3. The object of the evangelist is the awakening of souls and the revival of religion; his subjects, therefore, are properly adapted in their nature and in the manner of their presentation to secure that result. The range of topics is thus necessarily limited, and the manner is naturally stimulating and exciting. From this comparative narrowness in the range of his theme and of his biblical and theological investigation, there is danger of one-sidedness in his views of truth. Seeking as he does, also, immediate results, he is liable to fail in perceiving and estimating at their just importance ultimate results in the permanent life and power of the church. Measures have sometimes been adopted in the midst of a religious excitement which the calm after-thought of the people could not approve, and the result has been a reaction in the public judgment, condemning the work and seriously injuring the church. 4. Eccentricity in the evangelist, when it is natural as a part of his individuality, may possibly be an element of power, at least as awakening curiosity and calling the people to the house of God, but when assumed and cultivated with a view to popular effect it is always unfortunate. Sensational subjects, slang phrases, vulgarisms, overcolored anecdotes, exaggerated statements, oddities of manner, though for the moment exciting the attention, and possibly the applause, of the audience, inevitably in the end react to the disadvantage of the speaker and his cause; the sober after-thought of even the irreligious will condemn them in one who is dealing with souls in the great concerns of religion. "He that negotiates between God and man, As God's ambassador, the grand concerns Of judgment and of mercy should beware Of lightness in his speech. 'Tis pitiful To court a grin when you should woo a soul; To break a jest when pity would inspire Pathetic exhortation; and t' address The skittish fancy with pathetic tales When sent with God's commission to the heart."[2] The evangelist, perhaps, is in special danger of seeking the temporary advantage which eccentricity brings, because for the time it gathers the multitude to his preaching; and, leaving soon, he fails to see the disastrous reaction which afterward it is sure to bring.