Mr. Gladstone in his recent speech at the City Temple
about preaching, struck a heavy blow at written sermons, and the Satur- day Review, remarking thereon, has said that the practice of reading written discourses prevails in no communion, Catholic or Pro- testant, except the English Church. Now, one correspondent of the Times has shown that in Italy two hundred years ago the practice was to write the sermons intended for cultivated audiences, and another correspondent has shown, by reference to "Gil Blas," that in Spain the greater preachers were spoken of, as a matter of course, as committing their greater efforts to writing and reading them to their congregations. And in point of fact, we sincerely hope that Mr. Gladstone's criticism will not produce too much effect in .encouraging thoughtful men to give us speeches instead of sermons. Of the greatest preachers we have ever had, some of the very finest certainly could not have preached extempore without a fatal loss to the peculiar character and power of their style. What would Dr. Newman's sermons have been, if he had spoken instead of read? What Bishop Butler's? There are styles which would be improved by speaking, and styles, again, which would lose,all their finest qualities in the effort after popular exposition. And on the whole, we are disposed to think that addresses of the latter kind are the nobler,—at all events, the better worth preaerving,—of the two.
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