the same time
overwhelmed with the pressure of public political concerns; his custom
was to enter the court, to receive there the history of the cause he was
to plead, thus to acquaint himself with the circumstances for the first
time, and forthwith proceed to argue it. His general preparation and
long practice enabled him to do this, without failing in justice to his
cause. I do not know that in this he was singular. The same sort of
preparation would ensure success in the pulpit. He who is always
thinking, may expend upon each individual effort less time, because he
can think at once fast and well. But he who never thinks, except when
attempting to manufacture a sermon (and it is to be feared there are
such men), must devote a great deal of time to this labor exclusively;
and after all, he will not have that wide range of thought or
copiousness of illustration, which his office demands and which study
only can give.

In fact, what I have here insisted upon, is exemplified in the case of
the extemporaneous _writers_, whom I have already named. I would only
carry their practice a step further, and devote an hour to a discourse
instead of a day. Not to all discourses, for some ought to be written
for the sake of writing, and some demand a sort of investigation, to
which the use of the pen is essential. But then a very large proportion
of the topics on which a minister should preach, have been subjects of
his attention a thousand times. He is thoroughly familiar with them; and
an hour to arrange his ideas and collect illustrations, is abundantly
sufficient. The late Thomas Scott is said for years to have prepared his
discourses entirely by meditation on the Sunday, and thus gained leisure
for his extensive studies, and great and various labors. This is an
extreme on which few have a right to venture, and which should be
recommended to none. It shows, however, the power of habit, and the
ability of a mind to act promptly and effectually, which is kept upon
the alert by constant occupation. He who is always engaged in thinking
and studying, will always have thoughts enough for a sermon, and good
ones too, which will come at an hour's warning.

The objections which may be made to the practice I have sought to
recommend, I must leave to be considered in another place. I am
desirous, in concluding this chapter, to add the favorable testimony of
a writer, who expressly disapproves the practice in general, but who
allows its e