HOMILETIOS,
AND
PASTORAL THEOLOGY.
BT.
WILLIAM G.- T.r SHEDD, D. D.,
BALDWIN PROFESSOR, IN UNION THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY, NEW TORK CITY.
EIGHTH EDITION.
NEW YORK:
CHARLES SCRIBNER & CO., 654 BROADWAY.
1870.




Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1867,
B3  CHARLES SCRIBNER & CO.,
In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for the
Southern District of New York.




PREFATORY NOTE.
MOST of the materials of this treatise were originally composed, in the form  of Lectures, in the
years 1852 and 1853, when the author held the
Professorship of Sacred Rhetoric and Pastoral Theology, in Auburn  Theological Seminary.  Upon
entering on other lines of study and instruction.
they were thrown aside.  Several of them, within
the last two years, have appeared in the American Theological Review, and the interest which
they seemed to awaken has led to the revision
of the whole  series, and to  their combination
(with two or three other Essays, upon kindred
topics), into the form of a book. Although constructed in this manner, the author believes that




iv                  PREFACE.
one "increasing purpose" runs through the volume, and hopes that it may serve to promote,
what is now the great need of the Church, a masculine  and vigorous  Rhetoric, wedded with  an
earnest and active Pastoral zeal.
NEW YORK, February 16, 1867.




CONTENTS.
HOMILETICS.
CHAPTER  I.
PAGI
Relation of Sacred Eloquence to Biblical Exegesis                  1
CHAPTER II.
Distinctive Nature of Homiletics and Reasons for its Cultivation  38
CHAPTER II.
Fundamental Properties of Style.59
CHAPTER IV.
General Maxims for Sermonizing...         10
CHAPTER V.
Special Maxims for Sermonizing...     127
CHAPTER VI.
The different Species of Sermons.  144
CHAPTER VII.
The Nature and Choice of a Text....     159
CHAPTER VIII.
The'Plan of a Sermon.                                         179
CHAPTER IX.
Extemporaneous Preaching.....     218




Vi                          CONTENTS.
CHAPTER X.
PAGO
The Matter, Manner, and Spirit of Preaching... 245
CHAPTER XI.
Reciprocal Relations of Preacher and Hearer..     258
CHAPTER XII.
Liturgical Cultivation of the Preacher... 296
PASTORAL THEOLOGY.
CHAPTER I.
Definition of Pastoral Theology....     319
CHAPTER II.
Religious Character and Habits of the Clergyman.. 323
CHAPTER III.
Intellectual Character and Habits of the Clergyman.     345
CHAPTER IV.
Social and Professional Character of the Clergyman.. 371
CHAPTER V.
Pastoral Visiting.....      389
CHAPTER VI.
Catechising....                 407




HOMILETIC S.
CHAPTER I.
RELATION OF SACRED ELOQUENCE TO BIBLICAL EXEGESIS.
TmE sources of Sacred Eloquence, it is evident,
must lie deeper than those of secular oratory.. That
address from the Christian pulpit which, in its ultimate results, has given origin to all that is best in
human civilization and hopeful in human destiny,
must have sprung out of an intuition totally
different from that which is the secret of secular
and civil oratory. It is conceded by all, that eloquence is the product of ideas; and therefore, in
endeavoring to determine what is the real and solid
foundation of pulpit oratory, we must, in the outset,
indicate the range of ideas and the class of truths
from which it derives both its subject-matter and
its inspiration. These we shall find in Divine revelation, as distinguished from human literature. The
Scriptures of the Christian Church, and not the wri




2                  HOMILETICS.
tings of the great masters of secular letters, are the
fons et origo of sacred eloquence. It will therefore
be the aim of this introductory chapter in a treatise
upon Homiletics, to consider the influence, in oratorical respects, upon the preacher, of the thorough
exegesis and mastery of the Word of God. And in
order to perform this task with most success and
convincing power, it will be necessary to make some
preliminary observations upon the nature of the
written revelation itself, and particularly upon the
relation in which the human mind stands to it.
The opening of one of the most sagacious and
suggestive of modern treatises in philosophy reads as
follows: "Man, as the minister and interpreter of
nature, does and understands as much as his observa.
tions on the order of nature, either with regard to
matter or to mind, permit him, and neither knows
nor is capable of more."' In this dictum  of Lord
Bacon, which he lays down as the corner-stone of his
philosophical system, reflecting and speculating man
is represented to be an interpreter. The function of
the philosopher is not to originate truth, but to
explain it. He is to stand up before a universe of
matter, and a universe of mind, and his office is'to
interrogate them, and hear what they say. He is
not to attempt an exertion of his own power upon
them in order to reconstruct them, and thereby put
a meaning into them, He is not to distort them,
BACON: NoVl on Organum, Aph. 1.




ELOQUENCE AND EXEGESIS.            3
by injecting into them his own prejudices and pre.
conceptions; but simply going up to them with reverence and with freedom, he is to take them just as
they are, and to question them just as they stand,
until he gets their answer. The spirit of a philosopher, then, according to this sagacious Englishman,
is no other than the spirit of an inter-preter. If we
might employ his own proud phrase, " Francis Verulam thought" that the great aim and office of philosophy is hermeneutical. The result of all speculative inquiry into the world of matter and of mind,
according to this wise and substantial thinker, should
be an exegesis, an explanation. Under the impulse
and guidance of this theory, modern science, more
particularly in the sphere of material nature, has
made progress. That wise and prudent interrogation of nature which has been so characteristic of
the last two centuries has yielded a clear and loud
response. The world of matter has replied to many
of the questions that have been put to it. The
stone has cried out of the wall, and the beam out of
the timber has answered.
But if this is true and fruitful in philosophy, it
is still more so in theology. The duty and function
of the theologian is most certainly that of an interpreter, and that alone. With yet more positiveness
may we adapt the phraseology of the opening sen.
tence of the Novum  Organum, and say: "Man, as
the minister and interpreter of revelation, does and
understands as much as his observations on the




4                  HOMILETICS.
order and structure of revelation permit him, and
neither knows nor is capable of more." For revelation is as much the product of the Divine intelli.
gence as the worlds are the product of the Divine
power.  Man confessedly did not originate the
world, and neither did man originate the Christian
Scriptures.  The ultimate authorship of each alike
carries us back to the Infinite. For though in the
propagation of the species, and the sustentation of
animal life upon the planet, the creature oftentimes
seems to have an agency analogous to that of the
Creator himself, yet we well know that all things
in the material universe are of God ultimately; so,
likewise, though in the production of those documents which make up the canon of inspiration,
many individual men were employed with a freedom and spontaneousness that looks like original
authorship, yet it was the infinite and all-knowing
intelligence of God which is the head-spring, the
fonsfontiusz  of it all.
The attitude, therefore, of the human mind
toward revelation, should be precisely the same as
toward nature. The naturalist does not attempt to
mould the mountains to his patterns; and the theologian must not strive to pre-configure the Scriptures to his private opinions. The mountain is an
object, positive, fixed, and entirely independent of
the eye that looks upon it; and that mass of truth
which is contained in the Christian Scriptures is
also an object, positive, fixed, and entirely independ



ELOQUENCE AND EXEGESIS.            5
ent of the individual mind that contemplates it.
The crystalline humor of the eye is confessedly
passive in relation to the mountain mass that looms
up before it in majesty and in glory. It receives
an  impression and experiences a sensation, not
mechanically or chemically indeed, as wax melts
before fire, or as an alkali effervesces under an acid,
yet inevitably, and in accordance with the real and
independent nature of the mountain.  And the
moral mind of man, in relation to the moral truth
of God which is set over against it in his revelation, should in like manner be recipient, and take
an impression that issues inevitably from the nature
and qualities of fixed and eternal truth. Neither
in the instance of the eye nor of the mind, is the
function that of authorship or origination; it is that
of living recipiency and acquiescence. In the presence of both nature and revelation, man, as Lord
Bacon phrases it, is a minister and interpreter, and
not a creator and lord.
The talent, then, which comprehends the reve.
lation of the Eternal Mind, is not creative but
exegetical. The etymology of the term  exegesis
implies a leading forth (E4Oynoyal) into the light
of a clear perception, of an idea that is shut up in
human language. It supposes words, —words that
are filled with thoughts that require to be conducted from behind the veil which covers them.
Exegesis, therefore, implies a written word. It supposes a written revelation. There can be no inter



6                 HOMILETICS.
pretation unless thought has been vocalized, and
fixed in outward symbols. An unwritten revelation, confined to the individual consciousness, never
projected into language and never taking a literary
form, could not be an object of critical examination, and could not yield the rich fruits of analysis
and contemplation. Those theorizers who combat
the doctrine of a "book revelation," and contend
for only an internal and subjective communication
from the mind of God to the mind of man, present
a theory which, if it were transferred to the sphere
of human literature, would bring all intellectual
investigation and stimulation to a dead stop. If
all the thinking of man were confined to consciousness; if his ideas were never expressed in language,
and written down in a literature that is the outstanding monument of what he has felt and thought;
if within the sphere of secular thinking man were
limited to his isolated individualism, and were never
permitted to fix his eye and mind upon the results
to which fellow minds had come; the most absolute stagnation would reign in the intellectual
world. If, for illustration, we could conceive that
the intellect of Newton had been able to go through
those mathematical processes which are now embodied in his Principia, without expressing them
in the symbols of mathematics and the propositions
of human language; if we could conceive of the
Principia as held in his individual consciousness
merely, and never presented in an outward form to




ELOQUENCE AND EXEGESIS.            7
become a zcEya gs dei for all generations; it is plain
that the name of Newton would not be, as it now
is. one of the intellectual forces and influences of the
human race. All that mass of pure science which
has been the subject-matter of mathematical exegesis for two centuries, and which has been the
living germ out of which, by the method of interpretation, the fine growths of modern mathematics
have sprung, would have gone into eternity and
invisibility with the spirit of Newton, and "left
not a rack behind."
I. Biblical Interpretation, therefore, postulates a
written word, and a sacred literature; and in now
proceeding to notice some of the oratorical influences that issue from it, we mention, in the first
place, the originality which it imparts to religious
thinking and discourse.  We shall maintain the
position, that the sacred orator is quickened by the
analytical study of the sacred volume into a freedom,
freshness, and force, that are utterly beyond his
reach without it.
Originality is a term often employed, rarely
defined, and very often misunderstood. It is frequently supposed to be equivalent to the.creation
of truth.  An original mind, it is vulgarly imagined,
is one that gives expression to ideas and truths that
were never heard of before,-ideas and truths "of
which the human mind never had even an intimation
or presentiment, and which come into it by a mortal
leap, abrupt and startling, without antecedents and




8                   IHOMILETICS.
without premonitions."  But no such originality as
this is possible to a finite intelligence.  Such aboriginality as this is the prerogative of the Creator
alone, and the results of it are a revelation, in the
technical and strict sense of the term. Only God
can create de nihilo, and only God can make a communication of truth that is absolutely new.  Originality in man is always relative, and never absolute. Select, for illustration, an original thinker
within the province of philosophy,-select the contemplative, the profound, the ever fresh and living
Plato.  Thoughtfully peruse his weighty and his
musical periods, and ask yourself whether all this
wisdom is the sheer make of his intellectual energy,
or whether it is not rather an emanation and efflux
from a mental constitution which is as much yours
as his. He did not absolutely originate these first
truths of ethics, these necessary forms of logic, these
fixed principles of physics.  They were inlaid in
his rational structure by a higher author, and by an
absolute authorship; and his originality consists
solely in their exegesis and interpretation.  And
this is the reason that, on listening to his words, we
do not seem to be hearing tones that are wholly
unknown and wholly unheard of. We find an answering voice to them in our own mental and moral
constitution. In no contemptuous, but in a reverential and firm tone, every thinking person, even in
the presence of the great thinkers of the race, may
employ the language of Job, in reference to self



ELOQUENCE AND EXEGESIS.             9
evident truths and propositions: "Lo, mine eye
hath seen all this, mine ear hath heard and understood it.  What ye know, the same do I know
also; I am not inferior unto you."    And these
great thinkers themselves are the first to acknowledge this. Upon the fact of a community in reason,
a partnership in the common ideas of humanity,
Plato hinmself founded his famous argument for the
pre-existence of the soul. The very fact that every
human creature recognizes the first truths of science
and of morals as no strange and surprising dogmas,
but native and familiar, would imply, in his judgment, an earlier world, a golden time, when their
acquaintance was made under brighter skies, and
under happier omens, than here and now. 1
Originality, then, within the sphere of a creature
and in reference to a finite intelligence, consists in
the power of interpretation. In its last analysis it is
exegesis,-the pure, genial, and accurate exposition
of an idea or a truth already existing, already communicated, already possessed. Plato interprets his
own rational intelligence; but he was not the author
of that intelligence. He expounds his own mental
and moral ideas; but those ideas are the handiwork of God.  They are no more his than ours.
We find what he found, no more and no less, if he
has been a truthful exegete.  The process, in his
instance and that of his reader, is simply that of
Compare the AUTHOR's "Discourses and Essays," p. 125, sq.




10                  HOMILETICS.
education and elicitation. There has been no creation, but only a development; no absolute authorship, but only an explication. And yet how fresh
and original has been the mental process!  The
same substantially in Plato and in the thousands of
his scholars; and yet in every single instance there
has been all the enthusiasm, all the stimulation, all
the ebullient flow  of life and feeling that attends
the discovery of a new continent or a new star.
" Then feels he like some watcher of the skies
When a new planet swims into his ken;
Or like stout Cortez, when with eagle eyes
He stared at the Pacific, and all his men
Looked at each other with a wild surmise,
Silent, upon a peak in Darien."
Originality in man, then, is not the power of
making a communication of truth, but of apprehending  one.  Two great communications have
been made to him, —the one in the book of nature,
and the other in the book of revelation.  If the
truth has been conveyed through the mental and
moral structure, if it has been wrought by the creative hand into the fabric of human nature, then
he is the most original thinker who is most successful in reading it just as it reads, and expounding it just as it stands.  If the truth has been communicated by miracle, by incarnation, and by the
Holy Ghost; if it has been imparted by special
inspiration, and lies before him  an objective and
written revelation; then he ib the original thinker




ELOQUENCE AND EXEGESIS.                  11
who is most successful in its interpretation,-whto is
most accurate in analyzing its living elements, and
is most genial and cordial in receiving theml Into
his own mental and moral being.
These observations find, their entorcement and
illustration, the instant we apply them to the Christian Scriptures and their interpretation.   We have
already noticed that, in respect to the problems of
religion, man can originate nothing, but must take
what he finds given to him fi'om the skies.  Even if
revealed religion be rejected, man does not escape
from the authority of fixed truth, unless he adopt
atheism and an absolute licentiousness of thought
and action.  The doctrines of natural religion are
a Divine comnmunication, as really as those of revealed.'   They are as immutable in their nature,
and as independent of man's will and prejudices, as
those of Christianity itself. When we wake up to
moral consciousness, and  begin  to  reflect  upon
the principles of ethics that are wrought into our
moral constitution, we discover that we are already
under their domination  and righteous despotism.
We have no option.  Neither can we alter them;'Hence, St. Paul employs the in the constitution of the human
same word (aroKa2v-7rrerat) to de- spirit.  The opy/ &eov fearfully
note the ultimate source of the apprehended in paganism, and
truths of natural religion, that he the dKaLtoavvr &eo5 known only in
employs in reference to the plan  Christendom, are both alike'revof redemption itself. The intui- elations,' the one being unwritten
tive perception that God will pun- and the other written. —See Romn.
ish sin is, in its last analysis, the i. 17, 18..product of the Creator Himself




1            ~2 I~HOMILETICS.
we cannot make a hair of them white or black. We
are compelled to take them exactly as they are
given.  We must be passive and submissive to
what Cudworth denominates the "immutable morality" which antedates all finite existence, and
which was in the beginning with God. And so
likewise when we pass from the problems of natu
ral religion to those of revealed; when we pass
from the question concerning human duty to the
awful question concerning human salvation, we
discover that the principles upon which this salvation reposes, and the methods by which it is to be
accomplished, are settled in the heavens. What is
written is written, and man the sinner, like man
the moralist, must be recipient and submissive to
the communication that is made. For the promises
of Christianity are more entirely dependent upon
the Divine option and volition, than are the principles of ethics and natural religion. The Deity is
necessitated to punish sin, but is under no necessity
of pardoning it. When, therefore, the human mind
passes from ethics to evangelism, it is still more
closely shut up to the record which God has given.
If it must take morality just as it is communicated
in reason and conscience, it must most certainly
take mercy on the terms upon which it is offered in
the written word; because these terms depend
solely upon the will and decision of the pardoning
power.
In this wise and docile recipiency of that which




ELOQUENCE AND EXEGESIS.           13
is fixed and eternal, we find the fountain of perennial youth and freshness for the sacred orator. For
by it, he is placed in vital relations to all that universe of truth which is contained in the Christian
Scriptures. Think for a moment of their contents.
Bring to mind the ideas and doctrines which hang
like a constellation in these heavens. Think of the
revelation made in them concerning the trinal unity
of God, that infinite vortex of life, being, and blessedness, to which the meagre and narrow unit of
deism presents such a feeble contrast. Think of
the incarnation, in which all the plenitude of the
divine nature blends, and harmonizes, with the winning helplessness and finiteness of a creature. Think
of the ideas that are involved in the Biblical account
of tile origin of man, his fall into the abyss of moral
evil, and his recovery to innocence, to holiness, and
to glory. Think of the kingdom of God, an idea
wholly foreign to the best of the natural religions
of the world, with its indwelling energy of the
Divine Spirit, and its continual intercourse with
the invisible and the eternal.  Contemplate these
new ideas that have been lodged in the consciousness of the human race by the Scriptures of the
Old and New Dispensations; think of their suggestiveness, their logical connections, the new light
which they flare upon the nature and destiny of
man, the totally different coloring which they throw
on the otherwise dark and terrible history of man
on the globe; weigh this immense mass of truth




14                  HOMILETICS.
and dogma in the scales of a dispassionate intelligence, and say if the mind of the preacher will not
be filled with freshness, with force, and with originality, in proportion as it absorbs it.
For, to recur to our definition of originality, the
human intellect is stirred into profound and genial
action, only as it receives an impression from something greater and grander than itself. If it adopts
the egotism of such a theory as that of Fichte, for
example, and attempts to create from within itself,
its action must be spasmodic and barren.  To
employ the often repeated comparison of Bacon, it
is not the spider but the bee that is the truly original insect.  Only as the sermonizer and orator, by
a critical analysis of the Biblical words, and their
connections, saturates his mind with the Biblical elements (artoLZea), and feeds upon revelation as the
insect feeds upon foliage until every cell and tissue
is colored with its food, will he discourse with freedom, suggestiveness, and energy.
The influence of such familiarity with revelation
is well illustrated by that of the great products of
uninspired literature. The effect of a continual and
repeated perusal of Homer in animating the mind
is well known.  It starts the intellect into original
action.  The Greek fire glows in these poems, and
kindles every thing it touches. Though the range
of ideas in the Iliad and Odyssey is cabined, cribbed,
and confined, compared with that of a Dante or a
Shakspeare, whose intuition has been immensely




ELOQUEINCE AND EXEGESIS.           15
widened by the Christian revelation under which
he lived and thought; though the old epic in which
the fall of Troy is sung cannot compare for a
moment in breadth, depth, and vastness, with the
Christian epic in which the fall of man is told, yet
every scholar knows that just in proportion as he
imbibes the ideas and spirit of this single pagan
poem, all tameness is banished from his own ideas,
and all feebleness from his language.  The reader
of Gibbon's autobiography will notice in the abstract
which the historian gives of his readings, that day
after day the appointed task of perusing so many
lines of the Iliad is recorded as having been faithfully performed. And, moreover, he will observe
that the study is done in the light of the Port Royal
Greek Grammar; in the light of a careful investigation and mastery of the Greek verb.  Now, we
venture to affirm that what there is of energy in
the monotonous style of Gibbon, and what there is
of originality and freshness in his naturally phlegmatic and heavy understanding, is due, in no small
degree, to familiarity with the old bard of Chios.
We have cited this as only one example of the
impulse to original action that is started in the
mind, by the simple exegesis and interpretation of
one truly grand product of the human intellect.
Think of a similar contact with the Italian Dante,
or the English Chaucer, and say whether originality
GIBBON: Autobiography, p. 444, et passim.




16                 HOMILETICS.
is to be'acquired by a dead lift, or by a genial
pressure and influence.
Returning now to the Christian Scriptures, we
claim that they are the great and transcendent source
of originality and power, for the human intellect.
The examples which we have cited from the range
of uninspired literature fall far short of the reality,
when we pass to the written revelation of God.
Though grouped together in the most artless and
unambitious manner; though the work of divers
ages and different minds; though showing a variety
and inequality that passes through the whole scale
of composition, from the mere catalogue in the Book
of Chronicles, to the sublime ode in Isaiah or the
Apocalypse; though, so far as mere artistic form
and labored attempt at impression are concerned,
almost careless and  indifferent, nevertheless the
body of literature contained in the Hebrew  and
Greek Scriptures has moved upon the mind of man,
in his generations, as the moon has moved upon the
sea. The influence has been tidal.
"Exegesis," says Niebuhr, " is the fruit offinished
study."  This is a remark which that great historian makes in his letter to a young philologist,
which deserves to be perused annually by every
student, secular or sacred. "Do not read the great
authors of classical antiquity," he remarks, " in order
to make oesthetic reflections upon them, but in
order to drink in their spirit, and fill your soul
with their thoughts,-in order to gain that by read.




ELOQUENCE AND EXEGESIS.           17
ing which you would have gained by reverently
listening to the discourses of great men. This is
the philology which does the soul good; and learned
investigations, even when we have got so far as to
*be able to make them, always occupy an inferior
place. We must be fully masters of grammar (in
the ancient sense); we must acquire every branch
of antiquarian knowledge, as far as lies in our power;
but even if we can make the most brilliant emendations, and explain the most difficult passages at
sight, all this is nothing, and mere sleight-of-hand,
if we do not acquire the wisdom  and spiritual
energy of the great men of antiquity,-think and feel
like them."' Precisely this is the aim and influence
of Biblical philology and exegesis. The theologian
and preacher, by his patient study of the written
revelation, must gain that by reading which he
would have gained by reverently listening to the
discourses of the prophets, and apostles, and the
incarnate Son of God.. And this is the uniform
effect of close linguistic investigation. The power
of a grammarian is a vernacular power. Turn, for
illustration, to the commentaries of some of the
Greek Fathers, such as Theodoret and Chrysostom,
for example, and observe the close and vivid contact
which is brought about between their minds and
those of the sacred writers, by reason of their homebred knowledge of the Greek language. These com1 NIEBUHn: Life and Letters, pp. 426, 428.




18                 HOMILETICS.
mentators are not equal to some of the great Latin
Fathers, in respect to the insight that issues from a
profound dogmatical comprehension of Christian
truth.  So far as interpretation rests upon the analogy of faith and a comprehensive system, Chrysostom  is inferior to Augustine.  But in regard to
every thing that depends upon the calidda jtnctura
erborumn, upon the subtle nexus of verbs, nouns,
and particles, these exegetes who were "native and
to the manner born," must ever be the resort and
the guide of the Biblical student.'
Now, such an exegesis as this,-an exegesis of
the Scriptures that is the result of " finished" study,
and that fills the soul with the very thoughts and
spiritual energy of the holy men of old who spake
as they were moved by the Holy Ghost,-is a wellspring of originality. The influence of it is strikingly illustrated by a comparison of the English
pulpit of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries,
with that of the eighteenth. The minds of Hooker
and Howe, of Taylor and South, of Barrow  and
Bates, were thoroughly imbued with the substance
and spirit of the written revelation. It was an age
of belief, of profound religious convictions, of linguistic, reverent, and contemplative study of the
word of God.  Secular literature itself was tinctured and tinged with the supernaturalism of the
This remark holds true of  Zigabenus,,whom De Wette and
that acute Greek commentator  Meyer so often quote.
of the 12th century, Eutthymius




ELOQUENCE AND EXEGESIS.           19
Bible. The plays of Shakspeare, nay, the licentious
plays of the old English stage, are full of the awful
workings of conscience. If men sinned, they suffered
for it; if they committed adultery, they were burned
in hell-fire therefor. This was the ethics, and this
was the drama, of a period for which God was a
living person, the Bible an inspired book, and the
future life a solemn reality. The strong sense and
healthy genius of England had not yet sophisticated
itself into the denial of God's holiness, and God's
revelation, and the authority of the human conscience. Men had not learned, as they have since,
to rush into sin, and then adjust their creed to their
passions. Look, now, into the sermonizing and eloquence of these English divines, and feel the freshness and freedom that stamp them instantaneously
as original minds. They differ much in style. Some
exhibit an involved and careless construction; others
a pellucid and rhythmical flow; and one of them,
according to De Quincey, is the only rhetorician to
whom, in company with Sir Thomas Brown (himself a reverent and a Biblical mind), "it has been
granted to  open the trumpet-stop on the great
organ of passion."  But all alike are profound religious thinkers, and all alike are suggestive and
original discoursers.
Pass, now, into the eighteenth century; and read
the discourses of Alison and Blair.  We have
descended from the heights of inspired doctrine,
towards the level of natural religion; from the incar.




20                 HOMILETICS.
nation, the apostasy, the redemption, to the truth
that virtue is right and vice is wrong, that man
must be virtuous, and all will be well. How tame
and unsuggestive are these smooth commonplaces.
How  destitute of any enlarging and elevating
influence upon a thoughtful mind. How low the
general range of ideas. And the secret of the torpor and tameness lies in the fact, that these intellects had never worked their way into the deep
mines of revelation, and found the ore in the matrix.
It was an age in which Biblical exegesis had declined, and they had experienced only the more
general influences of the written word. The living
elements themselves, the evangelical dogmas, had
never penetrated and moulded their thinking.
And as we look out into this nineteenth century,
we observe the same fact. The only originality in
the Church or out of it, in sacred or in secular literature, is founded in faith.  We are well aware that
the age is fertile, and that a rank growth of belleslettres has sprung up during the last twenty-five
years having its root in unbelief. But it is a crop
of mushrooms. There is nothing in it all that will
live one hundred years.  Compare this collection of skeptical poems, novels, and essays, these
slender attempts of the modern naturalism to soar
with a feeble wing into the high heaven of invention, with the unfaltering, sustained  sweep  of
Dante, steeped in religion, and that, too, the religion
of an intense supernaturalism; or of Milton, whose




ELOQUENCE AND EXEGESIS.             21
blood and brain were tinged through and through
with Hebrew ideas and beliefs. Compare the light
flutter of the current sentimentalism, with
"the pride and ample pinion
That the Theban eagle bear,
Sailing with supreme dominion
Through the azure deep of air,"
and tell us where shall wisdom be found, and where
is the place of understanding.
II. We pass from  this topic, to consider a
second effect of the exegesis and apprehension of
the Christian revelation, that bears yet more directly
upon the office and functions of the pulpit. The
thorough exegesis and comprehension of the written Word of God, endows the human mind with
authority.
"By what authority doest thou these things?
and who gave thee this authority to do these
things?" was a question which the chief priests,
and the scribes, and the elders put to Jesus Christ.
If it was a natural question for them to ask of the
Son of God, it is certainly a natural question for the
secular, and especially the unbelieving, world,to ask
of the Christian herald.  By what right, does a
mortal man rise upon the rostrum, and make positive statements concerning the origin of the human
race, the dark mysterious beginnings of human history, the purposes and plans of the Infinite Mind, and
conclude with announcing the alternatives of eternal




22                HOMILETICS.
salvation and eternal damnation? With respect to
these dark and difficult problems, all men stand
upon a common level, if divine revelation is thrown
out of the account. Apart from the light poured
upon them  by a communication from the Divine
Mind, Confucius and Socrates have as much right
to speculate and dogmatize, as you or I. By what
right, then, does that portion of the world which
calls itself Christendom, undertake to inform that
portion of the world which is called heathendom,
concerning God and the future life; concerning the
soul, its needs, its sorrows, and its doom   What
authority has the Christian man above that of
the pagan man, in regard to the whole subject of
religion, and who gave him this authority? Why
does not Christendom, as it peers into the darkness
beyond the tomb, look reverently to Mohammedanism for light?  Why does Christianity insist that
Mohammed shall come to the mountain; and why
does the mountain refuse to go to Mohammed?
As matter of fact, the entire human race is now
receiving its lessons in theology and religion,from
only a portion of the race. In the outset, this
portion which set itself up as the teachers of mankind was only a mere fragment of the sum-total, a
mere handful of men in a corner of Palestine. The
proportion has indeed greatly altered, during the
eighteen centuries that have elapsed since the death
of Christ; but the vast majority of mankind are
still pagan. The pupils still immensely outnumber




ELOQUENCE AND EXEGESIS.            23
the teachers. By what title, does a mere fraction,
of the equally rational and equally immortal masses
that crowd this planet, arrogate to itself the posi.
tion of the tutor, and demand that the remaining
majority take the attitude of the pupil?  And, to
narrow the circle, by what title does a small class
of men rise up in Christian pulpits, and profess to
impart instruction to the large congregations of
their fellows and their equals, upon the most mo
mentous and the most mysterious of themes?
Unless; Christendom possesses a superior knowledge, it has no right to instruct heathendom; and
unless the Christian clergy are endowed with the
authority of a special revelation, and can bring credentials therefor, they have no right to speak to
their fellow-men upon the subjects of human duty
and destiny. The first and indispensable requisite,
consequently, in  both  speculative theology and
practical homiletics, is authority; and this authority
must be found in a direct and special communication from the mind of God, or it can be found
nowhere.  Throw the Scriptures out of the account,
and the whole human race is upon a dead level.
No one portion of it, no one age or generation of it,
is entitled to teach another.  That clear comnianding tone, without which the Christian herald has
no right to speak, and without which the world
will not erect its ears and hear, cannot issue from
ethics and natural religion. It must be the impulse
and the vibration of the gospel. " I am not ashamed,"




24                  HOMILETICS.
says St. Pai, " of the gospel of Christ: for it is the
power of God." Divine revelation, in his definition,
is divine power; and power is at the bottom of authority. Power generally is not ashamed, and needs
not to be. In an age like this, when force is worshipped, when the hero and the titan are set up as divinities, it will surely not be disputed that where there
is power there need be no hesitation or timidity; and
that whoever is really possessed of it, is entitled to
speak out with a commanding and an authoritative
intonation. By virtue, then, and only by virtue, of its
possession of the living oracles of God, Christendom
is entitled to sound a trumpet, and tell the world in
all its centuries, and all its grades of civilization, that
he that believeth shall be saved, and he that believeth
not shall be damned.  By virtue of his intuition
and mastery of inspired ideas and doctrines, the
Christian herald is entitled to attempt
" the height of the great argument.
And justify the ways of God to men."
1. In applying this topic more particularly to
the position and duties of the  sermonizer and
preacher, we remark, in the first place, that the
close exegetical study of the Scriptures imparts
a calm  and conscious authority, by reducing the
whole body of Holy Writ to  harmony.   The
infinenco of doubt in respect to the symmetrical
agreemeynt  and self-consistence, of the Bible, is




ELOQUENCE AND EXEGESIS.             25
weakening in  the  highest degree.  No sacred
orator can be bold and commanding in his tone,
if he believes, or if he fears, that there are fatal
contradictions and irreconcilable inconsistencies in
the written revelation. It is for this reason, that
infidelity is now  applying  its utmost acuteness
and ingenuity, to detect intrinsic and absolute contradictions in the sacred records.  The four Gospels, in particular, are the field of operations. If
it can be shown, if it can be demonstrated, that
these biographies of the God-man fatally conflict
with each other, then the portraiture of that Personage who fills all history as the sun fills the
hemisphere, becomes a fancy sketch, and Christianity disappears with its Founder.
Now, we are certain  and confident that the
careful and minute study of the Evangelists, in
the light of grammar, of philology, and of history,
results in the unassailable conviction of their trustworthiness.  The process is one of those profound
and unconscious ones which bring us to the goal
before we are aware.  The conviction that the
four Gospels are organically connected, and constitute one living and perfect harmony, cannot be
violently and quickly forced upon the mind.  At
first sight, the objections and difficulties fill the
foreground;  particularly, when  protruded  and
pressed upon the notice by the dexterity of the
biased and hostile critic.  But, as when we look
upon a grand painting, in which there is a great




26                  HOMILETICS.
variety, and complexity, and apparent contrariety,
of elements, it requires some little time for the
eye to settle gradually, and  unconsciously, into
the point from which the whole shapes itself into
harmony and beauty, so it requires wise delay,
and the slow penetration of scholarship and neditation, to reach that centre from  which  all the
parts of the evangelical biography arrange themselves harmoniously, and all contradiction disappears forever.  And when  this centre  is  once
reached, and the intrinsic, natural, artless  harmony
is once perceived, there is repose, and there is
boldness, and there is authority.  He who speaks
of Christ out of this intuition, speaks with free.
dom, with enthusiasm, with love, and with power.
Objections which at first seemed acute now look
puerile.  The piece-meal criticism, which like the
fly' scans only the edge of a plinth in the great
edifice  upon which it crawls, disappears under
a criticism  that is all-comprehending and all-surveying.
2. And similar to this, in the second place, is
the influence of a clear understanding of the dog.
matic matter of revelation.  This results in a self
consistent theological system, and this endows the
mind with authority.  Say what men may, it is
doctrine that moves the world.   He who takes
" Why has not man a microscopic eye?
For this plain reason, man is not a fly."
POPE: Essay on Man, T. 6.




ELOQUENCE AND EXEGESIS.           27
no position will not sway the human intellect.
Logical men, dogmatic men rule the world. Aristotle, Kant, Augustine, Calvin,-these are names
that instantaneously suggest systems; and systems
that are exact, solid, and maintain their place from
century to century. And when the system is not a
mere product of the human mind, like a scheme
of philosophy or a theory of art, but is really the
scheme and system of God himself imparted to his
creatures, and certified to them  by miracle, by
incarnation, and by the Holy Ghost,-when the
body of doctrine has a celestial origin,-it endows
the humble and docile recipient of it with a preternatural authority.  That which is finite can
never inspire and embolden the human soul like
that which is infinite. The human mind is indeed
a grand and noble intelligence, and we are the
last to disparage or vilify its products. We look
with respect and veneration upon the great names
in all the literatures. We exclaim, with Hamlet,
"How noble in reason! in apprehension how like
a god!"  But when we are brought face to face
with the problems of religion; when the unknown
issues of this existence press heavily upon the
apprehensive soul; when the vortex of eternity
threatens to ingulf the feeble immortal; how
destitute of authority, and certainty, are all the
utterances and communications of these heroes of
human literature. When I rise into this plane of
thought, and propose this class of questions, I




28                 HIOILETICS.
need a voice from  the open sky to assure me. I
demand an authority that issues from  God himself, before I can be certain and assured in my
own mind, and still more before I can affirm with
positiveness and power to the minds of others.
It is here that we observe the difference between the dogmatism of a philosopher, and that
of a theologian; between the positiveness of the
secular, and that of the Christian mind.  Compare
Immanuel Kant with John Calvin. No human
being has been more successful than the sage of
Konigsberg, in giving an exact and transparent
expression to what he himself denominates   pure
reason."  The crystal under his chemistry acquires
a second crystallization.  The rational intelligence
of man, as developed  and  expressed by him,
answers to  the description  of wisdom  in the
apocryphal book: "She is more mobile  than
any motion; she penetrates and passes through
all things by reason of her pureness."' But it is
finite reason; it is human intelligence only. The
questions that are raised, and the answers that
are given, pertain to a limited province.  Within
this province, the philosopher is clear as the
sun, positive, and dogmatic of right.  He knows
whereof he  affirms, and  speaks with  a corresponding authority.  But when I pass these limits,
and invite him to pass them, I hear another tone.
1 Wisdom, vii. 24.




ELOQUENCE AND EXEGESIS.            29
The positiveness and the certainty disappear, and
we are both alike left to querying and vague conjecture.  What can he tell me, with confidence
and certainty, concerning the interior and absolute
essence of God?  Does the trinal unity dawn
within the hemisphere  of his "pure  reason "
Does he know the name of the first man?  Can
he describe to me the origin of that dark ground
of evil which, by his own confession, inheres in
every human will  Can he tell me, with authority
and certainty, when the decaying body is being
lowered to its resting-place in the heart of the
earth, that "all that dust shall rise?"  Does he
know that there is pity in those stern and ethical
heavens which shut down like brass over a guilty
and terrified human conscience?  The authority
and dogmatic certainty of the philosopher stop at
the limits of his domain; and it is here that the
authority and certainty of the theologian begin.
Turn to the Institutes of the man of Geneva, and
observe the boldness and high certainty of that
naturally cautious and careful understanding, upon
these very themes which make the man of Konigsberg to hesitate and waver.  Read those words
with which Calvin closes, as with a clarion peal,
his great argument for the necessity of the IReformation, and say whence come the sublime confidence,
and overcoming energy: "We know and are verily
persuaded that what we preach is the eternal truth
of God. It is our wish, and a very natural one,




30                 HOMILETICS.
that our ministry might prove beneficial and salutary to the world; but the measure of success is
for God to give, not for us to demand. If-this is
what we have deserved at the hands of men whom
we have struggled to benefit, to be loaded with
calumny, and stung with ingratitude, that men
should  abandon  success in despair, and  hurry
along with the current to utter destruction, then
this is my voice (I utter words worthy of the
Christian man, and let all who are willing to take
their stand by this holy profession subscribe to the
response),'Ply your fagots.'  But we warn you,
that even in death we shall become the conquerors;
not simply because we shall find, even through the
fagots, a sure passage to that upper and better life,
but because our blood will germinate like precious
seed, and propagate that eternal truth of God
which is now so scornfully rejected by the world."'
This is the positiveness, this is the high celestial
dogmatism, that is necessitated by the reception
of Divine Revelation.' There is no option.  There
may be natural timidity; there may be the shrinking nature  of the weeping  prophet; but the
instant the mind perceives that the Eternal Intelligence has originated and communicated a series of
revelations, the instant the ear hears the "Thus
saith the Lord," a transformation takes place, and
human wcasn JSS becomes immortal strength.
C1 CAV~.. Necessity of the Reformation, sub finc.




ELOQUENCE AND EXEGESIS             31
We have thus considered, in a rapid manner,
two oratorical influences and effects of the apprehension of revealed truth.  Originality and authority issue from  this source as from no other.  If
Sacred Eloquence is to maintain its past commanding position in human history, and is to exert
a paramount influence  upon  human destiny, it
must breathe in, and breathe out from every pore
and particle, the living afflatus of inspiration. By
this breath of life it must live. If the utterances
of the pulpit are to be fresh, spiritual, and commanding, the sacred orator must be an exegete.
Every discourse must be but the elongation of a
text.
And certainly there never was greater need of
originality and authority within the province of
religion, than now. The cultivated unbeliever is
fast settling down upon the low commonplaces of
ethics and natural religion, or else is on his way to
the arid sands of atheism, and all the freshness of
his mind is being dried up. Rejecting all mystery,
which is confessedly the parent and nurse of high
thinking and lofty feeling; rejecting all supernaturalism, bywhich alone God comes into quickening
and personal contact with his creatures; throwing
out of his creed all those truths upon which Christendom rests, and without which a Christendom is
impossible, and reducing the whole credendca and
agenda of man to the merest and most meagre
minimum, —what can he do toward the impregna



3O2                HOMILETICS.
tion and fertilizing of the human mind?  Look at
the two or three religious dogmas, starved and
hunger-bitten, which are left to the human intelligence after his manipulations, and tell us if
literature, and art, and philosophy, will be characterized by originality if his methods prevail.
Tell us if pantheism will produce another Shakspeare; if anti-supernaturalism will produce another
Milton; if a nerveless, voluptuous naturalism will
produce another Dante.  Unless the coming literature of England and America shall receive a
fresh impulse and inspiration, from the old Christian ideas which penetrated and enlivened it in the
days of its glory, the future will witness the utter
decline and decay of one of the noblest literatures
of the world.  The age of sophistry, the age of
pedants, the age of critics, the age of elegant languor, will come in, and the Anglo-Norman mind,
like the Greek and the Roman before it, will give
place to the bolder and more original intelligence of
a more believing and solemn race.
The same remark is even more true, when we
pass from the wide domain of general literature, to
a particular province in it, like Sacred Eloquence.
The Christian pulpit, in this age, is in danger of
losing its originality, because it is tempted to leave
the written revelation, and betake itself to lower
and uninspired sources of thought. Listen to those
who neglect the constituent and organific ideas of
Christianity,-the doctrines of sin and guilt, of




ELOQUENCE AND EXEGESIS.             33
grace and redemption,-and who find their themes
in that range of truths which every student sees
scattered over the pages of Plato and Cicero, of
Antoninus and Seneca, and tell us if they are
original and stirring homiletes.  The doctrines of
natural religion are differentiated from  those of
revealed, by the fact that they will not bear everlasting repetition, and constant expansion and illustration.  You cannot preach year after year upon
the immortality of the soul, and the nature of virtue, and preserve the theme ever fresh and new.
There is a limit in this direction that cannot be
passed with safety.  But it is not so with the distinctively Christian truths.  Even the dark, solemn
theme of human corruption, expounded by one who
has been instructed out of the written revelation,
and the thronging, bursting consciousness of his
own soul,-even this sorrowful and abstractly repellant theme, when enunciated in a genuinely Biblical
manner, fascinates the natural man himself like the
serpent's eye. Such a preacher is always felt to be
original.  Men never charge him  with tameness
and feebleness. And still more is this true of that
other, and antithetic, doctrine of the divine mercy
in the blood of the God-man.  This string may be
struck with the plectrum  year after year, century
after century, and its vibration is ever resonant and
thrilling, yet sweet and teolian.
And certainly the age requires in its religious
heralds and teachers that other characteristic of
3




34                 HOMILETICS.
authority.  If a man speak at all, he must speak as
the oracles of God; he must speak oracularly and
positively. For the intellectual world is now an
arena of contending ideas and systems. Think you
that all the dogmatism  of the time is within the
precincts of theology and the Church? Think you
that skepticism stands meek and hesitating, like the
ass which Sterne describes, who seemed to invite
abuse, and to say to every passer-by: " Don't kick
me, but if you will you may 2"  No! all ideas, the
false as well as the true, all systems, the heretical
as well as the orthodox, are positive and assertory.
It is no time, therefore, for Christianity,-the only system that has a right to say to the world, " Thou shalt,"
and "Thou shalt not"; the only system that has a
right to utter its high and authoritative, "He that
believeth shall be saved, and he that believeth not
shall be damned",-it is no time for that absolute
and ultimate religion, in and by which this miserable and ruined race must live or bear no life, to be
deprecatory, and" borrow leave to be."
If such, then, be the relation existing between
Sacred Eloquence and Biblical Exegesis, the Christian ministry ought to lay deep the foundations of its
address to the popular mind, in the understanding
and interpretation of the Word of God.  The
proper function of the preacher is to put strictly
revealed doctrine into. oratorical forms for popular
impression, and to imbue all discourse in the sanctuary, and upon the Sabbath, with a strictly Bibli



ELOQUENCE AND EXEGESIS.             35
cal spirit. For after all, it is the spirit of a book,
the s'pirit of an author, which is of chief importance.  Pascal has left an instructive and quickening
fragment upon the "geometrical spirit."  It is the
spirit of demonstration,-that bent and tendency in
an intellectual person which spontaneously inclines
him to define accurately whatever is capable of definition, and to prove irrefragably whatever is capable of proof.  Whoever possesses this spirit takes
geometry with him wherever he goes.  Of such a
human mind,-the mind of a Pascal,-it may be
said, as Plato said of the Eternal Mind, it perpetually geometrizes. And the same is true of the Bibical spirit.  He who has imbibed it from the close
and penetrating study of the words, clauses, sentences, paragraphs, sections of the sacred volume,
puts the seal of the Eternal Spirit upon every thing
that hewrites, and every thing that he utters.  The
written word of God is not only filled with a distinctive spirit, but it is also dictated by an Eternal
Spirit.  It has a Spirit for its author, and it has a
spirit as its inward characteristic.  It is a wheel
within a wheel; it is a sea within a sea; it is an
atmosphere within an atmosphere.  Spiritual in its
origin, spiritual in its contents, and spiritual in all
its influences and effects, well may it be the sole
great aim of the pulpit orator to reach and acquire
the spirit of the Scriptures.  There is no danger of
mysticism in such a striving; and no false spiritualism will result from it.  Such an endeavor to drink




36                 HOMILETICS.
in the pure essence of a merely human product
might result in dreaminess of thought and feeling.
The undue and constant musing of the New Platonists upon the Platonic speculations finally destroyed
all clear thinking and healthy mental action. The
effect was like that of the forbidden fruit upon
Adam and. Eve. They
" fancy that they feel
Divinity within them breeding wings,
Wherewith to scorn the earth."
But the written revelation is a marvellous combination of the divine with the human, of the spiritual
with the material, of the reason with the understanding, of the heavenly with the earthly. All
the antitheses are blended, and counterpoise each
other, with wonderful harmony; so that no human
mind will ever become exorbitant and exaggerated
by an exclusive and absorbing study of it. Like
the ocean, while it has its undulations, and an unfathomed swell which no human power can level, it
never has the everlasting mountains and valleys;
it never exhibits or produces extremes.
He, then, whose public discourse is pervaded
with the spirit of revelation, and who speaks as
the oracles of God, will be eloquent in the highest style. Truth will impart weight, and sincerity
will impart earnestness, and feeling will impart
glow, and at times devout enthusiasm  will impart color and beauty, to his oratory, and he will




ELOQUENCE AND  EXEG-ESIS.                    37
verify the affirmation which the most highly educated and the loftiest of English poets puts into
the mouth of the Son of God, in his reply to Satan,
who  pleaded  the cause of secular letters against
that of inspiration:
"Their orators thou then extoll'st as those
The top of eloquence:
But herein to our prophets far beneath,
As men divinely taught, and better teaching,
In their majestic unaffected style,
Than all the oratory of Greece and Rome."




CHAPTER II.
DISTINCTIVE NATURE OF HOMILETICS, AND REASONS FOR
ITS CULTIVATION.
HOMILETICS is the term that has been chosen
to denote the application of the principles of
rhetoric to preaching.  It is synonymous, consequently, with Sacred Rhetoric. The derivation of
the word from the Greek verb O6lEzv shows that
the primary purpose of the homily or sermon was
instruction. The first sermons were, undoubtedly,
much more didactic than rhetorical in their form
and substance.  This must have been so for several
reasons. In the first place, the assemblies to which
the sermon was first addressed were more private
and social in their character, than the modern
congregation.  Christianity was in its infancy, and
had not become  an  acknowledged  and public
religion; and hence its ordinances and instructions
were isolated from  those of society at large. It
was one of the principal charges brought against
Christianity by its first opponents, that it was
unsocial, exclusive, and sectarian.  The Roman




NATURE OF HOMILETICS.                39
complained that the Christian, so far as religion
was concerned, was not an integral part of the
state, but was a miorose,  solitary, and unpatriotic
man.1
The first Christian  congregation  being  thus
small, thus isolated and private, it was natural that
the style of address upon the part of the preacher
should be more familiar than it can be before a
large audience, and upon a strictly public occasion.
Hence  the  sermon in  the early history of the
Church was much  more homiletical, that is, conversationil, than rhetorical in its character.  Like
those free and familiar lectures which the modern
preacher delivers to a limited  audience, on the
evening of a secular day, the first sermons possessed
fewer of those oratorical elements which enter so
largely into the discourses that are now prepared
for the' great congregation in the house of public
worship, and on the Sabbath, the great public day
of Christendom.
In the second place, the first sermons were naturally and properly more didactic than  rhetorical,
because the principal work  to  which  the  first
preachers  of Christianity  were  summoned  was
instruction.  The cardinal doctrines of Christianity
were not, as they  are now, matters of general
knowledge.   The public  mind was preoccupied'TACITUS: Annalium, xv. 44. qualn odio humnani generis con
Christianorum multitudo ingens victi sunt.
haud proinde in crinine incendii




40                  HOMILETICS.
with the views and notions of polytheism, and
with altogether false conceptions of the nature and
principles of the Christian religion; and hence
there was unusual need, during the first centuries of
the Church, to indoctrinate the Greek and Roman
world.  Expository instruction was, consequently,
the first great business of the Christian herald,
coupled with an effort to disabuse the human
mind of those errors to which it was enslaved
by a false religious system.  Christianity at first
was compelled to address itself to the understandings of men, in order to prepare the way for an
address to their hearts and wills; and hence its
first discourses were rather didactic than oratorical.
And the same remark holds true of missionary
preaching in the modern world.  The missionary
repeats the  process of the primitive preacher.
His audiences are not public, but private.  His
addresses are more conversational than oratorical;
more for purposes of instruction than of persuasion.
From  these two causes, the sermon was originally
an instructive conversation (d^uliGa) rather than an
oration.
But although  the  relations of the modern
preacher are considerably different from those of the
ancient; although the Christian preacher is much
more a public man than he was at first, because
Christianity is the public religion of the modern
world, and the Christian sabbath is its public holy
day, and the Christian congregation is its public




NATURE OF HOMILETICS.             41
religious assembly; although Homiletics has necessarily become more strictly rhetorical in its character because the sermon has become more oratorio
cal in its form and style; we must recognize and
acknowledge the fact that Sacred Rhetoric is in its
own nature more didactic than Secular.  With all
the change in the relations of Christianity to
society and to the state, and with all the corresponding change in the circumstances and position
of the preacher, it is still true that one very
important part of his duty is that of exegetical
instruction.  Though the modern world is, generally speaking, speculatively acquainted with
the  Christian  system, and  does not need that
minute instruction, and that deliverance from the
errors of polytheism, which the pagan world requires, still the natural man everywhere and in all
ages needs indoctrination.  The sermon must be a
preceptive discourse, and the information of the
mind must be one of the chief ends of Sacred
Eloquence.
This brings us to the principal difference between Secular and Sacred Rhetoric.  The latter
is more didactic than the former.  We are speaking comparatively, it will be remembered.  We
would not be understood as granting the position
of some writers upon Homiletics, that there is
a distinction in kind between Secular and Sacred
Rhetoric,-that the didactic element enters so largely
into the sermon that the properly rhetorical ele



42                  HOMILETICS.
nents are expelled from  it, and it thus loses the
oratorical character altogether.  The sermon is not
an essay or a treatise.  It is an address to an
audience, like a secular oration. Its purpose, like
that of the secular oration, is to influence the
will and  conduct  of the  auditor.   Like  the
secular oration, it is a product of all the powers
of the human mind in the unity of their action,
and not of the imagination  alone, or of the
understanding alone; and like the secular oration
it addresses all the faculties of the hearer, ending
with a movement of his will.  The distinction between Secular and Sacred Rhetoric is not one of
kind, but of degree.  In the sermon, there is less
of the purely oratorical element than in secular
orations, because of the greater need of exposition
and instruction.  The sermon calls for more argumentation, more narration, more doctrinal information, than secular discourses contain, and hence,
speaking comparatively, Secular Rhetoric is more
purely and highly rhetorical than Homiletics.
Hence, as matter of fact, the sermon is more
solid and weighty in its contents, more serious and
earnest in its tone, and more sober in its coloring,
than the deliberative, or judicial, or panegyrical
oration of Secular Eloquence. It is a graver production, less dazzling in its hues, less striking in
its style, less oratorical in its general character.
Recurring to the distinction between the formal
and the real sciences, we might say that Secular




NATUIRE OF HOMILETICS.             43
Eloquence partakes more of the former, and Sacred
Eloquence more of the latter.'
With this brief elucidation of the distinctive
nature of Homiletics, we proceed now to consider a
few reasons for its cultivation.
1. The first reason is derived from the intrinsic
dignity and importance of the sermon as a species
of literature.  For if we have regard to the subject
matter and the end in view, the sacred oration is
the most grave and weighty of all intellectual
productions.  The eternal salvation of the human
soul, through the presentation of divine truth, is
the end of preaching.  The created mind is never
employed so loftily and so worthily, as when it is
bending all its powers, and co-working with God
himself, to the attainment of this great purpose.
A discourse that accomplishes this aim is second to
no species of authorship, in intrinsic dignity and
importance. Other species of literature may decline
in interest and value as the redemption of the
human race advances, but this species will steadily
tend to its culmination.  As the human intellect
shall come more and more under the influence of
those great ideas which relate to God and eternity,
public religious discourse will gain in power and
impressiveness, because of the immortal ends which
it has in view. Like the Christian grace of charity,
which will outlive prophecies, and tongues, and
1 THERErMI's Rhetoric (Introductory Essay, p. 35, sg.).




44                  HOMILETICS.
knowledge  Sacred  Eloquence  will outlive, ot
rather trar.sform  into its own likeness, all other
forms of literature.
Not that philosophy, and poetry, and history
will cease to exist as departments of intellectual
effort so long as the human race continues in this
mode of being, but they will all take on a more
solemn character, and assume a more serious and
lofty end, whereby they will approximate more and
more, in spirit and infuence, to the literature proper
of the Christian Church,-to the parables of our
Lord, the epistles of his apostles, the sermons of his
ministers.  "FPor it is written: I will destroy the
wisdom  of the wise, and will bring to nothing the
understanding of the prudent."  In this way, the
superior dignity and importance of the sermon will
appear, inasmuch as through the influence which it
will have exerted upon the thinking of the race,
the literature of the world will have become spiritualized and sanctified.  Through the preaching of
the Gospel, and the leavening of the mind with
divine truth, we may expect to see the same great
end, the glory of God in the eternal well-being of
man, set up as the goal of universal letters.
Whether, then, there be poetry it may fail, whether
there be philosophy it may cease, whether there be
literature it may vanish away; but the word of
God liveth and abideth forever.  There will be an
ever-endcluring dignity and value in that species of
intellectual productions whose great end is the




NATURE OF HOMILETICS.              45
indoctrination of the human mind in the truths of
divine revelation.
We find, therefore, in the gravity and importance of the sacred oration, a strong reason why the
homiletic art should be most assiduously cultivated.
The philosopher is urged up to deep and laborious
study, by the weight and solidity of his department.
He feels that it is worthy of his best intellectual
efforts, and he is willing to dedicate his whole life
to it.  The poet adores his art for its intrinsic
nobleness and beauty, and like Milton is ambitious
to glorify it by some product that shall be the most
" consummate act of its author's fidelity and ripeness;
the result of all his considerate diligence, all his
midnight  aatchings, and expense of palladian oil."
The historian spends long years in building up,
from the solid foundation to the light and airy pinnacle, a structure that shall render his own name
historic and associate it with the dignity of history.
And shall the sacred orator be less influenced than
these intellectual workmen, by the nobleness and
worth of his vocation   Ought he not, like the
greatest of the apostolic preachers, to magnify his
vocation, and feel all the importance of the department, in which he has been called to labor with his
lrain and with his heart?
2. A second reason for cultivating Homiletics
is derived from the intrinsic difficulty of producing
an excellent sermon.  In the first place, there is
the difficulty which pertains to the department of




46                 HOMILETICS.
rhetoric generally, arising from  the fact, that in
order to the production of eloquence all the faculties of the mind must be in operation together, and
concurring to an outward practical end.  In the
production of a work of art, the imagination, as
a single faculty, is allowed to do its perfect work
unembarrassed by other.faculties. The idea of the
Beautiful is not confused or obscured by a reference to other ideas, such as the True, the Useful,
and the Good. The productive agency in this case
is single, uncomplex, and exerted in one straight
unhindered course. In the production of a purely
logical or speculative product, again, the theoretic
reason, as a single faculty, is allowed to do its
rigorous work, unembarrassed by either the imagination or the moral sense. The philosophic essay
is a product which contains but one element, and
that the speculative, and hence is far easier to
originate, than one in which many dissimilar elements,-speculative and practical, imaginative and
moral, —are mingled, and which must, moreover, be
made to amalgamate with each other.
The oration, on the other hand, whether secular
or sacred, has a far more difficult origin than either
of the above-mentioned productions. All the faculties of understanding, imagination, and feeling,
must be in exercise together; while above, and
beneath, and around, and through them  all, must
be the agency of that highest and most important
of all the human faculties, the will, the character




NATURE OF HOMILETICS               47
the moral force of the man. In the origination of
the oration, there must be not only the co-agency
of all the  cognitive, imaginative  and  pathetic
powers, but the presence and the presidency in and
through them all of that deepest and most central
power in which, as the seat of personality and of
character, they are all rooted and grounded. The
oration, in this view, is not so much a product of
the man, as it is the man himself,-an embodiment
of all his faculties and all his processes'  From the
general character of the department of rhetoric, then,
and the general nature of its products, the origination of an excellent sacred oration is exceedingly
difficult, and hence the need of a profound and philosophic study of Homiletics, or the art of Sermonizing.
In the second place,' the production of the
sermon is a difficult work, because of the nature
and extent of the influence which it aims to exert.
The sermon is designed to produce an effect upon
human character; and this, not upon its mere
superficies, but its inmost principles.  Unlike secular discourse, the sacred oration is not content
with influencing men in regard to some particular
or particulars of conduct, but aims at the whole
nature of the man.  The political orator is content, if by his effort he secures an individual vote
for a single measure.  The judicial orator is content, if he can obtain a favorable verdict respecting
Le style c'est l'homme. —BuFFoN.




48                 HOMILETICS.
the case in hand.  The sacred orator, on the other
hand, aims at the formation of an entire character,
-at laying a foundation for an innumerable series
of particular actions, — or else he endeavors to
mould and develop from  the centre a character
which is already in existence, as when he addresses
the Church in distinction from the congregation.
If we have regard to the renewal of human nature,
the formation within the human soul of entirely
new principles of action, it is plain that the construction of a discourse adapted to produce this
great effect involves many and great difficulties.
It is true, that the first and efficient cause of this
effect must be sought in the special and direct
operation upon the individual soul of a higher
Being than man.  Yet it is equally true, that the
secondary instrumental cause of this renewal is
divine truth presented by the preacher.  There
must, therefore, be an adcptation  between  the
cause and the effect, in this case as much as in
any other.  Second  causes must be adapted to
the effect as much  as first causes.  There is a
mode of presenting divine truth which is suited
to produce conversion; and there is a mode which
is not suited to this end. There is a method of
sermonizing which  is adapted  to  develop  the
Christian character, and there is a method which
is not at all adapted to this.  Now, to produce a
discourse which, in all its parts and properties,
shall fall in with the operations of the Holy




NATURE OF IOMILETICS.            49
Spirit, and of the human  spirit when  under
divine influence,-which shall not blind the mind,
nor impede the flow  of the feelings, but shall
concur with all that higher influence which is
bearing upon the sinner in the work of regeneration, or upon the Christian in the hour and process of sanctification,-to produce an excellent sermon is one of the most arduous attempts of the
human intellect. To assert that the attempt can
be a successful one without study and training
upon the part of the preacher, is to deal differently with the  department of Sacred Rhetoric,
from  what we do with other departments of
intellectual effort. It is to treat the higher and
eternal interests of men, with more thoughtlessness and  indifference than we do their lower
and secular interests.  None,-unless it be those
half-educated persons who do not recognize the
distinction between science and practice, between
a profession and a trade, and who would annihilate all professional study and training,-none,
unless it be such as these, deny the importance
of a thorough discipline on the part of the jurist
and the civilian.  It is acknowledged, generally,
that learning and culture are requisite to  the
production of successful pleading in court, and
successful debating in the senate.  And no onp
who seriously considers the depth and comprehensiveness of the aim  of a sermon, and takes
into account that sermonizing is not an intermit4




50                  HOMILETICS.
tent effort, but a steady, uniform process, week
ater week, and year after year, will be disposed
to disparage or undervalue homiletic discipline or
the homiletic art.  Says one of the earliest and
pithiest English writers upon Homiletics: " Preachers have enough to do, and it will take up their
whole time to do it well. This is not an art
that is soon learnt, this is not an accomplishment
that is easily gained. He that thinks otherwise,
is as weak and foolish as the man that married
Tully's widow  (saith Dio) to be master of his
eloquence."'
The difficulty, in the third place, of constructing an excellent sermon is clearly apparent, when
we consider the nature of the impression which
is sought to  be made.  Without taking into
account such  characteristics  as distinctness and
depth of impression, and many others that would
suggest themselves, let us seize upon  a single
one,-namely, permanence of impression,-and by a
close examination perceive  the need of understanding, both  theoretically  and  practically, the
art of Sermonizing.
The test of excellence in a sermon is continuance of influence.  By this, it is not meant that
an excellent sermon produces no more impression
at the time of its first delivery than  afterwards.
Often the vividness of a discourse is most appa-'JOHN EDWARDS: The Preacher, Pt. I., p. 274.




NATURE OF HOMILETICS.              51
rent at the time of its origin, because it was
partly the fruit of temporary circumstances, and
derived something of its force from  time  and
place. Yet, after this is said, it is still true, that
no sermon is truly excellent which does not contain something of permanent value for the human
head and heart.  It must have such an idea or
proposition at the bottom of it, and be arranged
on such a method, and be filled up with such
reflections, and  inspired with such  a spirit, as
will make it an object of interest for any thoughtful mind  in all time.  It is true, that tried by
this test, many sermons would be found wanting,-and far more of such sermons as draw miscellaneous crowds, and are fit only to be printed
in a newspaper, than of such as are preached to
attentive audiences, and are unknown save by the
solid Christian character which they help to originate, or to cultivate,-it is true, that tried by the
test of permanency of impression, the sacred, as
well as the'secular oration would often be found
defective, and yet every such discourse ought to
be subjected to it. One of the first questions to
be asked, for purposes of criticism, is this question:
Is there in this discourse a solidity, and thoughtfulness, which gives it more or less of permanent value
for the human mind?
Now it is impossible that this weighty intellectual character, conjoined as it must- be in the
oration with a lively and rhetorical tone, should




52                 HOMILETICS.
be attained without a very thorough discipline
on the part of the preacher. The union of such
sterling, and yet opposite, qualities as thoughtfulness and energy, is the  fruit of no  superficial
education, the result of no mere desultory efforts.
The sacred orator needs not only a general culture, but a special culture in his own art. It is
not enough that he be  acquainted with those
leading departments in which every educated, and
especially every professional man, is interested;
he must also be master of that specific art and
department, upon which the clerical profession is
more immediately founded.   He must be well
versed in the principles and practice of Homiletics.
Otherwise, his sermonizing will be destitute of
both a present and a permanent interest. If he
be a man of learning and of reflective habits, but
of no rhetorical spirit, although  his discourses
may be weighty in matter, and, as theological disquisitions, very meritorious, they will not produce
the proper immediate effects of sacred eloquence, and
neither will they exert the permanent influence of
theological treatises. They will fail altogether as
intellectual productions.  The studious, thoughtful
mind especially needs the influence of homiletical
discipline, in order to prepare it for the work
of addressing and influencing the popular audience.  There is a method of so organizing the
materials in the mind, of so arranging, and expanding, and illustrating truth, as to exert the imme.




