Show PROFESSOR Bi BOOKIE ACKIE ON PUL FUL PIT REFORM PROFESSOR BLACKIE addressed a very large audience in the mechanics ieh ich chanies chanles atiles cs hall dumfries scott scotland and dec 27 his lecture was upon the gothe scottish nationality touching upon ecclesiastical matters h he e is ls thus reported in the scotsman 99 tho the he learned professor said lie he would woula give eive them an opinion of his own as to pre preaching he consider ed we suffered from having caving a great deal too nanny many beri seri sermons L laughter it had bad become a kind of ro routine 11 and a great many people preached sermons sermon who had bad no right to preach them because they could not laughter his opinion of pulpit reformers then which ile he now here promulgated for the tho first time an opinion which had been long sticking in his bosom and which he now drew wout out oui was simply this that we ought not to confound the functions of people who held ecclesiastical offices that we ought to have a special race of ministers called evangelists who ought to be chosen for their preaching faculty and have that faculty specially trained and who ought to go round the whole country as preachers I 1 watering the churches the other offices such as visiting somo some of which were of far m mome more ore oro importance than preaching and which were at present neglected and inevitably neglected by our great preachers might bo be performed by the tho resident ministers while the ing lug apostles or evangelists should preach reach a sermon at dimmie diffie different rent places once a month the sermon must be one that would come down ilk like ilke one of those terrible leading arti artl article articie clep in the times or the which all people talked when they appeared lau iau laughter ahter such a sermon as would make those who heard it ask themselves what thoy they must mustio do to carry out thu tho duties which it laid before them that thley know was not always asked by churchgoing church going deop people le on monday under the tho present system laughter oar sermons were too vague lind and too weakly they were like toddy composed of one tenth whiskey and nine tenths water laughter but what he had sald said was out of pure love to the clergy he knew they labored and groaned under the multitude of sins but they hey did not come down sufficiently ay or wit 11 sufficient lelent force n on tile the besetting sins of thie people he sometime sometimes i thought he had bad mistaken his calling in not be being a I 1 preacher he would certainly bave have come thump dom dovin n on their beset besetting f inns drs laughter i |