work complete.

We shall now take the three words of Cicero in order.

[Side note: _Docere_]

How shall we accomplish all implied in that word "_docere_?" How
embed conviction in the minds of our hearers? Fill your own head
to repletion with the subject; be ambitious to leave, if
possible, no book unread, books of even collateral bearing. The
more thought stored up the more complete will be your mastery
over the subject and the more abundant the materials from which
to select. I was struck by a letter from Father Faber to a
friend:--"I intend writing a book on the Passion. I have already
read a hundred works on the subject; see if you can get me any
more." A hundred volumes, yet he looks for more! Hence his brain
was saturated with his subject, and when he tapped it, how
copiously it flowed! What books should I read?

[Side note: What books to read]

The solid matter in Theology and the Sacred Scriptures and their
developments. A book of sermons is the last to open. Why? You
wish to raise a structure, then go to the original quarry where
you have material in abundance. The arguments that bear the
shaping of your own chisel, though not as polished as those you
would borrow, will fit more naturally and adorn with greater
grace. There are two great risks in reading sermon books--a
tendency to imitate the style and a temptation to filch the
jewels. The style may be very sublime, but the question is will