NATURE OF HOMILETICS.           53
diate impression of rhetoric, united with the per.
manent impression of logic and philosophy. This
method can be acquired only by the study and the
practice of the art of Sermonizing.
3. A third reason for cultivating Homiletics is
found, in the increasingly higher demands made by
the popular mind, upon its public religious teachers.
It is more difficult to make a permanent popular impression now, than it was fifty years ago.
The public mind is more distracted, than it was
then. It is addressed more frequently, and by a
greater variety, both of subjects and of speakers.
It is more critical and fastidious than formerly. It
is possessed, we will not say of a more thorough
and useful knowledge on a few subjects, but of a
more extensive and various information on many
subjects.  The man of the present day  knows
more of men and things in general, than his forefathers did, though probably not more of man and
of some things in particular.
There is more call, consequently, in the present
age, for a sermonizing that shall cover the whole
field of human nature and human acquirements,
that shall contain a greater variety and exhibit a
greater compass, and that shall be adapted to more
grades and capacities. The preacher of the present
day needs to be a man of wider culture than his
predecessor, because the boundaries  of human
knowledge have been greatly enlarged, and because
his auditors have come to be acquainted, some of




54                 HOMILETICS.
them  thoroughly and some of them  superficially,
but all of them in some degree, with this new and
constantly widening field. Consider a single section of rhetoric like that of metaphor and illustration, and see how much greater is the stock of
materials now, than it was previous to the modern
discoveries in natural science, and how even the
popular mind has become possessed of sufficient
knowledge in these departments, not merely to
understand the orator's allusions and representations, but to demand them  of him.  A  modern
audience, though it may not' possess a very exact
knowledge of what has been accomplished in modern science, is yet possessed of sufficient information to  detect any such ignorance in a public
speaker, and especially in the preacher, as shows
him to be inferior to the educated class to which
he belongs, and behind the present condition of
human culture and knowledge. It was urged not
many years since, by the classes of a teacher'who
had been distinguished in his day, and whose
instructions still exhibited a solid and real excellence that ought to have overruled the objection in
this instance, that he had not kept up with the literary and scientific movement of the modern mind;
that his style of presenting, establishing, and illustrating truth had become obsolete, although the
truth itself which he taught was unobjectionable.
In proof of this, it was affirmed that certain
illustrations which were taken from  the astron



NATURE OF IIOMLETICS.             55
omy that existed a century ago, but which had
been rendered not only incorrect but absurd by
more recent discoveries, were still allowed to stand.
It was complained that rhetoric, in this instance,
had been vitiated by the telescope.  The popular
mind, also, is nice and fastidious, and will immlediately detect any appearance' of deficiency in
literary and scientific culture in the preacher, especially if it affects his style and diction, and will
give it far more weight than it is really entitled to.
But to take a more important part of Sacred
Rhetoric than style, or diction, or illustration, consider for a moment the method and ar)rangement of
a sermon, and see what a difficult task the popular
mind of the present day imposes upon its public
religious teachers.
The greatest difference between the men of the
present day and their forefathers consists in the
greater distinctness, and rapidity, of their mental
processes. They are not more serious and thoughtful than their ancestors, but they are more vivid,
animated, and direct in their thinking than they
were.  They are more impatient of prolixity, of a
loose method of arrangement, and of a heavy dragging movement in the exhibition of truth.  Audiences a century ago would patiently listen to discourses of two hours in length, and would follow
the sermonizer through a series of divisions and
subdivisions that would be intolerable to a modern
hearer. The human intellect seems to have shared




56                 HOMILETICS.
in that increased rapidity of motion which has been
imparted to matter, by the modern improvements
in machinery. The human body is now  carried
through space at the rate of a mile a minute, and
the human mind seems to have learned to keep
pace with this increase of speed. Mental.operations
are on straight lines, like the railroad and telegraph,
and are far more rapid than they once were. The
public audience now craves a short method, a distinct sharp statement, and a rapid and accelerating
movement, upon the part of its teachers.
Now the preacher can meet this demand successfully, only by and through a strong methodizing
power. He cannot meet it by mere brevity. The
popular mind still needs and craves instruction, and,
impatient as it is of dullness, will listen with more
pleasure to a discourse that possesses solid excellence, though it be tedious in its method and somewhat dull in style, than to a discourse which has no
merit but that of shortness.  The task, therefore,
which the sacred orator of the present day has to
perform, is to compress the greatest possible amount
of matter into the smallest possible form, and in
the most energetic possible manner  Miultum  in
parvo is now the popular maxim.  Plurimum in
mqinimo must now be the preacher's maxim. Hence
he must possess the power of seizing instantaneously
the strong points of a subject, of fixing them immovably in a rigorous logical order, and of filling them
up into a full rhetorical form, by such subordinate




NATURE OF HOMILETICS.                  57
thoughts, and trains of reflection, as will carry the
hearer along with the greatest possible rapidity,
together with  the  greatest possible  impression."
This power of organizing  united with the other
principal power of the orator, that of amplifying to
the due extent, is imperatively demanded of the
preacher, by the active, clear, driving mind of the
present age; and whoever shall acquire it will wield
an influence over the public, either for good or for
evil, greater probably than could be exerted by an
individual in an age characterized by slower mental
processes.
But is such an ability as this a thing of spontaneous origin 2.   Will it be likely to be possessed
by an indolent, or an uneducated mind?  Any one,
who will reflect a moment, will perceive that even
a fine poetic or artistic talent would be far more
likely " to come by nature," and without culture,
than this fundamental ability  of the orator.   In
these first instances, much depends upon the impulses and gifts of genius.  There is much of spontaneity in the poetic and artistic processes. But a
powerful methodizing ability implies severe tasking
of the intellect, a severe exercise of its faculties,
1 "Reason and argument must care that he always speak good
be made use of by the preacher, sense, and argue closely. Nothing
and the more of these the better. that comes from him is to be raw
But the closer this powder is and indigested, but all must be
rammed, the greater execution it well-ripened by  judgment."woill do. The sum of this head is JOHN EDWARDS. The Preacher,
this: that a preacher is to take Pt. I., p. 127.




58                 HOMILETICS.
whereby it acquires the power of seizing the main
points of a subject with the certainty of an instinct,
and then of holding them  with the strength of a
vice,-and all this too, while the feelings and the
imagination, the rhetorical powers of the soul, are
filling out and clothing the structure with the
vitality, and warmth, and beauty of a living thing.
This power of quickly and densely methodizing can
be attained only by diligent, and persevering discipline; and hence it should be kept constantly before
the'eye of the preacher as an aim, from the beginning to the end of his educational and professional
career.  He cannot meet the demands which the
public will make upon him as its religious teacher,
unless he acquires something of this talent; and
he may be certain that in proportion as he does
acquire and employ it, he will be able to convey the
greatest possible amount of instruction in the shortest possible space, and, what is of equal importance
for the orator's purpose, he will be able to produce
the strongest possible impression in the shortest
possible amount of time.




CHAPTER III.
FUNDAMENTAL PROPERTIES OF STYLE.
THE fundamental properties of good discourse
are as distinct, and distinguishable, as those of
matter.  Many secondary qualities enter into it,
but its primary and indispensable characteristics
are reducible to three: viz., plainness, force,  and
beauty.  We propose, in this chapter, to define and
illustrate these essential properties of style; and
while the analysis will be founded in the general
principles of rhetoric and oratory, it will also have
a special reference to sacred eloquence, and the
wants of the pulpit.
1. It is agreed among all writers upon rhetoric,
that the first property in style is that by virtue of
which it is intelligible.  The understanding is the
avenue to the man.  No one is affected by truth
who does not apprehend it.  Discourse must, therefore, first of all be plain. This property was termed
perspcicuitas, by the Latin rhetoricians.  It is transparency in discourse, as the etymology denotes.
The word Evatpy2La, which the Greek rhetoricians




60                  HOMILETICS.
employed to mark this same characteristic, signifies
distinctness of outline.  The adjective e'vapy'r  is
applied by Homer to the gods, when actually ap.
pearing to human vision in their own bright forms;
when, like Apollo, they broke through the dim
ether that ordinarily veiled  them  from  mortal
eyes, and stood out on the edge of the horizon distinctly defined, radiant, and splendid.l   Vi vidness
seems to have been the ruling conception for the
Greek, in this property of style, and transparency
for the Latin.  The English and French rhetoricians have transferred the Latin perspicuitas, to
designate this quality of intelligibility in discourse.
The Germans have not transferred the Latin word,
because the remarkable flexibility of their language
relieves them  from  the necessity of transferring
words from  other languages, but they have coined
one (Durchsichtigkeit) in their own mint, which
agrees in signification precisely with the Latinper-.p}icuitas.  These facts evince that the Modern mind
is inclined, with the Latin, to compare the property
of intelligibility in style to a clear pellucid medium;
to crystal, or glass, that permits the rays of light to
go through, and thus permits the human eye to see
through.
While, however, the attention is fixed upon
this conception of transparency, and the property
1'AIel iyap rOb rapog ye Oeoi  aivovrat evapye~f'IfuZv, evr' Epdowtv a'yalc2ierag eKaro6/pa9.
Odys. vii. 201, 202.




PROPERTIES OF STYLE.              61
under consideration is denominated perspicuity, in
the rhetorical nomenclature, it is important not to
lose sight of that other conception of distinctness,
or vividness, which was the leading one for the
Greek mind.  Style is not only a medium; it is
also a form. It is not only translucent and trans
parent, like the undefined and all-pervading atmosphere; it also has definite outlines, like a single
object. Style is not only clear like the light; it is
rotund like the sun.  While, therefore, the conception of perspicuity of medium  is retained, there
should also be combined with it the conception of
fulness of outline, and vividness of impression, so as
to secure a comprehensive, and all-including idea
of that first fundamental property of style which
renders it intelligible.
Inasmuch as modern writers upon rhetoric have
generally followed the Latin rhetoricians, and have
discussed the subject almost exclusively under the
conception of transparency, and the title of perspicuity, there is special reason for solicitude, lest the
Greek conception of fulness of form and definiteness of outline be lost out of sight. Moreover, close
reflection upon the nature of the case will show,
that the Greek mind in this, as in most other instances, was more philosophical than the Latin.
It seized upon a very profound and essential characteristic. It is not enough that thoughts be seen
through a clear medium; they must be seen in a
distinct shape.  It is not enough that truth be




62                 HOMILETICS.
visible in a clear pure air; it must also stand out
in that air, a single, well-defined object. The at.
mosphere must not only be crystalline and sparkling, but the things in it must be bounded and defined by sharply-cut lines. There may be perspi
cuity without distinctness; especially, without that
vivid distinctness which is implied in the Greek
evapyeta. A  style may be as transparent as water,
and yet the thoughts be destitute of boldness and
individuality.  Such a style  cannot be charged
with obscurity, and yet it does not set truth before
the mind of the reader or hearer, in a striking and
impressive manner.  Mere isolated perspicuity is a
negative quality; it furnishes a good medium of
vision, but it does not present any distinct object
of vision.  Distinctness of outline, on the other
hand, is a positive quality. It implies a vigorous
action of the mind upon the truth, whereby it is
moulded and shaped; whereby it is cut and chiseled
like a statue; whereby it is made to assume a substantial and well-defined form  which smites upon
the eye, and which the eye can take in.
Without discussing these two conceptions further,-a discussion which, we would remark in
passing, is most interesting, leading as it does
to a consideration of the differences between the
mental constitution of different nations, as displayed in their languages,-we proceed to a more
particular examination of that fundamental property in style which renders it intelligible.  We




PROPERTIES OF STYLE.               63
denominate it plainness.  A thing is plain (planus),
when it is laid out open and smooth, upon a level
surface.  An object is in plain  sight, when the
form and shape of it are distinctly visible.  Chaucer, in his Canterbury Tales, makes the franklin,
the English  freeholder of his day, to say, when
called upon for his story,
"I lerned never rhetorike certain.
Thing that I speke, it mote be bare and plain."
This quotation shows that in Chaucer's time rhetoric
was the opposite of a lucid and distinct presentation of truth.  In his age, it had become excessively artificial in its principles, and altogether
mechanical in its applications. Hence the plain,
clear-headed Englishman, whose story turns out
to be told with a simplicity, and perspicuity, and
raciness, that renders it truly eloquent, supposed
that it must necessarily be faulty in style; because
his own good sense, and keen eye, made it impossible for him to discourse in the affected and false
rhetoric of the schools of that day.  For this
plainness of style is the product of sagacity, and
keenness.   A   sagacious  understanding  always
speaks in plain terms.  A  keen vision describes
like an eye-witness.
There is no characteristic more important to
the preacher than this, and none which ought to
be more earnestly coveted by him. Sermons should
be plain. The thoughts which the religious teacher




64                 HOMILETICS.
presents to the common mind should go straight to
the understanding.  Every thing that covers up
and envelopes the truth should be stripped off
from  it, so that the bare reality may be seen.
There is prodigious power in this plainness of
presentation. It is the power of actual contact. A
plain writer, or speaker, makes the truth and the
mind impinge upon each other.  When the style
is plain, the mind of the hearer experiences the
sensation of being touched; and this sensation is
always impressive, for, a man starts when he is
touched.
Fine examples of this property are found in
the style of John Locke, and Thomas Hobbs.  We
mention these writers, because plainness is their
dominant characteristic. They were both of them
philosophers of the senses, rather than of the reason and the spirit. Hence their excellencies, and
hence their defects. They are not to be especially
recommended for those other properties of style
which spring out of a more profound, and spiritual
way of thinking, - such as living  energy, and
ingrained  beauty,- but  for  pure  perspicuous
address to the understanding, they have never
been excelled. Trying to find every thing in the
senses, to convert all the mental processes ultimately into sensation, it is not surprising that
whatever is exhibited by them stands out palpable,
and  tangible. Thought seems to have become
material, and to strike upon the understanding like




PROPERTIES OF STYLE.              65
matter itself.  "You Scotchmen," said  Edward
Irving to Chalmers, "would handle an idea as a
butcher handles an ox."'  Whether this is true
of the Scotch mind we will not affirm, but it is
certainly true of writers like Locke and Hobbs.
Their thoughts can be seen, handled, and felt.
The writings of archdeacon Paley, also, furnish
fine examples of the property we are considering.
His was one of the most sagacious minds in English
literary history; eminently characterized by what
Locke  denominates  "large  round-about sense."
There was no mysticism  in his intellectual character.  Indeed, his affinities for the spiritual, in either
philosophy or religion, were not so strong as they
ought to have been.  The defects in his ethical and
theological systems are traceable to this.  Still,
upon subjects that did not call for a highly profound and spiritual mode of contemplation, upon
subjects that fall properly within the range of the
senses and the understanding, he was perfectly at
home, and always discourses with  a significant
plainness that renders him a model for the preacher,
so far as this characteristic is concerned.
Consider the following  paragraph  from  his
Natural Theology, in which he disposes of the
theory of creation by development, as a specimen
of pure plainness in presenting thoughts.  "Another system which has lately been brought forward,
HANNA: Life of Chalmers, III. 168.




66                HOMILETICS.
and with much ingenuity, is that of appetezcies.
The principle, and the short account, of the theory,
is this. Pieces of soft, ductile matter, being endued
with  propensities or appetencies for particular
actions, would, by continual endeavors carried on
through a long series of generations, work themselves gradually into suitable forms; and at length
acquire, though perhaps by obscure and almost
imperceptible improvements, an organization fitted
to the action which their respective propensities
led them to exert. A piece of animated matter,
for example, that was endued with a propensity to
fly, though ever so shapeless, though no other we
will suppose than a round ball to begin with, would,
in a course of ages, if not in a million of years perhaps in a hundred million of years (for our theorists, having eternity to dispose of, are never sparing
in time), acquire wings. The same tendency to
locomotion, in an aquatic animal, or rather in an
animated lump which might happen to be surrounded by water, would end in the production of
fins; in a living substance confined to the solid
earth, would put out legs and feet; or, if it took a
different turn, would break the body into ringlets,
and  conclude by crawling upon the ground."'
What plainness and pertinency in style and phraseology are here. How  easy of comprehension are
the thoughts, and yet with what directness and
1PALEY: Natural Theology, Ch. xxiii.




PROPERTIES OlF STYE.               67
effect do they strike the understanding.  The truth
comes into  actual contact with  the mind.  The
statement of the false theory.is so thorough, and
so plain because it is thorough, that it becomes the
refutation.  The mind that reads, or hears, such
discourse is affected with the sensation of weight,
density, and solidity; as we have said before, it is
imrpinged upon,
The preacher should toil after this property
of style, as he would toil after virtue itself.  He
should constantly strive, first of all, to exhibit his
thoughts plainly.  Whether he shall add force to
plainness, and beauty to force, are matters to be
considered afterwards. Let him in the first place
begin  at the beginning, and do the first thing.
Endeavors after force, elegance, and beauty, will
be likely to succeed, provided this first fundamental
in discourse is attained, and they will be sure to
fail if it is not.
The preacher, at the present time, is liable to
temptation in respect to the property of style under
consideration, because it is not a  showy property.  The public is too eager after striking externals, for its own good.  It demands brilliancy
before plainness, without sufficient regard for that
basis of strong sense which must ever support this
quality, in order that it may have true value.  The
preacher is, consequently, tempted to yield to this
false taste of the ill-educated, and to become like
the public.  The form soon outruns the substance.




68                  HOMILETICS.
He pays more and more attention to the expression,
and less and ]ess to the thought, and degenerates
into a pretentious and glittering declaimer.
Now, there  is nothing that will prevent a
preacher from falling into this false manner, but a
determination to be plain; a determination, whether
he does any thing else or not, to bring the truth
into contact with the human understanding.  In
the midst of all this clamor for fine writing and
florid style, the preacher should be a resolute man,
and dare to be a plain writer. It is the doctrine of
one of the best theorizers upon rhetoric, that eloquence is a virtue.1  The theory is corroborated by
the subject under discussion; for it is easy to see
that in respect to that fundamental property of
style which renders it intelligible, a very strong will,
a very high charccter, is needed in the pulpit orator,
in order to practise this self-denial, and also to bring
the popular mind up to it.
Again, the preacher must make this property of
style a matter of theory, and a matter of conscience.
He must distinctly perceive and acknowledge to his
own mind, that plainness is the founcltion of style;
that the true theory  of eloquence imposes this
property upon the orator, as the very first one to be
acquired.  He must feel that he cannot conscientiously pass by, or neglect, this characteristic; that
the interests of truth, and of the human  soul,
I THEEEMIN: Eloquence a Virtue.




PROPERTIES O' STYLE.             69
Imperatively require of him that he be plain-spoken,
even if he is nothing more. Under the pressure of
these two,-a correct theory of eloquence and a
sober conscience,-the preacher will be likely to
determine to be plain.  This determination will
affect his whole sermonizing. It will appear in the
structure of the plan, casting out of it every thing
that does not belong to a clear and clean method.
It will appear in the composition and manner, in a
stripping, flaying hatred of circumlocutions, and of
all unnecessary ornament.  The preacher whose
head is right, and whose conscience is right, will
soon come to possess a love for this plainness. He
will not be able to read authors who do not under.
stand themselves.  He will be impatient with a
public speaker who does not distinctly know what
he is saying.  He will be interested in any book,
and in any discourse, which sets forth plain, truth.
Still another means of acquiring this property
of style is found in the cultivation of what is
termed, in common parlance, common sense. Common sense is that innate sagacity of the understanding which detects truth by a sort of instinct, and
which, for this very reason, is dissatisfied with
any thing short of the truth.  An instinct of any
kind cannot be deceived, and it cannot be put off
with appearances and pretences. It is discontented
and restless, until it meets its correlative object.
The young swan is uneasy, until it finds the elemnent it has never yet seen; then




70                  HOMILETICS.
"with arched neck,
Between her white wings mantling proudly, rows
Her state with oary feet."
Through all nature, and all mind, the existence of
an instinctive intelligence presupposes a corresponding object, in respect to which the instinct cannot
be deceived, and without which it is unsatisfied.
Now  this common  sense of mankind is an
instinctive  appetency for truth, and  it cannot
be met with  any thing short of the pure reality.  Even  a sophisticated  mind is caught by
plain utterances.  The man who has spoiled his
tastes and sympathies, by an artificial and showy
cultivation, is nevertheless struck by the vigor and
raciness of plain sense. In the phrase of Horace,
though he has driven nature out of his understanding with a fork, she yet returns when truth
appears.  And this is the hold which a plain
speaker has upon an audience of false tastes, and
false refinement.  There is an instinctive sagacity
in man which needs this plainness of presentation,
and which craves it; and is satisfied with it. It is
by the cultivation  of this  common  sense, this
native sagaciousness of the human understanding,
that the preacher is to acquire the property in
style that corresponds to it.  Let him always seek,
first of all, an open and transparent view  of a
subject.  Let him  pass by all superficial qualities,
and aim  at the substance.  Let him  gratify and
cultivate his common sense, by a knowledge that is




PROPERTIES OF STYLE.            71
thorough as far as it goes. Let him content himself
with no dim and obscure apprehensions.
A fourth aid, in the acquisition of a plain style
of discourse, is subtlety of mind. It is important to
distinguish subtlety, from mere acuteness. A subtle
mind perceives the interior connection or contradiction, while a merely acute mind perceives the exterior only. Hence, acuteness by itself leads to hair.
splitting; than which nothing is more abhorrent
to the common sense of mankind.  Subtlety is
a profound talent which takes its distinctions in
the very heart of a subject, and sees into its inner
structure and fibre.  Subtlety, therefore, is an ally
to sagacity, and contributes greatly to that distinctness and plainness in thought, which results
in  plainness and  vividness in language. This
talent aids in separating the non-essentials from
the essentials of truth, so that only the leading
and impressive characteristics of a subject fnay be
exhibited to the common mind.
In instancing Locke, Hobbs, and Paley, as examples of plainness in style, we directed attention
to the philosophic ground of the property. We
found it in the disposition to found all knowledge
upon sensation, in distinction from conception.  A
mind which strongly desires to know every thing
by the mode of sensation, is one whose statements
are always perspicuous.  A writer or speaker, therefore, who incessantly strives to impart a cozscious
knowledge to his hearers or readers, must, of neces



72                   HOMILETICS.
sity, be lucid, because consciousness is internal
sensation. And the property thus originating will
contain both of the characteristics, to which we
alluded in the opening of this chapter.  It will
combine the Latin perspicuitas, with the Greek
evapyela.   It will not only be transparent, but
vivid.
This quality in style, we have remarked, requires force of character in the orator. He must
be determined to be so intelligible, that the mind
of the hearer cannot fail to understand him.  He
must compel the hearer to understand.  He must
force  his  way  into  consciousness, by the most
significant, the  most direct, the  very  plainest
address to his cognitive powers.   The title of one
of the philosophical tracts of Fichte reads thus:
"An account clear as the sun, of the real nature
of my philosophy; or, an attempt to compel the
reader to understand."T   The title corresponds to
the contents; for the tract is one of the plainest
productions, of one of the clearest heads that ever
lived.   This is the temper for the orator, as well as
for the philosopher. Let the preacher, whether he
is master of any  other properties of style, and
before troubling himself about them, be clear as
the sun in his presentation'of truth, and then he
will compel men to understand.
1 "Sonnenklarer Bericht an  ten Philosophic, ein Versuch, die
das groszere Publikum'fiber  Leser zum Verstchen zu zwindas eigentliche Wesen der neues-  gen."




PROPERTIES OF STYLE.              73
2. The second property of style which should
receive attention is force.  This characteristic in
discourse  renders it penetrative.   Plainness is
more external in its relations to the mind; force
is more internal. The former is of the nature of
an exhibition; the latter is of the nature of an
inspiration, and a permeation.  While, however,
this is the general distinction between the two,
it would not be proper to call plainness a superficial property, and neither should we confine force
to the depths.  No man is plain unless he sees the
truth, and no man sees the truth who does not
look beyond its exterior; neither is any man forcible whose contemplation never comes up to the
surface, but who contents himself with a mystical
intuition.  Force is power manifested; power
streaming out in all directions, and from  every
pore of the mind.
And this brings us to the first source, and
essential characteristic, of true force in style. It
originates in truth itself, and partakes of its nature;
it does not spring ultimately from the energy of
the human mind, but from the power of ideas
and principles.  We shall consider this fact, first
in its more general aspects as pertaining to philosophy, and then in reference to the rhetorical topics
under consideration.
Speaking generally, then, power in the finite
mind is derived, not from the mind itself, but from
the objective world of truths and facts to which it




74                 HOMILETICS.
is correlated.  For the finite mind is a created
thing, and all created things are dependent.  It
is the prerogative of the Infinite alone, to derive
its energy from the depths of its own being.  God
has power, as he has life, in himself, and therefore
he does not sustain the relation of a dependent
individual to an objective universe. He is selfsufficient, and independent of all objects.  Man's
power, on the contrary, is conditioned upon the
relation which he sustains to that which is other
than himself, greater than himself, and higher than
himself  He cannot draw upon his own isolated
being, as the ultimate source of power, because his
own being is not self-sufficient.  His power lies,
therefore, in that objective world of truth and of
being, over against which he stands as a finite and
dependent subject.  In simple and common phraseology, which so often, however, contains the highest
philosophic truth, man's strength is in God, and
the mind's strength is in truth.
The fact here stated, and the principle upon
which it is based, are of general application, and
the worst errors in theory and practice have resulted from  its being denied or forgotten.  The
efficient power of the human intellect results not
from spinning out its own notions and figments,
but from contemplating those objective and eternal
ideas, to which it is pre-conformed by its rational
structure.  If the human mind, by a hard, convulsive effort analogous to the dead lift in mechanics,




PROPERTIES OF STYLE.            75
attempts to create thought and feeling, without any
contemplation; if it attempts to think and to feel,
without beholding the proper objects of thought
and feeling; it fails of necessity. The mind cannot
think successfully, without an object of thought,
and the heart cannot feel strongly and truly, without
an object of feeling. There can be no manifestation of power therefore, and no force in the finite
mind, except as it has been nourished, stimulated
and strengthened by an object other than itself.
The history of philosophical speculation teaches
no truth more plain or important than this, namely,
that insulation, isolation, and subjective processes
generally, are destructive of all energy and vitality
in the created mind, while communion with real
and solid verities promotes both. Take, for example, the systems of idealism  in  philosophy.
These proceed upon the hypothesis that the truth
lies ultimately in the subject, and not in the object;
that, in reality, there is no object except what the
mind makes for itself; that we reach truth by
isolating the intellect from all external realities,
and simply creating from  within. The mental
processes, upon  this theory, become speculative
instead of contemplative.  The mental products,
upon this theory, are pure figments, the manufactures of the human mind, and have no more absolute reality than a brain-image. All such thinking
is destitute of true force and vitality, because it is
exercised by the mind in insulation, and isolation,




'6                 HOMILETICS.
from  the world  of outward-truth  and  being.
There is mental action enough, but no intuition.
The mind sees nothing, but images every thing.
The intellect spins with great intensity upon its
own axis, but it makes no other movement.  There
is incessant motion, but no progress.
This abstract discussion might be prolonged,
but sufficient has been said to justify, and show
the grounds of the position with which we started,
namely, that the power of the human mind issues
ultimately from  the truth and reality which it
contemplates, and that no  finite  mind can be
energetic in its manifestations, that does not first
behold objective truth. All attempts to be forceful by mere.speculation, by an intellectual activity
that falls short of a direct intuition of an objective
reality, must fail.  And this, because the human
mind is rather a capacity than a self-sufficient fulness. It was made to receive truth into itself, and
not to originate it out of itself.  The human mind
is recipient in its nature, and not creative; it beholds truth, but it does not make it.
What, now, is the application of these principles to sacred eloquence?  What connection has
this philosophic theory with the matter of style in
the preacher?  We shall be able to answer this
question, by considering the fact that the written
revelation stands in the same relation to the sacred
orator, that the world of nature does to the philosopher. The Bible is something obyective to the human




PROPERTIES OF STYLE.            7
mind, and not a mass of subjective thinking which
human reason has originated. Revelation is not a
particular phase or development of the finite intellect, like the origination of a new form of government, or a new school of philosophy. It is not one
fold of the varied unfolding of the human mind, and
of the same piece with it. On the contrary, it is
divine wisdom given to man, out and out, to be
received by him, and taken up into his mental
structure, for purposes of religious renovation and
growth. human reason, therefore, is the subject,
or the knowing agent, and the Scriptures are the
object, or the thing to be known.
All true power, consequently, in the sacred orator, springs from this body of objective verity. It
is not by a speculative, but by a Biblical process,
that he is to make a powerful impression upon the
popular mind. The neglect of revelation, and an
endeavor to spin out matter from his own brain, by
processes of ratiocination, must result in feeble discourse. The oratorical power of the preacher depends upon his recipiency; upon his contemplation
of those ideas and doctrines which the Supreme
Mind has communicated to the created and dependent spirit; upon his clearly beholding them, and
receiving through this intuition a fund of knowledge,
and of force, of which he is naturally destitute.
Hence, the preacher's first duty, in respect to the
property of style under consideration, is to render
himself a Biblical student. The term is not employed




78                HOMILETICS.
here in its narrower signification, to denote one who
is learned in the literary externals of the Bible, and
nothing more.  A genuine Biblical student is both
an exegete, and a dogmatic theologian.  He is one
whose mind is continually receiving the whole body
of Holy Writ into itself in a living and genial way,
and who, for this reason, is becoming more and more
energetic in his methods of contemplation, and
more and more forcible in his modes of presentation.
A  truly mighty sacred orator is "mighty in the
Scriptures.' By this, it is not meant that a preacher
whose memory is tenacious, and holds a great number of texts which he can repeat readily, is necessarily a powerful orator.  Excessive quotation of
Scripture is as injurious to true living force in a sermon, as pertinent and choice quotatioin is conducive
to it.  Scripture should not lie in the preacher's
mind in the form of congregated atoms, but of living, salient energies. True Biblical knowledge is
dynamic, and not atomic.  There is no better word
to denote its nature, than the word imbue.  The
mind, by long-continued contemplation of revelation, is steeped in Divine wisdom, and saturated
with it.
Now, such a kliowledge of the Scriptures as this
imparts power to the sacred orator, which manifests
itself in force of style, for the following reasons.  In.
the first place, revealed truth is not speculative, but
intuitional and contemplative. There is not a single abstraction in the Scriptures.  The Bible is a




PROPERTIES OF STYLE.             79
revelation of actual facts, and practical doctrines.
When, consequently, the action of the preacher's
mind is that of simply beholding facts, and simply
contemplating doctrines, it strengthens instead of
exhausting itself.  If the sermonizing process were
purely speculative; if the preacher were called upon,
as he is on the rationalistic theory, to make a revelation instead of proclaiming one; the inherent insufficiency of the finite intellect would soon appear.
Rationalism, therefore,-the theory that all revelation must be subjective, the production of the human reason,-is the worst of all theories for the
sacred orator. It forces him to seek his materials
where they cannot be found. More tyrannical than
the Egyptian taskmaster, it compels him to make
bricks, not only without straw, but without clay.
The command of God is otherwise. "Preach the
preaching that I bid thee; behold these facts and
these truths, which have an existence and reality
independent of the individual mind; look at them
steadily and long, until their meaning is seen and
their power felt; and then simply proclaim  them,
simply preach them." The preacher is a heracd, and
his function is proclamation.  In this way, the ideas
which he presents to his fellow-men augment, instead
of diminishing his strength.  He gives no faster
than he receives.  He simply suffers divine truth,
which is never feeble and never fails, to pass through
his mind, as a medium  of communication, to the
minds of his fellow-men.




80                 HOMILETICS.
In the second place, this knowledge and reception of the Bible as an objective revelation imparts
power to the preacher's mind, and force to his style,
because Biblical truth is more living and energetic
than any other species.  A full discussion of this
position would carry us over an immense expanse.
The field, moreover, has been of late so much
ploughed and worked, that its fertility is somewhat
impaired.  During the last ten years, the ministry
itself has been too much occupied with eulogizing
the Scriptures.  All mere panegyrics, as Swift has
said, contain an infusion of poppy. It would be better, for a while at least, to cease these attempts to
render the sun luminous. It would be better, if the
ministry would so imbue themselves with the Bible
itself, and would so reproduce it in their preaching,
that the endeavor to prove it to be a powerful book
would be a palpable and tedious superfluity.
While, however, there is little need of the
preacher's proving to the popular mind, that revealed
truth is highly energizing in its nature and influence, there is perhaps all the more need that he
prove it to his own mind. Even while he is formally establishing this position to his audience, he
may be the greatest unbeliever of them all. Indeed,
that preacher is most liable to degenerate into a mere
eulogist of the Bible, who finds little interest for his
mind, and his heart, in its distinguishing doctrines.
The man whose whole soul is intensely Biblical, the
man into whose intellectual and moral texture the




PROPERTIES OF STYLE.            81
substance of revelation has been woven, the man in
whom the written Word has become incarnate,-this
man is not the one to hyperbolize and elocutionize
about the Scriptures. It is the preacher who harps
most upon this string, who most needs to understand
the note he is sounding.
While, therefore, he says little about it, the
sacred orator should really know and feel, that
revealed truth is the most profoundly energizing influence which his mind can come under. He should
find the hiding-place of power, in the revealed
ideas of God's personality and mercy, and man's
responsibility and guilt. In proportion as his mind
becomes Biblical in its conceptions upon these two
subjects, will he be an intense preacher, and a living
preacher, and a powerful preacher. But if, instead
of contemplating the view presented in the written
Word, of the character of God and man, he attempts
to reach the truth upon these themes by a merely
speculative process, he will fall either into pantheism  or deism. And neither of these schemes is
compatible with any vital, and powerful, address to
men upon religious subjects. Saying nothing of the
influence of pantheistic and rationalizing methods
upon moral and religious character, it is indisputable that they are the death of eloquence. Neither
naturalism nor rationalism has ever thrilled the
common mind, from the rostrum. There cannot be,
and as matter of fact there never has been, any
vivid and electrical discourse in the Christian pulpit,
6




82                HOMILETICS.
when the preacher has denied, or doubted, the truth
of the revealed representations of God's nature and
man's character. On the contrary, all the high and
commanding eloquence of the Christian Church has
sprung out of an intuition like that of Paul and
Luther,-a mode of conceiving and speaking of God,
and man, and their mutual relations, that resulted
entirely from the study of the Hebrew and Greek
Scriptures.
Having directed attention to that theory of
realism in philosophy which leads to the contemplation of an actual object, and is opposed to all
merely speculative and  idealizing methods, and
after showing that, in the instance of the sacred
orator, all his power and eloquence must take its
origin in an objective revelation, and not in the
operations of the unassisted and isolated human
intellect, it will be appropriate to consider, very
briefly, some characteristics of that property of style
which we are discussing. At the same time, however, it should be observed, that in pointing out
where power lies, and what is the true method of
coming into possession of it, we have to some
extent exhibited its essential nature. Force, generally, cannot be disconnected from its sources, and
cannot easily be described.  The orator can be
directed to that sort of self-discipline, and that
method of thinking, and those objects of thought,
from which power springs of itself, but the living
energy itself cannot be so pictured out to him that




PROPERTIES OF STYLE.              83
he will be able to attain it from  the mere description.  No drawing has yet been made of the. force
of gravitation. The best and only true definition
of life is to show signs of life; and the best and
only definition of power is a manifestation of it.
The principal quality in a forcible style, and
that which first strikes our attention, is penetration.
While listening to a speaker of whom this property
is a characteristic, our minds seem to be pricked as
with needles, and pierced as with javelins.  His
thoughts cut through the more dull and apathetic
parts, into the quick, and produce a keen sensation.
Force is electrical; it permeates and thrills.  A
speaker destitute of energy never produces such a
peculiar sensation as this.  He may please by the
even flow of his descriptions and narrations, and by
the elegance of his general method and style, but
our feeling is merely that of complacency.  We are
conscious of a quiet satisfaction as we listen, and of
a soft and tranquil mental pleasure as he closes,
but of nothing more.  He has not cut sharply into
the heart of his subject, and consequently he has
not cut sharply into the heart of his hearer.
The principal, perhaps the sole cause, of the success of the radical orator of the present day with
his audience, is his force.  He is a man of one lone
idea, and if this happens to be a great and fundamental one, as it sometimes does, it is apprehended
upon one of its sides only. As a consequence, he
is an intense man, a forcible man.  His utterances




84                 HOMILETICS.
penetrate. It is true that there are among this class
some of less earnest spirit, and less energetic temper;
amateur reformers, who wish to make an impression
upon the public mind from motives of mere vanity.
Such men are exceedingly feeble, and soon desist
from  their undertaking.  For while the common
mind is ever ready, too ready, to listen to a really
earnest and forcible man, even though his force proceeds from a wrong source, and sets in an altogether
wrong direction, it yet loathes a lukewarm earnestness, a counterfeited enthusiasm. One of the most
telling characters, in one of the most brilliant English
comedies, is Forcible Feeble. Take away from the
man who goes now by the name of reformer,-the
half-educated man who sees the truth but not the
whole truth,-take away from  him his force, and
you take away his muscular system. He instanta
neously collapses into a flabby pulp.
It is this penetrating quality, then, which renders discourse effective. And the preacher is the
man, above all men, who should be characterized
by it, if the theory which we have laid down respecting the origin of power is the true one. The preacher
who studies and ponders the Bible as a whole, will
not be a half-educated man. He will not see great
ideas on one side, but on all sides, because they are
so exhibited in the Scriptures.  Whatever power
he derives from the contemplation of inspired truth
will be legitimate, and it will be regulated. His
force will not be lawless and without an aim, like




PROPERTIES OF STYLE.            85
that of the man whose thoughts are mere specula.
tions. His power will be like power in material
nature. The forces of nature are denominated, indifferently, forces or laws; and the power of the Biblical mind is one with eternal law and eternal truth.
A striking writer of the present age furnishes
an example which, in the way of contrast, throws
light upon the particular aspect of the subject we
are considering.  We allude to Thomas Carlyle.
Force, intense penetration, and incisive keenness, is
the secret of his influence over the younger class of
educated men.  Take these away from his thoughts,
and there is not enough of depth, comprehensiveness and originality in them, to account for the
impression which he has made, as an author, upon
his generation.  But this force in Carlyle is, after
all, wholly subjective, and therefore spasmodic. It
does not originate from a living reception into his
mind, of the great body of objective and revealed
truth. Suppose that that intellect were truly contemplative; suppose that it had brooded over those
two single ideas of the Divine personality and
human apostasy, with their immense implication;
what a difference there would be in the quantity
and the quality of its force. How much broader
and deeper would be its intuition; how much more
practical and influential would be its projects for
ameliorating the condition of man; and how much
more permanent would be its influence in literary
history.




86                    HOJMILETICs.
For the energy in this instance is convulsive,
and of the nature of a spasm.  It is the force of a
fury, and not of an angel.  The muscle is bravely
kept tight-drawn by an intense volition, and for a
while  there  is the  appearance  of  self-sufficient
power.   But the creature is finite, and a slight
tremor becomes visible, and the cord finally slackens.  The human mind needs to repose upon something greater, deeper, grander than itself; and when,
either from a false theory, or from  human pride, or
from both, there is not this recumbency upon objective and eternal truth, its inherent finiteness and
feebleness sooner or later appear.   The  created
mind may endeavor to make up for this want of
inward power, by a stormy and passionate energy;
but time is long, and truth is infinite, and sooner
or later the overtasked, because unassisted, intellect
gives out, and its possessor, weary and broken by
its struggles and convulsions, rushes to the other
extreme of tired and hopeless scepticism, and cries
with Macbeth:
" Life's but a walking shadow; a poor player
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage,
And then is heard no more: it is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury
Signifying nothing.'"
The defect in this unnatural do not here allude to the Gerforce displays itself in the rhetoric, man English phraseology, which
as well as the philosophy, of the seems now to have become a
writer in question.  I-s style second nature with Carlyle. This
corresponds to his thought. We characteristic is unduly magnified




PROPERTIES Ot STYLE.                    87
The Christian mind is preserved from  this fault
of unnatural and feeble forcefulness, because it has
received into itself a complete system of truth and
doctrine.  Any mind that is Biblical, is comprehensive and all-surveying. Its power originates from a
full view.  Its intensity springs fiom  an intuition
that is both  central and  peripheral.  And  the
times  demand this quality  in  the  pulpit orator.
Rapidity is the characteristic of the mental processes
of this generation. An age that is itself full of
energy, craves an eloquence that is powerful.  And
this power must be pure and sustained.  The energy
must display  itself through  every  fibre, and  the
whole  fabric.  The  sermon  should throb  with  a
robust life.  But it will not, until the preacher has
inhaled, into his own intellect, the energy and intensity of revealed ideas, and then has dared to strip
away from  the matter in which this force is embodied, every thing that impedes its working.  Powerful writers are plain. The fundamental properties
of style are interlinked; and he who has secured
plainness will secure force, while a failure to attain
by critics, and is by no means the forcible, without calm inward
principal fault in his manner. It power. It is the effort to cut
can be endured in him, though  and penetrate to the core, withunendurable in'his imitators. out really doing so. His style
We allude rather to the exaggera- wears the appearance of a desire
tion, and spasmodic contortion, to be tremendously strong. The
which appear in his style, espe- aspiration is infinite, but the percially in his later productions. formance is infinitesimal.
It is the tug and strain to be




88                  HOMILETICS.
the former carries with it the failure to attain the
latter.
3. The third fundamental property of style is
beauty.  The best definition that has been given of
beauty is that of the Roman school of painting,
namely, ii piu, nell' uno, multitude in unity.  The
essential principle of beauty is that, by which all
the manifoldness and variety in an object is moulded
into unity and simplicity. Take a painting, for example. In this object, there are a great many particular elements.  There is color of many varieties, and
many shades of the same variety.  There is the
blending and contrast of these colors, so as to produce the varieties of light and shade.  There is a
general harmony of tints, and a pleasing texture in
the objects exhibited in the picture. Again, there
are, in this painting, a great many lines as well as
colors, curved lines and right lines, indeed all the
geometrical elements, intermingled and in every
variety of relation to each other. - Again, in this
painting  a great many different properties  of
matter are represented.  Some of the objects in it
are compressed and solid, others are diffuse and
airy; some are colossal and firm, others are slender
and slight; some are rigid and immovable, others
are mobile and pliant.  Again, there are, in this
painting, a variety of more distinctively intellectual
elements, such as proportion, symmetry, exactness,
neatness, elegance, grace, dignity, sublimity.
Here, then, if we have regard to number alone




PROPERTIES OF STYLE.             89
is a great sum of separate items or elements, in this
painting. Each one is distinct from. all the rest.
But more than this, these items are also diverse
from each other. The sensuous elements of color are
different from the geometrical elements of lines;
and the more distinctively intellectual elements,
such as proportion, exactness, and elegance, are different from both. In short, the more closely we
analyze this painting, the more clearly shall we see
that it is composed of a great amount and variety
of particulars. If we look at its items and elements,
we shall perceive that as an object it is manifold.
It is a " multitude " of items and elements.
And yet, if it is a beautiful picture, it is a
" unity " also. As we stand before a great painting
like the Last Supper of Da Vinci, for example, we
are conscious of receiving but one general impression.
We do not receive a distinct, and separate impression, from each one of these items and elements that
constitute its manifoldness, but a general and total
impression. We do not experience a hundred thousand impressions, from an hundred thousand particulars.  We see, and we feel, that the work is a unity.
It breathes one spirit, and is pervaded by one tone.
It is, according to the definition with which we began,
"multitude in unity," and hence it is beautiful.
For it is to be observed, that while, and so long
as, we are busy with the particulars alone, we perceive no beauty.  That analytic process, while it
is going on, prevents any aesthetic perception and




90                 HOMILETICS.
pleasure.  So long as we are counting up the items
of this multitude, and before we have come to the
intuition of the unity of the whole work, we are
unconscious of its beauty. It is not until the analysis stops, and the synthesis begins; it is not until we
are aware that all this multitude of particulars has
been noulded, by the one idea of the artist's imagination, into a single breathing unity, that we feel the
beauty. that is in the painting.  If the mind of the
beholder could never get beyond this analysis of
particulars, and could never do any thing more than
enumerate these items, it could never experience the
feeling of beauty.  If the eye of the beholder were
merely a brute's eye, merely receiving the impressions made by the items and elements of the vision,
it could never perceive the beautiful.  The brute's
eye is impressed by the manifoldness of the object,
or the scene, but never by the unity.  As it roves
over the landscape spread out before it, the organ
of the animal is undoubtedly subject to the same
sensuous and particular impressions, as those of a
Raphael; and, perhaps, if the brute were capable of
analyzing and enumerating, it might detect the
greater portion of those elements that make up the
manifoldness of the picture.  But the modifying
power is wanting.  That unifying principle which
can mould these elements into a unity, and bring
simplicity into this diffusion and separation of particulars, has not been given to the brute.
We have thus briefly examined this definition




PROPERTIES OF STYLE.              91
of beauty, not merely because it is the most phiiosophical of any that has been given, but because it
is the most useful and safest definition for the purposes of the orator, and particularly of the sacred
orator.  It is too much the habit to regard beauty,
as mere ornamentation; as something that is added
to other properties, instead of growing out of them.
Hence, it is too much the habit to cultivate the
beautiful in isolation; to set it up before the mind,
as an independent quality, and to make every other
quality subservient to it. In no department is this
more pernicious, and fatal to true success, than in
rhetoric.
This habit is founded, partly at least, upon a
wrong conception of beauty.  It is not defined in
accordance with its essential principle, but rather in
accordance with its more superficial characteristics.
Beauty, with too many, is that which ornaments,
which decks out and sets off, plainness and force, or
whatever the other properties may be, with which it
happens to be juxta-posed. But if the definition that
has been given be the true one, beauty is rather an
inevitable accompaniment, than a labored decoration.
It has a spontaneous origin. It springs into existence,
whenever the mind has succeeded in imparting the
properties of unity and simplicity to a multitude of
particulars which, taken by themselves, are destitute of these properties. But unity and simplicity
are substantial properties; they have an intrinsic
worth.  True beauty, therefore, springs into exist



92                 HOMILETICS.
ence at the very time that the mind is seeking to
impart to the object of its attention its most sterling and necessary characteristics. It does not arise
when the mind is neglecting essential and necessary
characteristics, and is aiming at an isolated, and an
independent decoration.
Take the case of the sacred orator, and see how
true this position is. Suppose that the preacher,
in the composition of a sermon, altogether or in part
neglects the necessary property of unity, and endeavors to superinduce upon a heterogeneous mass
of materials, which he has gathered together, the
element and property of beauty. By the supposition, he has not moulded these materials in the least.
There they lie, a great "multitude" of items and
particulars, but the mind of the preacher has pervaded them with no unifying, and no simplifying
principle.  There is multitude, manifoldness, variety, but there is no unity. Now it is not possible,
for him to compose a beautiful oration in this manner.  He may decorate as much as he pleases; he
may cull words, and invent metaphors, and wiredraw metaphors into similes; he may toil over his
work until he is gray; but he cannot, upon this
method, compose a truly beautiful work. So long
as this sermon is destitute of a moulding and unifying principle which assimilates, and combines, this
multitude of particulars into a whole, into a simple
and pure unit, it cannot be made beautiful.  So




PROPERTIES OF STYLE.             93
long as this sermon is destitute of unity, it must be
destitute of beauty.
The course which the sermonizer should take
in this case is plain. He should cease this effort to
ornament this aggregate of separate items and particulars, and begin to reduce them  into unity and
simplicity of form. This is no time for him to be
thinking about the beauty of his sermon.  If he
will cease altogether to think about it, and will
aim  at those necessary and essential properties
which his sermon as yet lacks, he will find in the
end that a real and true beauty has spontaneously
sprung into existence. He who finds beauty shall
lose it, but he who loses beauty shall find it. He
who is prematurely anxious to secure beauty will fail;
but he whose anxiety has respect first to the necessary properties of style, will find beauty following in
their train, as the shadow follows the substance.
For it is plain, that just in proportion as the
sermon rounds into unity, does it swell into beauty.
It pleases the taste and the sense for the beautiful,
just in proportion as the unifying and simplifying
process goes on. The eye, at first, sees no form or
comeliness in the multitude of materials, because
they are a mere multitude; because they are arranged upon  no method, and  moulded  by no
principle of unity.  But, gradually, the logic of the
preacher's mind penetrates, and pervades, the mass
of particulars; the homogeneous elements are assimilated, and the heterogeneous are sloughed off; the




94                 HOMILETICS.
vital currents of a system, and a method, begin to
play through the parts, and the work now takes on
a rounded unity, and a chaste simplicity. And now,
for the first time, beauty begins to appear. The sermon is seen to be a beautiful product because it is
one, and simple, in its structure and impression.
Thus it appears, that true beauty is not an ornament washed on from without, but an efflux from
within. The effort to be methodical results in
beauty. The endeavor after unity results in beauty.
The effort to be simple results in beauty. But
method, unity, and simplicity, are essential properties.  True beauty in rhetoric, therefore, is the
natural and necessary accompaniment of solid and
substantial characteristics, both in the matter and
in the form. It is found in every composition that
is characterized by "unity in multitude," and by
simplicity in complexity.
Having thus stated and explained this definition, we proceed to  notice some of its excellences and advantages.  And, first, it is a safe
definition for the orator. There is no property in
style so liable to be injured and spoiled by excess,
as beauty. The orator cannot be too plain, or too
forcible, but he may  be too  beautiful.  The
aesthetic nature, unlike the rational, or the moral,
may be too much developed. The development of
the taste and imagination must be a symenetrical
one, in order to be a just and true one. If the
aesthetic processes should exceed their true propor



PROPERTIES OF STYLE.            95
tion, and absorb into themselves all the rational
and moral processes of the human soul, so that
it should become wholly imaginative, and merely
aesthetic, this would be an illegitimate and false
development. The true proportion, in this instance,
is a subordination of the imagination, and the taste,
to the purposes and aims of the rational and moral
faculties. If, now, it be said in reply to this, that
proportion is equally required in the rational and
moral processes of the soul; that the reason ought
not to absorb the imagination, any more than the
imagination the reason; we answer, that this cannot
happen.  For in the true and pure development
of' the rational and moral powers, a proper and
subordinate development of the imaginative and
aesthetic is necessitated. A true and pure unfolding of the rational and moral nature of man would
inevitably be a proportionate, and hence a beautiful
one. Reason and right are the absolute, and in
developing'them, all things that rest upon them
are developed also.  The true and the good are
necessarily beautiful.
But although such is the fact, the human mind
is too unwilling to trust to the simple, and chaste
beauty  of truth  and reason.  It lusts after a
divorced, and an independent beauty.  It tends
to an excessive, disproportioned, unsubordinated
development of the aesthetic sense. The influence
of such a tendency, upon eloquence and oratory,
is pernicious in the highest degree, and one great




96                HOMILETICS.
aim of a true and high theory of eloquence is to
counteract it.  And, certainly, that definition of
beauty which makes it to be more than mere
decoration,-which regards it as the result of a
unifying. principle, moulding into one a great multitude of particulars,-is a safe one for the preacher,
in the respects of which we are speaking. There
is no danger of an excess of unity and method'in
the sermon. The closer and more compact the
materials, the simpler and more symmetrical the
plan, the better the sermon. These characteristics
never can become exorbitant, and hence that beauty
which springs out of them can never become an
extravagant and false ornamentation.  The same
is true of simplicity. This shows itself more in
the style and diction of a sermon, than in the plan
and its parts.  But can there ever be too much of
chaste and pure simplicity, in the language and
style?  The more there is of this property, the
nearer does the work approach to that most purely
beautiful of all the productions of Grecian art, the
Ionic column.  Compare the Ionic with the Corinthian column, and the difference between pure
and excessive beauty is apparent.  In the Ionic
column, the unity completely pervades and masters
the manifoldness.  The eye is not distracted by
complexity of parts, or a multitude of particulars,
but rests with a tranquil complacency upon the
simple oneness, the chaste pure beauty of the
column. In the Corinthian column, there is not




PROPERTIES OF STYLE.             97
this entire pervasion, and perfect domination, of
the manifold by the unity.  The variety of parts
and particulars somewhat overflows the unity of
the whole.  There is too. much decoration, the
aesthetic sense is a little satiated, the appetite is
a little palled, and the eye does not experience
that entire satisfaction in taking in the column as
a whole, which it feels on beholding the less decorated Ionic.  As a work of art, it is not so clean,
so nice, so elegant, so purely and simply beautiful.
The definition which we are considering, then,
is a safe one in its influence, because it insists upon
the presence and the presidency of the idea of
unity.  This idea logically precludes over-ornament.  It forbids an  excess of materials,-too
much variety, too much manifoldness, in the parts
and particulars.  And, supposing there is no excess
in the amount of materials, supposing the manifold
elements are in just proportion, then this idea and
principle of unity precludes the isolation, the disconnection, the  independence  of any  of them.
There can be no excess, according to this definition.
The beauty that results is a pure and a safe embel?
lishment.
In the second place, the definition under consideration is a useful one for the sacred orator.  It
is practically available for the purposes of preaching. For it teaches, not only that unity and simplicity are essential to the existence of beauty, but
that the effort to obtain them  is really an effort to
T




98                  HOMILETICS.
obtain beauty. The definition implies, that success
in respect to unity,-to unity that is thorough, and
perfusive, and moulds the multitudes of materials,is success in respect to beauty.
The sacred orator, consequently, knows exactly
what he needs to do, in order to secure that property of style which we are considering.  And this
is of more importance than it might at first seem.
For it is more difficult to proceed intelligently,
in respect to the precept, "Be beautiful," than
in respect to the precept, "Be plain," or, "Be
forcible." Indeed, if that definition of beauty
which we are recommending be rejected, it seems
to us that the mind of the orator must be perplexed,
when he is desirous of imparting this property to
his work.   How  shall he begin to render his
oration beautiful? and  when shall he end the
effort? are questions that are answered, not only
the most safely, but the most intelligently, by
bidding him to impart the greatest possible unity
to it.  Certainly, there is no other property or
characteristic in beauty, so prominent as this of
unity, and there is no one that.is so distinct and
easily apprehensible.
Let the preacher, then, adopt this definition,
because it is a working definition.  Let him  see
and believe, that all true beauty springs naturally
from  unity and simplicity, and then let him  act
accordingly.  Let him, frst of all, strive to make
his sermon a unit and a whole, so far as its method




PROPERTIES OF STYLE.              99
is concerned.   Just in proportion as he succeeds
in so doing, will he construct a beautiful plan,a plan that will satisfy the  esthetic sense, at
the very time that it satisfies the logical understanding. Let him seek to render this property of
unity pervading and perfusive, so far as style and
diction are concerned, and his style and diction will
be beautiful. For, this unifying principle, working
thoroughly and clear to the edge, like the principle
of life in nature, will display itself in simplicity
of style, and chastity, and purity of diction. And
is not such a style and diction beautiful?  If style
and diction are not essentially simple, and pure,
and chaste, can any possible amount of ornamentation ever make them  beautiful?  Is not unity pervading the manifoldness, in this instance as well as
in that of the plan, the essence and basis of beauty?
In the third place, this definition recommends
itself to the sacred orator, because it is comprehensziv.  We have seen in the first part of this chapter,
that more comprehensive terms are desirable, than
"perspicuity" and "energy," and hence we have
chosen  the  terms  "plainness" and " force," to
denote those properties of style which address the
powers of cognition and feeling.  A  wider and
more comprehensive term  than   elegance,"-the
term  that is usually associated with " perspicuity "
and " energy,"-is also  needed, to  denote that
property of style which addresses the imagination
and aesthetic nature, and hence we have selected




100                HOMIIETICS.
the term "beauty."  This term  is sufficiently comprehensive to include a number of particulars, each
of which is pleasing to the taste.
First in order among these, is neatness.  This
property in style renders it clean and pure; as the
Latin verb niteo, nitesco, from which it comes, denotes. This purity and niceness, as some of the
meanings of these Latin verbs indicate, may become
a very bright and splendid quality. The sculptor
may cut the statue so very cleanly, and impart such
a high neatness to it, that it shall actually shine
and gleam like silver. This seems to be the explanation of the uses of the Latin root, and shows
how a primarily plain property may be heightened
into ornament and splendor.  The passage from
neatness to elegance is very easy and imperceptible,
and, like elegance itself, neatness is a property that
is Essthetic, and pleases the taste.
And this conducts to the second particular,
under the head of beauty: viz., elegance.  The
etymology of this word shows its meaning to be
kindred to that of neatness.  Elegant is from  e
and lego.  Elegance is a nice choice.  The elegant
is the elect. The elegant is the select. Out of a
multitude of particulars, the most fitting is chosen.
Under the influence of that principle and idea of
unity, of which we have spoken, the orator selects
the most appropriate word, the word which promotes the simplicity of the statement, and thus his
diction is elegant.  Or, under the influence of this




PROPERTIES OF STYLE.           101
same idea of unity, he culls the most suitable
metaphor out of a multitude, and thus his illustration is elegant.
The third particular under the head of beauty,
is grace. This has been defined to be beauty in
motion. When we have a still picture, a tranquil
repose of beauty, there is no grace. But start this
property into motion, and it takes on this aspect.
We speak of a beautiful landscape, and a graceful
figure; of a beautiful color, and a graceful curve.
The color is still; the curve is a line, and the line
is a point in motion, according to the old geometry
and its curved motion is graceful.
Lastly, there is what we must denominate, for
want of a better term, beauty proper, or specific
beauty.  We cannot here give a full definition of
this element in the general conception of the beautiful. We mean by it more than neatness, and
more than elegance.  Perhaps that which goes
under the name of ornament and embellishment, in
style, is nearest to it. It is that flush of color, and
that splendor of light, which are poured over the
discourse of a highly imaginative mind,-like that
of Jeremy Taylor, for example.  Placing neatness
as the lowest degree in the scale of general beauty,
then specific beauty would be the last and highest
degree,-elegance  and grace being intermediate.
In this way, the term beauty becomes comprehensive, and sufficient for all the purposes of rhetoric.
For, every orator should exhibit something of this




102                HOMILETICS.
fundamental property of style.  Even the least
imaginative preacher should discourse in a manner
that possesses some of these elements of beauty;
that not only does not offend a cultivated taste,
but satisfies and pleases it. No writer or speaker
should be debarred from  the beautiful. It is a
legitimate property in style, and should appear in
some of its qualities, and degrees, in every man's
discourse.
This brings us to the practical application of this
discussion of the nature, and extent, of the beautiful; and what we have to say will be contained in
several rules or maxims. First, the preacher should
always make beauty of style subservient to plainness and force. This third fundamental property
should not overflow, and submerge, the first two.
In all its degrees, from neatness up to beauty in
the stricter specific sense, it should contribute to
render discourse clear to the understanding, and influential upon the feelings. The moment that this
property, in any of its forms, oversteps this limit
of subordination and subservience, it becomes a
positive fault in style. Excessive beauty is as much
a defect as positive deformity. Showy, gaudy overornament is as much a fault, as downright ugliness.
But, in following the definition that has been given,
beauty will inevitably be subordinated to plainness
and force of style. For, no more of neatness, of
elegance, of grace, and of embellishment, will be
admitted or employed, than the principles of unity




PROPERTIES OF STYLE.            103
and simplicity will permit. The endeavor to impart
oneness to the sermon throughout and in every
particular, the effort to secure unity in logic, style,
and diction, will keep out all extravagant ornamen.
tation. The striving of the preacher after harmony
and simplicity, which according to the definition are
the inmost essence of beauty, will allow no decoration to characterize his sermon but that which is
harmonious and simple.  And such embellishment
as this, is subservient to plainness and force.
Secondly, the degree and amount of beauty in
style should accord with the characteristics of the
individual. The style of some preachers contains
more of the beautiful than that of others, and ought
to. For there are differences in the mental structure.
Some minds are more imaginative and poetic than
others. Yet every mind possesses more or less of
imagination.  "Even the dullest wight," says Coleridge, "is a Shakspeare in his dreams."  Hence,
while the property of beauty, as we have already
remarked, belongs to style generally, and should be
seen in every man's manner of discourse, it is yet a
thing of degree and amount. This degree and
amount must be determined, by the amount of
imagination that has been bestowed upon the individual. Some men are so constituted, that neatness
is the utmost that is proper in them.  If they
attempt more than this lowest grade of the beauti.
ful, they injure their style, and render it positively
offensive to taste. Stopping with neatness, they




104                HOMILETICS.
secure beauty.   Others may be elegant, others
graceful, others, and these are the few, may be
beautiful with the embellishment and ornament of
Jeremy Taylor.  In each and every instance, the
grade of beauty should accord with the individuality. If it does not, it is, in reference to the individual, excessive and isolated beauty, which is offensive to the taste, and therefore really of the nature
of the deformed and the ugly.  A  property overwrought, and carried to excess, turns into its own
contrary; just as frost, raised to its utmost intensity,
produces the same sensation as fire.
But in what other way, can this adjustment of
the amount of beauty in style to the individuality
of the preacher be secured, than by proceeding
from  the ideas of unity and simplicity; than by
adopting, and working upon, that definition which
makes these the essentials and basis of the beautiful?  If the preacher sets up mere decoration as
his aim, he will inevitably outrun his capacities.
lie will attempt to embellish his sermon, more than
his mental peculiarities will warrant. There will
not be a true harmony and accord, between the
amount of imagination in his soul, and the amount
of ornament in his sermon.  On the other hand,
the endeavor to infuse unity, symmetry, and simplicity, through the whole sermon, through the matter and the form, will secure a just proportion
between the product of the preacher's mind, and
the characteristics of the preacher's mind. The




PROPERTIES OF STYLE.           105
orator will then exhibit his own grade of beauty,
in his style,-no more, and no less, than his mental
qualities justify. And this grade is the truly and
the highly Beautiful, for him, and in him.




CIAPTER   IV.
GENERAL MAXIMS FOR SERMONIZING.
MAXIMS for the composition of sermons are of
two classes, general and special,-those, namely,
which relate to the fundamental discipline that prepares for the construction of a sermon, and those
which are to be followed in the act of composition
itself.
Before particular precepts can be given with
profit, it is necessary to call attention to some general rules, the observance of which greatly facilitates the process of writing a discourse. The sermonizer often loses much time and labor, in the season of immediate preparation for the pulpit, because
he has made little general preparation for the work.
As, in mechanics, the workman always seeks to
increase the efficiency of a force, by applying it
under all the advantages possible, so the intellectual
workman should avail himself of all that can render his direct, and. immediate, efforts more effective
and successful. A dead lift should be avoided by
the mind, as well as by the body.  Power, in both




GENERAL MAXIMS.             107
the material and mental worlds, should be aided
by what the mechanic terms a purchase. If the
sermonizer goes to the construction of a sermon,
after he has made preparation of a more general
nature, he will be far more successful than if he
begins abruptly, and by a violent or perhaps spasmodic application of his powers.
1. The first of these general maxims is this:
Cultivate a homiletic mental habit. By this is meant,
such an habitual training of the mind as will impart a sermonizing tendency to it. The human
understanding, by discipline and practice, may be
made to work in any given direction: provided it
is a legitimate one, with something of the uniformity and precision and rapidity of a machine. It
can be so habituated to certain processes, that it
shall go through them with very little effort, and
yet with very great force. We shall, of course, not
be understood as advocating a material philosophy,
or as affirming that the operations of the mind are
really mechanical. We are only directing attention
to the fact acknowledged by all philosophers, that
certain mental operations,-such as the logical, the
imaginative, for example,-may be so fixed by exercise and habit, that the mind may perform them
with an ease, and a readiness, that resembles the
operations of an instinct, or a machine. Compare
the activity of an intellect that has been habituated to the processes of logic, with one that has
had little or no exercise in this direction. With




108                   HOMILETICS.
what rapidity, and precision, does the former speed
through the process; and how  slowly and uncertainly does the latter drag along.  The former has
acquired a logical tendency, and  needs only  to
fasten its grasp upon  a  subject that possesses a
logical structure, that has logic in it, to untie it
immediately, and untwist it entirely.
Now, in relation to the purposes of his profession and calling, the preacher ought to acquire and
cultivate a homiletical habitude. Preaching is his
business.  For this he has educated himself, and to
this he has consecrated his whole life. It should,
therefore, obtain undisputed possession of his mind
and his culture."  He ought not to  pursue  any
other intellectual calling than that of sermonizing.
He may, therefore, properly allow  this species of
authorship to  monopolize  all his discipline  and
acquisitions.   It is as fitting  that the preacher
should be characterized by a homiletical tendency,
as that the poet should be characterized by a poetical tendency. If it is proper that the poet should
transmute every thing that he touches, into poetry,
it is proper that the preacher should transmute
every thing that he touches, into sermon.
1 "We are told of a Grecian how advance with greater secugeneral who, when he travelled rity; how retreat with least danand viewed the country around ger. Something similar to this,
him, revolved in his mind how an should be the practice and study
army might be there drawn up of a public speaker."-LELAND:
to the greatest advantage; how  Preface to the Orations of Demoshe could best defend himself, if thenes.
attacked from such a quarter;




GENERAL MAXIMS.                109
This homiletic habit will appear in a disposition
to skeletonize, to construct plans, to examine and
criticise discourses with respect to their logical
structure.  The preacher's mind becomes habitually
organific. It is inclined to build. Whenever leading thoughts are brought into the mind, they are
straightway disposed and arranged into the unity
of a plan, instead of being allowed to lie here and
there, like scattered bowlders on a field of drift.
This homiletic habit will appear, again, in a disposition to render all the argumentative, and illustrative, materials which pour in upon the educated
man, from  the various fields of science, literature,
and art, subservient to the purposes of preaching.
The sermonizer is, or should be, a student, and an
industrious one, a reader, and a thoughtful one.
He will, consequently, in the course of his studies,
meet with a great variety of information that may
be advantageously employed in sermonizing, either
as proof or illustration, provided he possesses the
proper power to elaborate it, and work it up. Now,
if he has acquired this homiletic mental habit, this
tendency to sermonize, all this material, which would
pass through another mind without assimilation,
will be instantaneously and constantly taken up,
and wrought into the substance and form  of sermons.1
These materials will readily into the preacher's Common
overflow, in the form of skele- Place Book.
tons, metaphors, illustrations, etc.




