By the same author, preparing for publication, IN ONE VOLUME, OCTAVO. THE EARLY YEARS OF CHRISTIANITY; A SEQUEL TO "JESUS CHRIST: HIS TIMES, LIFE, AND WORK." NOW READY. A second and cheaper edition, in crown 8vo, price 9s., cloth. JESUS CHRIST: HIS TIMES, LIFE, AND WORK. FROM THE CONTEMPORARY REVIEW.-"One of the most valuable additions to Christian literature which the present generation has seen. He has written on the greatest of all subjects, and has written with a simplicity of intention to instruct, with a ripeness of ability and learning, and Christian wisdom, and a largeness of apprehension well worthy to be devoted to the illustration of so great and sacred a theme." FROM THE BRITISH QUARTERLY REVIEW.-" M. de Pressensé's work is characterized by the learning, patience, brilliance, and insight which have given him so high a place among the literary men of Europe." FROM THE SUNDAY MAGAZINE.-" The work of an able and excellent author, whose appreciation of our Lord Jesus Christ, both in His person and in His work, is at once profound and discriminating, and whom no doubts or difficulties hinder from claiming the honour due to the name that is above every name. In point of learning, intellectual power, and that point and brilliancy of diction for which the French language is so remarkable when wielded by a master, the merit of this work is remarkably high." THE MYSTERY OF SUFFERING, AND OTHER DISCOURSES. E. DE BY PRESSENSÉ, D.D., Author of "Jesus Christ: His Times, Life, and Work." TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE. Ir is a common complaint of the sermon-hearers of our day, that fire and force are extinct in the pulpit. It is as common a complaint of the preachers, that a cold and critical generation has lost the power of hearing. The two recriminations may perhaps be taken as neutralizing each other possibly it is those who cannot preach who for the most part complain of their hearers; possibly those who are dull of hearing are loudest in the outcry against the pulpit. It is at least fair that, while the position of the preacher is thus assailed, his words should have the widest possible opportunity of vindicating themselves through the press, to an impartial public, or of receiving a weightier condemnation than that of any particular congregation. Even in this way the cause will scarcely have a fair trial; for while reasons can readily be adduced for the reputed decline of influence in the modern pulpit, it is less easy to estimate the indirect power for good of many a homely sermon, which the critic's scalpel may soon deprive of all logical unity or vitality. Even the best sermons are submitted to a severe test, when they have to make their appeal, not through the animated voice, but through cold, unmodulated type. The ordeal must be yet more severe, when the thoughts of the preacher, beside being translated from the vocal to the silent utterance, are submitted to the yet further |