Men and Books

literature, nor to plan the studies of men of literary leisure, nor to advise respecting the reading of miscellaneous classes, as President Porter has so usefully done in his work on "Books and Reading." My aim is to answer the inquiries of young pastors whose collegiate training has created literary aspirations which ought to be perpetuated in the lifelong labors of their profession.

ume.

It will be objected, to some of the counsel given in these pages, that to many young preachers it is impracticable. This objection is treated at length near the close of the volBut at present this should be said of it: that any plan of effort or of study auxiliary to the work of the pulpit, to be largely useful, must, from the nature of the case, be largely ideal in its character. One of its chief virtues must be its power to sustain the aspirations of a preacher, rather than to measure his achievements. Diversities of gifts, diversities of culture, diversities of health, and diversities of leisure, must create such diversities of condition among pastors that no two of them can find precisely the same plan practicable to them both.

All that professional criticism can do, therefore, is to present to all, as to one, the true ideal of the labor auxiliary to homiletic culture, and trust to the good sense of each to decide for himself how far, and with what eclectic skill, it is practicable to him. It is worth much to have a good ideal of any thing that is worth doing. The grandest lives are but approaches to grand ideals. The very sight of a good library, though just now unused, is a stimulus and a cheer to a missionary in the backwoods. So an ideal of a life's work is valuable as a suggestion of effort, perhaps for ever

PREFACE.

impracticable in the full, yet for ever susceptible of approximation. Such an ideal does much for a youthful pastor, if it marks out the line of ascent on which he will gain the loftiest altitude and the broadest vision, with the least waste of mental and moral forces.