The minister himself : or, The preacher's beacon light, with hints, incidents and admonitions

Front matter

COPYRIGHT OFFICE.

No registration of title of this book as a preliminary to copyright protection has been found. OEC 24 1902(? <£">£>.

Forwarded to Order Division .— DL^r.-UHC- Ohito)

Contents

I. Basal Qualifications for the Office.

III. Personal Excellencies and Defects.

IV. The Ministerial Workshop.

Index

PAGE.

Aaronic Priesthood 13

Ancestry 11

Apologizing for the Truth 99

Apostles and Prophets 16

Apparatus, Working 57

Apparel, Proclaims Man 43

Arrangement, Sermonic 73

B

Benevolences, Connectional 85

Best, Doing 100

Best, Supporting 135

Bible, Studying 62

Boards, Local Church 108

Bodies, Ministerial 112

Books 58

Books, Familiarity With 58

Brain, Fusing in 72

Brawn 148

Breathing 153

c

Call, Fact of 24

Call, Ideal 29

Call, Illusory Tokens of 24

Call, Mistaken 24

Call, To Preach -. 24

Call, St. Paul's 28

Call, Theologically Defined 26

Candidating 36

Carriage, Noble 45

Charge, Hard Scrabble 37

Cheerfulness 48

Christ, The 18

Christianity, Muscular 148

Christo Centric in Drift 78

Churches, Sister 113

Citizen, Minister as 132

Civilities, Everyday 47

Classification, Read's 13

Cleanliness 41

Collection and Notices 83

Commission, Up-to-date 223

Community Spirit 135

Course, Collegiate 29

Crises, National 143

D

Debt, Running into 187

Dead Line, Ministerial 249

Declaration, Napoleon's 15

Decorum, Pulpit 80

Decorum, Cowper's Description 80

Delivery, Philosophy of 99

Deportment 45

Diction, Pulpit 91

Dictionary, Studying 66

Diet 154

Differentiation, Hood's 14

PAGE.

Doctrine, Sound 239

Dolt, Natural Disqualified 11

Doubts, Preaching 168

Dress, Adjustment of 42

Dyspepsia 151

E

Emeritus, Pastor 252

Entanglements, Feminine 184

Enthusiasm 220

Entrance, Guarding the 20

Equation, Personal 215

Exemptions, Civic 135

Exercise 155

Ex Nihilo, 'Nihil Fit 10

Expression, Facial 49

Evangelist, Preacher as 118

F

Failures, Secular 27

Faithfulness 228

Fearlessness 226

Filling in 39

Forces, Marshalling 90

Fraternities, Secular 206

Funerals, Minister at 125

Furnishing, Mental 29

Fusing in Brain 72

G

Gesture, Pulpit 92

Gospel, Affirmative 240

Gossip, Parish 175

Government, Congregational 36

Graces, Three 236

Growing Out 39

Growth, Slow 72

H

Health, Evils from Neglecting 151

Health, Good 145

Health, Importance of 146

Health, Neglecting 150

Health, Restoratives of 158

Heredity 11

Hood's Differentiation 14

Hymnal, Studying 65

Hymns, Announcing 81

I

Illustrations 234

Imagination 222

Indolence 201

Insomnia 152

Institutions, Knowledge of 133

Institutions, Supporting Best 135

Interlinear Scriptures 63

Introduction of Sermon 88

Itinerant System 36

INDEX— Continued.

xed Themes 178

elry, Displaying 43

L

rmoD 98

Scripture 82

Line, Main 198

Lines, Parallel 202

peculative 204

Study 56

Luther 18

M

Man and Style 93

Manhood, Elements of.... 12

Manhood, Hood's Differentiation of 14 Manhood, Napoleon's Declaration of 15

Manhood, Read's Classification of.. 13

Marriages, Minister at 123

Material, Old 167

Matter, Priority of 9

Men, Vigorous Old 255

Mental Furnishing 29

Merit Wins 38

Mightiness, Scriptural 245

Minister, as Citizen 132

Minister, Evolution of 9

Minister, as Evangelist 118

Minister, at Funerals 125

Minister, at Marriages 123

Minister as Pastor 120

Minister, in Politics 136

Minister, as Voter 137

Minister, a Workman 55

Ministerial Bodies 112

Ministers of Other Denominations. 113

N

Napoleon's Declaration 15

Natural Selection 15

Narcotics 193

Nerve and Brawn 148

Notices 83

o

Officers, Church 106

Offices, Political 205

Organizations of Local Church 108

Originality 219

Outlining Mentally 72

P

Parsimony 188

Pastor Emeritus 252

Pastor, Minister as 120

Paul's Call 28

Peroration 90

Person, One's 41

PA(iK.

