment, all of my
little stock which promised to be of any real service.
My church was in the north-east of Scotland, a
solitary station, and for the congregation under my
care two Sunday sermons and a week-night lecture
had to be produced week by week ! The task was
no light one, and the problem was, How could it be
accomplished ?
Distrustful of my own inexperience, I sought help
from all available sources, and was put on the right
track by reading some of the best of the modern books
on preaching. Spurgeon's Lectures to my Students \
Dale's Yale Lectures on Preaching \ Blaikie's For the
Work of the Ministry ; and Shedd's Homiletics and
Pastoral Theology ', were amongst the most helpful
volumes from this department of my library. From
these I learned amongst other things the value
of reading with special care any and every book
THE ORDINARY MAN 155
within reach which could elucidate, or set in a new
light, the teaching of Holy Scripture ; the help
which could be derived from conversations with my
hearers during pastoral visitation ; the advantage of
following the course of the Christian Year, and thus
bringing the great themes of Christianity prominently
before the congregation at times when their minds
were to some extent preoccupied with them ; in a
word, to keep my mind open to all suggestions from
any and every quarter.
One difficulty an early one was in finding
striking and suitable texts. This was soon over-
come, and by a method which has stood the test of
some years' practice. In reading, I always kept on
my desk loose sheets of paper, and, whenever any
topic or text presented itself which promised to be
fruitful for future discourses, it was transferred to
one of the slips, together with any thoughts born of
the moment. Sometimes a complete outline would
in a few minutes be thus fixed for future use ; and
by the constant use of this plan I soon gathered
together a large amount of sermon seed,
Of course, some books were much more fruitful
than others in suggesting topics. Such sermons as
F. W. Robertson's and J. H. Newman's ; the Com-
mentaries of Westcott, Lightfoot, and Ellicott ; some
of the papers in The Expositor, were amongst the
best. But any book which stimulated thought, and
especially if it roused and brought into play the
antagonistic elements and views of the reader's mind,
was sure to bring forth some fruit.
In preparing sermons, one of my most effective
helps was found in following the advice of one of
156 NINETEENTH CENTURY PREACHERS
my tutors : " Whenever you set to work to make a
sermon, let your first question be, ' What do I want
to do by means of this sermon ? ' Always have some
definite object before you, and endeavour to secure
that." This, I found, often kept me from that
purposeless style of sermon - making which, in the
words of one of our sermon critics, " aims at nothing,
and hits it."
Early in the week the texts were selected ; the
subject of the sermon and its object definitely fixed
then, all the time that could be spared from other
duties was given to special reading on the subject
chosen; to the study of the lexicon and commentaries,
so as to discover the real meaning of the texts ; and,
lastly, to the finding of some fresh and pertinent
illustrations. Later in the week the sermon would
begin to take form, and the preacher would endeavour
to put his ideas into the clearest and plainest language
at his command. Sometimes the sermon would be
written in full, and an analysis of it made afterwards,
for use in the pulpit; but more frequently a full
outline only would be written, which would be care-
fully thought out and fitted for delivery during the
daily constitutional walk amongst the Scottish hills.
The latter plan is often found to be the most suitable
of all for the extempore preacher. It has the advan-
tage of combining the carefulness of the written with
the fire, force, and freedom of the extempore dis-
course. It is needless to add that it should only
be used by an experienced and practised preacher ;
beginners should write fully and carefully every
sermon they preach, if they can possibly secure the
necessary time. This was the plan adopted by
THE ORDINARY MAN 157
Father Faber. In the preface to one of his volumes,
speaking of his sermons, he tells us
" It has been my custom to have the notes of
them, very full and detailed, prepared several weeks,
often several months, before delivering them. They
were then revised before preaching, and very often
annotated immediately after preaching, when neces-
sary or desirable changes struck me in the act and
fervour of delivery. There is nothing which brings
out any want of logical sequence, or any dispropor-
tionate arrangement of thoughts, more vividly than
the act of preaching, and I have repeatedly profited
by this fact."
Faber's biographer informs us that he was " most
careful in preparing everything he preached : with all
his learning, force of language, and power of imagery,
he always made notes beforehand, even for such little
occasions as addresses to the children of the schools.
He impressed the same frequently upon the Fathers,
repeating that what was not carefully prepared was
never worth listening to."
