There goes the parson, oh illustrious spark!
And there, scarce less illustrious, goes the clerk.
I venerate the man whose heart is warm,
Whose hands are pure, whose doctrine and whose life,
Coincident, exhibit lucid proof
That he is honest in the sacred cause.
Would I describe a preacher,
* * * *
I would express him simple, grave, sincere;
In doctrine uncorrupt; in language plain,
And plain in manner; decent, solemn, chaste,
And natural in gesture; much impress'd
Himself, as conscious of his awful charge,
And anxious mainly that the flock he feeds
May feel it too; affectionate in look,
And tender in address, as well becomes
A messenger of grace to guilty men.
The things that mount the rostrum with a skip,
And then skip down again, pronounce a text,
Cry hem; and reading what they never wrote
Just fifteen minutes, huddle up their work,
And with a well-bred whisper close the scene!
He that negotiates between God and man,
As God's ambassador, the grand concerns
Of judgment and of mercy, should beware
Of Ughtness in his speech.
The priest he merry is, and blithe
Three-quarters of a year, But oh! it cuts him like a scythe When tithing time draws near.</poem>
A kick that scarce would move a horse,
May kill a sound divine.
Go forth and preach impostures to the world,
But give them truth to Build on.
God preaches, a noted clergyman,
And the sermon is never long;
So instead of getting to heaven at last,
I'm going all along.
| author = Emily Dickinson
| work = Poems. VI. A Service of Song.
| topic = Preaching
| page = 630
}}
{{Hoyt quote
| num =
| text = <poem>The proud he tam'd, the penitent he cheer'd:
Nor to rebuke the rich offender fear'd.
His preaching much, but more his practice
wrought;
(A living sermon of the truths he taught:)
For this by rules severe his life he squar'd:
That all might see the doctrines which they
heard.
Dryden—Character of a Good Parson. L. 75.
Alas for the unhappy man that is called to
stand in the pulpit, and not give the bread of life
Emerson—An Address to the Senior Class in
Divinity College, Cambridge. July 15, 1838.
But in his duty prompt at every call,
He watch 'd and wept, he pray'd and felt for all.
| author = Goldsmith
| work = Deserted Village. L. 165.
They shall knaw a file, and flee unto the mountains of Hepsidam whar the lion roareth and the
Wang Doodle mourneth for its first born—ah!
Burlesque Sermon in Cole's Fun Doctor. Attributed to Andrew Harper as a travesty
on sermons preached by itinerant preachers
on the Mississippi. Found in Speaker's Garland. Vol. VIII. Also claimed for Dow—
Patent Sermons.
Judge not the preacher; for he is thy judge:
If thou mislike him, thou conceiv'st him not.
God calleth preaching folly. Do not grudge
To pick out treasures from an earthen pot.
The worst speak something good. If all want
sense,
God takes a text, and preaches patience.
| author = Herbert
| work = The Temple. The Church Porch.
St. 72. Quoting, "But we have this treasure
in earthen vessels." II Corinthians. IV. 7.
| seealso = (See also Browning)
| topic = Preaching
| page = 630
}}
{{Hoyt quote
| num =
| text = <poem>Even ministers of good things are like torches,
a light to others, waste and destruction to themHooker. Quoted by Gladstone, 1880. See
Morlet's "Life of Gladstone." Bk. VIII.
Ch. I.
Sir, a woman preaching is like a dog's walking
on his hind legs. It is not done well: but you
are surprised to find it done at all.
| author = Samuel Johnson
| work = Boswell's Life of Johnson.
(1763)
| topic = Preaching
| page = 630
}}
{{Hoyt quote
| num =
| text = <poem>And he played on a harp of a thousand strings,
Spirits of just men made perfect.
Burlesque Sermon, ascribed to Rev. Henry
Taliaferro Lewis, in the Brandon (Miss.)
Republic (1854) Claimed for St. George
Lee and William P. Brannan. Found in
Dow's Patent Sermons. T. L. Masson's
Masterpieces of Humor.
As pleasant songs, at morning sung,
The words that dropped from his sweet tongue
Strengthened our hearts; or, heard at night,
Made all our slumbers soft and light.
| author = Longfellow
| work = Christus. The Golden Legend.
Pt.I.
Skilful alike with tongue and pen,
He preached to all men everywhere
The Gospel of the Golden Rule,
The New Commandment given to men,
Thinking the deed, and not the creed,
Would help us in our utmost need.
| author = Longfellow
| work = Prelude to Tales of a Wayside
Inn. L. 217.
