labors, and revealing it in their spiritual goodness, then will their words be clothed with an unwonted efficacy. He shall 'sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and he shall purify the 'sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness. Then 'shall the offering of Judah and Jerusalem be pleasant unto 'the Lord, as in the days of old, and as in former years.'

But although we attach great importance to the causes of ministerial inefficiency, to which we have now referred, there are, we conceive, yet others in the mode of conducting the ministry itself which are by no means to be despised. We cannot but think that the general style of preaching might be most advantageously altered. And first of all we imagine it might be more christian. It is not natural religion that ministers have to preach, but glad tidings of a richer, fuller joy, and clearer tone. It is not Judaism that they have to preach, but an economy of truth and grace. The gospel, not nature or law, is the theme of their ministrations. We say then that there should be more christianity in their preaching. Christ should not be a topic or the topic of it. He should not be placed among or above all other subjects. He should be the alpha and omega, the first and the last, all and in all.' The facts and truths of his history and office should be prominently presented; but this is not all, every fact and truth should be presented through him. It is our great privilege to have the truth as it is in Jesus;' he is the coloured glass which God has made the medium through which we are to behold all things. Christ is the logos made flesh,' the divine reason revealed in human nature, the wisdom of God embodied in the form of a man and a servant. Whatever God has taught may now be contemplated in his Son, and thus contemplated it acquires a new complexion, and is invested with a new force. There is no truth in the whole range of morals and religion which does not derive peculiar power and glory from its connexion with Christ. Not only is life and immortality brought to light and illustrated by him, but all other things of deepest interest to men. The being, character, and government of God; the state, obligations, and prospects of humanity; these, as associated with the incarnation, death, and exaltation of the Son of God, are clearer and more impressive than as otherwise considered. It is the minister's duty to treat them as christian truths-not as a heathen, however wise, or a Jew, however religious, would treat them-so that while their natural grounds and legal bearings are plainly and fully stated, they may appear in all the purity and the power which they derive from their position and connexion in the gospel of the grace of God. We think there is room for improvement here, not that

ministers can be charged with not preaching Christ, but they preach him as a truth, not as the truth;' he is a portion of their message, not the life and spirit of the whole economy of their religion. In some sermons he may be most faithfully presented in some aspect on human purity and hope, divine grace and glory; and in others he may be introduced with effect, so as to make them evangelical,' but this is not all that is meant by preaching Christ.' He should be the substratum of every discourse, not by the incessant repetition of his name, for Christ may be fully preached when his name is scarcely mentioned, and not preached at all when it is sounded every moment, but by every discourse being made to imply, require, and commend him. Let every possible truth be taught; let there be no bondage or restraint upon the mind of the preacher; let the pulpit be more comprehensive than ever, far more than it is now, in its range; let men learn whatever God has taught; but let every subject be cast into the mould of christian doctrine; let the wisdom of God be seen in the christianity of its revelation; let the logos be made flesh.

We doubt much whether the prevailing style of preaching is sufficiently practical. It should be altogether so. The hold should never be resigned upon the conscience and sympathy of each individual. Every truth should appear, not as matter of mere speculation, but of intense, immediate, and unspeakable importance-while it is described as an object, it should be wielded as a weapon. It is not enough that its nature is understood and its evidence appreciated; it has a spiritual function to discharge it is seed to germinate, a mould to fashion, a sword to pierce. Nor is it necessary, in order to the discharge of this function, that there should be no instruction, or argument, or illustration; on the contrary, all these things are necessary to it, for only what is known, and believed, and understood, can be brought to bear with spiritual force upon the mind. No man brings to his ministrations an erudition too profound, or logic too severe, or imagination too rich, but many, we fear, do not bring to them a determination strong and settled enough to make every statement, if possible, be felt as of individual and present importance. It is possible, while the speech is general, for the impression to be particular, for each individual to be separated from his fellows in all the convictions and feelings of a godly solicitude, and to mourn apart' in the midst of the 'great congregation.' And this is what is wanted. Instead of practical sermons occasionally or frequently, every sermon should be practical; instead of practical passages in every sermon, every passage should be practical. The whole strain and manner of the address should irresistibly convey the conviction, that nothing is said which is not said to all, and which all

