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 THE IMPORTANCE 
 
 THOROUGH AND ADEQUATE COURSE 
 
 PREPARATORY STUDY 
 
 THE HOLY MINISTRY. 
 
 BY SAMUEL MILLER, D. D. 
 
 Professor of Ecclesiastical History and Church Government in the 
 Theological Seminary at Princeton. 
 
THE IMPORTANCE 
 
 OF A THOROUGH AND ADEQUATE 
 PEEPARATORY STUDY FOR THE HOLY MINISTRY. 
 
 Mr. Editor, — 
 
 When I reflect on the importance of giving sound and 
 judicious advice to any young man, just entering on the 
 career of life, I can scarcely express my sense of the re- 
 sponsibility of one v\7ho undertakes the task. But, when 
 I contemplate the greatly augmented importance of 
 giving a correct impulse to the mind of a youth who ia 
 destined to be a leader and guide of others, on the most 
 momentous of all subjects; who is training up to be a 
 "watchman on the walls of Zion;" to be a ruler, teacher, 
 and counsellor in the Church of God; my mind is 
 really so impressed, as to be almost ready to sink under 
 the weight of the undertaking. Surely, he who can ven- 
 ture upon it without much reflection and much prayer ; 
 without pondering well every counsel, and looking to the 
 Source of all wisdom for continual guidance, — is not yet 
 prepared for his work. He needs to take another sur- 
 vey of its magnitude, its diflSculties, and its never-end- 
 ing results. Such thoughts as these, Mr. Editor, crowd 
 into my mind, when I think of complying with your re- 
 quest, to prepare a short article for your forthcoming 
 
58 PREPARATORY STUDY 
 
 Annual. May He who giveth wisdom, and upbraideth 
 not, enable me to write that which shall not be wholly 
 useless ! 
 
 You request me to say something on the importance of 
 a thorough and adequate course of preparatory study for 
 the holy Ministry. This is a subject on which I have 
 had occasion, more than once, to lay some observations 
 before the public. But, as these observations may have 
 been seen by few; and as this is a subject on which fre- 
 quent enlargement, and even repetition, are by no means 
 objectionable; I dare not decline the service to which 
 you have invited me. It will readily occur to you, how- 
 ever, that the limits of a few pages, to which I am ne- 
 cessarily confined, will preclude the possibility of doing 
 more than glancing, in a very cursory manner, at a few 
 topics, instead of attempting a course of regular discus- 
 sion. 
 
 It is truly lamentable, that, in a day of so much literary 
 improvement, when the number of those who may be 
 called educated men, in the community, is every year in- 
 creasing ; and when all the talents and knowledge, as well 
 as piety which ministers of the Gospel can possibly bring 
 to bear on the duties of their profession are put in the 
 most solemn requisition ; I say it is truly lamentable in 
 such a day as this, that it should be found so difficult to 
 impress candidates for the sacred office with a just sense 
 of adequate training for their ministerial work. Yet such 
 is, undeniably, the melancholy fact. It is impossible not 
 to see, that a very large majority of the whole number, 
 content themselves with an education superficial through- 
 
FOR THE HOLY MINISTRY. 59 
 
 out. Their academic and collegial courses are both, in a 
 multitude of cases, hurried over with a haste which pre- 
 cludes the possibility of accurate and mature scholarship. 
 When they come to their theological studies, they find, to 
 their surprise and embarrassment, that they are by no 
 means prepared to go forward ; that the miserable scanti- 
 ness of their literary and scientific acquisitions really in- 
 terposes a most serious obstacle in the way of their ad van- 
 tageous progress ; and that to some of the richest 'stores 
 of professional knowledge, they are altogether denied ac- 
 cess. In these circumstances, instead of feeling impelled 
 by the defects of their academic course, to pursue more at 
 leisure, and to a greater extent, their theological studies; 
 their decision is, in many cases, directly the reverse I 
 They seem to suppose that, as they have not informa- 
 tion enough to enable them to enter with intelligence on 
 several important departments of theological study, they 
 had better omit them altogether, and go forth at once 
 into the field of public labour. The consequence is, they 
 are, in a great measure, unqualified to serve the Church 
 as writers. They must, of necessity, make inferior 
 preachers. If they attempt to sit down as stated pastors^ 
 they soon expend their scanty store of knowledge, and 
 cease to interest the people ; and even if they go forth 
 as missionaries, whether in the foreign or domestic fields 
 their capacity to benefit their fellow-men, and to extend 
 the Redeemer's kingdom, will generally be found to be 
 abridged in proportion to the scantiness of their acquire- 
 ments. 
 
 J. am far, indeed, from asserting that no one ought 
 E 2 
 
60 PREPARATOEY STUDY 
 
 ever to be set apart to the work of the Ministry who is 
 not entitled to the character of a learned man; and far 
 less, that a cold and heartless erudition will itself fit any 
 man to be an acceptable or useful occupant of the sacred 
 office. All experience proves that without decided, ar- 
 dent piety, no one is qualified, either to his own comfort, 
 or to the probable advantage of others, to minister in holy 
 things. And if a man, in addition to such piety, pos- 
 sesses strong good sense, practical wisdom, aptness to 
 teach, and exemplary zeal; even though he have not en- 
 joyed the plenary advantage of what may be called a 
 liberal education; such a man may, I have no doubt, in 
 many cases, and with great advantage to the Church, be 
 introduced to the Gospel Ministry. Men of this class 
 have often been eminently useful ; and it would certain- 
 ly be carrying the doctrine of the necessity of regular 
 study to an extreme, to shut out such persons from the 
 sacred oflSce. Still, in every such case, the want of ade- 
 quate knowledge ought to be regarded by the individual 
 himself, and by all his friends, — and will be regarded by 
 both, — if they have good sen&e, — as a serious disadvan- 
 tage, to which nothing short of necessity should induce 
 him to submit; and which can scarcely fail to abridge, 
 and, in all probability, very materially, the usefulness as 
 well as the comfort of all his ministrations. 
 
 It is deeply to be deplored, that, in taking this course, 
 and in incurring these disadvantages, candidates for the 
 Ministry are often encouraged by the advice of those 
 who ought to give them better counsel. If it were in 
 all cases a mere puerile mistake, flowing from youthful 
 
FOR THE HOLY MINISTRY. 61 
 
 impetuosity, and want of experience, we might look 
 upon it with more indulgence. But this is by no means 
 the case. Venerable Presbyteries either give it their 
 direct countenance, or cannot be prevailed upon to set 
 their faces with sufficient firmness against it. And 
 thus it happens every day, that short sighted or infatu- 
 ated young men, — either for want of adequate warn- 
 ing, or setting the most solemn warning at naught; — 
 urged on, someciraes by inconsiderate friends, and at 
 other times by their own impatience, ascend the pulpit, 
 and undertake to teach others, while they need to be 
 taught themselves " the first principles of the oracles of 
 God;" — that, amidst all the rich advantages in pursuing 
 Theological studies with which the candidate for the 
 Ministry is now surrounded; — amidst the multiplied 
 facilities which Theological Seminaries, and other allied 
 recent improvements, offer to the diligent student of 
 sacred knowledge ; — the humiliating fact will, I fear, be 
 found to be, that the mass of Presbyterian Ministers, at 
 the present day, are by no means better, if so well fur- 
 nished for their work, as those who entered the sa- 
 cred office prior to the existence of these flxcilities. If 
 this be so, the fact, and the reasons of it, are worthy of 
 our most serious consideration. 
 
