actual wants of the flock. We must guard against abuse. We are not slow to give ourselves great license here, and we may proceed to a ridiculous and scandalous excess.

May a Pastor have one to preach for him?—The interest of the flock may sometimes justify the pastor in obtaining an aid in preaching. Why refuse to the flock good nourishment which may be offered it, or the advantage of hearing the same truths from two different men, and under two different forms? Why refuse one's self a repose which is, perhaps, necessary, and the advantage of hearing the word, of being preached to? But, on the one hand, the responsibility we are under forbids our having men to preach for us in whom we have not confidence; on the other hand, the course and continuity of instruction may be impaired by too frequent interruptions; and, finally, facility in yielding or offering our pulpit would not fail to injure our standing in our parish. Harms replies to those who say, But when we are sick? "Do not be sick."* I would rather say, do not imagine yourselves to be sick.

What should be done before Preaching.--Before preaching we ought to have an exercise of mortification, remembering, as St. Cyran says, that we should be especially afraid of offending God in the pulpit.† We must possess ourselves of the feeling of our unworthiness and our weakness; like the publican, we should smite upon our breast. If it be robbery to undertake a mission to which we are not called, it is so likewise to be occupied in it with unsuitable feelings. A carnal confidence, a desire to make a show, is of fatal influence on preaching. We must pray, not for ourselves alone, or with anxious feeling on our own account, but especially for the flock. Prayer for ourselves is good and necessary, but we must not in this spend too much time. If we pray too little for others, we shall not pray well for ourselves. We * Pastoraltheologie, tom. i., p. 41.

† ST. CYRAN (Lettre xxxi.), à M. Le Rebours,

should travail in birth for souls, till Christ be formed within them.

What should be done after the Sermon.-Not less useful is an appropriate exercise after preaching than the preparation which goes before it. before it. This exercise includes :

An act of gratitude toward God for giving us the honor of preaching the word of life, for our having strength for it, and for our having been kept from error and contempt.

An act of humiliation and of mortification. We ought to confess our unworthiness of so great a function as that which we have been performing, and to humble ourselves on account of it.

Self-examination and contrition, in view of our sins of the tongue and the secret sins of our heart in the pulpit.

Prayer. After having planted and watered, we should ask God to give the increase.

All these may be abiding in the state of the heart; but it is useful to turn feelings into acts, to give these things a form, an utterance.*

The Preacher should know what is thought of his Preaching.—We can not, in this case, apply in every sense the words of St. Paul: “It is a small thing for me to be judged of you, or of man's judgment.”—1 Cor., iv., 3.

Theremin thinks that the only absolute test of good preaching is consciousness of having sought the glory of God.† It is not the less important, on this account, to be admonished of any errors which may need to be corrected.

There are indirect or silent admonitions which, if we are

* See, on this subject, the Guide de ceux qui annoncent la Parole de Dieu, p. 217.

+ He may be satisfied if he has done all he can to please God, and none but him. This is not only a good test of the worth of a sermon, but the only one which we can depend upon, and we can recognize no other. In place of this, we can not accept even the blessing which may be connected with a sermon.-THEREMIN: Die Beredsamkeit eine Tugend.

willing, we shall not fail to receive. There are praises which are criticisms, as there also is a criticism which praises and a silence which speaks. The air of our flock, their silent reflectiveness, shows us what is passing within them, better than visible tokens of emotion. There are many things, how

ever, we never can know, or never know well, because too
much frankness is required to give us the knowledge of them,
or too much judgment to receive the idea of them.
live, for the most part, in so much seclusion, that we shall
be without admonition if we do not desire it.

Faites choix d'un censeur solide et salutaire,
Que la raison conduise et le savoir éclaire,
Et dont le crayon sur aille d'abord chercher

L'endroit que l'on sent faible et qu'on veut se cacher,*
Aimez qu'on vous conseille, et non pas qu'on vous loue.†

We

We may find such a monitor not only in a brother in the ministry, but in the humblest member of our flock. A simple parishioner, a poor woman, a child even, may be such a We should, without doubt, use caution in this matter, and not consult every one who may come in our way; but, with the view of correcting our faults, we must seek to know the truth.

one.

