Several valuable works on preaching have been pub- lished in England during the last thirty-five years. The following deserve mention: The Ministerial Character of Christ practically considered, by Charles R. Sumner, bishop of Winchester (London, 1824, 8vo); Apostolical Preaching considered, by John Bird Sumner, lord bishop of Chester (1839; 9th "ed. 1850); Ecclesiastes Anglica- nus, a treatise on preaching as adapted to a Church-of- England congregation, by W. Gresley (Lond. 8d edition 1844, 12mo) ; Preaching, its V/arrant, Subject, and Ef- fects,hy W. S. Bricknell (London, 1845); The Modern Pulpit, vieiced in Relation to the State of Society, by Rob- ert Yaughan (Lond. 1842, post 8vo) ; Paid the Preacher, hy John Eadie, D.D. (Lond. 1859, post 8vo ; reprinted, N. Y. 12mo); Thoughts on Preaching, specially in Eela- tion to the Requirements of the Age,hy Daniel IMoore (Lond. 1801, cr. 8vo); The. Duty and Discipline of Ex- temporary Preaching, by F. Barham Zincke (reprint, N. Y. 18G7, 12mo); Sacred Eloquence, or the Theory and Practice of Preaching, hy Thomas J. Potter i^Roman Catholic) (Dublin, 1868)."
As to homiletical authorship in America, Cotton IMa- ther's Manductio ad Ministeriu)n, or Angfls jinjuirinf/ to sound the Trumpets, although rare and little known, had the pre-eminence of being the first and only work of its class up to 1824. At that date Hemy Ware, Jun., of Cambridge, ]\Iass., published his Hints on Exlempora- neous Preaching, a truly valuable work. In 1819 Ebe- nezer Porter, of Andover, repubUshed Fenelon's Dia^ logues, Claude's Essay, and several minor works, under the title The Young Prearhirs Minniid (Boston, 1839, 8vo). Subsequently the following- iniiicipal works have ap- peared: Lectures on Ilminhlir>^ and Prtaclring, hy Ebe- nezer Porter, D.D. (And. and N. Y. 1834, 8vo) ; 'Saard Rhetoric, or Composition and Delivery of Sermons, by Henry J. Ripley (N. Y. 1849, 12mo); The Powrr of the Pulpit, Thoughts addressed to Christian Ministers, by Gardiner Spring, D.D. (1854) ; Pleaching required by the Times, by Abel Stevens, LL.D. (N. Y." 1856, 12mo); The Model Preacher, a Series of Letters on the best Mode of Preaching the Gospel, by William Taylor, of CaUfornia (Cincinnati, 1859, 12mo) ; Preachers and Preaching, by Nicholas jNIurraj', D.D. (1860) ; Thoughts on Preaching, by James W. Alexander, D.D. (1861, 12mo) ; A Treatise on Ifomiletics, by Daniel P. Kidder, D.D. (1864, 12rao); Homiletics and Pastoral Theoloqy, by W. G. T. Shedd, D.D. (1867, 8vo) ; Office and w'ork
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HOMILETICS
of the Christian Minisfr//, by James M. Hoppin (1869, i'imo). The larger jiart of the last-named work is de- voted to the subject of homiletics, although not so indi- cated in the title.
From the foregoing lists it may be seen that recently American authorship on this subject is somewhat in ex- cess of English. Several of the last-named books have Ijeen written by teachers of practical theology repre- senting different churches, and have the merit of dis- cussing the sidiject not only from an evangelical point of view, but in tlic light of the most modern develop- ments and applications of Christianity. The state of society in the United States of America is favorable to the illustration of the true theory of preaching, as well as to its most efficient practice. All the churches, as were those of primitive times, are dependent on volun- tary support. Neither their congregations nor their success can be maintainetl without attractive, and, in some degree, effective preaching. Even the Koman Catholic Chiu-ch has adopted regular Sunday sermons and week-day missions, a species of revival efforts. Con- trary to its universal custom where maintained as a re- ligion of the state, it here builds its churches and cathe- drals with pews or sittings for audiences instead of open naves for processions and moving crowds. The people of America, of whatever class, are free to hear whom they choose, or not to hear at all, unless addressed in a manner adapted to please or profit them. Correspond- ing to this state of things, the preachers of all churches, together with errorists of every description, are in active competition for the ears and hearts of the masses. The people, too, having great advantages for education, and no reverence for prescriptive authority, demand the best forms of Christian address, and such appeals to their rea- son and their emotions as challenge their respect. To none of these conditions does a true Christianity object, since it relies for its jiropagation upon truth and legit- imate persuasion. Nevertheless, these circumstances make it obligatory on preachers of the Gospel to com- prehend well their vocation, and the manner of " rightly dividing the truth." That this necessity is more and more recognised is an omen of promise to the Church of the future, especially as facilities for the easier and better comprehension of this branch of the minister's •work increase.
III. Principles. — Homiletics, in a human point of view, may thus be considered a progressive science. It grows with the growing experience of the Church, and be- comes enriched with the ever-accumulating examples of good and great preachers. It avails itself of the agency of the press to perpetuate specimens of the ever- midtiplying homiletical productions of successive gener- ations, and also to discuss the great problems of human destiny and influence. Thus the modern study and dis- cussions of homiletics have had a tendency to place the subject in a clearer light, and to make it more justly comprehensible than it has been at any former period since the days of tlie apostles. This result has not been attained by means of modern inventions, but rather by a return to the original idea of preaching, as indicated and illustrated by the author and finisher of the Chris- tian liiith ; at the same time, all science is made auxil- iary to the Saviour's grand design in the appointment of preaching as an instrumentality for the diffusion of truth and the salvation of men. Space only remains for a brief summary of demonstrated and now generally accepted homiletical principles.