But we must return to our own experiences. The
week-evening lectures were, at first, somewhat of a
difficulty. But the discipline of constant preparation
kept the mind active and observant, and as the
months passed on I rejoiced to find the difficulty
wearing away. For a long time my custom was to
preach expository discourses on a selected portion
or book of Scripture. In this way the Epistle to the
Philippians, the Book of Ecclesiastes, the Epistles to
the Seven Churches, etc., formed the subjects of
several series of discourses. This method served a
twofold purpose : it kept the preacher to a close
158 NINETEENTH CENTURY PREACHERS
and systematic study of the Bible, and gave the
hearers some idea of the benefits to be gained by
the careful and consecutive reading of definite
portions of God's holy word.
Other helps to sermon-making were found in con-
versation with friends, and in careful observation of
the topics and ideas which were most interesting to
the members of the congregation. Sometimes, in a
casual and desultory talk, ideas would be mooted
which led the mind into fruitful meditations ; and
often my attention would thus be called to some
need or peril of the times which would ultimately
suggest the topic for a useful and perhaps a much-
needed sermon. In these and other ways the
sermon-drawer was always full of texts and topics.
Good illustrations were more difficult to find.
Anecdotes could be had in great variety from
published collections. But these did not often fur-
nish the vigorous and pointed illustrations which the
sermon required ; and usually I had to seek them
for myself. Some of the best were found embedded
in the history and biography of Scripture; others,
again, would appear luminous in the pages of the
standard histories and biographies of to-day ; while
others were drawn from the facts of experience, or a
careful observation of nature. But here the supply
was never equal to the demand ; and a wide range
of reading was necessary in order to have always
ready some appropriate and vivid illustrations.
I have now, so far as I have been able, fulfilled
the promise made at the beginning of this paper, by
recording some of the sermon-making methods of an
ordinary preacher. I have no intention of setting up
THE ORDINARY MAN 159
these methods as models for imitation ; but hope
that those of my younger brethren who are some-
times troubled by the difficulties of sermon com-
position will gain, at least, a little help from the
perusal of my own experiences. To these and to
all my brethren I venture to commend the advice of
Father Faber
"Let us only preach and teach the Divinity of
Jesus, no matter how uninviting may be the notion
of theological sermons, and we shall soon see how
hearts will melt without eloquence of ours, and how
Bethlehem and Calvary will give out their rich
depths of tenderness to the poorest and simplest of
Christ's humble poor."
XVI
ON PREACHING TO CHILDREN
Jerusalem was destroyed becattse the teaching of the yoiing -was
neglected; for the "world is saved by the breath of the school children.
THE TALMUD.
ONE of the principal questions which the
preacher is called to face to-day is, " How
can I best reach, and most effectively preach the
gospel to, the children who are found in such large
numbers in the Sunday school and in the congre-
gation ? Shall I so arrange the order of service as
to be able to give them a five minutes' talk every
Sunday morning? Shall I preach specially to chil-
dren at definite and stated intervals? Or shall I
endeavour so to construct my ordinary sermons that
they shall be interesting and attractive alike to the
young and to those of mature years ? "
Each of these plans has its advocates; and all
possess advantages and disadvantages. To proclaim
that a certain five or ten minutes in the middle of
the service is set apart for " the children's portion,"
is to rouse into activity that remorseless child logic
which concludes, that " with the rest of the service
the child has nothing to do." To announce special
160
ON PREACHING TO CHILDREN 161
services for children dulls the edge of this objection,
but, occasionally at least, only to meet opposition
from other quarters. And the third alternative is a
" counsel of perfection," which perhaps it is im-
possible for the ordinary preacher to reach. Yet the
task must be performed. Every preacher must feed
Christ's lambs, and in some way prepare himself for
this duty.
To say that he has no faculty or aptitude for the
task is not a sufficient excuse. He should train
himself for it. Everything worth doing is difficult
at the beginning. " It was once thought impossible,"
says Samuel Jackson, " to reclaim the profligate
adults of our country. Wesley tried and succeeded.
Napoleon was accustomed to say, ' Impossible is the
word of a fool.' " The power to preach to children
is latent in every preacher. And although few
are able to command the brilliancy and genius
which marks the ideal preacher to children, there
is little doubt that those who can produce dis-
courses interesting to the adult may produce ser-
mons capable of attracting and influencing younger
minds.