110                HOMILETICS.
The possession of such an intellectual habitude
as this, greatly facilitates immediate preparation for
the pulpit. It is, virtually, a primary preparation,
from which the secondary and more direct preparation derives its precision, thoroughness, rapidity,
and effectiveness. Without it, the preacher must
be continually forced up to an unwelcome and ungenial task, in the preparation of discourses, instead
of finding in this process of composition, a grateful
vent for the outflow and overflow of his resources.
2. The second general maxim for the sermonizer
is this: Form a hiygh ideal of a sermon, and constantly aim at its realization. There is little danger
of setting a standard too high, provided the preacher is kept earnestly at work in attempts to reach it.
The influence of a very perfect conception of a
thing is sometimes injurious, upon one whose mental processes are somewhat morbid, and unhealthy.
An artist whose beau ideal is high, but who has
little productive energy and vigor, will dream away
his life over his ideal, and accomplish nothing; or
else fill up his career, as an artist, with a series of
disappointed, baffled efforts.  Such an one should
content himself, in the outset at least, with a somewhat lower idea of perfection, and rouse himself up
to more vigor and energy of execution.  In this
way, he would take courage, and would gradually
elevate his standard, and carry his power of per.
formance up along with his ideal. But if there be
a vigorous willingness to work, and a sincerely




GENERAL MAXim Mb1
good motive at the bottom of mental efforts, there
is no danger of aiming too high. Though the perfect idea in the mind will never be realized,-for a
man's ideal, like his horizon, is constantly receding
from him as he advances towards it,-yet the grade
of excellence actually attained will be far higher,
than if but an inferior, or even a moderate standard
is assumed in the outset.
The preacher's idea of a sermon must, therefore,
be as full and perfect as possible. He must not be
content with an inferior grade of sermonizing, but
must aim to make his discourses as excellent in
matter, and in manner, as his powers, natural and
acquired, will possibly allow. And especially must
he subject his efforts at sermonizing to the criticism
and the discipline of a high ideal, while he is in
the preparatory course of professional education.
It is probably safe to say, that in all theological
seminaries too many sermons are written, because
the conception of a sermon is too inadequate. A
higher standard would diminish the quantity, and
improve the quality, in this department of authorship. W- e are well aware of the frequent demands
made by the churches upon the theological student,
before he has entered the pastoral office. These
demands ought to be met, so far as is possible, in
view of the lack of preachers in this great and
growing country.  And yet this very demand calls
for great resolution, and great carefulness, on the
part of the professional student.  He should not




112                1103MLETICS.
court, but discourage this premature draft upon his
resources, so far as he can consistently with a wise
regard to circumstances.  He ought to insist upon
the full time, in which to prepare for a life-long
work,-a work that will task the best discipline,
and the ripest culture to the utmost. He ought to
keep his ideal of a sermon high and bright before
his eye, and not allow his mind, by the frequency
and insufficiency of its preparations, to become
accustomed to inferior performances, because this is
the next step to becoming satisfied with them.
It is possible, as we have already remarked, that
a high model may, in some instances, discourage
efforts, and freeze the genial currents of the soul.
But in this age of intense mental action, when all
men are thinking, and speaking, and writing, there
is little danger in recommending a high standard to
the professional man.  Where one mind will be
injured by it, a thousand will be benefited.  Moreover, if there only be a vigorous and healthy state
of mind,-a disposition to act, to think, and to
write,-on the part of the clergyman, there is little
danger of his becoming unduly fastidious, or morbidly nice. Add to this the fact, that as soon as
the clergyman has once entered upon the active
duties of his profession, necessity is laid upon him,
and he must compose, nolens volens, and we have
still another reason why a high ideal is not liable,
as it is sometimes in the case of the artist or poet,
to impede and suppress his activity.  All dispo



GENERAL  IAXnIS.            113
sition to brood morbidly over performances, because
they are not close up to the perfect model in the
mind, will be broken up and driven to the four
winds, by the consideration, that on next Lord's day
two sermons must be preached, at the call of the
bell, to that expecting and expectant congregation.
We are also aware, that it is possible to expend
too much time and labor upon an individual sermon. Some preachers, and some very celebrated
in their day, have had their " favorite sermons," as
they are styled,-sermons upon which an undue
amount of pains was expended, to the neglect and
serious injury of the rest of their sermonizing.  A
certain American preacher is said to have rewritten
one particular discourse, more than ninety times!
But this is not the true use of a high ideal. A high
conception ought to show its work, and its power, in
every sermon. The discourses of a preacher ought
uniformly to bear the marks of a lofty aim. Not
that one sermon will be as excellent as another,
any more than one subject will be as fertile as another. But the course of sermonizing, year after
year, ought to show that the preacher is satisfied
with no hasty, perfunctory performance of his
duties,-that there is constantly floating before him,
and beckoning him on, a noble and high idea of
what a sermon always should be.
There is little danger however, of excessive
elaboration during the course of professional study.
The theological student is more likelyto under



114                HOMILETICS.
estimate the close study of his plans, and the elaborate cultivation of his style and diction, than to
overestimate them.  He is apt to shrink from that
persistent self-denial of the intellect, which confines
it to long and laborious efforts upon a single discourse, instead of allowing it to expatiate amid a
greater variety of themes.  The student, in his best
estate, is too little inclined to that thorough elaboration, to which the Ancient orators accustomed
themselves, in the production of their master-pieces,
and which exhibits itself equally in the compactness
and completeness of the organization, and in the
hard finish of the style.  "The prose of Demosthenes," says an excellent critic, " is, in its kind, as
perfect and finished as metrical composition.  For
example, the greatest attention is bestowed by
Demosthenes, upon the sequence of long and short
syllables, not in order to produce a regularly recurring metre but, in order to express the most
diverse emotions of the mind, by a suitable and
ever-varying rhythm, or movement.  And as this
prose rhythm  never passes over into a poetical
metre, so the language, as to its elements, never
loses itself in the sphere of poetry, but remains, as
the language of oratory ever should, that of ordinary life and cultivated society.  And the uncommon charm of this rhetorical prose lies precisely in
this,-that these simple elements of speech are
treated with the same care which, usually, only the
poet is wont to devote to words.  Demosthenes




GENERAL MAXIMS.               115
himself was well aware of this study which he bestowed upon his style, and he required it in the
orator.  It is not enough, said he, that the orator,
in order to prepare for delivery in public, write
down his thoughts,-he must, as it were, sculpture
them in brass.  He must not content himself with
that loose use of language which characterizes a
thoughtless fluency, but his words must have a precise and exact look, like newly minted coin, with
sharply-cut edges and devices. This comparison of
prose composition with sculpture, appears to have
been a favorite one with the Ancient rhetoricians;
as Dionysius also remarks of Demosthenes, Plato,
and Socrates,'their productions were not so much
works of writing, as of carving and embossing."'
This high ideal, both in matter and style, should,
therefore, float constantly before the eye of the
student, during his whole preparatory course.  In
this way, he will habituate himself to intense and
careful efforts in composition, so that when he goes
out into active professional life, he may, when compelled to do so by the stress of circumstances, even
relax something of this strain and tension of intellect, and yet throw off with rapidity sermons that
will be highly methodical, and highly finished, because this style of sermonizing has become natural
to him.  By this severe discipline of himself in the
beginning, he will have acquired the right to be
THEREMIN: Demosthenes und Massillon, p. 142.




116                OMILETIC.
daring, and careless, when compelled to be, by the
stress of circumstances; and what is more, he will
have acquired the ability to be so, without disgrace
to his calling, and with success in it.
3. A third general maxim for the sermonizer is
this: In immediate preparation for the pulpit, ma~e
no utse of the immediate preparation of other minds,
but rely solely upon personal resources. This maxim
forbids the use of the skeletons and sermons of
other sermonizers, in the process of composition.
Such a general preparation as has been described,
namely, a homiletic mental habit conjoined with a
high ideal, renders this help unnecessary. Such a
sermonizer is strong in himself, and needs no supports or crutches; such a preacher is rich in himself,
and does not need to borrow. He prefers to follow
the leadings of his own well disciplined and well
informed mind, rather than to adjust himself to the
movements of another, however firm and consecutive they may be.
In this day, when so many aids to sermonizing
are being furnished, it is well to form a correct estimate of their real value. These collections of skeletons and plans, more or less filled up, which seem
to be multiplying along with the general multiplication.of books, ought to be entirely neglected and
rejected, by both the theological student and the
preacher. As matter of fact, they are neglected by
all vigorous and effective sermonizers.  They are
the resort of the indolent and unfaithful alone.




GENERAL MAXIMS.               117
The only plausible reason that can be urged for
using them  is, that they furnish material for the
study of plans,-that they are necessary to the
acquisition of the art of skeletonizing. But a good
collection of sermons is of far more worth, for this
purpose. There is very little discipline, in looking
over a plan that has been eliminated from a sermon,
by another mind. But there is very great discipline,
in taking the sermon itself, and eliminating the
plan for ourselves. In the first instance, the mind
is passive, in the second it is active. The plan of a
truly excellent discourse is so identified with the
discourse, is so thoroughly organic and one with
the filling up, that it requires great judgment and
close examination to dissect it, and separate it from
the mass of thought, in which it is lightly, yet
strongly imbedded.  Why then lose all the benefits
of this examination, and exertion of judgment, by
employing the collector of skeletons to do this work
for us? Why not take the living structure topieces
ourselves, and derive the same knowledge and skill
thereby, which the anatomist acquires from a personal dissection of a subject?  It is only by actual
analysis, that actual synthesis becomes possible. It
is only by an actual examination of the parts of an
oration, and an actual disentanglement of them
from the matter of the discourse, that we can acquire the ability of putting parts together, and
building up a methodical structure ourselves.  In
stead, therefore, of buying a collection of skeletons,




118                 HOMILETICS.
the student and preacher should buy a collection of
sermons, and obtain the discipline which he needs,
from a close and careful study of their logical structure and rhetorical properties.  For, in this way, he
will acquire both a logical and a rhetorical discipline.
If he studies a skeleton merely, logical discipline is
the most he can obtain; and this too, as we have
seen, in only an inferior degree. If, on the other
hand, he studies a sermon, while the effort to detect
and take out the plan that is in it will go to impart
a fine logical talent, a fine constructive ability, the
attention which will at the same time be given to
the style, illustration, and diction of the discourse
as a whole, will go to impart a fine rhetorical talent
also.  The method of criticism  will correspond to
the method of production.   As the sermon came
into existence in a growth-like way,-plan and filling up, skeleton and flesh, all together,-so it will be
examined in the same natural method.  The skeleton will not be contemplated alone, and isolated
from  the thoughts which it supports; neither will
the thoughts be examined in a state of separation
from the plan of the whole fabric.  The method of
criticism, like the method of authorship, will be the
method of nature.1
But when these collections of plans are seriThe careful analysis of such more valuable, than to read a
sermons as those of South, Bar- hundred treatises upon rhetoric,
row, and Saurin, would be a dis- without it.
cipline for the young preacher




GENERAL MAXIMS.             119
ously offered to the preacher, as sources from
which to derive the foundations of his sermons,
nothing can be said in their recommendation, either
on the score of literature or morality. An English
treatise upon the art of sermonizing, which is filled
up with very full plans of sermons by various distinguished preachers, contains such remarks as the
following: " An immense number of examples, in
which passages are laid out in logical order, are to
be found in Burkitt on the N. T., and more especially in Henry, and these may be often turned to
good account. Some ministers are very cautious of
using any of these plans, because the volumes of
Burkitt and Henry are possessed by many families; but surely some new casting might easily
be devised that would give the air of novelty, and
please the fastidious, if they be thought worth the
pleasing."  Again, he says:'I do not wish to
draw you from your independent study, and the
resources of your own minds; but if at any time
you feel indisposed towards mental labor, or time
will not allow you to enter upon it, regard it as
perfectly lawful to avail yourselves of the materials
furnished by such an author as Henry." Again, he
observes: "As to Burkitt, he is full of both long
and short skeletons, that is, skeletons upon long
and short passages, which a little pains would so
modernize, that when our knowing people saw their
old friend with a new face, they certainly would
not recognize him again. This is, I suppose, what




120                     HOMILETICS.
we wish, when we find ourselves out of condition
for close  study, or have not time  for  it."   The
author then goes on to say, with an innocent simplicity that is quite charming, that "it is necessary
to obtain  a knowledge of Burkitt's key-words, his'Observe,' his'Note,' his'Learn.'  When he says
4Observe,' he is about to give you  a head or division of the passage, in an expository view," &c., &c.l
Now, such recommendations as these, are both
illiterate  and  immoral.  No  scholar, no preacher
who has even a becoming regard for the literary
character, to say nothing of the edifying character,
of his sermonizing, could possibly subject his intellect to  such  copying.  A  proper estimate  of the
sermon as a piece of authorship, if nothing more,
1STURTEVANT: Manual, pp. try to compose one every month."
57, 58, 59.-The views in the  The English Churchman contains
English Church are very indul- the  following  announcement:
gent, in reference to preparations  "A clergyman of experience and
for the pulpit. Archdeacon Paley, moderate views, who distinguishin a sermon to the young clergy  ed himself during his university
of Carlisle, addresses them as fol- course, in Divinity and English
lows: " There is another resource,  Composition, will furnish original
by which your time may be occu- sermons, in strict accordance with
pied, which you have forgot, in  the Church of England, in a legiurging that your time will hang  ble hand, at 5s. 6d. each. Only
heavy upon you.  I mean the one copy will be given in any
composition of sermons. I am  diocese.  A  specimen  will be
far from refusing you the benefit sent, if wished for.  Sermons
of other men's labors; I only re- made to order, on any required
quire that they be called in, not subject, on  reasonable  terms.
to flatter laziness, but to assist in- For further particulars apply,"
dustry. You find yourself unable  &e.
to furnish a sermon every week;




GENERAL MAXIMS.            121
would lead the sacred orator to despise such servile
artifices, from which nothing but an artificial product could result. Upon such a method as this,
the whole department of Sacred Eloquence would
lose all its freshness and originality, and would die
out. "Dull as a sermon" would be a phrase more
true, and more significant, than it is now.
But upon the score of morality, this act of stealing sermons is utterly indefensible.  A preacher
ought to be an honest man throughout. Sincerity,
godly sincerity, should characterize him intellectually, as well as morally. His plans ought to be
the genuine work of his own brain. Not that he
may not, at times, present a plan and train' of
thought similar to those of other minds; but he
ought not to know of it at the time. Such coincidences ought to be undesigned; the result of two
minds working upon a similar or the same subject,
each in an independent way, and with no intercommunication.  Then the product belongs to
both alike, and the coincidence results from the
common nature of truth, and the common structure
of the human mind; and not from a servile copying of one mind by another.
Beside this critical study of the best sermonizers, in the several languages with which the
preacher may be acquainted, he should be a diligent student of the standard theological treatises
in them. There are, in each of the leading literatures of the modern world, and also in the patristic




122                HOMILETICS.
Greek and Latin, a few  treatises which are so
thoroughly  scriptural in  their matter, and  so
systematic in their structure, that they cannot
be outgrown by either the theologian or the sermonizer. Upon these, in connection with a faithful
study of the Scriptures themselves, the preacher
ought to bestow his time.  This method of preparing for the process of composition, unlike that
indolent method of having recourse to the plans
and sermons of others, strengthens and enriches the
intellect. The preacher daily becomes a more discriminating exegete, a more profound theologian, a
more natural rhetorician; and the end of his ministerial career finds him  as thoughtful, and as fertile
a sermonizer as ever.
The union of a close critical study of the
Scriptures themselves, with a thorough and continuous study of those sterling theological treatises
which, because they have grown up out of the
Scriptures, partake most of their root and fatness,
cannot be too earnestly recommended to the sermonizer, as the best general preparation for direct
and particular preparation for the pulpit.  The
time and ability of the preacher, in this age of
innumerable small books, upon innumerable small
subjects, is too often expended upon inferior productions.  Let him  dare to be ignorant of this
transitorw literature, whether sacred or secular, that
he may become acquainted with the Bible itself
and those master-works of master-minds which con




GENERAL MAXIMS.             123
tain the methodized substance of the Bible, and
breathe its warmest, deepest inspiration.
Intimately connected with this study of the
Bible, and of theological systems and treatises, is
the study of philosophy.  This point merits a
fuller treatment than is possible within our limits.
We would only briefly remark, that the study of
philosophy, rightly pursued, is a great aid to the
theologian and the preacher. If the department of
philosophy be employed rather as a means of dis.
ciplining the'mind, and  of furnishing a good
method of developing and presenting truth, than as
a source whence the truth itself is to be taken, it
becomes the handmaid of theology and religion.
If, on the contrary, it is regarded as the source of
truth, and the theologian and preacher seeks his
subject-matter from the finite reason of man, instead
of from  the Supreme Reason as it has revealed
itself in the Scriptures, then the influence of philosophical studies is most injurious. But this is not
the true idea of philosophy.  Bacon called his
philosophical system the "novum  organum," the
new organ, or instrument, by means of which truth
was to be developed, established, and applied. He
did not style it a new revelation of truth, but a
new medium of truth.
If, now, the theologian and preacher adopts this
true and rational view of the nature of philosophy,
if he regards it as a means whereby his mind obtains
the best method of developing, and not of origina



124                   HOMIIETICS.
ting truth, if he views it as a simple key to unlock
the casket which contains the treasure, and not as
the treasure itself, or even the casket,-if the theologian and preacher adopts this sober and rational
view of the nature and uses of philosophy, he will
find it of great assistance. All that part of rhetoric
which treats of plan and invention, all the organizing part of rhetoric, is most intimately connected
with philosophy.  Moreover, a correct knowledge
of the laws of the human mind, a correct idea of
the relation of truth to the human mind, and a correct method of enucleating and establishing truth,
cannot be acquired with out the discipline that results from philosophical studies; and without such
knowledge, the  preacher can  neither think profoundly and consecutively, nor discourse clearly and
forcibly.l
4. The fourth general direction for the sermonizer is this:  Mcaintain  a  spiritual mind.  This
direction is a practical one, and while it includes all
that is implied in the common injunction  for all
Christians, to cultivate personal piety, it is more
specific in reference to the necessities of the preacher.
By a spiritual mind, in this connection, is meant
1Says JoaN EDWARDS, in his cultivating of  our thoughts.
work on Preaching: "As for Whence it is, that unthinking
metaphysics, it cannot be denied persons, and those that never
that they are useful to the help- study for accuracy of conceptions,
ing us to a clear and distinct ap- hate this sort of learning, as much
prehension of things, and to the as a deist doth creeds and cateenlarging of our rinds, and the chisms."-Preface to Pt. 1.




GtENERAL MAXIMS.             125
that solemn and serious mental frame which is nat.
urally, and constantly, occupied with eternal realities.
Some Christians seem to be much more at home in
the invisible realm of religion, than others. They
are characterized by a uniformly earnest and unearthly temper, as if their eye were fixed upon
something beyond the horizon of this world; as if
they saw more, and saw further, than thoughtless
and unspiritual men about them. Their eye is fixed
upon something beyond time and sense, and they
do see more, far more, of "the things unseen and
eternal," than the average of Christians.
Now, this mental temper is of great worth to the
preacher. Aside from the fact that one who possesses it, is always in the vein for writing or speaking
upon religious themes, such a one discourses with
an earnest sincerity that is always impressive and
effective. He speaks seriously, because he understands the nature of his subject. He speaks clearly
and distinctly, because this spiritual-mindedness
makes him substantially an eye-witness of eternal
realities. He speaks convincingly, because he knows
what he says, and whereof he affirms.
Let the preacher, then, maintain a spiritual
mind,-a mind that is not dazzled with the glare
of earth, that is too solemn to be impressed by the
vanities of time, and made habitually serious by
seeing Him who is invisible.  Dwelling among the
things that are unseen and eternal, such an orator
when he comes forth to address volatile and worldly




126               HOMILETICS.
men, will speak with a depth and seriousness of
view, and an energy iand pungency of statement,
that will leave them thoughtful and anxious. Without this abiding sense of the reality and awfulness
of eternal things, though the preacher may send
men away entertained and dazzled, he cannot send
them away thinking upon themselves, and upon
their prospects for eternity. And of what worth is
a sermon that does not do this a The principal lack
in the cturrent preaching is not so much in the matter,
as in the manner. There is truth sufficient to save
the soul, in most of the sermons that are delivered;
but it is not so fused with the speaker's personal convictions, and presented in such living contact with
the -hearer's fears, hopes, and needs, as to make the
impression of stern reality. The pulpit must become more intense in manner. or the "form of sound
words" will lose its power.




CHAPTER V.
SPECIAL MAXIMS FOR SERMONIZING.
HAVING, in the preceding chapter, laid clown
some rules for the general preparation for sermonizing, we proceed to give some maxims for the im.
mediate preparation of sermons. If the preacher has
fitted himself for the direct composition of discourses, by acquiring a homiletic mental habit, by
forming a high ideal of a sermon, by training himself to self-reliance, and by uniformly maintaining a
serious and spiritual mind, he is ready to compose
sermons always and everywhere. He is a workman
that has learned his craft, and is in possession of a
constructive talent which he can use whenever he
is called upon. But these general maxims need to
be supplemented by some particular rules, relating
to the process of composition itself, and these we
now proceed to specify.
1. Before beginning the composition of a sermon,
bring both the intellect and the heart, into a fervid
and awakened condition.  Although this general
preparation for sermonizing, of which we have




128                HOMILETICS.
spoken, will naturally keep the mind and heart
more or less active, still there will be need of more
than this ordinary wakefulness, in order that the
preacher may do his best work.  Such a general
preparation, it is true, will prevent the sermonizer
from being a dull and lethargic man, but he will
need some more immediate stimulation than this, in
order that he may compose with the utmost energy
and vigor possible. As, in the chemical process of
crystallization, a smart stroke upon the vessel, in
which the solution has been slowly preparing for
the magical change from a dull fluid to a bright and
sparkling solid, will accelerate the movement, and
render the process seemingly an instantaneous one;
so, a sort of shock given to the mind, filled as it is
with rich stores, and possessed as it is by a homiletic habit, will contribute greatly to the rapid and
vigorous construction of a sermon.
Some agitation and concussion is requisite, in
order to the most efficient exercise of the understanding.  The mental powers need to be in an
aroused condition,-so to speak, in a state of exaltation,-in order to work with thoroughness, and energy. Hence, some very distinguished literary men
have been wont to resort to the stimulus of drugs,
or of alcohol, to produce that inward excitement
which is needed, in order to the original and powerful action of the intellect. Poets and orators, in
particular, feel the need of this intellectual fermentation, and hence the instances of such artificial




SPECIAL MAXIMS.              129
stimulation of the intellectual powers are most common among these. The preacher is precluded by
Christian principle, from the use of such means of
rousing and kindling his mind, even if the lower
prudential motives should not prevail with him.
For the mind, like the body, is fearfully injured by
artificial and unnatural stimulation.  Minds which
have been accustomed to it, and have been forced
up in this unnatural way to unnatural efforts, show
the effects of such treatment, in premature debility,
and commonly in final insanity or idiocy.
The true and proper stimulant for the intellect
is truth.  There is no sin in being excited by
truth. There is no mental injury in such excitement.
The more thoroughly the intellect is roused and
kindled by a living verity, the more intensely it is
affected and energized by it, the better is it for the
intellect, and the man.  In order, therefore, that
the sermonizer may produce within his mind that
excitement which is needed in order to original
and vigorous composition,-let him possess it with
some single truth adapted to this purpose. And
this, from the nature of the case, should be that
leading idea which he proposes to embody in his
discourse. Every sermon ought to be characterized
by unity,-a unity arising from  the presence, and
the presidency, within it of some one leading
thought.  The theme, or proposition of the sermon
should, therefore, be that particular truth by which
the sacred orator should excite his intellect, and
9




130                HOMIIETICS.
awaken his powers to an intenser activity. If the
preacher is not able to set his mind into a glow and
fervor, by his subject, let him not seek other means
of excitement, but let him ponder the fact of his
apathy, until he is filled with shame and sorrow.
Let him remember, that if he is not interested in
the truth, if divine truth has no power to quicken
and rouse his intellectual faculties, he lacks the first
qualification for sermonizing.
But the sermonizer who has made that great
general preparation for his work, of which we have
spoken, will find all the stimulation he needs, in his
theme. It will be taken from the circle of truths
in which he has become most interested, both by
the habits of his mind, and by his general culture.
It will be suggested to him by his own spiritual
wants, and those of his audience.  It will have
direct reference to the supply of these wants. Let
the preacher, then, so far as intellectual excitement
is concerned, so fill his mind with the particular
idea of the discourse which he is about to prepare,
that all inaction and lethargy shall be banished at
once. Let him, before beginning the construction
of a sermon, set all his mental powers into a living
play, by the single leading truth he would embody
in it.
But, besides this intellectual awakening, some
more than ordinary enlivenment of the feelings and
affections is needed, in order to vigorous and eloquent composition. And this is especially true of




SPECIAL MAXIMS.              131
the composition of sermons,-one main purpose of
which is, to reach the affections and feelings of the
human  soul.  Without that warm  glow  which
comes from  a warm  heart, the purely intellectual
excitement, of which we have spoken, will fail to
influence the hearer, in the way of emotion and
action.  A  purely intellectual force and  energy
may arrest and interest an audience, but taken by
itself, it cannot persuade their wills, or melt their
hearts.  The best sermons of a preacher are generally composed under the impulse of a lively state
of religious feeling. If preachers should be called
to testify, they would state that those discourses
which were written when they were in their best
mood as Christians, constitute the best portion of
their authorship.
The sermonizer, therefore, should seek for a
more than ordinary quickening of his emotions and
affections, as he begins the work of immediate preparation for the pulpit. It is difficult to lay down
rules for the attainment of this state of feeling, that
will be suited to every one.  Each individual
Christian is apt to know the best means of rousing
his own mind and heart, and hence it is better to
leave the person himself to make a choice, out of
the variety that are at his command.  Generally
speaking, however, any thing that contributes to
awaken in the soul a livelier sense of the excellence
of divine things, any thing that tends to stir and
quicken the Christian affections, will furnish the




132                HOMILETICS.
preacher what he needs in order to vigorous composition. Probably, therefore, no better advice can
be given to the sacred orator, in the respect of
which we are speaking, than that very same advice
which he gives to the common Christian, when he
asks for the best means and methods of quickening
his religious affections. It has been said by one of
the most profound, and devout minds in English
literature, that " an hour of solitude passed in sincere and earnest prayer, or the conflict with, and
conquest over, a single passion or subtle bosom sin,
will teach us more of thought, will more effectually
awaken the faculty and form the habit of reflection,
than a year's study in the schools without them."
If prayer and Christian self-discipline do this for
the habits of thought, most certainly will they do
the same for the habits of feeling. If an hour of
serious self-examination and self-mortification, or an
hour of devout meditation and earnest prayer, does
not set the affections of the preacher into a glow,
probably nothing in the way of means can. The
greatest preachers have, consequently, been in the
habit of preparing for composition by a season of
prayer and meditation.  The maxim  of Luther,
bene orasse, est bene studuisse, is familiar to all.
Augustine says: "Let our Christian orator who
would be understood and heard with pleasure,
pray before he speak. Let him lift up his thirsty
soul to God, before he pronounce  any thing."
Erasmus, a man in whom the intellectual was more




SPECIAL MAXIMS.            133
prominent than the spiritual and devotional, yet
observes, that "it is incredible, how much light,
how much vigor, how much force and vitality, is
imparted to the clergyman by deep earnest supplication."  And the pagan Pericles, according to
Plutarch, "was accustomed, whenever he was to
speak in public, previously to entreat the gods,
that he might not utter against his will any word
that should not belong to his subject."
By filling his mind with his theme, and awakening his religious affections by prayer and devout
meditation, the sacred orator will bring his whole
inner being into that awakened and exalted condition, which prepares for direct and rapid composition. He will become a roused man, and will find
all his faculties of cognition and feeling, in free and
living action.
2. And this brings us to the second maxim for
facilitating the process of composition, which is:
Compose continuously.  When the preacher has
made all the preparation, general and particular,
of which we have spoken, and his mind and heart
are ready to work, he should proceed in the
composition of a sermon without intermission.
The intellect works with far the greatest intensity
and energy, when it works continuously.  It acquires strength by motion, and hence a stop in its
action diminishes its force. When, therefore, a full
preparation for its agency has been made, it ought
to be allowed, or if need be, compelled, to work as




134               HOMILETICS.
hard and as long as is compatible with the physi.
cal structure of the individual. Some men are
capable of much more protracted mental efforts,
than others; though, in this case, the mental processes themselves are apt to be much slower.
When the mind moves with rapidity, it is unable
to continue in motion so long as when its movements are more dull and heavy. Each man should
know  himself in these respects, and understand
how much his mind and body can endure without
injury. Having this knowledge, he ought then
to subject himself to as intense, and as long continued composition, as is possible. Having seated
himself at his writing-desk, he ought not to lay
down his pen, until he has tired himself by the
process of original composition.  Then let him
unbend in good earnest, and allow his mind and his
body a real genuine relaxation.
Too many sermons are composed during an intermittent activity of the mind which does not draw
upon its deepest resources, and its best power.
The sermon is the product of a series of isolated
efforts, instead of one long, strong application. It
wears, consequently, a fragmentary character and
appearance, as if it were written one sentence at a
time, or each paragraph by itself. Even if there
is a connection of the parts, there is no fusion of
them. Even if the discourse has method, it has no
glow.
"Write with fury, and correct with phlegm,"




SPECIAL MAXIIS.               135
is admirable advice for the sermonizer.  But it is
impossible to rouse this fury of the mind, except
by a continuous application of its energies.  If
the  composer stops for a  season, his intellect
begins to cool again, and much of the energy of his
succeeding effort is absorbed in bringing it up to
the same. degree of ardor, at which it stood at the
close of the preceding effort. It is as if the smith
should every moment withdraw his iron from  the
fire, instead of letting it stay until it has acquired
a white heat.  The same amount of mental application, condensed into a single continuous effort, will
accomplish far more, than if it is scattered in por.
tions over a long space of time. "Divide up the
thunder," says Schiller, "into separate notes, and it
becomes a lullaby for children, but pour it forth in
one continuous peal, and its royal sound shall shake
the heavens."
One principal reason why the pulpit ministra
tions of the clergy do not, as they should, exhibit,heir utmost possibility of effort, lies in the fact, that
too many sermons are composed scatteringly all along
through the week. They are the products of the
desultory efforts of the clergyman.  He allows himself to be interrupted during the season of composition, or.else he has no fixed and stated season.
The consequence is, that the sermon, instead of
being produced by one uninterrupted gush of soul,
or at least by a few gushes and outpourings that
form a true connection with each other, and so are




136               HOMILETICS.
virtually a single continuous effort, is the patched
and fragmentary collection of odd hours, and of
ungenial moods. The discourse, in this way, drags
its slow length  along through the whole week,
and the entire mental labor expended upon it,
though apparently so much, is not equal in true
productive force, in real originant and influential
power, to five hours of continuous glowing composition.
Let the sermonizer, then, proceed upon the
maxim of writing continuously, when he writes at
all. Let him have his set season for composition.
Let him fix the time of writing, and the length of
effort, in accordance with his physical strength, and
then let him go through with the process of composition, with all the abstraction, absorption, and
devotedness of prayer itself. In this way, the very
best power of the man, the theologian, and the
Christian, will be evolved, and will appear in a discourse that will be fresh, energetic, and impressive.
In this way, the sermon would become a more uniformly vivid production, and a more generally vital
species of authorship, than it now is.
It must be remembered, however, that this
injunction to write continuously, and furiously, is'a
maxim only for one who has obeyed the other maxims, general and special, that have been laid down
for sermonizing. It is no maxim for one who has
not. It is one of a series, and pre-supposes obedience to what precedes, and also to what succeeds.




SPECIAL MAXIM.               137
If thepreacher has formed a homiletic habit of
mind, if his ideal of a sermon is high, if he has
trained himself to self-reliance, if he has acquired a
spiritual way of thinking, and if he has roused his
mind by his subject, and his heart by prayer,-if
he has done all this, then what he does in the hour
of composition, let him do quickly, and continuously.
3. The third maxim to be followed by the sermonizer, in actual composition, is this: Avoidprolix"
ity. By prolixity, is meant a tiresome length which
arises from an excessive treatment of a subject,as excessive explanation, or excessive illustration,
or excessive argumentation. Theremin, in his treatise upon Rhetoric,' enunciates the important distinction between the philosophical, and the rhetorical presentation of truth.  The former, is that
exhaustive and detailed development of a subject
which is proper in the scientific treatise. The latter,
is that rapid and condensed, yet methodical, exhibition of thought which is required of the orator,
by the circumstances in which he is placed. Recurring to this distinction, the maxim, "Avoid
prolixity," is equivalent to the rule, "Exhibit truth
rhetorically," in distinction from exhibiting it philosophically or poetically.
The orator, of all men, should know when he is
through, and should stop when he is through. The
Book I. chap. x, xi; Book II. chap. iv.




138                    HOMILETICS.
preacher should perceive when he has subjected a
subject, or a portion of a subject, to a treatment
that is sufficient for the purposes of oratory, and
should act accordingly. As soon as his presentation  has  reached  the  due  limits of rhetoric, he
should bring it to an end, instantaneously, lest it
pass over into a mode of representation that is foreign to the orator, and is inimical to all the aims of
an orator.  Prolixity, or excessive treatment, arises
when the sermonizer continues to dwell upon any
part of his discourse, after he has already  sufficiently developed it. A plan is prolix, when it is
filled up with sub-divisions which are so evidently
contained in the principal divisions, that the mind
of the auditor feels itself undervalued by their
formal enunciation.  An argument is prolix, when,
from the employment of the philosophical instead
of the rhetorical mode of demonstration, it is made
tedious by syllogisms instead of enthymemes, and
by trains of ratiocination instead of bold and direct
appeals to consciousness. An illustration is prolix,
when the short and  rapid  metaphor is converted
into the long and detailed simile, or allegory.
1Figures are now the chief phor is the orator's figure, and
source of false rhetoric.  The the simile is the poet's."  The
preacher talks trope, instead of metaphor is swift and glancing,
talking truth and sense. Aristo- flashing its light instantaneously,
tie was not an orator, but he held  and not impeding the flow of
the key to eloquence, by virtue thought and truth; the simile is
of his sagacious insight, and sci- the metaphor wire-drawn, deentific analysis. One of his preg- tailed, and expanded, so as to fill
nant remarks is, that " the meta- the whole foreground of the dis



SPECIAL MAXIMS.                  139
Without, however, entering upon these particulars of plan, proof, and illustration, we would briefly
call attention to that prolixity, or excessive and
tedious treatment of a subject, which arises from an
imperfect mastery of it.  Suppose that the sermonizer has not made that general and special preparation for composition which we have described, and
yet attempts the production of a sermon. In the
first place, his manner of presentation will inevitably be confused; in the second place, it will inevitably be prolix, because it is confused; and in the
third place, it will inevitably be tedious, because it
is prolix and  confused.  Instead of handling his
theme with that strong, yet easy, grasp, which is
natural to a mind that is master of itself and of the
truth, he handles it irresolutely, hesitatingly, and
awkwardly.  Instead of a clear, downright statement, because  he knows. whereof he affirms, he
expresses himself obscurely and doubtfully, because
he does not certainly and positively know. Statement follows statement, and yet there is little or no
progress towards a final statement. Conscious that
he has not done justice to the topic, he dares not
let it drop, and take up another.  Conscious that
he has not lodged the truth fairly and surely in the
course with pictorial elements, in prolix poetical fustian, and more
which both speaker and hearer of genuine eloquence, in the dislose sight of the subject. If this courses of a certain class of
dictum  of the Stagirite were preachers.
heeded, there would be less of




140               HOMILETICS.
mind of the auditor, he does not leave it, but continues to hover about it, and work at it, in hope of
better success in the end. The result is, that instead
of crowding the greatest possible amount of matter,
into the smallest possible form, the preacher spreads
the least possible amount of truth over the widest
possible surface. He hammers out his lead very
thin. For, in this process, the truth, itself suffers.
Instead of appearing in the sermon, as it is in its
own nature, bright, dense, and gem-like, under the
manipulations of such a workman, it becomes dull
and porous. The sacred oration, instead of being a
swift, brief, and  strong movement of thought,
becomes a slow, long, and feeble one.
But prolixity may arise, also, from another
cause besides ignorance of the subject. There may
be prolixity from  too much information.  The
preacher may have stored his memory with a
multifarious knowledge, and not having acquired
that thoroughly organizing-habit of mind which,
like life in nature, sloughs off all that is not needed,
this knowledge inundates the sermon.  It comes
pouring in upon him by a merely passive effort of
the memory, while the judgment is unawakened
and unemployed, and, borne along upon this general
deluge of materials, the preacher becomes the most
prolix and tedious of mortals. Long after the
topic under consideration has been sufficiently
explained to the understanding, he continues to
explain. Long after the topic has been sufficiently




SPECIAL MAXIMS.              141
illustrated-to the imagination, he continues to illus.
trate.  Copiousness of information, unless it is
under the regulation and guidance of a strongly
methodizing ability, and true rhetorical talent, leads
to prolixity as inevitably as'sheer ignorance.
While the preacher is on his guard against this
fault, he is at the same time to remember that he is
dealing with the common mind, and must not be so
brief as to be obscure.  A certain degree of repetition, even, is required in the sermon, especially if it
is highly doctrinal, in order to convey the truth
completely.  This trait should be managed with
great care, however; for, even the common mind is
less offended at a nakedness of statement which
leaves it something to do, even if it is in the way
of supplying ellipses and deficiencies, than it is at
an excessive repetition, which tires and tantalizes it.
It is impossible to lay down a general rule for the
length of a sermon. It will not do to say that it
should be thirty minutes in length, or forty-five
minutes, or one hour. The length of a discourse
will vary with the nature of the theme, and the
peculiarities of time and place. And no stiff rule is
needed, provided the sermonizer possesses that good
judgment, that tact, which discerns when the subject, as a whole, or in its parts, has received a sufficient treatment.  It is, in reality, a sort of instinctive feeling which comes in the course of a good
rhetorical training and practice, rather than any
outward rule, that must decide when the develop.




142               HOMILETICS.
ment of truth has reached that point where it must
stop. Hence the remark so often made in praise of
a skilful orator: "He knows when he is done."
In fact, it is not the item of length, but the item of
prolixity, which wearies an audience. An auditory
will listen with increasing interest to a sermon of
an hour's length, provided their attention is kept
upon the stretch, by a sermonizer who says just
enough, and no more, upon each point, and who
passes from topic to topic with rapidity, and yet
with a due treatment and exhaustion of each, while
they will go to sleep under a sermon of a half-hour's
length, in which there is none of the excitement
that comes from a skilful management of the heads,
and none of the exhilaration of a forward motion.
There is less fatigue and weariness, in shooting
through two hundred miles of space, in a rail-car,
than in lumbering over ten miles of space, in a slow
coach.
rThe importance of avoiding prolixity is very
apparent, when we consider the relation of the sermon to the feelings and affections of the hearer.
The feelings of the human soul are often very shy,
and apparently capricious. The preacher sometimes
succeeds in awakening a very deep feeling,-say
that of conviction of sin,-but he is not satisfied
with having said just enough, or perhaps he is destitute of that tact of which we have spoken, and
does not'now that he has, and continues to enlarge
and amplify. The feeling of conviction in the hear,




SPECIAL MAXIMS.             143
er, which ought to have been left to itself, begins
to be weakened by the unnecessary repetition or
prolixity of the discourse, and perhaps is ultimately
dissipated by it.  If the preacher had stopped
when he was really through, and had left the mind
of the auditor to its own workings and those of
the Holy Spirit in it, a work would have been done
in the soul, which all this labor of supererogation on
his part only serves to hinder and suppress.
Let the preacher acquire this nice discernment,
by acquiring a good rhetorical discipline, by making all the general and special preparation for sermonizing, and by studying the capacities of his
congregation, and then he will instinctively avoid
all prolixity in the discussion of truth. Then, his
sermons, whether they are longer or shorter,willall
of them exhibit that just proportion, that roundness of form and absence of all superfluity, which
we see in the works of nature, and. which appears
in the productions of every wise and cunning workman who imitates nature.




CHAPTER VI.
THE DIFFERENT SPECIES OF SERMONS.
IN classifying sermons, it is well to follow the
example of the scientific man, and employ as generic distinctions as possible. It is never desirable
to distinguish a great many particulars, and elevate
them into an undue prominence, by converting them
into generals. That classification, therefore, which
would regard the " applicatory " sermon, the "observational" sermon, and such like, as distinct classes,
only contributes to the confusion and embarrassment
of the inquirer. The three most generic species of
sermons, are the topical the textual, and the expository.
1. The Topical Sermon is one in which there is
but a single leading idea.  This idea sometimes
finds a formal expression in a proposition, and sometimes it pervades the discourse as a whole, without
being distinctly pre-announced. Topical sermons
are occupied with one definite subject, which can
be accurately and fully stated in a brief title.
South preaches a discourse of this kind, from




SPECIES OF SERMONS.              145
Numbers, xxxii. 23: "Be sure your sin will find
you out."  The proposition of the sermon is this:
"Concealment of sin is no security to the sinner."
The leading idea of the discourse is, the concealment
of sin; and the particular idea in the hearer, to
which this idea in the sermon is referred, is the idea
of happiness.1  The concealment of sin is affirmed
to be incompatible with the soul's peace and enjoyment; and the positions by which the idea, or proposition, of the sermon is led back to this fundamental idea in the mental constitution of the hearer,
are these: 1. The sinner's very confidence of secrecy
is the cause of his detection. 2. There is sometimes
a providential concurrence of unexpected events,
which leads to his detection.  3. One sin is sometimes the means of discovering another.  4. The
sinner may unwittingly discover himself, through
frenzy and distraction. 5. The sinner may be forced
to discover himself, by his own conscience.  6. The
sinner may be suddenly smitten by some notable
judgment that discloses his guilt, or, 7. His guilt
will follow him  into another world, if he should
chance to escape in this.
The topical sermon is more properly an oration
than either of the other species. It is occupied
with a single definite theme that can be completely
enunciated in a brief statement,  All of its parts
are subservient to the theoretical establishment of
T1IrEREMIN: Rhetoric, pp. 72-75.
10




146                HOMILETICS.
but one idea or proposition, in the mind of the
hearer, and to the practical realization of it, in his
conduct. In the case of the textual sermon, as we
shall see when we come. to examine it, there is less
certainty of unity in the subject, and, consequently,
in the structure of the discourse. And the expository sermon partakes least of any of the characteristics of oratory and eloquence.
Inasmuch  as the topical sermon approaches
nearest to the unity, and symmetry, and convergence to a single point, of the oration proper, it is
the model species for the preacher.  By this is
meant, that the sermon, ideally, should contain one
leading thought, rather than several.  It should be
the embodiment of a single proposition, rather than
a collection of several propositions.  It should
announce but one single doctrine, in its isolation
and independence, instead of exhibiting several
doctrines, in their interconnection and mutual dependence.  The sermon must preserve an oratorical
character. It should never allow either the philosophical or the poetical element, to predominate over
the rhetorical.  The sermon should be eloquence,
and not poetry or philosophy; It should be a discourse that exhibits singleness of aim, and a converging progress towards an outward practical end.
It is for this reason, therefore, that we lay down
the position, that the topical sermon is the model
species for the sermonizer.  If he constructs a
textual sermon, he ought to mlake it as topical as




SPECIES OF SERMONS.                 147
is possible.'  He must aim to pervade it with but
one leading idea, to embody in it but one doctrine,
and to make it teach but one lesson.  In construct.
ing an expository sermon, also, the preacher should
make the same endeavor; and although he must in
this instance be less successful, he may facilitate his
aim, by selecting for exposition only such passages
of Scripture as have but one general drift, and convey but one general sentiment.
The importance  of this maxim  may be best
seen, by considering the fact, that sermons are more
defective in respect to unity of structure, and a
constant progress towards a single end, than in any
other respect.  But these  are strictly  oratorical
qualities, and can be secured only by attending to
the nature and laws of eloquence,-to the rhetorical, as distinguished from the philosophical presentation of truth.  Too many sermons contain matter
enough for two or three orations, and consequently
are not themselves orations.  This is true of the
elder English sermonizers, in whom  the matter is
generally superior to the form.  Take the following
plan of a sermon of South (in oratorical respects,
the best of the earlier English preachers) on Jer.
vi. 15: "Were they ashamed when they had com1This is not to be attained, by  and movement of the discourse
making the plan a mixture of top- should be distinguished, so far as
ical and textual,-by stating a  possible, by unity, simplicity, and
proposition, and following with a  progressiveness,-that is, by orapurely textual division. The plan  torical or topical qualities.
should be textual, but the style




148                HOMILETICS.
mitted abomination?   Nay, they were not at all
ashamed, neither could they blush: therefore they
shall fall among them that fall: at the time that
I visit them  they shall be cast down, saith the
Lord."  It is a topical discourse.  The theme or
proposition is: " Shamelessness in sin is the certain
forerunner of destruction."   The sermon contains
sixteen pages, of which only four and a half are
filled with matter that, upon strictly rhetorical
principles, goes to establish the proposition. The
first three-quarters of the sermon are occupied with.
an analysis of the nature of " shamelessness in sin."
The discourse is shaped too disproportionately by
the category of truth,-a category that is subordinate, and should not be allowed so much influence
in the structure and moulding of an oration. 1 The
consequence is, that this sermon possesses less of
that oratorical fire and force so generally characteristic of South. It is not throughout pervaded
by its own fundamental proposition.  It does not
gather momentum  as it proceeds.  There is no
greater energy of style and diction at the end, than
at the beginning. It is clear, it is instructive, it
has many and great excellencies; but it lacks the
excellence of being a true oration,-a rounded and
symmetrical discourse, pervaded  by  one  idea,
breathing but one spirit, rushing forward with a
uniformly accelerating motion, and ending with an' TIEREMIJN: Rhetoric, Book 1. Chap. X.




SPECIES OF SERMOKS.           149
overpowering impression and influence upon the
will.  This discourse would be more truly topical,
and thus more truly oratorical, if the proportions
had been just the reverse of what they now are;
if but one-fourth of it had been moulded by the
metaphysical category of truth, and the remaining
three-fourths by the practical idea of happiness;
if the discussion of the nature of shamelessness in
sin had filled four pages, and the effects, or reasons
why it brings down destruction or unhappiness
upon the sinner, had filled the remaining twelve.
2. The Textual Sermon is one in which the
passage of Scripture is broken up, and either its
leading words, or its leading clauses, become the
heads of the discourse.  For example, Rom. xiv.
12:' So then every one of us shall give an account
of himself to God," might be the foundation of a
discourse upon human accountability. The divisions
are formed by emphasizing the leading words, and
thereby converting them into the divisions of the
sermon, as follows: 1. An account is to be rendered.
2. This account is to be rendered to God. 3. Every
one is to render this account,-mankind generally.
4. Every one of us is to render this account,-men
as individuals.  5. Every one of us is to render an
account of himself.
It is not necessary that the words of the text
should be employed, as in the example given above.
The substance of the separate clauses may be made
the divisions, and the sermon  still be textual.




150                HOMIIETICS.
Barrow has a sermon founded on Eph. v. 20: "Giving thanks always, for all things, unto God."  The
plan is as follows:  1. The duty itself,-giving
thanks.  2. The object to whom thanks are to be
directed,-to God.  3. The time of performing the
duty, always.  4. The matter and extent of the
duty,-for all things.
What are sometimes termed "observational"
sermons, are also textual.  The following taken
from  a plan of a sermon by Beddome, upon Acts
ix. 4: "Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me 2" will
illustrate this. The observations upon this text
are suggested, either by the text as a whole, or by
some of its parts. 1. It is the general character of
unconverted  men to be of a persecuting  spirit.
This observation is suggested by the text as a
whole.  2. Christ has his eye upon persecutors.
This observation is also suggested by the text as a
whole.  3. The injury done to Christ's people,
Christ considers as done to himself. This observation is suggested by a part of the text,-by an emphasized word in it, "why persecutest thou me?"
4. The calls of Christ are particular. This observation is suggested by a part of the text,-" Saul,
Saul."
There are two things requisite to the production
of a good textual sermon, viz.: a significant text,
and a talent to discover its significance. The text
must contain distinct and emphatic conceptions, to
serve as the parts of the division. In the text given




SPECIES OF SERMONS.            151
above, Rom. xiv. 12, " So then every one of us shall
give an account of himself to God," there are these
distinct and emphatic ideas: An account; a judge;
humanity generally; the individual in particular;
personal confession. These fertile conceptions are
full of matter, and the skill of the sermonizer is seen
in the thoroughness, and brevity, with which he exhausts them and their contents. Upon the number,
variety, and richness of such distinct and emphatic
ideas in a passage, depends its fitness for textual
discourse.
Again, the text, in case it does not contain a
number of such conceptions, must contain a number
of distinct positions, or affirmations, to serve as parts
of the division. There may be no single conceptions
in a text, suitable to constitute the plan of a sermon,
while, there are several statements in it, direct or
implied. Take, for example, Ps. xc. 10: "The days
of our years are threescore years and teni: and if by
reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is
their strength labor and sorrow: for it is soon cut
off, and we fly away."  The single conceptions in
this text are not weighty enough to constitute heads
in a discourse, but the affirmations, the positions,
and the statements implied in it, are. This text,
treated in this way, would furnish the following
divisions of a textual sermon: 1. Human life, however lengthened out, must come to an end. 2. Human life, at longest, is very short. 3. That which




152                 HOMILETICS.
is added to the ordinary duration of human life is,
after all, but little to be desired.
The second requisite, in order to the production
of a good textual sermon, is a talent to detect these
emphatic conceptions, or these direct or indirect positions, in a passage of Scripture. A preacher destitute of this talent will pass by many texts that,
really, are full of the materials of textual sermonizing. He has no eye to discover the rich veins
that lie concealed just under the dull and uninteresting surface.  If a text is so plain that he needs
only to cull out the leading words,-if the formation of the plan is merely a verbalizing process,he can, perhaps, succeed in constructing a textual
discourse that will probably be common-place, because its structure is so very evident and easy.
But the number of such texts is small, and the range
of such a sermonizer must be narrow.  A  tact is
needed in the preacher, to discover the hidden skeleton. This tact will be acquired gradually and surely,
by every one who carefully cultivates himself in
all homiletic respects. Like all nice discernment,
it comes imperceptibly in the course of training and
discipline, and, therefore, no single and particular
rule for its acquisition can be laid down.  It must
be acquired, however, or the fundamental talent for
textual sermonizing will be wanting.  Moreover,
this tact should be judicious.  It is possible to find
more meaning in a text, than it really contains. The
Rabbinic notion, that mountains of sense are con



SPECIES OF SERMONS.             15O
tained in every letter of the inspired volume, may
be adopted to such an extent, at least, as to lead
the preacher into a fanciful method that is destructive of all impressive and effective discourse.  This
talent, for detecting the significance of Scripture,
must be confined to the gist of it,-to the evident
and complete substance of it.
3. The Expository Sermon, as its name indicates,
is an explanatory discourse. The purpose of it is,
to unfold the meaning of a connected paragraph or
section of Scripture, in a more detailed manner, than
is consistent with  the  structure of either the
topical or the textual sermon.  Some writers upon
Homiletics would deny it a place among sermons,
and contend that it cannot legitimately contain
enough of the oratorical structure, and character, to
justify its being employed for purposes of persuasion. They affirm that the expository discourse is
purely and entirely didactic, and can no more be
classified with the connected, and symmetrical productions of oratory and eloquence, than the commentary or the paraphrase can be.
But while it is undoubtedly true, that the
expository sermon is the farthest removed from
the oration, both in -its structure and in its movement, it is not necessary that it should be as
totally unoratorical as commentary, or paraphrase.
An expository discourse should  have a logical
structure, and be pervaded by a leading sentiment,
as really as a topical sermon. And, certainly, it




154               RHOMILETs.
ought to be free from  the dilution of a mere
paraphrase. It should have a beginning, middle,
and end, and thus be more than a piece of commentary. In short, we lay down the same rule in
relation to the expository sermon, that we did in
relation to the textual, viz.: that it be assimilated
to the topical model, as closely as the nature of the
species permits. But in order to this assimilation,
it is necessary to select for exposition, a passage or
paragraph of Scripture, that is somewhat complete
in itself. The distinction between expository preaching and commentary, originates in the selection, in
the former instance, of a rounded and self-inclzided
portion of inspiration, as the foundation of discourse,
while in the latter instance, the mind is allowed to
run on indefinitely, to the conclusion of the Gospel
or the Epistle. The excellence of an expository
sermon, consequently, depends primarily upon the
choice of such a portion of Scripture, as will not lead
the preacher on and on, without allowing him to
arrive at a proper termination: Unless a passage is
taken, that finally comes round in a full circle, containing one leading sentiment, and teaching one
grand lesson,-like a parable of our Lord,-the expository sermon must either be commentary or
paraphrase.  And if it be either of these, it cannot'be classed among sermons, because the utmost it
can accomplish is information.  Persuasion, the
proper function and distinguishing characteristic




SPECIES OF SERMONS.             155
of eloquence, forms no part of its effects upon an
audience.
Even when a suitable passage has been selected,
the sermonizer will need to employ his strongest
logical talent, and his best rhetorical ability, to im.
part sufficient of the oratorical form and spirit, to
the expository sermon. He will need to watch his
mind, and his plan, with great care, lest the discourse overflow its banks, and- spread out in all
directions, losing the current and the deep strong
volume of eloquence. This species of sermonizing
is very liable to be a dilution of divine truth, instead
of an exposition.  Perhaps, among modern preachers, Chalmers exhibits the best example of the expositorysermon. The oratorical structure and spirit
of his mind enabled him  to create a current, in
almost every species of discourse -which he undertook, and, through his Lectures on Romans, we find
a strong unifying stream of eloquence constantly
setting in, with an increasing and surging force,
from the beginning to the end.  The expository
preaching of this distinguished sacred orator, is well
worth studying in the respect of which we are
speaking.
Having thus briefly sketched the characteristics
of the three species of sermons, the question naturally arises:  To what extent is each to be employed by the preacher?
The first general answer to this question is, that
all the species should be employed, by every serb




156                HOMILETICS.
monizer without exception. No matter what the
turn or temper of his mind may be, he should
build upon each and every one of these patterns.
If he is highly oratorical in his bent and spirit, let
him by no means neglect the expository sermon.
If his mental temperament is phlegmatic, and his
mental processes naturally cool and unimpassioned,
let him by no means neglect the topical sermon. It
is too generally the case, that the preacher follows
his tendency, and preaches uniformly one kind of sermons.  A more severe dealing with his own powers,
and a wiser regard for the wants of his audience,
would lead to more variety in sermonizing.  At
times, the mind of the congregation needs the more
stirring and impressive influence of a topical discourse, to urge it up to action. At others, it requires
the instruction and indoctrination of the less rhetorical, and more didactic expositions of Scripture.
And this leads to the further remark, as a
definite' reply to the question above raised, that the
preacher should employ all three of the species, in
the order in which they have  been  discussed.
Speaking generally, it is safe to say that the plurality of sermons should be topical, pervaded by a
single idea or containing a single proposition, and
converging by a constant progress to a single point.
For this is the model species, as we have seen. The
textual, and the expository sermon, must be as
closely assimilated to this species, as is possible, by
being founded upon a single portion of Scripture




SPECIES OF SERMONS.            157
that is complete in itself, and by teaching one
general lesson.  Moreover, textual and expository
sermons will not be likely to possess this oratorical
structure, and to breathe this eloquent spirit, unless the preacher is in the habit of constructing
proper orations; unless he understands the essential
distinction between eloquence and philosophy, and
makes his audience feel the difference between the
sacred essay and the sacred oration.
Next in order, follows the textual sermon; and
this species is next in value, for the purposes of
persuasion.  Easy and natural in its structure,its parts being either the repetition of Scripture
phraseology, or  else  suggestions from  it, —the
textual sermon should be frequently employed by
the preacher.
And, lastly, the expository sermon should be
occasionally employed.  There is somewhat less
call for this variety, than there was, before the
establishment of Sabbath-Schools and Bible-Classes.
Were it not that these have taken the exposition
of Scripture into their own charge, one very considerable part of the modern preacher's duty, as it
was of the Christian Fathers and the Reformers,
would be to  expound the Bible.  Under the
present arrangements of the Christian Church, however, the ministry is relieved from this duty to a
considerable extent. But it is not wholly relieved
from it. It is the duty of the preacher, occasionally,
to lay out his best strength, in the production of an




158                HOMILETICS
elaborate expository sermon, which shall not only
do the ordinary work of a sermon, which shall not
only instruct, awaken, and move, but which shall
also serve as a sort of guide and model, for the
teacher of the Sabbath-School and the Bible-Class.
Such sermonizing becomes an aid to the instructor,
in getting at the substance of revelation, and in
bringing it out before the minds of the young.
Probably the preacher can take no course, so well
adapted to elevate the standard of Sabbath-School
and Bible-Class instruction in his congregation, as,
occasionally, to deliver a well-constructed and carefully elaborated expository discourse.
By employing, in this manner, all three of the
species, in their relative and proper proportions,
the preacher will accomplish more for his people,
and for his own mind, than by confining himself to
one species only. As the years of his ministry roll
on, he will bring the whole Bible into contact with
the hearts and consciences of his audience.  Divine
Revelation, in this way, will become all that itis capa.
ble of becoming for the mind of man, because all its
elements will be wrought into the mass of society.
The preacher himself will perform all his functions,
and not a portion only. He will instruct and awaken, he will indoctrinate and enkindle, he will inform
and move, he will rebuke, reprove, and exhort. In
short, he will in this way minister to the greatest
variety of wants, and build up the greatest variety
and breadth of Christian character, in the Church.