Piques, Personal 174

larism LSI

Polil us, m Inister In L36

politics, Preaching

Politics, Not Partisan L88

Power, 1 loly Ghost 245

Praying, infelicitous L7CI

Prayer, Public 81

ch, Beginning to 83

Pr< ach, Call to 24

Preach, Desire to 86

Preach, Repugnance thereto 26

Preaching, Censorious 163

Preaching, Doubts 168

Preaching, Principal Division 199

Preaching, Sensational 169

Predecessor, One's 102

Preparation for Sermon, General.. 67

Preparation for Sermon, Special... 68

Preparation, Special for Vocation.. 30

Priesthood, Aaronic 13

Prophets and Apostles 16

Prostration, Nervous 151

Prostration, Preventatives of 153

Puffing 190

Pulpit Decorum 80

Pulpit Diction 91

Pulpit Gesture 92

Purpose, Inflexibility of 225

Q

Qualifications, Physical 147

Qualifications, Scholastic 29

Qualifications, Spiritual 32

R

Read's Classification 13

Reading 59

Reading, What, How, Why 59

Recreation 158

Reforms, Social and Moral 139

Release 259

Rest 258

Retirement, When 248

Reward 259

Salary, Talking 172

Scripture Lessons 82

Selection, Natural 15

Sermon, Arrangement of 73

Sermon, Beginning Early with 69

Sermon, Christo Centric in Drift.. 78

Sermon, Delivery of 96

Sermon, Fuller Writing for 74

Sermon, General Preparation of.... 67

Sermon, Introduction to 88

Sermon, Length of 98

Sermon, Peroration of 90

Sermon, Scripturalness of 77

Sermon, Simplicity of Structure... 77

Sermon, Special Preparation of 68

Sermon, Text and Subject of 86

INDEX— Continued.

PAQB.

Sermon, Writing for 74

Sermons, First 36

Sermons, Old 166

Sermons, Rainy Day 164

Sermonizing, Best Method of 75

Sermonizing, Methods of 74

Service, Unity of 82

Service, Everything Orderly 81

Services, National 115

Services, Union 114

Sleep 156

Slowing Down 200

Sore Throat, Clergyman's 51

Sore Throat, Prevention of 51

Speculative Lines 204

Spirit t Community 135

Sponging 189

Sports, Manly 159

Stimulants 193

Story Telling 179

Strikes, Labor 142

Study, Location of 56

Study, Light and Airy 57

Studying 61

Studying, Bible 62

Studying, Dictionary 66

Studying, Hymnal 65

Studying, Other Books 67

Studying, Theology 64

Subject and Text of Sermon 86

Successor, One's 105

Superannuation 252

Sympathy, Broad 238

System, Itinerant 36

T

Tact 230

Testimonials, Writing 191

Text of Sermon 86

PAGE.

Theme Sources 70

Theology, Studying 64

Time, Biding One's 37

Tracks, Changing 212

Training, Academic 29

Training, Theological 30

Truth, Apologizing for 99

u

Unction 243

Union Services 114

Unity of Service 82

University, World's 31

V

Vacation, Taking 161

Vacations 160

Version, King James 63

Version, Revised 63

Vigorous Old Men 255

Vocation, Preparation for 30

Voice, Cultivation of 53

Voice, Defects of 53

Voice, Good Speaking 50

Voice, Properties of 52

Voter, Minister as 137

Vox Humana 50

w

Write Some, Use None 75

Writing, Puller for Memorizing 76

W T ork, One 198

Workshop, Its Occupant 55

Workshop, Light and Airy 57

Workshop, Its Location 56

Worrying 192

Chapter I. Basal Qualifications For The Office

When God was ready to make man He had the raw material close at hand. Hence we read, "The Lord God made man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into him the breath of life, and man became a living soul/' Nature must have her sedimentary deposits and her rudimentary germs, before she can fashion with her mystic fingers eozoic rocks and primeval forests. A Prometheus, according to classic story, requires earth and water out of which to knead his primitive image of the gods. And a Napoleon must needs have mud, before, in keeping with his boastful saying, he could create generals. So it would seem to be necessary, both in the highest as well as in the lowest order of creative skill, that the raw material, with its inherent and requisite qualities, be on hand for utilization. Clay, for brick; ore, for metal; carbon, for diamond; admah, for man; and man, for office. Otherwise, as great a work, creative and formative, will be wrought in our day as was performed when God spake all things into being by the word of His power. In this finding Scripture and mythology, nature and science, history and fable, fact and fancy are univocal.