 It will be my aim, in what remains of this paper, to 
 endeavour to impress upon the mind of every reader the 
 exceeding great importance of having the preparatory 
 studies of candidates for the holy Ministry mature and 
 adequate. And, although the argument will be made 
 up of elements so self-evident that it seems difficult to 
 
62 PEEPAEATORY STUDY 
 
 make them plainer to a thinking mind ; yet, for the 
 sake of those for whom demonstration itself must often 
 be repeated before it can make an impression ; — it may 
 be useful to repeat thoughts which ought, long since, to 
 have been adopted as first principles, by every one 
 claiming the least portion of Christian intelligence. 
 
 I. The great importance of careful and mature pre- 
 paratory study in candidates for the Ministry, appears 
 from the nature and importance of that public service 
 which the sacred office demands. Multitudes of secular 
 men, and too many who are turning their eyes to the 
 Gospel Ministry, seem, indeed, to think that the profes- 
 sional studies of a minister may be brought within a 
 very narrow compass. In fact, they seem to imagine 
 that a serious perusal of the English Bible; of some one 
 systematic work on Theology ; and of some respectable 
 ecclesiastical history, — is quite enough to prepare any 
 man for the pulpit. All that can be said of such per- 
 sons is, that they betray an ignorance as wonderful as 
 it is disreputable. As well might a man dream that 
 he was qualified to be a physician, by the perusal of 
 some single popular work on the healing art ; or a law- 
 yer, by reading a course of law lectures, on general 
 principles. Surely such calculators never penetrated 
 beyond the surface of any single question in Biblical or 
 Theological inquiry. What is the work which a minis- 
 ter of the Gospel is called to perform ? Is it not to ex- 
 plain the Bible to his fellow men ? Is it not to unfold, 
 illustrate, defend and apply the doctrines and duties, of 
 
FOR THE HOLY MINISTRY. 63 
 
 that Bible for the benefit of all whom he addresses ? Is 
 it not to solve the difficulties which occur in the Scrip- 
 tures, to reconcile seeming contradictions, and to unfold 
 the riches of the sacred Volume ? Is it not to refute 
 error, in all its mazes ; to establish truth, in all its ex- 
 tent; to convince gainsayers; to instruct and relieve 
 the perplexed and doubting ; in a word, to be ready 
 to meet all inquirers, and all opposers, and to "reprove, 
 rebuke, and exhort, with all long suffering and doc- 
 trine ?" But is it possible, it may be asked, to per- 
 form these duties with any intelligence and success, 
 without a large amount of various and digested know- 
 ledge ? Can any man discharge them thoroughly, or 
 even in any reputable degree, without being familiar 
 with the original languages of Scripture ; with Biblical 
 History; with Biblical Antiquities; with the general 
 principles and details of Biblical Criticism and Interpre- 
 tation ; — without being well acquainted with Didactic 
 and Polemic Theology, in all their diversified and inter- 
 esting branches, including the Deistical controversy, 
 the Unitarian Controversy, the Pelagian and Semi-Pela- 
 gian Controversies, to say nothing of many other de- 
 partments of this boundless subject ? Nay, further ; — is 
 any man prepared to discharge these duties either ac- 
 ceptably to his Master, to the honour of his office, or 
 to the acceptance of those to whom he ministers, with- 
 out a familiar acquaintance with the History and Gov- 
 ernment of the Church, the structure and composi- 
 tion of Sermons, the Pastoral care, and a variety of 
 other subjects which cannot be minutely specified ? — 
 
64 PREPARATORY STUDY 
 
 Now when we recollect that all these branches of study 
 are indispensable ; that they ought all to be made ob- 
 jects of attention by every candidate for the holy Minis, 
 try; that he is really not prepared even to begin his 
 work, as an interpreter of Scripture, and as a profes- 
 sional counsellor and guide of immortal souls, without 
 some good acquaintance with every one of them; — is it 
 possible for any one who knows what study and know- 
 ledge mean, to think of gaining any valuable acquaint- 
 ance with these various and extensive departments of 
 knowledge, in less than three or four years of diligent 
 application? It is impossible. They are subjects in 
 respect to which no talents can supersede the necessity 
 of patient and protracted labour. Nay, it is evident that 
 a tolerably comprehensive acquaintance with any one of 
 them, cannot be acquired, by the finest mind, without 
 months of devoted study. Take, for example, the Pela- 
 gian or the Arminian controversy, and ask any think- 
 ing man who has the least idea of the nature, extent, 
 and importance of these portions of Polemic Theology, 
 how long it will take a student of the best powers so far 
 to master them, as to be prepared to go forth to resist 
 error in its various artful mazes, and establish truth; — 
 and he will reply that, to gain and digest such know- 
 ledge, a number of months, diligently employed, will not 
 be more than sufficient for each subject. He, then, who 
 thinks so far to master them all, as to be prepared to be 
 "a teacher in the house of God," at little expense of 
 time and toil, labours under a delusion which would be 
 a proper subject of ridicule only, were it not so destruc- 
 
FOR THE HOLY MINISTRY. 65 
 
 live in its consequences to the most precious interests of 
 men. 
 
 If there be, then, in the bosom of the Church a melan- 
 choly spectacle, it is that of a rash, self-confident young 
 man, who presses forward to the awful station of a spi- 
 ritual teacher, when he has not been taught himself; 
 who is not qualified, perhaps, to illustrate and guard a 
 single point in Theology ; who, of course, must be a 
 superficial preacher; and who cannot fail of being liable 
 to all the crude thinking, and the doctrinal inconsisten- 
 cies and aberrations, which so frequently mark the 
 character of those who thus prematurely intrude into 
 the sacred office. How it is, that young men, apparently 
 conscientious, can deliberately consent to go forth as 
 public instructors in the Church of Christ ; to open and 
 apply the Scriptures ; to meet and confute the learned 
 sceptic; to silence the ingenious caviller, not by sancti- 
 monious authority, but by sound argmnent; to solve 
 delicate and momentous questions of casuistry; to coun- 
 sel the anxious, the perplexed, the tempted, and the 
 doubting; and adapt themselves to all the variety of 
 characters and duties which a large congregation pre- 
 sents, — while they arc, comparatively, children, both in 
 knowledge and experience; — is indeed wonderful, and as 
 humiliating as it is wonderful ! 
 
 When the illustrious Calvin had published the first 
 edition of his great work on the " Institutions of the 
 Christian Religion," — when Joseph Scaliger supposes 
 him to have been the most learned man in Europe^ and 
 when he was importuned and finally constrained to set- 
 
66 PREPARATORY STUDY 
 
 tie as a pastor in Geneva, he was actually on his way to 
 Strashurg, for the purpose of further pursuing his theo- 
 logical studies, under the impression that he had not yet 
 obtained mature Scriptural knowledge enough to war- 
 rant his undertaking the stated exercise of the pastoral 
 office. What an impressive comment on the presumptu- 
 ous readiness with which too many young men, in 
 modern times, venture on the arduous and awful labours 
 of the Gospel Ministry, with furniture so slender and 
 inadequate, that they cannot be said to be safe and in- 
 telligent teachers on almost any subject ! 
 