CHAPTER VII.
TEE NATURE AND CHOICE OF A TEXI.
THE sermon is always founded upon a passage
of Scripture, which is denominated a text. This
term is derived from the Latin textum, which signifies woven. The text, therefore, etymologically denotes, either a portion of inspiration that is woven
into the whole web of Holy Writ, and which, therefore, must be interpreted in its connection and relations, or else a portion of inspiration that is woven
into the whole fabric of the sermon. We need not
confine ourselves to either meaning exclusively, but
may combine both significations. A text, then, is
a passage of inspiration which is woven, primarily,
into the web of Holy Writ, and, secondarily, into
the web of a discourse.  By uniting both of the
etymological meanings of the word, we are led to
observe the two important facts, that the subject of
a sermon is an organic part of Scripture, and therefore must not be torn away alive and bleeding, from
the body of which it is a vital part; and, secondly,




160               HOMILETCS.
that the subject or text of a sermon should pervade
the whole structure which it serves to originate and
organize. If this definition of the text be kept in
mind, and practically acted upon, it will prevent
the sermonizer from treating it out of its connection
with the context, and the general tenor of revelation, and will lead him to regard it as the formative
principle and power of his sermon, and to make
it such.  The text, then, will not be tortured to
teach a doctrine contrary to the general teachings of inspiration, and it will be something
more than a motto for a series of observations
drawn from a merely human source, the preacher's
own mind.
The custom of founding religious discourse upon
a text, has prevailed ever since there has been a
body of inspiration, from which to take a text. In
the patriarchal age, religious teachers spoke as they
were moved by the Holy Ghost, without a passage
from the Canon of inspiration, because the Canon was
not yet formed. Noah was a " preacher of righteousness," and probably reasoned of righteousness, temperance, and judgment to come, much as Paul did
before Felix, without any formal proposition derived
from a body of Holy Writ. As early as the time of
Ezra, however, we find the Sacred Canon, which dur
ing the captivity had fallen into neglect, made the
basis of religious instruction. Ezra, accompanied by
the Levites, in a public congregation "read in the law
of God distinctly, and gave the sense, and caused them




THE TEXT.                 161
to understanid the reading."' Our Saviour, as his
custom was (conforming, undoubtedly, to the general Jewish custom), went into the synagogue on the
Sabbath day, and " stood up for to read" the Old
Testament.  He selected the first, and part of the
second verse of the sixty-first chapter of Isaiah, for
his text, and preached a sermon upon it, which
fastened the eyes of every man in the synagogue
upon him, in the very beginning, and which, notwithstanding its gracious words, finally developed
their latent malignity, and filled them with wrath,
so that they led him to the brow of the precipice on
which their city was built, that they might cast him
down headlong.2  The apostles, also, frequently discoursed from  passages of Scripture.  Peter, soon
after the return of the disciples from the Mount of
Ascension, preached a discourse from Psalm cix. 8,
the object of which was, to induce the Church to
choose an apostle in the place of Judas.3   And
again, on the day of Pentecost, this same apostle
preached a discourse, founded upon Joel ii. 28-32,
which was instrumental in the conversion of three
thousand souls.4  Sometimes, again, the discourse,
instead of being more properly homiletic, was an
abstract of sacred history.  The discourse of Stephen, when arraigned before the high priest, was
of this kind.5  The dense and mighty oration of
1Nehemiah viii. 6-8.    4Acts ii. 14-36.
2 Luke iv. 16-29.       5 Acts vii. 2-53.
8 Acts i. 15, sq.
11




162                HOMILETICS.
Paul, on Mars Hill, if examined, will be found to
be made up, in no small degree, of statements and
phrases that imply a thorough acquaintance with
the Old Testament. They are all fused and amalgamated, it is true, with the thoughts that came fiesh
and new from Paul's own inspiration, and yet they
are part and particle of the earlier inspiration under
the Jewish economy.
The homilies of the early Christian Church, in
the post-apsttolic age, were imitations of these discourses in the Jewish synagogue, and of these
sermons of the apostles.  They became more elaborate and rhetorical, in proportion as audiences
became more cultivated; and, on the other hand,
they became less excellent, both in matter and in
form, in proportion as the Church became ignorant
and superstitious.  But, during all the changes
which the sermon underwent, it continued to be
founded upon a passage of Scripture, and to contain
more or less of Scripture matter and phraseology.
Melancthon does indeed mention, as one of the
inconsistencies and errors of Popery, that the Ethics
of Aristotle were read in church, and that texts
were taken from his writings.  Still, as a general
thing, the ministry, whether scriptural or unscriptural in its character, has, in all ages since there
has been a collected Sacred Canon, gone to it for the
foundation of its public discourse.  That, at this
time, there is less likelihood than ever before of this
custom becoming antiquated, is one of the strongest




THE TEXT.                 163
grounds for believing that Christianity is to prevail
throughout the earth.  We have now  the best
reason for thinking that to the end of time, wherever
there shall be the sermon, there will be the Bible;
and that wherever there shall be homiletic discourse,
there will be a Scriptural basis for it.
The following reasons may be assigned, for
selecting a passage of Scripture as the foundation
of the sermon: 1. First, the selection puts honor
upon Revelation. It is a tacit and very impressive
acknowledgment, that the Scriptures are the great
source of religious knowledge. Every sermon that
is preached, throughout Christendom, in its very
beginning, and also through its whole structure,
points significantly to the Divine Revelation, and in
this way its paramount authority over all other
literature is affirmed.  No sermonizer could now
take his text from a human production, even though
it should contain the very substance, and breathe
the very spirit of the Bible, without shocking the
taste, and the religious sensibilities of his audience.
This fact shows, that the practice of which we are
speaking fosters reverence for the Word of God, and
that it is consequently a good one. 2. Secondly,
the practice of selecting a text results in the extended exposition of the Scriptures, to the general
mind.  Sermonizing, while it is truly oratorical, in
this way becomes truly expository. The sermon is
a regularly constructed discourse, and yet, when it
is founded upon a text, and is pervaded by it, it




164               HOMILETICS.
contains more or less of commentary. In this way,
the general mind is made acquainted with the contents of Revelation. 3. Thirdly, the sermon, when
based upon a text, is more likely to possess unity,
and a methodical structure. If the preacher should
give no one general direction to his mind, by a
passage of inspiration, the sermon would degenerate into a series of remarks, that would have little
use, or apparent connection with each other. Like
the observations of a person when called upon,
without any premeditation, to speak in a public
meeting, the sermon, though religious in its matter,
would be more or less rambling in its manner.
Without a text, the preacher would be likely to
say what came uppermost, provided only it had
some reference to religion. And the ill effects of
this course would not stop here. The sermon would
become more and more rambling, and less and less
religious in its character, until, owing to this neglect
of the Scriptures, it would eventually become dissevered from them, and the sacred oration would
thus become secular. 4. Fourthly, the selection of
a text aids the memory of the hearer. It furnishes
him  with a brief statement, which contains the
whole substance of the sermon, and is a clue to
lead him through its several parts. We all know
that the hearer betakes himself to the text, first of
all, when called upon to give an account of a discourse.  If he remembers the text, he is generally
able to mention the proposition, and more or less




THE TEXT.                165
of the trains of thought.  5. Fifthly, the text
imparts authority to the preacher's words. The
sermon, when it is really founded upon a passage of
inspiration, and is truly pervaded by it, possesses a
sort of semi-inspiration itself.  It is more than a
merely human and secular product.  The Holy
Spirit acknowledges it as such, by employing it for
purposes of conviction and conversion.  A merely
and wholly human production, properly secular
eloquence, is not one of those things which the
Holy Ghost " takes and shows unto the soul."  A
truly scriptural discourse, provided we do not strain
the phraseology too far, has much of the authority
of Scripture itself.
The following are some of the rules, that should
guide in the choice of a text: 1. First, a passage of
Scripture should be selected, towards which the
mind at the time spontaneously moves.  Choose a
text that attracts and strikes the mind. The best
sermons are written upon such passages, because
the preacher enters into  them  with vigor and
heartiness. Yet, such texts are not always to be
found. They do not present themselves at the very
moment they are wanted.  Hence, the sermonizer
must aid nature by art, must cultivate spontaneity
by prudence and forethought.  He should keep a
book of texts,'in which he habitually and carefully
writes down every text that strikes him, together
with all of the skeleton that presents itself to him at
the time. Let him by no means omit this last par



166                HOMILETICS.
ticular.  In this way, the spontaneous movements
of his mind will be on record. The fresh and
genial texts that occur, together with the original
and genial plans which they suggest, will all be
within reach.  A sermonizer who thus aids nature
by art, will never be at a loss for subjects. He
will be embarrassed more by his riches than his
poverty.
2. Secondly, a text should be complete in itself.
By this, it is not meant that it should be short.
No rule can be given for the length of a text. The
most that is required is, that the passage of Scripture, selected as the foundation of the sacred oration,
should, like the oration itself, be single, full, and
unsuperfluous in its character. It should be single,
containing only one general theme.  It should be
full, not a meagre and partial statement of this
theme. It should be unsuperfluous, not redundant in
matter that would lead the sermonizer into trains
of discussion, and reflection, foreign to the one
definite end of an oration.  Texts must vary in
length, from the necessity of the case. As a general rule, however, they should be as brief as is
compatible with completeness.  Short texts are
more easily remembered.  They are more likely to
result in concise, and effective sermons,-in sermons
that are free from  prolixity, and that converge
constantly to  a single  end.  Sermonizers like
Latimer and  South, who  are  distinguished  for
a rapid, driving method, affect short pithy texts,




THE TEXT.                   167
like the following: "Lying lips are an abomination
to the Lord."  "He that walketh surely, walketh
uprightly."  "The wisdom  of this world is foolishness with God." "So that they are without excuse."
"Be sure your sin will find you out."  Again,
preachers like Alison and Blair, who are distinguished not so much for vigor and effectiveness,
as for a clean, neat, and elegant method, select
brief texts, like these: "Thou art the same; and
thy years shall not fail."  "In your patience, possess ye your souls."  "Can ye not discern the
signs of the times "  "Thou hast made summer
and winter."  "What I would, that I do not."
" Unstable as water, thou shalt not excel."  It will
be found to be true generally, that in proportion as
a preacher's mind is vivid and energetic, and the
public mind is awake and active, texts become
brief, and sermons become direct and convergent.
The texts of the sermons preached by the German
and English Reformers are short and pregnant.
Besides being  easily remembered, a short text
allows of emphatic  repetition.   Some  sermons
become very effective, by the reiteration of the
inspired declaration, at the conclusion of each head.
In this instance, the text becomes a clincher. The
affirmations of the preacher are nailed, to use a
phrase of Burns, with Scripture.'"Even ministers, they ha'e been kenned,
In holy rapture,
A rousing whid at times to vend,
And nail't wi' Scripture."




168                HOMILETICS.
3. Thirdly, a text should be chosen, from which
the proposition of the sermon is derived plainly,
and naturally.  Sometimes, a preacher desires to
present a certain subject, which he has revolved in
his mind, and upon which his trains of thought are
full and consecutive, and merely prefaces his sermon with a passage of Scripture which has only a
remote connection with his theme.  In this case,
the relatibn of the sermon to the text is that of
adjustment, rather than that of development. Having made selection of a passage from which his
proposition, and trains of thought, do not naturally
flow, he is compelled to torture the text into an
apparent unity with the discourse. Rather than
take this course, it would be better to make the
text a mere motto, or title, and not pretend to an
unfolding of a Scripture passage.  But there is no
need of this. The Bible is rich in texts for all
legitimate sermons, for all propositions and trains
of thought that properly arise within the province
of sacred, as distinguished from secular eloquence.
Let the preacher take pains, and find the very passage he needs, and not content himself with one
that has only an apparent connection with his
subject.  But when the passage selected is a true
text,-that is, a portion of Scripture out of which
the proposition, trains of thought, and whole substance of the discourse, are woven,-let the preacher
see to it, that he derives from it nothing that is not
in it. His business is not to involve into the text,




THE TEXT.                169
something that is extrinsic, but to evolve out of it,
something that is intrinsic. Hence, a text should
be of such a character, as evidently to furnish one
plain and significant proposition, and to allow of a
straight-forward, easy, and real development of it.
4. Fourthly, oddity and eccentricity should be
avoided, in selecting a text. There is more need of
this rule, now, than formerly. The public mind is
more ludicrous in its associations, and more fastidious in its taste, than two centuries ago.  In the
older sermonizers, applications of Scripture  are
very frequent, that involuntarily provoke a smile in
a modern reader, but which in their day were listened to with the utmost gravity, by sober-minded
men and women. The doctrine of a double sense,
together with a strong allegorizing tendency, in
both preacher and hearer, contributed to this use
of Scripture, which seems to us fanciful, and oftentimes ludicrous.
Illustrations of this trait are without number.
Dr. Eachard, whose volume gives a very lively picture of the condition of the English clergy at the
close of the seventeenth, and the beginning of the
eighteenth century, furnishes some curious examples
of this eccentric spirit, both in the choice of texts,
and in drawing out doctrine from it. He tells us
of a preacher, who selected Acts xvi. 30: "Sirs,
what must I do to be saved," and preached upon
the divine right of Episcopacy.  "For Paul and
Silas are called'Sirs,' and'Sirs' being in the




170                 HOMILETICS.
Greek zxVplto, and this, in strict translation, meaning'Lords,' it is perfectly plain, that at that time Episcopacy was not only the acknowledged government,
l-,it that bishops were peers of the realm, and so?ght to sit in the House of Lords."  Another''acher, in the time of Charles II, he says, selected
i,' his text, the words: " Seek first the kingdom of
G,,,l,"  and drew  from  them  the proposition, that
kingly government is most in accordance with the
will of God.  "For it is not said, seek the parliaen-t of God, the army of God, or the committee of.stfety of God; but it is, seek the kingd'om of God."
Another preacher took Matthew i. 2: " Abraham
begat Isaac," and argued against pluralists, and nonresidency, in the ministry: " For had Abraham not
resided with Sarah his wife, he could not have
begot Isaac." Another sermonizer selected Isaiah
xli. 14, 15: "Fear not, thou wor  Jacob,...
thou shalt thresh mountains," and drew the inference, that the worm  Jacob was a threshing worm.
In the same vein, another preacher takes for his
text Isaiah lviii. 5' Is it such a fast that I have
chosen?  A day for a man to afflict his soul   Is it
to bow down his head as a bulrush?" and deduces
the proposition, that "repentance for an hour, or a
day, is not worth a bulrush."  Still another preacher
selected his text from  Psalm  xciv. 19: "In the
multitude of my thoughts within me, thy comforts
delight my soul," and preached upon election and
reprobation, deducingthe proposition,' that amongst




THE TEXT.                171
the multitude of thoughts, there was a great thought
of election and reprobation."' Similar examples of
eccentricity, in the choice and treatment of a text
have been handed down from other sources. An
aged New England minister, during the colonial
period, once preached before a very unpopular deputy governor, from  Job xx. 6, 7: "Though his
Excellency mount up to the heavens, and his head
reach unto the clouds, yet he shall perish forever
like his own dung."  Another preached to the
newly married couples of his congregation, upon a
part of Psalm lxxii. 7: "And abundance of peace
so long as the noon endureth."  Dean Swift is
reported to have preached the annual sermon to
the Associated Tailors of Dublin, upon the text:
"A remnant shall be saved."  Among his printed
sermons, there is one upon Acts xx. 9: " And there
sat in the window a certain young man named
Eutychus, having fallen into a deep sleep: and as
Paul was long preaching, he sunk down with sleep,
and fell down from the third loft, and was taken
up dead," which thus begins: " I have chosen these
words, with design, if possible, to disturb some part
in this audience of half an hour's sleep, for the
convenience and exercise whereof, this place, at this
season of the day, is very much celebrated."2
Such instances as these, however, are very different from that quaint humor, of preachers like
EACHIARD: Works, p. 66,   2 SWIFT: Works, Vol. XIV.
et al.                  Sermon 10.




172                HOMILETICs.
Hugh Latimer, and Matthew Henry, which is so
mingled with devout and holy sentiment, as to lose
all triviality, and to make only a serious impression.
The following from  the commentary of Henry,
while it raises a smile, only deepens the sense of
the truth conveyed. Remarking upon the requirement of the Mosaic law, that the green ears of corn,
offered as a meat offering, must be dried by the fire,
so that the  corn might be beaten out, Henry
observes, that "if those who are young do God's
work as well as they can, they shall. be accepted,
though they cannot do it as well as those that are
aged, and experienced.  God makes the best of
green ears of corn, and so must we."T
By far the most culpable contortion of passages
of Scripture, out of their natural meaning and connection, is found in the history of those theological
schools, whose pulpits, having rejected the doctrines
of sin and grace, were forced to find substitutes for
these, in semi-religious, or wholly secular themes.
During the prevalence of Rationalism in Germany,
"sermons were preached, everywhere, upon such
subjects as the care of health, the necessity of indus
try, the advantages of scientific tillage, the necessity
of gaining a competence, the duties of servants, the
ill-effects of law-suits, and the folly of superstitious
opinions.  It is said, that Christmas was taken
advantage of, to connect the sad story of the child
HENRY: Corn. on Leviticus iii. 14.




THE TEXT.                 173
born in a manger, with the most approved methods
of feeding cattle; and the appearance of Jesus
walking in the garden, at the break of day on the
Easter morning, with the benefit of rising early,
and taking a walk before breakfast.  Not a word
was heard regarding atonement and faith, sin and
the judgment, salvation, grace, and Christ's kingdom.  A selfish love of pleasure, and a selfish theory of life, put a selfish system  of morals in the
place of a lofty religion. The old-fashioned system
of religious service had to be modified, and adjusted
to this new style of preaching, which was as clear
as water, and as thin as water too."' This description, by a very candid writer, of a state of things
in Germany, in the last century, will apply to some
phenomena of the present day, both in England
and America.  The pressure of the evangelical
spirit, which is dominant in these countries, restrains
the extreme workings of this tendency, in the pulpit; and yet it is plainly seen in what is called the
"sensational" discourse, which is commonly founded upon a text torn entirely out of its exegetical
nexus, and filled with matter drawn from the four
winds, rather than  from  the  Christian Revela.
tion.
A disputed text should not be selected, as the
basis of a discourse. This rule applies more particularly to doctrinal preaching, yet it has its value
1 HAGENBACH: German Rationalism, p. 105,




174                HOMILETICS.
for sermonizing generally.  The preacher should
choose the very plainest, most significant and
pointed passages of Scripture, as the support of his
doctrinal discourses. He is then relieved from the
necessity of first proving, that the doctrine in question is taught in the passage, and can devote his
whole time, and strength, to its exposition and
establishment.  The less there is of polemics in
sacred oratory, the better. The more there is of
direct inculcation, without any regard to opposing
theories and statements, the more efficient, energetic,
and oratorical, will be the sermon.  The controversial tone is unfavorable to the bold, positive, unembarrassed tone of Sacred Eloquence. Disputed texts
should, therefore, be left to the philologist and the
theologian.  When these have settled their true
meaning, so far as it can be settled, such texts may
be employed to corroborate, and to illustrate, but
not to build upon from the foundation.
By this, it is not meant that the preacher has
no concern with such passages of inspiration. The
preacher is, or should be, a philologist and a theologian, and in his study should  examine such
passages, and form a judgment in respect to them.
But let him not do this work in the pulpit. The
pulpit is the place for the delivery of eloquence,
and not of philology, or philosophy, or technical
theology. The rhetorical presentation of thought
is the mode which the preacher is to employ, and
nothing more interferes with this, than the minute




THE TEXT,                  15
examinations of criticism, and the slow and cautious
processes of pure science.
This maxim  is also valuable, not only in reference to strictly doctrinal preaching, but to  all
preaching. The text is, or should be, the key-note
to the whole sermon.  The more bold, the more
undoubted and undisputed, its tone, the better.  A
text of this character is like a premonitory blast of
a trumpet.  It challenges attention, and gets it.
It startles and impresses, by its direct and authoritative announcement of a great and solemn proposition.  Nothing remains then, but for the preacher
to go out upon it, with his whole weight; to unfold
and apply its evident undoubted meaning, with all
the moral confidence, and all the serious earnestness, of which he is capable.
The inference to be drawn from  these reasons
for the selection of a passage of Scripture, as the
foundation of a sermon, and these rules for making
the selection, is, that the greatest possible lacbor, and
care, should be expended Zupon the choice of a text.
As, in secular oratory, the selection of a subject is
either vital, or fatal, to the whole performance; so,
in sacred oratory, the success of the preacher depends entirely upon the fitness of his choice of a text.
The text is his subject.  It is the germ  of his
whole discourse.  Provided, therefore, he has found
an apt and excellent one, he has found his sermon
substantially.
All labor therefore, that is expended upon a




16                  IHOMILETICS.
text, is wisely and economically expended.  Every
jot and tittle of painstaking, in fixing upon paper
a congenial passage of Scripture, and in setting up
all of the skeleton that presents itself at the time;
every jot and tittle of painstaking, in examining
the passage in the original Hebrew, or Greek, and
in studying; in these samne languages, the context,
and the parallel passages; every particle of care,
in first obtaining an excellent text, and then getting
at, and getting out, its real meaning and scope,
goes to render the actual construction and composition  of the sermon, more  easy and  successful.
Labor  at this point, saves labor  at all after
points.
The preacher ought to make careful, and extensive, preparation in respect to pulpit themes. His
common-place book  of texts should be a large
volume, in the outset, and if he is faithful to himself, and his calling, he will find  the volumes
increasing.  Instead  of buying  the  volumes  of
skeletons that are so frequently  offered  at the
present day, the preacher must make them  for
himself.  It was formerly the custom, in an age
that was more theological than the present, for
every preacher to draw  up a "body of divinity,"
for himself,-the summing up, and result, of his
studies  and  reflections.   Every preacher knew
1The rigid observance of this times, it is to be feared, even the
one practice will prevent the Greek) from becoming a "lost
Hebrew  language, (and some- art," to the preacher.




THE TEXT.                17T
what his theological system  was, and could state
it, and defend it.  And, although, at first sight,
we might suppose that this custom would lead to
great diversities of opinion among the clergy, it is
yet a fact, that there never was more substantial
and sincere unity of belief, than among the Protestant clergy of England and the Continent, during
those highly theological centuries, the sixteenth and
seventeenth.  There was no invention  of new
theories, but the old and established theory, the
one orthodox faith of the Christian Church, was
made to pass through each individual mind, and
so come forth with all the freshness and freedom
of a new creation. " He who has been born," says
Richter, "has been a first man, and has had the old
and common world lying about him, as new and as
fresh, as it lay before the eyes of Adam himself."
So, too, he who, in the providence and by the grace
of God, has become a theologian and a preacher,
has no other world of thought and of feeling, to
move in, than that old world of Divine Revelation,
in which the glorious company of the apostles,
and the goodly fellowship of the prophets and
preachers, thought and felt; but if he will open his
eyes, and realize where he stands, and by what he
is surrounded, he will see it, as his predecessors saw
it, in all the freshness of its real nature, and in all
the magnificence of its actual infinitude. Whether
or not, the preacher imitates this example of an
earlier day, in regard to theologizing, he ought to,
12




178                 HOMILETICS.
in regard to sermonizing.  Let him not rely, at all,
upon the texts and skeletons of other preachers, but
let him  cultivate this field by himself, and for
himself, as if it had never been tilled before. Let
him  pursue this business of selecting, examining,
decomposing, and recombining textual materials,
with all the isolation and independence of the first
preachers, and of all the great original orators of
the Christian Church.




CHAPTER VIII.
THE PLAN OF A SERMON.
IN distinguishing the parts of a sermon, the same
maxim  applies, as in distinguishing the different
species of sermons.  The distinctions should be
simple, generic, and as few as possible. We shall
adopt the enumeration of Aristotle, in his Rhetoric,'
and regard the sacred oration as made up of the
following parts, namely: the introduction, the proj2ositzion, the proof, and the conclusion.
1. The Introduction is that part of the sermon
which precedes the proposition, and the proof. In
common with the conclusion, it is a secondary part
of an oration; the primary parts being the proposition and the proof. These latter, Aristotle denominates "necessary" parts, "for," he says, " it is absolutely necessary that a discourse should state something, andprovm it." And it is plain, that if a sermon
could have but two parts, the proposition and the
proof of it would possess some positive value, taken
by themselves, while an introduction and a conclu1ARISTOTELES: De Arte Rhetorica, III. -iii.




180                 HOMILETICS.
sion, taken  by themselves, would  be worthless.
Hence, the exceedingly logical and rigorous Aristotle seems to hesitate, at first, whether he shall not
regard the oration as consisting of but two parts,
although he finally admits four.'
The introduction, in its nature, is preparatory.
It does not lay down any truth; it does not establish
any doctrine; it simply prepares the way for the
fundamental parts, and necessary matter, of the discourse. In secular eloquence, one very important
object of the exordium is, to conciliate the hearer
towards the speaker; to remove prejudices, and to
awaken sympathy with him.   There is not, ordinarily, any need of an exordium for this purpose, in
sacred eloquence. The preacher, unless he has been
exceedingly unfaithful to himself and his calling,
may presume upon the good-will and the respect of
his auditory, and need not waste time or words, in
endeavoring to secure a favorable attention to himself, as a man. It is, however, sometimes necessary
that the preacher, in his introduction, should conciliate his audience in respect to his subject.  If
his theme is a very solemn and awful one, if the
proof and discussion of it lead to those very close
and pungent trains of thought, which are apt to
offend fallen human nature, it is well for the sermonizer, to prepare the mind of his auditor for this
A'AvaylcaZa apa o6pta irp6W0et' ica AIISTOTELES: De Arte Rhetorica,
t   arlar' il Za   oi'v o   ravra, ira 6de qruta-   III. xiii.
ra irpooitov'rp6Oeatl. 7ria-tg EiMioyog.




PLAN OF A SERMON.             181
plain dealing with his heart and conscience. The
introduction, in this case, affords an opportunity to
remind the hearer, that preaching is for the soul's
good and the soul's salvation; that when the subject
requires it, the plainest discourse is really the kindest and most affectionate; that the truth which is to
be established and applied, is a part of God's revelation, and that, however severe it may seem, it is
the severity of Divine wisdom and love.
The ordinary office of the introduction, however,
is to exhibit the text in its connections, and to explain its less obvious meaning.  Some writers upon
Homiletics assign this work to a particular part of the
discourse, which they denominate the explanation.
It is better, to regard it as belonging to the introduction. In Sacred Eloquence, as we have already observed, there is, generally, no need of that conciliatory matter, either in respect to the speaker or his
subject, which, according to these writers, constitutes
the introduction proper.  Hence, most sermons can
have no introduction, except this explanatory one.
Or, again, the sermon might need to be introduced
by some conciliatory matter, and recquire no explanation of the text.  Hence, it is better to define the
introduction as consisting of all the matter, be it
conciliatory, or explanatory, or both, which prepares
for the necessary and fundamental parts of the
sermon,-the proposition and its proof.
The introduction should be short. Of course, it
must be proportioned to the length, and general




182                HOMILETICS.
structure, of the discourse. Still, brevity should be
a distinguishing characteristic of the exordium; and
where one sermon is faulty from being too abruptly
introduced, one hundred are faulty from a too long
and tiresome preface. It is easier to expand the
common thoughts of the introduction, than to fill out
full, and thoroughly elaborate, the argumentative
parts of the discourse; and hence we too often listen
to sermons which remind us of that Galatian church
which began in the spirit, but ended in the flesh.
The sermon opens with a promising introduction,
which attracts attention, conciliates the audience,
and paves the way to a noble and fertile theme.
But, instead of bringing the exordium to a close,
and commencing with the development of a subject,
or the proof of a proposition, the sermonizer repeats,
or unduly expands, his introductory matter, as if he
dreaded to take hold of his theme. The consequence is, that the theme itself is not handled with
any strength or firmness of grasp, and the long and
labored introduction only serves as a foil, to set off
the brevity and inferiority of the body of the discourse.  Rather than take this course, it would be
better for the sermonizer, to plunge into the middle
and depths of his subject, at once.  This latter
method is allowable, occasionally.  When the subject is a very fruitful and important one, and the
preacher can have but a single opportunity of
presenting it, it is perfectly proper to dispense
with every thing like a regular and oratorical




PLAN OF A SERMON.             183
exordium, and begin with the treatment of the
theme itself.
2. The Proposition is the enunciation of the
particular truth which is to be established, and
applied, in the sermon. It is, therefore, of a positive and affirmative nature. If, consequently, the
truth or doctrine to be taught, and applied, has at
first taken on a negative form, it is best to convert it
into an affirmation. The demonstration of a position
is more favorable to eloquence, than of a negation.
The proposition should, also, be stated in the most
concise manner possible. It is, or should be, the
condensation and epitome of the whole discourse,
and should, therefore, be characterized by the utmost
density of meaning. The proposition should, also,
be stated in the boldest manner possible. By this,
it is not meant that the announcement of the subject
of a sermon should be dogmatic, in the bad sense
of this word. This should be guarded against.
But, every teaching, or tenet, of revelation, ought to
be laid down with a strong confidence of its absolute truthfulness. We are told that a certain auditory, upon a certain occasion, were surprised at the
doctrine of our Saviour, because he taught them as
one having authority, and not as the scribes. Christ
spake as never man spake, for he spake with the
commanding dignity of a higher consciousness than
belongs to a mere man. His doctrines carry a divine
weight, decisiveness, and authoritativeness, with
them, which, when felt, admits no appeal and no




184               HOMILETICS.
gainsaying, on the part of the human mind. And,
this authoritativeness pertains to inspiration as a
whole. When, therefore, the proposition of a sermon
is a legitimate derivative from a passage of Scripture,
it ought to be expressed in such a manner as to
preclude all hesitation, doubt, or timorousness, in
the phraseology. A  weighty conciseness, and a
righteous boldness, ought to characterize the terms,
and form of the proposition. But, in order that
this may be the case, the utmost care must be
expended upon its phraseology. A  propositional
sentence is very different from an ordinary sentence.
It should be constructed much more elaborately.
Its phraseology ought to be as near perfection as
possible. The members, and clauses, of the sentence
which is to enunciate the whole doctrine of the
discourse, should be most exactly worded, and most
cunningly jointed.  The proposition of a sermon
ought to be eminent for the nice exactness of its
expression, and the hard finish of its diction.  As
a constituent part of the skeleton, it should be
purest bone.
We have thus far spdken of the proposition of
a sermon, as a definite and distinct statement which
follows the introduction, and precedes the proof.
It is not necessary, however, that a discourse should
contain a formal and verbal proposition, in order
to its being a true topical sermon, a proper oration.
The doctrine may be so inwoven into the proof, and
discussion, as to render a formal statement unneces



PLAN OF A SERMON.             185
sary. The proposition, in this instance, is implied in
the body of the discourse. This is generally the case,
with that large class of sermons which have been denominated subject-sermons. These contain no proposition that is formally announced, although they
contain one that is really, and organically inlaid.
If a discourse does not embody a proposition, either
expressly or by implication, it is not topical, in its
nature. Subject-sermons, as the name denotes, take
for their title, not a proposition established and
applied in them, but the general theme with which
they are occupied.  From them, however, a proposition can be drawn, to the support and enforcement
of which, the entire body of the discourse is subservient; and this proves the identity with the
topical sermon.
We will illustrate this, by reference to a sermon
of Saurin, one of the very first of sermonizers,
whether we consider the soundness of his thought,
the vigor and clearness of his method, or the plain
elegance of his rhetoric.  The discourse is founded
upon 1 Cor. i. 21: " After that in the wisdom of
God, the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased
God by the foolishness of preaching to save them
that believe."  The title of the sermon is: "The
advantages of revelation."   The translator was,
probably, led to give it this loose running title,
because the author does not formally announce a
proposition in the discourse. It contains one, however; and, put into a distinct verbal statement,




186                HOMILETICS.
would be this: "Revealed religion is infinitely
superior to natural religion."   This proposition
really pervades the whole sermon, and is established,
by showing that revelation imparts a knowledge
infinitely superior to that given by natural religion,
in respect, 1. to the nature and attributes of God; 2.
to the nature and obligations of man; 3. to the
means of appeasing the remorse of conscience; and,
4. to a future state.
It is better to vary the structure of sermons,
by adopting both modes, so far as the proposition
is concerned.  Invariably to state the proposition,
though not so objectionable as invariably to leave
it unannounced, imparts an air of stiffness, and
formality, to sermonizing from Sabbath to Sabbath.
Whenever, however, the proposition is not verbally
stated, the treatment of the subject ought to be
of such a character, as to leave no doubt in the
mind of the hearer, respecting the real and positive
doctrine of the sermon. The body of the discourse
should be made up of such clear and evident
matter, that when the hearer asks himself the question: "What is the proposition of this sermon?"
the answer is suggested by its trains of thought,
and the general bearing of it as a whole. If, therefore, a sermon contains no outward and formally
announced proposition, it should contain an inward
and organic one, all the more; and the whole ma.s
of its argumentative, and illustrative, matter, should
have even a plainer reference, and a stronger drift




PLAN OF A SERMON.              187
in one general direction, than when the proposition
has been verbally enunciated in the beginning.
3. The Proof is the substance of the sermon.
It is the most important part of the discourse,
because it is that part, for the sake of which the
discourse itself is composed.  The introduction,
the statement of the proposition, and the conclusion, exist only in order to the demonstration.
Separated from that argumentative part of the sermon, which establishes some truth, and produces
conviction, these other parts are worthless. A logical development of an idea, or a convincing demonstration of a doctrine, always possesses an intrinsic
worth.  When we can read or hear but one part of
a sermon, we always select the body of it, as it is
termed.
The proof divides into parts, which are sometimes denominated "heads," and sometimes "divisions."  These divisions should exhibit the following
qualities.  First, they must possess a true logical
force. By this is meant, that they must one and
all go to establish the proposition. It is not enough,
that they bear some affinity to the theme of the
discourse; that they are not heterogeneous.  They
must be of the nature of demonstration, and carry
conviction, as far as they extend, to the hearer's
mind.  At the conclusion of each head or division
of proof, the auditor should feel that the proposition has received an additional, and real support.
Secondly, each head of the proof ought to exhibit




188               HOMILETICS.
a distinctive character by itself. By this is meant,
that it should not contain elements of proof that
are found in other divisions. It must not be a
mere modification of some other head, but a distinct, and additional, item in the mass of argument.
Hence, none but the leading arguments should
appear in the sermon, for the support of a proposition.  There is no time in the oration for the
numerous exhaustive demonstrations of philosophy,
and in reality no need of them.  The preacher
should seize upon the few prime arguments, and
exhibit to the popular audience only the capital
proofs.
A  close attention to these two fundamental
properties, in the heads of proof, is indispensable
to good sermonizing. If a particular argument, in
support of a proposition, is not genuinely demonstrative, and distinctively demonstrative, it should
not constitute a part of the proof. All arguments
that do not, so far as they reach and relate, really
evince, and  afford new  elements of conviction,
ought to be energetically rejected.
The observance of these maxims will secure a
proper number of heads. If every thing of the
nature of proof is employed, without regard to the
intrinsic worth and strength of it, the divisions will
be too numerous for the nature of oratory.  "Some
ministers," says an old homiletist, "do with their
texts, as the Levite with his concubine,-cut, and
carve it into so many several pieces." Some ser



PLAN OF A SERMON.             189
mons exhibit a body of proof which, owing to the
multitude of the divisions and sub-divisions, is
wholly unsuited to the purposes of persuasive discourse. They are good illustrations of the infinite
divisibility of matter, but produce no conviction in
the popular mind, because they employ the philosophical, instead of the rhetorical mode of demonstration. This fault will be avoided, if the sermonizer asks, in respect to each and every head or division: " Does this proposed head really tend to prove
the proposition, and does it afford a positively new
item of proof, that is not contained in any other
head " These two questions, rigorously applied,
will exclude from the sermon all second-rate arguments, and the pulpit will bring to bear upon the
popular audience, only the strongest, plainest, and
most cogent proofs. By this, it is not meant, that
a division of the proof may not exhibit another
phase of one and the same general argument.
There may be but one general argument, in support
of a proposition, and then the new element of
proof, in the new division, must be simply a new
aspect of this. But in this case, also, the spirit
of the  above-given  maxim  must be  obeyed.
The new head, or division, should exhibit a new
aspect, so distinct and diverse from that of all preceding or following heads, as to impart a marked,
and distinguishing logical character to it.
In respect to the number of heads, or divisions,
in the proof, no stiff rule can be laid down. Some




190                HOMILETICS.
rhetoricians say that they should never exceed five.
Probably, the majority of modern sermons contain
less than this number, and the majority of ancient
sermons contain more. It is better to amplify one
first-rate argument, than to present two mediocre
ones, in the same space. It is more difficult to do
this, because it requires closer and more continuous
reflection; but the sermon is the more excellent for
it. When a rich and fertile argument has been
discovered, the preacher should not leave it, until
he has made the common mind feel the whole sum
of its force. The instant he has done this, he
should drop it. It is not enough to barely state a
proof. It should be fully unfolded. It should be
revolved in the preacher's mind, and before the
hearer's mind, until all that is latent in it has been
elicited. The maxim, then, in respect to the number of heads or divisions is, " Amplify, rather than
multiply."  The effect of this maxim will coincide
with what has been said, respecting the choice of
arguments.  The preacher, we have seen, is to
choose genuinely demonstrative, and distinctively
demonstrative proofs; and these are the only ones
that can be amplified, and cannot be multiplied.
Fertile arguments are few in number, but may be
made to cover a wide extent of surface, and furnish
a great amount of matter, for the body of the sermon.
These same maxims will apply to the sub-divis.
ions of proof. These, also, must possess a real, and




PLAN OF A SERMON.             191
distinct demonstrative power.  They should not
repeat each other, in any degree. The choice and
number of the sub-divisions, must, therefore, be
detminered by the same rules that apply to the
principal divisions. As a general thing, sub-divisions need not be formally announced. They should
be so forcible, and marked, in their character, as to
announce themselves. Generally speaking, a subdivision that would not attract the attention of a hearer,
by its own weight and worth, should be omitted.
In announcing the divisions and subdivisions of
the proof, the greatest pains should be taken with
the phraseology. Each one ought to be expressed
in the most exact, and concise language. The same
care which we recommended in wording the proposition, should be expended upon the wording of its
proofs. These are themselves a species of proposition, and by the old sermonizers are so denominated.
The elder Edwards frequently announces a general proposition, under the name of "doctrine,"
and follows with "proposition first," "proposition
second," &c., as the arguments that support it.'
It sometimes happens, that the matter in the
proof is excellent, being both truly and distinctively
demonstrative, but the style of expression is exceedingly defective.  As an example of a loose and
slovenly manner of wording the divisions, and subdivisions, of the proof, take the following from John
Compare Sermon upon 1 Thess. ii. 16. Works, IV. 281 sq.




192                  HOMILETICS.
Howe, a preacher, who, in respect to thought and
matter, has no superior in the Ancient or the Modern Church, but is excelled in respect to form and
style, by many of inferior discipline, learning, and
spirituality.
In the forty-second of his Sermons, he describes
the nature of the new birth.l  The divisions of the
discussion are worded thus: " 1. As it is a birth, it
signifies a real new product in the soul; that there
is somewhat really produced  anew  in  it.  2. As
this is a real production to be thus born, new born,
so it is a spiritual production, in contradistinction
to such productions as lie within the sphere of nature.  3. As this is a birth, so we must consider it
to be a total production, such an one as carries an
entireness with it; for so it is with all such productions that are properly called births. 4. This birth,
as it is a birth, signifies a permanent production;
an effect that is permanent, lasting, and continued."
Instead of this loose, incompact phraseology,
these divisions would be more forcibly stated, and
easily remembered, in the following form:  To be
born of God, (The text is, "Whosoever believeth
that Jesus is the Christ, is born of God) denotes: 1.
A real true birth. 2. A supernatural, or spiritual
birth.  3. A permanent birth.2  The awkwardness' JoHN HOWE: Works, II. 894 tually included in the first, and
sq. New York Ed.            therefore should be omitted in a
2The third head, in Howe's truly rhetorical plan.
distribution of the matter, is vir



PLAN OF A SERMON.             193
of the statement, in this instance, arises from not
cleanly separating the head, or division, from the
matter under it, and from attempting some explanca
tion or development of the head in the head itself.
This should never be done. The preacher must reserve the unfolding for its proper place. He should
do one thing at a time. Whem-he announces either a
proposition or a division, let it be a pure and simple
annunciation, in the concisest, clearest, and briefest
phraseology. And when he unfolds, or developes, let
him do this fully and exhaustively.  Milton speaks
of the close palm of logic, and the open palm of
rhetoric. Now, the statement of a proposition, or of
a head, is logical in its nature; it should be the hard,
knotty fist. The explanation, or development of a
proposition, or of a head, is rhetorical in its nature;
it should be the open, ample hand.  To attempt
to unite the two in one sentence, is like attempting
to open and shut the hand by a single volition, and
by one set of muscles. The hand cannot be shut by
the muscles that were made to open it. The statement of a proposition, or of a division of proof, cannot be the development and amplification of it.
Thus far, we have spoken of the body of the sermon, under the denomination of the proof. When
discussing the nature of the proposition, we alluded
to a class of sermons, called by some homiletists
subject-sermons, which  contain no formally announced proposition, although they contain an internal and implied one, and are, therefore, truly
13




194                HOMILETICS.
topical in their nature. It is obvious, that when
the proposition is thus inlaid, and implied, through
the discourse as a whole, the proof takes on a different appearance, from that which it wears in a more
formally constructed sermon.  Sometimes, there are
no distinctly announced heads.  The preacher, from
the rapidity of his movement, cannot stop to enumerate, but supplies the lack of formality of statement by emphasizing leading words or clauses. In
this case, there are subdivisions really, though not
formally.  Every sermon must contain subordinate
thoughts, which flow out of each other, and yet are
distinct from  each other.  Otherwise there is no
development, no constant progress, and none of the
elements of oratory.
When the body of the sermon is of this informal
character, it is termed by some writers the treatment,
by others the disct8ssion. These terms are employed,
not to denote that there is nothing of the nature of
logic, or proof, in the body of the discourse, but that
the logic, or proof, is less formal, and less formally
announced, than in the other instance. The qualities which should characterize the discussion, or
treatment, of a theme, are substantially like those of
the proof proper. There must be the same accumulation of genuinely demonstrative material. As this
less formal development of the theme goes on, it
should acquire additional logical force, and produce
a growing conviction in the understanding of the
hearer.




PLAN OF A SERMON.             195
In concluding this account of the proof, the
question arises, whether all the heads or divisions
should be pre-announced, by the preacher, at the
opening of his discourse.  The decision of this
question does not affect the structure of the discourse itself, because this pre-announcement is not
the addition of any new matter, but simply the
repetition of the existing. Without laying down a
stiff, undeviating rule, we are inclined to say, that
recapitulation  is better than  pre-announcement.
And this, for the following reasons. First, the
recapitulation of the proofs, at the close of the
argumentation, is more intelligible than the preannouncement of them  at the beginning.  After
the mind of the hearer has followed the preacher
through his proofs, and has listened to their development, one by one, it sees their meaning, and
interconnection, much  more readily  and easily.
The full import, and connection, of an argument,
cannot be perceived, until it has been unfolded in
its relations, and dependencies. Secondly, the recapitulation of the proofs is more impressive than
the pre-announcement of them. The accurate and
rapid repetition of the arguments of a sermon, after
they have been clearly and connectedly exhibited,
makes a very strong impression upon the hearer.
It is a summing up of the demonstration, a grouping and epitomizing of the entire logic of the
discourse, which falls with massive, solid weight
upon his understanding.  This epitome of the




196                    HOMILETICS.
proof, read off to the audience before they have
become interested  in its contents by  a course of
argumentation, leaves the mind indifferent. It is
like perusing the table of contents of a book, before
reading the book itself. Lastly, the recapitulation of
the proof is more easily remembered than the preannouncement of it, for the reason that it is more
intelligible, and more impressive. That which is
most clearly  understood, and  most forcible  and
striking, is most easily retained in the memory.4. The Conclusion is that part of the sermon
which Vigorously applies the truth, which has been
established  in  the  proof, or developed  in  the
treatment, or  discussion.  As the  introduction  is
conciliatory and explanatory, the conclusion is applicatory  and  hortatory.  It should,  therefore, be
characterized by the utmost intensity, and energy.
The highest vitality of the oration shows itself in
the peroration.  The onset upon the  hearer is at
this point.  If the man's will is ever carried. if
1 "Our main work is to be their duty, which are the sum
the people's remembrancers, to be  and abstract of what we have
constant monitors to.them  of delivered. We should endeavor
their duty, to bring the contents to refresh their memories,, conof it close up to their minds, and  sidering that the preaching bf the
to fasten them upon them. To  word was not instituted, only to
which end, it may be sometimes inform men of what they were
requisite, in the close of our dis- ignorant of before, but to remind
courses, to recapitulate the most them of what they knew well
important heads and particulars enough, but had forgot."  Jonx
we have been treating of, that EDWARDS: The Preacher, Pt. I.
our auditors may carry away with  p. 281.
them those brief lnemorials of




PLAN OF A SERMON.              197
this true effect of eloquence is ever produced, it is
the work of this part of the sermon.  By this, it is
not meant that the other parts of the discourse
may not be excellent, and produce some of their
proper effects, even though the conclusion be imperfect.  But the crown and completion of the
whole oratorical process, the actual persuasion of the
auditor, will not ensue, if the conclusion is lame,
and not equal to the preceding parts. It must be
a true conclusion; a vehement and powerful winding up, and finishing.  Hence, among the Ancients,
the peroration received the utmost attention.  The
conclusions of the orations of Demosthenes, and
Cicero, are  constructed  in  the  most elaborate
manner, in order that there may be no falling off
from  the impression made by the preceding portions. At this point in the process of the orator,
they seem to have exerted their utmost possibility
of effort, like a leaper, who throws his whole brute
force into that one leap which is to save his life
from  destruction.  Indeed, the peroration seems
to put the power to spring and smite, the very
tendon of Achilles, into oratory.
In sacred eloquence, there are two species of
conclusions; while, in secular eloquence, there
is, strictly speaking, but one. The sermon may
conclude, either by inferences, or by direct address.
The secular oration employs the latter only.  This
difference arises from  the fact mentioned in the
chapter upon the distinctive nature of Homiletics,




1.98                HOMRLETICS.
namely, that sacred eloquence is more didactic than
secular, and hence may vary more from  the strict
canons of oratory, if it can thereby produce a
greater practical impression.
The sermon should have an inferential conclusion, when the principal practical force of the proposition, or the subject, is in the inferences from it.
The real strength of some conceptions lies in that
which follows from  them.  They make no very
great moral impression of themselves, but they
involve, or they imply, or they point to, certain
truths that are highly important, and  serious.
Death, for example, is a theme that is much more
solemn, and effective, in its inferences, and its implications, than in itself. It is, indeed, fearful in itself,
but it is the king of terrors, only through its
concomitants, and consequents.  The doctrine of
the soul's immortality, again, is one that makes its
strongest impression by virtue of its inferences, and
deductions.  The mere fact that the soul is to live
forever, exerts but little influence upon a man,
until he has been made to see, that he is utterly
unfit and unprepared for such an endless existence;
until the doctrines of sin and guilt, of justice and
judgment, have sharpened and enforced the doctrine
of immortality.
Secondly, the sermon should have an inferential
conclusion, when the proposition and its proof, or
the subject and its discussion, are highly abstract in
their nature. There are some doctrines presented in




PLAN'OF A SERMON.             199
the Scriptures, so recondite and metaphysical that
they can be made to bear upon the popular mind,
only in their concrete and practical aspects. Inasmuch as they are revealed truth, they must not be
passed over, by the preacher. All Scripture is profitable. Yet they are metaphysical in their nature, and
in their ultimate reach transcend the powers of the
finite intellect.  The preacher, therefore, must detect
a popular element in them, that will make them
proper themes for eloquence.  He must discover
in them, a practical quality, which will bring them
home to the business, and bosoms of Christians.
In order to this, the sacred orator must follow the
method of Scripture itself. He is to content himself
with a brief and succinct statement, which omits noth 
ing essential to the doctrine, but which does not pretend to fully develope and explain it, and, from this,
draw  inferences and conclusions respecting the
duties of his hearers.  In this way, the high fundamental dogma is brought down into the sphere of
human conduct, and made a practical test of character.  It is not fully explained, it is true, because
it cannot be by a finite mind; but it is correctly,
that is scripturally, stated.  This accurate enunciation of the truth, or doctrine, prepares the way for
the inferences,-for that handling  of it, which
brings it into living contact with the affections and
will of the hearer.  In this way, the most abstract,
and intrinsically metaphysical doctrine of Scripture
becomes eloquent, that is, persuasive, and influential




200                HOMIIETICS.
upon the human mind and heart.  The revealed
dogma of the trinity is an example.  This is,
undoubtedly, the most profound truth that has
been presented to the human intelligence. Neither
in Ancient nor in Modern philosophy, is there any
doctrine that carries the mind down to such central
depths.  A  perfect comprehension of this single
truth, such as is possessed by the Divine intelligence, would involve a comprehension of all truth,
and would solve at once, and forever, those standing
problems of the human mind which have both stimulated and baffled its inquiries, ever since the dawn
of philosophic speculation. And yet, this transcendental truth is a Biblical truth, and must be
preached to plain Christian men and women.  A
discourse upon the doctrine of the trinity, therefore, should be strong in its inferences, rather than
in its explanations, or developments.  The relation,
for example, which the three distinct Persons in the
Godhead sustain to the believer, should be insisted
upon. The peculiar feelings which he ought to
cherish toward the Father, the Son, and the Holy
Ghost, should be inferred from the distinctive character, and office, of each. The duty of an equal
adoration and worship, in respect to each Person,
the part which each performs in the work of human
redemption,-such practical and edifying discussion
as this must enter largely into a sermon upon the
trinity, instead of a strictly metaphysical discussion
of the doctrine.  But such matter as this is inferen



PLAN OF A SERMON.              201
tial, and should constitute the foundation of an
address to the affections and will of the hearer.
And it falls most properly into the conclusion,
because it presupposes the statement and proof of
the doctrine itself.
In respect to the character of the inferences
themselves, they should possess the following prop.
erties. First, they must be legitimate.  They must
originate from the very heart, and substance, of the
proposition or doctrine.  Inferences should not be
drawn from the accidental, or incidental, parts of
a subject, but from its essentials, alone.  Then, they
are lawful inferences, and have the support of the
whole fundamental truth, from which they spring.
There is nothing to be subtracted from them.  No
allowance is to be made. They are entitled to their
full weight. The hearer feels their legitimacy, and
he cannot escape their force except by denying the
proposition, or doctrine, of which they are the inevitable consequences.  Secondly, inferences must be
hom.ogeneou.s.  They must all be of the same kind.
A conflict in the inferences from a truth destroys
their influence upon the mind of the hearer, and a
direct  contrariety  absolutely  annihilates them.
Hence, the utmost agreement, and harmony, should
appear in the practical inferential matter of a sermon.
And this will be the case, provided they each, and
all, possess the property of legitimacy.  For truth
is always self-consistent.  It always agrees with
itself. Hence, all matter that is really derived




202                HOMILETICS.
from the very substance, and pith, of.a fundamental
truth, is homogeneous and harmonious. Nothing
is then drawn out, that was not first inlaid. Thirdly,
inferences must be intensely practical.  The very
purpose in employing them, as we have seen, is to
popularize the abstract, to bring an intrinsically
abstruse doctrine, or proposition, into warm  and
vital contact with the common mind and heart.
Hence, inferences should be entirely free from a
theoretic aspect, and from abstract elements. Neither
is it enough, that-they be practical in the moderate
sense of the word.   They should be intensely
practical.  By this is meant, that their address and
appeal should be solely and entirely, to the most
moral, earnest, and living part of man's nature,that is, to his affections and will. The intellectual
nature, by the supposition, has been addressed by
the proposition, and the proof; and now  it only
remains, to  press the. doctrine home upon the
conscience and feelings, in the most vivid and vital
manner possible. This is done by legitimate and
homogeneous inferences, coming directly, and inevitably, from the core of the subject, and containing
its concentrated practical substance. Lastly, inferences must be cumulative. They should heap upon
each other.  Each succeeding one should not only
be an addition to the preceding, but an advance
upon it.  The strongest inference should be the
last inference.  Unless this rule is observed, it is
impossible to.construct an excellent inferential con



PLAN OF A SERMON.             203
clusion. As we have previously seen, the peroration ought to be the most vivid, and impressive
part of the sermon. But it cannot be, if the matter
of which it is composed is all of equal value, and
there is no progress.  The peroration should be
distinguished by vehemence, by the utmost intensity,
energy, vividness, and motion.  When, therefore,
it consists of inferences, these should be of such a
nature, and so arranged, as to press with more and
more weight, to kindle with hotter and hotter heat,
to enlighten with stronger and stronger light, to
enliven with intenser and intenser life, and to move
with a more and more irresistible force.
Constructed in this manner, the conclusion of a
sermon may be in the highest degree eloquent, even
although an inferential conclusion, as we have remarked, is not so strictly oratorical as the direct
address.  For this practical property in inferences,
this intense vitality of the material, this constant
progress in the arrangement, is the essential element in eloquence.  Where these are, there is eloquence; and we see not why the preacher may not
make an onset upon the heart and will, through
inferences, that will be as vehement and successful,
as that which is made by a more regularly constructed peroration.  At any rate, in the instance
of such subjects as those which we have specified,
and having a proposition whose main practical
force lies in its implications, or one which is highly
abstract in its owr nature, he has no choice left him




204                 HOMILETICS.
He must either pass by such subjects altogether, or
else handle them in the manner we have described.
But, he has no right to omit any truth of Scripture,
in his sermonizing. He is obligated to employ even
the most profound and metaphysical doctrines of
Revelation, for homiletic purposes, and must, therefore, treat them in the most concrete, popular, and
eloquent manner possible, by dealing with their
implications, and inferences.
The sermon may, also, conclude with what we
have  termed the direct address.  This is more
strictly oratorical in its nature, than the inferential
conclusion. It does not, like this latter, contribute
to a further development of the subject of the
discourse, while it is applying it to the hearer, but
is simply and solely applicatory. The inference, as
we have seen, is somewhat didactic.  It imparts
some further information, in respect to the theme of
the discourse, while it addresses the affections and
will. It is not so with the direct address, or the.strictly oratorical peroration. This supposes that
the proposition and its proof, or the theme and its
treatment, have exhausted the subject, in both its
theoretic and practical aspects; and in this case,
nothing remains but to apply it. As a consequence,
this species of,conclusion is much briefer than that
by inferences.  It ought not to be at all didactic.
It should be purely oratorical, and highly hortatory-.
But such a species of discourse cannot continue
long, and perhaps the art of the orator is nowhere




PLAN OF A SERMON.               205
more visible, than in the skill with which, in the
conclusion, he presses his theme upon the affections
and will of the hearer.  If this vehemence is too
prolonged, it defeats itself.  If this exhortation
goes beyond the proper limits, it not only fatigues,
but disgusts, the mind of the auditor. No preachers are more wearisome, than those who are styled
hortatory preachers.  Their direct address is unsupported by doctrine.  Their whole oration is
peroration.  They omit the proposition and the
proof, in their plan.  It is safer to overdo the
address to the understanding, than the address to
the feelings.  The understanding is a cool and
sensible faculty, and good sense never tires or
disgusts it.  But the feelings are both shy, and
excitable.  Addressed too boisterously, they make
their retreat. Addressed too continually, they lose
their tone and sensibility, altogether.
The direct address to the hearer should be characterized by the following qualities.  First, it must
be cppropriate.  By this is meant, that the conclusion should enforce the one proposition, or the one
lesson, of the sermon.  Every part, and particle, of
the peroration should be pertinent to the discourse
as a whole.  And this implies, secondly, that the
conclusion by direct address be single.  It cannot
be appropriate, unless it is characterized by unity.
Whatever the doctrine of the sermon may be, the
conclusion must apply this, and this only.  Says
that eccentric preacher, Rowland Hill: " The gos



206               HOMILETICS.
pel is an excellent milch cow, which always gives
plenty of milk, and of the best quality. I first
pull at sanctification, then give a plug at adoption,
and afterwards a teat at sanctification; and so on,
until I have filled my pail with gospel milk." Now,
if the body of the sermon has been constructed
upon this plan, then  an appropriate conclusion
would not be one and single, in its character. A
peroration pertinent to such a discourse would be
double and twisted. But we have seen, that every
sermon ought to be characterized by the utmost
unity; that it should approximate to the topical
form, even when it does not employ it, and should.always approach -as nearly as possible to the oration, by containing but one proposition, or developing but one general truth. Hence, the conclusion of
the sermon is appropriate, only as it is single an.d
incomplex, in its structure and spirit. It matters
not what the proposition or subject may have been,
let the direct concluding address be in entire harmony with it. Some homiletists lay down the
rule: "Always conclude with the gospel; always
end with the hopes and promises."  This, we think,
is a false rule, both rhetorically and morally. If
the law has been preached, then let the conclusion
be legal, damnatory, terrible. If the gospel has
been  preached, let the conclusion be winning,
encouraging, and hopeful. Then the sermon is a
homogeneous composition, developing one theme,
and  making  a single impression.  A  preacher




PLAN  OF A SERMON.            207
should know, beforehand, the wants of his audience, and deliberately make up his mind, in respect
to the species of impression which it is desirable
to produce.  When this point is settled, then
let him not be diverted from his purpose, but do
what he has undertaken. If he judges that mercy
and love are the appropriate themes for the hour,
let him present them to the hearer's mind, and
apply them to the hearer's heart, without any let or
hindrance.  And if he judges that Divine justice
needs to be exhibited, and set home to the con.
science, let him not temper or soften it, by a mixed
peroration, in which, owing to the brevity of the
treatment to which he is now shut up, the two opposite ideas of love and wrath will inevitably neutralize each other, in the mind of the auditor.
The rule above mentioned is also indefensible,
on moral grounds. It is not upright in a preacher,
either from fear of man, or from a false kindness,
to shrink, in the peroration, from a plain and solemn
application of the subject of his discourse. He is
in duty bound, to make the truth which he has
established bear with all its weight, and penetrate
with all its sharpness. The spirit with which he
should do this, should be Christian.  Let him not
dart the lightnings, or roll the thunders, except
with the utmost solemnity, the utmost fear of God,
the utmost love of the human soul, and the utmost
solicitude lest he be actuated by human pride, or
human impatience.  " Were you able to preach the




208                HOMILETICS.
doctrine tenderly?" said McCheyne to a friend, who
had spoken to him of a sermon which he had delivered upon endless punishment. Perhaps the imperfection of his own Christian character is never seen
more clearly by the preacher, than in the manner
in which he constructs, and delivers, the perorations
of his solemn discourses.  He finds himself running to extremes. Either he is afraid to be plain
and pungent, in applying the truth, and thereby
puts a sheath upon the sword of the Spirit, and
muffles those tones which ought to sound startling
as a fire-bell at midnight, or else he is impatient
with his drowsy auditors, or is puffed up with selfconceit, and thunders and lightens in his own
strength, and, what is worse, for his own purposes.
"Put the lust of sef," says Coleridge, " in the forked
lightning, and it becomes a spirit of Moloch." Self,
in all its phases, must be banished from a solemn
application of an awful doctrine. The feeling of
the preacher should be that of the timid, shrinking,
but obedient Jeremiah, when bending under the burden of the Lord.  "Then said I, Ah! Lord God!
behold I cannot speak: for I am a child. But the
Lord said unto me, Say not, I am a child: for thou
shalt go to all that I send thee, and whatsoever I
command thee, thou shalt speak."
Appropriateness and singleness, then, should
characterize the concluding address of the sermon.
Bringing all the teachings of the discourse into a
single burning focus, it should converge all the rays




.PLAN OF A SERMON.             209
of truth upon a single spot. That spot is the point
in the hearer's soul, where the feelings and the conscience come together.  Any auditor whose affections are roused, and whose conscience is stirred,
may be left to himself, and the Spirit of God; and
any peroration which accomplishes this work, is
eloquent.
The question arises at this point, whether the
conclusion by direct address should refer to both
classes of hearers, the regenerate and unregenerate.
The answer depends upon the contents and character of the sermon. It is possible, that a discourse
may establish a proposition that admits of a legitimate application, to both the regenerate and the unregenerate; though in this case, it will generally be
found that the application is more easy, natural, and
forcible, to one class than to the other. The doctrine that man is an accountable being, for example,
may be legitimately applied to the Christian, in order to stimulate him to greater fidelity; and yet its
strongest and most impressive application is to the
impenitent man, who has made no preparation to
meet the coming doom. In such an instance as this,
good judgment would decide, that the address to
that party to whom  the subject had a less direct
application, should be very brief,-a hint, rather
than an application,-the intensity and energy of
the peroration being aimed at' that party most im
mediately, and evidently, concerned with the subject.
Hence, in laying down a general rule, we would
14




210                HOMILETICS.
say in answer to the question, that the conclusion
should be directed to but one class in the audience.
If the proposition or subject applies most plainly
to the church, then address the church in the close.
If it applies most significantly to the congregation,
then address the congregation.  Without, however,
laying down this rule as a stiff one, to which there
are no exceptions, it is safest, in general practice, to
allow that unity of aim  and singleness of pursuit,
which is unquestionably the constituent principle of
eloquent discourse, a free operation. Let unity run
clear through the sermon, and clear out.  If there
be other lessons to be taught from  the text, teach
them in other sermons.  If there be other applications of truth, make them in other discourses. It is
not, as if the preacher had no other opportunity;
as if he must say every thing in one sermon, and apply every thing in a single discourse.  He has the
year, and the years before him, in which to make
full proof of his ministry; in which to exhibit the
truth upon all sides, and to apply it to all classes
of men.  Let him, therefore, make each sermon a
round and simple unit, and trust to the whole series
of his sermons, to impart a full and comprehensive
knowledge of the Christian system, and to make a
complete application of it to all grades and varieties
of character.
Having thus considered the two species of conclusion, it may be asked, if it is proper to. employ
both in one and the same discourse.  We answer,




PLAN OF A SERMON.              211
that, although it may occasionally be allowable to
draw inferences from a proposition, and afterwards
end with a direct address to the hearer, yet this
should be done very rarely. If the inferences do
not possess sufficient self-applying power, and need
the urgency of direct address to enforce them, this
proves that they are defective.  In this case, it is
wiser to bestow more care upon the inferences, and
to endeavor to construct a true and adequate inferential conclusion.  If the inferences are intrinsically feeble, no amount of earnest peroration can
remedy this defect. Generally speaking, therefore,
it is an indication of inferiority in a sermon if it has
a mixed conclusion, and yet there may be an exception to this general rule. If, owing to the abstruse
nature of the proposition, or the subject, the inferential matter in the sermon, though more practical
and. plain than the argumentative matter, is yet considerably recondite and abstract, the preacher may
do the most he can towards impressing his subject
upon the audience, by a direct address to them. In
some such case as this, which should be a rare one,
and must be, from the fact that but few themes of
this highly abstruse nature come within the province of sermonizing, the preacher may employ both
species of conclusion, not because it contributes
to the greater perfection of the plan of a sermon,
but because it is a choice of evils, and the best that
can be done under the difficulties of the particular
and rare case.




212                HOMIETICS.
In closing this discussion of the plan and its several parts, the question naturally arises, whether a
plan should invariably be formed before the process
of composition begins.  It is plain, from what has
been said, that there will be a variety in the sermons of the same preacher, in respect to the distinctness with which the plan, and its parts, show
themselves in the discourse.  Sometimes the skeleton will appear through the flesh, so as to exhibit
some angularity; and sometimes it will be so clothed
upon, as to render its presence more difficult of detection.  Sometimes the plan will be prominent,
and sometimes it will be known to exist, only by the
general unity and compactness of the sermon.  But
although there will be this variety in the sermon
itself, there should be no variation in the method of
constructing it. The sermonizer should uniformly
form a plan, before beginning to compose. The plan
may sometimes be fuller, and more perfect, than at
others; but a plan of some sort, of more or less perfection, should invariably be formed in the outset.
By this, it is not meant, that in every particular
the sermonizer must severely confine himself to his
skeleton; never modifying the plan, after he has
begun to compose.  It will sometimes occur, and
this perhaps quite often, that the endeavor to fill
out the plan will reveal faults, that were not seen
while constructing it. These faults must be removed, and this leads to a modification of the plan
itself, in and during the process of composition.




PLAN OF A SERMON.                  213
Indeed, in some instances, the first attempt at composition serves merely to introduce the mind into
the heart of the subject, and to originate a truly
organic method of developing it,-a second process
of composition, a re-writing, being necessary to the
completion and perfection of the discourse. Prob.
ably, the master-pieces of eloquence were composed
in this manner.  The first, second, or even  third
draught served, principally, to elaborate a thorough
and perfect plan,-to set the mind upon the true
trail, and enable it, in the phrase of Bacon, to
"hound" the nature of the subject, and reach the
inmost lurking-place of the truth.  When this work
was accomplished, the mind of the orator was then
ready for that last draught, and elaboration, which
resulted  in  the master-piece  and  model for  all
time.
But, although the sermonizer may modify his
plan after he has begun to compose, he may not
begin to compose without any plan.   He  is to
construct the best scheme possible, beforehand, and
to work  under it, as the miner works under his
movable hurdle; never disturbing the outside, or
the main props, but frequently altering the interior
and secondary frame-work, as the progress of his
labor may require.1
1 Skeletonizing is to sermon- sketching the human figure, and
izing, what drawing is to painting, a knowledge of its anatomy. In
The foundation of superior ex- this consisted, principally, the precellence in this art, is talent in eminence of DaVinci and Michael'




214                     HOMILETICS.
The  evils  of  sermonizing, without  skeletonizing, are many and great. In the first place, the
preacher's mind  loses its logical and  constructive
ability.   In  a  previous  chapter, attention  was
directed to the excellent influence exerted by the
analysis of sermons, and the  effort to  detect the
plan  contained in them.  All that was there said
in this reference, applies, with  even greater force,
to the actual construction of plans, for the preacher's
own  purposes.  No mind can be methodical, that
does not actually methodize.   No  mind  can  be
constructive, that does not actually construct. If,
therefore, the sermonizer neglects this practice of
sleletonizing, and  begins  to  compose  without a
settled  scheme, writing  down  such thoughts  and
observations  as spontaneously present themselves,
his intellect will surely, and at no slow  rate, lose
all its logical ability and all its methodizing talent.
The fundamental power  of  the  rhetorician  and
orator, the organizing power, will disappear.  And
Angelo, both of whom possessed a  of his art.  An outline sketch
wonderful anatomical knowledge, of Angelo is more full of meaning,
and exhibited it in their figures. than  a  hundred paintings in
Tlie lack of this knowledge, and  which  there  is no anatomy.
skill, cannot be compensated for, Retzsch's " Outlines" are wonderby other excellencies. Sir Joshua  fully full of life, and meaning,
Reynolds, owing to the defect of without any filling up from painthis early artistic education in this ing, because of the knowledge of
reference, confined  himself to  the human frame, and the conseportrait painting; knowing, that quent significance of attitudes,
he could do nothing in historical which they display.
painting, and the higher ranges




PLAN OF A SERMON.               215
if, as is apt to be the case, parallel with this disuse
of the understanding and the reason, there is an
exorbitant development of the fancy and imagination, the very worst consequences  ensue.  The
preacher becomes a florid and false rhetorician,
composing and reciting mere extravaganzas.  He
degenerates into a rhapsodist, making a sensation,
for the moment, in the sensibilities of a staring
audience, but producing no eloquent impression,
upon their higher faculties. There is no calculating
beforehand, in respect to the issues of such a mind.
Reversing the lines which the poet applied to his
own composition, we may say of the discourse of
a preacher of this character,
"Perhaps't will be a sermon,
Perhaps't will be a song."
Secondly, even supposing that, owing to the fact
that the preacher's mind is not imaginative, his
preaching does not become rhapsodical, and feeble,
yet, if he neglects the practice of skeletonizing, he
becomes rambling and diffuse.  Having no leading
idea, branching off into natural ramifications, by
which to guide his mental processes, they run and
ramble in every direction.  The law of association
is the sole law of his intellect.  He follows wherever this leads him; and the law of association, in
an illogical, unreflecting mind, is the most whimsical and capricious of laws.  It associates the oddest
and most heterogeneous things, and suggests the




216                HOMILETICS.
strangest and most disconnected ideas. The course
which trains of thought take in such a mind, resembles the trails, and tracks, of the myriads of
worms that are brought up. out of ground, by
a warm  June rain.  Sometimes, such a mind really attempts to be methodical, and then the discourse reminds one of Burke's description of Lord
Chatham's cabinet: "He made an administration
so checkered and speckled; he put together a piece
of joinery so crossly indented, and whimsically
dove-tailed; a cabinet so variously inlaid; such a
piece of diversified mosaic; such a tesselated pavement without cement; here a bit of black stone,
and there a bit of white, that it was indeed a very
curious show; but utterly unsafe to touch, and
unsure to stand on."
Lastly, the neglect to form a plan, previous to
composing, results in a declamatory and hortatory
style of sermonizing. If an immethodical preacher
does not fall into one or both of the faults last
mentioned, he falls into this one. If he has no
imagination, and no ideas, not even rambling and
disconnected ones, then there is nothing left for
him but to declaim, and exhort; and this manner
of preaching is, perhaps, the most ineffectual and
worst of all.
Certainly, such evils as the three we have mentioned, constitute the strongest of reasons for not
BURKE: Speech on American Taxation.




