due season we shall reap, if we faint
not." "Feed My sheep." "Feed My lambs." "Bear ye one another's burdens,
and so fulfil the law of Christ." "Remember the poor." "Freely ye have
received; freely give." "It is more blessed to give than to receive." I
had quite a multitude of such subjects.

I did not however confine myself to these. I did my best to declare the
whole counsel of God. I kept back nothing that seemed likely to be
useful to my hearers. I spoke on the love of God,--on the condescension
of Christ,--of His unparalleled love in giving Himself a sacrifice for
our salvation. I spoke of His sufferings and death,--of His resurrection
and mediation,--of His sympathy with our sorrows,--of His coming to
judgment. I spoke of the miseries of sin,--of the pleasures of
religion,--of the joys of heaven,--of the pains of hell,--of providence,
and of trust in God. In short, I preached on every great doctrine of
revelation as I had opportunity. I revered all God's truth, and I
preached on every part of it with fidelity. But I treated everything in
a practical way. I used every subject as a means or motive to holiness
and usefulness. And this, I believe, was right. The Apostles did
so,--Christ did so,--and they are the Christian minister's examples.

I had a partiality for practical books. As I have already said, among my
favorite English authors were Hooker, and Baxter, and Barrow, and Howe,
and Jeremy Taylor, and Penn, and Tillotson, and Law. Baxter stood first,
and my favorite books were his _Christian Directory_, his _Life of
Faith_, his _Crucifixion of the World by the Cross of Christ_, and his
_Directions for Settled Peace of Conscience_. But, in truth, it is hard
to say which of his works I did not regard as favorites. I liked his
_Catholic Theology_, his _Aphorisms on Justification_, his
_Confessions_, and even his Latin _Methodus Theologiae_. I read him
everlastingly. I read Law and Barrow too, till I almost knew many of
their works by heart. I studied Penn from beginning to end. And I never
got tired of reading Hooker. I regarded his _Ecclesiastical Polity_ as
one of the richest, sweetest, wisest, saintliest books under heaven.

My favorite French authors were Massillon, Fenelon, Flechier, Bourdaloue
and Saurin, all practical preachers. Massillon moved me most. I have
read him now at intervals for more than forty years, and I read him
still with undiminished profit and delight. He is the greatest of all
preacher