e need not necessarily have the art of
expressing himself in a penetrating and incisive way. It seems to me a
mistaken sort of conscientiousness which makes it necessary for every
preacher to compose his own sermons. I do not see why the sermons of
great preachers should not frankly be read; one hears a dull sermon by
a tired man on a subject of which Newman has treated with exquisite
lucidity and feeling in one of his parochial sermons. Why is it better
to hear tedious considerations on the same point expressed in a
commonplace way than to listen to the words of a master of the art, and
one too who saw, like Newman, very deep into the human heart? I would
have a man frankly say at the beginning of his sermon that he had been
thinking about a particular point, and that he was going to read one of
Newman's sermons on the subject. Then, if any passage was obscure or
compressed, he might explain it a little.

Again, I want more homeliness, more simplicity, more directness in
sermons; and so few people seem to be aware that these qualities of
expression are not only the result of being a homely, simple, and
direct character, but are a matter of long practice and careful art.

Then, again, I want sermons to be more shrewd and incisive. Holiness,
saintliness, and piety are virtues which are foreign to the character
of boys. If any proof of it is needed, it is only too true that if a
boy applies any of the three adjectives holy, saintly, or pious to a
person, it is not intended to be a compliment. The words in their
mouths imply sanctimonious pretension, and a certain Pharisaical and
even hypocritical scrupulousness. It is a great mistake to overlook
this fact; I do not mean that a preacher should not attempt to praise
these virtues, but if he does, he ought to be able to translate his
thoughts into language which will approve itself to boys; he ought to
be able to make it clear that such qualities are not inconsistent with
manliness, humour, and kindliness. A school preacher ought to be able
to indulge a vein of gentle satire; he ought to be able to make boys
ashamed of their absurd conventionalism; he ought to give the
impression that because he is a Christian he is none the less a man of
the world in the right sense. He ought not to uphold what, for want of
a better word, I will call a feminine religion, a religion of sainted
choir-boys and exemplary death-beds. A boy does not want to be gentle,
meek, and mild, and I fear