PLAN OF A SERMON.             217
neglecting the plan of an oration; for devoting the
utmost attention, and  uniform  attention, to the.
logical organization of the sermon. It is a sin, for
the preacher to be a mere rhapsodist. It is a sin,
if he is a mere rambling babbler. It is a sin, if he
is a mere declamatory exhorter.  He is solemnly
bound to be an orator,-a man who speaks on a
method, and by a plan.




CHAPTER IX.
EXTEMPORANEOUS PREACHING.
THE discussion of the subject of Homiletics
would be incomplete, if it did not include the topic
of Extemporaneous Preaching.
This species of Sacred Eloquence has always
existed in the Church, and some of the best periods
in the history of Christianity have been characterized by its wide prevalence, and high excellence.
The Apostolic age, the missionary periods in Patristic and Mediaeval history, the age of the Reformation, the revival of evangelical religion in the English Church in the eighteenth century, in connection
with the preaching of Wesley and Whitefield, and
the " Great Awakening," in this country, were
marked by the free utterance of the extemporaneous preacher. Being now too much neglected, by
the clergy of those denominations which both furnish, and require, the highest professional education,
-a clergy, therefore, who have the best right to
employ this species of sermonizing,-there is reason
for directing attention to it. In discussing this




EXTEMPORANEOUS PREACHING.          219
subject, we shall, first, speak of the natuhre of
extemporaneous preaching, and, then, of some of
the requisites in order to its successful practice.
I. The term  "extemporaneous," as commonly
employed, denotes something hurried, of-hand, and
superficial, and general usage associates imperfection, and inefficiency, with this adjective.  There is
nothing, however, in the etymology of the word,
which necessarily requires that such a signification
be put upon it.  Extemporaneous preaching is
preaching ex tenpore, from  the time.  This may
mean either of two things, according to the sense
in which the word tempus is taken. It may denote,
that the sermon is the hasty, and careless, product
of that one particular instant of time, in which the
person speaks; the rambling and prolix effort of
that punctunz temporis, which is an infinitely small
point, and which can produce only an infinitely
small result. This is the meaning too commonly
assigned to the word in question, and hence, inferiority in all intellectual respects is too commonly
associated with it, both in theory and in practice.
For it is indisputable, that the human mind will
work very inefficiently, if it works by the minute
merely, and originates its products, under the spur
and impulse of the single instant alone.
But, the phrase " extemporaneous preaching"
may and should mean, preaching from all the time,
past as well as present.  Behind every extemporaneous sermon, as really as behind every written




220                HOMILETICS.
sermon, the whole duration of the preacher's life,
with all the culture and learning it has brought
with it, should lie. The genuine extemporaneous
discourse, as really as the most carefully written
discourse, should be the result of a sum-total,-the
exponent of the whole past life, the whole past discipline, the whole past study and reflection of the
man.  Sir Joshua Reynolds was once asked, by a
person for whom he had painted a small cabinet
picture, how he could demand so much, for a work
which  had  employed him  only five days.'He
replied: " Five days! why, sir, I have expended
the work of thirty-five years upon it."  This was
the truth. Behind that little picture, there lay the
studies, the practice, and the toil, of a great genius,
for more than three decades of years, in the painter's studio. It is not the mere immediate effort
that must be considered, in estimating the nature
and value of an intellectual product, but that far
more important preparatory effort that went before
it, and cost a lifetime of toil. The painter's reply
holds good, in respect to every properly constructed
extemporaneous oration.  It is not the product of
the mere instant of time in which it is uttered, but
involves, equally witA the written oration, the whole
life, and entire culture of the orator.
Taking this view of the nature of extemporaneous preaching, it is plain that there is not such a
heaven-wide difference  between it, and written
preaching, as is often supposed   There is no mnate.




EXTEMPORANEOUS PREACGHrG.           221
rial difference, between the two.  The extempora.
neous sermon must be constructed upon the same
general principles of rhetoric and homiletics, with
the written sermon, and must be the embodiment
and result of the same literary, scientific, and professional culture.  The difference between the two
species of discourses is merely formel.  And even
this statement is too strong. There is not even a
strictly formal difference, for the very same style
and diction, the very same technically formal properties, are required in the one as in the other.  The
difference does not respect the form as distinguished
from the matter of eloquence, but merely the form of
the form. In extemporaneous preaching, the form is
oral, while in other species it is written.  There is,
therefore, not only no material difference between
the two, but there is not even a rigorously and
strictly formal difference.  Both are the results
of the same study, the same reflection, the same
experience.  The same man is the author of both,
and both alike will exhibit his learning, or his ignorance, his mental power or his mental feebleness,
his spirituality his unspirituality.  An ignorant,
undisciplined, and unspiritual man cannot write a
good sermon; neither need a learned, thoroughly
disciplined, and holy man, preach a bad extemporaneous sermon.  For nothing but the want of practice would prevent a learned mind, a methodical
mind, a holy mind, from  doing itself justice and
credit in extemporaneous oratory.




222.HOMiILETICS.
A moment's consideration of the nature and ope.
rations of the human mind, of its powers by nature,
and its attainments by study, is sufficient to show
that the difference between written and unwritten
discourse is merely formal, and less than strictly
formal; is secondary, and highly secondary.   The
human intellect is full of living powers of various sorts, capable of an awakened and vigorous
action, which expresses and embodies itself in literary products, such as the essay, the oration, the
poem. But, is there any thing in the nature of these
powers, which renders it necessary that they should
manifest themselves in one, and-only one, way' Is
there any thing in the constitution of the human
mind, that compels it to exhibit the issues of its
subtle and mysterious agency, uniformly, and in
every instance, by means of the pen   Is there any
thing in the intrinsic nature of mental discipline,
which forbids its utterance, its clear, full, and
powerful utterance, by means of sopoken words 
Must the contents of the heart, and intellect, be,
of necessity, discharged only by means of the
written symbol of thought?  Certainly not. If
there only be a mind well disciplined, and well
stored with the materials of discourse, the chief
thing is secured.  The manner, whether written or
oral, in which it shall deliver itself, is a secondary
matter, and can readily be secured by practice.
If the habit of delivering thought without pen in
hand were taken up as early in life, by the edu



EXTEMPORANEOUS PREACHING.          223
cated clergy, and were as unifomn and fixed, as is
the habit of delivering it with pen in hand, it would
be just as easy a habit. If it be supposed, that
unwritten discourse is incompatible with accuracy
and finish, the history of literature disproves it.
Some of the most elaborate literary productions
were orally.delivered.  The blind Homer extemporized the Iliad and Odyssey.  Milton, in his
blindness, dictated to his daughter the Paradise
Lost. Walter Scott often employed an amanuensis,
when weary of composing with the pen in hand.
Csesar, it is said, was able to keep several amanuenses busy, each upon a distinct subject; thus
carrying on several processes of composition, without any aid from chirography.  The private secretary of Webster remarks of him: "The amount of
business which he sometimes transacted, during a
single morning, may be guessed at, when it is mentioned, that he not unfrequently kept two persons
employed, writing at his dictation, at the same time;
for, as he usually walked the floor on such occasions,
he would give his chief clerk in one room a sentence, to be incorporated in a diplomatic paper, and,
marching to the room occupied by his private secretary, give him the skeleton, or perhaps the very language, of a private letter."'  A writer in the Quarterly Review remarks, that " it was in the open air,
that Wordsworth found the materials for his poems,
1 LANMA: Private Life of Webster, p. 84.




224                HOMILETICS.
and it was in the open air, according to the poet
himself, that nine-tenths of them were shaped.  A
stranger asked permission of the servant, at Rydal,
to see the study.'This,' said she, as she showed the
room,' is my master's library, where he keeps his
books, but his study is out of doors.' The poor
neighbors, on catching the sound of his humming,
in the act of verse-making, after some prolonged
absence from home, were wont to exclaim,'There
he is; we are glad to hear him booing about again.'
From the time of his settlement at Grasmere, he
had a physical infirmity, which prevented his composing pen in hand.  Before he had been five minutes at his desk, his chest became oppressed, and a
perspiration started out over his whole body; to
which was added, in subsequent years, incessant
liability to inflammation in his eyes.  Thus, when
he had  inwardly digested as many lines as his
memory could carry, he usually had recourse to
some of the inmates of his house, to commit them
to paper."'
There is, therefore, nothing in the nature of
extemporaneous preaching incompatible with thoroughness of insight, clearness of presentation, or
power of expression.  Whether an unwritten sermon
shall be profound, lucid, and impressive, or not, depends upon the preacher. If, after the due amount
of immediate labor upon it, it fails to possess
1 LONDON QUARTERLY REVIEW: Vol. XCII, p. 212.




EXTEMPORANEOUS PREACHING.           225
the qualities of good discourse, it is because the
author himself lacks either learning, discipline, or
practice, and not because there is any thing in the
nature of the production in question, to preclude
depth, clearness, and effectiveness.
The truth of these remarks will be still more
apparent, if we bear in mind, that the extemporane
ous sermon has not had the due amount of work
expended upon it.  It has too often been resorted
to, in idle and indolent moods, instead of being the
object, upon  which  the  diligent and  studious
preacher. has expended the best of his power, and
the choicest of his time.  Again, the extemporaneous sermon has not been the product of persevering practice, and of the skill that comes from
persevering practice.  The preacher, in the tremor
of his opening ministry, makes two or three attempts
to preach extempore, and then desists.  Remembering the defects of these first attempts, and comparing them with the more finished discourses which
he has been in the habit, and practice of writing, he
draws the hasty and unfounded inference, that,
from the nature of the case, oral discourse must be
inferior to written discourse.  But who can doubt,
that with an equal amount of practice, of patient,
persistent practice, this species of sermon might be
made equal to the other, in those solid qualities m
which, it must be confessed, it is too generally inferior?  Who can doubt, that if the clergy would
form the habit, and acquire the self-possession and.-.




226                HOMILETICS.
skill, of the lawyer, in respect to unwritten discourse, and then would expend the same amount of
labor upon the unwritten, that they do upon the
written sermon, it would be as profound, as logical,
as finished, and more effective?  The fact is, that
there is nothing in the oral, any more than in the
written method of delivering thought, that is fitted
to hamper the operations of the human mind.  If
an educated man has truth and eloquence within
him, it needs nothing but constant practice, to bring
it out in either form he pleases, in written, or in
extemporaneous language. Habit and practice will,
in either case, impart both ability and facility.
Take away the skill which is acquired by the
habitual practice of composing with the pen in
hand, and it would be as difficult for one to deliver
his thoughts in writing, as it is for one who has
acquired no skill by the practice of extemporaneous
discourse, to deliver his thoughts orally. Nay, how
often, when the thoughts flow thick and fast, is the
slow pen found to impede the process of composition. In such a case, the mind yearns to give itself
vent in unwritten language, and would do so, if it
had only acquired the confidence before an audience,
and the skill, which are the result, not of mere
nature but, of habit and practice.
II. The truth of these assertions, respecting the
intrinsic nature of extemporaneous preaching, will
be still more evident, by considering the chief requisites, in order to the attainment of the gift. It




EXTEMPORANEOUS PREACHING.         227
will be found, that provided  these  exist, the
unwritten sermon affords an opportunity, for the
display of all those substantial qualities which are
commonly supposed to belong to written sermons
alone, and, in addition, of all those qualities which
co-exist only with the burning words, and free
delivery, of the orator untrammeled by a manuscript, and the effort to read it.
1. The first requisite, in order to extemporaneous preaching, is a hIeart glowing and beating with
evangelical affections. The heart is the seat of life,
the source of vigor, the spring of power. From
this centre, vitality, energy, and impulse go out,
and pervade the whole system.  To the heart,
whether in physiology or psychology, we must look
for the central force. If profound feeling, the feeling that is grounded in reason and truth, pervade
discourse, it will surely attain the end of eloquence,
and produce deep movement in the hearer. That
peculiar energy, issuing from the heari, which we
designate by the word emotion, must mix and mingle with the energy issuing from the intellect, in
order to the highest power of speech. It was
because, as Macaulay says, "his reason was penetrated and made red-hot by his passion," that Fox
was one of the most effective and overwhelming of
orators. And the same truth will be evident, if,
instead of looking at the discourse itself, we contemplate the action of the discourser's mind. In
order that the human faculties may work with the




228                HOMILETICS.
greatest energy and harmony, the heart must be in
the head, and the head in the heart. Never does
the mind operate so powerfully, and with such
truth and beauty of result, as when the faculty of
cognition co-works with the faculty of feeling. If
these two faculties become one and indivisible in
action, the result is not merely truth, but living
truth; truth fused and glowing with all the feeling
of the heart, and feeling mingled with, and made
substantial by, all the truth of the head. The light
is heat, and the heat is light.
These  remarks respecting the function, and
agency of the heart, are true in every province, but
especially in that of religion. The inmost essence
of religion itself has been placed by Schleiermacher,
one of the profoundest of the German theologians,
solely in feeling. It is, probably, an error, to make
either knowledge or feeling, by itself and apart
from the other, the ultimate essence of religion.
Religion is neither knowledge in isolation, nor feeling in isolation, but a most original and intimate
synthesis of both. If either element by itself be
regarded as the sole and single constituent, theology becomes either rationalistic and speculative, or
else mystical and vague. And yet, even those
theologians whose scientific spirit has led them to
emphasize creeds, and made them  shy of sentimental religion, have always acknowledged that the
heart is not only the seat of piety, but one important source of theological science itself.




EXTEMPORANEOUS PREACHING.           229
If this is true, in reference to the theologian, it
is still more so, in reference to the preacher.  He
needs the strong stir and impulse of holy affections,
in order to succeed in his vocation; and, especially,
when he has not the written discourse upon which
to rely.  A  heart replete, and swelling, with the
grand emotions of Christianity, is a well of water
springing up into everlasting life and power, for it
is fed from infinite fountains.  With what force,
vividness, and natural method, also, does the Christian, destitute, it may be, of mental discipline and
culture, sometimes speak upon the subject of religion, out of a full heart. What wonderful insight,
does he oftentimes display, into the very depths of
religion and theology, thus proving the truth of the
saying, " the heart sees further than the head." Or,
to take another instance, with what power and
fresh originality does the convicted sinner utter
himself upon the doctrine of human guilt, when he
is full of the awful feeling itself. Given, a heart
filled with intelligent rational emotion respecting
any subject, and the primal power by which effective
discourse upon it is to be originated, is given also.
Now, so far as this first requisite in order to the
practice of extemporaneous preaching is concerned,
it can most certainly be secured by every preacher.
Nay, he is presumed to possess it, as that which, in
a great degree, justifies him in entering the ministry.  Let him by prayer and meditation, first purify
the feeling of his heart, and then render it more




230                 HOMILETICS.
deep and intense by the same means, and he will
be prepared to speak freely, and forcibly, to the
human heart. Let him take heed that his feeling
be spiritual, an affection, in distinction from  a pas.
sion, the product of God's Word and Spirit, and
not the mere excitement of the sensibilities, and he
will preach with the demonstration of the spirit,
and with power, as did Paul, "without notes,"
though it may be in weakness, and in fear, and in
much trembling, and not with enticing words.
2. In the second place, a methodizing intellect is
requisite, in order to successful extemporaneous
preaching.   By a methodizing intellect is meant,
one which spontcneously works in a logical manner.
and to which consecutive reasoning has become
natural. All truth is logical. It is logically connected and related, and that mind is methodical
which detects this relation, and connection, as it
were, by instinct.  This natural logic, this spontaneous method, is one great source of mental power.
How readily do we listen to one who unfolds truth
with a facile, and effortless precision, and how
easily does his discourse win its way into us.
We have said that truth is logical, in its essential nature.  But it is equally true, that the human
mind is logical in its essential nature. For the
truth and the mind are correlatives.  One is set
*See the account of this im- MIN: Rhetoric, p. 131, sq.
portant distinction, by THERE



EXTEMPORANEOUS PREACHING.            231
over against the other.  The truth is the object to
be known, and the mind is the subject or agent to
know it; and subject and object are antitheses, like
hunger and food, like thirst and water.  Consequently, in its idea, or, in other words, by its creation, the human intellect is as logical in its structure, as the truth is in its nature. By its constitu.
tion, the mind is designed to be methodical and
consecutive in its working, and to apprehend logical
truth logically.
Now, by reason of discipline and practice, the
human intellect works towards this true end of its
creation, and acquires an instinctive abilityto think
methodically, and to unfold consecutively any subject presented to it.  The exhibition of truth by a
methodizing intellect is exhaustive (to use a term of
Mackintosh), and the whole truth is thus unfolded
in its substance, its connections, and relations. This
methodizing talent developes a subject, unrolling it
to the centre, and showing the whole of it.  Kant
has a chapter upon the architectonic nature of the
pure reason,-by  which he means, that  innate
system of laws which reason follows, in building up
architecturally its conclusions,-and shows, that
when these laws are followed, a logical whole is
as  certainly and naturally produced, as is the
honeycomb with its hexagonal cells, when the bee
follows the architectonic laws of instinct. 1  Now, a
1 KANT:'ritik der reinen Ver- tonik der reinen Vemnunft.)
nunft, p. 641 sq. (Die Architek



232                 HOMILETICS.
methodizing mind is one which, by discipline and
practice, has reached that degree of philosophic
culture, in which these systematizing laws work
spontaneously, by their own exceeding lawfulness,
and instinctively develope, in a systematic and consecutive manner, the whole truth of a subject. The
results of the operation of such a mind may well
be called architecture; for they are built up according to eternal law, in order, and beauty.   There is
no grander fabric, no fairer architectural structure,
than a rational, logical system of truth. It is fairer,
and more majestic than St. Peter's. A great system
of thought rises like that cathedral with a
" Vastness which grows; but grows to harmonize,
All inusical in its immensities."
In speaking of the heart as the seat of feeling,
we had occasion to allude to its influence, in modifying the operations of the mind considered as a
whole. It was seen, that it imparts vitality to the
total mental action, and infuses vigor through all
the products of this action. A methodizing intellect
exerts a very important influence in the same reference.  Feeling, though vivific and energizing, is not
precise and clear in its own nature. The man of all
feeling has a vague and mystic tendency.  Hence,
the need of logic, in order that the energy issuing
from  the heart may be prevented from  diffusing
itself over too wide a surface, and may be guided
into channels, and flow  along in them.  When a




EXTEMPORANEOUS PREACHING.          233
beating heart is allied with a methodizing mind,
there is at once vigor and life, with clearness and
precision. The warm emotions are kept from exhaling, and becoming vapory and obscure, by the
systematizing tendency of the logical faculty, and
the hard, dry forms of logic are softened, and enlivened, by the vernal breath of the emotions.
It is evident, that if the sacred orator possesses
such a discipline of head and heart as has been
described, it will be easy for him to apply it to any
theme he chooses, and speak upon it in any manner
he may elect. The human mind, when highly
trained, can labor with  success in almost every
direction.  Education is, in truth, not a dead mass
of accumulations, but the power to work with the
brain. If this power be acquired, it is a matter of
secondary consequence, what be the special topic
upon which the work is expended, or the particular
manner, oral or written, in which the result is embodied.  In the ancient gymnasium, the first purpose was to produce a muscular man, an athlete.
When this was accomplished, it mattered little
whether he entered the lists of the wrestler, or of
the boxer, or of the racer.  Nay, if he were thoroughbred, he might attempt the p2ancratium itself,
and carry off the laurels. Assuming the existence
of such a salient heart, and such a methodical head,
nothing but habitual practice is needed, to permit
their employment before any audience whatsoever,
and without the aid of a manuscript.  If the




234                HOMILETICS.
preacher has attained this facility of methodizing,
and is under the impulse of ebullient, swelling
affections, awakened by the clear vision of divine
truths and realities, he will be able to speak powerfully, in any presence, and extempore.  The furnace
is full, and the moulds are ready. Nothing is needed,
but to draw off; and when this is done, a solid and
symmetrical product is the result.
3. A third requisite, in order to the practice of
extemporaneous preaching, is the power of amplification.'  By this is meant, the ability to dwell
upon an important point or principle, until the
hearer shall feel the whole force of it. It is the
tendency of a thoughtful, and especially of a methodizing mind, to be satisfied with the great leading
principles of a theme, and not to tarry long upon
any one idea, however capital it may be. Such a
mind is able to pass over a subject with great rapidity, by touching only the prominent parts of it, as
the fabled Titans stepped from mountain to mountain, without going up and down the intervening
valleys. But the common hearer, the popular audience, cannot follow, and hence the methodical and
full mind must learn to enlarge, and illustrate, until
the principle is perceived in all its length and
breadth, and the idea is contemplated in all its
height and depth.  Just in  proportion, as the
methodizing mind acquires this amplifying talent,'.Compare the AUTIHO's " Discourses and Essays," p. 96.




EXTEM PORANEOUS PREACHING.         235
does it become oratorical; without it, though there
may be philosophy, there cannot be eloquence.
But this talent will be rapidly acquired, by
careful pains and practice in regard to it.  The
speaker needs merely to stop his mind, in its onward logical movement, and let its energy head
back upon the idea, or the principle, which his
feeling and his logic have brought out to view.
Indeed, the tendency, after a little practice, will be
to dwell too long, to amplify too much, when once
the intellect has directed its whole power to a single
topic. As matter of fact, the preacher will find,
altogether contrary to his expectations, that his oral
discourse is more expanded and diffuse than his
written, that his extemporaneous sermon is longer
than his manuscript.  An undue amplification is
the principal fault in the eloquence of Burke, who
was one of the most methodical, and full minds in
literary history. In the language of Goldsmith, he
~......" went on refining,
And thought of convincing, while they thought of dining."
Hence, although never unwelcome to his readers,
his magnificent amplification was sometimes tedious
to his hearers.  Though the British House of
Commons, at the close of the last century, was not
a "fit audience" for Burke, because it had but
small sympathy with that broad, and high political
philosophy, out of which his masculine and thoughtful eloquence sprang like the British oak from the




236                HOMILETICS.
strong black mould of ages, though Burke would
not be the "'dinner-bell" for the present British
Parliament, still, his excessive  amplification, undoubtedly, somewhat impedes that rapid rush,
and Demosthenean vehemence of movement, which
distinguishes eloquence from all other species of
discourse.
4. A  fourth requisite, in -order to successful
extemporaneous preaching, is a precise mode of
expression.  A methodical mind thinks clearly, and
therefore the language should be select, and exact,
that it may suit the mental action.  If the orator's
thoughts are distinct and lucid, he needs carefully
to reject any and every word, that does not convey
the precise meaning he would express.  Indeed;
reection is the chief work, in clothing the thoughts
of a highly disciplined mind. It is an error to
suppose, that the main difficulty in extemporaneous
preaching lies in the want of words, just as it is an
error to suppose, that great natural fluency is an
indispensable  aid  to  it.   Dr. Chalmers never
acquired the ability to speak extempore, in a manner at all satisfactory to himself, or to his auditors,
when they remembered his written discourses. And
the cause of this, according to his own statement,
was, the unmastered and overmastering fluency of
his mind.  Thoughts and words came in on him,
like a flood. In extemporaneous utterance, they
impeded each other, to use his own expression, like
water attempted to be poured all at once out of a




EXTEMPORANEOUS PREACHING.          237
narrow-mouthed jug. A more entire mastery of
his resources, a power to repress this fluency, to
control the coming deluge, which might have been
acquired by patient practice, would have rendered
Chalmers a most wonderful extemporaneous preacher, at the same time that it would have improved
his written sermons, by rendering them less plethoric and tumid in style, and more exact and precise in phraseology.
Uncontrolled fluency is equally a hindrance to
excellent poetical composition.  Byron speaks of
the "fatal facility" of the octo-syllabic verse. It
runs too easily, to be favorable to the composition
of thoughtful poetry.  Some of Byron's own poe.
try, and a great deal of Scott's, betrays this fatal
facility, in a too abundant use of what Goldsmith
humorously calls " the property of jinglimus." The
melody is not subordinated to the harmony, the
rhythm is monotonous, and the reader sighs after a
more stirring and varied music.
Natural fluency is a fatal facility in the orator
also, unless he guards against it, by the cultivation
of strict logic, and precise phraseology.  Men generally, even those who are reputed to be men of
few words, are fluent when roused. Whenthe feelings are awakened, and the intellect is working
intensely, there are more thoughts and words than
the unpractised speaker can take care of. What is
needed is, coolness and entire self-mastery, in the
midst of this animation and inspiration, so that it




238               HOMILETICS.
may not interfere with itself, and impede its own
movement. What is needed is, the ability, in this
glow of the heart, this tempest and whirlwind of
feeling, to reject all thoughts that do not strictly
belong to the subject, and all words that do not
precisely convey the cool, clear thought of the cool,
clear head. The orator must be able to check his
thunder in mid volley.  This is really the great
art in extemporaneous discourse; and it cannot be
attained except by continual practice, and careful
attention, with reference to it. The old and finished
speaker always uses fewer and choicer words, than
the young orator. The language of Webster during
the last half of his public life was more select and
precise, than it was previously. He employed fewer
words, to convey the same amount of meaning, by
growing more nice, and careful, in the rejection of
those vague words which come thick and thronging
when the mind is roused. Hence, the language he
did use is full of meaning; as one said, " every
word weighs a pound."
We have thus discussed the principal requisites,
in order to successful extemporaneous preaching.
It will be evident, that the subject has not been
placed upon a weak foundation, or that but little
has been demanded of the extemporaneous preacher.
A heart full of devout and spiritual affections, a
spontaneously methodizing intellect, the power of
amplification, and a precise phraseology, are not
small attainments.  A great preparation has been




EXTEMPORANEOUS PREACHING.         239
required, on the part of him who preaches unwritten sermons; but only because it is precisely the
same that is required, in order to the production of
excellent written discourse.  If this preparation
has actually been made,-if his heart is full, and his
intellect spontaneously methodical in its working;
if he can dwell sufficiently long upon particular
points, and can express himself with precision,then, with no more immediate preparation than is
required to compose the written sermon, and NO
LESS, the preacher may speak as logically as he does
when he writes, and even more freshly and impres.
sively. But, as was remarked in the beginning of
the chapter, the extemporaneous sermon will be the
product, not of the particular instant but, of all the
time of the speaker's life,-of all the knowledge
and culture he has acquired, bythe sedulous discipline of his intellect, and the diligent keeping of
his heart. Whether, then, all may preach unwritten sermons, depends upon whether all may acquire
the requisites that have been described; and to
assert that the clergy, generally, cannot acquire
them, would be a libel upon them. There have
been instances of men so thorough in their learning,
and so spontaneously methodical in their mental
habits, that, even with little or no immediate preparation, they could speak most logically and effectively. It is related of John Howe, that, "such
were his stores of thought, and so thoroughly were
they digested, he could preach as methodically




240                HOMILETICS.
without preparation, as others after the closest
study."  Robert Hall composed his singularly finished and elegant discourses, lying at full length
upon chairs placed side by side, a device to relieve
acute pain. It is true, that these were extraordinary
men, but not a little of their power arose from the
simple fact, that they felt strongly, thought patient.
ly, and practised constantly.
And this brings us to the last, but by no means
least important point, in the discussion of this subject; and this, is the patient and persevering practice of extemporaneous preaching. These requisites
to unwritten discourse that have been mentioned,
may all be attained, and, as matter of fact, are attained in a greater or less degree, by every preacher
who composes written sermons, and yet there be no
extemporaneous discourse.  Many a preacher is conscious of possessing these capabilities, and can and
does exert them  through the pen, who would be
overwhelmed and struck dumb, if he should be deprived of his manuscript, and compelled to address
an audience extemporaneously.  These requisites
must, therefore, actually be putt into requisition.
The preacher must actually speak  extemporaneously, and be in the habit of so doing. And there
is one single rule, and but one, the observance of
which will secure that uniform  practice, without
which the finest capacities will lie dormant and unused. At the very opening of his ministry, the
preacher must begin to deliver one extemporaneous




EXTEMPORANEOUS PREACHING.                    241
sermon on the Sabbath, and do so, uniformly, to the
close of it.  A  resolute, patient, and faithful observance of this rule will secure all that is needed.  The
preacher must pay no regard  to difficulties in the
outset, must not be discouraged or chagrined by
the bad logic, or bad grammar, of his earlier attempts, must not heed the remarks and still less the
advice of fastidious hearers; but must prepare as
carefully as possible for the task as it comes round
to him, and  perform  it as earnestly, seriously, and
scrupulously, as he  does his daily devotions.' -In
The following was the method  to jot doWn a word or thought,
of Dr. Blackburn, a distinguished  sometimes a sentence or an illusSouthern preacher, in making the  tration, under each division, until
immediate preparation  for un- he had finished. Then taking up
written discourse, and we do not the paper, he would usually conknow of any better one. " In his  it over again and again, now blotstudies and preparation for the  ting out, now adding something.
pulpit, his plan was to fold a sheet Thus.he continued, until every
of paper and lay it on his writing  part of the discourse was satisfacdesk, and then commence walking  torily arranged.in his mind. The
backward and forward across the  notes thus prepared, he usually
room, occasionally stopping to  took with him  into the pulpit,
note down a head or leading sub- but he rarely had occasion even
division of his thoughts, leaving  to glance at them. He used to
considerable space under each  remark,'Itry to get the thoughts
note. Having thus arranged the  fully into my mind, and leave the
plan of his discourse, which he  language, generally, to the occalled'blazing his path,' borrow-  casion.' "-PRESBYTERIAN- QUARing a figure from backwoods life, TERLY REVIEW, March, 1853.
he then proceeded to take up        The importance of an early
each head and subdivision sepa- beginning, as well as of a constant
rately, and amplify it in his mind, practice, in order to extempountil he had thought his whole  raneous speaking, is illustrated
discourse through and through, by the following remark of Mr.
stopping occasionally, as before, Qlay, to the'students of a law. 6




242                    HOMILETICS.
course of time, he will find that it is becoming a
pleasant process, and is exerting a most favorable
influence upon his written sermons, and, indeed, upon
his whole professional character.   In  each week,
he should regularly preach one written sermon, and
one unwritten sermon, to " the great congregation."
If the preacher must be confined to but one kind of
discourse, then  he should  write.   No man could
meet the wants of an intelligent audience, year after
year, who  should  always  deliver unwritten  discourses. But the clergy would be a more able and
influential body of public -teachers, if the two
species of sermofiizing were faithfully employed by
them.  The vigor and force of the unwritten sermon
would  pass over into the written, and  render it
more impressive and powerful than it now is, while
the strict method and finished style of the written
discourse would. pass over into the unwritten.  If
the young clergyman lays down this rule in the outset, and  proceeds upon it, it is safe to prophesy a
successful career of extemporaneous preaching, in
his case.  But if he does not lay it down in the very
school: " I owe my success in life, quently in some distant barn,
to one single fact, namely, that at with the horse and the ox for my
the age of twenty-seven, I com- auditors. It is to this early pracmenced, and continued for years, tice of the great art of all arts,
the practice of daily reading and  that I am indebted for the prispeaking upon the contents of mary and leading impulses that
some historical or scientific book. stimulated me forward, and have
These off-hand efforts were made shaped my entire subsequent hissometimes in a corn-field, at oth- tory."
ers in the forest, and not unfre



EXTEMPORANEOUS PREACHING.                243
outset, if he delays until a more convenient season
occurs for going up into the pulpit, and speaking
without a manuscript, then it is almost absolutely
certain, that, like the majority of his associates in
the ministry, he will go through life, never delivering a really excellent extemporaneous sermon.
We are confident, that extemporaneous preaching should engage, far more than it does, the labor
and study of the clergy. The more we think of it,
the more clearly shall we see, that, as a species, it
comes nearest to ideal perfection. It is a living
utterance, out of a living heart and intellect, to living excited men, through no medium but the free
air.  It was the preaching of Christ and his apostles, of many of the early Fathers, of Luther and the
Reformers.  And whenever any great movement
has been produced, either in Church or State, it has
commonly taken its rise, so far as human agency is
concerned, from the unwritten words of some man
of sound knowledge, and thorough discipline, impelled to speak by strong feeling in his heart.
If the clergy would study the Bible  with a
closer and more penetrating  exegesis,  and  that
theological system which has in it most of the solid
substance of the Bible, with a more patient and
The relation of exegetical the revealed Word. He who is
study to extemporaneous speak- accustomed to read a Gospel, or
ing deserves a separate discus- an Epistle, over, and over, and
sion. Nothing is more certain to  over again, in the original Greek,
make a fluent and ready speaker, becomes so saturated with its
than the analytic examination of revelations, that he is as full of




244                 HOMILETICS.
scientific spirit; if they would habituate their intel.
lects to long and connected trains of thought, and
to a precise use of language; then, under the impulse of even no higher degree of piety than they
now possess, greater results would follow from their
preaching. When the clergy shall pursue theological studies, as Melancthon says he did, for personal
spiritual benefit; when theological science shall be
wrought into the very soul, inducing a theological
mood; when thorough learning, and diligent selfdiscipline, shall go hand-in-hand with deep love for
God and souls; and when the clergy shall dare
to speak to the people, with extemporaneous boldness, out of a full heart, full head, and clear mind,
we may expect, under the Divine blessing, to see
some of those great movements which characterized
the ages of extempore preaching,-the age of the
Apostles, the age of the Reformers, the age of John
Knox in Scotland, the age of Wesley and Whitefield
in England and America.
matter as Elihu the friend of Job, perusal will not have this effect,
And must speak that he may be but ten or twenty will.
refreshed. A single philological




CHAPTER X.
THE MATTER, MANNER, AND SPIRIT OF PREACHING.
THE exposition of the methods, and maxims, by
which homiletical discipline may best be acquired,
demands, at its conclusion, some consideration of
their practical application, in the actual work of the
clerical profession.  With what spirit ought the
preacher to deliver his message? what should be
its main drift, and lesson   how should the manner
of his utterance compare with that of other professions? These are some of the questions, upon the
right answer to which, depends very greatly the
success of the clergyman.  For, though his theory
of Sacred Eloquence may be high, and true, yet a
false spirit carried into his work, will vitiate all his
science, and bring him short of his ideals. His great
work, is to speak to the popular mind, upon the
subject of religion, with a view to influence it, and,
therefore, his oratorical efforts ought to be marked
by that practical, and, so to speak, business-like
manner, which is seen in the children of this world,
who, in their generation, are oftentimes wiser than




246                HOMILETICS.
the children of light. The preacher has much to
learn, from the legal profession. A lawyer goes
into the court-room, in order to establish certain
facts, and impress certain legal truths upon twelve
men in the jury-box.  He is, generally, an earnest
and direct man.  He may be somewhat diffuse and
circuitous in his representations, but it will be
found,.that, in the end, he comes round to his case,
and makes every thing bear upon the verdict which
he desires.  In like manner, the Christian minister
is to go into the pulpit, in order to establish certain
facts in regard to God and man, and to impress certain religious truths upon all who come to hear
him.  He, too, ought to be marked by great energy
and simplicity of aim.  He should start upon his
professional career, with a true and positive conception of the work before him.  The theme, then, is
a wide one, and in order to convey the particular
thoughts which we would present, in the briefest
and most concise manner possible, we propose to
speak of the nmater, the manner, and the spirit of
preaching.
1. In respect to the matter, the ideas and truths,
which the preacher shall bring before the popular
mind, during the ten, twenty, or forty years in which
he may address it, we affirm that he ought to confine himself to evangelical doctrine. If he is to err
in regard to the range of subjects, let him err upon
the safe side. It is undesirable, and unwise, for the
pulpit to comprehend any thing more in its instruce




MATTER AND MANNER OF PREACHING.   24'
tions, than that range of inspired truth which has
for its object the salvation of the human soul.  It
is true, that Christianity has a connection with all
truth; and so has astronomy.  But it no more
follows, that the Christian minister should go beyond the fundamental principles of. the gospel, and
discuss all of their relations to science, art, and
government, in his Sabbath discourses, than that
the astronomer should leave his appropriate field
of observation, and attempt to be equally perfect in
all that can be logically connected with astronomy.
Life is short, and art is long. In the secular sphere,
it is conceded that the powerful minds are those
who rigorously confine themselves to one department of thought.  Newton cultivated science, and
neglected literature.  Kant wrought in the quicksilver mines of metaphysics for fifty years, and was
happy and mighty in his one work. These men
made epochs, because they did not career over the
whole encyclopedia.  And the same is true in the
sphere of religion. The giants in theology have
dared to let many books go unread, that they might
be profoundly versed in Revelation.  And the
mighty men in practical religion, the reformers, the
missionaries, the preachers, have found in the distinctively evangelical elements of Christianity, and
their application to the individual soul, enough, and
more than enough, to employ all their powers and
enthusiasm.
The Christian minister is not obligated to run




248                HOMILETICS.
out Christianity into all its connections and relations.  Neither he, nor the Church, is bound to
watch over all the special interests of social, literary,
political, and economical life. Something should
be left to other men, and other professions; and
something should be left to the providence of God.
The Christian  preacher can  do  more towards
promoting the earthly and temporal interests of
mankind, by indirection, than by direct efforts.
That minister who limits himself, in his Sabbath
discourses, to the exhibition and enforcement of
the doctrines of sin and grace, and whose preaching
results in the actual conversion of human beings,
contributes far more, in the long run, to the progress
of society, literature, art, science, and civilization,
than he does, who, neglecting these themes of sin
and grace, makes a direct effort from the pulpit to
" elevate society."  In respect to the secular and
temporal benefits of the Christian religion, it is eminently true, that he that finds his life shall lose it.
When the ministry sink all other themes in the one
theme of the Cross, they are rewarded in a twofold
manner: they see the soul of man born into the
kingdom of God; and then, as an inevitable conse.
quence, with which they had little to do directly,
but which is taken care of by the providence of
God, and the laws by which He administers his
government in the earth, they also see arts, sciences,
trade, commerce, and political prosperity, flowing in
of themselves.  They are willing to seek first the




MATTER AND MANNER OF PREACHING.   249
kingdom of God and his righteousness, and find all
these minor things,-infinitely minor things, when
compared with the eternal destiny of man,-added
to them by the operation, not of the pulpit, or of
the ministry, but of Divine laws and Divine providence. But, whenever the ministry sink the Cross,
wholly or in part, in semi-religious themes, they are
rewarded with nothing. They see, as the fruit of
their labors, neither the conversion of the individual
nor the prosperity of society.  That unearthly sermonizing of Baxter, and Howe, so abstracted from
all the temporal and secular interests of man, so
rigorously confined to human guilt and human redemption —that preaching which, upon the face of
it, does not seem even to recognize that man has
any relations to this little ball of earth; which
takes him off the planet entirely, and contemplates
him simply as a sinner in the presence of God,that preaching, so destitute of all literary, scientific,
economical, and political elements and allusions,was, nevertheless, by indirection, one of the most
fertile causes of the progress of England and America.  Subtract it as one of the forces of English
history, and the career of the Anglo-Saxon race
would be like that of Italy and Spain.
The preacher must dare to work upon this
theory, and make and keep his sermons thoroughly
evangelical, in their substantial matter. The temptations are many, in the present age, to multiply
topics, and to introduce themes into the pulpit,




250                HOMILETICS.
upon which Christ and his apostles never preached.
It is enough that the disciple be as his master. And
if the Son of God, possessing an infinite intelligence, and capable of comprehending, in his intuition, the whole abyss of truth, physical and moral,
natural religion and revealed, all art, all science, all
beauty, and all. grandeur,-if the Son of God, the
Omniscient One, was nevertheless reticent regarding the vast universe of truth that lay outside of the
Christian scheme, and confined himself to that range
of ideas which relate to sin and redemption,-then,
who are we that we should venture beyond his
limits, and counteract his example!
2. Secondly, in respect to the manner in which
the preacher is to address the popular mind, upon
these fundamental truths of Christianity, he ought
to use great directness of style and speech. The
connection between the matter and the manner of a
writer, is one of action and reaction.  Clear, evangelical ideas favor lucid, earnest style. He who
selects semi-religious topics, immediately begins to
hyperbolize and elocutionize.  INo Demosthenean
fire, no hearty idiomatic English, no union of energy
and elegance, naturally issues when poetry is substituted for theology, and the truths of nature are
put in the place of the doctrines of grace. A languid and diffuse manner, like that of moral essays,
is the utmost that can  be attained upon this
method.
And, on the other hand, a tendency to a direct,




MATTER AND MINNER OF PREACHING.   251
terse, vigorous mode of handling subjects, reacts
upon the theological opinions of the preacher, and
favors intensity and positiveness in his doctrinal
views.  Wordsworth, in conversing upon the style
of a certain writer, which was peculiar and striking,
remarked: " To be sure, it is the manner that gives
him  his power, but then, you know, the nmatter
always comes out of the manner."l  This is reversing the common statement of the rhetorician, who
is in the habit of saying, that the manner comes
out of the matter.  But it contains its side of truth.
No man can cultivate and employ a vigorous,
direct, and forcible rhetoric, without finding that
he is driven to solid and earnest themes, in order
to originate, and sustain it. Those slender and
unsuggestive truths which lie outside of revelation,
and which relate more to man's earthly than to his
immortal nature, more to his worldly than his eternal destiny, prove too weak for a powerful and
commanding eloquence, and, thus, the rhetorician
of'an earnest and natural type is -driven by his
very idea of style, to those themes of sin, guilt,
judgment, atonement, grace, and  eternal glory,
which constitute the substance of Christianity, and
are full of immortal vigor and power.
As the preacher goes forth, to speak, it may be
for twenty or forty years continuously, to his fellow
immortals, upon the awful themes of eternity, let'EMERsoN: English Traits, p. 294.




252                HOMILETICS.
him weigh well every word he utters, and make it
the direct exponent of a vivid and earnest thought.
He lives in an age more inclined to sentiment, than
to ideas. The vicious and meretricious manner of
the fugitive magazine, and review, is, just now, influencing the public taste, more than the dense and
powerful style of the classical standards. Let him
pay special attention, therefore, to his own manner.
He should be a plain, direct, terse, and bold orator.
He must employ the rhetoric which Jael used upon
Sisera, putting his nail to the head of his auditor,
and driving it sheer and clear through his brain.
3. And, finally, in respect to the spirit with
which the preacher should deliver his ideas, we
sum up all that can be said upon this point, when
we urge him to speak the truth in love. An affectionate spirit is the type, and the model, for the
Christian herald. The greatest of the graces is
charity.  This we are toiling after all our days, and
this comes latest and slowest into the soul.  If
those who have preached the word for years were
called upon to specify the one particular, in respect
to which they would have their ministry reconstructed, it would be their deficiency in this mellow,
winning, heavenly trait of St. John.  Perhaps they
can say that they have been measurably positive,
earnest, plain, and truthful preachers; but, alas!
they cannot be so certain in their affirmation, that
they have been affectionate heralds of the Lord
Jesus, Their love for God's honor and glory, and




MATTER AND MANNER OF PREACHING.   2
the welfare of the.human soul, has been too faint
and feeble. This is the weak, and not the strong
side of their service in the pulpit.
It is well for the clergyman, to know this in the
outset of his ministry, so that his efforts may be
directed  accordingly.  That trait in which the
human soul is most deficient, because it is most
directly contrary to human selfishness,-that Christian trait which is the most difficult, both to originate and to maintain,is, certainly, the one that
should be before the eye of the Christian minister,
from  the beginning of his course.  Other traits,
unless toned down by this one, are liable to run
into extremes that become positive faults.  The
preacher's lucid energy, for example, unless tempered by. a tender affectionateness, may issue in an
exasperating vehemence that defeats all the ends of
preaching, and renders it impossible to " persuade"
men to become reconciled to God, or even to " beseech " them to become so.
The preacher, then, must cultivate in himself,
a genuine and sincere affection for man as man, for
man as sinful and lost, and for God as the blessed
and adorable Saviour of man.  And, among the
several means of educating himself in this direction,
none is more effectual, than that strict confinement
of his mind and heart to evangelical themes, which
we have already recommended.  If he would feel
love for man's soul, he must distinctly see how precious the soul is by its origin, and how deeply




z24                HOMILETICS.
wretched and lost it is by its sin. If he would feel
love towards God as the Redeemer of man, he must
distinctly see how  great a self-sacrifice He has
made, in order to the remission and removal of
man's sin. If such topics as these are the infiequent themes of.his study and sermonizing,-if
they are crowded out by other topics, which have
no direct tendency to fill him with tender emotions
in reference to God and man, but, on the contrary,
puff up with pride, or perhaps lead to an undervaluation of evangelical doctrine,-then, he cannot be
an affectionate preacher. He will never be able
to say, as St. Paul did of himself, in reference to
the Thessalonians: " We were gentle among you,
even as a nurse cherisheth her children: so, being
affectionately desirous of you, we were willing to
have imparted unto you, not the gospel of God
only, but also our own souls, because ye were dear.unto us."'
Of all the New Testament truths, none is equal
to the doctrine of forgiveness through the blood of
the dying Lord, in eliciting this divine and holy
love.  And therefore the preacher's meditation
must be much upon this, and his speech very frequent upon it. The Roman Catholic theologians,
in their classification of the gifts and graces of the
believer, mention the donum  lachrymcaruzm, the
heavenly gift of tears.  By it, they mean, that
11 Thess. ii, 7, 8.




MATTER AND MANN-ER OF PREACHING.   255
tender contrition of soul which weeps bitterly, like
Peter, under the poignant recollection of transgression, and the sweet sense of its forgiveness. It is
that free and outgushing sorrow, which flows from
the strange unearthly consciousness of being vile,
when tried by a perfect standard, and yet, of being
the justified and adopted child of God. It is that
relief which a Christian man craves for himself,
when, after much meditation upon his sins he still
finds the heart is hard, and the soul is parched with
inward heat that "turns the moisture into the
drought of summer."  This gift of tears is most
intimately connected with the gift of love. From
that soul which is forgiven much, and whose consciousness of the Divine mercy flows in the tears of
the Magdalen, there issues a most profound affection.  We love the soul of man, and are willing to
toil and suffer for its welfare, when we are melted
down in gratitude and affection, because we have
ourselves been forgiven.
If, therefore, the Christian preacher would suffuse his thoughts with that yearning charity which
St. Paul describes, let him live in the light of the
Cross; let him feel the virtue of expiating blood
in his conscience. The immediate intuition of the
great Atonement, arms the preacher with a wonderful tenderness and power of entreaty. Other doctrines are powerful, but this carries him beyond
himself, and fills him with a deathless affection for
God, and the soul of man, that seems madness




256               HOMILETICS.
itself to the natural mind. Whitefield's, Summerfield's, and McCheyne's glowing, and seraphic fervor, was inspired- almost wholly by this single
truth. And what a pathetic earnestness, what a
tender and gentle sympathy, ever mingled with the
strong flood-tide of Chalmers' emotion; after that
memorable sickness, when he sat for weeks upon
the brink of eternity, and there, in the face of endless doom and death, obtained the first clear, calming view of his dying Redeemer.
The age and condition of the world demand
ministers of this type. The preacher of this age is
appointed to proclaim the gospel, at a period, when
the Christian religion and church are assailed by
materialism in the masses, and skepticism in the
cultivated. These are the two foes of Christ, whose
presence he will feel wherever he goes. He will
meet them in Christendom, and he will meet them
in Paganism. It looks, now, as if Anti-Christ were
making his final onset. Let him, therefore, adopt a
positive method. He should not waste his strength,
in standing upon the defensive.  Christianity is
not so much in need of apologetic, as of aggressive
efforts. State its doctrines with plainness, and they
will hold their ground. Fuse them in the fire of
personal convictions, and utter them with the con
fidence of an immediate perception, and they will
not need the support of collateral argument. They
are their own evidence, when once enunciated, and




MATTER AND MANNER OF PREACHING.  257
lodged in the conscience of man; as much so, as
the axioms of science.
The Christian herald should go forth with faith
and hope, remembering that the gospel of the Son
of God is the only system that is not subject to
fashions, and changes. It is the same now, that it
was when St. Paul carried it to Athens, and St.
John taught it in Ephesus. It will be the same
system down to the end of the world. He is to be
a co-worker with a mighty host in the rear, and
another mighty host in the front. Why should he
not be courageous, standing, as he does, in the centre of a solid column, whose ranks are closed up,
and which presents an impregnable front from whatever side the foe may approach   And why should
he not be the boldest, and most commanding of
orators, when he remembers, still more, that the
gospel of the Son of God is the only system of truth,
for whose triumph the Eternal One is pledged?
He hath sworn by Himself, and the word has gone
out of his mouth in righteousness, and shall not
return:  Unto Him every knee shall bow."




CHAPTER XI.
RECIPROCAL RELATIONS OF PREACHER AND HEARER.
THE orator is not an isolated person, but one
who stands in living sensitive rcapport with an auditory, and therefore the discussion of the subject of
Eloquence cannot be regarded as complete, without
some account of the mutual relations of the parties. And there is more need of this exposition in
reference to sacred, than to secular oratory, because,
one whole side of the message which the Christian
herald carries to man, is unwelcome.  He must
preach the condemning law, and present the severe
aspects of truth. This renders it more difficult for
him, to establish a harmonious relation between
himself and his audience, than it is for the secular
orator.  The difficulty in the case will be most
easily overcome, if both speaker and hearer have a
clear understanding of the attitude, which each is
morally bound to take -towards the other. " Preach
the preaching that I bid thee," is God's explicit
command to the herald.  "Take heed how ye
hear," is His solemn message to the congregation.




PREACHER AND HEARER.               259
Both parties must hear the message, and endeavor
to come into right relations to each other, if they
would receive the Divine blessing.   "For," says
Richard Baxter, "we bring not sermons to church,
as we do a corpse for a burial.  If there be life in
them, and life in the hearers, the connaturality will
cause such an amicable closure, that through the
reception, retention, and operation of the soul, they
will be the immortal seed of a life everlasting."
This passage, from one of the most fervid and effective of preachers, gives the clue to Christian eloquence.  Life in the preacher, and life in the hearer,
-vitality upon both sides,-this, under God, is the
open secret of successful speech.
For, the relation which properly exists between
the Christian preacher, and the Christian hearer, is
a reciprocal one, or that of action and reaction.
Yet it is too commonly supposed, that eloquence
depends solely upon the speaker; that the hearer is
only a passive subject, and, as such, is merely'to
absorb into himself a mighty and powerful influence, that flows out from the soul of the orator,
who, alone, is the active and passionate agent in
the process.  It will be found, however, upon
closer examination, that eloquence, in its highest
forms and effects, is a joint product of two factors;
of an eloquent speaker, and an eloquent hearer.
Burning words presuppose some fuel in the souls to
1BAXTER: Sermon on Christ's absolute dominion. (Preface.)




260                 HOMILETICS.
whom they are addressed.  The thrill of the orator,
however exquisite, cannot traverse a torpid or paralyzed nerve, in the auditor.  It is necessary, therefore, as all the rhetoricians have said, in order to
the highest effect of human speech, that the auditor be in a state of preparation and recipiency; that
there be an answering chord, in the mass of minds,
before whom  the single solitary individual comes
forth, with words of warning or of consolation, of
terror or of joy.
It follows, consequently, that if there be a true
tone in preaching, there is also a true temper in.
hearing.  If it is incumbent upon the sacred ministry, to train itself to a certain style of thinking
and utterance, it is equally incumbent upon the
sacred auditory, to school itself into the corresponding mood; so that its mental attitude, its pre-judgments, its intellectual convictions, its well-weighed
fears and forebodings, shall all be, as it were, a
fluid sea, along which the surging mind of the public teacher shall roll its billows.  What, then, is
the true tone in preaching, and what is the true
temper in hearing, religious truth?
The Divine interrogatory, " Is not my word like
as a fire?"1 suggests the true tone, which should at
all times characterize public religious address to
the natural man; and the decided utterance of the
Psalmist, "Let the righteous smite me, it shall be a' Jeremiah xxiii. 29.




PREACHER AND HEARERI             261
kindness," on the other hand, indicates the temper
which the public mind should maintain, in reference
to such a species of address. From  the voice of
God, speaking through the most shrinking, yet the
most impassioned of his prophets; from the voice
of God, emitted from the deepest, clearest, widest
religious experience under the old economy, we
would get our answer. The purpose, then, of this
chapter will be to specify, in the first place, some
distinctively Biblical views of truth, that are exceedingly intense in their quality, and penetrating in
their influence, and should, therefore, enter as constituent elements into preaching; and, in the second
place, to indicate the proper attitude of the popular
mind, towards such preaching.
I. The prophet Jeremiah, in the well-known
interrogatory to which we have. alluded, directs
attention to those elements in Revelation, which are
adapted to produce a keen and pungent sensation,
like fire, whenever they are brought into contact
with the individual or the general mind. Just in
proportion, consequently, as public address upon
religious themes emits this subtle and penetrating
radiance, because the preacher has inhaled the
vehement and fiery temper of the Scriptures, respecting a certain class of subjects, will it speak
to men with an emphasis that will startle them,
and hinder them from sleep.'Psalm cxli. 5.




262                HOMILETICS.
1. Commencing the analysis, then, we find these
elements of force and of fire, in the Biblical representation of God as an emotional person, or, in
Scripture phrase, as the " living God."
And here, we shall pass by all those more general aspects of the Divine personality, which have
been abundantly brought to view, in the recent
and still existing contest between theism  and pantheism, and confine ourselves to a notice of those
more specific qualities, which have been somewhat
overlooked in this controversy, and which constitute
the core, and life, of the personal character of God.
For, the Biblical representation of the Deity not
merely excludes all those conceptions of him, which
convert him into a Gnostic abyss, and place him in
such unrevealed depths, that he ceases to be an
object of either love or fear, but it clothes him
with what may be called individuality of emotion,
or feeling. Revelation is not content with that
inadequate and frigid form of theism, that deism,
which merely asserts the Divine existence and unity,
with the fewest predicates possible, but it enunciates the whole plenitude of the Divine Nature,
upon the side of the affections, as well as of the
understanding.  When the Bible denominates the
Supreme Being the "living God," it has in view
that blending of thought with emotion, that fusion
of intellect with feeling, which renders the Divine
Essence a throbbing centre of self-consciousness.
For, subtract emotion from the Godhead, and there




PREACHER AND HEARER.             263
remains merely an abstract system  of laws and
truths.  Subtract the intellect, and there remains
the mystic and dreamy deity of sentimentalism. In
the Scriptures, we find the union of both elements.
According to the Bible, God possesses emotions.
He loves, and he abhors.  The Old and New Testaments are vivid as lightning, with the feelings of
the Deity. And these feelings flash out in the
direct, unambiguous statement of the Psalmist:
" God loveth the righteous; God is angry with
the wicked every day;"  in the winning words
of St. John, "God is love," and in the terrible
accents of St. Paul, "Our God is a consuming
fire."   Complacency and  displeasure, then, are
the two specific characteristics, in which reside
all the vitality of the doctrine that God is personal.
These are the most purely individual qualities that
can be conceived of. They are continually attributed to the Supreme Being, in the Scriptures, and
every rational spirit is represented as destined forever to feel the impression of the one, or the other,
of them, according as its own inward appetences
and adaptations shall be.  While, therefore, the
other truths that enter into Christian theism  are to
be stated, and defended, in the great debate, the
philosopher and theologian must look with a lynx's
eye, at these emotional elements in the Divine Nature.  For these, so to speak, are the living points
of contact between the Infinite and Finite; and
that theory of the Godhead which rejects them, or




264                HOMILETICS.
omits them, or blunts them, will, in the end, itself
succumb to naturalism and pantheism.
There are no two positions in Revelation more
unqualified and categorical, than that" God is love,"
and that " God is a consuming fire."  Either one of
these affirmations is as true as the other; and, therefore, the complete unmutilated idea of the Deity
must comprehend both the love, and the displeasure,
in their harmony and reciprocal relations. Both of
these feelings are equally necessary to personality.
A being who cannot love, is impersonal; and so is
a being who cannot abhor. Torpor in one direction implies torpor in the other.  "He who loves
the good," argued Lactantius fifteen centuries ago,
by this very fact, hates the evil; and he who does
not hate the evil, does not love the good; because,
the love of goodness flows directly out of the
hatred of evil, and the hatred of evil springs
directly out of the love of goodness. There is no
one who can love life, without abhorring death;
no one who has an appetency for light, without an
antipathy to darkness."' He who is able to love
that which is lovely, cannot but hate that which is
hateful.  One class of emotions towards moral good,
implies an opposite class towards moral evil. Every
ethical feeling necessitates its counterpart; and
therefore God's personal love towards the seraph,
necessitates God's personal wrath towards the fiend.
LACTANTIUS, De ira Dei, c. De testimonio animl, c. 2.
5. Compare also TERTULLIANUS:




PREACHER AND HEARER.             265
There is, therefore, no true middle position be.
tween the full Scriptural conception of God, and
the deistical conception of him.  We must either,
with some of the English deists, deny both love and
indignation to the Deity, or else we must, with the
prophets and apostles, attribute both love and indignation to him. Self-consistency drives us to one
side or the other.  We may hold that God is mere
intellect, without heart, and without feeling of any
kind; that he is as impassive, and unemotional as
the law of gravitation, or a geometrical axiom; that
he neither loves the holy, nor hates the wicked;
that feeling, in short, stands in no kind of relation
to an Infinite Essence; or, we may believe that the
Divine Nature is no more destitute of emotional,
than it is of intellectual qualities, and that all forms
of righteous and legitimate feeling enter into the
Divine self-consciousness,-we may take one side or
the other, and we shall'be self-consistent.  But it
is in the highest degree illogical and inconsistent,
to attribute one class of emotions to God, and deny
the other; to postulate the love of goodness, and
repudiate the indignation at sin. What reason is
there, in attributing the feeling of complacency to
the nature of the Infinite and Eternal, and denying
the existence of the feeling of indignation, as so
many do, in this and every age?  Is it said that
emotion is always, and of necessity, beneath the
Divine Nature?  Then why insist, and emphasize,
that " God is love f"  Is it said that wrath is. a.