The ordinary Homiletical Handbooks give scanty
attention to this branch of the subject, and rarely
bring it into prominence. But from the rapidly
increasing volumes of children's sermons now issuing
from the Press it is possible to gather many hints
and suggestions.
In this paper we shall attempt two things (i)
to collect and classify the advice which is given by
men of experience respecting the preparation of
children's sermons; and (2) note the practice of
ir
162 NINETEENTH CENTURY PREACHERS
some of those preachers whose work is accessible
to us in their published volumes.
I. ADVICE
It has been stated that " few persons are decidedly
successful in speaking to children." Is there any
satisfactory foundation for this statement? Prob-
ably there is an element of truth in it. But why is
it true ? Is the task so utterly beyond the powers
of the ordinary man ? Or does failure arise not so
much from incompetency as from careless and mis-
taken methods of preparation ? If the latter be the
true reason, the remedy is plain. We must improve
our methods.
The preacher to children ought always to keep in
mind two or three fundamental principles. He must
believe in the possibility of child conversion.
" We should expect all our children to be saved
all the days of their life. Why not ? If this be not
true, the contradictory must be true. During the
first days of infant life they are saved ; if they die in
infancy they surely go to be for ever with the Lord.
If they grow up they become responsible, but not
until they are capable of rejecting Christ. Are they
not as capable of receiving, of accepting Him? And
why may they not pass out of unconscious into con-
scious salvation ?
" But what of the facts ? There are many facts
which prove that children are actually converted in
tender years as soon as they are capable of choice.
And we must remember that in the moral sphere a
bad theory always creates bad facts, ,and a good
ON PREACHING TO CHILDREN 163
theory tends to create the right facts. . . . There is
no fear of beginning with children too soon, if we
begin wisely." 1
If we carefully note how easily religious impres-
sions are made on the minds of children ; how real
the unseen is to them ; how near God is ; how their
hearts melt at the story of the love and sufferings of
Christ, we shall acknowledge the reasonableness of
this belief.
Further, What is taught to children must be so
taught as to stand the wear and tear of time as they
grow up. We must so teach that later experiences
will not contradict the ideas which we have impressed
upon them in youth. In other words, we must aim
at being true, and to convey accurate impressions
to those who hear us. Our ideas must be clearly
conceived, and uttered in the simplest words we can
find. We need not then be afraid to give the
children of our very best. Our noblest thoughts
will appeal to their conscience, and their imagination
will be affected by felicity of arrangement and by
the music of language. But ambiguity, and every-
thing which would hinder the child from readily
recognising and appreciating truth, must be strenu-
ously avoided. For the child - mind is quick to
discover inconsistency; and if once the preacher is
convicted or suspected of this fault, his influence
is largely weakened, if not absolutely destroyed.
" Mother," said a boy of five on returning from
public worship, "do preachers always say the truth?"
The reason for the question was easily discovered.
The preacher had used familiar words in a sense
1 Benjamin Hellier.
164 NINETEENTH CENTURY PREACHERS
foreign to the child's apprehension, and his keen
logic detected that the statement from the pulpit
was not in harmony with his previous knowledge.
This incident will serve to show how necessary it
is for a person addressing children to know some-
thing of their modes of thought The preacher
needs to be childlike in his talk, but he must not be
childish. Children resent being talked to in baby
language, and the sermon addressed to them must
respect their intellectual powers. At the same time,
it is necessary that both thought and language should
be easily grasped. To come down in this way to
the intellectual processes of children is not merely
an affair of the spelling-book, it means getting into
touch with their mental moods. And in order to do
this, it will be necessary to read their books, to study
their modes of expression, and to prepare both
thought and language carefully.
The sermon must be short. Long sermons are
absolutely inadmissible. The length of the whole
service, including prayer, reading of Scriptures, four
or five hymns, and sermon, should not exceed one
hour. " Did you ever see a long sermon ? " asked an
aged preacher of two young friends who were visiting
him. " I will show you one ! " The study door was
opened, and they saw a picture of two little children
sitting on a high bench, in a corner of the church,
fast asleep. The preacher to children ought to keep
such a picture before him during his preparation
of the sermon. Probably the lively town boys and
girls of this age will not fall asleep, but they will find
plenty of ways and means of conveying to the preacher
of long sermons their distaste and dissatisfaction.