In the evolution of the Christian minister — since it is a formation and not a creation, there being no such claim advanced for him as is offered for the poet, "that he is born and not made" — there must of necessity be a man to begin with. This is doubtless the divine order and should be the order of the Church. Without this basal foundation and accompanying material no superstructure can be raised. Callings and professions are built upon men. As assuredly so, as that houses and cathedrals, which endure the test of time, are erected on solid and granitic foundations. The sacred calling is no exception to this rule. Manhood cannot be superimposed upon the ministerial office, but the ministerial office can be upon man. It must be so constructed if it is to stand. To reverse it is as though one attempted to place a pyramid apex down. A physical impossibility, but no more so than is the effort that has too often been made of ignoring the above fundamental principle in the making of a minister.

The old Latin aphorism, "Ex nihilo, nihil fit" — out of nothing, nothing comes — is as scientifically true in its relation to the Ambassador of the Gospel, as it is of the fire mists and the star dust of Chaos, before the divine fiat went forth and cosmos appeared, these particles of primeval matter were there. Out from them have come the beauteous earth and the starry heavens. Even so the minister must come out of something. That something is the rough, embryonic stuff called man. Is he a product of nature and of grace? If so, then as is sometimes supposed, inhering in him are terrestial and celestial ingredients and we have a physical and spiritual compound. Howbeit we must say with St. Paul, "that is not first which is spiritual but that which is natural, afterwards that which is spiritual." That is, the natural precedes the spiritual in point of order in created man. We are to marvel not at this, but accept it as God's revealed plan of the order to be followed in the making of those who are to serve Him and His people in the Christian ministry. Conversion may do much for them, and divine grace more, but even these cannot make up for elementary personal deficiencies. Only the omnipotent finger of God stretched forth in miracle working power can supply these when absent. It is not, however, so stretched forth in these days.

The time has long- since passed when a man having several sons, may make of one a doctor, of another a lawyer, of a third a statesman, while another who is ph ieally weak, mentally a dolt, and practically a fool, is regarded as a fit subject for the holy office and is forthwith inducted therein. No such a disposal of young men would be admissible nowadays. It would be an affront to human intelligence and a sacrilege to Almighty God. The ministry must have men of common sense. This is a primary demand. It is as much so as that it must have men of moral sense. It is self-evident that it must have both, if its morale is to 'be maintained. Therefore, it should be axiomatic that natural dolts and moral hybrids are disbarred from the sacred precincts of the pulpit and disqualified for the sacred office.

Ancestry and heredity should count for much in the man who is to become a minister in the Church of Jesus Christ. It is conceded that the first of these, in the genealogy of some ministerial candidates, as someone has facetiously said, is "like potatoes, all that is good of them is underground. " And of the second, that their inherited tendencies are not on the whole such as are helpful to fit them for this holy calling. Nevertheless, in the Aaronic priesthood, direct descent, and that not of a doubtful character, was regarded as a preliminary requisite to an induction into the sacerdotal order. Certain it is that pre-natal and ancestral influences have always been counted as prominent factors in the case. Chaucer in his quaint way says, "The first stock was full of rightwiseness." And St. Paul, addressing Timothy, adds, "I call to remembrance the unfeigned faith that is in thee, which dwelt first in thy grandmother Lois and thy mother Eunice, and I am persuaded that in thee also." Even the divine man, the peasant of Galilee, so far as his human nature is concerned, comes under the same laws. Again and again the sacred writers remind us of His lineage, and regard it no mean theme for their inspired pens to record His ancestry , on Mary's side and Joseph's line, for many generations back.