266                HOMILETICS.
unworthy feelings  But this, like love itself, depends upon the nature of the object upon which it
is expended?  What species of feeling ought to
possess the Holy One, when he looks down upon
the orgies of Tiberius? when he sees John Baptist's
head in the charger?  Is it a mere illicit and unworthy passion, when the wrath of God is revealed
from heaven, against those sins mentioned in the
first chapter of Romans, and continually practised
by mankind?  And may not love be an unworthy
feeling?  Is not this emotion as capable of degenerating into a blind appetite, into a mere passion,
as any other one?  Which is most august and venerable, the pure and spiritual abhorrence of the
seraphim, wakened by the sight of the sin and
uncleanness of fallen Babylon, or the selfish fondness, and guilty weakness, of the unprincipled affection of earth?  Which is most permeated with
eternal truth and reason, and so most worthy of
entering into the consciousness of a Divine and
Supreme Mind, the wrath of law, or the love of
lust 
So the Scriptures represent the matter; and
upon the preacher's thorough belief, in the strict
metaphysical truth of this Biblical idea of God,
and his solemn reception of it into his mind, in all
its scope and elements, with all its implications and
applications, depends his power and energy as a
religious thinker and speaker.  He must see for
himself, and make his hearers see, that God is just




PREACHER AND HEARER.             26I
that intensely immaculate SPIRIT, both in his complacency and his displeasure, in all his personal
qualities, and on both sides of his character, which
Revelation represents him to be. No other energy
can make up for the lack of this. With this, though
his tongue may stammer, and his heart often fail
him, the preacher will go out before his accountable, guilty, dying fellow-men, with a spiritual
power that cannot be resisted.
For, man's mind is startled, when the Divine
individuality thus flashes into it, with these distinct
and definite emotions.  "I thought of God, and
was troubled."  The human spirit trembles to its
inmost fibre, when God's personal character darts
its dazzling rays into its darkness.  When one
realizes, in some solemn moment, that no blind
force or fate, no law of nature, no course -and constitution of things, but a Being as distinctly selfconscious as himself, and with a personality as vivid
in feeling and emotion towards right and wrong, as
his own identity, has made him, and made him responsible, and will call him  to account; when a
man, in some startling but salutary passage in his
experience, becomes aware that the intelligent, and
the emotional I AM is penetrating his inmost soul,
he is, if ever upon this earth, a roused man, an
earnest, energized creature.  All men know  how
wonderfully the faculties of the soul are quickened,
when it comes to the consciousness of guilt; what
a profound and central activity is started in all the




268                HOMILETICS.
mental powers, by what is technically termed " con
viction." But this conviction is the simple consciousness that God is one person, and man is
another.  Here are two beings met together,-a
holy One, with infinite and judicial attributes, and a
guilty one, with finite and responsible attributes,the two are in direct communication, as in the
garden of Eden, and hence the shame, the fear, and
the attempt to hide.
If, however, it is supposed that there must be
some abatement and qualification, in order to bring
the Biblical representation of the Deity into harmony with some theory in the head, or some wish
in the heart, it loses its incisive and truthful power
over the human mind.  If the full-orbed idea be so
mutilated, that nothing but the feeling of love is
allowed to enter into the nature of God, the mind
softens and melts away into moral imbecility. If
nothing but the emotion of displeasure makes up
the character of the Deity, as was the case with
the sombre and terrible Pagan religions,.the mind
of the worshipper is first overwhelmed with terror
and consternation, and finally paralyzed and made
callous by'fear. But, if both feelings are seen
necessarily to coexist in one and the same Eternal
Nature, and each exercised towards its appropriate
and deserving object, then the rational spirit adores
and burns like the seraph, and bows and veils the
face like the archangel.
2. In close connection with the doctrine of the




PREACHER AND HEARER.            269
living God, the Bible teaches the doctrine of the
quilt of man; and this is the second element of
force and fire, alluded to by the prophet in his interrogatory.
We have already noticed the close affinity, that
exists between a vivid impression of the Divine
character, and the conviction of sin.  When that
comparatively pure and holy man, the prophet
Isaiah, saw the Lord, high and lifted up, he cried,
" I am a man of unclean lips."  And just in proportion as the distinct features of that Divine countenance fade from  human view, does the guilt of
man disappear.. But here, again, as in the preceding instance of the Divine emotions, the difficulty
does not relate so much to the bare recognition of
the fact, as to the degree and thoroughness of the
recognition.  We have observed that there is a
natural proneness to look more at the complacent,
than at the judicial side of the Divine nature; to
literalize and emphasize the love, but convert the
wrath into metaphor and hyperbole. In like manner, there is a tendency to extenuate and diminish
the degree of human guilt, even when the general
doctrine is acknowledged.  To apprehend and confess our sin to be our pure self-will, and crime, is
very difficult. We much more readily acknowledge
it to be our disease, and misfortune.  Between the
full denial, on the one hand, that there is any guilt
in man, and the full hearty confession, on the other,
that man is nothing but guilt before the Searcher




270                HOMILETICS.
of the heart, and Eternal Justice, there are many
degrees of truth and error; and it is with regard to
these intermediates, that the preacher especially
needs the representations of the Bible. It is by the
dalliance with the shallows of the subject, that
public religious address is shorn of its strength.
The Scriptures, upon the subject of human guilt,
never halt between two opinions. They are bloodred. The God of the Bible is intensely immaculate,
and man in the Bible is intensely guilty. The inspired mind is a rational and logical one. It either
acquits absolutely and eternally, or condemns absolutely and eternally. It either pronounces an entire
innocency and holiness, such as will enable the
possessor of it, to stand with angelic tranquillity,
amidst the lightnings and splendors of that countenance from which the heavens and the earth flee
away, or else it pronounces an entire guiltiness, in
that Presence, of such scarlet and crimson dye, that
nothing but the blood of incarnate God can wash
it away.  The Old Testament, especially, to which
the preacher must go for knowledge upon these
themes, because the Old Dispensation was the educational dispensation of law, is full, firm, and distinct, in its representations.  Its history, is the
history of an economy designed by its rites, symbols, and doctrines, to  awaken a poignant and
constant consciousness of guilt.  Its prophecy,
looks with eager straining eye, and points with
tremulous and thrilling finger, to an Atoner, and




PREACIER AND HEARER.             271
his atonement for guilt. Its poetry, is either the
irrepressible mourning and wail of a heart gnawed
by guilt, or the exuberant and glad overflow of a
heart experiencing the joy of expiated and pardoned
guilt.
And to this, is owing the intense vitality of the
Old Testament.  To this element and influence, are
traceable the vividness and energy of the Hebrew
mind,-so  different, in  these respects, from  the
Oriental mind'generally.  The Hebrews were a
part of that same great Shemitic race, which peopled
Asia and the East, and possessed the same general
constitutional characteristics.  But why did the
Hebrew mind become so vivid, so intense, so dyna.
mic, while the Persian and the Hindoo became so
dreamy, so sluggish and lethargic?   Why is the
religion of Moses so viviflc in its spirit, and particularly in its influence upon the conscience, while
the religions of Zoroaster and Boodh exert precisely
the same influence upon the conscience of the Persian and the Hindoo, that poppy and mandragora
do upon his body?  It is because God subjected
the Hebrew mind to this theistic, this guilt-eliciting
education.  From  the very beginning, this knowledge of God's unity and personality, and of God's
emotions towards holiness and sin, was kept alive
in the chosen race.  The people of Israel were
separated, purposely, and with a carefulness that
was exclusive, from the great masses of the Oriental
world. Either by a direct intercourse, as in their




272                 HOMILETICS.
exodus from  Egypt, with that personal Jehovah
who had chosen them  in distinction from all other
nations, or else by the inspiration of their legislators and prophets, the truth that God is a sovereign
and a judge, " keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression, and that will by no
means clear the guilty," was made more and more
distinct and vivid in the Hebrew intuition, while it
grew dimmer and dimmer, and finally died out of
the rest of the Oriental populations. This education,
this Biblical education of the Hebrews, was the
source of that energy and vitality which so strikes
us in their way of thinking, and modes of expression, and the absence of which is so noticeable in the
literatures of Persia and India.
And here, it is obvious to remark upon the
importance of a close investigation of those parts
of the Old and New Testaments, which treat of the
subject of atonement, as antithetic to that of sin
and guilt. For, this doctrine of expiation, in the
Christian system, is like a ganglion in the human
frame; it is a knot of nerves; it is the oscillating
centre where several primal and vital truths meet
in unity. This single doctrine of sacrificial oblation
is a vast implication.  It implies the personality of
God, with all its elements of power.  It involves
the absolute self-will and responsibility of the creature in the origin of sin.  It implies the necessary,
inexorable nature of justice.  And if we analyze
these again, we shall find them full of the " seeds




PREACHER AND HEARER.              273
of things;" full of the substance, and staple, of both
ethics and evangelism. Those portions of the Bible,
therefore, which treat of this central truth of Christianity, either directly or indirectly, should receive
the most serious and careful investigation. The
Mosaic system of sacrifices should be studied, until
its real meaning and intent is understood. The idea
of. guilt,-we employ the word in the Platonic
sense,-and the idea of expiation, as they stand
out pure and simple, yet vivid and bright, in the
Prophets and Psalms, and in their inspired commentary, the Epistle to the Hebrews, should be pondered, until their intrinsic and necessary quality is
apprehended.  For, there is danger that the very
ideas themselves may fade away and disappear, in
an age of the world, and under a dispensation, in
which there is no daily sacrifice, and frequent bleeding victim, to remind men of their debt to eternal
justice.   The Christian religion, by furnishing the
one great sacrifice to which all other sacrifices look
and point, has, of course, done away with all those
typical sacrifices which cannot themselves take away
guilt, but can remind of it.l  And now that the
daily remembrancers of the ritual and ceremonial
are gone, the human mind needs, more than ever, to
ponder the teachings, and.breathe in the spirit of
the legal dispensation, in order to keep the conscience quick and active, and  the  moral sense
"In those sacrifices there is a remembrance again made of sins
every year." Heb. x. 3.
18




274                HOMILETICS.
healthy and sound, in respect to the two great
fundamental ideas of guilt and retribution.
It has been an error, more common since the
days of Grotius, than it was in the time of the
Protestant Reformation, that the doctrine of the
atonement has been explained, and illustrated, too
much by a reference to the attribute of benevolence
and the interests of the creature, and too little by a
reference to the attribute of justice, and the remorseful workings of conscience.  There is hazard,
upon this method, that the simple, uncomplex ideas
of guilt and atonement, as they operate in the very
moral being of the individual sinner, and as they
have their ground in the very nature of God, may
be lost sight of, and the whole transaction of reconciliation be transferred into a region which, during
the first exercises of an awakened soul, is too distant
for a vivid apprehension and impression. Man must
in the end, indeed, come to understand the bearings
of the sacrifice of the Son of God, upon what
Chalmers calls "the distant places of God's creation;" but he will be more likely to attain this
understanding, if he first comes to apprehend its
bearings upon his personal guilt and remorse, and
how the blood of the Lamb expiates crime within
his own burning self-consciousness. For, guilt and
expiation are philosophical correlates, genuine correspondencies, set over against each other, like
hunger and food, like thirst and water. " My flesh,"
saith the Atoner, "is meat indeed; my blood is




PREACHER AND HEARER.             2T5
drink with emphasis."  He who knows, with a
vivid and vital self-consciousness, what guilt means,
knows what atonement means as soon as presented;
and he who does not experimentally apprehend the
one, cannot apprehend the other. If, therefore, any
man would see the significance and necessity of
sacrificial expiation, let him first see the significance
and reality of crime, in his own personal character
and direct relationships to God.  The doctrine
grasped and held here, presents little difficulty.
For, the remorse, now felt, necessitates and craves
the expiation; and the expiation, now welcomed,
explains and extinguishes the remorse.
Now, it is the peculiarity of the Biblical representation of this whole subject, that it handles it
in the very closest connection with the personal
sense of sin; that is to say, in its relation to the
conscience of man, on the one side, and the moral
indignation of God, on the other.  In the Scriptures
the atonement is a propitiation; and by betaking
himself to this representation, and making it his
own spontaneous mode of thinking and speaking
upon this fundamental doctrine, the preacher will
arm  his mind with a preternatural power and
energy.  Look at the preaching of those who, like
Luther and Chalmers, have been distinguished by
an uncommon freedom and saliency in their manner
of exhibiting the priestly office and work of Christ,
and see how remarkably the Old Testament atonement vitalizes the conception, and the phraseology.




276                 IOMILETICS.
There is no circumlocution, or mechanical explanation.  The reemorse of man is addressed.  The
simple and terrible fact of guilt is presupposed,
the consciousness of it elicited, and then the ample
pacifying satisfaction of Christ is offered. The
rationality' of the atonement is thus seen in its
inward necessity; and its inward necessity is seen
in the very nature of crime; and the nature of
crime is seen in the nature of God's justice, and felt
in the workings of man's conscience.  In this way,
preaching becomes intensely personal, in the proper
sense of the word.  It is made up of personal elements, recognizes personal relationships, breathes
the living spirit of personality, and reaches the
heart and conscience of personal and accountable
creatures.
Is not, then, the word of God as a fire, in respect
to this class of truths, and its mode of presenting
them?  As we pass in review the representations of
God's personal emotions, and of man's culpability,
which are made in those living oracles, from which
the clergyman is to draw-the subject-matter of his
discourses, and the layman is to derive all his certain and infallible knowledge respecting his future
prospects and destiny, is it not plain, that if there
be lethargy and torpor on the part of either the
preacher or the hearer, if there be a lack of eloquence, it will not be the fault of the written Revelation?  As we look abroad over Christendom, do
we not perceive the great need of a more incisive




PREACHER AND HEARER.             277
impression, from those particular truths which relate
to these personal qualities, these moral feelings of
the Deity, which cut sharply into the conscience,
probe and cleanse the corrupt heart, and induce
that salutary fear of God which the highest author
ity assures us is the beginning of wisdom?  Is
there in the visible Church, such a clear and poignant insight into the nature of sin and guilt, such
reverential views of the Divine holiness and majesty,
and such a cordial welcoming of the atonement of
God, as have characterized the more earnest eras in
Church  history?   And if we contemplate the
mental state, and condition, of the multitude who
make no profession of godliness, and in whom
the naturalism of the age has very greatly undermined the old ancestral belief in a sin-hating, and a
sin-pardoning Deity, do we not find still greater
need of the fire, and the hammer, of the word of
the Lord?
II. Having thus described the preacher's duty,
in regard to a certain form and aspect of revealed
truth, we pass, now, in the second place, to consider
the hearer's duty, and thereby evince the reciprocity of the relation that exists between them.  We
shall direct attention, in the remainder of the chapter, to that sort of understanding, with regard to
this mode of preaching, which ought to exist between the hearer and the preacher,-that intellectual temper which the popular mind should adopt
and maintain, towards this style  of homiletics.




2 78.               HOMILETICS.
For if, as we remarked in the outset, the effectiveness of the orator is dependent upon the receptivity
of the auditor, then, there is no point of more importance to the Christian ministry, than the general
attitude of the public mind towards the severer
truths, and doctrines of revelation.  What, then, is
the proper temper in hearing, which is to stand over
against this proper tone in preaching?
In order to answer this question, we must, in
the outset, notice the relation that exists between
Divine truth and an apostate mind like that of man,
and the call which it makes for moral earnestness
and resoluteness. For, we are not treating of public
religious address for the seraphim, but for the
sinful children of men; and we shall commit a
grave error, if we assume that the eternal and
righteous truth of God, as a matter of course, must
fall like blessed genial sun-light into the corrupt
human heart, and make none but pleasant impressions at first. It is therefore necessary, first of all,
to know precisely what are the affinities, and also
what are the antagonisms, between the guilty soul
of man, and the holy Word of God.
It is plain, that such an antagonism  is implied
in the prophet's interrogatory.   For, if the word
of God is " as a fire," the human mind, in relation
to it, must be as a fuel.  For, why does fire exist,
except to burn?   When, therefore, the message
from  God breathes that startling and illuminating
spirit which thrilled through the Hebrew prophets,




PREACHEBR AD HEARER.             279
and at times fell from the lips of Incarnate Mercy
itself, still and swift as lightning from the soft
summer cloud, it must cause
"Anguish, and doubt, and fear, and sorrow, and pain,
In mortal minds."
The posture, consequently, which the "mortal
mind" shall take and keep, in reference to such a
painful message and proclamation from the heavens,
is a point of the utmost importance.  Many a
human soul is lost, because, at a certain critical
juncture in its history, it yielded to its fear of
mental suffering.  The word of God had begun to
be "a fire " unto it, and foreseeing (Oh, with how
quick an instinct!) a painful process of self-scrutiny
and self-knowledge coming on, it wilfully broke
away from all such messages and influences, flung
itself into occupations and enjoyments, and quenched
a pure and good flame that would have only burnt
out its dross and its sin; a merely temporary flame,
that would have superseded the necessity of the
eternal one that is now to come.  For, there is an
instinctive and overmastering shrinking in every
man from suffering, which it requires much resolution to overcome.  The prospect of impending
danger rouses his utmost energy to escape from it,
and his soul does not recover its wonted tranquillity, until the threatening calamity is overpast. In
this, lies all the power of the drama, in its higher
forms. The exciting impression made by a tragedy




280                HOMILETICS.
springs from the steadily increasing danger of suf.
fering, which thickens about the career of principal
characters in the plot.  The liability to undergo
pain, which increases as the catastrophe approaches,
united with the struggles of the endangered person
to escape from it, wakens a sympathy and an excitement, in the reader or the spectator, stronger
than that produced by any other species of literature.  And whenever the winding-up of any passage in human history, lifts off the burden of
apprehension from  a human being, and exhibits
him in the enjoyment of the ordinary, happy lot of
humanity, instead of crushed to earth by a tragic
issue of life, we draw a breath so long and free, as
to evince that we share a common nature, one of
whose deepest and most spontaneous feelings is the
dread of suffering and pain.
And yet, when we have- said this, we have not
said the whole.  Deep as is this instinctive shrinking from  distress, there are powers and motives
which, when in action, will carry the human soul
and body through scenes, and experiences, at which
human nature, in its quiet moods and its indolent
states, stands aghast. There are times, when the
mind, the rational judgment; is set in opposition to
the body, and compels its earth-born companion to
undergo a travail, and a woe, from which its own
constitutional love of ease, and dread of suffering,
shrink back with a shuddering recoil.
This antagonism  between the sense and the




PREAGHER AND HEARER.             281
mind, is seen in its more impressive forms, within
the sphere of ethics and religion. Even upon the
low position of the stoic, we sometimes see a severe
dealing with luxurious tendencies, and a lofty heroism in trampling down the flesh, which, were it not
utterly vitiated by pride and vainglorying, would
be worthy of the martyr and the confessor.  But
when we rise up into the region of entire self-abnegation for the glory of God, we see the opposition
between the flesh and the spirit, in its sublimer
form, and know something of the terrible conflict
between mind and matter in a fallen creature, and,
still more, of the glorious triumph in a redeemed
being, of truth and righteousness over pain and
fear.  "If thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out
and cast it from thee," is a command that has actually been obeyed by thousands of believers,-by
the little child, and by the tender and delicate
woman, who would not adventure to set the sole of
her foot upon the ground, for delicateness and tenderness,-not in stoical pride and self-reliance, not
with self-consciousness and self-gratulation, but in
meekness, and fear, and much trembling, and also
in the spirit of power, of love, and of a sound
mind.
There is call, therefore, on the part of the hearer
of religious truth, for that sort of temper which is
expressed in the words of the Psalmist, "Let the
righteous smite me, it shall be a kindness." In this
resolute utterance, suffering is not deprecated, as it




282                HOMILETICS.
would be, if these instincts and impulses of human
nature had their way and their will, but is actually
courted and asked for. That in the Psalmist which
needs the smiting of the righteous and of righteousness, and which, for this reason, shrinks from
it, is rigorously kept under, in order that the infliction may be administered for the honor of the
truth, and the health of the soul.
And such, it is contended, should be the general
attitude of the public mind, towards that particular
form  and aspect of divine revelation which has
been delineated in the first part of this chapter.
Every/ human being, the natural as well as the
spiritual man, ought to say, "Let the righteous
smite me, it shall be a kindness; let the truth and
law of God seize, with their strongest grasp and
bite, upon my reason and conscience, it shall be an,
eternal blessing to me." We do not suppose that
the natural man, as such, can make these words his
own in the high and full sense, in which they were
uttered by the regenerate and inspired mind of
David.  But we do suppose, that every auditor can
control his impatience, and repress his impulses to
flee away from the hammer and the fire, and conquer his prejudices, and compel his ear to hear doctrinal statements that pain his soul, and force his
understanding to take in truths and arguments that
weigh like night upon his feelings, and that say to
him, as did the voice that cried in the tortured soul
of Macbeth, "Sleep no more; rest and peace for




PREACHER AND HEARER.             283
thee, in thy present state, are gone forever."  Has
not the Christian ministry a right to expect a tacit
purpose, and a resolute self-promise, upon the part
of every attendant upon public worship, to hold
the mind close up to all logical and self-consistent
exhibitions of revealed truth, and take the mental,
the inward consequences, be they what they may?
One of the early Fathers speaks of the "ire of
truth."  Ought not every thinking, every reasoning
man, to be willing to resist his instinctive and
his effeminate dread of suffering, and expose his
sinful soul to this "ire," because it is the ire of law
and righteousness?
1. In presenting the argument for this sort of
resolute temper, in the public mind, towards the
cogent representations of the pulpit, it is evident,
in the first place, that upon the general principles
of propriety and fitness, the sacred audience, the
assembly that has collected upon the Sabbath day,
and in the sanctuary of God, ought to expect and
prepare for such distinctively Biblical representations of God and themselves, as have been spoken
of. The secular week has been filled up with the
avocations of business, or the pursuits of science
and literature, and now when the exclusively religious day and duties begin, is it not the part of
consistency, to desire that the eternal world should
throw in upon the soul its most solemn influences,
and that religious truth should assail the judgment
and  the  conscience, with its strongest energy?




284                HOMILETICS..
Plainly, if the religious interests of man are worth
attending to at all, they are worth the most serious
and thorough attention. -This Sabbatical segment
of human life, these religious hours, should be let
alone by that which is merely secular or literary,
in order that while they do last, the purest and
most strictly religious influences may be experienced.
A man's salvation does not depend so much upon
the length of his religious experience and exercises,
as upon their thoroughness.  A  single thoroughly
penitent sigh wafts the soul to the skies, and the
angels, and the bosom of God.  But such exhaustive thoroughness in the experience, is the fruit only
of thoroughness in the previous indoctrination.
iHe, therefore, who is willing to place himself under
the religious influences of the Sabbath and the
sanctuary, should be willing to experience the very
choicest of these influences. He who takes pains
to present himself in the house of God, should
expect and prepare for the most truthful, and solemn of all messages. Professing to devote himself
to the subject of religion, and no other, and to listen to the ministration of God's word, and no other,
his utterance should be that of the Psalmist: "Let
the righteous smite me, it shall be a kindness."
Seating himself in the house of God, it should be
with an expectation of plain  dealing with  his
understanding, and with the feeling of the stern,
yet docile auditor, whose uniform utterance before
the preacher was: "Now  let the word of God




PREACHER AND HEARER.            285
come."  We lay it down, then, as a maxim -of fit.
ness and self-consistency, that the public mind
ought ever to expect and require from the public
religious teacher, the most distinctively religious,
and strictly Biblical exhibitions of truth, upon the
Sabbath day, and in the house of God.  Other days,
and other convocations, may expect and demand
other themes, and other trains of thought, but the
great religious day of Christendom, and the great
religious congregation, insists upon an impression
bold and distinct from  the world to come. "He
has done his duty, now let us do ours," was the
reply of Louis XIV., to the complaint of a fawning
and dissolute courtier, that the sermon of Bourdaloue had been too pungent and severe. There was
manliness and reason, in the reply. The pulpit had
discharged its legitimate function, and irreligious as
was the grand monarch of the French nation, his
head was clear, and his judgment correct.
If, now, the auditor himself, of his own free will,
adopts this maxim, and resolutely holds his mind to
the themes and trains of thought that issue from
the word of God, a blessing and not a curse will
come upon him. Like the patient smitten with
leprosy, or struck with gangrene, who resolutely
holds out the diseased limb for the knife and the
cautery, this man shall find that good comes from
taking sides with the Divine law, and subjecting
the intellect (for we are now pleading merely for
the human understanding), to the searching sword




286                HOMILETICS.
of the truth.  There is such a thing as common
grace, and that hearer who is enabled by it, Sabbath
after Sabbath, to overcome his instinctive fear of
suffering, and to exercise a salutary rigor with his
mind, respecting the style and type of its religious
indoctrination, may hope that common and prevenient grace shall become renewing and sanctifying
grace.
Probably, no symptom of the feeling and tendency of the popular mind would be witnessed and
watched with more interest, by the Christian philosopher or the Christian orator, than a growing
disposition, on the part of the masses, to listen to
the strict truths, the systematic doctrines of Christianity, and to ponder upon them. And why should
there not be this disposition at all times? That
which is strictly true is entirely true; is thoroughly
true; true without abatement, or qualification.
Why, then, shall a thinking creature shrink back
from the exactitudes of theology, the severities of
righteousness   Why should not the human mind
follow out every thing within the province of religion, to its last results, without reference to the immediate painful effect upon the feelings? If a thing
be true, why confer with flesh and blood about it?
If certain distinctly revealed doctrines of revelation,
accurately stated and logically followed out, do cut
down all the cherished hopes of a sinful man, with
respect to his future destiny, why not let them  cut
them  down   Why not, with the unsparing self



PREACHER AND HEARER.           287
consistence of the mathematician, either take them
as legitimate and inevitable conclusions, from admitted sources and premises, in all their strictness
and fearful meaning, or else throw sources, premises,
and conclusions all away?  How is it possible for
a thinking man, to maintain a middle and a neutral ground, in doctrinal religion, any more than in
science 2
2. But, leaving this mainly intellectual argument
for the Psalmist's temper, towards the stern side of
Revelation, we pass, in the second place, to the yet
stronger moral argument, drawn from the nature of
that great spiritual change, which the Founder of
Christianity asserts must pass upon every human
being, in order to entrance into the kingdom of
heaven.
Man, though self-ruined, is helplessly, hopelessly
ruined. Loaded with guilt, which he cannot expiate, and in bondage to a sin from which he can
never deliver himself, he cannot now be saved except by the most powerful methods, and the most
thorough processes. What has been done outside,
in the counsels of eternity, and in the depths of the
Triune God, to bring about human redemption,
evinces the magnitude and the difficulty of the work
undertaken. But, of this we do not propose to
speak. We speak only of what is to be done inside, in the mind and heart of the individual man,
as evincing, conclusively, that this salvation of the
human soul cannot be brought about by imperfect




288                 HOMILETICS.
and slender exhibitions of truth, or by an irresolute
and timorous posture of the auditor's mind.  No
man is compelled to suffer salvation.  Pardon of all
sin, from  the eternal God, and purity for eternal
ages, are offered to him, not as a cheap thing to be
forced upon an unwilling recipient, but as a priceless boon.  Our Lord himself, therefore, bids every
man count the cost, and make up the comparative
estimate, before he commences the search for eternal
life. "Either make the tree good, and his fruit good;
or else make the tree corrupt, and his fruit corrupt."
Be thlorougjh in one direction, or the other.  Either
be a saint, or a sinner.  The Redeemer, virtually,
advises a man not to begin the search at all, unless
he begin it in earnest. The entire Scripture representation is, that as man's salvation cost much on
high and in the heavens, so it must cost much below, and in the soul of man. If, then, religion be not
rejected altogether, and the hearer still expects and
hopes to derive an everlasting benefit from it, he
should take it precisely as he finds it, and allow its
truths to wound first, that they may heal afterwards; to slay in the beginning, that they may
make alive in the end.
For, such is the method of Christianity.  Conviction is the necessary antecedent to conversion.
But how is this great process to be carried through,
if the public mind shrinks away from all convicting
truth, as the sensitive plant does from  the touch 
How is man to be conducted down into the depths




PREACHER AND HEARER.            289
of an humbling and abasing self-knowledge, if he
does not allow the flashing and fiery illumination
of the law and the prophets, to drive out the black
darkness of self-deception  It is impossible, as we
have already observed, that Divine truth should
pour its first rays into the soul of alienated man,
without producing pain. The unfallen seraph can
hear the law proclaimed amidst thunders and lightnings, with a serene spirit and an adoring frame,
because he has perfectly obeyed it from the beginning. But Moses, and the children of Israel, and all
the posterity of Adam, must hear law, when first
proclaimed, with exceeding fear and quaking, because they have broken it. It is a fact too often
overlooked, that Divine truth, when  accurately
stated and closely applied, cannot leave the mind
of a sinful being as quiet, and happy, as it leaves
that of a holy being. In the case of man, therefore,
the truth must, in the outset, cause foreboding and
alarm. In the history of the human religious experience, soothing, consolation, and joy, from the
trath, are the subsequents, and not the antecedents.
The plain and full proclamation of that word of
God which is " as a fire," must, at first, awaken misgivings and fears, and, until man has passed through
*this stage of experience, must leave his sinful and
lost soul with a sense of danger and insecurity.
There is, consequently, no true option for man, but
either not to hear at all, or else to hear first in the
poignant and anxious style. The choice that is left
19^




290                HOMILETICS.
him is either that of the Pharisee, or the Magdalen,
that of the self-righteous, or the self-condemned;
either to hate the light, and not come to the light,
lest painful disclosures of character and conduct be
made, or else to come resolutely out into the light,
that the deeds may be reproved.
For, this work of reproval is the first and indispensable function of religious truth, in the instance
of the natural man. If there be self-satisfaction,
and a sense of security, in the unrenewed human
soul, it is certain that, as yet, there is no contact
between it and the Divine word. For it is as true
of every man, as it was of the apostle Paul, that
when the law shall come with plainness and power
to his mind, he will "die."  His hope of heaven
will die; his hope of a quiet death-bed will die; his
hope of acquittal and safety in the day of judgment,
and at the bar of God, will die. That apostolic
experience was legitimate  and  normal, and no
natural man must expect that the truth and law
of God, when applied with distinctness and power
to his reason and conscience, will leave him with
any different experience, in the outset, from that
which has initiated and heralded the passage from
darkness to light, and from sin to holiness, in every
instance of a soul's redemption.  There is no royal
road across the chasm that separates the renewed,
from  the unrenewed man. In order to salvation,
every human creature must tread that strait and
narrow path of self-examination, self-condemnation,




PREACHER AND HEARER.           291
and self-renunciation, which was trodden by the
goodly fellowship of the prophets, the glorious
company of the apostles, and the noble army of
the martyrs.
In subjecting the mind and conscience to the
poignant influence of keen and pure truth, and
doing every thing in his power,to have the stern and
preparatory doctrines of the legal dispensation become a schoolmaster, to lead him to the mercy and
the pity that is in the blood of Christ, the hearer in
the sanctuary is simply acting over the conduct of
every soul that, in the past, has crossed from the
kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of light. He
is merely travelling the King's highway, to the celestial city; and whoever would climb up some other
way, the same is a thief and a robber. Even the
thoughtful pagan acknowledged the necessity of
painful processes in the human mind, in order to
any moral improvement. Over the Delphic portal
were inscribed these words: "Without the descent
into the hell of self-knowledge, there is no ascent into
heaven."  We do not suppose that this remarkable
saying exhibits its full meaning, within the province
of the pagan religion, or of natural religion. The
heathen sage often uttered a truth, whose pregnant
significance is understood only in the light of a
higher and supernatural dispensation. But, if the
anguish of self-knowledge is postulated by paganism, in order to the origin of virtue within the
human soul, much more, then, is it by Christianity




292               HOMILETICS.
If the heathen moralist, with his low view of virtue,;
and his very indistinct apprehension of the spirituality of the moral law, and this utterly inadequate
conception of a holy and happy state beyond the
grave, could yet tell us that there is a hell of selfknowledge to be travelled through, a painful process of self-scrutiny and self-condemnation to be
endured, before moral improvement can begin here,
or the elysiums of the hereafter be attained,-if this
be the judgment of the Heathen moralist, from his
low point of view, and in the mere twilights of
natural religion, what must be the judgment of the
human mind, when, under the Christian dispensation, the moral law flashes out its nimble and forked
lightnings, upon sin and pollution, with a fierceness
of heat like that which consumed the stones and
dust, and licked up the water in the trench, about
the prophet's altar; when Divine truth is made
quick and powerful by the superadded agency of
the Holy Ghost, so as to discern the very thoughts
and intents of the heart; when the pattern-image
of an absolute excellence is seen in Him who is the
brightness of the Father's eternal glory; and when
the heaven to be sought for, and what is yet more,
to be prepared for, is a state of spotless and sinless
perfection in the light of the Divine countenance!
Plainly, self-knowledge within the Christian sphere
implies, and involves, a searching and sifting ex-.amination into character, motive, thought, feeling,
and conduct, such as no man can undergo without




PREACHER AND HEAER..           293
shame, and humiliation, and self-condemnation, and
remorse, and,.without the blood of Christ, everlast.
ing despair.
The same course of reasoning, respecting each
and all the remaining processes that enter into the
change from sin to holiness, and the formation of a
heavenly character, would, in each instance, help to
strengthen the argument we are urging in favor of
the plainest preaching, and the most resolute hearing, of religious truth. The more a man knows of
sin and of holiness, of the immense gulf between
them, and of the difficulty of the passage from one
to the other, the more heartily will he believe, that
the methods and the processes by which the transition is effected, are each and all of them of the
most energetic and thorough character. And the
deeper this conviction, the more hearty and energetic will be his adoption of the Psalmist's utterance, "Let the righteous smite me, it shall be a
kindness."
We have thus considered the mutual relations
of the Sacred Orator, and the Christian Auditor.
In doing this, we have passed rapidly over a very
wide field, and have touched upon some of the most
momentous themes that can engage the human mind.
What, and how, we are to conceive of God; and,
particularly, how we are to represent Him as affected
in His own essential being, towards the holiness or
-the sin of His creatures, is of all subjects the most
serious and important. In closing the discussion,




294               HOMILETICS.
we are more than ever impressed with the importance of a bold and Biblical theism, in the Christian
pulpit. Whenever the preacher asserts that God
loves the righteous, let him assert it with energy,
and warmth, and momentum.  Let him make his
hearers see, and know, that the great God is personal
in this emotion; that He pours out upon those who
are in filial sympathy with Him and His law, the
infinite wealth of His pure and stainless affection,
and that it permeates the whole being of the object
so beloved, with warm currents of light and life
eternal.  And whenever he asserts that God hates
sin, and is angry with the sinner, let him assert it
without any abatement or qualification.  Let him
cause the impenitent and sin-loving man to see, and
know, that upon him, as taken and held in this
sinful character and condition, the eternal and holy
Deity is pouring out the infinite intensity of His
moral displeasure, and that, out of Christ, and irrespective of the awful passion of Gethsemane and
Calvary, this immaculate and stainless emotion of
the Divine Essence is now revealed from heaven
against his unrighteousness, and is only awaiting
his passage into the eternal world, to become the
monotonous and everlasting consciousness of the
soul.
Amidst the high and increasing civilization, and
over-refinement, that are coming in upon Christendom, and, especially, amidst the naturalism that
threatens the Scriptures and the Church, the Chris



PREACHER AND HEARER.           295
tian ministry must themselves realize, as did the
Hebrew prophets, that God is the living God, and
by God's own help and grace evoke this same consciousness in the souls of their hearers.  Let, then,
these two specific personal qualities,-the Divine
wrath, and the Divine love,-be smitten, and
melted, into the consciousness of the nations.
Then will there be the piercing wail of contrition,
preceding and heralding the bounding joy of conscious pardon.




CHAPTER XII.
LITURGICAL CULTIVATION OF THE PREACHER.
HAVING discussed the principal topics in the
department of Homiletics, we are brought, now, to
a subject which lies outside of it, but which is
intimately connected with it, in the services of the
Christian sanctuary. It is Liturgies. In passing
to this theme, we leave the subject of eloquence,
and consider that of worship. In treating of Sacred Rhetoric, we were occupied with the address
of an individual to an audience; but in considering
the nature and province of Liturgics, we are concerned with the address of the audience itself to
Almighty God.
The liturgical services of the sanctuary are those
parts which relate to Divine worship. As the etymology denotes, the liturgy is the work of the people: 2lztov, publicum, popularte;'pyov, opus. The
appropriate work of the auditor is worship, as
the appropriate work of the orator is eloquence.
Not that the two may not sometimes interpenetrate,
-especially in the instance of the Dreacher, who is




LITURGICAL CULTIVATION.         297
himself to worship, while he instructs, and moves
his audience to acts of worship. Yet, as it is the
peculiar function of the preacher, as such, to address
an audience, so it is the peculiar function of the
audience, as such, to address God, as the result of
the preacher's address to them. Preaching should
always end in worship. While the rhetorical processes of instruction, conviction, and persuasion,
belong to the speaker, the liturgical acts of supplication, adoration, and praise, belong to the hearer.
But, the preacher is to lead them in these acts of
worship, and hence the need of principles, and
rules, by which he may be guided in the discharge
of this part of his duty. Hence arises the department of Liturgics, in the general course of clerical
discipline.
It is necessary, in the outset, to remark, that
this department, though an important one, cannot
be made so prominent, in those Churches which
adopt no complicated formulary of public devotions. It naturally becomes more complex, and
comprehensive of rules and regulations, in Churches
which, like the Romish, the English, and the Lutheran, use a liturgy. Hence, in the German treatises upon Practical Theology, that part denominated Liturgies is very thoroughly elaborated; and
if we do not find the same thing true of Romish,
and Episcopal treatises, it is because there is in
these communions little disposition to examine into
the speculative grounds of ecclesiastical usages, and




298                HOMILETICS.
not because the department itself is undervalued
by them, in actual practice.  As matter of fact, in
both the Romish and English Churches, the liturgy
overshadows the sermon; the forms, and formularies of worship, receive more attention than the
principles, and canons, of eloquence. This branch
of the subject, consequently, demands a briefer
and less elaborate treatment, so far as the wants
of those Protestant churches which are  distinguished by a simple ritual, are concerned; and we
shall be able to exhibit its leading topics, in a
single chapter.
The liturgical services of the sanctuary, in those
Protestant communions which have no liturgy, are
left, very much, to the choice of the preacher. In
the Episcopal and Lutheran Churches, the passages
of Scripture to be read, the prayers that are to be
offered, and, to some extent, the praises that are to
be sung, are prescribed by regulation, and are
embodied in a collection called the Liturgy. In
the other Protestant churches, this choice is left to
the individual clergyman, and hence there is, in
reality, more need of a careful liturgical discipline,
in the instance of the Presbyterian or Congregational clergyman, than in that of the Episcopalian, or Lutheran, or Romish. For, even if the
established and appointed liturgy should not in all
its parts be appropriate, the officiating clergyman
has no option; and when its arrangements are
appropriate, he has only passively to adopt them as




LITURGICAL CULTIVATION.          299
his own. But the minister of a simpler worship,
inasmuch as he is deprived of these external aids,
needs, all the more, the internal aids of a good
taste, and a cultivated mind, that he may make all
that part of the services of the sanctuary which
relates to worship, as distinguished from discourse,
harmonize with itself, and with the service as a
whole. There are three topics which fall within
this department of Liturgies: namely, selections
from  Scripture, selections of hymns, and public
prayer.  We shall discuss them  in the order in
which they have been mentioned.
1. The reading of a portion, or portions, of
Scripture, though not so strictly a liturgical act, is
nevertheless not a rhetorical one. It is true, that
praise is not always offered to God, in and by this
service. On the contrary, preceptive instruction is
very often imparted to the people, in the Scripture
lessons; and, in this respect, the service seems to
belong more to the work of the orator, than to
the work of the audience. Still, it does not properly fall within the province of Rhetoric; the principles and canons of Homiletics have nothing to do
with this part of Divine service. It must be regulated by the principles of taste.  The matter is
already formed and fixed in the Scriptures, and
there is no call for original composition. It only
remains, therefore, to make a suitable choice; and
hence, the topic itself falls most properly into the
general department of Liturgics.  The principal




300                HOMILETICS.
directions to guide the clergyman in the selection
of Scripture lessons, are the following.
In the first place, when there is nothing that
specially calls for a different selection, he should
choose a portion of Scripture that gives expression
to some feeling,-such as the feeling of praise, of
thanksgiving, of adoration, of contrition.  The
Psalms are largely composed of such matter, and
ought to be selected for the reading before sermon,
more often than they are, by the clergy of most
Protestant denominations. The great excellence of
the English liturgy, consists in the size of the
Psalter embodied in it.  The Psalms are better
adapted than any other compositions, to elicit the
Christian feeling of an assembly.  They range
over the whole field of the affections, and every
mood of the Christian heart finds a full and gushing
utterance in them.  "The harp of David was fullstringed, and every angel of joy and of sorrow
swept over the chords, as he passed."  They ought,
therefore, to be made the means of worship; of
stirring the emotions of a Christian assembly, and
of preparing it for the lyrical hymn or psalm.
There are other portions of the Scriptures, also,
like the glowing predictions of the prophets, concerning the future of the Church, which partake of
this characteristic of the Psalms.  These should be
selected by the preacher, so that the Bible, in all its
variety of emotional utterance, may become the
organ through which the Christian assembly gives




LITURGICAL CULTIVATION.         301
expression to its own emotions, in the sanctuary
In this way, the Bible itself becomes the liturgy.
Secondly, there may be, occasionally, a special
reason for selecting a doctrinal, or an historical portion of Scripture, and hence the clergyman ought
not to be rigidly confined to such portions of the
Bible as we have mentioned.  It may be, that his
sermon is of such a special character, as to require
the reading of a long passage, which stands in close
connection with it. In this particular instance, if
he think proper, he may make this service of reading somewhat less liturgical, and more didactic, than
would ordinarily be desirable.
Lastly, whether a liturgical, or a didactic, portion
of Scripture be chosen, it should be congruous with
the general tone of the services. If, for example,
the attention of the audience is to be directed, in
the sermon, to an encouraging, cheering, or joyful
subject, the psalm selected should be one of thanksgiving. To preface a sermon of such a character,
with a mournful and penitential psalm, would be
inapposite, and would defeat the end in view.  The
passage to be read, should be carefully chosen, and
carefully perused, beforehand, by the preacher. He
should never look up his Scripture lessons, in the
pulpit.
2. The choice of Hymns is the second topic,
under the head of Liturgics.  The principal directions, which we mention, for securing an excellent
selection, are the following.  First, the clergyman




302                HOMILETICS.
must acquire a correct knowledge of the nature of
lyric poetry. Many educated men are deficient in a
thorough understanding of this species.  Epic and
dramatic poetry absorb the interest of students, to
the neglect of lyric.  They are more familiar with
Homer, Shakspeare, and Milton, than with Pindar,
and Burns.  This is owing, partly, to the fact that,
as a species, lyric poetry is of a lower grade, than
epic or dramatic, and has engaged less eminent
poetic powers.  But, after allowing that the epic
and the drama are loftier performances than the
ballad and the song, and that the genius of Pindar
and Burns is not equal to that of Homer and
Shakspeare, it is still true that lyric poetry does
not, commonly, receive that degree of attention
from  educated men, which its intrinsic excellence
and importance deserve. -For, in some respects,
the lyric comes nearer to the ideal perfection of
poetry, than any other species.  As works of art,
as exquisitely complete wholes, the hymns of Pindar stand at the head of human compositions. The
range of thought is very limited, it is true, in the
lyrical ode, -but this permits the poet to impart an
ideal completeness, and finish, to it, that are not to
be found in works that are more extended in their
range.  We never shall see a perfect epic, or a
perfect drama, because of the variety and amount
of the contents.  But, the hymns of Pindar, and
the odes of Horace, if they are not absolutely
perfect, do yet, it is universally conceded, approach




LITURGICAL CULTIVATION.          303
so near to the ideal, that he should possess the very
highest aesthetic culture who presumes to assert their
imperfection, and ventures to attempt to make good
his assertion, by pointing out defects.
The clergyman must devote a proper attention
to this species of poetry, in order to know, both by
natural feeling and cultivated instinct, what is lyrical, and what is not. This kind of verse is made
to be sung. Other species have no special connection with music; but this is nothing, unless it can
be set to tune.  That poetry which is not fitted to
be accompanied with the human voice, and the
musical instrument, is not lyrical. Tried by this test,
much poetry which bears this name is not worthy
of it. It is too didactic, or it is not the expression of feeling, or it may be emotive, yet not a tuneful utterance of emotion. The preacher must, therefore, understand the general subject of lyric poetry.
He ought to familiarize his mind, with the best
specimens in Ancient and in Modern literature, and
with the most philosophic and genial criticism upon
them.  He should study the odes of Pindar and
Horace, for the sake of the perfusive grace, the
high artistic finish, and, in the instance of Pindar,
the impassioned fire and energy. He should study
the Old English Ballads, not so much for their
artistic merits, as for their simplicity, artlessness,
and heartiness. He should study the little gushes
of song, that are scattered like gems here and there,
in the pages of Shakspeare; wonderful composi



.304               HOMILETICS.
tions, which, in the midst of the complexity and
combinations of the mighty drama, strike the
mind, very much as the sweet liquid notes of the
human voice fall upon the ear, in the lull of the
tumult of the orchestra,-musical as golden bells
heard in the silence of the band. He should study
the songs of Burns, until he feels their immeasurable superiority to the artificial sentiment, and
melody of Thomas Moore.
In the second place, while seeking this knowledge of the nature of lyric poetry from profane literature, the clergyman should examine, very carefully, the lyric poetry of the Christian Church.
Doctor Johnson has asserted that devotional poetry
not only does not please, but, from the nature of the
case, cannot please.  Probably, this is the greatest
blunder ever made by a critic. For what judgment
could be more erroneous, than that religious feeling, the purest and highest form of emotion, is incompatible with a melodious utterance of itself.
The fact that, universally, the higher we ascend in
the scale of existence, the more rhythmical, melodious, and harmonious, we find every thing becoming,
would lead to the exactly contrary judgment, and
to the affirmation that the sacred ode is, in its own
nature, as much superior to the secular, as the ideas
of eternity are grander than those of time, and the
emotions of heaven higher than those of earth.
The preacher must begin the study of sacred
lyrics, by imbuing his mind with the spirit of




LITURGICAL CULTIVATION.         305
Hebrew poetry. If a man like Milton drew inspiration from this source, for the purposes of his
merely human art, most certainly should the preacher
go to it for liturgical culture. The lyric writers of
the Christian Church have been distinguished for
excellence, in proportion as they have reproduced
the Hebrew Psalter, in the forms of modern metrical composition. The finest hymns of Watts are
Hebrew, in their matter and spirit. Modern poetry,
it is true, exhibits a variety in its forms, that renders it a more complex and elaborate portion of literature, than Hebrew poetry; but it is far inferior
to the Hebrew, in respect to the lyrical tone,-especially that solemn lyrical tone, which alone is suited
to the sanctuary.  The modern poet must go to
the song of Deborah, and the psalms of David, for
triumphant and jubilant praise, for the " seven-fold
chorus of hallelujahs, and harping symphonies."
Next in order, the preacher ought to study the
hymns of the Patristic, and the Mediaeval Church.
His examination of these should be discriminating,
as his examination of the Fathers and the Schoolmen themselves, should be. The modern theologian
and preacher, too generally, has committed an error
in regard to this portion of Christian history.  He
has either neglected these ages altogether, or else
he has devoted an exclusive and extravagant attention to them. Both of these periods belong to the
history of the Christian Church, and, as such, in
their proper place, deserve and challenge the atten
20




306               HOMILETICS.
tion of the Modern. They contain, as every thing
human does, a mixture of truth and error; and,
probably, a more confused and remarkable mixture
than other ages.  This characteristic appears in
their Hymnology. Some of the Greek hymns of
Synesius, for example, are a mixture of pantheism
and theism. The piercing wail of guilt, and cry
for mercy, is blended with the dim and dreamy
worship of mere naturalism.  Much of the later
devotional poetry of the Latin Church, is vitiated
by Mariolatry and saint worship. But such grand
chants as the Gloria in excelsis, and the Te Deum
laudamws, if frequently read and meditated in the
sounding and rhythmical Latin, lift up the mind for
praise and adoration, like the pealing tones of an
organ, and impart a craving for simple and lofty
verse, in the sanctuary. The solemn majesty and
mystery of the Trinity, as expressed in the hymns
of Hilary and Ambrose, awe the soul in profound
reverence and self-abasement; while the earnest
and vivid Christology of St. Bernard, imbues the
heart with a tender and precatory feeling.  The
two greatest lyrics of the Mediseval Church, are
the Stabat Mater and the Dies irce. The former
exhibits too much of the peculiar doctrine of
Romanism, in combination with gospel truth, to
be expressive of a pure religious feeling; but the
Dies irce is a most spiritual utterance of human
guilt, without any reference to the intercession of
the saints, or of the Virgin Mother. This latter




LITUTGIaAL CULTIVATION.          307
hymn is worthy of the frequent perusal of any
Protestant.  It is sometimes employed in Protestant
services, on the Continent of Europe.  Tholuck, in
a note to one of his sermons, alludes to the sensation
produced by the singing of this hymn, in the
University Church at Halle, and remarks, that " the
impression which was made by the last words, as
sung by the University'choir alone, will be forgotten by no one."  An American clergyman who
happened to be present on this occasion, says that
"it was impossible to refrain from tears, when, at
the seventh stanza, all the trumpets ceased, and the
choir, accompanied by a softened tone of the organ,
sung those touching lines:
Quid sum miser tune dicturus?
Quem patronum rogaturus,
Cum vix justus sint securus?"
The Hymnology of the German Church is extremely rich.  Some of the hymns of Luther, and
Paul Gerhard, stand second to none in all the
Christian centuries. But the English Hymnology
must, of course, receive most attention from  the
preacher, in order to a proper liturgical cultivation.
It is the product of that English mind in whose
characteristics he shares, and belongs to that English
literature which has done more than any other, to
make and mould him, intellectually, and morally.
There is much religious poetry, and some of it lyric,
composed by the writers of Elizabeth's age, that




308                HOMILEMICS.
deserves constant and careful perusal. The works
of Spenser, Raleigh, Ben Jonson, Herbert, Vaughn,
Herrick, Drummond, and Milton, contain devotional
hymns of high merit, both as respects matter and
form; and he who looks through a collection of
English poetry, like that of Chalmers, for example,
will be surprised to discover, here and there, a
religious lyric breathing a most penitential or adoring spirit, in the very midst of the most earthly
and perhaps erotic poetry.'
The Hymn-Book of the Church to which he
ministers should, however, receive most of the clergyman's study. After deducting all the prosaic matter
that is to be found in it, there still remains a
large remainder of genuine lyric poetry.  With
this the preacher ought to be intimately familiar, occasionally enlivening his own discourse, with a glowing, or a swelling, or a thrilling stanza, and always
selecting for purposes of worship, those hymns
which, while they give vivid and vital expression
to Christian emotions and affections, also " voluntary
move harmonious numbers."  That acquaintance
with the denominational Hymn-Book, and that deep
interest in it, which are seen in the Methodist clergy
and the Methodist Church; deserve to be imitated
by all.  It is a much safer, and more truly rational
interest, than that which some clergies and denominations show towards formularies of worship. The
IHERIoKx, and DnRMMOND- of Hawthornden, afford examples.




LITURGICAL CULTIVATION.         309
hymns of Charles Wesley, the sweet singer of Methodism, have done much towards the production of
that peculiar intensity of the religious life in Meth.
odism, which led Chalmers to define it, as " Christianity in earnest."  By thus studying the Hymnology of the Church,-of the Jewish, and the
entire Christian Church,-the preacher is to obtain
that taste and feeling for sacred lyric poetry, which
will guide him, as by a'sure instinct, to the choice
of the best and most appropriate hymns.
Without laying down a rule to be servilely
followed, perhaps, the choice of hymns for public
worship should be somewhat as follows. The first
hymn should be one of general praise, serving to
inspire feelings of worship and adoration towards
God, as the Being to be worshipped. The second
may be either of the same character as the first,
or, may refer to the discourse which is to follow.
The third and last hymn should have this reference.
Whether the second hymn should be didactic, or
not, will depend upon the character of the sermon.
Probably, in the majority of instances, the first and
second hymns should be strictly liturgical, offerings
of praise and thanksgiving; the last hymn, alone,
being didactic and applicatory of the sermon.
3. The third topic under the head of Liturgics,
is Prayer. This subject deserves a fuller treatment,
than is possible within these limits. Bishop Wil.
kins, Dr. Watts, and Witsius, have composed very
sensible treatises upon it, but a good work, suited




310                  HOMILETICS.
to the wants of those Protestant churches which
use extemporaneous prayers, is still a desideratum..
The following rules involve, perhaps, the principal
points to be regarded by the clergyman, in his public petitions.
First, he ought to study method in prayer, and
observe it.  A prayer should have a plan, as much
as a sermon.  In the recoil from the formalism  of
written and read prayers, Protestants have not paid
sufficient attention to an orderly, and symmetrical
structure, in public supplications.  Extemporaneous
prayer, like extemporaneous preaching, is too often
the product of the single instant, instead of devout
reflection, and premeditation.  It might, at first
glance, seem that premeditation and supplication
are incongruous conceptions; that prayer must be
a gush of feeling, without distinct reflection. This
is an error.  No man, no creature, can pray well
without knowing what he is praying for, and whom
he is praying to.  Every thing in prayer, and especially in public prayer, ought to be well considered
and well weighed.'
So far as concerns the method, and  plan of
prayer, in the sanctuary, the following from Bishop
Wilkins's treatise, is judicious.  The first thing in
a form of prayer is the preface: consisting first, of
the titles of invocation, together with some brief
1 CHALMEES was accustomed, offer. See Appendix B. to the
occasionally, to write out the second volume of his Life.
prayer in full, which he was to




LITURGICAL CULTIVATION.          311
amplification of them, mostly in Scripture phraseology, sufficient to impress the Divine character, upon
the mind both of him who leads, and those who
accompany, in public worship; secondly, of some
general acknowledgment of personal unworthiness;
and, thirdly, of supplication for the Divine assistance, and attention. After this preface, follow the
principalparts of prayer: 1, confession; 2, petition;
3, thanksgiving. The order in which these come,
is not uniform. There will be transposition, according to circumstances. In some prayers, confession
will predominate; in others petition; in others
thanksgiving.  The preacher should  study his
prayer, in order that he may vary, and change,
with the circumstances in which he is called to officiate.  Some clergymen  pray but one prayer,
through their whole ministry.  It contains just so
much preface, and just so much confession, petition,
and thanksgiving, and always in the same order.
In reality, it is a form, which is repeated from habit
and memoriter.  It is destitute of the excellences
of written prayers, and yet is as monotonous, and
uniform, as they are.
Secondly, the clergyman must avoid verbiage
and repetition, in prayer.  "Vain repetitions " are
denounced by our Saviour, and although he probably referred primarily, to conscious and intended
repetitions, the spirit of his direction would exclude
that thoughtless, and indolent reiteration of the
same thqughts, which is one of the principal faults




312                HOMILETICS.
in extemporaneous prayers. It is better to stop,
even before the time allotted to prayer has expired,
than to attempt to fill it up with verbiage. In this
connection, the habit of didactically discoursing
in prayer, should be guarded against.  The suppliant for the Divine mercy, sometimes turns into the
instructor of the Divine omniscience. The clergyman should ever remember that God " knows what
we have need of, before we ask Him," and not enlarge, and explain to Him. No one can do this,
while under a realizing sense of the character of
Him, with whom he has to do. It is only when
the clergyman forgets God, and addresses the congregation, that the prayer degenerates into a sermon.
Thirdly, the preacher must study directness in
matter, and manner. This does not imply familiarity, but simple earnestness, in the creature's address
to the throne of grace. Familiarity is the worst of
faults in prayer.  Circumlocution, paraphrase, and
repetition, are not so reprehensible, as an irreverent
approach to the Eternal Jehovah. On the contrary,
a direct address to God is commanded, and is proper,
in the creature. The suppliant should first know
clearly what he needs, and what he wants, and
the more importunate his entreaty, the more immediate his petition for it, the more appropriate and
acceptable is his prayer. One chief reason why
supplication for spiritual blessings, such as the conversion of men, is not answered, lies in the fact, that
too often there is no clear understanding of the




LITURGICAL CULTIVATION.           313
nature of the blessing, and no direct petition for it.
That Being who searches the heart, and knows the
entire consciousness of the man in the attitude of
prayer, sees that there is no distinct conception
of the thing implored, therefore no strong desire,
and  therefore no  strong  cry and supplication.
Such a prayer is continually discoursing about the
topic, or enlarging upon the blessing, but does
not  ask for it.  "Askl" really aks, "and ye shall
receive."
The clergyman should not only school himself
in respect to this point, but he should school his
church likewise. A  word upon this topic, though
not strictly in place, in this connection, may perhaps
be allowable.  There is nothing which infuses such
life into the prayer-meeting, as earnestness and
directness. In times of awakened religious feeling,
this characteristic appears.  The same blessings
that have been the subject matter of prayer,'for
many years it may be, are still prayed for; there is
no great change in the general phraseology of the
petitioners; but their minds are awake, and they
now know what they need, and what they desire,
and a direct, earnest, and comparatively brief prayer
is the consequence. The clergyman, by his own
example, and if need be by precept, should seek to
impress this characteristic upon his church, so that
the assemblings together for meditation land prayer
may be efficacious means of grace, and of blessing.
He ought to cultivate, in the minds and hearts of




314                 HOMILETICS.
Christians, a disposition to be distinct, direct, sincere, and brief, in supplication.
In this way, the number of those who participate in this exercise, will become much greater than
it now is.  The entire church will pray, instead of
a few persons; there will be more variety in the
petitions, and more pertinency in them; and, through
the action and reaction of mind upon mind, greater
fervor and sincerity will mark the devotional services
of the Christian brotherhood.
We have thus passed rapidly over the department of Liturgies; touching upon those principal
topics which are connected with worship, as distinguished from discourse, or address, to the audience.
The subject deserves special attention, from the
clergy of a simple ritual. The impressiveness, and
effectiveness of non-liturgical worship, must depend,
mainly, upon the taste and judgment of the individual clergyman.  He has no fixed, and imposing
forms, by which to be guided, inevitably, in the
conduct of public worship.  He, therefore, specially
needs a judicious discipline, in this direction,-a
liturgical culture obtained in the general mannei
that has been indicated.  The clergyman, then, carries his rule with him. He has an unwritten liturgy,
in his own cultivated and pure taste, which he is at
perfect liberty to vary, with  times and  circumstances.  One who has acquired this true liturgical
sense and feeling, will render the services of the
sanctuary impressive, by their appropriateness, by




LITUMGICA   UL TIVATION.       315
their symmetry, and by that unity which we have
seen to be the inmost essence of beauty. Without
drawing away the attention of the congregation
from more important matters, as a formal and splendid ritual is apt to do, such a minister will throw a
sacred, and spiritual atmosphere, over the entire
services of the sanctuary, more impressive than
even the dim religious light of the cathedral.








PASTORAL THEOLOGY.








PASTORAL THEOLOGY.
CHAPTER I.
DEFINITION OF PASTORAL THEOLOGY.
IT is a convenient, and accurate classification,
which distinguishes the scientific part of clerical
discipline, from the practical. All that side of
the clergyman's training, which relates to strictly
theoretic branches,-for example, to philology, philosophy, and theology,-falls under the denomination
of theological science; while all that part which relates to the public application of this theoretic culture, is practical theology. The subject of Homiletics
would therefore be comprehended under this latter,
because sermonizing is the popular presentation of
theological science. Sacred Rhetoric supposes that
the speculative principles of the Christian religion
have been previously mastered, by means of studies,
and methods, that are more abstract than its own.




320            PASTORAL THEOLOGY.
Having been made a theologian, by the severer
training, and the more fundamental discipline, the
clergyman is then to -be made an orator, by the more
popular and practical culture of Homiletics.
But, the clergyman bears still another character,
and performs still another kind of labor, which likewise belongs to the practical side of his profession.
He is not only a preacher, whose function it is to
impart public instruction before an audience, but
he is also a pastor, whose office it is, to give private
and personal advice from house to house, and to
make his influence felt in the social and domestic
life of his congregation.  The clergyman is an
-orator, and therefore needs the homiletical education that corresponds.  He is also a pastor, and
hence requires the special discipline that qualifies
him to watch over the personal religious interests
of his flock. It is the object of the department of
Pastoral Theology, to prepare him for this part of
his work. The formation of clerical character, and
the discharge of strictly parish duties, are, then, the
principal topics in this branch of inquiry.
We define Pastoral Theology to be, that part of
the clerical curriculum which relates to the clergyman's pcarochial life.  It contemplates him  in his
more retired capacity, as one who has the care of
individual souls. The pastor is a curate, and Pas
toral Theology relates to the clergyman's curacy.
These  terms, which  are not so familiar to the
American as to the English ear, if taken in their




DEFINITION.               321
etymological  signification, denote  precisely  the
more private character and duties of the clergyman. They are derived from the Latin cu'rare, to
take care of. A curate is one who has the care of
souls.1  The apostle Paul speaks of "watching for
souls." The pastor, or curate, is a watcher for
souls.
Having regard, then, as it does, to this important side of the clerical vocation, and these important aspects of clerical labor, the department of
Pastoral Theology deserves very careful study. In
its own place, it is as necessary to a complete
professional discipline, as the more imposing departments of sacred philology, and dogmatic theology.  Imperfect education, in  respect to the
pastoral and parochial duties of the clergyman,
must lead to the neglect of them; and this will
seriously impair his influence, and, in the review of
his ministry, awaken many poignant regrets. The
limits of this treatise do not allow more than the
briefest discussion, of a few cardinal points; but we
feel that we shall have accomplished much, even if
we should do nothing more than direct attention to
the well-known work of Richard Baxter.  The
Reformed Pastor of this wonderful and successful
minister, should be read through once in each year,
by every clergyman. "If," says John Angell James,
"I may, without impropriety, refer to the service
The German Seelsorger expresses the same idea.
21




322              PASTORAL THEOLOGY.
which, during fifty-four years, I have been allowed
to render to our great Master, I would express my
thankfulness in being able, in some small degree, to
rejoice that the conversion of sinners has been my
aim.  I have made, next to  the Bible, Baxter's
Reformed Pastor my rule, as regards the object of
my ministry."'
1 A valuable collection in one has been published at Oxford, by
volume, of tracts and treatises Rivington & Co.
pertaining to Pastoral Theology,




CHAPTER II.
RELIGIOUS CHARACTER AND HABITS OF THE CLERGYMAN.
THE foundation of influence in parochial life is
in the clergyman's character, and the root of clerical
character is piety. The first theme, consequently,
that demands attention, in the discussion of the
subject of Pastoral Theology, is the religious chaqracter, and habits, of the clergyman.
The calling and profession of the clergyman demand eminent spirituality. An ordinary excellence
is not sufficient. The Christian minister, by his very
vocation, is the sacred man in society. By his very
position, he is forbidden to be a secular member of
community, and hence he must not be secular, either
in his character or his habits. It is true, that the
clergy are not a sacred caste, yet they are a sacred
profession.  Hence, society expects from them  a
ministerial character and bearing, and respects them
just in proportion as they possess and exhibit
it. The clergyman is sometimes called the "parson."  Though  the word has fallen into disuse,
owing to the contemptuous employment of it, by




324             PASTORAL THEOLOGY.
the infidelity of the eighteenth century, its etymology is instructive in this connection. Parson is
derived from the Latin persona. The clergyman is
the person, by way of emphasis, in his parish,  lie
is the marked and peculiarly religious man, in the
community.'  His very position and vocation, therefore, malte it incumbent upon him to be eminently
spiritual.  His worldly support is provided by the
Church, to whom  he ministers, and his acceptance
of it is an acknowledgement upon his part, that a
secular life is unsuitable for him, and a demand upon
their part, that he devote himself entirely to religion, and be an example to the flock.  Every clergyman ought to be able to say to his congregation,
with the sincerity, and the humility, with which St.
Paul said it to  the Thessalonians, "Ye are witnesses, and God also, how  holily, and justly, and
unblamably we behaved ourselves among you."
Not only does the ministerial calling and profession require eminent piety, but it tends to produce
it. By his very position, the clergyman is greatly
assisted in attaining to a superior grade of Christian character, and if, therefore, he is a worldly and
unspiritual man, he is deeply culpable.  For, so far
as his active life is concerned, his proper professional
business is religious. The daily' labor of the clergyOne reference, also, was to the ed, and he is himself a body cortemporalities of the Church. " He porate, in order to protect and
is called parson (persona),because, defend the rights of the Church,
by his person, the Church, which which he personates."
is an invisible body, is represent



RELIGIOUS CHARACTER.           325
man is as truly and exclusively religious, as that of
the farmer is agricultural, or that of the merchant
is mercantile. This is highly favorable to spirituality. Ought not one to grow in grace, whose daily
avocations bring him into communication with the
anxious, the thoughtful, the convicted soul, the rejoicing heart, the bereaved, the sick, and the dying?
Ought not that man to advance in the love and
knowledge of God, whose regular occupation from
day to day it is, to become acquainted with the strictly religious wants, and condition of the community,
and to minister to them?  If the daily avocations of
the mechanic have a natural tendency to make him
ingenious, and inventive, if the daily avocations of.
the merchant tend to make him  enterprising, and
adventurous, do not the daily avocations of the
clergyman tend to make him devout?  The influence of active life upon character is, in its own place
and manner, as great as that of contemplative life.
A man is unconsciously moulded and formed by his
daily routine of duties, as really as by the books he
reads, or the sciences he studies. Hence, a faithful
performance of clerical duties contributes directly
to spirituality.
Again, so far as the contemplative life of the
clergyman is concerned, his profession is favorable
to superior piety. In discussing the subject of
Homiletics, we have seen that the clergyman, in
order to successful sermonizing, must absorb himself in theology, must induce and maintain a theo



326           PASTORAL  THEOLOGY.
logical mood, must acquire the homiletic spirit and
talent, and make all his culture subservient to
preaching. But such a life as this, fiomn day to day,
naturally affects the moral character. The studies
of the theologian, and preacher, work directly towards the growth of piety. Those who unduly
magnify the practical, to the undervaluation of the
doctrinal and theoretic, in theology, are wont to
make the objection, that study is unfavorable to
devotion. There cannot be a more erroneous judgment than this. The studious, thoughtful Christian
is always more unworldly and sincere, than the
Christian who reads but little, and thinks still less.
The pastor can employ no means more certain to
sanctify his flock, than reading and reflection, upon
their part. Just in proportion as he is able to induce the habit of studying the Scriptures, and of
perusing  religious and doctrinal books, will he
spiritualize the church to which he ministers.
This is equally true of the clergyman. Study,
close, persevering study, improves his religious character. An indolent minister is not a spirituallyminded man. He who neglects his library, and
passes by Biblical and theological science, to occupy
himself with the frivolities of society, or with the
light literature of the day, cannot keep his mind
and heart in a very high state of devotion. There
is something in a regular routine of careful investigation, eminently fitted to deepen and strengthen the
religious character. The mind converses with solid




RELIGIOUS CHARACTER.           327
verities, and is thereby preserved from  what the
Scriptures call "vain imaginations."  It does not
ramble and wander in the fields of fancy, but is busy
with sober, serious truth. How much more favorable to the growth of piety is such a studious life,
than an indolent and day-dreaming one. For the
mind must do something. If it is not occupied with
great and good themes, then it will be busy with
small and frivolous ones. This is specially true of
the clergyman. He has no secular occupations to
engross him, like those of the farmer, the mechanic,
and the merchant. He does not rise up in the
morning, and go out among men, to his work, until
the evening. His time is all at his own disposal,
and if he does not devote it, with fidelity, to the active and contemplative duties of his profession, it
will hang upon his hands. The consequence will
be, a restless, vagrant, and inefficient mental action.
So far as his intellect is concerned, he will drag out
a feeble and unhappy life. And is this favorable
to growth in holiness? Is this the sort of mortification that is profitable to godliness? It is no
more profitable than the dull, paralytic existence of
the monk, in his dark, damp cell.
The fact is, that the holiest men, in the Christian
Church, have been the most studious men. Those
spiritual and heavenly-minded divines, who accomplished most in the ministry of their own day, and
who have been the lights and guides of the ministry up to this time, were men of great learning.