ON PREACHING TO CHILDREN 165
The text should be short, bright, striking, and easily
remembered. Choose the shortest text you can find
which contains your subject. The subject may be
topical, so that the sermon is the expansion of some
single idea ; or pictorial, based on a Scripture char-
acter, some incident of Old Testament history, one
of Christ's miracles or parables, or a missionary
scene from the Acts of the Apostles.
The lesson you intend to teach should be stated
in the most simple and familiar language; the
arrangement must be clear; and if divisions are used,
they should be obvious, easy to retain in the memory,
and closely connected with the central idea of the
sermon.
Illustrations should be freely used, and will gener-
ally form a large part of the sermon. They must
be carefully chosen, and so used as to emphasise the
points of the discourse. Irrelevant anecdotes are
worse than useless; they convey no truth, and im-
press no lesson on the mind. Anecdote, allegory,
analogy, famous or well-known pictures, dramatic
scenes from history, and the facts and processes of
nature, may all be used to impress the imagination,
to rouse the attention, and to lodge truth in the
memory of the child.
II. EXAMPLE
The difficulty here is to choose from an embar-
rassing array of riches. The number of volumes
containing children's sermons has increased so rapidly
in recent years that it is impossible to survey the
whole field. Excellent specimens for study may be
166 NINETEENTH CENTURY PREACHERS
found in such volumes as Dr. Stalker's The New
Song 1 ; Dr. Cox's The Bird's Nest; Dr. Macmillan's
The House Beautiful '; Rev. Mark Guy Pearse's Ser-
mons to Children; Rev. J. Reid Ho watt's The
Children's Preacher ; in any volume of the Golden
Nails series, etc. etc. Sometimes an admirable
illustration of successful preaching to children may
be found in the newspaper. Here, for example, is
one taken from a recent issue of The British Weekly.
" Leaning forward a little at the close of the hymn
before the sermon, Mr. Bonner * asked, ' How many
bad boys would it take to make one good boy ? '
and added, ' This riddle was asked in a London
ragged school.' After a moment or two a grimy
hand was held up : ' One, sir, please sir, if yer treat
him right.' Mr. Bonner never for a moment lost
his hold on his auditory. He rapidly drew imaginary
pictures on the wall behind him, of a boy in a
schoolroom, with the motto, { I learn ' ; of a farm
labourer, with the motto, ' I work ' ; of a soldier, with
the motto, ' I fight.' Each topic was made more
graphic by an object, a book, a spade, a sword,
and developed by anecdote and illustration. In
closing, he said, ' The true life is not all learning,
or you would be all brain ; nor all working, or you
would be all muscle ; nor all fighting, or you would
be all fist. The three must go on together.' "
Examine the sermons in the Rev. G. Milligan's
Golden Nails, and note the result. The topics
chosen are such as are likely to interest children
and secure their attention ; e.g. " Golden Nails " ;
"Buds"; "God's Jewels"; "The Stork"; /'As an
1 Rev. Carey Bonner, of Southampton.
ON PREACHING TO CHILDREN 167
Adamant " ; " Our Banner," etc. The texts are, in
almost e verj^case, brief^ terse, and memorable. The
divisions are simjple7*often expressing the lessons to
be taught, and always brightened with anecdote or
story. One or two examples will show this preacher's
methods of division
a. Children of Light. Eph. v. 8
1. Children of light will put away from them all that is dark
and bad.
2. Children of light will also have happy and contented
hearts.
3. Children of light will shine for others.
d. At Play. Matt. xi. 16, 17
1. Jesus takes notice of children.
2. Jesus takes notice of children at play.
3. Jesus takes notice of how you play.
4. Jesus uses children at play as a lesson to others.
c. As an Adamant. Ezek. iii. 9
In this case the preacher explains .the reference of the
text to the prophet Ezekiel, and then tells in a brief but
interesting manner the life story of Origen, who was called
" the Adamantine."
From another volume, The House Beautiful^ by
Dr. Hugh Macmillan, the preacher may learn how
the facts and processes of nature, fairy stories, gems
of biography, the gleanings and reminiscences of
summer holidays and foreign travel, may all serve to
gain the attention of children, and convey moral and
religious truth to their hearts. The illustrations in
these sermons are generally new and always forceful.
