I had a partiality for practical books. As I have already said, among my
favorite English authors were Hooker, and Baxter, and Barrow, and Howe,
and Jeremy Taylor, and Penn, and Tillotson, and Law. Baxter stood first,
and my favorite books were his _Christian Directory_, his _Life of
Faith_, his _Crucifixion of the World by the Cross of Christ_, and his
_Directions for Settled Peace of Conscience_. But, in truth, it is hard
to say which of his works I did not regard as favorites. I liked his
_Catholic Theology_, his _Aphorisms on Justification_, his
_Confessions_, and even his Latin _Methodus Theologiae_. I read him
everlastingly. I read Law and Barrow too, till I almost knew many of
their works by heart. I studied Penn from beginning to end. And I never
got tired of reading Hooker. I regarded his _Ecclesiastical Polity_ as
one of the richest, sweetest, wisest, saintliest books under heaven.
My favorite French authors were Massillon, Fenelon, Flechier, Bourdaloue
and Saurin, all practical preachers. Massillon moved me most. I have
read him now at intervals for more than forty years, and I read him
still with undiminished profit and delight. He is the greatest of all
preachers; the most eloquent, the most powerful; and his works abound
with the grandest, the profoundest, the most impressive and overpowering
views of truth and duty.
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