328           PASTORAL THEOLOGY.
Augustine, Calvin, Owen, Baxter, and Edwards,
were hard students. Henry, in his life of Calvin,a work which deserves to be read, and pondered, by
every clergyman,-furnishes striking examples of
the studiousness of this great, and intensely spiritual man. He was so assiduous in completing his
Institutes, that he often passed whole nights without sleeping, and days without eating. Beza remarks, that for many years Calvin took only one
meal a day, and then only a very sparing one,
assigning, as a reason, the weakness of his stomach.
Though, from his connection with the Reformation
generally, and his relation to the Genevese commonwealth particularly, Calvin was compelled to perform as much public civil labor as a modern secretary of state, he yet found time to write a commentary upon nearly the whole Bible, to carry on learned
and powerful controversies with all sorts of errorists
and heretics, to compose a system  of divinity,
which has exerted more influence in the world than
any other uninspired production, and, besides all
this, to preach, probably, more than three times the
number of sermons delivered by the minister of the
present day, in the same length of time. Henry
remarks of his labors at Geneva, that in addition
to his literary employments, such as the composition
of treatises, didactic and polemic, and an extensive
correspondence with kings and cabinet ministers, in
behalf of the Church, he had to attend to the business of the court of morals, or the consistory, to




RELIGIOUS CHARACTER.           329
that arising from the assembly of the clergy, and
from his connection with the congregation,-a great
amount of locil, legislative, and judicial business.
Three days in the week, he lectured on theological
subjects, and every alternate week, he preached
daily. When the day had been wholly occupied
in business, the quiet hours of the night remained
to him, and, allowing himself a brief repose, he
would continue his studies. Writing to Farel from
Strasburg, Calvin says: "When the messenger
was ready to take the beginning of my work, with
this letter, I had about twenty leaves, to look
through. I had, then, to lecture and preach, to
write four letters, make peace with some persons
who had quarrelled with each other, and answer
more than ten people, who came to me for advice.
Forgive me, therefore, if I write only briefly."
Baxter has left a larger body of theological
composition, for the use of the Church, than any
other English divine; and how much he accomplished, in the way of preaching, and of pastoral
work, is well known. Though his early education
was neglected, and he did not receive a collegiate
training, he was one of the most studious, and
learned of men. He is generally known by his
more popular, and practical writings, and one who
had read these alone, might infer that Baxter was
distinguished only for a vivid intellect, and a zeal.'HEBnY: Life of Calvin, I. p. 424.




330              PASTORAL THEOLOGY.
ous heart.  But, if any one will study his strictly
theological treatises, he will discover evidence in
every line, of the most severe discipline, and the
most patient and extensive reading. Besides the
close and critical study of the Scriptures, in the
original tongues, Baxter was well versed in the
Pagan theologies and philosophies, in the speculations of the Christian Fathers, and in the theology
and philosophy of both the Schoolmen, and the
Reformers.   The familiarity which Baxter shows
with  the Scholastic philosophy and  theology, is
remarkable.  His own mind was eminently analytic,
and one of the English prelates remarks of him,
that if he had lived in the Middle Ages, he would
have been one of the Schoolmen.  The plain, unadorned, and pungent periods of the Saint's Rest,
and the Call to the Unconverted, came from a mind
that was entirely master of the subtle metaphysics
of Thomas Aquinas."
Now we hold, and affirm, that this severe study
fostered the piety of Calvin, and Baxter.  If we
could suppose that, in the economy of grace, the
same degree of Divine influence is bestowed without
the use of means, as is bestowed with it, and should
assume the existence of the same degree, in the
1 "Next to practical divinity, brought things out of the darkno books so suited with my dis- ness of confusion. For I could
position as Aquinas, Scotus, Du- never, from my first studies, enrandus, Ockham, and their disci- dure confusion." BAXTER: Narpies; because I thought they nar- rative of his Life and Times.
rowly searched after truth, and




RELIGIOUS CHARACTER.            331
instances of Calvin and Baxter, that was actually
enjoyed by them, while subtracting the influence of
this close studiousness, upon their Christian character, it would undoubtedly lose much in depth, tho
roughness, and ripeness.  God bestows a blessing
upon intellectual seriousness, upon devotion to good
books, and upon a meditative spirit.  It is true,
that the learned man is oftentimes proud and unevangelical, but would ignorance render him any less so 
In order to convert a proud scholar, into a meek
and lowly Christian, is it only necessary to take
away his library, and strip him of his acquisitions?
Is ignorance the mother of devotion?
Having thus seen that the clerical calling, and profession, itself demands, and is favorable to, a superior religious character, we proceed to mention some
practical rules, for its cultivation in the clergyman.
1. The first rule is that which is to be given in
every age, and clime, to all grades of cultivation,
and all varieties of occupation, and  profession.
That which is the first maxim, for any and every
Christian, in keeping the heart, is also the first for
the clergyman.  He must maintain regular habits
of communion with God, in prayer.  The lettered
Christian is more liable to neglect this duty, and
privilege, than the unlettered, because his mind is
constantly conversant with divine truth, and he is
exposed to the temptation of substituting this, for
the direct expression of desires, and wants.  But, in
order to growth in religion, it is not enough for




332           PASTORAL THEOLOGY.
him  to meditate upon the Divine character and
religious doctrines; he must actually address God,
in supplication.  Undoubtedly, a serious mood may
be maintained, by being familiar with great and
lofty subjects, especially with the deep themes of
metaphysical philosophy.  The merely natural attributes of the Deity, have power to elevate, and
solemnize the human mind. Pantheism itself, introducing the soul to the immensity of nature, and
bringing it under the mysterious impression of
vast forces, and laws, and processes, operating in
infinite space and everlasting time, throws a shadow
over the spirit, and renders it grave in its temper.
Spinoza was a serious-minded person; so much so,
that Novalis, one of the most thoughtful of the secular German poets, named him the " God-intoxicated
man;" andc Schleiermacher himself, in one of his
Discourses upon Religion, calls him the "holy, persecuted Spinoza."' But the very delineation of his
character which follows, shows that this solemnity
of Spinoza's intellect originated in the awe, and
worship, of the impersonal Infinite,-a worship
that is meditative, indeed, but never supplicatory.
But, this is not religion. It has no root in the
knowledge, and acknowledgement, of the I AM. It
never holds actual communion, with the living and
true God. Naturalism  never prays. There is no
address, of one person to another person. For, this
LSCHLEIEIMACOHER: Redei iiber Religion, p. 48.




RELIGIOUS CHARACTER.                      333
communion with the Infinite;  this " mingling with
the universe," and  feeling, in the phrase  of Byron,
" what one cannot express, yet cannot all conceal;"
this worship  of mere immensity;  is not religion.
There is no personality, upon either side.  The man
who worships loses his individuality, and the God
who is worshipped has none to begin with.' And
this holds true, as we go  up  the scale.  It is not
sufficient to commune with  the truth; for truth is
impersonal.  We must commune with the God of
truth.   It is not enough to  study, and ponder, the
contents of religious books, of even the Bible itself.
We must actually address  the author of the Bible,
in entreaties and petitions.2
1 That there can be no penitence  upon prayer. In one of his youthfor sin, and confession, in panthe-  ful poems, speaking of God, he
ism, is self-evident; and, there-  had said,fore, so far as this is an element
in religion for man, religion is... Of whose all-seeing eye,
X.'7    Aught to demand, were impotence of
impossible for the pantheist.         mind.
2 Coleridge,during that pantheistic period in his mental history,  This sentiment he now so utterly
which is so interesting in its psy- condemned, that, on the contrary
chological aspects, fell into this  he told me, as his own peculiar
error respecting prayer, but after-  opinion, that the act of praying
wards criticized, and corrected it,  was the very highest energy of
with a depth of insight into the  which the human heart was canature of prayer, all the more pro- pable, praying, that is, with the
found, perhaps, for the previous  total concentration of the faculexperience.  A  writer in Tait's  ties;  and the great mass of
Magazine informs us, that on his  worldly men, and of learned men,
first introduction  to Coleridge, he pronounced absolutely inca"he reverted with strong com- pable of prayer."  Henry Nelson
punction, to a sentiment which he  Coleridge corroborates this statehad expressed  in  earlier days, ment, in the following interest



334                PASTORAL THEOLOGY.
There can, consequently, be no genuine religion
without prayer.  And  the  degree of religion, will
depend  upon  the depth  and  heartiness of prayer.
It does not depend so much upon the length, as the
intensity of the mental activity.   A  few  moments
of real and absorbing address to God, will accomplish more for the  Christian, in  the way of arming
him  with  spiritual power, than  days or years  of
reflection, without it. Hence, the power of ejaculatory  prayer.  In  the brief instant, the eye of the
creature catches the eye of the Creator, glances are
exchanged, and the Divine power and blessing flow
down into the soul. It is this direct vision of God,
and this direct imploring something of Him, which
ing anecdote. "'Mr. Coleridge, reckon, the most solemn faith
within two years of his death, in God, as a real object, the most
very solemnly declared to me his  arduous act of the reason and will.
conviction upon the same subject. O no, my dear, it is to Par., to
I was sitting by his bedside, one  PRAY as God would have us; this
afternoon, and he fell, an unusual is what, at times, makes me turn
thing for him, into a long account cold to my soul.  Believe me, to
of many passages of his past life, pray with all your heart and
lamenting some things, condemn-  strength, with the reason and the
ing   others, but  complaining  will, to believe vividly that God
withal, though very gently, of will listen to your voice through
the way in which many of his  Christ, and verily do the thing
most innocent acts had been  he pleaseth, thereupon —this is
cruelly  misrepresented.'But, the last, the greatest achievement
I have no difficulty,' said he,'in  of the Christian's warfare upon
forgiveness; indeed, I know not earth. Teach us to pray, 0 Lord!'
how  to say, with sincerity, the  And then he burst into a flood of
clause in the Lord's prayer, which  tears, and begged me to pray for
asks forgiveness as wcforgive. I  him."  COLERIDGE: Table Talk,
feel nothing answering to it in  Works, VI. 327
my heart.  Neither do I find, or




RELIGIOUS CHARACTEB.            335
renders the brief broken ejaculations of tne martyr,
so supporting, and triumphant over flesh and blood,
over malice and torture.  The martyr might meditate never so intensely and long, upon the omnipotence and the wisdom of God, and still be unable
to endure the flame, and the rack.  But the single
prayer, " Lord Jesus, receive my spirit," lifts him
high above the region of agony, and irradiates his
countenance with the light of angelic faces.
The most holy and spiritual teachers and preachers, in the Church, have been remarkable for the
directness, and frequency of their petitions.  They
were in the habit of praying at particular times in
the day, and also of ejaculatory prayer. Some of
them began the day with hours of continuous supplication, and then interspersed their labors with
brief petitions. Luther was distinguished for the
urgency, and frequency of his supplications.  His
maxim, bene orasse est 6enre studuisse, is familiar.
So easy and natural was it for him to pray, that
even in company with friends, and in the midst of
social intercourse, he would break out into petitions.
This was often the case, in times of trouble to the
Church, and the cause of the Reformation.   God
was then  present, without intermission, to  his
anxious and strongly exercised soul, and hence
he talked with Him, as a man talketh with his
friend. The peculiar vigor, and vitality of Luther's
religion, should be traced, not solely to his reception of a doctrine, even so vital a doctrine as justi



336            PASTORAL THEOLOGY.
fication by faith, but to direct intercourse with
God.
Consider, again, for an illustration, the Confessions of Augustine,-the most remarkable book,
of the kind, in all literature; a book, in which the
religious experience of one of the subtlest and deepest of human minds, allied with one of the mightiest
and most passionate of human hearts, is portrayed
in letters of living light.  But, it is full of prayer.
The autobiography is intermingled, all through, with
petitions and supplications. So natural had it become for that spiritual and holy man, to betake himself to his God,' that the reader feels no surprise, at
this mixture of address to man and address to God.
This work is well entitled Confessions, for, in it,
Augustine pours out his whole life, his entire existence, into the Divine ear.
Well, therefore, may we lay down, as the first
rule for the promotion of piety in the clergyman, the
great and standing rule for all Christians. Let him
not be satisfied with studying, and pondering, the
best treatises in theology, or with studying, and pondering, even the Bible itself. Besides all this, and
as the crowning and completing act, in the religious
life, let him actually, and really pray.  Let him not
be content with a theological mood, with a homiletic spirit, with a serious and  elevated mental
habitude.  Besides all this, and as a yet higher and
more enlivening mental process, let him truly, and
personally address his Maker and Redeemer, in sup



RELIGIOUS CHARACTER.             337
plication. Let him not attempt to promote piety
in the soul, by a merely negative effort,-by neglecting the cultivation of the mind, and undervaluing learning and study.  If the clergyman is not
spiritually-minded, and devotedly religious, with
learning and studiousness, he certainly will not be
so without it. Neglect of his intellectual and theological character, will not help his religious character. Let him  constantly endeavor to advance the
divine life in his soul, by a positive, and comprehensive method.  Let him  consecrate, and sanctify all
his study, and all his meditativeness, and all his
profound and serious knowledge, with prayer.
2. The second rule, for the cultivation of the religious character of the clergyman, is, that he pursue theological studies for personal conviction, and
improvement.  Melancthon, one of the most learned
and contemplative of divines, as well as one of the
most spiritual and best of men, makes the following
affirmation respecting himself: "I am  certain and
sure, that I never investigated theology as a science,
for any other purpose, primarily, than to benefit
myself."' If the clergyman would advance in spirituality, he must seek first of all, in the investigation
of divine truth, to satisfy his own mind, and put it
at rest, in respect to the great themes of God's
purposes, and man's destiny.  He must make the
theology of the Bible contribute to his own mental'Compare a similar remark himself, in his Narrative of his
which Baxter makes respecting Life and Timn.
22




338            PASTORAL THEOLOGY.
peace. That which a'man knows with certainty,
will affect his character.  If theological studies
result in an undoubted belief, a belief in which
there is no wavering or tremulousness, they will
result in solid religious growth.  To say nothing of
the influence of such a mode of pursuing the truth,
upon the manner of communicating it, its effect is
most excellent upon the preacher himself. We are,
in reality, influenced by divine truth, only in proportion as we thoroughly know it,' and thoroughly
believe it. Suppose that the theologian wavers in
his mind, in respect to the doctrine of endless punishment; will not his own religious character be
damaged, in proportion to the degree of his mental
wavering? Suppose that his mind is not made up,
and at rest; suppose that he hesitates, not outwardly, but in the thoughts of his heart, in respect
to the absolute perdition of the impenitent; will
not his own sense of the malignity of sin be less
vivid, and his own dread and abhorrence of it less
intense? Of course, he cannot preach the doctrine
to another, with that solemn earnestness, and that
impetus and momentum of statement, which causes
the hearer to believe, and tremble; but, he cannot
preach the doctrine to himself. He cannot fill his
own soul, with a profound fear of sin. Thorough
knowledge, and thorough personal belief of the
truth, are indispensable to the existence of sincere,
unhypocritical religion.
3. The third rule for the promotion of the reli



RELIGIOUS CHARACTER.             339
gious character of the clergyman is, that he perform
every clerical duty, be it in active or contemplative
life, with punctuality, uniformity, and thoroughness. There is discipline in labor. The scrupulous
and faithful performance of work, of any kind, improves both the mind and heart.  A thorough and
punctual mechanic, is a man of.character.  He possesses a mental solidity, and strength, that renders
him a noticeable man, and a reliable man, in his
sphere.  The habit of doing work uniformly well,
and uniformly in time, is one of the best kinds of
discipline.  He who has no occupation, or profession, must be, and as matter of fact is, an undisciplined man. And, in case one has an occupation,
or a profession, the excellence of his discipline is
proportioned to the fidelity, with which he follows
it.  If he half does his work, his moral character
suffers. If he does his work thoroughly, when he
does it at all, but does not perform it with punctuality, and uniformity (a thing which is, however,
not likely to happen), it is at the expense of his
moral power.
All this is true, in an eminent degree, of professional labor. Consider, for example, the contemplative side of the clergyman's life, the duties of
his profession  so far as concerns the preparation of sermons, and see how  directly, thorough.
ness, and  uniformity, in  this  department, promote his religious growth and character.  It is his
duty, as a preacher, to deliver two public discourses,




340             PASTORAL THEOLOGY.
in each week.  There may be, and there will be,
more or less of informal religious instruction to be
imparted, besides this; but the substance of the
clergyman's professional service, in the present state
of society, is performed, if he preaches two sermons,
two oratorical discourses, every Sabbath day. This
is the regular and established routine of clerical
life, on its literary and contemplative side.
Now, we affirm, that the careful and uniform
preparation of two sermons, in every six days, is a
means of grace.  It is, in its very nature, adapted
to promote the piety of the clergyman. Punctual
and faithful sermonizing fixes his thoughts intently
upon divine truth, and preserves his mind from
frivolous and vain wandering; it brings his feelings, and emotions, into contact with that which
is fitted to  enliven, and sanctify them; it overcomes the natural indolence of human nature, and
precludes a great deal of temptation to employ the
mental powers wrongly; it leaves no room  for the
rise of morbid and unhealthy mental exercises; it
makes the clergyman happy in his profession, and
strong in the truth, because he becomes, in the process, a thorough-bred divine; it gives him a solid
weight of character, and influence, that does not
puff him up with vanity, as mere popularity always
does, but makes him  devoutly thankful, and hum.
ble, before God; and, lastly, it promotes his piety,
by promoting his permanence in the ministry, for
the piety of a standard man, is superior to that of




RELIGIOUS CHARACTER.            341
a floating man. And thus we might go on specifying particulars, in regard to which, the conscientious
performance of clerical duties, in the study, tends
directly to build up a solid, and excellent religious
character..
There is a variety in the means which the clergyman must employ, in order to spiritual growth,
and they differ, in the degree of their importance.
We have assigned the first place, to prayer, but,
we do not hesitate to assign the second place,
to conscientious, and thorough sermonizing.  For,
what is such sermonizing, as we are pleading for,
but religious meditation, of the very best kind 
patient thought, upon that divine truth which is the
food, and nutriment of holiness? bringing out into.
the clear light of distinct consciousness, in our own
minds, and for the minds of others, the doctrines
of salvationS  There is no surer way, to become
interested in a truth, than to write a well-considered
discourse upon it. The careful composition of a
sermon, oftentimes brings the heart into a glow of
feeling, that gives itself vent in prayer. Hence, we
find some of the greatest preachers, among the
Fathers and the Reformers, writing down the prayer
that rose, spontaneously, from their overflowing
souls, making it the conclusion of their sermon.
Many of the sweetest and loftiest hymns of Watts,
were the lyrical utterance of what had passed
through his mind in sermonizing, and were, originally, appended to his discourses.  And the same




342            PASTORAL THEOLOGY.
thing appears, still more remarkably, in the writings
of the Schoolmen.  In these strictly scientific treatises, which do not pretend to be oratorical, or
applicatory to an audience, we meet, here and there,
a short prayer, full of earnestness, and full of vitality.  In Anselm, in Aquinas, and in Bernard, the
reader sees the spirit of these analytic metaphysical
men, at the close of its intense meditation upon
some mystery in the Divine being, or the Divine
administration, subdued, and awed, hushed, and
breathless, in supplication and adoration. The intensely theoretic turns into the intensely practical,
pure reason into pure emotion, dry light into vivid
life.
What has been said of the contemplative life of
the clergyman, applies with equal force to his active
life. A thorough and punctual performance of pastoral duties, is a direct means of grace. In the first
place, the conscientious delivery of the two sermons,
that have been composed in the conscientious manner spoken of, ministers to edification. Although
this is not strictly a pastoral work, yet it belongs to
the active, rather than the contemplative side of
clerical life. That clergyman who preaches his sermons with earnestness, feeling the truth of every
word he utters, will be spiritually benefited by this
part of his labors. Elocution, the mere delivery of
truth, which is too often destitute of both human
nature and divine grace, when emphatic, and sincere,
promotes piety.  Speaking in and by a sermon, with




RELIGIOUS CHARACTER.             343
ardor and feeling, to an audience, in respect to their
spiritual interests, as really sets the Christian affections into a glow, as speaking, in the same spirit, to
an individual in private intercourse.
In the second place, a faithful and constant performance of the duty of pastoral visiting, is a means
of grace.  No one who has had any experience in
this respect, will deny this for a moment. There
is nothing  better adapted to develope piety, to
elicit the latent principles of the Christian, than
going from house to house, and conversing with all
varieties of character, and all grades of intelligence,
upon the subject of religion. The colporteur's piety
is active and zealous; and the missionary, who is
generally obliged to teach Christian truth to individuals, is a fervid and godly man. The clergyman,
then, will grow in grace, by simple assiduity in the
discharge of this part of his professional labors.
Whenever he is called to the bed-side of an impenitent sinner, let him be thorough in dealing with that
endangered sinner's soul, affectionate but solemn in
probing his consciousness, perseveringly attentive
to the moral symptoms of the unregenerate man, on
the bed of languishing;-let him be a faithful pastor,
in each and every such instance, and he will be enriched with heavenly wisdom  and love. Let him
stand with the same uniform fidelity at the bed-side
of the dying Christian, dispelling momentary gloom
by the exhibition of Christ and his atonement, supplicating for more of the comfort of the Holy Ghost,




344            PASTORAL THEOLOGY.
in the soul of the dying saint; listening to the
utterances of serene faith, or of rapturous triumph;
let him submit his own soul, to the great variety of
influences that come off from the experience of the
sick, and the dying, and he will greatly deepen and
strengthen his own religious character. And, lastly,
the same fidelity and constancy, in conversing with
well and happy men, and therefore thoughtless men,
respecting their eternal interests, and in catechising
the children, conduces powerfully to the formation
of an unearthly, and a holy frame of spirit.
Here, then, in the clerical office itself, is a most
efficient means of grace. The clergyman needs not
to go up and down the earth, seeking for instrumentalities for personal improvement.  By his very
position, and daily labor, he may be made spiritual
and heavenly.  The word is nigh him, in his mouth
and in his heart. A single word, is the key to holiness in the clergyman. That word is fidelity,fidelity in the discharge of all the duties of his
closet, his study, and his parish. A somewhat noted
rationalist speaks of some men, as being " aboriginal
saints,"-men in whom virtue is indigenous. There
is no such man.  But, we may accommodate this
hypothesis of a natural virtue, and say, that the
clergyman, so far as his calling and position are
concerned, ought to be naturally holy. His whole
environment is favorable to piety. He ought to be
spontaneously religious.




CHAPTER III.
INTELLECTUAL CHARACTER AND HABITS OF THE CLERGYMAN.
IN the preceding chapter, we were led to speak
of intellectuality and studiousness, in their relations to the religious character of the clergyman;
taking the position that, provided he is faithful in
other respects, learning and contemplation are, in
themselves, favorable to spirituality and piety.  In
this chapter, we  are to consider, first, the typ/e of
intellectual character which the clergyman ought to
form, and, secondly, the means of forming it.
In respect to the style of mental culture, at
which the clergyman should aim, we sum up the
whole in the remark, that it should be choice.  It
should be the product of a very select course of
reading, and study, and hence of a finer grade than
the common intellectuality. In this country, and in
this reading age, almost every man is somewhat
literary. He is more or less acquainted with books,
and may be said to have an intellectual, as well as
a moral character. Two centuries ago, this was
less the case.  There was then, in society at large,




346           PASTORAL THEOLOGY.
very little of that enlightenment which is the effect
of miscellaneous and general reading.  Culture was
concentrated in a smaller number; and hence, in
the seventeenth century there was a higher intellectual character, in the learned professions, relatively
to that of the mass of society, than there is at the
present day. The masses have made more advance,
than the literary circles have.  The professional
classes, and the public, are now nearer a common
level, than they were two centuries ago; because,
while the public has enlarged its acquaintance with
literature, there  has not been a corresponding
progress, on the part of the professions. The learning and intellectual power of the theologians of the
present day, is not as much superior to that of
Richard Hooker, or John Howe, as the popular
knowledge of the nineteenth century, is superior to
that of the sixteenth and seventeenth.  Neither is
the mental culture of the upper class, in the literary
world, as choice now as formerly, because it partakes
more of the indiscriminateness of the common enlightenment. The great multiplication of branches
of knowledge, and of books, has made the professional man more of a miscellaneous reader, than he
once was. The consequence is, that the intellectual
character of the professions, while it has gained
something in variety and versatility, has lost in
quality.
In view of this fact, as well as on account of
the intrinsic desirableness of the thing itself, the




INTELLECTUAL CHARACTER.           347
clergyman ought to aim at choiceness, in his education.  He should strive after ripe scholarship, and
such mental traits as profundity, comprehensiveness,
clearness, and force. These are too often neglected,
for a more superficial culture, and a class of qualities
like versatility, vivacity, and brilliancy. These latter
are much more easily obtained, than the former.
They do not task the persevering power of the
mind, and, consequently, do'not draw out its best
capacity. The natural indolence of human nature,
is inclined to that species of intellectuality which is
most readily acquired, and which makes the greatest momentary impression upon others. The clergyman, the lawyer, and the author, are too content
with a grade of knowledge that is possessed by
society at large.  They are too willing to read the
same books, and no more; to look from the same
point of view, and no higher one; in short, to
reflect the general culture of the masses.  But,
a professional man has no right to pursue this
course.  Society does not set him upon an elevation above itself, and maintain him  there by its
institutions and arrangements, merely to have him
look through their eyes, and from their own lower
position.  Society does not, for example, place a
man upon the high position of a public religious
teacher, expecting that he will merely retail the
current popular knowledge.  Society looks up to
the clergyman as its religious instructor, and requires that he be in advance of its own information.




348            PASTORAL THEOLOGY.
It does not, indeed, insist that lie know all things,
and be ahead in all respects.  The lawyer, as he
listens to his clergyman, does not look for a more
extensive and accurate knowledge of law, than he
himself possesses.  The man  of business,-the
farmer, the manufacturer, and the merchant,-does
not expect from his minister, a shrewder and wider
information in the department of active life, than
he has himself.  But each and all expect, that in
regard to religion, and all those portions of human
knowledge which are most closely connected with
theology, the clergyman will be in advance of themselves. They demand that, in its own sphere, clerical culture be superior to that of society at large.
The clergyman should not, therefore, be content
with the average intellectuality.  He ought not to
loudly profess a choicer culture, than that of the
community, but he ought actually to possess it. As
the clerical position, and calling, demands a superior
and eminent religions character, so it demands a
superior and eminent intellectual character. If the
clergyman may not supinely content himself with
an ordinary piety, neither may he content himself
with an ordinary culture.
These remarks upon the kind and type of intellectual character, at which the clergyman must aim,
prepare the way for considering the chief means,
and methods of forming it.  And these may all be
reduced to one, namely, the daily, nightly, and everlasting stedy of standard authos. " Few," remarks




INTELLECTUAL CHARACTER.         349
John Foster, "have been sufficiently sensible of the
importance of that economy in reading, which
selects, almost exclusively, the very first order of
books. Why should a man, except for some special
reason, read a very inferior book, at the very time
that he might be reading one of the highest order?
A  man of ability, for the chief of his reading,
should select such works as he feels beyond his
own power to have produced.  What can other
books do for him, but waste his time and augment
his vanity 2"
Choice and high culture is the fruit of communion with the very finest, and loftiest intellects
of the race.  Familiarity with ordinary productions, cannot raise the mind above the common
level.  Like breeds like, and mediocre literature,
that neither descends deep, nor soars high, will leave
the student mediocre, and common-place, in his
thoughts. The preacher must love the profound
thinkers, and meditate upon them.  But, these are
not the multitude. They are the few. They are
those who make epochs, in the provinces in which
they labor. As we cast our eye along the history
of a department, be it poetry, or philosophy, or theology, a few  names represent, and contain, the
whole pith and substance of it.  Though there are
rmany others who are respectable, and many more
who are mere sciolists and pretenders, still, an
acquaintance or unacquaintance with them all would
not materially affect the sum of his knowledge, who




350            PASTORAL THEOLOGY.
should be thoroughly familiar with these leading
and standard writers.
The clergyman, therefore, must dare to pass by
all second-rate authors, and devote his days and
nights to the first-rate. No matter how popular or
brilliant a cotemporary may be, no matter how
active may be the popular mind in a particular
direction, it is his true course, to devote his best
powers to mastering those authors who have been
tried by time, and are confessedly the first intellects
of the race. If a great thinker actually arises in our
own age, we are not to neglect him because he is
a cotemporary.  Greatness should be recognized
whenever it arises.  But it must be remembered
that a single age does well, if it produces a single
historic mind,-a mind that makes an epoch, in the
history of the department to which it devotes itself.
And, moreover, it must be remembered, that we are
more liable to be prejudiced in favor of a cotemporary, than of a predecessor, and hence, that cotemporary judgments are generally modified, and sometimes reversed, by posterity. The past is secure.
A student who bends his energies to the comprehension of an author who is acknowledged to be
standard, by the consent of ages and generations of
scholars, takes the safe course to attain a choice
culture.
It is not possible to go over the whole field of
literature, in a single chapter, and we shall, therefore, confine ourselves to those three departments,




INTELLECTUAL CHARACTER.          351
which exert the most direct and important influence
upon the intellectual character of the clergyman.
These are poetry, philosophy, and theology. In
each of these, we shall mark out a course of
reading and study, which we think adapted to
result in a ripe cultivation.  And assuming that
the Bible, from  its difference in kind from  all
other literature, and its peculiar and paramount
claims upon the study of the clergyman, will be
the object of supreme  attention, the Book  of
books, we shall confine our remarks to uninspired
literature.
In poetry, the clergyman should study all his
days,- the great creative minds, namely, Homer, Virgil, Dante, Shakspeare, and Milton.  A brief sketch
of their characteristics, and specification of the ele.
ments of culture furnished by each, to go into the
combination we are seeking, will be in place here.
Homer is to be studied, as the head and representative of Greek poetry. The human mind reached
the highest grade of culture that is possible to
paganism, in the Greek race; and the inmost spirit
and energy of the Greek intellect, is concentrated
in the blind bard of Chios. Long-continued familiarity with the Iliad and Odyssey, imparts force,
fire, and splendor, to the mental character. It also
imparts freshness, freedom, and enthusiasm. Bouchardon said that while reading Homer, his whole
frame appeared to himself to be enlarged, and all
surrounding nature to be diminished to atoms. The




352           PASTORAL THEOLOGY.
function of Homer is to dilate, and kindle the intellect.
Virgil is to be studied as the embodiment of
dignity, and grace. Though hardly severe and massive enough, to be a full representative of the Roman mind, yet, upon the whole, he contains more
of its various characteristics, than any other single
Roman poet. He adequately represents imperial
Rome, if he does not monarchical and republican.
The dignity of the Roman character is certainly
exhibited in the Virgilian poetry. The influence
of familiarity with the AEneid, is highly refining.
Men of elegant traits, like Canning and Robert
Hall, relish and quote Virgil.  Every thing in
him is full of grace, and propriety. Even in the
Georgics, though the theme. is not favorable to the
exhibition of such qualities, they yet appear in
their height. As Addison says, the farmer in the
Georgics, tosses his dung about with an air of
dignity.
Dante is the great poet of the Middle Ages.
Though a Papist by birth and position, he is yet a
Protestant in temper and spirit. Dante and Michael
Angelo, so far as the fundamental traits of their
minds are concerned, were both of them blood-relations of Martin Luther. Intensity is the prominent
characteristic of the Divine Comedy. Familiarity
with Dante imparts a luminous distinctness, to the
operations and products of the mind. The poetry
of Dante is more speculative than that of any other




INTELLECTUAL CHARACTER.              353
poet.1  He was well acquainted with Aristotle's
philosophy, and exhibits the subtlety and analysis
of the Schoolmen themselves.  Indeed, the general
literary characteristics of the Middle Ages, are all
concentrated in the great Italian poet.
Shakspeare and Milton stand upon a common
level.  The English Parnassus, to use the figure of
Coleridge, has twin peaks that crown its summit.
Both alike deserve a life-long study,-Shakspeare,
for the breadth and subtlety of his thinking; Milton, for his loftiness and grandeur.
The English poets in this list, the clergyman
may read in their own tongue.  If he would be
perfect, he must study the others, in the tongues in
which they were born, and wrote.  With the Latin
of Virgil, he should be ashamed to be unfamiliar;
while it is to be remembered that dignity and
grace, being formal qualities, are more difficult to
be transfused into another language.  Dante has
been faithfully translated by Cary, and by frequent
perusal the student may, even through this medium,
thoroughly imbue his culture with the spirit of
the Divine Comedy.  Homer, so far as possible,
ought to be read in the original Greek; but if a
translation is to be employed, it should be that of
Chapman, one of the early English translators. It
lIt is also more theological, of the doctrines of sin and atonethan that of any other, unless we ment, for example, have not been
except Milton,-if indeed he is to made, than Dante lays down in
be excepted. Better statements the seventh oanto of the Paradise.
23




354             PASTORAL THEOLOGY.
is exceedingly rugged, yet very faithful to the original.  But what is of most importance, Chapman
has caught the Homeric spirit far more than any
other translator, be he English, French, German, or
Italian.  That fiery energy, that rushing life, and
that dilation and inspiration which are so characteristic of the Greek, re-appear in the Englishman.
Familiarity with this version, even without any
other knowledge of Homer, will bring the student
into a more living sympathy with him, than the
perusal of Pope's version can, even if helped out
with a mere dictionary-knowledge of the original.
The spirit of the performance is intensely Homeric.
It is, as Lamb says, not so much a translation, as an
original production; such an one as Homer himself
would have composed, had he been compelled to
use the less flexible and harmonious English, instead
of the pliant and mellifluous Greek.  But, while we
are speaking of translation, it must be remembered
that a continuous study of an author, even in versions, naturally results in more or less study of him
in the original.  Struck with the force, or perhaps
the obscurity of the translation, the reader takes
down the original to compare or explain, and, in
this way, keeps his mind considerably familiar with
the original,-certainly, more familiar  than  he
would, if the writer were entirely neglected.''The prohibition of transla- guage, is wise and necessary.
tions to the young student, while But their subsequent use, after
acquiring the rudiments of a lan- the foundations of classical know.




INTELLECTUAL CHARACTER.                355
The authors thus mentioned and sketched, are
the first and greatest in the province of poetry, in
their respective ages and literatures. The clergyman
who is thoroughly familiar with these, though he
should be ignorant of all others, will be marked by
a choice. poetical cultivation; while, if he neglects
these, though  he  should  be acquainted with all
other poets, this part of his education would betray
radical defects.
The department of philosophy next demands
our attention. This exerts a very powerful influence upon the intellectual character, and may be
said to determine its whole style and tone.  If we
know the philosophical authors with whom  a student is familiar, we know the fundamental and distinguishing characteristics of his education; for
philosophy furnishes him with his methods of reasoning, and investigating, forms his habits of thought,
and, to a great extent, determines the direction of
his thinking, by presenting the objects of thought.
Thus, it may be said  to  contain the  principles,
means, and end, of mental development; and, therefore of merely human and intellectual branches of
ledge have been laid, and the even from a translation, is proved
scholar is compelled, by the de- by the fact, that the English Bible
mands of a laborious profession, is the only source, whence the
to make wide excursions over the majority of the Anglo-American
whole immense field of Ancient world derive their acquaintance
literature, is a different matter. with the Hebrew  and  Greek
That a real and vivid knowledge Scriptures.
of an author may be acquired




356            PASTORAL THE OLOGY.
discipline, it is the first and most important.  The
same injunction to read standard authors, applies
with full force here also.  A few names make up
the list of first-class minds, in this department. The
clergyman should become familiar with the two
masters of Grecian philosophy, Plato and Aristotle.
Their systems are sometimes represented as radically
different from each other; but the difference is only
formal, such as naturally arises, when, of two minds,
one is synthetic, and the other is analytic, in its nature and tendency. The diligent student of these
Grecians will discover in them, a material agreement
in respect to first principles, together with a formal
difference in the mode of investigation and representation, that is for his benefit. Their systems
should be studied in connection, as two halves of
one coherent whole. He who has mastered them,
has mastered all that is true and valuable, in the
philosophy of the Ancient world. As these authors
are voluminous, and in a difficult language, the
clergyman needs all the aids possible.  Of Plato,
there is a good Latin version by the Italian, Ficinus,
two German versions, one by Schleiermacher and
one by Schwarz, and an excellent French translation by Cousin.  Of the English translations, that
which is now  publishing by Bohn, of London,
includes the entire works of Plato, and is of unequal merit in its parts. On the whole, the cheap
Tauchniz edition  of the Greek, a good Greek
lexicon, and Bohn's translations, make up an ap



INTELLECTUAL CHARACTER.         357
paratus for the study of Plato, that is within the
reach of every clergyman.. When he wishes to read
rapidly, let him peruse the English version, correcting the mistakes, and elucidating the obscurity of
the translators, by the Greek. When he desires to
read for the sake of the language and style of the
original, let him carefully study this. In this way,
the clergyman, notwithstanding the multiplicity of
his labors, may become well acquainted with the
philosophy of the Academy.
In reading Aristotle, the same method may be
followed.  The same publisher is printing, from
time to time, translations of this author, and the
German publisher Tauchniz furnishes an equally
cheap edition of the Greek.  More discrimination
is needed in selecting from Aristotle, than from
Plato.  Aristotle wrote extensively upon natural
philosophy, and his speculations in this department
are not of so much worth to the modern student, surrounded as he is with the achievements of modern
science. The Metaphysics and Ethics, the Rhetoric,
and, though last not least, the Politics and Economics, are the treatises of Aristotle of most value
to the clergyman. The Greek of this author is
worthy of special attention, by reason of its affinity
with that of the New Testament, and it is much
less difficult than the poetic prose of Plato.
Tbhe clergyman should peruse the philosophical
writings of Cicero. The Roman reproduces in a
genial and elegant manner, the moral philosophy of




358           PASTORAL THEOLOGY.
Plato. He ought to be read in the original, altogether,
and may easily be. The most valuable of his philosophical treatises are the tract on the Immortality
of the soul, the De Natura Deorum, and the De
Finibus, which discusses the nature of good and
evil.
There is no writer of the Middle Ages, in philosophy, who stands in a similar relation to his time,
with Plato and Aristotle. and Cicero, to theirs.
Philosophy, during this period, passed over into
theology, and hence we shall speak of the Mediaeval
thinkers under that head. Moreover, as the Aristotelian philosophy was the dominant system of the
Middle Ages, the study of Aristotle himself, will
make the student acquainted with the Medieval
methods of thinking and investigation.
Des Cartes is justly regarded as the father of
Modern philosophy, because he gave it its predominant direction towards psychology. His first
principle, Cogito ergo sum, converts philosophy into
an analysis of consciousness. His discourse on the
"Method of rightly conducting the Reason," and his' Meditations," are of most value to the theological
student. Though not chronologically in place, yet
from his intellectual relations, we here mention the
name of Leibniz. The philosophical speculations of
this writer are highly theological, and therefore
are attractive to the clergyman.  Written in the
most pellucid style, such treatises as the Theodicee
and Nouveaux Essais (the most masterly criti



INTELLECTUAL CHARACTER.           359
cism that has yet been made upon the philosophy
of Locke), well reward the scholar for their perusal.
The clergyman ought to become well acquainted
with the method, and system, of that sagacious,
comprehensive, and substantial thinker, Lord Bacon.
He, also, like Aristotle, is regarded by some, as the
antagonist of Plato; but a perusal of his works, particularly the Novum Organum, in the light thrown
upon them  by those Essays of Coleridge in the
Friend, in which he compares Bacon and Plato, will
convince any one that their philosophical methods
are essentially the same, only applied to different
departments of inquiry,-Plato, being the philosopher of the intellect and spirit, Bacon, the philosopher of nature and matter; the one, cultivating
intellectual and moral philosophy, the other, investigating natural philosophy and physical science.
The next system, in the historic movement of
philosophy, is that of Locke.  This merits the
study of the clergyman, mainly for negative purposes. Thus far, the systems which we have mentioned  are  substantially the  same, and in one
straight, though sometimes wide, path of progress.
But this system is out of the line of a true philosophic advance.  It has, however, exerted so great
an influence in the philosophic world, that it deserves to be thoroughly studied, as the most self.
consistent, and at the same time moderate, of all the'COLERIDGE: Works, Vol. II. p. 437, sq.




360           PASTORAL THEOLOGY.
systems of materialism.  A  critical mastery of it,
results in a more immoveable position upon the true
philosophic ground.  In this reference, the study
of Locke is of great negative worth, while, at the
same time, it is often of value, in repressing that
false spiritualism into which'the human mind is apt
to run, in passing from one extreme to another.
The last name that we mention, in this series of
philosophers, is that of Kant. He who goes to the
study of this author, after that of Locke, will find
himself again in the broad, travelled highway of
philosophy; and will come into contact with the
most logical mind since Aristotle. The fundamental
principles of theism, and ethics, are laid down with
scientific precision, in the three Critiques of this latest
of the great metaphysical thinkers.  Kant is most
satisfactorily read in the original German; yet, such
a study of previous philosophers, as we have recommended, resulting, as it does, in what may be called
a philosophic instinct, and sagacity, in detecting the
drift of a system, will enable the student to gather
his general meaning, even out of the very inadequate translations that have been made of him.
Something, moreover, may be learned from  the
English and French writers who have either adopted,
or opposed his opinions.  Of them  all, Coleridge
and Hamilton were by far the best acquainted with
Kant, and their writings are the best introduction
to the German philosopher, that is accessible to the
merely English reader.




INTELLECTUAL CHARACTER.          361
In concluding under this head of philosophy, we
make a remark similar to that at the close of the
paragraph upon poetry.  Familiarity with these
eight authors, Plato, Aristotle, Cicero, Des Cartes,
Leibniz, Bacon, Locke, and Kant, will impart a
choiceness to the clergyman's metaphysical discipline, that cannot be obtained without them; and,
that cannot be obtained by a perusal of the hundreds and thousands of second-rate works in this
province.  These are virtually the whole.  The
entire department of philosophy, is potentially in
these eight authors. They are the fountains whence
all others draw.
It now remains to mark out a course of study,
in the department of theology.  And the first
name in the series, both chronologically and intrinsically, with which the clergyman ought to become familiar, is that of Augustine.  The position
of this writer, in systematic theology, is very central;
so that a clear understanding of him, is a clue to
very much that comes after him.  Though not
every thing in his writings is fully developed, or
accurately developed, yet, the principal seeds and
germs of the modern Protestant theology are found
in them, and he, more than any other one of the
Fathers, and far more than any one of the Schoolmen, constitutes the organic link of connection,
between Scriptural Christianity in the Ancient
Church, and Scriptural Christianity in the Modern.
And besides the scientific interest which the most




362            PASTORAL THEOLOGY.
distinguished of the Christian Fathers awakens, his
personal character itself wins upon the admiration
of the student, all the days of his life.  His entire
works are no longer difficult of access, through the
cheap reprint in Migne's series of the Fathers and
Schoolmen.  Individual writings of his have also
been republished, which may be obtained as readily
as the Latin and Greek classics. Of his entire works,
may be' mentioned the important tenth volume in
the Benedictine arrangement, which contains his'views upon the great themes of sin and grace, in
opposition to Pelagianism  and Semi-Pelagianism.
To these must be added the De Civitate Dei, and
the Confessiones,-the one doctrinal, and the other
biographical. The City of God is one of Augustine's
largest works, and conveys a more adequate impression of him  as a systematizer, than any other
single treatise of his.  It is somewhat unequal in
structure.  This, however, arose, in part, from  the
disposition to be exhaustive in the investigation,
not only of the principal topics in theology, but of
all collateral topics.  Augustine, for example, discusses the question, " How ought the bodies of saints
to be buried " with as much serious earnestness,
and as strong a desire to answer it correctly, as he
does the question, " What was the condition of the
first man before his fall?"  This same inclination
to take up every point and exhaust it, is seen in
the Schoolmen as well as the Fathers, and accounts
for the wood, hay, and stubble, mixed with the




INTELLECTUAL CHARACTER.          363
gold, silver, and precious stones found in their
writings.
The clergyman should, next, be familiar with
the Scholastic theology, so far as is possible for him.
Very little is now known of the theologians of the
Middle Ages, even by professed scholars and authors.
The great minds among them, however, deserve to
be read, at least in a few of their best tracts and
treatises.  On the whole, Anselm deserves most
attention, because he unites the speculative and
practical tendencies, in greatest harmony.  Thomas
Aquinas has left the most important systematic
treatise of the Middle Ages, and should be associated with Anselm. Lastly, the spiritual and saintly
Bernard, the most contemplative of the Schoolmen,
opens many veins of rich and edifying thought.
The following works of these authors may be the
most easily obtained, and deserve to be pondered in
the order in which they are mentioned. Anselm's
Cur.Deus Homno? is a treatise, in which the philosophic necessity, and rationality, of the doctrine of
atonement is exhibited for the first time, and which
has been studied by the ablest thinkers upon this
subject, ever since. His Proslogion and fMonologyiu
are two closely reasoned tracts, of which, the first
contains the most metaphysical a priori argument
yet made for the Divine Existence, and the last, an
excellent statement of the relation of Reason to Revelation. The three tractates, iDe ibero arbilrio, _De
casu diaboli, and De virginali concepta,  hold the




364           PASTORAL TEOLOGY.
clue to the deep mystery of the finite will, and the
origin of moral evil, if that clue has ever been vouchsafed to the human intellect. The Summca Theologica of Thomas Aquinas, is the systematic theology of
the Middle Ages. The Sententice, De consideratione,
and De modo bene vivendi, of Bernard, will intro.
duce the student to trains of reflection, in which
there is a rare union of depth with edification.
The next era, in the history of theology, is that
of the Reformation, including also the succeeding
period of conflict between Calvinists and Arminians.  Calvin and Turretin are the two leading
theological minds of this period, and the clergyman
cannot study the Institutes of the former, and the
Institutio of the latter, too patiently or too long.
In the former, he will find the completion of the
systematic structure whose foundations were laid
by Augustine, while in the latter, the more minute
and thorough elaboration of particular doctrines
appears. For, controversy compels thorough statements; and that discussion between the Calvinists
and Arminians, was one of the most analytic and
subtle that has ever occurred.
The English divines of the seventeenth century,
next deserve the study of the clergyman.  If he
were to be shut up, as he ought not to be, to a single period in the history of theology, and to communion with a single class or school, it would be
safe to leave him  alone with the theologians of
England, both Prelatical and Non-conforming. They




INTELLECTUAL CHARACTER.         865
were men of the widest reading, the most thorough
learning, and the most profound piety. There are
many noble names among them, but, in accordance
with a parsimonious method, and having special
reference to dogmatic theology, we shall mention
only Owen, Howe, and Baxter. Though the theoretic and the practical elements wonderfully interpenetrate each other, in the writings of all three,
yet each has his distinguishing excellence. Owen
is the most comprehensively systematic, Howe the
most contemplative and profound, and Baxter the
most intense and popularly effective.,The last writer, in the series, is the elder Edwards,-a theologian equal to any that have been
mentioned, whether we consider the depth and subtlety of his understanding, the comprehension and.
cogency of his logic, or the profundity and purity
of his religious experience, and who deserves the
patient study of the American clergyman, in particular, because, more than any other American theologian, he forms an historical connection with the
theologies of the past, and stands confessedly at
the head of our scientific theology.
We have, now, passed in review the departments
of poetry, philosophy, and theology, and we think
that any one would concede, that a course of study
such as we have marked out, would result in a high
type of intellectual character. By pursuing it, the
mind of the clergyman would be put into commu.
nication with all the best culture, and science, of the




366            PASTORAL THEOLOGY.
human race. Such a choice intellectual discipline
would give him  influence with the most highly
educated men in society, and the respect of the
people at large.  The people naturally venerate
learning. They expect it in their religious teacher,
and they are impressed by it.  It inspires their
confidence.  Baxter, in speaking upon this point, in
his Reformed Pastor, goes so far as to recommend
the preacher, to introduce, occasionally, into his sermons a scholastic word, or a learned term, which
the people do not understand, in order to show that
he is familiar with sciences and branches of knowledge, with which they themselves are unacquainted.
Baxter recommends this in all seriousness and solemnity, as he does every thing else. The rule is not
worth observing,.but the spirit of it is.
Such an intellectual discipline, moreover, leaves
room for growth and expansion, and impels to it.
The standard minds, as we have remarked, are in
one and the same general line of thinking, and
hence, all the acquisition that is made by the student, is homogeneous. He is not compelled to unLearn any thing. He is studying one common system of truth, and employs one common method of
apprehending and stating it; so that whatever may
be the particular part of the great whole, which he
is studying for the time being, the results of his
study will fall in with all other results, and go to
constitute a harmonic and symmetrical education.
The plan of clerical study, upon this scheme, is like




INTELLECTUAL OHABACTER.           367
the plan of a perfect campaign.  All the movenWnts
are adjusted to each other, and are coherent; so
that at whatever point the individual soldier labors,
and however distant from head-quarters, he is contributing directly to the one predetermined and foreseen issue.  Hence, although we have mentioned
the. standard authors chronologically, as the most
convenient and natural order, it is not necessary
that the clergyman should invariably study them in
this order. Let him be retrogressive, or progressive, as he pleases; let him begin anywhere in the
series, and with any single writer, and he will be in
line, and may form connections with the front and
the rear. He may, also, indefinitely expand his system of study,-widening and deepening the foundations, rearing up and beautifying the superstructure,
-and yet never essentially varying the form, and
proportions, of the temple of truth and of science.
But how, it may be asked, is the clergyman,
with all his public and private occupations, to find
time, for such an extensive and thorough course of
study   We shall devote the short remainder of
the chapter, to the answer to this question. Before
proceeding, however, to give specific rules, let us
observe that this is a course of study for life. It is
not to be run through in a year, or ten years, and
then to give place to another.  It is not to be outgrown, and left behind. One of the most eloquent
and enthusiastic of literary men remarks, that the
scholar should " lay great bases for eternity,"-that




368            PASTORAL THiOLOGY.
is, he should adopt a plan and method of study,which
possesses compass enough, and coherence enough, to
be ever permanent, for purposes of discipline and
scholarship. The clergyman should intellectually,
as well as morally, lay great bases for eternity. He
ought not, therefore, to be overwhelmed in the very
outset, by the greatness of the proposed edifice, but
should relieve his mind, by remembering that he
has his whole life before him.
In order to the successful prosecution of such a
course of study, and the attainment of a high intellectual discipline, the clergyman must rigorously
observe hours of study. His mornings must be
seasons of severe application. By proper arrangements, the time from eight to one may be a period
of uninterrupted devotion to literary toil. Of these
five hours, two may be devoted to books, and three
to sermonizing; or, in the outset one hour to books,
and four to sermonizing. Supposing that no more
than six hours are devoted to pure study, in a week,
even this, in the course of twenty, thirty, forty, or
fifty years, would carry the clergyman over a verj
wide field of investigation, and carry him thoroughly.
But, as he advances in this course, he will find his
mind strengthening, his faculties becoming more
manageable, and his resources more ample; so that
after ten, perhaps five years have elapsed, the two
hours are sufficient for sermonizing, and the three
may be devoted to study. As the clergyman grows
into a learned and systematic thinker he becomes




INTELLECTUAL CHARACTER.            369
able to preach with much less immediate preparation.  These five hours, every day, are sufficient for
literary purposes, provided they are strictly hours
of intellectual toil. Let there be, in the study, no
idleness, no revery, and no reading outside of the
prescribed circle.  Let the mind begin to work as
soon as the door is shut, and let it not cease until
the clock strikes the appointed hour; then stop
study, and stop composition, and devote the remainder of the day to parochial labors, the amenities of
life, and the relaxation of lighter literature.
Again, in order to the prosecution of such a
course of study as has been described, it is evident
that the clergyman must read no more of second-rate
literature, of either the past or the present, than is
consistent with these severer studies.  He must
dare to be ignorant of much of it, in order that he
may know the Dii majorum  gentiurm.  He must
purchase very little of it, and none of it at all, until
he has obtained the standard works.  His library,
like his culture, should be choice, a gem of a library,
and then he will not be tempted by inferior productions to waste his time. And, especially must he be
upon his guard against the great mass of periodical
literature that is coming into existence, and dying
as fast as it is born. Periodical literature, as a species, is the direct contrary of standard literature,
and its influence upon education is directly antagonistic to that of true study. The nature of this class
of mental products, is analogous to that of one of
24




370           PASTORAL THEOLOGY.
the lowest grades of animal existence. The periodical is like a polypus. The polyp propagates itself by
sprouting and swelling, like a vegetable. Cut a polyp
into two halves, and these two halves complete themselves, and become two polypi. Cut each of these
two into two, they become four perfect polypi; and
so the process goes on, ad infinitum. And this is
the process in periodical literature. A very slender
idea, or thought, is bisected, and these parts are exhibited, each as a complete whole, and the entire
truth. These, again, are subdivided by another
journalist, and re-exhibited, and thus the polypprocess goes on, until a single idea, not very solid at
the beginning, is made to propagate itself through
page after page. One man writes a book, the whole
of which does not contain a thousandth part of the
truth that is to be found in some standard work.
Another writes a review of this book,-unless, perchance, to employ the comparison of Matthias Claudius, the hen reviews her own egg. Another writes
a review of this review, and so the work goes bravely
on, from month to month, and year to year.
The true course, for the clergyman, as well as for
the student generally, is to devote no more attention
to the current and periodical literature of his age,
than is just sufficient to keep him acquainted with its
tendencies, and currents of thought and action, devoting himself, in the meanwhile, to those standard products which are for all time, and from which alone,
he can derive true intellectual aliment and strength.




CHAPTER IV.
SOCIAL AND PROFESSIONAL CHARACTER OF THE CLERGYMAN.
THE third topic in Pastoral Theology, to be examined, is the social and professional character of
the clergyman.  These terms will be employed in
a comprehensive sense, and include all that part of
clerical character, which has not been considered
under the heads of religious, and intellectual.  The
subject of clerical manners, naturally constitutes
the substance of this chapter. These are twofold,
and may be discussed, in their reference to the personal conduct of the clergyman towards individuals,
and his professional conduct towards his congregation.
1. In respect to the first branch of the subject,
it is obvious, that the conduct, and bearing, of a
clergyman ought to be appropriate to his profession,
and distinguish him, not perhaps from a Christian
man generally, but from the world at large. A
sanctimonious behavior, so different from that of a
Christian gentleman, as to call attention to it, and
inspire contempt, is to be carefully avoided. A




3 2            PASTORAL THEOLOGY.
clergyman ought not to advertise himself before.
hand, and, by something exquisite and peculiar,
give notice that he is more than a Christian layman;
yet, he should always maintain such a port and
demeanor, that a stranger, while plainly seeing that
he is a Christian, would not be surprised to discover that he is also a clergyman.
The clergyman ought to be of grave manners,in  the phrase  of St. Paul, a man of decorum
(xacogio).l  His behavior in society must be serious.  He should make the impression that he is
a thoughtful person. These terms, gravity, seriousness, and thoughtfulness, imply that his mind is preoccupied with great and good subjects, so that
wherever he goes, and with whomsoever he associates, he cannot stoop to " foolish talking and jesting," to frivolity, gayety, or levity. Gravity, though
assumeable for the hour, cannot be permanently
simulated.  The hypocrisy is sooner or later detected. The innate levity of the mind unconsciously
breaks out. A single word betrays the secret, and
then there is no recalling. For, men reason correctly, that a really light-minded person can temporarily
assume seriousness and gravity, and often has a
motive to do so, but a really serious and solemn
man cannot, so readily, imitate levity and worldliness, and, what is more, will not, because he has no
motive for so doing. Hence, the secret of Christian
1  Tim. iii. 2.




PROFESSIONAL CHARACTER.           373
decorum in social intercourse is, to be really, and at
heart, a serious man. Let the clergyman form such
a religious, and such an intellectual character, as
we have described, and be absorbed in his calling,
and he will spontaneously be grave and dignified in
manner.
Secondly, the clergyman should be of affable
manners.  As the etymology denotes (affari), it
must be easy for him to speak to others, and, thus,
easy for others to speak to him.  He ought to be
an accessible person, in social intercourse. Clerical
character is apt to run to extremes.  On the one
hand, gravity becomes false and excessive, so that
it repels address. If this be the case, the clergyman's influence is much diminished.  The timid
are afraid of him, and the suspicious dislike him;
and thus, the really good man is avoided by two
very large classes of society. By one, he is thought
to be stern, and by the other, he is thought to be
proud.  On the other hand, affability sometimes
becomes excessive, so that the clergyman loses
dignity of character, and weight of influence.  He
is too ready to talk.  He speaks upon all subjects, with the same ease, and the same apparent
interest. He opens his mind to every one he meets,
without regard to character, and, unlike his Divine
Master, " commits himself " to men.1 There is not
sufficient reserve in his manner.  He does not study'John ii. 24.




374            PASTORAL THEOLOGY.
the characters' of men, and consequently does not
know men. His conversation is not adapted to the
individual he is addressing, because it is adapted
to every one alike. The consequence is, that affability degenerates into familiarity, and familiarity
breeds contempt. The social manners of the clergyman ought, therefore, to be a just mingling of gravity and affability.  The one must temper the other,
and prevent an extreme, in either direction. The
clergyman will then be a dignified and serious man,
to that degree which represses frivolity, and inspires
respect.  And he will be an affable man, to that
point which wakens confidence, and wins regard.
2. We pass, now, to consider the professional
bearing of the clergyman among the people of his
charge. The clergyman sustains more intimate and
special relations to his parish, than he does to general society and the world at large.  He is a person
of more authority and influence in his own church,
than elsewhere, and hence the need of further statements and rules, than those that have been given
respecting his general social relations.
In the first place, it is the right and the duty of
the clergyman, to be a man of decision, in administering the affairs of his parish. The apostle James,
addressing a Christian church, gives the admonition, " Be not many masters" (&lSxaxoCOL),-indicating, thereby, that the interests of a congregation
1 James iii. 1.




PROFESSIONAL CHARACTER.          375
flourish best under the guidance of a presiding
mind.  When church members are disposed, each
and every one, to be the teacher, nothing but rivalry among themselves, and the destruction of ministerial authority and respect, can possibly result.
The genius of a truly Scriptural ecclesiastical polity
is undoubtedly republican.  Whenever the monarchical spirit has shaped ecclesiastical government,
the Church has speedily declined in spirituality and
power, as the history of the Papacy, not to speak
of other church organizations, plainly evinces. But,
republicanism is not a wild and ungoverned democracy. It supposes, indeed, like democracy, that all
power is ultimately lodged in the people, but, unlike democracy, it supposes that some of this power
has been freely delegated to an individual, or individuals, who, by virtue of this endowment, possess
an authority, which, as ordinary members of the
community, they would not have. The people of a
republic are not compelled to delegate their sovereignty,-it is a voluntary procedure on their part;
and neither are they compelled to bestow power
upon any particular man, or class of men. But,
when they have once freely made their choice of
officers, and have solemnly invested them  with
authority, and a delegated sovereignty, then they
have no option in regard to obeying their rulers.
They are bound to respect their own work. They
are solemnly obligated to submit themselves to the
government which theythemselves have established,




316            PASTORAL THEOLOGY.
so long as it is faithful to the trusts that have been
committed to it. The difference between a pure
democracy and a republic, consists not in any difference of opinion respecting the ultimate seat of sovereignty. Both, alike, claim that it resides in the
people. But, a pure democracy does not put any of
this sovereignty out of its own hands.  It never
delegates authority.  As in Athens, the entire population meet in popular assembly, enact or repeal
laws, try causes as a court, and make peace or declare war. The people, in this instance, are not
only the source of authority, but the acting govern:
ment itself.  Republicanism, on the contrary, while
adopting the same fundamental principle with democracy, finds it more conducive to a stable and
reliable government, to lodge power, for certain
specified purposes, in the hands of a few, subject to
constitutional checks,-to a recall in case of maladministration, and, in some instances, to a recall
after a certain specified time, even though it has
been well used.  Most Churches in this country
claim, that the Scriptures enjoin a republican form
of polity. Very few are disposed to contend for a
purely democratic ecclesiastical organization. The
dispute between non-prelatical Churches, relates
mainly to the grade of republicanism,-that is, tc
the amount of authority that shall be delegated,
the number of persons to whom, and the time for
which.
We assume, therefore, that under existing eccle.