 II. A further and very important argument in favour 
 of mature preparatory study is, that very few who do not 
 lay a good foundation in the beginning, ever supply the 
 deficiency afterwards. 
 
 Many candidates for tlie Ministry, no doubt, content 
 themselves with what they acknowledge to be a short 
 and very superficial course of study at the outset, be- 
 cause they imagine they will have an ample opportu- 
 nity of supplying all deficiencies after entering on their 
 official work. They flatter themselves that, after they 
 have actually entered the field of public labour, they 
 will have, at once, better facilities, and stronger excite- 
 ments to study, than they now enjoy; and that, then, 
 they will make up, and more than make up, whatever 
 may now be wanting. But it is easy to show that this 
 expectation generally proves, in fact, and in most cases 
 must prove, altogether delusive. Candidates for the 
 Ministry may rely upon it, that if they leave the Theo- 
 
FOR THE HOLY MINISTRY. 67 
 
 logical Seminary, or their preparatory studies wherever 
 pursued, with a mere smattering of theological know- 
 ledge — with what they know and confess to be a scanty 
 and inadequate foundation, there is every probability 
 that they will go through life, and to their graves with 
 very little more. The superstructure concerning which 
 they fondly anticipate so much, will pretty certainly be 
 always of the same miserable, scanty, insufficient cha- 
 racter with the foundation. 
 
 For, in the first place, if a candidate for the Ministry 
 have so little thirst after knowledge, so little love of 
 study, so little energy and decision of character, as to 
 content himself with small and superficial acquirements 
 in his preparatory course, when he has so fair an oppor- 
 tunity, and such powerful stimulants to apply his mind 
 to the acquisition of necessary furniture; — will he be 
 likely to undergo an essential revolution in this respect, 
 immediately on reaching the field of public labour? 
 Will he be likely, at once, to gain a new spirit, more 
 warmly and successfully devoted to the pursuit of know- 
 ledge, when both his means and his opportunities for 
 attending to this object, will be far less favourable than 
 before ? Nothing can be more unreeisonable than such 
 an expectation. No ; there is a moral certainty that he 
 who, in the ardour of youthful pursuit, has not a suffi- 
 ciently deep impression of the importance of knowledge, 
 to make sacrifices for its attainment, and sufficient force 
 of character to overcome the obstacles which lie in the 
 way of the attainment; — will never be likely, in afler life, 
 to surmount these obstructions, and make the acquisition. 
 
 F 
 
68 PREPARATORY STUDY 
 
 Besides, let it be recollected, that when a youthful 
 minister of Christ, at the present day, goes forth to serve 
 the Church, — if he have talents, and be popular — as 
 each individual hopes will be the case concerning him- 
 self j — and especially if he have ardent piety, and a 
 heart to perform his work with zeal ; he will have so 
 much to do ; will be so incessantly called upon in every 
 direction ; in a word, will have his heart and hands so 
 completely filled with public and private engagements — 
 preaching — visiting from house to house — attending pro- 
 tracted, and other special meetings for promoting the 
 Redeemer's kingdom — and all the multiplied, and almost 
 countless details of duty to which the zealous minister of 
 Christ is called in this day of Christian zeal and enter- 
 prize ; — ^that, instead of having time to make up for for- 
 mer deficiencies in study he will scarcely be able, by 
 every effort, to redeem time enough to keep pace, in ever 
 so imperfect a manner, with the cursory literature of the 
 day, and to prepare, even hastily and superficially, for 
 the pulpit. And, what is worthy of the particular notice 
 of such a young man — the more ardent his piety, and 
 the more animated, interesting, and popular his preach- 
 ing — the more numerous will be his calls to public and 
 private service ; and, of course, the more incessant will 
 be his interruptions, and the more difficult he will find 
 it to redeem even a few hours in each week for com- 
 posed retirement and study. The consequence is, that 
 nine out of ten, perhaps nineteen out of twenty, of those 
 who engage in preaching with very slender furniture, 
 go through the whole of their ministerial life with lean, 
 
FOR THE HOLY MINISTRY. 69 
 
 unfurnished minds. Their " profiting does not appear to 
 all." Not having the habit of close study, it is not easy 
 to begin. They hope for much, and promise much in 
 the way of future improvement, but never find time for 
 it. Hence, when they enter the pulpit,' they are neither 
 instructive nor interesting as preachers. The small 
 and lean stock with which they begin is soon exhausted. 
 Their popular acceptance soon declines or ceases. The 
 people are not "fed by them" with knowledge and un- 
 derstanding. Congregations dwindle away, and some- 
 times perish, under their feeble and unedifying Ministry. 
 Premature dotage creeps on ; and the latter portion of 
 their lives, perhaps, becomes rather a burden than a 
 blessing to the Church. It is truly melancholy to think 
 how often this has been the real history of ministers 
 who entered the sacred ofiice without proper furniture, 
 and who, for want of time or inclination afterwards, 
 never made up their early deficiency. Indeed, from 
 the very nature of the case, this must necessarily be the 
 result with regard to many. For, let it ever be remem- 
 bered — and on the ear and heart of every candidate for 
 the Ministry, the statement ought to fall with solemn 
 weight — no minister ever yet kept together and edified 
 a congregation, for any length of time, who did not, as 
 a habit, preach instructively ; — who did not " feed the 
 people" with Scriptural knowledge. Even Whitejield^ 
 with all the fervour of his zeal, and all the wonderful 
 impressiveness of his matchless eloquence — could not 
 possibly have settled as a stated pastor, among an intel- 
 ligent people, with any advantage. Of this, he was 
 
70 PREPARA-TORY STUDY 
 
 himself aware, and often confessed it with sensibiUty 
 and humiliation. His early studies had been hasty and 
 superficial; and his ministerial life had been one of 
 almost unequalled activity. He had little time for study 
 from the day of his ordination to the day of his death. 
 His sermons, though highly eloquent, bore the marks of 
 this fact : and when the novelty of his eloquence had 
 worn off in a particular place, his audiences became 
 gradually less crowded, until he was admonished to 
 take his leave of them for a time, and not to return until 
 such an interval had elapsed as that he could again 
 appear among them under the advantage of a degree of 
 novelty. 
 
 But even supposing that he who enters on the holy 
 Ministry with slender furniture, should afterwards be 
 determined, whatever it may cost him, to make up his 
 deficiency by unwearied and extra efforts. Still his 
 task will be difiicult, and his prospect gloomy. He can 
 take only one of two courses, either of which will pro- 
 bably be fatal. He may attempt, amidst all his multi- 
 plied and arduous labours, by night studies, and by 
 urging nature in every way, beyond her strength — to 
 gain that which he ought to have acquired before he 
 entered the pulpit. In taking this course, he will, pretty 
 certainly, destroy his health, and either sink into a pre- 
 mature grave, or reduce himself, for the remainder of 
 his days, to a state of languor and protracted disease> 
 which will render existence a burden, and all comforta- 
 ble and efficient discharge of duty impossible. Or, the 
 delinquent in question may choose another alternative. 
 
