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New Zealand Times, Volume XXXIII, Issue 5357, 29 May 1878, Page 2

It. is not a new saying that there is nothing more dear to the average Englishman than the right to grumble at his local and Ilia national institutions. He pays for their support either by voluntary contributions or, unwillingly, by moans of the tax and the rate. In either case it is his undoubted privilege to criticise their working, and his duty to do all in his power towards remedying their defects. Even if, as is frequently the case, he fails to fulfil this duty, he is ever ready to exercise this right. Nothing escapes his notice, and whether it be the City Corporation or the Road Board, the Working Men’s Club or the Athenaeum, all alike receive their share of blame or praise. There is, however, one important exception. *One subject there is which is always mentioned with tenderness and respectful hesitation. The question of public worship and its ceremonial is one which oven a free and liberal Press is wont to approach with diffidence. Owing, in great measure, to this want of external criticism* fcho .professed guai'diflus of religion have been tempted to sloop at their posts. Accustomed during a lapse of years to arrange entirely amongst themselves all the details of their work, and conscious of the hold which they have over the minds of tho great majority of the people, :the ministers of religion appear to hav.o grown unconsciously more or less careless as to the manner in which they shall discharge one of the most important of their functions—naipply, that of the public preacher. As a moans of in. fluonce the power of tho pulpit is

absolutely without a limit. But no art is less an object of study, and power is thus .thoroughly, thrown away. If Isokeates.' could- have , foreseen the splendid opportunities 'which would in later ages be enjoyed by the Christian preacher, what expectations would he not have formed, not ' merely of the heights that would be attained, but of the average abundance in which compositions of merit would be produced. And how would his expectations have been deceived ! Let us look for a moment at the ordinary preaching of the present day. In what terms can it fairly bo described ? The ordinary written sermon, covering some twenty or thirty pages of foolscap, is road in an hesitating."voice, without modulation, without point, 'without emphasis. The beat sermon read in such a manner would riot be likely to produce any important effect. After sitting out its delivery, a great, if not the greater part of the. congregation will go away without any definite idea as to the sub-ject-matter of the.serraon, or the style of its author. It will not seldom be the case that such a discourse will act inductively, as Oliver Wendell Holmes and the electricians would say, in developing strong mental currents; but these’ will often lead to subjects not too closely coil-, nected with theology, and should good results follow, they cannot in fairness be attributed to the preacher. It is clear that the object of every jreacher should be to drive some point lome to the mind of his audience—to produce a conviction, or at least to leave a mark on the memory. And even if this conviction should not amount to a complete acceptance of, or acquiescence with, any special point of doctrine or of faith, and the impression on the' mind should merely be one as to the earnestness,'unselfishness, or humility of the preacher, there; is a gain both for the latter individually, and for the Church as a whole. It may, however, be doubted whether the average preacher is always accustomed to set before him any more definite object than to get through his sermon. With regard to the pulpit, indeed an English audience is wonderfully uncritical. The reason is not hard to find. It is but rarely that the highest powers are employed for the production of a good sermon. Unfortunately, as yet, there is in this colony but little attraction in the Churches for new men of power. The most capable men are drafted off into those professions that have higher earthly rewards to offer than that of; the preacher. Even supposing that, by chance, a man of exceptional abilities does find himself in the Church, it is not long before he ascertains that there are no external inducements for him to take the same amount of trouble that any other position in life would entail. The natural laziness of mankind and the want of anything like appreciative external criticism combine to produce in his mind a kind of lethargy. In this point it is that the profession of the minister of religion differs so much from other professions. In medicine, in literature, in law, the most strenuous efforts are made to obtain success. To attain this object no exertions are considered too great,—no care too miriute. In the case of the pulpit, however, it is very different. It is not always that an intel-

ligent hearer can find in the sermon any traces of careful preparation, or of that infinite capacity for taking trouble which has truly been described as another word for genius. This point l was treated of at some length by Mr. Gladstone, in March of last year. He is reported to have said “ that it is a precept of great import- “ ance that not only the substance of the “thing taught, but the manner of the “ thing taught should be continuously “studied;” and further that “there “ cannot be too much preparation if it be “of the right kind. And what is prepa- “ ration of the right kind 1 No doubt it “ is the preparation of matter ; it is the “ accumulation and thorough digestion of “ knowledge ; it is the forgetfulness of “ persorial and selfish motives ; it is the “ careful consideration of method, —it is “ that a man shall make himself as a man, “suited to speak to men, rather than “ that he shall make himself as a machine “ ready to deliver to man certain precon- “ ceived words.” Mr. Gladstone has here hit the light nail on the head. If the clergy would but take the trouble to go through this preparation they would not so often be obliged to “ read ’ their sermons. Verlmque pnevisam rent non invita sequent ur, says the Latin verse ; meaning that if a speaker will but think out his subject beforehand the necessary words will not fail him", on occasion. Modern instances are not wanting in New Zealand of the power which earnest extempore preaching can exercise over large congregations ; and we would venture, in all humility, to repeat the warning of Dr. Dollinger when he said that “if the “ Church of England is to make way and “ be a thoroughly national Church,” he did not speak of its competition with Nonconformists, but in its relation to the great bulk and body of the people, “ the clergy must give up the practice of “ preaching from written sermons.”