Almost eveiy page will furnish excellent examples.
We can only find space for one or two out of a large
-selection
1 68 NINETEENTH CENTURY PREACHERS
" Michael Angelo, when he was painting the walls
and roof of the Sistine Chapel in Rome with his
immortal frescoes, used for some of his best colours
the red rock which he found near at hand, and which
he ground to powder and mixed with oil. Darwin
made the great experiments which have changed the
whole aspect of natural history with the common
glasses of his house and the common flower-pots of
his garden. I knew a great botanist who lived in a
remote part of the country when he was a lad, and
could not get a paint-box with which to sketch the
interesting things he discovered. So he made his
own colours from the juices of plants and the powder
of stones, and with drops of his own blood; and more
beautiful pictures than those which he made with
these rude materials I have never seen. You must
therefore look more at yourselves and less at your
tools."
" The dark things which we fear are often the
sources of our brightest joys. In nature it is in the
darkness of the mine that we get the most radiant
jewels and the most precious metals ; and so in all
darknesses we get the most wonderful and unex-
pected treasures. Look at the darkness of night,
for instance ; it seems to make creation so poor and
empty, to rob it of all form and hue, of all heat and
life, and yet it contains within itself things far more
valuable than it takes away. The mysterious shadow
into which the earth by its revolution on its own axis
sweeps us every night, is one of the most beautiful
arrangements of the natural world one of the most
striking proofs of God's wisdom and love. All nature
requires it quite as much as it does the sunshine."
ON PREACHING TO CHILDREN 169
" Pure gold when melted contracts on cooling
more than any other metal. It cannot therefore be
castjn moulds, because in cooling it quits the side
6f the mould, and does not reproduce the pattern
with sufficient accuracy. When Aaron made the
image of the golden calf by melting the golden
ornaments of the Israelites into a mould, he must,
in order to have got a clear image, have debased the
gold by mixing with it other metals which counter-
acted its natural shrinking. Thus the very form of
his idolatry, as well as the essence of it, was a cor-
ruption of the purity of the fine gold which ought to
be offered to the Lord. But Moses preserved the
purity of the gold by forming all the sacred vessels
of the tabernacle, not by moulding but by hammer-
ing by beaten work ! "
Dr. Stalker's volume is different from this last
in many ways, but is one of the best volumes of
Children's Sermons to be met with. The topics are
all good, the texts well chosen, the divisions apt,!
and the lessons drawn are eminently suited to the
needs and capacities of young minds. This volume
claims the attention of every student of children's
sermons on account of its careful and felicitous
divisions. We append two or three specimens taken
almost at random
I. THE TONGUE
Death and life are in the power of the tongue (Prov.
xviii. 21.).
The tongue is like a steed (Jas. iii. 3).
The tongue is like a sword (Ps. Ivii. 4).
The tongue is like a serpent (Ps. cxl. 3).
The tongue is like fire (Jas. iii. 6).
ryo NINETEENTH CENTURY PREACHERS
II. A PICTURE OF FAITH
Lord, I pray Thee, open his eyes, that he may see (2 Kings
vi. 17).
After a bright and clear exposition of the narrative the
preacher thus divides his subject
Eyes opened on Nature to see God in His love, wisdom,
and power.
Eyes opened on Providence to see God as Guide, and to
trust Him always.
Eyes opened on the Bible to see Christ as " My Saviour."
III. A MOTTO FOR THE SCHOOL YEAR
In all thy ways acknowledge Him^ and He shall direct thy
paths (Prov. iii. 6).
God to be acknowledged : (i) in your play, (2) in your
work, (3) in your companionship, (4) in your thoughts of the
future.
The chief points to be noted in each of the three
volumes from which our examples are taken are
Charming simplicity of style; admirable arrange-
ment of thought ; fresh and felicitous illustrations.
And these will always command success in preaching
to children.
INDEXES
I. INDEX OF SUBJECTS
Apostolic preaching, 69.
Beecher, Henry W. : his constant
lookout for material, 3 ; his
theory of preaching, 2 ; his life-
long preparation, 2, 5 ; his ser-
mons, growths, I ; his study of
apostolic preaching, 2 ; of the
Bible, 3 ; of nature, 4 ; of
men, 4 ; sermons of, how pre-
pared, 5.