FOR THE HOLY MINISTRY. 71 
 
 He may, after entering- on the Ministry, confine him- 
 self to his study ; neglecting family visitation ; neglect- 
 ing family instruction ; neglecting the anxious inquirer; 
 neglecting the sick and the dying ; neglecting all the 
 calls of Christian enterprize and benevolence ; in short, 
 neglecting, or slighting all pastoral duties, excepting 
 those of the pulpit. The consequences of adopting this 
 alternative, may be even still more deplorable than in 
 the former case. While the other course would, proba- 
 bly, be fatal to his health, this would be fatal to his use- 
 fulness, fatal to his official character, fatal to the best in- 
 terests of the precious souls committed to his charge. 
 
 But it will be asked — Have not individuals been fre- 
 quently known, who entered the office of the holy Min- 
 istry with very small theological furniture; but who, 
 afterwards, by very extraordinary efforts, became not 
 only respectably, but some of them even richly fur- 
 nished for their work? I answer, such instances have 
 now and then occurred. But they have been, generally, 
 men of peculiar intellectual vigour and perseverance ; 
 of great decision of character ; and placed in circum- 
 stances which in a great measure exempted them from 
 the daily and hourly calls of pastoral duty. They have 
 almost always, too, been men who had not enjoyed the 
 advantage of ample study in early life. Of one who 
 had enjoyed this advantage, but neglected it, and en- 
 tered the Ministry with small furniture, and subse- 
 quently became studious and learned — I never knew an 
 example; and must entirely doubt whether such an ex- 
 ample ever occurred. 
 
 f2 
 
72 PREPARATORY STUDY 
 
 III. The great importance of regular and mature 
 training for the holy Ministry is manifest /rom the pecu- 
 liar state and wants of our country. 
 
 It will readily be understood that those who are en- 
 trusted with immediate care of Theological Seminaries, 
 have opportunities of perceiving and appreciating this 
 consideration, which are in some measure peculiar to 
 themselves. To them applications for candidates, both 
 for pastoral and missionary service, are continually 
 sent, from almost every part of the United States, ac- 
 companied with descriptions of the places and popula- 
 tion for which the candidates are needed, and of the 
 qualifications deemed requisite for filling to advantage 
 the places specified. It is almost incredible to those 
 who have not seen the contents of such communications 
 as I have described, how frequently, not to say gene- 
 rally, they represent competent learning, as well as 
 talents and piety, as being indispensable in the stations 
 which it is designed to fill. They tell us, in so many 
 cases, that it may be considered, without error, as the 
 general strain of representation, even from the remotest 
 country villages, — that the man who would suit, must be 
 a well-informed and instructive preacher, as well as pious, 
 zealous, and prudent. They tell us, that the specified 
 settlement, though new and immature, contains a large 
 number of acute, active, observing men, lawyers, physi- 
 cians, merchants, whose taste and character demand in- 
 telligent, as well as sound instruction from the sacred 
 desk. It would be painful to disclose in how many 
 cases theological Professors have been obliged to reply 
 
FOR THE HOLY MINISTRY. 73 
 
 to such applications, that, although they were ahle to 
 name a number of candidates who were disengaged, 
 they could not select an individual of the whole list who 
 could really be said to be adapted to the place and ser- 
 vice described. Young men we had, and in some in- 
 stances, in considerable numbers ; but few or none, un. 
 engaged fit to be sent to such scenes of labour ; and so 
 we were obliged to inform our importunate applicants. 
 The truth is, many of the principal people in these re- 
 mote districts desire — and it is surely a reasonable wish 
 — that the ministers sent to them should be qualified to 
 take the lead in all the ecclesiastical organizations and 
 proceedings, not merely of a single Church, but of seve- 
 ral neighbouring churches, starting into life and activ- 
 ity ; to be the counsellors and guides of townships, and 
 sometimes, perhaps, of counties; to mould a heterogene- 
 ous population into a harmonious and comfortable mass* 
 to give advice, go forward, and command respect in dif- 
 ficult and delicate cases ; and to take an active part in 
 promoting sound literature as well as religion^ in the 
 respective neighbourhoods in which they may be placed. 
 Indeed to much of this work every minister, — even 
 every itinerant missionary is called ; and it is of the 
 utmost importance that he be able to perform it with 
 acceptance and usefulness. And that candidate for 
 the sacred office who is either too lazy, or too nar- 
 row minded to take the requisite pains to qualify him- 
 self for these various and momentous duties, may think 
 himself very conscientious, and may give himself great 
 credit for being moderate, humble, and disinterested in 
 
74 PREPARATORY STUDY 
 
 his view?; but he is an infatuated man. He is not 
 merely under a mistake ; — he is unfaithful to himself, to 
 the Church, and to the Master whom he professes to 
 love. 
 
 Had I, therefore, an opportunity of addressing all the 
 theological students in the United States, I would say 
 to them — Look abroad, beloved youth, upon this na- 
 tion, in all its settlements, in the length and breadth 
 of them ! Contemplate the number, the character, 
 and the wants of our population. Behold the me- 
 lancholy reign of ignorance and vice. Contemplate 
 the learning, the boldness, and the industry of heresy 
 on every side. Mark well the prevalence, the un- 
 wearied diligence, and the eloquence of infidelity. 
 Think how much digested knowledge, as well as able 
 and powerful preaching, is called for by the shrewd and 
 hostile millions within our widely extended territory. 
 Advert for a moment to the mighty influence which the 
 press is destined to exert over this people, and how dead- 
 ly that influence must be, if not guided and sanctified 
 by the religion of Jesus Christ. Think of the interests 
 of sound literature as well as of piety. Count the num- 
 ber of the youth who are to be trained up either for use- 
 fulness and heaven, or for profligacy and perdition. 
 Ponder well the necessities of our Seminaries of Learnings 
 if they are to be made a blessing, and not a curse. Look 
 at these things, beloved candidates for the holy Ministry, 
 and consider seriously what must be the consequence, 
 without a series of miracles, unless the young soldiers 
 now coming forward to the service of the Church, take 
 
FOR THE HOLY MINISTRY. 75 
 
 care to be adequately instructed and girded for the migh- 
 ty war before them ; and if your " spirit is not stirred 
 within you" by the sight, to take high aims in prepar- 
 ing for your work ; to aspire to elevated attainments in 
 knowledge and in piety, you are but ill fitted for this 
 age, or for the office which you seek. 
 
 With these impressions, when I see young men, un- 
 der the notion of serving the Church, and of supplying 
 the urgent demand for ministers, prematurely, and with- 
 out proper furniture, pressing into the pulpit, instead of 
 rejoicing, I mourn. They may have pious intentions, 
 and may sincerely think they are promoting the wel- 
 fare of the Church ; but they are preparing, in all pro- 
 babiliUty, to inflict upon it a real injury. They may 
 think "the Lord hath need of them." But they are de- 
 ceived. The Lord is a God of order, and not of confii- 
 sion, in all his churches. He has never made mental 
 imbecility, ignorance, rashness, and incompetence, pro- 
 per qualifications for doing his work. If " the Lord had 
 need of them," he would not only open the door for 
 their entrance info his service, but would also prepare 
 them for the service in which they engaged. 
 
 IV. The great importance of mature study, and tho- 
 rough training for the holy Ministry, is manifest from 
 the predominant influence which the Press exerts^ and 
 seems destined in a still higher degree^ to exert, in every 
 part of our country. 
 