In accentuating the desirability of ancestral and hereditary influences, it is not necessary to go as far back as William the Conqueror, or the Pilgrim Fathers. Neither is it a matter of all absorbing importance to show the pedigree distinct and uncrossed, as horsemen are anxious to do, in tracing back their blooded stock to sire and dam. Nor again, will it be found to be an irreparable defect if the ancestral tree has failed to produce clergymen, statesmen, merchants and orators. "The Autocrat of the Breakfast Table ,, may express his preference for family men, so called, preceded by four or five generations of gentlemen and gentlewomen ; with numerous family portraits a la Stuart and a la Josephine, hanging upon the walls of the ancestral domicile; with well filled book shelves and alcoves, some of which have written upon the title page, "Hie liber est meus." This, as Dr. Holmes says, "is a first-rate fit out, its cost is nothing." Nevertheless, one's individual preferences touching his antecedents are out of his reckoning. He must take them as they come for better or for worse. To be sure, such an ancestry with such an heredital type, are so many propitious stages that potentially lead up to a v/ell rounded manhood, and are devoutly to be wished by those who are to assume the role of the ministerial office. Still, "one may have none of these, and yet be fit for councils and courts" and the sacred desk. For notwithstanding what has previously been stated, it is not the length or the greatness of one's ancestry, nor the clear cut type of one's heredity, as it is the virtuousness of the one, and the hardiness of the other, which are to be desired in the prospective Herald of the Cross. Yet, fortunate indeed is the man whose father and grandfather before him gave their lives to the public ministrv of the Word. For he shall find himself in the true line of Apostolic succession, and all things being equal with a natural bent and natural gifts qualifying him for a like glorious service.

Physically the standard of the men for the ministry in modern times should not be below that of the Aaronic and Levitical Priesthood. What that was a cursory examination of Leviticus 21, 17-21 discloses. They were to be the paragons of men without spot or blemish, or any such thing. Corresponding mental qualities were likewise implied. This standard should obtain to-day. That this may be so, the salient characteristics which go to make up ideal manhood should be notably prominent in all ministerial aspirants. They must be to insure the highest respect for the calling and the highest success in the same. Furthermore, these men should be fearless, guileless and magnanimous. Not effeminate, disingenuous, time serving, nimby-namby, jelly-fish anthropoids. If the virile qualities are lacking and their places are taken by these inferior and less desirable properties, God Himself — and we say it reverently — cannot make of such individuals Nature's journeymen, much less courageous prophets and faithful preachers.

Read, in his classification, taken from the mineral kingdom, calls attention to some of the different kinds of men there are in the world. Be it remembered that from these ministers are to come. He labels them according to the qualities he finds inhering in them. Some possess the properties of that dull metal we call lead. These are weighty, malleable, dead. They are devoid of heart, of pluck and of sparkle. Others are like iron. They are hard, firm and inflexible. We have their counterparts in such men as Polycarp, the Christian martyr; Wyckliffe, the English Reformer; and Bunyan, the Bedford Preacher. Such men may be imprisoned, broken on the rack, or burned at the stake, but seldom are deflected from the performance of their duty as they see it. When, however, they are convinced of the righteousness of any cause and are persuaded to embrace it, then, and here is what Read himself says, "They are your men of steel, possessing all the intrinsically excellent qualities of hardness and tenacity, and durability, and general usefulness of the iron man ; and, over and above these, they are fitted to serve some purposes which he does not. They are more elastic, more delicate and flexible, yet abate not an iota of the tenacity and hardness of the man of iron which they inherit as a birthright. " Such men have the properties requisite for Christian conquest. They readily take upon themselves the edge, the burnish and the suppleness of a Damascus blade, or what is better still a sword of the Spirit. Men with iron enough in them to keep them erect before the cyclones of public opinion, unmoved in the presence of gilded vice and popular sins, and yet with steel enough in them to bend and swoop and smite in defense of the lowly, the downtrodden, the defenseless and the degraded.

Paxton Hood in seeking for his highest type of manhood, unlike Read, goes to the animal kingdom and differentiates thus : "It is with men as with animals ; you may divide them into two categories, vertebrated and invertebrated. Animals remarkable for dignity and elevation in the scale of existence, are vertebrated or backboned; their backbones give them eminence and place: all animals to which we imply the term 'inferior' want this backbone and they can only crawl or creep, because they are invertebrated. We often have thought, when looking among men, that this is the greatest distinction we notice between them — the successful and the unsuccessful, the principled and the unprincipled, the true and the false." The former, or vertebrated, are the men of strong personality and independence. They have views of their own, plans of their own, and a will of their own. They wear no man's collar about their necks. We have this type of man in C'ranmer, Latimer and Knox. For the latter class, or the invertebrated, there is no place in the ministry demanded by the times.

