business of preaching the gospel. They must have looked upon the oral publication of evangelical truths, as the fit and potent engine for bringing the world to acknowledge and embrace the Saviour. They suffered no minor concerns to divert their attention from the one stupendous work which their Lord had given them to perform. We accordingly find, that so soon as their converts had grown numerous enough to form regular churches, they constituted an order of officers on whom was conferred the significant appellation of deacons, and to whom they entrusted the direction of all matters to which they could not themselves attend, without neglecting their paramount duty-the "ministry of the word." They told the congregations which they gathered around them, that "it was not reason, that they should leave the word of God, and serve tables." They enjoined a similar devotedness to the work of preaching the gospel, on all whom they introduced into the ministry. Nothing can exceed in explicitness the instructions of Paul to Timothy and Titus, on this point. And what was the result? The apostles lived to see Christian churches planted in almost every known region of the globe. It may aid our conceptions of the wonderful success which crowned their labours, to recollect two facts. First, our Lord, in predicting the fearful overthrow of Jerusalem, mentioned as one precursor of that event, that it should not take place, before the gospel had been "preached in all the world, for a witness unto all nations." Now, the sacred city was taken and destroyed in the years 70 and 71-about thirty-seven years after the death of Jesus. Again, Paul, in his Epistle to the Romans, quotes, as applicable to the actual progress of Christianity, that beautiful passage of the Psalmist in reference to the instruction imparted by the luminaries of heaven, "Their line is gone out through

all the earth, and their words to the end of the world." The Epistle to the Romans was written about the year 58, that is, twenty-five years after the death of Jesus.

And, brethren, has not subsequent experience shown, that the preaching of the gospel is the means of grace which the great Head of the church condescends, in a peculiar manner, to own and bless as an instrument of good to Zion? Point us, if you can, to any other agency, through which results so important, and so beneficial to the highest interests of man, have been produced. We have already admitted, and we here again admit, that the perusal of the sacred Scriptures in private is a medium through which invaluable benefits of a spiritual nature are communicated to the soul. We freely concede, that the individual whose circumstances are such as to deprive him of the opportunity of attending the ministry of reconciliation, may, by a diligent and devout study of the inspired record in his closet, grow "wise unto salvation." But we contend, that it is the preaching of the wordthe popular exposition of the Scriptures which has been, and will always be, the grand instrument of upholding and promoting Christianity in the world. We affirm, that the living interpreter of the Bible, if moderately qualified for the high office which he sustains, will ever make a deeper and more durable impression on any community, than the Bible itself will be seen to produce. Nor is it going too far to express a doubt, whether the mere reading of the sacred Scriptures, in the case of those who voluntarily withhold themselves from the public proclamations of Jehovah's grace, will suffice to convert a sinner to God.

The question may here be asked, Whence arise the superior efficacy and importance which we are disposed to attribute to the exposition of the word of God by a

living teacher? We might answer this query, by at once resolving the whole matter into the sovereignty of Jehovah. We might say, that the preaching of the gospel is pre-eminently an instrument of good to men, because the supreme Arbiter of all things has ordained that it should be so. Without his blessing, no means can be of the least avail; and he has thought fit, in his own good pleasure, to confer such blessing peculiarly upon the oral exposition of revealed truth. But in addition to this consideration, we think, that the phenomenon which we are called to explain, may be accounted for on known principles of human nature. It is certain, that we are so constituted, as to be more generally impressed and benefited by oral, than by graphic instruction. A plain but favourite author* of ours states the whole philosophy of this subject in just a dozen and a half of words, when he remarks, "There is a force in what is said viva voce, which nothing in writing can come up to." If Demosthenes, instead of addressing the Athenians in person, had contented himself with furnishing for their perusal, the most impassioned essays that his ardent mind could produce, would the result have been any thing like what his eloquence is known to have realized? Or, if the apostles, instead of going from city to city, and village to village, preaching the gospel of Christ, had set down at Jerusalem, and composed folio upon folio in illustration and defence of Christianity, could it have been affirmed, as we have seen that it was, in twenty-five or six years after the resurrection of their Lord, that, "their line had gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world?" But we need not enlarge on this point. The superiority of oral over written instruction is

generally and practically acknowledged. Every one whose experience entitles him to form an opinion on the subject, is aware, that both natural and moral science are taught in our seminaries with far greater efficacy by the living lecturer, than in any other mode. And as the human mind operates by the same laws, whatever may be the species of truth presented to its attention, who can doubt, that the lessons of religion will be inculcated to most advantage, when delivered from the lips of the living preacher? We repeat it, there is a sympathy in our nature, which disposes us to receive with peculiar interest what comes directly and personally from a fellow being. And although a Dr. Johnson may sneer at the idea of any but "an assembly of brutes," as he styled the audience of Demosthenes, being influenced by the physical attributes of oratory, and although he may gravely tell us, in his authoritative way, that "as no corporeal actions have any correspondence with theological truth, they cannot enforce it," still we assert, that man, whether enlightened or ignorant, refined or barbarous, is more powerfully affected with what he hears, than what he reads, and also that his impressions will bear an exact ratio to the degree of earnestness, or, if you choose so to call it, eloquence with which he is addressed.

These remarks will furnish a sufficient answer to the objection which some might be ready to urge against our argument, drawn from the importance that is every where ascribed to the preaching of the gospel in the New Testament. It might be said, that living teachers were peculiarly needful and useful in the first age of Christianity, before the history of Jesus, and the principles of his religion were committed to writing, and even afterwards, so long as books continued scarce and dear, and the great mass of the community were unable to read; but as a very

different state of things now prevails, preaching is by no means equally important. We freely admit, that the change is a most auspicious one for the Christian cause. We believe, that the invention of printing has incalculably multiplied the facilities for the spread of the gospel. We look upon it as a mighty wheel in the complicated machinery which Providence will employ in the conversion of the world to God. But if, as we have shown, the superior efficacy of preaching has its foundation in the very constitution of our nature, its importance cannot be lessened, though, blessed be God! its power of doing good may be greatly increased by any circumstances that can possibly occur in the progress of human affairs.

We are sensible that many Christians will not accord with us at least not to the extent we are disposed to go -in our opinion relative to the importance of the preaching of the gospel compared with the other means of grace. There are those who do not hesitate to say, that they view this as of less consequence, than the more strictly devotional parts of public worship, such as singing the praises of God, reading his word, and expressing to him the desires of the heart by prayer and supplication, together with thanksgiving. Thus our brethren of the Episcopal church set a higher value on the exercises of their liturgy, than on the discourse which succeeds; and hence the former are so long, that comparatively little time is left for the latter, unless the speaker is not scrupulous about making an excessive demand on the patience of his hearers. Now, while we certainly have no wish to censure other denominations, and least of all to find fault with the denomination in question, to which for various reasons we cherish a particular attachment, we hope we may be allowed, in support of our own views on this subject, to reiterate the assertion, that the preaching