 No intelligent observer of the passing age, can possi- 
 bly fail of marking the power of the press, in reaching, 
 
76 PREPARATORY STUDY 
 
 informing-, and controling the whole mass of our citi- 
 zens. Never, since human society existed, were the 
 productions of the human mind, in so many diversified 
 forms, so widely diffused among men, as at the present 
 time. He who is able to write in a popular and impres- 
 sive manner, can now, through the medium of the press, 
 speak, in a short time, to almost the whole civilized 
 population of the globe ; instructing the ignorant, im- 
 pressing the careless, and uniting in sentiment and ac- 
 tion countless thousands whose faces he can never see 
 in the flesh, and thousands who may live long after he 
 is dead. And as the facilities for extending this method 
 of communication are every day increasing, so the power 
 of the accomplished writer to benefit his fellow-men, is 
 becoming every day more rich, precious, and durable. 
 Happy is that man who is qualified to write in such a 
 manner as to be able to send the means of promoting 
 sound principles, and holy living through all ranks of 
 society to the €nds of the earth. If I wished to give 
 such counsel to a beloved son, as I should think adapted 
 to prepare him for the very maximum of usefulness in 
 the Church of God, I would certainly exhort him, next 
 to the cultivation of ardent piety, to labour to the ut- 
 most, and without ceasing, to become one of the most 
 ready and able writers in the land. 
 
 But can any one be ignorant that the possession in any 
 good degree of this accomplishment, must necessarily 
 be the result of mature study, and of indefatigable la- 
 bour? "JReat/in^," said Lord Chancellor Bacon, "makes 
 a full man ; conversation a ready man ; writing an exact 
 
FOR THE HOLY MINISTRY. 77 
 
 man." Nothing brings to a more severe test the sound- 
 ness of a man's original literary training, the accuracy 
 of his knowledge, the clearness of his conceptions, and 
 the cultivation of his taste, than the manner in which 
 he acquits himself as a writer. Here, if he be not a real 
 scholar, if his knowledge be not sound and digested, his 
 ideas distinct and clear, and his taste just, he cannot 
 possibly manifest high excellence. Without these quali- 
 fications, he may really be said to labour under an en- 
 tire disability to do much good to his fellow men in this 
 way. And, of course, he who voluntarily incurs this dis- 
 ability, may be said voluntarily to curtail his own power 
 to serve his generation, and to honour the best of Mas- 
 ters. 
 
 Accordingly, it is truly humiliating to observe how 
 small is the number of Ministers in the United States, 
 who manifest any thing like high excellence in the 
 great and precious power of addressing their fellow-men 
 through the medium of the press. Though this accom- 
 plishment is so evidently one of inestimable importance; 
 though it bears a high price in the market: and though 
 there is scarcely any way in which a man is so likely, 
 on a great scale, to serve God and his generation ; still, 
 the mortifying fact is notorious, that there is a great 
 scarcity ^of this kind of accomplishment; nay, that many 
 important theological and ecclesiastical publications of 
 the periodical class, are almost obliged to stand still for 
 want of writers of sufficient excellence to sustain them 
 with vigour and spirit. While a large portion of the 
 periodical press is in the hands of infidels and errorists, 
 
78 PREPARATORY STUDY 
 
 who can command sufficient literary aid almost at plea- 
 sure ; the friends of evangelical religion find it almost 
 impossible to carry on such journals as their cause de- 
 mands, in a manner which at all becomes their cause. 
 And in the midst of this lamentable deficiency, how few 
 appear to be pursuing that course of study, and submit- 
 ting to that patient and laborious culture of their faculties 
 which become those who feel bound to exert their utmost 
 strength in serving their Maker and their fellow-men ! 
 Never was there a country in which there were, at once, 
 so many opportunities and inducements to promote the 
 temporal and eternal welfare of mankind by good writing 
 as in the tfnited States : and it may be safely said, that 
 there is no department of Christian effort more likely to 
 prove a permanent blessing to the human race ; and in 
 which he who is capable of excelling is presented with a 
 greater range of usefulness than that which is now under 
 consideration ; and which, at the same time, so many, if 
 they do not weakly undervalue, do most criminally ne- 
 glect. 
 
 V. Ample and mature preparatory study is of ex- 
 ceeding great importance to a candidate for the holy 
 ministry, as a substitute for that experience which cannot 
 be possessed in the outset of an ecclesiastical course; and 
 for the general formation of the character. 
 
 Many seem to imagine that the only use of a regular 
 and complete course of preparatory study is the mere 
 attainment of knowledge. And, therefore, when a can- 
 didate for the ministry, after completing his academic 
 
FOR THE HOLY MINISTRY. 79 
 
 career, is exhorted to spend three or more years ip dili- 
 gent theological study, it is thought, by many serious 
 people, to be almost a criminal sacrifice to inere learning. 
 But such persons forget that the discipline of the mind, 
 and the formation of the general character, are among 
 the most important parts of professional preparation. 
 They forget that even if the requisite amount of facts and 
 principles could be crowded into the mind of a young 
 man in six months, or even in six weeks, still one essen- 
 tial object of theological education would be unattained; 
 which is casting the whole man, if I may be allowed the 
 expression, into the proper mould for a minister of reli- 
 gion. This includes the correction of bad habits; the 
 formation of new and better ones ; the gradual discipline 
 and ripening of the intellectual powers; mellowing, soft- 
 ening, and at the same time invigorating the graces of 
 the heart ; bringing down high thoughts of himself; 
 ascertaining his own defects and foibles ; learning the 
 value of gravity, self command, prudence, and Christian 
 dignity; studying human nature and the world; in 
 short, unlearning many things which he had learned 
 amiss, and correcting many erroneous views, and juve- 
 nile propensities, which nothing but time, and suitable 
 associations, accompanied with much observation, watch- 
 fulness, prayer, and conflict can possibly, under God, 
 enable him to accomplish. Suppose a young man to be 
 about to engage in a course of study preparatory to the 
 gospel Ministry. Suppose him to have lively, and vigo- 
 rous talents, and unfeigned piety; — but at the same 
 time to be rash, impetuous, indiscreet, ignorant of the 
 G 
 
80 PREPARATORY STUDY 
 
 world, elated with ideas of his own powers and impor- 
 tance, and ready on all occasions, without conferring 
 with age or experience, to dash forward for the attain- 
 ment of his object. Now, if such a young man had read 
 all the books in the world, and heard and transcribed all 
 the learned lectures that ever were delivered, he would 
 still be unfit to go forth as a Minister of the Gospel ; to 
 be a teacher, an example, and a guide in the Church 
 of God. He needs the friendly hints, the fraternal 
 counsel, the faithful admonitions of those who have lived 
 longer than himself He needs to be taught by experi- 
 ence, and sometimes by very painful experience ; to be 
 rebuked, and mortified, and humbled again and again, 
 before he can be brought to "think soberly" of himself, 
 to feel his own defects and foibles, to act with a habitual 
 regard to the feelings of others, to be " swift to hear, 
 slow to speak, slow to wrath." In a word, he needs that 
 kind of intellectual and moral discipline, which results 
 from being frequently brought into contact with various 
 forms of Christian society, while he is consulting at his 
 leisure the best books. It is plain that all this is not, in 
 ordinary cases, to be acquired in a year, or in two years. 
 It is usually a slow process, and requires time and pa- 
 tience. Yet, with many, this discipline, is far more 
 needed, and far more important, than mere learning. 
 The want of it is their most radical and prominent de- 
 fect; and will be likely, perhaps, if continued, more than 
 any other, (next to a defect in piety) to interfere with 
 their acceptance, their comfort, and their usefulness, to 
 the end of life. 
 