Another quality of manhood which is indispensable to men set apart to this special work is a high sense of honor, or what is sometimes termed "reliableness. " Marmont says of the First Napoleon, that in his confidential conversations with him, he drew a distinction between a man of honor and a conscientious man, (or as we should say a temporizing man) giving his preference to the former, because he said "we know what to expect from a man who is bound simply and purely by his words and his engagements, while in the other case we depend on his opinions and feelings, which may vary." David, king of Israel, enunciates this same truth in the Fifteenth Psalm, where he describes the man who sweareth to his own hurt and changeth not. That is, possesses that quality which in spite of loss, or pain, or death itself, swerves not. When found in any man it affords an anchorage to which to tie and in which to trust. It engenders the comfortable assurance that no matter what comes that anchorage will hold and that trust will never be betrayed. Surely in those who become the priests of the most High God this exalted sense of honor should never be lacking. Such elements of manhood, as above enumerated, and men possessing them, are in demand for every walk in life, for every profession and calling; but for none more than for the Christian ministry.

The theory of "natural selection/' as set forth by Mr. Darwin, and expounded by Mr. Spencer, under the cognate title — "the survival of the fittest" — may not be accepted in all its applications and ramifications by any of my readers. Notwithstanding, there is a sense, both scientific and literal, in which it may be truthfully averred, that so far as a human standard can obtain, and a human selection be made of men for the work of the ministry, they should be select men. The fittest from among all men, who have survived the numerous maladies of childhood and the accidents of youth, with rugged constitutions and members intact. None can be too choice for this vocation. None too brainy or too brawny. In filling the ranks of those who are to stand before kings and guard royalty the picked men of a nation are taken. The Queen, the Czar, and the Emperor, must have the most able bodied men, the best favored, and the most symmetrical in person that are to be found in all their realms. Such should be the King's ambassadors and the King's armor bearers. Men like Saul and David and Elijah, goodly to look upon, with natural strength unabated, well formed and fully developed. That such men are needed, out of whom to evolve ministers, a moment's reflection and consideration will make clear. Take any of the prophets under the Old Testament dispensation or of the apostles under the New Testament regime. What manner of men were they before they became prophets and apostles? Say, for example's sake, such illustrious characters as Moses, Joshua, Daniel, Isaiah, Peter, James, John, Paul? Divest any one of these prophets or apostles of their sacred vestments and what do we find?

In Moses smiting the tyrannical Egyptian, defending the helpless daughters of Jethro and assisting them to water the flocks of their father, on the slopes of Horeb, we have a sublime exhibition of chivalry, valor and coolness, qualities which were needed in the ambassador oi Jehovah, at the court of Pharaoh, King of Egypt. Without these he could not have calmly announced to that monarch, The "I Am" sent me, or thundered into his deaf ear his Lord's message, "Let my people go."

Daniel, the Hebrew hostage, in the palace of the great King Nebuchadnezzar, refusing to defile himself with the meat and the wine from the king's table, manifests those same qualities oi persona] independence and daring

which in after days nerved liim to pray according to his enstom, at morning, noon and night, with his window open toward Jerusalem, to defy the king's mandate and heard the monarehs of the forest in their imprisoned den.

John the Baptist, the forerunner of our Lord, is alone in his rugged qualities of manhood which suitably corresponded to his ruggedness of manner and dress. Here again the man precedes the divine herald. Physically strong, vigorous and invincible. He comes suddenly upon the stage of action and like a Titan levels all before him. His burning words and sledge hammer blows savor more of the desert than the palace. His one omnific command "Repent" he utters in the spirit and power of Elijah. No wonder Herod beheaded him, for this was the only effectual way of silencing him. And yet his native characteristics — steadfastness, brusqueness and unflinching courage — were w r hat made him in the language of his Lord, "A bright and shining light and the greatest of woman born."

Peter, the impetuous, rash and reckless — attributes which at times made him as resistless and ebullient as a mountain cataract — was the same intrepid soul after his conversion and as a disciple of the Christ, as he was as a fisherman on the tempestuous sea of Galilee. Without this fearless dash as a man he could never as a preacher have charged home upon the Jew r s, in their own chosen capital city, the murder of the Lord of life and glory.

Another notable example is found in Saul of Tarsus, afterwards Paul the Apostle. Prominent in him were the elements of conscientiousness, fearlessness and perseverance. Without these in large measure he could never have passed unscathed and unmoved through the varied vicissitudes of his most eventful life, to close it with that triumphant paean, "I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith."

