ready for the enjoyment of social life in every circle, that he never carried into society the abstraction and restraint of the student, but was always the cheerful and animated companion,

I can find vent for my admiration of this great man only in the thought, that it pleased a benignant Providence to give him such wonderful endowments, and in rejoicing that he possessed the virtue to employ them with such faithful devotion, and manifest them in such befitting order and harmony.

The most prominent object in his activity as a clergyman, was his weekly preaching. This was the image, and at the same time the complement and perfection of his scientific activity. With regard to the connexion between his discourses and his system of dogmatics, it is certain, that, although he made great account of the difference, in point of form, between scientific lectures to an academic audience, and the popular exhibition of the Christian faith, he was so far from admitting any difference in point of substance, that it must be said his dogmatics are as essential to the complete and scientific understanding of his discourses, as these, on the other hand, are necessary to a comprehensive and intelligent study of his dogmatics. It is an entirely groundless suspicion, which has been expressed by some superficial or unfriendly individuals, that he was a different man in the pulpit, from what he was in the lecture-room and in his scientific writings. The same inward conviction and love with which in the pulpit he insisted on the positive contents of Scripture, and selected their living and central point, the Redeemer, as the Son of God, for the substance of his discourses, appear also in his dogmatics, in the midst of critical and logical discussions addressed to the understanding. In like manner, the freedom and spirituality with which in his dogmatics he always contends against the bondage of the letter, against the false allegorical mode of connecting the Old and New Testament, which has prevailed both among the Gnostics and Judaizing Christians, against the confounding of the essential with the unessential, these are found also in his sermons, in which, with the lofty spirit of Luther, he demands of his hearers to bear the boldest announcement of acknowledged truth. I have already spoken of the rich treasures which his discourses contain for scientific exegesis, especially for that of the New Testament. Of the suspicious distinction between doctrinal and moral discourses, he knew nothing. As he admitted only a relative distinction between

the science of dogmatics and that of morals, and maintained in the most decided manner their intimate connexion and mutual dependence; he also set forth in his discourses, the vital influence of Christian theory and practice, of faith and of love, upon each other. I do not know a single sermon, which he has printed or delivered, in which we can complain of the preponderance, either of the doctrinal or practical point of view, or the want of their close and efficacious union.

It is well known, that Schleiermacher did not write out his discourses before preaching. Those which he printed were copied afterwards. Whenever I heard him, two of his young friends were always employed in taking down his discourse. Whoever was aware of that, felt a still greater admiration of his extraordinary endowments. The discourse did not indeed spring up in the pulpit for the first time, since he had the conception of it in his mind for many days previous, and allowed it to ripen until the moment of its utterance. But he wrote nothing down until Saturday evening, and then only the text and the theme, or at the utmost a brief sketch of the divisions of his discourse. Thus prepared he went into the pulpit. Here then arose his discourse, in respect to its form and execution, as the living product of his previous meditation, of the exciting influence of the assembled church, and of the constant command of his mind over the arrangement of his thoughts and language. Whoever was acquainted with these circumstances would remark in hearing him the gradual progress of the structure of his discourse, the quiet and deliberate manner, almost in the tones of ordinary conversation, with which he began to collect and set in order his thoughts; but then, after he had spoken for a short time, and, as it were, had thrown out and drawn together the net of his ideas, his discourse became more rapid, more vehement; and as he approached the close, poured forth a rich stream of arousing and quickening appeals. In this way I heard him every Sunday for many years. He was always equal to himself, and always attractive by means of his peculiar mode of handling his text, the originality and freshness of his thoughts, the harmony of his style, and the flow of his language. I have never heard that he contradicted himself or made a correction. If the hearer was not completely enchained by the thoughts, he would often have occasion to admire the skill with which, in a style that inclined to complicated sentences, he always selected

the right word, and even in the most entangled periods, never lost the thread, which conducted him safely to a happy termination. It is not every one who has this gift, the ability to speak, without written preparation, in all situations and in every frame of mind, on all subjects of Christian faith and life, with equal fulness, clearness, and beauty. The substance of a discourse often suffers under a great fluency and command of language. A monotonous manner is thus easily formed, accustomed modes of thought quickly return, and other evils of a like nature take place, which attend the habit of extemporaneous speaking, unless managed by the most gifted minds. But there was not a trace of any of these evils in Schleiermacher. He had his own peculiar style, and his own circle of thought. But the richness of his mind, and the depth and fulness of his religious feelings, secured him against the usual disadvantages of extemporaneous speaking, and enabled the hearer to perceive in him the highest degree of pulpit eloquence, and to enjoy its ripe and beautiful products. When I once asked him by what means he had acquired this enviable art, he replied, "that he was convinced at a very early period of his ministry, that the highest form of preaching could never be attained in delivering a discourse from memory,* by which its original life would always be impaired; but that it was

