Now, in respect to this general culture, the points I here emphasize are, that it should be systematically and earnestly prosecuted, and that on all the subjects studied only the standard, thoroughly-tested authors should be read. Such a plan of reading, steadily pursued year after year, will make an ever-growing mind, developing symmetrically on every side into a noble, intellectual manhood. It only requires conscientious earnestness and persistency. The time wasted by some ministers in mental dissipation over newspapers and ephemeral literature would suffice to put them into communion with those master-minds of the ages, and secure the culture and wealth found in these highest realms of thought. II. BIBLICAL AND THEOLOGICAL CULTURE. The great work of a pastor is instruction in the truths of the Bible; and wherever else he may fail, he must at least be a master in the Gospel. Ignorance on some of the topics already mentioned, though unfortunate, may still be tolerated, but in the man who ventures into the pulpit as a public instructor in the Bible, a want of biblical knowledge and the utterance of crude, undiscriminating statements of truth can never be excused. No mere rhetorical power or seeming earnestness can atone for a want of thorough mastery of the themes of the pulpit. Biblical and theological investigation should, therefore, have a large place in the pastor's plan of study. 1. _Here, first of all, and most important, is the direct study of the Bible, bringing the mind into living contact with God's Word._ As students in the Hebrew and Greek, let a part of each day be given to careful, critical study of the Scriptures in the Divine originals as they were indited by the Holy Spirit. No translation, however perfect, can possibly give one the whole impression of the original. A little careful work each day in reading the original Scriptures will soon make the process easy and delightful, and its value is above all price. But, whether in the inspired original or in a version, the Bible should be carefully studied. It is God's own Word, the great instrument of His power, "the sword of the Spirit." The Holy Spirit works only through Divine truth, and that must ever be the mightiest pulpit which most fully and clearly unfolds these living words of God. (1.) As accessory to biblical interpretation, I suggest the study of the geography and history of Bible lands. The power to localize the characters and events of Scripture and place them in their historical surroundings is of the highest importance. Thus, in reading the Pentateuch and earlier historical books, how much more vividly are the events conceived if you are familiar with the localities in Egypt, the desert, and Palestine; or in reading Ezra, Nehemiah, and Daniel if you have clear ideas of the place and history of Assyria and Babylon; or in the New Testament if you have studied the condition and localities of the Roman Empire, then