a
minister, during his first ten minutes, can convince the people that he
is only trying to save their souls he _kills all the critics in the
house_." I have never ceased to thank God for the remark of that shrewd
Saratoga baker, who, I was told, had come there from New Haven,
Connecticut, and was a man of remarkable sagacity. That was one of the
profoundest bits of sound philosophy on the art of preaching that I have
ever encountered, and I have quoted it in every Theological Seminary
that I have ever addressed. If we ministers pour the living truths of
the Gospel red-hot into the ears and consciences of our audiences, they
will have enough to do to look out for themselves and will have no time
to level criticisms at us or our mode of preaching. Cowards, also, are
never more pitiable than when in the pulpit.

I will not enter here into the endless controversy about the comparative
merits of written or extemporized sermons. My own observation and
experience has been that no rule is the best rule. Every man must find
out by practice which method he can use to the best advantage and then
pursue it. No man ever fails who understands his forte, and no man
succeeds who does not. Some men cannot extemporize effectively if they
try ever so hard; there are others who, like Gladstone, can think best
when they are on their legs and are inspired by an audience. During the
first few years of my ministry I wrote out nearly all of my sermons. The
advantage of doing that is that it enables a young beginner to form his
own style at the outset by careful and systematic writing. Spurgeon,
often when a youth, read some of his sermons, although afterwards he
never premeditated a single sentence for the pulpit. Dr. Richard S.
Storrs was a most fluent extemporaneous speaker, but for twenty years he
carefully wrote all his discourses. My own habit, after a time, was to
write a portion of the sermon and turn away from my notes to interject
thoughts that came in the heat of the moment and then turn to my
manuscript. This was generally the habit of Henry Ward Beecher. After
thirty years in the ministry I discarded writing sermons entirely and
adopted the plan of preparing a few "heads" on a bit of note-paper, and
tacking it into a Bagster's Bible. Dr. John Hall wrote carefully,
leaving his manuscript at home; and so does Dr. Alexander McLaren, of
Manchester, who is to-day by far the most superb sermonizer in Great
Britain. The eloquent Guthrie,