an
ever-growing _slang_ not seldom makes its way. These defects have only
to be recognized, surely, to be avoided, by keeping our eyes open as we
read and our ears as we hear, and by remembering that the sacred message
of the King, while it is too great to be tricked out with false
rhetoric, is also too great to be slighted, not to say insulted, by a
really careless phraseology.

A GOOD STYLE IS A PRACTICAL POWER.

Pains will be needed, of course, as we pursue the object of a good
style. We must watch and think. We must read and observe good models,
the written words of men who have proved themselves powerful preachers
to the people, and indeed of men generally who are known masters of
English. We shall have, again, to consult candid friends. But my point
is, that all this is abundantly worth our while. A neat, straight,
well-worded sentence is not a mere literary luxury. It is a practical
power. It is far easier to listen to than a careless, formless sentence
is, and it is far easier to remember. The truth which it conveys is much
more likely, therefore, to find its way securely into the mind, and to
lie there ready for the vivifying touch of the Spirit of God.

I emphasize this matter of style, for in many quarters it is much
neglected, and some of my younger Brethren do, if I mistake not,
entertain the thought that the simplicity of the Gospel is best set
forth, and God most honoured, where plans and methods of language are
neglected. To speak about "a good style" to those who think so, may seem
perhaps little else than a recommendation to bid for human applause in
the line of literature. But my intention is far enough from this. Mere
literary ambition, the quest of the glory of self in this as in every
other line, is a forbidden thing to the true bondservant of the Lord.
But it is by no means forbidden him, for his Lord's sake, to aim at
clearness, point, force of expression, that the message may be the
better taken in. God is as little glorified by a bad style as by a bad
voice, or bad handwriting, or bad reasoning. And by a good style I mean
not a style polished and elaborated to please fastidious tastes (the
best taste, by the way, is best pleased with correct simplicity), but a
style which shall be both pure and plain in word and phrase,
"understandable of the people" yet such as not to vex those who care for
their native tongue, and just enough formed and pointed to make
attention pleasant to the ear. For a