FOR THE HOLY MINISTHT. 81 
 
 After all the provision which has been made by our 
 Church lor ample ministerial training-, I feel constrained 
 to say, that there is scarcely a more obvious and deplora- 
 ble evil among her rising ministry, at the present day, 
 than the slenderness of furniture with which many go 
 forth, united, as such deficiency is too apt to be, with a 
 spirit of self-confidence, rashness, contempt for age and 
 experience, and headstrong obstinacy in the adoption 
 and persevering use of new modes of preaching, in pro- 
 pagating plausible forms of error, and in denouncing a 
 wise regard to ecclesiastical order as pharisaical for- 
 mality. We have reason to be thankful that this self- 
 suflficient and turbulent spirit, though found in too many 
 instances, is by no means a prevalent one among the 
 mass of our candidates. If it were, the prospect would 
 be indeed gloomy ; or rather, there would be no rational 
 hope for the Church short of a revolution, which should 
 at once convulse and purify it. Now against these 
 aberrations, piety itself, even ardent piety, is not always 
 a sufficient defence : for the stronger the conviction on 
 the part of a deeply conscientious youth of the rectitude 
 of a certain course, with the more decision and ardour 
 will he, of course, pursue it. 
 
 If we would cure such an one of his errors, and reclaim 
 him from his wanderings ; we must inform his mind ; 
 we must read to him the experience of former ages ; we 
 must prevail upon him to pause, to inquire, and to avail 
 himself of the knoweledge accumulated by the Church 
 from her very mistakes, convulsions and disorders. In 
 nineteen cases out of twenty, when pious young ministers 
 
82 rREPARATORY STUDY 
 
 have given way to extravagance and fanaticism ; when 
 they have spurned the counsels of age and experience ; 
 and grieved the hearts of intelligent and sober Christians, 
 by patronizing enthusiasm and disorder ; they will be 
 found to be among the ignorant and superficial; who 
 have pressed forward prematurely into the field of public 
 labour; who know little of theology; little of the struc- 
 ture and history of the Church of Christ ; still less of hu- 
 man nature, and the human heart; and least of all of 
 themselves. This is so generally the case, that when I 
 hear of a young man who is peculiarly forward and arro- 
 gant in his ecclesiastical spirit ; who claims to be pecu- 
 liarly skilled in originating and conducting Revivals ; 
 who sneers at the counsels of wiser and better men than 
 himself, and denounces as graceless, or at least as cold, 
 all who are not willing at once to unite with him in his 
 extravagance; I take for granted, without further in- 
 quiry, that he is a young man of small information ; that 
 he has been intoxicated by the flattery of those who were 
 as superficial and injudicious as himself; that he is a 
 mass of inflated ignorance, and spiritual pride; and that 
 instead of being a guide, in spiritual things peculiarly 
 well skilled and safe, as he and his partial friends sup- 
 pose, he is peculiarly unfit to be trusted in any thing that 
 requires the exercise of genuine sanctified wisdom. I 
 have very seldom met with a case which formed an ex- 
 ception to this remark. All the patrons of enthusiasm, 
 extravagance and disorder that I have ever personally 
 known, were either sciolists in knowledge, or men of re- 
 markably weak minds, and, more generally, both toge- 
 
FOR THE HOLr MINISTRY. 83 
 
 ther. The various practical inferences, which may Icgiti- 
 mately be drawn from this statement, I leave to others; 
 but the fact is, a self-sufficient, inflated, thorough-going' 
 advocate of fanatical measures of any kind, who was at 
 the same time a man of mature study, and a well inform- 
 ed theologian, I never saw, or heard of Hence I infer, 
 that Icisurly and careful study; setting out in eccle- 
 siastical life with a solid mass of digested knowledge; 
 is one of the best guards against these deplorable evils. 
 This leads me to observe, 
 
 VI Finally ; That the importance of mature study and 
 thorough training for the sacred office, is powerfully and 
 uniformly attested by the history of the Church. 
 
 To trace the leading facts on this subject, would re- 
 quire a volume instead of a few pages. They all, how- 
 ever, when carefully examined, will be found to establish 
 the general principle, that at any and every period, the 
 better informed the clergy were in Biblical and theolo- 
 gical knowledge, the more exemplary was their sacred 
 character, — the more pure and elevated their piety, and 
 the more extensive their usefulness. The most learned 
 of the Apostles, we know, was the"most eminently use- 
 ful of the whole number. And the same general princi- 
 ple has been strikingly exemplified in all ages. It can- 
 not be said, indeed, that ministers of the Gospel have 
 been always and invariably useful in direct proportion 
 to their learning. Some remarkable instzinces of learned 
 heretics, and of learned drones and formalists, have, no 
 doubt disgraced the ministerial office ; and instead of 
 G 2 
 
84 PREPARATORY STUDY 
 
 proving blessings to the Church, have rather been per- 
 verters of the truth, and obstacles to the progress of the 
 Gospel. But the converse of this statement, cannot, as- 
 suredly be maintained; that is, it cannot be said of 
 any pastor, or missionary, M^ho v\ras remarkably ignorant, 
 however pious, that he was extensively and permanently 
 useful. Such an one may have been the means of doing 
 some little good, for a short time, and in a narrow sphere ; 
 but extensively useful he never was. The annals of the 
 Christian Church afford no such instance. The fact is 
 from the da3^s of Paul to this hour, those ministers who, 
 to exemplary piety, and ardent zeal, added sound and 
 mature learning, have been in all ages and countries 
 the most eminently blessed and useful in their genera- 
 tion. 
 
 This principle was strikingly exemplified in the lives 
 and character of the Reformers. In those holy men, who 
 were most eminently instrumental in stripping off the 
 mask from popery, in exposing the erroneous corruptions 
 of the man of sin, and holding forth the "light of life" to 
 a dark world, we see the value of learning to the Gospel 
 Ministry displayed in the most impressive manner. It 
 may be maintained, without hesitation, as a general 
 fact, that the most learned of their number, were the 
 most richly and extensively useful ; and that, humanly 
 speaking, had their knowledge been less, the blessings 
 which, under God, they were instrumental in conferring 
 on the Church, and on distant generations would have 
 been far less rich, vital and permanent than they were- 
 Nay, it is not saying too much to assert that, had not 
 
FOR THE HOLY MINISTRY. 85 
 
 the leading Reformers been men amply furnished with 
 human and divine knowledge, they could not possibly 
 have rendered those incalculable services to the cause 
 of Christ, which altered the face of Christendom ; which 
 sent blessings to the ends of the earth ; and in which 
 we have yet reason to rejoice. The accomplishments of 
 which we speak were those which enabled those great 
 and good men to translate and expound the Scriptures; 
 to explain and defend the precious doctrines of the Gos- 
 pel ; to meet the learning of the most corrupt Romanists 
 with still sounder learning; to repel their plausible 
 logic, with logic still more legitimate and powerful ; to 
 expose the emptiness of their "philosophy falsely so 
 called," by sounder views of genuine philosophy ; to ex- 
 hibit the real character of the heresies and superstitions 
 which they opposed, by tracing their history, as well as 
 exposing their native tendency and effects ; and thus to 
 command the confidence, and guide the opinions of 
 thousands who never saw their faces in the flesh. 
 