Bible the preacher's text-book,
39 ; not a mere book of texts,
39- x
Boyd Carpenter, Bishop, ^Lectures
011 Preaching, 20. x
Brooks, Bishop Phillips : born
Puritan family, 9 ; education, 9 ;
first charge, 10 ; his powers of
concentration, 14 ; his methods,
15 ; ideas on preaching, 13 ;
notebooks, 14 ; opinions of his
power as preacher Dr. Bruce,
12; Mr. Bryce, Dr. Hort, II ;
pre-eminently a preacher, II ;
preaching of the future, 1 8 ;
wide studies, n.
Children's sermons : choice of texts
for, 165 ; good examples of, 1 66 ;
the preacher's duty in regard to,
161 ; language of, 164; outlines
of, 1 66, 167, 1 68, 169 ; should
be short, 164.
Cuyler, Dr., description of Dr.
Maclaren, 77.
Dale, Dr. R. W. : his advice based
on experience, 33 ; his careful
observation, 35 ; on extempore
preaching, 43.
Extempore preaching, 43, 93, 1 10.
Farrar, Dean : his early reading,
47 ; his popular style, 46 ; his
fertility of illustration, 51 ; on
originality, 53 ; sermon divi-
sions, 50.
Faber, F. W., on sermon prepara-
tion, 157.
Fluency what it is, 93.
Guthrie, Dr. T. : his attention to
elocution, 60 ; his early diffi-
culties, 57 ; careful writing, 62 ;
long training, 57 ; methods, 57,
60 ; a pictorial preacher, 56 ;
studied illustrations, 61.
Hellier, Rev. B., on child con-
version, 162.
Illustrations, 1 where found, 94,
123, 158; vise of, 83, 138,
146.
Ker, Dr. John : on freshness, 70 ;
the need of study, 74 ; preach-
ing in Germany, 73 ; sensational
preaching, 70.
Maclaren, Dr. A.: description of,
77 ; his advice on sermon mak-
ing, 78 ; careful study of Bible,
So ; power of finding message
in unexpected places, 79 ; use
of illustrations, 83.
1 See Index II.
171
172
INDEX OF SUBJECTS
Magee, Abp.: his criticism of
Dean Stanley, 93 ; maxims in
governing, 88 ; on sermons, 90,
91, 92 ; on extempore preach-
ing, 93-
Methodism, a preaching church,
142.
Parker, Dr. : advice on choice of
texts, 105 ; his hobby preach-
ing, 101 ; training under Dr,
Campbell, 104 ; on the use of
illustration, no.
Preacher, the, a man of light and
leading, 20; a voice, 113; an
interpreter, 66, 89 ; greatness
of his task, 48 ; his aim, 156 ;
his duty, 16,^34, 43, 88; his
reading, 38 ; in relation to the
age, 27 ; mental and intellectual
preparation, 33, 67 ; must be a
student, 24 ; must be a man of
convictions, 45 ; must be clear
in his statements, 92 ; not a
copyist nor an egoist, 22 ; ought
to study sermons, 39 ; person-
ality, the secret of a great
preacher, 21 ; purpose of, 54 ;
should persuade men, 42 ; reveal
Christ to men, 66 ; should be
interesting, 35, 145 ; keep
logical power bright, 37 ; the
preacher's prayer, 27 ; the
preacher's -three P's, 62 ; the
preacher v. the priest or the
organ, 143.
Preaching, a noble art, loo ; ex-
tempore, 43, 93, 1 10 ; freshness
in, 70 ; in Germany, 73 ; some
great themes of, 17; sensational,
70, 107 ; the three R's of, 25 ;
the preaching of Christ to be
studied, 68 ; timely preaching,
146 ; use of books on preaching,
141.
Preparation of the preacher, 33,
126, 127 ; C. H. Spurgeon's
methods, 138 ; the ordinary
man's, 154.
Robertson, Rev. F. W. : a voice,
not an echo, 113; his reading,
114; preparation, 114; study
of Bible, 115; his advice on
reading, 115, 117.