would not do well to attend to and receive. All the declarations of Scripture are practical. There is nothing revealed which is not so, and is not revealed to be so. The most abstruse and difficult subjects are treated in the Bible with an exclusive reference to religious effect. The mode of God's existence, his purposes, the mediation of Christ, the operations of the Holy Spirit, justification, these, and all other doctrines, are discovered just so far as their discovery is necessary or adapted to our sanctification. But for this we should have been told nothing of them, as we are told nothing of ten thousand other things, between the knowledge of which and our renewal and holiness there is no conceivable connexion. They are always handled not as bare facts, but as living, energetic principles, having much to do with life and godliness. Ministers should treat them as the sacred writers have treated themshould point out their bearings, and the bearings of all other religious truths, upon the duties and responsibilities of men. The greatest evil of the congregations to whom the gospel is preached, is not ignorance but indifference. They have the truth, but imprison it in unrighteousness; it is in their intellects as a matter of perception and vague credence, but not in their passions as a transforming power. It is to them a clear image, but not a mighty force. They need to be aroused and excited-they want not quiet discussion so much as pointed, continuous, energetic appeal. They should not be allowed to retain the truth easily, and with composure, while they live in sin. It should be forced upon them so, and so constantly, that either they must yield to it or reject it-become infidels or saints. Their faith should be quickened into action or destroyed-be made to work or vanish. The preaching must be grossly defective which allows sinners to live, sabbath after sabbath, without great disturbance and distress, unless they are given up to a reprobate mind. Is the general style of preaching of this kind? We fear not, even among those who are clear and scriptural in their theological conceptions, and, on the whole, able and faithful ministers of Christ. We say nothing of those who profess and preach a partial and perverted divinity; who make a few topics, and those least understood by them or any, the matter of their constant ministrations; who dwell more on the purposes of eternity past than the obligations of time present; who preach more against good works than against bad ones; who proclaim the agency of God to the exclusion of, and in opposition to, the agency of man; who make contempt of human knowledge a sign of divine illumination; with whom bigotry is a part of orthodoxy, and corruption a sign of regeneration; who never tell sinners or saints to do any thing, without at the same time cautiously reminding

them, that they can do nothing. We refer not to such preachers. There are others wiser and better, who declare the whole counsel of God, and yet do not give to each and every part a sufficiently straight direction and pungent power. Congregations depart from the sanctuary without realizing their connexion with every separate announcement as a connexion spiritual, unchangeable, everlasting. Their ministers have not compelled them to realize it, and therefore they have not done it. For it must not be left to men to discover and to make the appropriate application of the truths delivered. They who are most in need of the application are least disposed to do so. The sinfulness to be purged away presents the impediment to the self-inspection and moral discipline which it requires. The preacher should seek to insert all his sentiments into the mind of every hearer; to plant them in its most deep and secret parts, so that their rejection must involve expulsion and not neglect, the positive exercise of an evil force and not the manifestation of mere carelessness.

In order that preaching may be effectual on a large scale, variety should characterize it. It should be conformed to the capacities and qualities of the hearers. It is quite a mistake, and a mischievous one, to suppose that congregations are only to be divided into the two classes of saints and sinners, and addressed as such. Scarcely any two individuals in any congregation are intellectually and morally alike. This diversity imposes the necessity of a diversity of treatment. A general statement of the truth will not suffice, respect must be had to the differences among the souls in whom it is designed to be deposited. The utterance of truth is one thing, the reception of it another. Even as to the understanding of what is said, but much more as to the impression of it, the circumstances, opinions, and whole mental state and character of the hearers, are as important as the utterances of the preacher. What is true as stated may be error as received. The words employed may be most appropriate and accurate simply considered as an expression of the sentiment or fact intended to be presented, and yet may do any thing but convey a right conception of the sentiment or fact. The object as described by the speaker may be very different from the object as seen by the hearer. Now men differ in respect of their moral powers as much as in respect of their intellectual faculties and habits of thought, some possessing more of one passion and others more of another. It is, therefore, not at all likely, if indeed possible, that the same methods of appeal should be equally effectual in all cases. What may be powerfully impressive in some, may be altogether destitute of force in others. We remember well the fact and necessity of divine influence while we write-we have not the

least doubt that no man is converted without it--but divine influence is exerted in accordance with the constitution of the mind and the tendency of the means employed to renew it. Whatever is the instrumentality by the use of which the end is attained, there is an adaptation in it to that end. Assured of this, we say that one particular mode of address is not likely to excite and sanctify minds of various orders. The preaching that appeals to self-interest is not likely to succeed where the higher powers exist in the greatest strength; and the preaching that appeals to the higher powers is not likely to succeed where self-interest is the strongest. We should like, could it be done, to obtain an analysis of the minds converted by different kinds of preaching, and have little doubt that it would fulfil the expectations formed by a previous acquaintance with the ministrations employed. The publication of the gospel must become more various to become more successful. This requires, on the part of ministers, a knowledge of the philosophy of the mind, keen and close habits of observation, and careful watchfulness against the prevailing tendency of their own minds, lest it should lead to a mode of exhibiting truth only adapted to minds like their own. It may be that they cannot altogether check it, nor should they. Different men will always excel, and were meant by God to excel, in different moral exhibitions of the truth; one is marked by his touching and tender expositions of its grace, another by his stern and strong revelations of its justice, a third by his persuasive display of its advantages-but still while each maintains his distinct and peculiar excellence, each should strive to emulate the excellencies of others by fostering and cultivating the dispositions in which he is naturally inferior to them. The most effectual method of preventing the evil of which we speak would be a return to the primitive custom of a plurality of pastors in each church. The truth conceived in different minds, and deriving its hue and force from different passions, would be more adapted to the edification and impression of a congregation presenting many and great moral and mental varieties than the truth incessantly delivered to them by the same individual. But while the present system lasts, it is solemnly incumbent on ministers to consult the manifold diversities of their people. It cannot be done without care and trouble, skill and wisdom, delicacy and tenderness. The difficulty would not be small of meeting and suiting souls so dissimilar apart and singly, but to do it at once, fitting and filling each without damage and discomfort to the rest, this is a task that may well extort the exclamation, Who is sufficient?' It cannot be expected that preaching will be very effectual if it is not very experimental. There is enough, and a great deal