 Even in the case of missionaries, the principle for 
 which we contend has been, with scarcely an exception, 
 remarkably illustrated and confirmed. Whose labours, 
 among this class, have been most remarkably blessed to 
 the conversion of the heathen? Undoubtedly, those who, 
 to fervent piety, united a competent store of literature 
 and science, and especially an intimate acquaintance 
 with the Bible, and with Gospel truth. If any doubt of 
 this, let them think of the labours and usefulness of such 
 men as Eliot, and Brainerd, and Spangenlerg, and 
 Vanderkemp, and Sioartz, and Buchanan, and Martyn, 
 
86 PREPASATORY STUDY 
 
 and Carey^ and Ward — not to speak of a number more 
 whose names will instantly oceur to every well in- 
 formed reader; — and then ask, whether it had been 
 possible for those holy and devoted men to accomplish 
 what they did, if they had been illiterate and ignorant, 
 however ardent and devoted their Christian feelings ? 
 The very suggestion is absurd. We might as well ex- 
 pect men according to the unreasonable demand of the 
 Egyptian task-masters, to "make brick without straw." 
 The most permanent and truly valuable part of the ser- 
 vices which they rendered to the cause of the Redeemer, 
 were precisely those which their sanctified learning 
 enabled them to accomplish, and which, had they been 
 illiterate men, might, of course, have entirely failed. 
 When we read the deeply interesting memoirs of these 
 men, and especially those of Buchanan and Mariyn, we 
 perceive at once that their indefatigable devotion to 
 study in the University, was so far from having been 
 lost upon them, even in their missionary labours, that it 
 all turned to important account. It served to invigorate 
 and enlarge their minds; to prepare them for the more 
 easy and thorough acquisition of every subsequent at- 
 tainment; and thus greatly to extend their usefulness. 
 Neither of these men could possibly have shone so 
 brightly in his oriental Ministry, had it not been for 
 his diligent and successful labours in the University. 
 
 The foregoing statements are all confirmed by the 
 history of the most useful divines and pastors of our 
 own country. It may be confidently asserted, that 
 ever since evangelical churches have had an existence 
 
FOR THE HOLY MINISTRY. 87 
 
 on this side the Atlantic, those ministers of the Gospel 
 in whom fervent piety, and ample theological furniture 
 were most remarkably united, have been, invariably, the 
 most eminently useful. They have had a weight of 
 influence which no others could acquire. They have 
 diffused around them a degree of light, as well as 
 warmth, which less accomplished men could never have 
 imparted. And they have been enabled to give an ira- 
 pulse to the public mind, and to correct prevailing dis- 
 orders and abuses, to an extent which rendered them 
 great public benefactors; but which, without their learn- 
 ing, would have been impracticable, unless by the inter- 
 vention of miracle. 
 
 Do any ask, in what manner the history of the 
 Church represents the want of mature knowledge in 
 ministers as having interfered with their usefulness? 
 The answer is as ready as it is multiform and decisive. 
 When ministers have had little knowledge themselves, 
 it was impossible for them to impart much instruction to 
 others. They were found unable to "feed the people 
 with knowledge and with understanding." Those to 
 whom they ministered soon discovered their ignorance ; 
 felt that they were not fed; became tired of their 
 preaching ; lost their respect for them ; neglected their 
 ministrations; and, perhaps, gradually, withdrew from 
 the house of God altogether, and became totally regard- 
 less of religion. Thus, instead of being a rich blessing 
 to the Church of God, such ministers, as was remarked 
 under a former head, have frequently become a stum- 
 bling block, a burden, and a curse to it. Nor does the 
 
88 PREPARATORY STUDY 
 
 history of the Church represent the evils of the want of 
 suitable furniture in ministers as having been confined 
 to the people to whom they ministered. This dificiency 
 has proved, in innumerable instances, as injurious to 
 themselves as to others. They have been made the 
 dupes and tools of designing men, who had more know- 
 ledge, and who wished to render them subservient to 
 their sinister designs. Or they have been, before they 
 were aware of it, entangled in the deplorable toils of 
 childish superstition, or wild enthusiasm ; and thus, be- 
 coming "blind leaders of the blind," they have con- 
 tracted more guilt, and done more injury to that hal- 
 lowed cause which they professed to serve, than it was 
 possible by human arithmetic to estimate. The truth 
 is, a man who has but a smattering of indigested know- 
 ledge, however pious, must be, as all experience has 
 evinced, not only an incompetent guide, but also an 
 unsafe one. In a day of commotion and trial, he knows 
 not what to do. He is ready to adopt every novel pro- 
 ject which ignorance, vanity, or a spirit of innovation 
 may propose. The results of former experience and 
 wisdom are, of course, lost upon him, for the best of all 
 reasons, because he knows them not. The consequence 
 is, that, in all his movements, he betrays total incom- 
 petence to the work which he undertakes. He draws 
 down upon himself the deep regrets, if not the un- 
 mingled contempt of the wise and the good around him. 
 And the Church, instead of having reason to bless him, 
 as her leader, guide, and benefactor, has reason rather 
 to weep over his character and labours, however well 
 
FOR THE HOLY MINISTRY. 89 
 
 intended, as really, taken in the aggregate, so much 
 thrown into the scale of the adversary. 
 
 Such, beyond all doubt, is the testimony of unvar- 
 nished history on the subject before us. It teaches, on 
 the one hand, that unsanctified knowledge has always 
 been a curse to the Church — leading to pride, ambition, 
 unhallowed speculation, heresy, strife, and every evil 
 work. And it teaches, on the other hand, with no less 
 distinctness, that ignorance never was nor can be sanc- 
 tified, that an ignorant or superficially informed Minis- 
 try, never can be either a respectable or useful one; 
 that it must either sink down into miserable, inert, un- 
 instructive insignificance and unfaithfulness; or betray 
 into vanity, empty rant, enthusiasm, and endless disor- 
 der. Nothing but the union of fervent piety, and sound 
 learning, can possibly secure to any Christian Ministry, 
 for any length of time together, the precious results of 
 true respectability, and genuine evangelical usefulness. 
 
 Seeing that the voice of all history is so unequivocal, 
 loud and solemn on this subject, it has often filled me 
 with the deepest astonishment, that candidates for the 
 ministry, who have any acquaintance with that history, 
 should yet be so slow to learn its plain and conclusive 
 lessons. Such, however, is the demented course of 
 many ! They are so infatuated as to pass hastily and 
 slightly over all their academical and collegia! studies, 
 and yet hope to have well disciplined and cultivated 
 minds. They are so much in haste to get into the field 
 of active labour, that they will not take the time or the 
 pains to make themselves acquainted, even tolerably, 
 
90 PREPARATORY STUDY 
 
 with the original languages of Scripture ; and yet are so 
 unreasonable as to expect to be sound intelligent, and 
 able expositors of the word of God. They spurn at the 
 labours of studying didactic and polemic theology in a 
 systematic manner, comparing system with system ; 
 and yet irrationally dream, that they shall be able, by 
 and by, to " bring out of their treasure things new and 
 old." 
 
