fthe Christian Sabbath and a free use of the Holy Scriptures. The importance of preaching has also jnised from the first in the Church architect- ure of America. All edifices constructed as places ol worship, from the log structures of the frontier to the great tabernacles of crowded cities and the Unman Cath- olic cathedrals, have been seated for auditors. In these and other conditions of society, not excepting that of all churches being alike thrown upon the voluntary system of self-support, the Christian pulpit has had in America one of its fairest and widest fields of effort, It would not have been creditable if in such circumstances pulpit eloquence had not been extensively and success- fully cultivated. That it lias been \\ ill appear from the long lisi of good and greal preachers who have adomed the American Church, many of whom have given to the world volumes of published sermons. Probably in no country has the average grade of pulpit eloquence been higher than in the United Males of America; and, owing in part to its vast extent, in no country is it more difficult to determine ulm may justly be said to have attained a national reputation as preachers. The truth i- thai each greal denomination of Christians forms, in a certain sense, a world of itself, within which the prin- eipal preachers are far better known than in other sim- ilar worlds Surrounding. Nevertheless, there have not been wanting a goodly number of men whose reputa- tion for pulpit eloquence has transcended all denomina- tional boundaries and become indeed national. Without attempting to make an arbitrary decision as to all whose name- mighl be thought worthy of record in this cate- gory, it may be safe to designate a few both of the dead and the living. In so doing we purposely limit our list to a careful selection, preferring for the most part to consider living men a- candidates for a similar list in future years. If our selection is judiciously made, it will be sufficient to append in chronological order, with- out title ol' classification, the names of the men win. may be pronounced as, thus far, the representative preachers of America: e. g. Jonathan Edwards, Samuel Davies, Timothy Dwight, John M. .Mason. John Sum- merfield, Edward Paj son, John Newland Matlit. Lyman Beecher, William Ellery Cbanning, Francis Wayland, Stephen (din. HeiiiN B. Bascom, Charles P. M'llvaine, George W. Bethune, Stephen II. Tyng, and Matthew Simpson. No doubt the above lisi might be considera- bly increased even at the present time; but sinct there i< no all-.. lute standard of determination, it is deemed preferable to incur 1 he risk of error by diminution rather than by excess.
In such a connection, it is only just to remark that In modi ni times the press serve-, as an important factor in the creation of public reputations, both local and na- tional. Hence those preacher.- who have availed llicin-
si Ives of its agency as a means of giving their Bern -
to the public, and others whose friends have been zeal- ous to do a similar office for them, have become much more widely known than many of equal and perhaps greater ability who have not been thus represented. But as mere publicity does not secure reputation, it is thai the reputation of some men has been more damaged than helped by the publication of their sermon-, ii is, in fact, no uncommon thing that pub- lished sermon- wholly fail to COnvej to readers the im- pre-sion thej produced upon their hearers when deliv- ered. Hence, to form historic judgments of i he ability of preachers, attention should be given both to the in- fluence they exerted upon their auditors and to the matter they employed in their Bermons, as tested by the
established principles of criticism. It was not our in- tention to include among the preachers named above any who have not favorably passed the double ie.-t. That many others have already done so will no doubt be the opinion of some; but time, which tries all things, w ill enable readers at a future day better to determine. Even a cursory survey of the varied character and results of pulpit eloquence during the nineteen c< nturii s of its history is Buggestive of important lessons. A few may be noted :
1. There arc different kinds of pulpit eloquence. In order to be intelligently studied or judged, sermons must be classified. Some are didactic, having for their chief object instruction in Christian truth. Seme an- horta- tory, having for their object the enforcement of truth already familiar. Some arc cxegctical. seeking to l '.- pound the meaning of the Scriptures, Some are illus- trative, seeking to create an interest in Christian truth by exhibitions of its correspondences in nature, in hu- man consciousness, and in the facts of history: while some are composite, seeking to blend two or more el' the above characteristics into a harmonious whole. Each of these different kinds of pulpit address demands a style of language and discussion adapted to its special object. Inattention to this fact might lead to gross misjudg- mi nt- <m the part of critics, and equal mistake - on the part of preachers. A hortatory style of address might
spoil a didactic discourse, while tin i buss of didactic
address would render an exhortation powerless. An essential element, therefore, in determining whether a given sermon is eloquent is a just consideration of its object. Accepting the etymological, and in fact the scriptural, idea of eloquence- namely, that of speaking well t Exod. iv, 14) — it must be conceded that a certain degree of eloquence must be recognised in sermons well adapted to the promotion of the most common and fa- miliar objects of Christian discourse. But inasmuch as the higher and more difficult results of human effort challenge degrees of admiration not accorded to well- doing in more common matters, so it is customary to restrict the term eloquence to those higher and more unusual qualities of speech which excite emotions and control actions. In fact, one of the best definitions of eloquence states it to be the language of emotion. This definition implies that it is easier to instruct the mind and convince the judgment than to move tin- sensibil- ities of men. Nevertheless, instruction and conviction are essential conditions to the excitement of Btrong emotion-, few speakers accomplish the latter without t he use of those conditions as antecedent agl