If other and more modern examples are desired,, they are not far to seek. What shall I say of Luther, the miner's son? Were not his leonine properties in evidence long before he became the monk that shook the world, or the lion of the Reformation? Did he all at once, after his ordination to the priesthood, become bold enough to burn the Pope's bull, or dare to go to Worms though there were as many devils as titles on the housetops? By no means. We simply see in him at these periods the man clothed with divine authority, not simply a man, but a man of God. Time and space would fail me, were I to limn at length Whitefield, the hostler, Wesley, the Oxford student, Livingstone, the piecer boy, Carey, the cobbler, and numerous others, who long before God called them to the greater work of ministering in His name; in field and in factory, in shop and in classic halls, gave unmistakable proof that the raw material of manhood was there, out of which God by His Gospel, His Grace and His Providence, might make flaming heralds of the Cross.

One there is, however, though not strictly in this category, yet who, on account of his humanity, may be placed there. As will readily be anticipated, allusion is here made to the Christ, who (before and after He had entered upon His public 'ministry was sui generis. The Man. That one concerning whom Pilate could give no grander appellation and ejaculate no higher encomium than "Ecce Homo" — "behold the man." From His incarnation a most unique character. The truest representative of the noblest manhood which the world thus far has witnessed. Surpassing even the lofty and poetic descriptions as given by Shakespeare, Milton and Young. A perfect balance in Himself of apposite qualities. A composite of all that is grand and noble and sublime in man. and all that is gentle, sweet and good in woman. Mark His candor. His independence, His tact, and His courage, on the occasion when the Jews seeking to entrap Him, brought him the Roman denarius with the wily query on their lips, "Master, is it lawful to give tribute unto Caesar?" Or His native wit, His inexorable firmness and His masterful and fearless retort, when the sanctimonious priests brought to the tribunal of His personal judgment the unfortunate woman taken in the act of adultery. Well might they in the presence of such a man and such a judicial decision depart one by one. leaving the culprit alone in the presence of her Judge and Maker to hear her sentence in the words, "Neither do I condemn thee; go, and sin no more." Bishop Henry W. Warren very succinctly and forcibly observes of the Christ, "He brought down a nature so vast that no one ever understood it ; a knowledge so penetrating that men were amazed at His questions and answers when he was only twelve years old ; so broad that only men skilled in casuistry, laying traps to catch Him in His words and framing horns of dilemna to toss Him, were always caught and tossed themselves, till at length it was said, "After this durst no man anymore ask him any questions/' It has been the frolicsome delight of mere dialecticians for two thousand years to read how the Man of Galilee used up the proud Pharisees and Sadducees. Here, then, is what we find has been and must ever be, if God's order is followed in making up the personnel of the Christian ministry ; first the raw material — man, and afterwards the official and more finished product — the minister. For with Locke it may be unhesitatingly affirmed "that God when he makes the prophet does not unmake the man" but rather takes him as he finds him, with all his physical and mental idiosyncrasies and consecrates him for higher service. The sum total of all of which is, when briefly stated, that those in authority should lay hands suddenly on no man to press him into the office and work of a minister in the Church of Jesus Christ. But rather that their hand be laid upon the door of admission that they may keep it closed against the incompetent, the self seeking and the unmanly.

In closing this chapter I am constrained to observe that it was never so necessary as now, that constant, vigilant and jealous care should be exercised by all persons in the various ecclesiastical bodies, charged with the high commission of guarding the gate through which men must pass to ministerial functions in the Church of God. Most, if not all, of the denominations, require some preliminary steps to be taken by men seeking admission to their inner courts and priestly offices. They have standards of physical, literary and moral requirements, none of which, so far as I have examined them are too exalted or too exacting. If then, unqualified and inferior men are admitted, through sympathy, favoritism, or lack of due diligence, the gate-keeper, whoever he is, whether bishop, presiding elder, or examiner — lay or cleric — is responsible, and should be held to a strict account by the Church he represents. For here is the place and time to keep out incompetent men, since it is always easier to keep out than to put out.

The Rev. J. M. Buckley, D. D., writing on this subject, aptly and truthfully remarks, "Many facts show us that there never was so much need for care in the admission of men to the ministry as to-day. All varieties of applicants should be thoroughly examined. Mere knowledge, without common sense, without evidence of a serious character and a genuine call to preach, may simply be the introduction of a person whose influence will be bad, or whose impulsiveness will lead him into disgraceful complications. * * * Surely the admission of a man to membership in such a body as an Annual

Conference, whereby he has a claim for employment and