[ It seems that the habit of reading discourses from the manuscript of the writer is seldom or never practised in the German pulpit. This imposes a great labor on the preacher, who is compelled to spend much time in committing words to memory. Reinhard, the celebrated courtpreacher at Dresden, tells us, that it was his custom to devote the first part of the morning exclusively to this exercise. A great waste of time is caused in this way, and probably not much is gained in regard to the efficiency of preaching. The German sermons are formal, stately, and common-place, almost to a miracle, considering the character of the minds which produced them. Instead of meeting with original and awakening exhibitions of truth, profound discussions of morals, or eloquent and impressive appeals to the heart, it is rarely that we find aught but applications of a common text, which have the merit of ingenuity but not of strength, and a very mechanical arrangement of sundry thoughts, which nobody thinks of doubting or cares to hear enforced. This may partly be accounted for by the fact, that so much time is lost in committing discourses to memory, and that to ensure facility and success in this, a method of great order and exactness, but extremely uninviting, is usually adopted. It seems to be agreed upon by common consent, that no new or quickening ideas shall be introduced into the pulpit. These are reserved for other departments of intellectual labor. Schleiermacher was certainly a capital exception to

essential to address the audience with the freshness and vigor which could come only from a mind in bold and powerful action at the moment. In order to fit himself for this method, he began by not writing the conclusion of his discourse, and then proceeding backward step by step, as one lays aside a warm garment by degrees, he at last attained the most difficult point of not writing the commencement."

Whoever heard only a single discourse of Schleiermacher might fear that he would not be sufficiently popular, and perhaps not intelligible, for the uneducated in his congregation. But this fear would entirely vanish after hearing him for any length of time in succession. He demanded much of his hearers, to be sure, but in fact nothing more than a familiar acquaintance with the Scriptures and close attention. Since he had the power of commanding this, even among the less educated, by the freshness and animation of his delivery, by the constant reference of the most profound religious ideas to practical life, to the circumstances of the church, the family, and the country, we can easily understand, that, although his congregation consisted for the most part of cultivated persons, many individuals of an inferior class were accustomed to frequent his preaching, and listen to it with the utmost attention. I believe that this portion of his audience was constantly increasing, since, as he advanced with a living progress in his whole system of theology, his style of preaching, with the growing experience and enlargement of his inward life, gained,

these remarks. He adopted a wise course in discarding the shackles of memoriter preaching, and addressing his audience from the fulness of his own fruitful and systematic mind. The consequence is, that his sermons present no traces of the faults, to which we have alluded. They are, to be sure, rather treatises on religious philosophy, than glowing and practical appeals to the hearts of a Christian assembly. But they are any thing but formal or common-place. They give no idea of the meagre and languid style of discussion which prevails with many who are reputed to be great masters of pulpit eloquence in Germany. They are a rich mine of thought, in which we discover not merely scattered grains of gold, but thick masses. Neither the published discourses of Schleiermacher, however, nor those of any preacher, which have fallen under our eye, contain specimens of pulpit eloquence, which, for soundness and fertility of thought, fervor of Christian feeling, and beauty and richness of expression, can be compared with the first volume of Buckminster's Sermons, or with many others, which delicacy to the living will not allow us to name. - TR.]

with every year of his ministry, in Christian simplicity and heartfelt conviction.

The sermon was undoubtedly the principal object with Schleiermacher, in his activity as a pastor. But, according to his custom of embracing every thing which belonged to a specific department of action, he attended with equal fidelity and love to every thing which pertained to the interests of the church. Before the need of a reformed Liturgy for public worship had been generally discussed, he attempted in his own congregation to awaken and satisfy a desire for improvement in this respect, as far as was possible in his own sphere, without a general reform in the whole Evangelical church. As he regarded the hymn and the sermon as a living whole, and the hymn-book then in use not being adapted to the arrangement of such a whole, he undertook to provide particular hymns, at least for the morning service, which he selected with great judgment and taste, from the treasures of our church, both of ancient and modern times. His congregation in this way gradually became acquainted with the most beautiful hymns, while he himself acquired the qualifications which fitted him to take a leading part in the work of a new hymn-book, which should be adapted to the present advanced state of Christian cultivation. It is well known how he became one of the principal editors of the new Berlin hymn-book. His vindication of that work is a testimony to the clearness, precision, and experience of his mind, even in this department.

Of his mode of proceeding in the religious instruction of the young, I have no immediate knowledge. I only know, that his instructions previous to confirmation were highly valued, and that the young persons of both sexes, whom he prepared and admitted to this rite, were always warmly and faithfully attached to him. This would have been impossible, if he had not possessed a peculiar talent of awakening an interest in the truths of the Gospel in the hearts of the young. The circle of youth whom he thus formed for himself, it appears to me, was the principal object in the more private relations of his pastoral care. He did not, indeed, withdraw himself from this essential branch of the duties of his office. But, partly on account of his peculiar situation and partly of his personal inclination, it was his habit, as a pastor, to be visited by those whose feeling of interest and confidence led them to him, rather than to seek them at their homes. Whatever influence he