, 1889-06-28
A THOUGHT AWAKENER.


of an important suburban church, where
in a highly respectable and not wholly
unintelligent congregation was wont to
assemble for worship. In that congrega-
ton the pastor had no enemies, while he
could boast of n large number of thor
ouGh going and ardent admirers. The
man was admittedly well fitted for his
post He was kind hearted, liberal
minded, quick witted, a fluent speaker
and, in the opinion of many, a thought
full as well as an eloquent preacher.
But, in truth, thoughtful" was just
what DIR. Sparkle was o His great
dificulty-and one that increased weekly
was about ideas. When he knew what
to say he could say it well. No man could
produce n more brilliant "-coruscation"
or effective flare up from n paltry amount
of material; but then the fuel had TO come
from somewhere, and that was the doc
tors difficulty. He had a reputation to
maintain. and he was fully, almost pain
fully. conscious of the fact. When Mr..
Grundy, the peoples warden, invited a
friend home for Sunday he would say,
''The missus will do the best she can to
provide n bit of dinner, and we can prom
Use you n good SERMON, at all events"
Grundy, who was n good fellow though
a jerry builder, used to repeat his little
joke TO the parson, and no doubt he was
a fair representative of many others in
the congregation.
Unde these circumstances, and being
sorely harassed by the recurrent drying
up of the well spring of his ideas, Dr..
Sparkle had his attention arrested one
morning by an artfully worded circular
which he found among his letters. 1t
began as follows:
STRICTLY PRIvATE-Ad Clcrum.
MOVED by the spirit of sympathy and
actuated, rs he humbly hopes, by n de-
sire to promote the highest ends, the
writer addresses himself to his over
wrought and sorely oppressed brethren.
Having had an exceptionally wide ex-
p~erience OF parish work in town and
country. samong rich and poor, educa-
ted and ignorant, he believes himself
10 be fully conversant with the tastes
and requirements of each separate class
in the community. No one better than
the present writer knows what 1t Is to
nave 10 ~prepare-amid n multitude of
other vocatiOns-two, three or more ser
mons n week. He has suffered himself,
and can therefore feel for his brethren
who are suffering. Accordingly he is
anxious, at the lowest price that will
cover actual outlay, TO impart TO his
brethren the results of n system of SER
mon production which has been per-
fectcd by himself after years of anxious
toll and profound study"
After n nonl IaaI mora Of fbfs a,rf 30
thing, the circular went on to explain
that clients could be provided either ~
with the finished article, /. e., a litho-
graphed sermon ready for immediate
delivery, and carefully adapted to any
specified class of hearers; or () with q
Thought awakener" or skeleton, con-
tanning outlines, illustrations, applica-
tons, etc, which could be filled in or
amplified according to the tastes and
talents of the purchasers. Finally n
guarantee was given that the same SER
mon or body Of notes would never be
sent to two ~clergynen residing within
fifty miles of each other, and that MS far
as possible a yet wider area of distribu-
ton would be observed.
DR.. Sparkle smiled as he read the
bombastic document, and was about TO
throw it into the waste paper basket
when something stayed his hand.
Il wonder whether many clergymen
avail themselves of this sort of thing,
my dear?'' he said, tossing the circular
10 his faithful wife, who generally sat
with him for an hour of n morning.
ITO deliberately get up and read anoth-
cr mans sermon seems to me absolutely
sinful"
but all men are not gifted like you,
Lethe, dear, and l suppose there are
some who find it very difficult to preach
a good sermon" suggested Mrs. Sparkle.
ut is the dishonesty of the thing that
shocks me-" explained the doctor. 'If
n man can't write a sermon or hasn't
time, let him honestly say so. Let him
take n printed book and read from It;
but to go into the pulpit with n litho-
graph and deliver it as his own is n
thing l annot conceive any Christian
man daring to do"
lit would be different if it were only
the notes." said the lady, who had beer
examining n specimen Thought awak-
ener" that had been inclosed with the
circular.
4 htn I lht tle luti Ut ALI IL haNOTS
of untruthfulness," replied the vicar in
n lofty tone.
Mrs Sparkle felt rebuked, not so
much for what she had said as for some
thing she had ventured to think.
Some time after this the vicar found
it necessary to appoint n new curate, the
old n having married a rich wife and
forthwith kicked over the traces. The
requirements for the vacant office were
n gentlemanly presence, a good clear
voice and just such an moun of preach
ing ability as would satisfy the congre-
CATION without endangering the wears
ascendency and popularity. Among the
several applicants the doctors favorite
was the Rev. Jonathan Cribber. But as
it was necessary, in appearance at least,
to consult the wishes of the congregation
(who were expected to find the funds), it
was arranged that, before arriving at a
decision, the young man should be in
vited to preach on a certain Sunday even
ing. mot, of course, a trial Sermon
the vicar wa careful to explain; that
is n thing / abominate and would always
sat my faca auaiput Init inct 20 LOT xo,