On the immediate Effect, or immediate Impression of the Sermon.-As to this, whether good or evil, we are often disappointed. Many preachers are astonished to see the small effect of discourses from which they expected great success ; and vice versâ. Many discourses, longly drawn out with anguish of soul, composed with poverty of feeling, have been richly blest, have produced more effect than others prepared with alertness and delight. When alertness, memory, fervor itself, have been wanting, the ray which, in passing through the lens, has left it cold, has been a burning one beyond it.‡

+ Ibid., chant i.

* BOILEAU: L'Art Poétique, chant iv. See, on this subject, an anecdote related by BURK, Pastoraltheologie in Beispielen, tome i., p. 241.

But we shall fall

We are very often only the occasion of the Divine blessing.* These trials are useful, and even necessary; they keep us from appropriating our success to ourselves, and from saying to ourselves, I myself have done this. They efface the I, always odious, and especially in this case. into a great error if we draw from these experiences the conclusion that it is indifferent whether we do good or evil. They should only teach us that we should be neither discouraged nor inflated.

On the Fruits of Preaching.-The words "Ye shall know them by their fruits" (Matt., vii., 20), are not, without qualification, applicable to preachers. The fruits, so far, at least, as we can see, are not always exactly proportional to zeal and devotedness.

It is important to remember that the grace of God is sovereign, lest we be not tempted to regard ourselves as the efficient agent of our success. While we see one who has sown less reaping more, apparently, it is useful to accustom ourselves to think that God, in this, hath done as he pleased.

It is also important that we do not prescribe conditions to God, by not being willing to sow, unless we have a security that we shall reap. Even when we are not permitted to reap, we must be content, and give thanks that we have sown. The spirit of the ministry, in this respect and in many others, is admirably epitomized in John, iv., 36, 37. "He that reapeth receiveth wages, and gathereth fruit unto eternal life; that both he that soweth and he that reapeth may rejoice together. And herein is that saying true, One soweth, and another reapeth." For a stronger reason should we patiently wait: It is important that our faith and our spirit of prayer should be exercised by waiting. Unfailing success, a harvest which should always come according to our calculation, would be fatal to us. "Be not discouraged by the unprofitableness of your pains and instructions among * BURK: Pastoraltheologie, tome i., p. 276.

your people: God does not always reward the zeal of his ministers by immediate and visible success. Be always casting in, cultivating, watering the holy seed; he who gives the increase will not fail to make it productive in his own time. We would be recompensed, according to our labors, by a sudden and visible fruit; but God does not permit this, lest we should attribute to ourselves and to our feeble powers a success which can come only from the work of grace.

Besides, we should have no misunderstanding in respect to fruits. There may be more when to us there appears to be less. We can not estimate them when they are spread over the field, but only when they are stowed in the granary. When we see around us the evidences of a religious revival, the Bible abundantly distributed, the word of God zealously preached, we may say, Here the wind of the Lord has passed. But this is wheat which has but sprung up; the harvest is not yet: The harvest consists in sanctification, charity, the whole course of a lowly and pure life.

A quite superficial impression may produce much noise and agitation. A profound impression may express itself more by a whisper. We must not rely too much on results of the first kind, nor distrust too much the second. Sometimes, after rising in a mist, the sun pierces the clouds, and the day is warm and fine; at other times the morning is bright, and the day cold and damp.

Without forgetting that "few are chosen," or that “the gate is strait, and few enter in thereat," we must make it our aim to gain many souls, and not once for all be content with a small number of adepts. We must reckon among the fruits of good and faithful preaching, not only a decided and remarkable awakening of a small number of souls, but a true reformation of a large number. In the inventory we must include every thing, and overvalue nothing. He who has * MASSILLON (Neuvième Discours Synodal): De l'Avarice des Pré

tres.