nd favor among the people. He emphasized these and vitalized anew
their application to the Christian religion. In this section I shall
devote myself to a study of the ethical intensity of his ministry.

The Rev. Mr. Savage's ministry of nearly a quarter of a century in
Boston teaches some important lessons. And while he has had many
critics, no one has yet displayed and made current his most emphatic
qualities as a preacher. In attempting this the writer does so not from
the standpoint of the theologian or the professional clergyman, but from
that of a liberal thinker with mind unfettered by any prepossession.

The first thing to be noted is the candor of the man, the great
sincerity which marks whatever he says and does. His theology is simple;
his creed, which is neither the Apostles' nor the Nicene, nor the
utterances of modern pontiffs, but in a measure his own, is readily
comprehended, and betrays a sweet reasonableness which invites the
subscription of anyone without fear or trembling or convulsive
revolution. And while some of his fundamental beliefs impinge against
current prejudices and awaken enmities, he fearlessly submits them to
the judgment and common sense of mankind. What he believes he preaches,
and what he does not he rejects with all the vehemence of a man of
conviction. Correct modes or forms of religious thought he conceives to
be necessary, and the more so the firmer will be one's principles of
duty. Yet essential and sanctifying as this is, more essential in his
opinion is an honest mind,--a mind that is faithful in the pursuit of
truth and true to its own convictions and inspirations. He believes that
the most perfect man is he who is most diligent in duty and fervent in
spirit; who incorporates the truth into his selfhood; who toils with a
prompt and ardent devotion to know the truth, to maintain his opinions
firmly, to diffuse and propagate them by every means consistent with a
perfect character. With unselfish courage Mr. Savage resists every
allurement to compromise. Never timid, never complaisant or patronizing,
he exhibits some of the rarest virtues of the human mind. Oh that there
were more like him in this indolent and obsequious world!

Compared with Mr. Savage's strength of character, how contemptible are
some of the clerical and theological enigmas of our day. Waning and
waxing periods are not uncommon in our pulpits and our schools of
divinity. Now and then they diffuse a feeble as w