Sermons : borrowed, 152, 153 ;
clever sermons to be avoided,
1 06; criticisms, 125; danger of
over-elaboration of, 48 ; divi-
sions, 50 ; every sermon should
contain gospel truth, 42 ; guid-
ing principles of, 26 ; great
themes for, 17 ; introduction,
shovild be brief, 42 ; materials
for, accumulated, 41 ; moderni-
sation of, 150 ; model outlines,
148 ; plan of sermon, 41 ; should
have strong application, 42 ;
should not be over-illustrated,
56; nor overloaded, 137 ;
should be based on one idea,
91, 92; should contain real
teaching, 137 ; subjects of ser-
mons, how suggested, 123.
Spurgeon, Rev. C. H.: his early
training, 133 ; belief in hard
study, 134 ; selection of texts,
135; use of illustrations, 138;
scorn of lazy preachers, 140.
Texts : choice of, 40, 104, 105 ;
finding texts, 49 ; should grip
the mind, 136; sometimes a
book of Scripture used as text,
51 ; striking and unexpected,
147.
Topics : topics of sermons, 40 ;
great religious words, 17 ; how
suggested, 123, 155.
Watkinson, Rev. W. L. : freshness
of his style, 150 ; his opinion of
the preacher's office, 142, 143 ;
his choice of texts, 147 ; ser-
mons full of illustrations, 146.
Wilberforce, Bp. S. : eulogy of, by
Dean Burgon, 121 ; his facility
of speech, 122 ; broad studies,
122; devotional life, 124; his
rules for guidance, 124; a ser-
mon critic, 125 ; use of terse
sentences, 130.
ILLUSTRATIONS QUOTED INDEX OF TEXTS 173
II. ILLUSTRATIONS QUOTED
PAGE
Busybody .... 40
Christ in us ... 97
Christ, presence of 23
Christ's death, the true mean-
ing of . . .83
Christian, his condition
grows out of character . 96
Crusader and flowers . 149
Dante and Italian language 72
Deflection from right . . 84
Despotism of democracy . 98
Dress, to conceal figure . 148
Easy work .... 24
Fanaticism or righteousness 31
Footprints in snow . .123
Gambling .... 99
Good workers and their tools 168
Grace, fulness of God's . 84
Heated magnet, power of . 150
Humming -bird's nest . 149
Indelible writing of life . 84
PAGE
Isolation, no remedy for
worldliness ... 95
Kings, two ... 85
Light and salt, the Christian
as . . . . .29
Parrot and empty nut. . 144
Persecution, not destructive
of Christianity . . 84
Power of Christ's resurrec-
tion .... 29
Preaching, use of .40
Pure gold, and golden calf . 169
Restoring a soul, a delicate
work . . . . 149
Repression useless . . 83
Scripture, the Word of God 99
Scruples of the unscrupu-
lous .... 30
Self-denial .... 95
Sudden disaster ... 52
Use of dark things . .168
III. INDEX OF TEXTS
To which Outlines are attached
PAGE
Ex. iii. 3 . . . .28
,, xxviii. 34, 35 .10
Lev. xxvi. 10 . 79
1 Kings xvii. I . . .86
2 Kings vi. 17 . . . 170
2 Chron. xxxiii. 9 . .148
Ezra viii. 22, 23, 31, 32 . 79
Esth. iv. 2 . . . . 147
Ps. vii. 15 . . . . 147
,, Ivi. 3, 4 . . .80
lix. 9, 17 . 79, 81
,, xc. 16 . . . . 15
Prov. ii. 3, 4 . . . 71
,, iii. 6. . . . 170
,, xviii. 21 . . . 169
Jer. xii. 9 . . . . 139
Ezek. iii. 9 . . .167
Amos vi. 6 . . .71
Mic. vi. 6-8 ... 50
Matt. i. 25
,, xi. 16, 17 .
Mark i. 23, 24 .
Luke xi. I .
John i. 46 .
Acts vii.
xv. 17
xvii. 3-1
,, xxi. 16
Rom. xvi. 23
1 Cor. x. 13
2 Cor. xi. 14
,, xi. 28
Eph. v. 8 .
Col. i. 9-12
,, ii. 8 .
i Pet. v. 7 .
Rev. ix. 7 .
PAGE
70
I6 7
147
86
14
108
15
29
79
79
50
148
71
167
86
81
107
147
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