 They imagine that their little stinted, indigested, 
 miserable pittance of acquirement will be sufficient to 
 draw upon while they live, without any addition. Surely 
 such youth set at defiance all reason, and all experience. 
 When our Theological Seminaries were first established, 
 the friends of a well qualified ministry were sanguine in 
 their expectations, that theological education would rap- 
 idly rise to a high standard. It never entered into their 
 minds, that when such ample and favourable opportuni- 
 ties of mature study were provided, any would be insane 
 enough not to avail themselves of the provision. But, 
 alas ! how grievously, not only in many instances, but 
 in a great majority of instances, have such expectations 
 been disappointed ! How difficult is it, after all, to per- 
 suade the larger portion of our candidates for the minis- 
 try, of the importance and necessity of ample furniture 
 in those who bear the sacred office ! They read in every 
 history of the Christian Church which they open, the 
 deplorable consequences of ignorance and incompetence 
 in the Gospel ministry. They cannot open their eyes 
 on the ministers and Churches of the present day, with- 
 out seeing the most humiliating effects arising from the 
 
FOR THE HOLY MINISTRY. 91 
 
 want of suitable training in those who have undertaken 
 to be " watchmen on the walls of Zion." They cannot 
 help seeing-, if they look at all, that the minister who has 
 but small knowledge, with few exceptions, must content 
 himself with small usefulness. They ought to know, 
 too, that the state of society in our country, as it ad- 
 vances in refinement and intelligence, is, every year, 
 calling for more ample furniture in candidates for the 
 sacred office. They ought, further, to remember, that 
 Christian ministers of the present day are called upon 
 more loudly than ever before, to serve the cause of Christ 
 with their pens, as well as in the pulpit, in the lecture- 
 room, and in the pastoral visit. And they ought to con- 
 sider that they have opportunities of enlightening and 
 influencing the public mind presented to them, such as 
 no former generation of candidates for the Ministry ever 
 enjoyed. They are, also, frequently and faithfully warn- 
 ed of the danger of immature study, and superficial 
 knowledge; and entreated to avail themselves of the 
 means placed within their reach, for preparing in the 
 most advantageous manner, to serve the Church and 
 their generation. But with respect to many,— alas I 
 too many ; all is in vain. Only a lamentably small por- 
 tion can be prevailed upon, with all these considerations 
 in view, to pursue the full course of study which the 
 wisdom of the Church has prescribed. And even some 
 who do consent, and profess, nominally, to go through 
 that course, engage in study, for the most part, with so 
 little zeal, and suffer themselves to be diverted from their 
 
92 PREPARATORY STUDY 
 
 studies by so many distracting avocations, that but a 
 small portion of the nominal time of study, is really, 
 and in good earnest, devoted to its professed object. 
 
 I am not ignorant of the various pleas, by which those 
 who act thus, in opposition to the clearest light of expe- 
 rience, attempt to justify their blind and infatuated con- 
 duct. They plead — the urgent need of ministers ; the 
 solicitations of their friends; their earnest desire to be in 
 the field of labour ; the inconvenience of obtaining the ne- 
 cessary means of support, in pursuing the usual course ; 
 — all these they plead with confidence and zeal. But such 
 pleas are all delusive and vain. Those who offer them 
 forget that it is no real blessing to the Church to multi- 
 ply ignorant and incompetent ministers, but rather a 
 a curse; that, of course, if the call for more labourers 
 were a hundred^fold more loud and importunate than it 
 is, it would be worse than useless to the Church as well 
 as to themselves, to go forth unfurnished "novices." 
 They forget that they have but one life to live : and 
 that, if they allow themselves to launch forth unprepared, 
 they may, and probably will, never be able to repair the 
 mischief of this one premature step. O when will those 
 beloved sons of the Church who have " a price put into 
 their hands to get wisdom," learn to value it correctly, 
 and to improve it faithfully? I can only say, with res- 
 pect to those who act otherwise, that, if they ever come 
 to their senses, they will be ready, like Peter^ to " go 
 out and weep bitterly." 
 
 I most earnestly wish, my dear Sir,, that you could 
 
FOR THE HOLY MINISTRY. 93 
 
 adopt some means of infusing^ proper sentiments on this 
 important subject into the minds of all the candidates 
 taken up and patronized by your Board. It is of the ut- 
 most importance that something of this kind be done, if 
 possible, at the outset of each young man's course* 
 When candidates for the Ministry have completed their 
 college career, and commence their theological studies, 
 it is often too late to address them effectually in reference 
 to this matter. Their whole elementary course, in the 
 languages and sciences, has been so miserably superfi- 
 cial and inaccurate, that, unless they go back and begin 
 anew^ they never can proceed in their theological course, 
 with any tolerable advantage. Young men, therefore, 
 who have the Ministry in view, ought to commence their 
 elementary studies under a deep conviction of the im- 
 portance of every part of their foundation being laid in 
 the most careful and solid manner. From the moment 
 they take the Latin grammar in hand, they ought to be 
 entreated not to slight any part of their work ; and to 
 make a point, whatever it may cost them, of being exact 
 and thorough in every thing. This may give more trou- 
 ble in the outset; but it will save trouble in the end. 
 He who begins well, will proceed afterwards with more 
 ease, more celerity, and more profit : whereas, he, whose 
 studies in classic literature and in the sciences are lame 
 and crude, may rely on it that he will be like a man with 
 weights tied to his feet, which will, necessarily, impede 
 his progress in every subsequent part of his journey 
 Let me entreat you, then, Mr. Editor, and through you, 
 
94 PREPARATORY STUDY 
 
 all who have any thing to do with the Board of Educa- 
 tion — ^to labour to impress the minds of your beneficia- 
 ries with a due sense of their obligations on this subject. 
 I would respectfully propose, that you not only put into 
 their hands sound and seasonable publications on the sub- 
 ject ; but that you, as far as possible, personally address 
 each individual, and endeavour to reach his conscience in 
 reference to the duty which I am labouring to recom- 
 mend. Try to convince them, that whenever they pass 
 over any subject which it is made their duty to study, 
 in a hasty and superficial manner ; whenever they con- 
 tent themselves with stinted and imperfect knowledge, 
 they cJieat themselves ; they cheat the Churchy by whose 
 maternal bounty they are sustained; they attempt to 
 cheat the great Head of the Church., to whom they owe 
 their best services. O that candidates for the Ministry 
 cuuld be persuaded to feel, that this is not a subject con- 
 cerning which they are at liberty to " confer with flesh 
 and blood ; " but that they are as much bound io prepare 
 themselves in the test possible manner to serve their Mas- 
 ter in heaven, as they are to pray, to study his word, or to 
 believe in his name. And if any young man, after having 
 the subject properly set before him, cannot be prevailed 
 upon, to go through a regular and full course of study, 
 both classical and theological, I, for one, am prepared to 
 say that, from the moment this disposition is discovered, 
 your Board ought to decline sustaining him. The pious 
 young man who has gotten it into his head that zeal, 
 without solid knowledge will answer for a minister of 
 
FOR THE HOLY MINISTRY. 95 
 
 the Gospel, ought at once to be told, that he will be 
 much more likely to promote the cause of true religion 
 as an industrious mechanic, or in some other secular 
 employment, than as " an ambassador of Christ" 
 
 With many prayers for the success of jour important 
 Institution, 
 
 I am, my dear Sir, 
 
 Yours, &C. 
 
 SAMUEL MILLER. 
 
 Princeton, May fHth, 1832. 
 
 h2 
 
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