1925 Edited with Introduction and Biographical Notes by Joseph Fort Newton (D.D., Litt.D.) Memorial Church of St. Paul, Philadelphia; Late of Church of Author of "Some Living Masters of the Pulpit," "Preaching Sword of the Spirit," etc. "The ICIO New York Harcourt, Brace and Company COPYRIGHT, 1925, BY PRINTED IN THE U. S. A. BY RAHWAY, N. J. For the pulpit is ever this earth's foremost part; all the rest comes in its rear; the pulpit leads the world. From thence it is that the storm of God's quick wrath is first descried, and the bow must bear the earliest brunt. From thence it is that the God of breezes fair or foul is first invoked for favorable winds. Yes, the world's a ship on its passage out, and not a voyage complete; and the pulpit is its prow. -Herman Melville, Moby Dick. The cordial reception with which the first volume of Best Sermons was greeted is most encouraging, as showing the interest in preaching when it is the voice of a warm, spiritual, consecrated manhood, in which art and insight are joined, speaking the language of faith without regard to sect. In the present volume a larger number of communions are represented, and the editor rejoices in the coöperation of both the Jewish and the Catholic pulpits, not alone for the high quality of the sermons contributed, but also to make plain that in our pulpit symphony all voices are welcome: only exclusiveness is excluded. The labor of preparing such a volume is prodigious, but it is extraordinarily interesting, and it suggests many reflections. Our generation, if not actually suffering from suppressed religion, at least has an in |