PROFESSIONAL CHARACTER. 
siastical arrangements, the pastor is a man to whom
the people have intrusted more or less authority.
In the Presbyterian Church, they have formally
dispossessed themselves of power, to a certain ex.
tent, and have made it over to the session, consisting
of the pastor and elders.  In the Congregational
Church, though they have not formally done this,
and though they reserve the "power of the keys"
in their own hands, yet, they expect their clergyman to be the presiding mind of the body.
The clergyman, then, standing in this leading
attitude in his parish, ought to be a man of decision.
But, this implies that his own mind is settled, and
established.  There is nothing which weakens a
leading man, that is, a man who by his position
ought to  lead, like wavering, and  indecision.
Doubt and uncertainty are a tacit acknowledgment
of unfitness to guide, and preside. The clergyman
must, therefore, be positive in his theological opinions. Inasmuch as he is called to the work of indoctrination, he ought to be clear in his own mind.
It is his vocation, to shape the religious views of
an entire community, and, consequently, his own
views ought not only to be correct, but firmly es.
tablished. For, how can he say to his auditory,
"This doctrine is false, and fatal to your salvation;
but this doctrine is true, and you may rest your
eternal welfare upon it,"-how can he say this with
any emphasis, unless he knows what he is saying,
and is made decided, by his knowledge   The




378            PASTORAL THEOLOGY.
clergyman's communication must not be yea and
nay, together. King Lear, in his madness, remarks
that, "Ay and no, too, is' no good divinity," and
there is reason if not method, in his madness.
And so far as the doctrines of Christianity are
concerned, why should not the clergyman be a man
of decided opinions? If the gospel were a merely
human system, there would be ground for hesitation and doubt; but since it is the revelation of an
Infallible  Mind, what is left for the Christian
teacher, but to re-affirm the Divine affirmation, with
all the positiveness and decision of the original communication itself?  The Scriptures teach but one
system of truth, though the ingenuity of the human
intellect, under the actuation of particular biases,
has succeeded in torturing a variety of conflicting
systems out of it, by dislocating its parts, instead of
contemplating it as a whole.. This one evangelical
system has been received by the Christian Church
in all ages, and if the clergyman feels the need of
aids in getting at it, imbedded as it is in the living,
and therefore flexible, substance of the Bible, let
him study the creeds of the Christian Church.  An
examination of the doctrinal statements which the
orthodox mind has constructed out of the Bible, to
counteract, and refute those which the heterodox
mind has also constructed out of the Bible, will do
one thing, at'least, for the clergyman, if it does
nothing more.  It will very plainly show him what
system of truth the Scriptures contain, in the opinion




PROFESSIONAL CHARACTER.         379
of the Church. The Church, it is true, may be mis.
taken. It is not infallible. Creeds may be erroneous. But after this concession has been made, it
still remains true, that the symbols of the Christian
Church do very clearly, and fully, display the opinions of the wisest and holiest men, and the closest
students of the Scriptures, for sixteen hundred
years, in respect to the actual contents of Revelation.
The clergyman who adopts the theology embodied
in them may possibly be in an error; but if he is,
he is in good company, and in a large company.
Moreover, that man must have a very exaggerated
conception of his own powers, who supposes that he
will be more likely to find the real teaching of the
Scriptures, upon each and all of the profound subjects respecting which it makes revelations, by shutting himself out of all intercourse with other human
minds, who have gone through the same investigation. That the Bible must be studied by each one
for himself, and that each individual must, in the
end, deliberately exercise his own judgment; and
form his own opinion as to the system of truth contained in Revelation, is the fundamental distinction
between Protestantism  and Romanism. But this
does not carry with it, the still further, and really antagonistic position, that the individual should isolate
himself from the wise, and the good men who have
preceded him, or are his cotemporaries, and do his
utmost to be uninfluenced by those who have
studied the Scriptures for themselves, and have,




380           PASTORAL THEOLOGY.
moreover found themselves coming to the same
common result, with thousands and millions of their
fellow-men. There is, and can be, but one truth,
and therefore all men ought to agree. The position,
that, so far as the nature of the case is concerned,
there may be as many minds as there are men, and
as many beliefs as there are individual judgments,
is untenable.  We affirm, then, that the clergyman
should make a proper use of the studies, and investigations, of his brethren in the Church, not merely
of the particular Church to which he belongs, and
not merely of the particular Churches of the age and
generation in which he lives, but of the Church universal,-the holy catholic Church, not in the Roman
sense, but in that, in which the Scripture employs
the term, when it denominates the Church "the
pillar and ground of the truth." And the result of
this study and investigation of the Scriptures, by
the general Christian mind, is embodied in the
creeds that have formed the doctrinal basis of the
various branches of the one body of Christ.
Now, the clergyman will be likely to be positive
in his doctrinal opinions, in proportion as he perceives that his own views of the meaning, and contents of Scripture, are corroborated by those of the
wise and good of all ages. If, on the contrary, he
finds himself unable to agree with his predecessors,
and cotemporaries, in the ministry, we do not see
how he can be a decided man, in the proper sense
of this term.  He may be a presumptuous, self



PROFESSIONAL CHARACTER.          381
conceited, arrogant man, setting up his individual
judgment in opposition to that of the great majority
of individual judgments.  He may be a kind of
private pope, first throwing himself out of the line
of historical Christianity, and then, calling upon the
Church universal to unlearn all that it knows, and
forget all that it has learned, insisting that it bend
the neck and bow the knee to the new infallibility
that has appeared,-he may be all this in spirit, if
not in form, and still be very far from being established in his own mind. The first serious opposition
to him, would probably unsettle his views. Yet,
even if his convictions should take on a fanatical
temper, and carry him  like Servetus to the stake,
he knows nothing of the true martyr-spirit.
The clergyman, again, is obliged to form opinions upon other subjects than doctrinal, and to give
expression to them. The social, economical, and
political questions of the day, will be put to him by
society, or else he will feel urged up to an expression
of opinion, by the condition and wants of his people.
He should not, by any means, seek for opportunities of this sort. Blessed is the clergyman, who is
permitted by community, and his own conscience,
to devote his whole thinking, and utterance, to
strictly religious themes. Blessed is that parish
which seeks first the truth as it is in Jesus, takes
most interest in the conviction and conversion of
sinners, and the edification of Christians, and desires
to see the evils of society removed, by additions to




382           PASTORAL THEOLOGY.
the Church, of such as shall be saved. Still, the
clergyman will not be permitted to be entirely silent
during his whole ministry, respecting those. semireligious subjects, which underlie the various reforms of the age. He should, therefore, be a decided
man, in this sphere, as well as that of theology.
Let him not be in haste to discuss these themes; let
him wait for the sober second thought upon his own
part, and especially upon the part of the people,
before he gives his opinion.  "In reference to the
exciting subjects of the day and the hour," said a
wise and judicious minister, " do as the sportsman
does: never fire when the flock is directly over your
head; but fire when it has passed a little beyond
you, that your shot may be raking."  When, however, the time has evidently come, to speak upon
these semi-religious themes, the clergyman should
do so with decision.  Let him  make up his mind
fully, and when he sees that the interests of his people require it, let him speak out his mind, without
doubting or wavering.
But, in order that the clergyman may be a decided
man, in respect to such themes as these, he needs to
pursue the same course, as in reference to strictly
religious opinions.  He should take counsel of history, and of the wisest men of his own generation.
If he isolates himself from them, and sets up for a
reformer, or associates with those who are so doing,
he cannot be a truly determined man.  He will be
blown about, by the popular breeze that is blowing




PROFESSIONAL CHARACTER.          383
for the hour, and which changes every hour. He
will be carried headlong by designing men, who
cloak the worst aims under a religious garb. In
the present condition of society, there is great need
of a power, in the clergy, to stem currents,-of a
decision, and determination, that is rooted in intelligence, in reason, and in wisdom. But such a settled
and constant mental firmness, can proceed only from
a historic spirit, or, what is the same thing, out of a
truly conservative temper. For, conservatism, properly defined, is the disposition to be historical, to
attach one's self to those opinions which have stood
the test of time, and experience, rather than to
throw them away, and invent or adopt new ones.
A conservative theologian, for example, is inclined
to that system of doctrine which has been slowly
forming from age to age, ever since the Christian
Mind began a scientific construction of revealed
truth, and is unwilling to make any radical changes
in it. He concedes the possibility of a further expansion of. existing materials, but is opposed to the
addition of new, as well as the subtraction of old
matter. He does not believe that there are any
new dogmas, lying concealed, in the Scriptures, having utterly escaped the notice of the theologians of
the past.  Christianity, for him, is a completed religion. The number of fundamental truths necessary to human salvation, is full. The Church of the
past needed the same truths, in order to its sanctification and perfection, that the Church of the present




384            PASTORAL THEOLOG.
needs; and it possessed each and every one of thenm
There can be no essential addition, therefore, to the
body of Christian doctrine, until another and new
revelation is bestowed from God.
This historic and conservative spirit is not lifeless and formal, as is frequently charged.  It does
not tend to petrifaction. For, it keeps the individual in communication, not only with the whole
long series of individual minds, but, with the very
best results to which they have come. Conservatism is dead and deadening, only upon the hypothesis, that the universal history of man is the realm
of death.  There was just as much vitality in
the past generations, as there is in the present,
which is soon to become a thing of the past.
Furthermore, the steady and strong endeavor to
become master of the past, stimulates and kindles
in the highest degree. For, this knowledge does
not flow into the individual as a matter of course.
It must be toiled after, and the more the student
becomes acquainted with the past workings of the
human mind, the more conscious is he of his own
ignorance as an individual.  He finds that there is
much more in the past with which he is unacquainted, than there is in the present.  He discovers that
sixty centuries are longer than three-score years and
ten. Where one sutbject has been thoroughly discussed by a cotemporary, one hundred have been by
preceding minds. The whole past thus presents an
unlimited expanse, over which the choicest intellects




PROFESSIONAL CHARACTER.          385
have careered, and instead of his being well acquainted with their investigations and conclusions,
he finds that life itself is too short, for the mastery
of all this tried and historic knowledge. The old,
therefore, is the new to the individual mind, and,
as such, is as stimulating as the novel product of
the day, and more likely to be nutritious and
strengthening, because it has stood the test of ages
and generations.
By the conservative, rather than the radical
method, then, the clergyman should render himself
a decided man in his opinions and measures. His
mind will then be made up in company with
others, and he will not be compelled to stand alone,
as an isolated atom, or, at most, in connection with
a clique, or a clan, or a school, that has nothing of
historic permanence in it, and which must vanish
away with the thousands of similar associations,
and never be even heard of in human history, because history preserves only the tried and the true
for all time.
In the second place, the clergyman ought to be
a judicious man. As it was necessary to mingle
affability with gravity, in order to an excellent manner for the clergyman in general society, so, decision
must be mingled with judgment, in order to an excellent manner for him in his parish. Judiciousness
teaches when to modify, and temper, the resolute
and settled determination of the soul. Some sub"
jects are more important than others.  Some opiniJK




386            PASTORAL THEOLOGY.
ions and measures are vital to the prosperity of re.
ligion, and others are not. The clergyman must be
able to distinguish fundamentals from non-fundamentals, so that he may proceed accordingly. It is
absurd to be equally decided upon all points. A
conservatism that conserves every thing with equal
care, insisting that one thing is just as valuable as
another, is blind, and therefore false. It- is this
spurious species which has brought the true into
disrepute; or, rather, has furnished the enemies of
historic views, and a historic. spirit, with their
strongest weapons.
When a fundamental truth is menaced, or a
fundamentally wrong measure is proposed, the clergyman must be immovable.  In the phrase of Ignatius, he should " stand like an anvil."  If he does
so, he will in the end spoil the face of the hammers,
and wear out the strength of the hammerers.  But
when the matter in controversy is not of this vital
nature, even though it have great importance, judiciousness in the clergyman would dictate more or
less of yielding. If the clergyman can bring his
parish over to his own views, upon every subject, he
ought to do so; but if he cannot, then he must
accomplish the most he can. In case the congregation are restless, and disposed to experiments, he
will be more likely to prevent radical and dangerous steps, in primary matters and measures, if he
yields his individual judgment to them, in secondary
matters.  His people will perceive that he has




PROFESSIONAL CHARACTER.           387
made a sacrifice, in regard to subjects which he deems
to be important, though not fundamental, and will
feel obligated and inclined to make one in return,
when, with a serious tone, and a solemn manner, he
insists that there be no yielding, upon either their
part, or his own, in matters that are absolutely vital
to the interests of Christ's kingdom.
By thus mingling decision with judiciousness,
the clergyman will be able to maintain himself as
the presiding mind in his parish. It is his duty to
be such. He cannot be useful, unless he is. We
do not hesitate to say, that if, after fair trial of a
congregation, a minister discovers that he cannot
secure that ascendency, in the guidance and management of their religious affairs, to which he is entitled, his prospects for permanent influence are too
slight to warrant much hope.  But, a due mingling
of intelligent decision, and wise judgment, generally
does, as matter of fact, secure that professional authority and influence in the parish, which is inseparably connected with the prosperity of religion.
Under the voluntary system, the clergyman is not
much aided by ecclesiastical institutions, or arrangements, and the republicanism  of the people strips
off from the clerical office, as it does from all other
offices, the prestige of mere position. The American
clergyman, unlike the member of an establishment, derives no authority from the mere fact that
he is a clergyman. It is well, that it is so. For now
he must rely upon solid excellences, upon learning




388            PASTORAL THEOLOGY.
and piety, upon decision and good judgment,in the
administration of his office. And if he possesses
these qualities, he will be a more truly authoritative
and influential man, than the member of an establishment can be; because, all the authority he has,
is fairly earned upon his side, and voluntarily conceded upon the people's side.




CHAPTER V.
PASTORAL VISITING.
WE have had occasion, in previous chapters, to
remark that the clergyman bears two characters,
and sustains two different relations.   He is an
orator, that is, one whose function it is to address
public assemblies.  The relation which he sustains
to society, by virtue of this character, is public and
formal.  It requires the regularly constructed address, the sacred time, and the sacred place. It calls
for the sermon, the Sabbath, and the sanctuary.
In this capacity, the clergyman is the minister of a
public instruction, and a public worship.
But this is not the whole of a minister's character, and these are not all his functions.  He is a
pastor, that is, one whose duty it is to go from
house to house, and address men privately, and
individually, upon the subject of religion.  This
kind of labor, as necessarily forms a part of the
ministerial service, as preaching. A perfect clergyman, if such there were, would combine both the
oratorical and the pastoral character, in just propor



390           PASTORAL THEOLOGY.
tions, and degrees. The clergyman is liable to be
deficient upon one, or the other, side of this double
character.  He is a better preacher than he is
pastor, or else a better pastor than he is preacher.
It should, therefore, be the aim of the clergyman, to
perfect himself in both respects.
It is an error, to suppose that these two offices
are totally independent of each other, and that the
clergyman can secure the highest eminence in one,
by neglecting the other. Some make this mistake.
Supposing themselves to be better fitted by nature,
to be preachers than pastors, or, what is more commonly the case, having more inclination to address
men publicly and in bodies, than privately and
individually, they devote their whole time and
attention to sermonizing and eloquence, with the
expectation of thereby becoming more influential
and able preachers.  They are mistaken in this
course. They may, indeed, by close study, make
themselves popular preachers, while they are neglecting personal intercourse with their hearers, but
they would make powerful preachers, if their study
and composition were vivified by the experience of
the pastor. If, without that knowledge of men
which comes from direct intercourse with them, in
health and in sickness, in prosperity and in adversity,
in joy and in sorrow, they are able to construct attractive sermons, with that knowledge interpenetrating their reading and rhetoric, they might compose
discourses of eminent or pre-eminent excellence. On




PASTORAL VISITING.            391
the other hand, it sometimes occurs that the clergy.
man, being naturally of a social turn, and finding
it easier to converse with individuals than to address
an audience, turns the main current of his activity
into the channel of pastoral work, to the neglect of
his pulpit ministrations.  In this instance, the same
remark holds true, as above.  Even if, by this
course, he should succeed in becoming a measurably
useful pastor (a thing not very likely to occur), by
a different course in respect to sermonizing, he would
become a highly useful one. The degree of success,
in both instances, is much increased, by cultivating
a complete clerical talent. The learning and study
of the preacher, are needed to enlighten and guide
the zeal and earnestness of the pastor; and the
vitality and directness of the pastor, are needed to
animate and enforce the culture of the preacher.
Instead, therefore, of regarding the functions of
the preacher and the pastor, as totally independent
of each other, and capable of being carried to perfection, each by itself, the clergyman must perform
them  both, and with equal fidelity.  And' as he
must, from the nature of the case, exert his chief
influence as a pastor, by pastoral visiting, we proceed
to lay down some rules for the performance of this
part of clerical service.
1. First, the clergyman should be systematic,
in pastoral visiting, regularly performing a certain
amount of this labor-every week. There will be
extraordinary seasons, when he must visit his people




392           PASTORAL THEOLOGY.
for personal religious conversation, with greater frequency. Times of unusual religious interest will
compel him to abridge his hours of study, and go
from house to house, that he may guide the inquiring, or awaken the slumbering. We are not giving a rule for such extraordinary occasions, and we
need not, for they will bring their own rule with
them. But, in the ordinary state of religion among
his congregation, the minister ought to accomplish
a certain amount of this parochial work, in each
week, not much exceeding or falling short of it.
There are two advantages, in this systematic
regulation. In the first place, if the pastor is more
inclined to address men individually, and in social
intercourse, than he is to address them collectively,
and in the regularly constructed sermon, this fixedness of the amount of pastoral visiting will prevent
him from neglecting his sermons. Having performed
the labor in the homes of the people, he will return to his study and his books.  In the second
place, if his tendency is in the opposite direction,
he will be very much helped, by systematizing that
part of clerical duty to which he is most disinclined.
There is no way so sure, to overcome the indisposi —
tion of a reserved, or a studious man towards direct
personal conversation with individuals, as working
according to a plan. He may enter upon the discharge of the unwelcome service, from a sense of
duty, but, before long, he begins to work with
spontaneity and enjoyment. There is no fact in the




PASTORAL VISITING.            393
Christian experience better established, than that
the faithful performance of labor, from conscience,
ends in its being performed with relish and pleasure.
Conscience is finally wrought into the will, in a vital
synthesis.  Law, in the end, becomes an impulse,
instead of a commandment.
In systematizing this part of his work, the clergyman should fix a day for its performance. Let
it uniformly be done on the same day of the week,
and in the same part of the day. Again, he should
pass around his entire parish within a certain time.
This will make it necessary to visit his people by
districts, or neighborhoods; and, unless there be a
special reason for it, he should not visit in the same
locality again, until he has come round to it in his
full circuit. This course will compel the parishioner, should there be need of a special visit, as in case
of sickness, religious anxiety, or affliction, to send
for him, in obedience to the apostolic direction, " Is
any sick among you, let him call for the elders of
the church."
In regard to the day of the week, to be selected
by the pastor, for this work, the nearer it is to the
middle of it, the better.  This is the time when his
own physical strength is most recruited, from the
labors of the Sabbath, and when he will be most
inclined to leave his study, to mingle with his people.  It is, also, the time when the congregation
most need to have their attention recalled to spiritualities, as the mid-point between two Sabbaths.




394           PASTORAL THEOLOGY.
With regard to the length of time to be spent,
much depends upon the extent of the parish, and
the number of the people. In a parish of ordinary
size, one afternoon every week, especially if the
evening ensuing be devoted to preaching in the
district or neighborhood, is sufficient,-provided,
the pastor makes his visits in the manner which we
shall describe under another head. This may seem
a short time to devote to parochial visiting; but, if
it be systematically and regularly devoted, it is
longer than it looks. As, in a previous chapter, we
remarked that even five hours of severe, close study,
will. accomplish a great deal in the way of intellectual culture and sermonizing, in the course of
years; so we shall find that a half-day in each week,
will accomplish much in the way of parochial labor,
in the lapse of time. The clergyman, like every
other man, needs to pay special attention to the
particulars, of system, and uniformity, in action.
Small spaces of time become ample and great, by
being regularly and  faithfully employed. It is
because time is wasted so regularly and uniformly,
and not because it is wasted in such large amounts
at once, that so much of human life runs to waste.
Every one is familiar with the story of the author
who composed a voluminous work, in the course of
his life, by merely devoting to it the five or ten
minutes, which he found he must uniformly wait
for his dinner, after having been called.
Besides these advantages upon the side of the




PASTORAL VISITING.            39,cergyman, in systematic visiting, there are others
upon the side of the congregation.  They will be
pleased with their pastor's business-like method.
They will copy his example, and become a more
punctual and systematic people, both secularly and
religiously. They will notice that their pastor is a
man who lays out his work, and, what is more,
does it, and, what is still more, does it thoroughly.
They will respect him for it. They will not crowd
him, and urge him, as they will a minister who has
no system, and who is therefore always lagging in his
work. They will not volunteer advice to him, for
they will perceive that he does not need any. And,
if a parishioner, with more self-confidence than selfknowledge, should take the clergyman to task, and
suggest that more pastoral visits would be acceptable, or that fewer would suffice, the systematic
pastor can say to him, "The work is laid out for
the year; the campaign is begun, and going on."
Again, by this method, the clergyman will avoid
all appearance of partiality.  One prolific source of
difficulty between pastor and people, in this age
and country, lies in the suspiciousness of a portion
of the people. All men are free and equal, but
some are more tormented by the consciousness, than
others. This part of society are afraid that their
merits are not sufficiently recognized, and are constantly watching to see if others are' not esteemed
more highly than themselves. A true republican.
feeling is dignified and unsuspicious; but vulgar




396            PASTORAL THEOLOGY.
democracy impliedly acknowledges its desert of
neglect, by continually apprehending that it is neglected. This spirit leads to rivalries and jealousies
among a people, and the pastor needs great tact and
judgment in managing it.  There is no better way
of dealing with this temper, if it exists, than to
visit a parish systematically.  Each family then
takes its turn.  No person is neglected, and no person can claim more than the pre-arrangec and predetermined amount of attention,'except for special
reasons.  The pastor, upon this plan, moves around
among his whole people, a faithful, systematic, and
impartial man.  He is no respecter of persons.  He
goes to converse with the members of his flock,
upon the concerns of their soul, each in his turn.
He sees no difference between them, except moral
and spiritual difference.  If he takes a deeper interest, for the time being, in one of his parishioners,
than he does in the rest of them, it is only because
the one sinner that repents causes more joy, than
the ninety and nine just persons which need no repentance.  The spiritual condition of this person
distinguishes him from the thoughtless and indifferent mass, and the pastor would rejoice, if his whole
parish might become an object of equally distin.
guished attention, for the same reason.
2. Secondly, the clergyman should visit his congregation professionally.  The term  is employed
here, in its technical signification.  When he performs strictly parochial labor, let him  visit as a




PASTORAL VISITING.             397
clergyman, and go into a house upon a purely and
wholly religious errand.  Much time is wasted by
the pastor, in merely secular, social intercourse, even
when going the rounds of his parish.  Ostensibly,
he is about the business of his profession, the care
of souls; but really, he is merely acting the part of
a courteous and polite gentleman.  Even if he gives
the subject of religion some attention, it is only at
the close of his interview, after secular topics have
been discussed.  It may be, that he shrinks from a
direct address to an individual, upon the concerns of
his soul, and therefore, as he thinks, prepares the
way, that he may broach the difficult subject indirectly.  He enters into a general and miscellaneous
conversation, and if he comes to the subject of religion at all, it is only late, and after the energy and
briskness of the conversation have flagged. Moreover, the person to be addressed, is quick to detect
this shrinking upon the part of his pastor, and, if
really unwilling to be spoken to upon the subject
of religion, will adroitly lead the conversation away
into other directions.  The man who is averse to
religious conversation, and who, therefore, specially
needs to be directly and plainly addressed, is the
last person to be surprised into such a conversation.
His eyes are wide open, and the only true way for
the pastor, when the proper time for it has come,
and the pastoral visit is made, is to look him in the
eye, and speak directly and affectionately upon the
most momentous of all subjects.




398            PASTORAL THEOLOGY.
That he may visit in this professional manner,
the pastor should have an understanding, to this
effect, with his people. In the very opening of his
ministry, let him preach a sermon upon the subject
of parochial labor, explaining the nature and purpose of this part of the clergyman's duty, and preparing the minds of his people, for a strictly professional performance of it. Then, they will expect
nothing but religious conversation, when a pastoral
visit is made, and will be ready for it. Appreciating the fidelity of their minister, they will be at
pains to meet him  at their homes.  A  clergyman
who is thus systematic and faithful, soon accustoms
his congregation to his own good way of performing duty, so that they not only adjust themselves to
his exact and thorough methods, but come to like
them.
This is by far the most successful mode of reaching the individual conscience, in direct religious
conversation. We have already alluded to the fact,
that the endeavor to introduce the subject of religion indirectly, and imperceptibly, commonly fails,
because of the adroitness of the unwilling person
addressed. He is quick to detect the shrinking of
the clergyman, from the performance of the most
difficult part of ministerial duty, and though it
may, or may not, result from a sensitive nature, he
is very apt to impute it to a false shame. The consequence is, that the clergyman loses much of his
weight of authority and influence, in the eyes of the




PASTORAL VISITING.            399
parishioner, and never gains the ascendency over
him, to which he is entitled by his profession and
calling, because he does not act up to its privileges
and prerogatives.
When, therefore, a parochial call is made, let the
pastor plunge in medias sacras res. Let him not
atttempt to bridge over the chasm between secularities and spiritualities, but let him leap over.  He
has a. right to do so, because it is understood between the parties, what particular subject it is that
has brought him into the household. He courteously
concedes a few  words to ordinary interests, but
when this concession is made, he proceeds to the
proper business of the occasion.  This method
brings the subject of the soul, and its needs, before
the mind of a parishioner, with a formal authority,
that causes him  to realize that it is no merely
passing and secondary topic.  The clergyman does
not admit that religion may be introduced side-wise,
to his attention.  He has come upon purpose, to
direct his thoughts to this great concern.  And this
method relieves both parties from embarrassment, or
constraint. For, the parishioner is entirely free in the
matter.  He is not compelled to be a party to the
arrangement which brings the clergyman upon a
purely religious errand, to himself, and to his household.  But if he does voluntarily admit him  to
personal conversation, in the capacity of a spiritual
adviser, then he is obligated to let him do his work
faithfully, and well. And even the worldly man is




400            PASTORAL THIEOLOGY.
better pleased with this thorough professional deal.
ing, than might be supposed at first sight. Even
if, owing to the hardness of the heart and the intensity of the worldliness, the pastor makes no
other impression, he will show, beyond dispute, that
he is an earnest and sincere watcher for souls, and
fisher of men. The parishioner will say to himself:
" My pastor understands his work, and performs it
with fidelity; it will not be his fault, if I continue
irreligious." It is certain, that this spiritual earnestness and love for the human soul, when'thus
organized into a regular plan of operations, and
systematized into regular uniformity, will produce
results. Thoughtless men, finding their pastor upon
their trail, coming into their families, and to themselves personally, with a plain and affectionate address upon the subject of religion, and nothing else,
once in every year or half year, will begin to think
of what it all means.  They will find themselves in
a net-work. They will see that they are caught in a
process. Their pastor has laid out his work ahead,
for many long years, and, if he lives, and they live,
they know that the regular motion of the globe
will bring him around to them, once in so often.
They will come to some conclusion.  They will
either submit, and subject themselves to these uniform and persistent influences, or else they will get
clear of them altogether. In ninety-nine cases out
of a hundred, they will do the former thing, and
thus the pastor will be instrumental, by his deter



PASTORAL VISITING.            401
mined parochial fidelity, in bringing into the church,
a.great number who would otherwise go through
life almost Christians, and die unregenerate.
We have advised a systematic visitation of the
parish, by districts or neighborhoods. In case the
clergyman is settled among an agricultural population, widely scattered, he will find this much the
easiest, and surest way to communicate with the
whole body of his people. His parish is his diocese, and he is its bishop.  Let him  niake his
visitations through the whole length and breadth
of it, with the same system  and regularity, with
which the prelatical bishop makes his annual visitation. The pastor should also imitate the method
of the prelate, in another respect, and preach in
these districts, in connection with his pastoral calls.
If he is settled in a city or town, where the main
body of the congregation  are within  a  short
distance of the church edifice, his public discourses
must be in one place. But, if his lot has been cast
among an agricultural people, who are scattered
(and this is the kind of parish, in which the majority of clergymen are appointed to labor), he should
preach a free, extemporaneous discourse, in the
evening of the day of his visitation. Having gone
from house to house, in the manner that has been
described, let him  wind up the earnest work of
pastoral visiting, for the week, with a plain and
glowing address to the families Df the district, assembled at an appointed place. He will find it a
26




402            PASTORAL THEOLOGY.
most genial and exhilarating service, upon his own
part, and a most interesting and profitable one, upon
the part of the people. Enforcing, in a common
assemblage, all that he has said in the families, and
to the individuals, he will clinch the nails which he
has been driving.
Pastoral visiting, conducted in the manner described, is a very efficient aid to the public preaching of the Sabbath and the sanctuary. The parochial call, combined with the free, extemporaneous
lecture, corroborates the sermon. The pastor of this
true stamp is the complement of the preacher. He
supplies, and fills out, what is lacking, in the strictly
public character and functions of the sacred orator.
Having, upon the Sabbath, and in the Christian
temple, logically and elaborately enunciated the
principles of the oracles of God, he comes down
from the pulpit, and on the week day goes into the
private house, and applies the truth to the individual.  The clergyman, is in this way, a complete
man, and does a complete work.  He is both a
preacher and a pastor.
If there were space, it would be natural, here, to
enlarge upon the reciprocal relations and influences
of these two clerical functions, particularly with
reference to sermonizing. It is obvious, that such a
regular, and systematic intercourse with his congregation, will fill the mind of the clergyman with subjects for sermons, with plans, and methods of treating them, and with trains of reflection. Nothing




PASTORAL VISITING.            403
so kindles and enriches the orator's mind, as living
intercourse with individual persons. A preacher
who is in the habit of conversing with all grades of
society, and becomes acquainted with the great varieties in the Christian experience, and the sinful
experience, will be an exuberant and overflowing
sermonizer. Full of matter, and full of animation,
he will vitalize every subject he discusses, no matter how trite it may have become in the minds of
others.  Passing through the parched valley of
Baca, he will make it a well.  He will rain upon
the driest tract, and the rain will fill the pools.
The systematic, and professional manner of visiting his congregation recommends itself to the clergyman, upon the ground of its great practical
usefulness. It is a very sure means of producing
conversions and revivals.  So far as human agency
is concerned, it seems to be the divinely appointed
method, of bringing the experience of individuals to
that crisis which results in actual conversion. The
public preaching of the Sabbath and the sanctuary
is formal, logical, and oratorical. It ought to be so.
Its general purpose, like that of all eloquence, is to
instruct the mind, with a view to move the affections, and actuate the will. But, this practical effect
of sacred eloquence does not, commonly, occur immediately, and at the close of the discourse.  It is indeed true, that the sermon is sometimes instrumental in conversion, upon the spot, in the house of
God. But this is a rare case. While the secular




404           PASTORAL THEOLOGY.
orator, the jurist, or the statesman, sees the effect of
his eloquence in the verdict or the vote given immediately, the sacred orator does not ordinarily see
the practical effect of his eloquence, until after many
days, it may be months or years. Hence, the need
of following up the sermon with the pastoral visit.
Hence, the pastor must tread close upon the heels
of the preacher.
Preaching upon the Sabbath, if it is plain and
powerful, produces an impression, which, if it could
only be perpetuated, would result in a change of
character and conduct. But, occurring at intervals
of a week, the effect of sermons is too often evanescent, unless-itis seconded by other agencies. Hence,
the disposition, in some periods and localities, to
protracted sermonizing, to a series of public addresses to the popular mind,-a method which, if
judiciously employed by the pastor, aided by his
ministerial brethren rather than by an evangelist,
is often productive of great and good results. Without in the least disparaging this mode of promoting
conversions and revivals, and believing that it is
perfectly legitimate and safe to employ it, whenever
the craving for additional preaching, upon the part
of the people, renders it necessary, we yet insist, that
systematic pastoral visiting is the principal means
to be relied upon, by the ministry, in order to bring
individual men to a crisis, and a decision.   Whenever it has been faithfully employed, this part of the
clergyman's service has been rich in fruits; and it




PASTORAL VISITING.            405
is an evil day for the Church, when it is neglected,
and more public and mechanical means are adopted
in the place of it. Addressing parishioners in person, inquiring into their state of mind, telling them
plainly and affectionately what their prospects for
eternity really are, and what they need in order to
salvation, entreating them not to stifle convictions,
urging home the truths that have impressed them
upon the Sabbath,-doing this work, is the surest
way to bring matters to an issue, with the impenitent. If the clergyman would see what may be
accomplished by pastoral work, let him read Baxter's account of his labors at Kidderminster. Few
ministers have so large a charge as he had, and few
are called to do so much of this service. But the
same proportionate laboriousness will produce the
same proportionate results. When Baxter first went
to Kidderminster, he. says, "there was about one
family'in a street that worshipped God, and called
on his name; and when he came away, there were
some streets, where there was not more than.one
family on the side of a street that did not do so,
and that did not, in professing serious godliness,
give him hopes of'their sincerity."  From his own
account, this was, in a great measure, the consequence of following his people to their homes, and
there enforcing the lessons of the Sabbath and the
sanctuary, catechising the families, and conversing
with individuals. The pastor can do nothing more
serviceable to his own ministerial power, and influ



406              PASTORAL THEOLOGY.
ence, than to study that account which Baxter gives
of his labors as a pastor,l to set up Baxter's zeal
and earnestness as a model, to adjust Baxter's plan
and method of operations to  the state of modern
society, and then to make full proof of this part
of his ministry.
1Compare, also, the very in- gow. HAINA: Lifeof Chalmerm,
teresting narrative given of Chal- Vol. II., ch. vi.
mers's parochial work, at Glas



CHAPTER VI.
CATECHISING.
THE catechising of the children and youth in a
congregation, is a theme that deserves to be discussed with the comprehensiveness, and precision,
of a systematic treatise. In the whole range of
topics in Pastoral Theology, there is not one, that
has stronger claims upon the attention of the clergyman, than the doctrinal instruction of the rising generation. Within the the half century, catechising
has fallen greatly into disuse.  Creeds themselves
have been more undervalued, than, in some periods,
they have been over-estimated.  The consequence
is, that the experience of the Church has outrun its
knowledge. There are many, undoubtedly experimental Christians, who are unable to define the
truths of Christianity; either singly, or in their connections in the system. They feel more than they
reflect, and more than they can state. There is
danger in this state of things. The Church cannot
advance, it cannot even maintain itself upon its
present position, by this theory and methoa of




408            PASTORAL THEOLOGY.
religious culture.  Experimental religion, without
doctrinal knowledge, must deteriorate. Religious
feeling will become more superficial, religious zeal
more insincere, and religious action more fitful and
selfish, if the mind of the Church is not obtaining
clear and self-consistent conceptions of religious
truth.  A dead orthodoxy is an evil; and, so is an
ignorant pietism.  But there is no necessity for
either. Feeling and cognition are not antagonistic,
but exist together in the most perfect Being.  And
only as they co-exist in the renewed mind, is there
the highest type of Christian life. Without, however, dwelling upon this part of the subject, we
proceed to recommend the practice of catechising
children and youth, by considering its influence,
first, upon the clergymcn himself, and, secondly,
upon the people.
1. The habit of imparting catechetical instruction, developes the power of lucid and precise statement. The clergyman's theological knowledge is
liable to be imperfect, in respect to the subtler and
sharper distinctions in the Christian system.  He
apprehends the doctrines in their general scope and
drift, but does not draw that thin hair-line which
marks them off from each other.  Some very bitter
controversies have arisen from the fact, that the one
party distinguished interior differences, used language with scientific exactness, and stuck to terms,
while the other party recognized no differences but
external and obvious ones, and employed a loose




CATECHISmN.               409
phraseology, and even this with no rigorous uniformity.
There is something in the endeavor to convey
doctrinal instruction to the human mind, especially
when it is iln the forming period, that is highly
adapted to promote discrimination and clearness.
The catechising pastor does not, that is, he should
not, confine himself to merely putting the questions
and hearing the answers.  After the work of reciting is through, he then explains to the body of
youth gathered before him, the meaning of the
phraseology they have learned, and of the truths
they have committed to memory.  To do this well,
and plainly, so that children and youth may understand, will draw upon the clergyman's nicest discrimination, the choicest portion of his vocabulary,
and his most pertinent illustrations.  It is often
asserted, that it is impossible for children to understand the creed,-that the doctrines of justification,
sanctification, and election, are too strong meat
for babes. The difficulty lies rather in the teacher,
than in the capacity of the pupil, or in the intrinsic nature of the doctrine.  He has only a
vague and general apprehension of revealed truth,
and has never trained himself to make luminous
and exact statements of it.  Any clergyman who
is master of Christian theology, and who thoroughly understands the creed and catechism, will
be able to make the youth of his congregation
understand it also, as others have done before




410            PASTORAL THEOLOGY.
him.  And this endeavor will bring out into clear
and definite forms of statement those great ideas
and truths of Christianity, which lie large but
vague in too many minds.  That clergyman who is
in the habit of. catechising, will know exactly what
his own creed is, and can phrase it in language and
illustrations intelligible to children and youth.
2. A  second effect of catechising upon the
clergyman is, to render his views in theology decided.  The importance of decision in theological
opinions was remarked upon in a previous chapter,
and it was affirmed that the study of creeds is one
of the best means of acquiring it. He who is able
to adopt a creed cordially, because he perceives and
feels its intrinsic truthfulness, will be a positive
man.  It is plain, therefore, that all this work of
teaching a creed, tends to determination and firm.
ness of theological character.   Catechising is, in
reality, the intensely practical study of systematic
theology, in the endeavor to transmute the dogmas
of religion into the thoughts and feelings of the
youthful mind.  As man becomes a little child, in
order to enter the kingdom of truth, so, in this process, the kingdom of truth becomes a little child.
The creed  is incarnated  in the  little children.
While imparting this catechetical instruction, therefore, the clergyman  becomes more  profoundly
certain of the truth of Christianity.  He finds it
more and more impossible to doubt it.  He grows
more and more positive in his views and affirma



oATECEoSING.               411
tions, and gradually acquires that Scriptural boldness which causes him to speak with authority.
Finding a response to the Evangelical system, in the
heart and mind of childhood and youth, and hearing the testimony of the most sincere and unsophisticated period  of human life respecting it,
the catechising clergyman matures into the most
undoubting and impregnable of men.
3. A third effect of catechising, upon the clergyman, is to assure him of the harmony of revelation
and reason. It may at first sight seem strange, to
recommend the doctrinal instruction of children and
youth, as a means of attaining to the true philosophy
of religion. Nothing is more common, in the skeptic,
than to speak of the creeds of the Christian Church,
as at the very farthest remove from rationality. He
is, generally, a little more willing to allow that the
Scriptures are reconcilable with reason, than that
the theological system which an Augustine, or a
Calvin, derived from them, is. But, he has a design
in this.  The Calvinistic creed is definite.  It is
impossible to make it teach more than one system.
There is no dispute, except among disingenuous
men, in respect to what Calvinism really is.  The
Bible, on the other hand, is not a creed or a system,
though it contains one. But what this system actually is, is the point in regard to which Churches
and theologians are disputing; and hence, the skeptic is more ready to concede the general rationality
of the Bible, than he is that of a particular system,




412            PASTORAL THEOLOGY.
like the Calvinistic, for example, because he can immediately append to his admission respecting the
Scriptures, the qualifying remark, that it is yet an
open question what the Scriptures really teach.
This addition is a saving clause for him, and his
skeptical purposes. It has, moreover, passed over
into the religious world, in the form of a feeling,
and hence, we sometimes hear good men disparaging
the creed, even the creed of their own Church, and
advising, in a controversy with the infidel, to have
as little as possible to do with doctrinal theology.
There never was a greater error than this. For,
what is a creed, but a generalization from the Scriptures?  The Westminster symbol, for example, is
the scientific substance of Revelation, in the view
of the divines of the Westminster Assembly. That
assembly was composed of the most learned, and
reflecting men, of the Church of Christ in England,
at that time. It embodied the philosophic mind of
the Church, in that country, and century. If there
was no scientific talent in the Westminster As.
sembly, then there was none in England. And that
assembly aimed to give to the churches that had
called them together, a systematic statement of the
contents of Revelation, or, in other words, a philosophical exhibition of the Scriptures, in a creed. It
was their purpose, to present the fundamental truths
of Christianity, not in a popular oratorical manner,
but in a self-consistent and compact form, that should
commend itself to the reason and judgment of man



CATECHrisNG.                  413
kind.  If, therefore, there be any rationality in the
Christian religion, any philosophy of Christianity,
it is most natural to seek for it in the carefully constructed symbol; and hence, the clergyman, instead
of conceding to the infidel that the catechism is indefensible at the bar of reason, ought to refuse the
concession instantaneously and always, and to join
issue with him, and try the point. In so doing, he
will certainly have one advantage which we have already hinted at, namely, the distinctness and definiteness of the creed; and if the position which we have
taken be correct, that the creed is the philosophical
analysis of the contents of Revelation, by the philosophic mind of the Church, he will have the still
further advantage, of the rationality of the creed.
Hence we affirm, that the habit of studying
the catechism, in  order to teach it to  youthful
minds, conduces to the clergyman's perception of
the unity  of reason  and religion.1   The longer
he studies and teaches the creed, the more unassailable does his conviction become, of its absolute  rationality.   He finds it commending itself
to  the frank  and  unsophisticated  reason  of the
young.   He sees the ingenuous mind responding
to its statements concerning God and man, with
that artless spontaneousness which is the strongest
lIt is a fact of history, that the knowledge of Christianity to the
scientific theology of the Church more cultivated catechumens, at
took its first beginnings, in the Alexandria. Compare GUERICKE:
endeavor to impart an advanced Church History, ~ 59.




414           PASTORAL THEOLOGY.
of evidences for the truth. "It is the most beautiful mark of the excellency of a doctrine," says
Herder, "that it instructs a child."  That which is
welcomed by the open, unbiased nature of childhood, is certainly true. For, if there be any pure
reason, as Kant phrases it, among mankind, it is in
children and youth. During this period in human
life, reason shows itself in an instinctive, recipient
and docile form, and responds more immediately and
unhesitatingly to the voice of truth, than at an
after period, when it has become better acquainted
with error, and more or less sophisticated and blunted by it. There may be a deeper meaning than
appears upon the face of our Saviour's words,
"Except ye receive the kingdom of heaven as little
children, ye shall not enter therein."  He may have
also taught a lesson to the philosopher, and have
meant to say, in addition to what we commonly
understand by these words, "Except ye open your
rational nature to the truth, with that freedom from
prejudice and that docile recipiency which marks
the child, ye can never apprehend it."
1. Passing to the second division of the subject,
namely, the influence of catechising upon the congregation, we remark, in the first place, that it results in the indoctrination of the adults. We do
not now refer to adults who were once the children
and youth of a pastor's charge, but to such as have
more recently conie under a clergyman's ministry.
In a long pastorate, the adult population becomes




CATEcIIING.                4.15
indoctrinated, as a matter of course, in case the pastor begins to catechise at the opening of his ministry. But besides this, the practice of catechising
tends to the indirect spread of doctrinal knowledge,
among those who are not the immediate objects of
its influence.  Uncatechised parents are unconsciously affected by their catechised children.  Uncatechised adults, imperceptibly, learn to set a justei
estimate upon the systematic doctrines of Christianity, through their intercourse with catechised
youth.  The creed of the Church is more respected
among the congregation, in case it is taught and
explained to the children and youth.  The pastor
who is faithful in the performance of this duty,
will see adults coming into the catechetical exercise,
as listeners.  Parents, whose early religious education was neglected, will accompany their children,
not from mere curiosity, but from a desire to obtain
a knowledge of the Word of God, which they value
in their children, and of which they are conscious
of being too destitute, themselves.  In these, and
other ways, doctrinal knowledge will radiate from
the class of catechumens, into the whole body of
an adult population whose catechetical education
was neglected, both by their parents, and their
minister.
2. Secondly, catechising the youth of a parish
protects them against infidelity and spurious philosophy. A well-indoctrinated person can state the
fundamental truths of Christianity in exact phrase



416            PASTORAL THEOLOGY.
ology, can specify their connections in a system and
their relations to each other, can quote the texts of
Scripture which prove them, and, in proportion as
his pastor has been thorough with him as a cate.
chumen, can maintain and defend them in an argument with an opposer.  One thus disciplined is
pre-occupied, fore-warned, and fore-armed.   The
skeptic cannot, as he can and does in case he is arguing with the uninstructed, mis-state and caricature
the truth.  The catechumen will set him right, by
citing to him the well-weighed and precise phraseology of the creed; and this rectification in the
outset, of an incorrect statement, always gravels the
infidel, whether his mis-statement originates in a
real or a pretended ignorance.  A  well-trained
youth, in a contest with an ordinary skeptic, soon
ceases to act upon the defensive.  The unbeliever
soon discovers that he is dealing with a mind cthat
knows where it is, and what it is about, and is willing to give over a contest which he began not from
any love of the truth, or any desire of finding it,
but solely from  a mischievous, and really malignant wish, to undermine the religious belief of an
ingenuous youth.
Again, there is no preservative against philosophy falsely so called, so effectual as a doctrinal
education.  The youth, and especially the reading
and literary youth, of a congregation, are liable to
be misled by spurious science, because it is pretentious and assuming.  They have not yet reached




CATECHISING.              417
"the years which bring the philosophic mind,"-to
employ the phrase of Wordsworth,  The genuine
philosophic spirit is a thing of slow growth. The
truly scientific mind adopts its philosophy, which is
no other than its method of looking at things, with
great circumspection, judgment, and deliberation.
The immature understanding is exposed to great
mistakes, in the formation and adoption of opinions
in philosophy, and hence the great influence which
a showy, pretentious, and utterly unscientific scheme
sometimes exerts over the young men of a nation,
or an age. The counterfeit science comes up before
the youthful intellect, like Comus to the lady, with
an insolence that is never seen in genuine philosophy, and attempts to carry it, by rudely bearing
down upon it. It is both confident and contemptuous in its tone, and too often, like the arrogant and
impudent adventurer in general society, succeeds in
imposing upon the unpractised and untaught.
But he who has received, from the mind of a
learned  and  thoughtful clergyman, a thorough
grounding in the principles and truths of Christianity, is the last one to be taken captive by a false
system of speculation. He sees through it, and is
not deceived by its pretensions. He is not thus to
be irresistibly borne down, by its imposing appearance. Socrates is represented by Plato as remark
ing, that nothing so speedily disposes of a showy
and sounding system, like that of the Sophists, as a
cool and deliberate examination of it.  A big bell,
27




418            PASTORAL THEOLOGY.
he says, booms out a great noise, but place only
one single finger firmly upon the bell, and the
sound which is going out into all the earth, will
stop.  A  youth who understands the scheme of
Christianity, and has been made deliberative and
reflecting, by the catechism, will examine a pretentious system before he adopts it, and, especially, before he surrenders his religious belief for the sake
of adopting it.
In the present condition of society, there is great
need of catechetical instruction, in order to protect
the rising generation from infidelity in the form of
false philosophy. Unbelief does not now adopt the
open, and comparatively manly method of the last
century. The English deists did not pretend to be
Christians, but attacked Christianity with all their
force. The French infidels did the same, only with
more virulence and hatred.  But the infidel of the
present day, claims to be only a more philosophic
and advanced Christian.  Skepticism  now represents itself as the refinement, and inmost essence, of
Christianity. The infidel schools in England and
America deny the charge of unbelief.  They affirm
that they are themselves the highest of believers,
and have a mission to lift up the general mass of
Christians, to a higher,' even the highest, religious
position. Their system does not contain so much
truth as that of the English deists, neither is it as
consistently constructed, nor as clearly expressed;
but instead of allowing it to pass for what it is,




CATEISING.                 419
these pantheistic and materializing skeptics attempt
to palm it off, as the permanent residuum of trath,
after the Biblical and ecclesiastical elements have
been purged out, as dross.
The ministry cannot protect the cultivated youth
of their care, from these artifices of unbelief, by decrying philosophy in the abstract. This only renders them suspicious, and strengthens their doubts,
if they have any, respecting the rationality and phi.
losophic necessity of the Christian faith. A clergy.
man should never vilify a legitimate department of
human knowledge, and philosophy is such. His
true method is, to guide the inquiring mind into the
very science of Christianity, as it is presented in the
creed, and thereby enable it to see, beyond dispute,
that the truths of Revelation are excellent in themselves, and in their influence; that they exhibit
worthy views of the Divine character,-representations of the holiness, justice, mercy, wisdom, truth,
and power of God, that are intuitively rational;
that in respect to man's character (a point which
usually troubles the skeptic, for he is more solicitous about imputations upon man, than upon God),
the statements in the catechism  are questions of
fact, and may be verified by every man's consciousness,-let the clergyman, in brief, fill the mind of
the catechumen with the conviction, that the Chris.
tian system, as laid down in the doctrinal standards,
is the absolute and ultimate religion for man, and
he may then leave him to deal with infidelity, and




420            PASTORAL THEOLOGY.
spurious philosophy, by himself. Instead of being
made ashamed of Christianity, and of his Christian
education and belief, by the tone of the scorner, the
pastor himself may, perhaps, have to guard his
pupil against a too intense contempt for the shallowness of skepticism, and remind him, that he that
thinketh he standeth must take heed lest he fall.
It is certain, that if the rising generation could
only receive such a catechetical and doctrinal education as we are describing, from the pastorate of
the land, infidelity and false philosophy Would find
it difficult to draw  breath, in such a pure intellectual atmosphere as would exist for the next fifty
years, to say nothing of the moral and religious
atmosphere that would be generated.
3. A third effect of catechetical instruction upon
the congregation, is to promote a better understanding of the Word of God.  The youth of this country, during the last half century, have cormmitted
much of the Bible to memory. The Sabbath-School
has made the present generation of both parents
and children, familiar with the contents of 1Revelation; but we are inclined to think, that this mass
of material is somewhat lacking in-system, and organization.  It is not sufficient to learn by rote,
independent passages and isolated texts of Scripture; they ought to be made to teach some truth,
and establish some doctrine, and ultimately be
systematized into  a body of theology.  It is an
error, to study the Bible without generalizing its




CATECHISING.                421
teachings,. and acquiring some conceptior of it as a
whole.  Single unconnected texts are oftentimes
dangerous half-truths, or positive untruths.  Nothing but the power and impression of isolated passages of Scripture, keeps Universalism in existence.
Tne moment that that denomination shall begin to
understand, and interpret, the contents of the Bible
as a self-consistent whole, it will begin to die.
"Texts of Scripture," says Donne, "are like the
hairs in a horse's tail.  Unite them, and they concur in one root of strength and beauty; but take
them  separately, and they can be used only as
snares and springs to catch woodcocks."
The pastor should, therefore, combine catechetical with Sabbath-School instruction.  While he
enlists the active zeal of his best educated parishioners, in the Sabbath-School, he should show his
own deep interest in this excellent institution, by
personally generalizing its teachings, in the catechetical exercise, and thereby putting the crown upon
its influence.  The pastor who thus completes the
work of the Sabbath-School teacher, will raise up a
generation of exceedingly intelligent Biblical scholars. It was once said of a very learned, and at the
same time very logical, jurist, that his learning was
continually passing from his memory into his judgment.  His acquisitions were not merely passively
held, but were used for the argumentative purposes
of his profession. In like manner, the indoctrination of Sabbath-School scholars causes the contents




422              PASTORAL THEOLOGY.
of the memory to pass over into the reason and the
judgment, and makes all the texts and passages
that have been learned, subservient to an intelligent
and  self-consistent  religious belief.  Indeed, to
borrow an illustration from  the Kantean philosophy,
the catechism does with the memorized contents of
Scripture, what the understanding, by its categories,
does with the passive contents of the sense. It
reduces the  scattered  and  manifold  elements to
compactness  and  unity, and  converts the  large
and   distracting   variety  of items  into  distinct
forms and clear conceptions, so that the mind can
take this great number of particulars all in at once,
and feel their single and combined impression. The
catechism  enables the pupil to feel the force of the
whole Bible, and of the Bible as a whole.
4. A fourth effect of catechising, is to render the
youth of a congregation more intelligent hearers of
preaching.   One reason why preaching is uninteresting to youth, is the fact, that they carry no clue
to it in their minds.  They do not see any very
close connection between the sermon, and any thing
within themselves.  No one can be interested in a
discourse, unless he perceives the drift and bearing
of it;' and in order to this, he must carry within
This supposes, of course, that berry, in a recent' number of a
the sermon has a drift and bear- popular monthly magazine, repreing. In some quarters, however, sents a certain pulpit celebrity as
this unity and self-consistence is having introduced a new era in
thought to be a defect, in sacred sermonizing, by showing how to
eloquence. For example, a Dog- deliver discourses that "Edwards




CATECHISING.                     423
himself some kind of internal correspondent to it.
Now, the mental correspondent to an excellent sermon, is an excellent scheme of Christian  doctrine,
in the mind of the hearer.   When this exists, the
sermon has a reference, and an easy reference; and
the mind possesses a key that unlocks it, a clue or
magic thread  which  leads it along  through the
whole performance.  This is the reason why clergymen  are  better auditors, generally, than  laymen.
They  have more of the inward correspondent to
the sermon,-more knowledge of the Christian system. It is plain, therefore, that, just in proportion
as the pastor indoctrinates the youth of' his charge,
he is making  good auditors for himself.  He will
find the youth, who is generally too little interested
in preaching, looking up to the pulpit with as keen
an eye as any of his hearers, and with a more tender
and susceptible heart.
5. A fifth effect of catechising, is to induce seriousness among the youthful part of the congregation.   There is such  a  correspondency  between
truth and the reasonable soul of man, that reflection
naturally results in a grave temper. This is seen
and  Voltaire, Whitefield  and  like pulpit eloquence, which reThomas Paine, would heartily  quires scientific training, and proand equally enjoy "! Itisimpos- fessional culture, and at least a
sible, since the invention of print- little faith in the Christian reliing, and with the freedom and  gion, in order to its comprehencheapness of the press, to prevent sion, are as worthless as they
the shoemaker from going beyond  would be in regard to the calcuhis last. But such judgments of lns itself.
a mere litterateur, upon a subject




424           PASTORAL THEOLOGY.
even in the sphere of secular knowledge. The men
of science,-the studious mathematician, the curious and analyzing chemist, the gazing astronomer,are seriously disposed.  Study casts a shadow.
This is still more true, in the province of morals and
religion.  He who meditates upon divine truth,
may not be so changed by it as to become a new
creature in disposition and feeling, but he will be
sobered by it. He has no option.  His rational
mind was created to be influenced by the great
truths of God and eternity, and it is true to its
construction, to the extent of being made serious,
though not necessarily to the extent of being made
holy.  Just so far, consequently, as a pastor brings
the doctrines of Christianity to bear upon the
youthful mind, does he solemnize it.  For they
are the most serious of all themes of reflection,
and throw a deeper shadow over a frivolous and
volatile spirit, than all other truths; and this is
one reason why the worldly and the gay shun
them, as they do the house of mourning and the
grave-yard.  The pastor can take no course so
effectual, against that giddy levity which so infects
the younger portion of society, as to imbue it with
evangelical ideas.  Such knowledge elevates the
mind, and this mental elevation is opposed to the
emptiness and littleness of fashionable life. If an
intellectual person does not avoid the ball-room
from any higher motive, he is very apt to, from the
lower motive of self-respect. HIe is too literary to




CATECHISIsa.               425
dance. The same feeling, in kind, that keeps the
philosopher, and the thoughtful man of science, from
the rounds of fashionable life, keeps him from them.
In this manner, the high religious education which
we are recommending, makes its power felt through
that younger portion of community which so often
gives tone to society, and prepares the way for the
more decisive and actually converting effects of
Divine truth.
6. And this suggests as the sixth effect of catechising, that it results in frequent conversions. The
Spirit of God is the Spirit of truth.  Hence that
mind which is saturated with the teachings of Revelation, contains something with which the Divine
energy can work.  It is indeed true, that the indoctrinated natural man is as really averse to God
and holiness, as the unindoctrinated.  The carnal
will is the same, whether within the pale of
Christendom  or out of it, and the necessity of
Divine influences, in order to its renewal, is as
great in one instance, as the other.  But, he
who has acquired a clear theoretical apprehension  of the doctrines of Christianity, is much
more likely to be the subject of special and
efficacious grace, than is the pagan, or the uninstructed nominal Christian. There may be as much
perversity and obstinacy of will, as worldly and
sinful affections, in the catechised as in the uncatechised youth, but there is also an amount of truth
in the mind of the former, which is not in the




426           PASTORAL THEOLOGY.
latter. This truth is God's truth. God the Spirit
fl nds His own word congruous with His own agency,
and therefore acts with it, and by it. The Holy
Ghost, like the Redeemer, "comes to His own," and
"His own " are the doctrines of revelation. Hence,
conversions may be expected with more frequency
among an indoctrinated, than among an unindoctrinated population. God honors His own revelation.
The human mind is not worthy of honor from the
Eternal, but the truth lodged in it is worthy; and
God says to the preacher, as He did to the children
of Israel, " It is not for your sake, but for my truth's
sake, and my name's sake, that I bestow the blessing."
7. A seventh and final effect of catechising, is
that it results in genuine conversions. Knowledge
is favorable to thoroughness in mental exercises,
generally. The surest way to prevent hypocrisy
or self-deception, is to cause the light of truth to
shine into the mind.  Give a youth, or a man, correct conceptions of the holiness of God, and the
spirituality and extent of the Divine law, and you
take the most direct means of preventing a spurious
religious experience. He may not come to a genuine experience, but he will not be liable to rest in a
false one. He may not become a Christian, but
neither will he rank himself with Christians.  His
orthodox head will be likely to keep him out of the
visible Church, until he is really fit to join it. But,
besides this negative effect, catechising tends directly




OATECGISING.              427
to a deep and wide religious experience.  Christian character matures rapidly, when the mind is
leavened with evangelical truth, and it is developed
symmetrically, because the fundamental doctrines
have been studied in their connections in a system.
These co-ordinated truths regulate and shape the
experience, so that one grace or quality is not neglected for the sake of another.  The Christian
character is developed, and compacted, by that which
every doctrine supplies, making increase of the
whole in true and beautiful proportions.
These, then, are the principal reasons, why the
practice of catechising children and youth should
be repristinated in the American Churches. It is
the hope, and perhaps somewhat too much the
boast, that the American Republic is called to perform a great work in the evangelization of the
globe. ~ -It will not be either inclined or able to do
this, unless it is itself a deeply thoughtful and profoundly religious nation. It would be a most hopeful indication, if the intense interest which the
American feels in politics, could be transferred to
theology, and that wide acquaintance with government, which marks him, might be equalled, and exceeded, by his knowledge of the purposes and plans
of God in Redemption. Would that the laws and
principles, the ideas and doctrines, of the Christian
religion, might be, for the new power that is rising
in the West, what the civil law, and the political
constitution, were, for imperial Rome in the East.




428            PASTORAL THEOLOGY.
"The Romans, in their best days, made every school.
boy learn by heart the Twelve Tables, and the
Twelve Tables were the catechism of Roman public
and private law, of their constitution, and of the
proud jus Quiritium that led the Roman citizen to
pronounce so confidently, as a vox et invocatio, his
civis Romanus sum, in the most distant corners of
the land, and which the captive Apostle collectedly
asserted twice before the provincial officers.  Cicero
says that when he was a boy, he learned the Twelve
Tables ut carmen necessarmium, like an indispensable
formulary, a political breviary, and deplores that at
the time when he was composing his treatise on
the Laws, in which he mentions the fact, the practice was falling into disuse."' Such ought to be
the interest taken in the Christian faith, by a people
like the American, the foundations of whose government were laid in the truths of Revelation, and
all of whose early history was religious. Upon the
clergy, it mainly depends, whether systematic religion, or systematic infidelity, shall be the future carm.en necessarium of the multiplying millions on this
continent. Sir Joshua Reynolds, in the last of his
Lectures before the Royal Academy, thus expresses
his sense of the importance of the study of the
works, and spirit, of the mightiest and greatest of
artists: " I should desire that the last words which
I should pronounce in this Academy, and from this'LIEBER: Inaugural Discourse before Columbia College.




CATECHISING.              429
place, might be the name of Michael Angelo."  In
closing these brief chapters upon Pastoral Theology,
we feel deeply, that there is not a topic of greater
importance than this subject of catechising; and
the last words we should desire to address a young
clergyman, as he is going forth to his life-long
labor, would be an exhortation to make full proof
of that part of his ministry, to which belongs the
indoctrination of the rising generation, in the truths
and principles of the Christian Religion.
THE END.








t IARLES SCRIBNEt.          A. C. ARMSTRONG.            A. J. PEABODY,
Conubensb (aat1ogue
OF THE  PUBLICATIONS OF
CHARLES SCRIBNER & Co.,
654 BROADWAY,
NEW YORK.
NEW  YORK.         JANUARY, 1868.
*i* The  figures in the last column of this Catalogue refer to CHARLES
SCKIBNER & CO.'S Descriptive Catalogue, copies of which will be sent to any
add0css upon application.
*, Blanks in the column of prices, except in the case of School Text-Books,
the prices of which may be learned from CHARLES SCRIBNER & Co.'S Educational Catalogue, indicate that the Works are either out of print or in press.
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Descripftrve Catalogue.
^,  Any of these Books will be sent post-paid to any address upon receipt of
the price.
Volumes. Size.   Price. Page
ADAMS, W., D.D.
THANKSGIVING....    I   I2m0  $2 00              2
Three Gardens......                     I2mo   2 0        I
AGASSIZ, PROF. LOUIS.
Stru6ture of Animal Life (The)..     8vo    2 50              a
ALEXANDER, A., D.D.
Moral Science..  I 2mo                                         3
ALEXANDER, J. W., D.D.
Alexander, Archibald, /Life of, (Portrait).    I   I2mo   2 00  3
Christian Faith and Pra6ice (Discourses).    i 2mo   2 00       6
Consolation (Discourses)..             I   I2mO   2 0o      5
Faith (Discourses)...   x    2mo   2 00  6
Forty Years' Correspondence with a Friend    2   I2mo   4 00      4
Preaching, Thoughts on....  I 2mo   2 00 




Charles Scribner &  Co.'s Condensed Catalogue.
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A&s (Commentary).2   12zmo  $4 oo                               8
Isaiah     "    (complete)...         8vo    6 50       7
"        "    (abridged)..     I2mo   4 oo                8
Mark       "..I   I2mo   2 00                         8
Matthew    "....                I   I2mo   2 00       8
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LeAures and Poems...              I   I2mo   2 50     9
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BAUTAIN, PROF. A.
Extempore Speaking...                  I   12mo   I 50    12
BEECHER, REV. H. W.
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Dante as Poet, Patriot, Philosopher..   crown 8vo 2 50    14
BRACE, CHARLES L.
Hungary, with Experience of Austrian Police,  I   I2mo           15
Home Life in Germany...  2mo         14
Norse Folk......         2mo   2 oo    15
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Short Sermons for Newsboys.   I6mo   I 50    i6
BUSHNELL, HORACE, D.D.
Charater of Jesus....                 I8mo   I 00    19
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Works of...                    3   I2mo   --       20
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English Language, Elements of..                2mo   I 25    21
COLLIER, J. PAYNE, F.S.A.
Rarest Books in English Language.       4 small 8vo 12 oo    21
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- St. Paul, Life and Epistles of (illustrated)  2   8vo    7 50    22




Charles Scilbuer &  Co.'s Condensed Catalogue.    3
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COOK, PROF. J. P., JR.
Religion and Chemistry..  crown 8vo 2 50    2
CRAIK, GEO. L., LL.D.
English Literature and Language..   2   8vo    7 50    23
CROSBY, PROF. HOWARD, D.D.
New Testament with Notes...         I2mo   I 50    24
CRUMMELL, REV. A.
Africa, Future of...      2mo  I oo00 
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Ethical and Physiological Inquiries         I   I 2mo   i 50    25
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DINGMAN, J. H.
Publisher's Sheet-Book..         Folio  I5 00    29
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Cyclo2pedia of Am. Literature (400 Portraits, &c.) 2 royal 8vo Io oo    31
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"         "      Women of   3   I2mo -                      33
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FELTER, S. A.
Arithmetics, Natural Series of,..     -.    35-36




4    Charles  Scribner  &  Co.'s Condensed  Catalogue.
Volumes. Size.  Price.  Page
FIELD, HENRY M., D.D.
Atlantic Tslegraph, History of...    I    I2mo   $  75    37
FISHER, REV. PROF. GEO. P.
Supernatural Origin of Christianity..    I   8vo    2 50    38
Silliman, Benj., LL.D., Life of (Portrait)    2 crown 8vo 5 0oo    3
FORSYTH, WM.
Cicero, New Life of (Illustrations)..   2 crown Svo 5 oo    3,
FOWLER W. C., LL.D.
SeCtional Controversy (The)...    I   8vo        I 75    39
FROUDE, J. A.
HISTORY OF ENGLAND....   10 crown 8vo 3 oo ea. 40
SHORT STUDIES ON GREAT SUBJECTS..    I crown 8vo 3 oo    41
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Carl Ritter, Life of                          I   i2mo   2 00    42
GASPARIN, COUNT.
America before Europe...   2mo   2 oo    42
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Meditations (First and Second Series).         X 2mom- X 75    43
GUYOT, PROF. ARNOLD.
Geographies, Wall Maps, Key, etc.... - --  <4-47
HALL, EDWIN, D.D.
Puritans and their Principles...    I   8vo    ~ /'   48
HALSEY, REV. LEROY J.
Bible, Literary AttraAions of.., t   I2mo   I 5   48
HEADLEY, J. T.
Complete Works of.....                                   49
HEIDELBERG,
Catechism....                           I small 4to  3 5C    54
HERBERT, H. W.
Works of.....         3   I2mea. I 5        54
HOLLAND, DR. J. G. (Timothy Titcomb.)
Bay-Path. A Novel..         I   I2mo   2 o0    58
Bitter-Sweet. A Poem...             2mo   I 50    56
Gold Foil...                     I   I2 m     I 75    56
KATHRINA. A Poem....                 I   I2mo   I 50    59
Lessons in Life.                            I    2mo   I 75    57
Letters to the Joneses...          I   I2mo   I 75    57
Letters to Young People                       I   I2mo   I 50    55
Miss Gilbert's Career..                   I2mo   2 oo    59
Plain Talks on Familiar Subjects..    x   I2mo   I 75    58




Charles Scribner &  Co.'s Condensed Catalogue.    5
Volumes. Size.   Price. Page.
HOURS AT HOME.
A FAMILY MAGAZINE...    Per annum $3 oo  6c 
HURST, REV. J. F.
Rationalism, History of...         I   8vo    3 50'6
JAMESON, JUDGE J. A.
Constitutional Convention....       8vo    4 50    62
JOHNSON, ANNA  C. (MINNIE MYRTLE).
Cottages of the Alps...                      I2mo            63
Germany, Peasant Life in.                     I2mo            63
Myrtle Wreath.....                        I2mo   I 25    63
JONES, CHARLES COLCOCK, D.D.
HISTORY OF THE CHURCH OF GOD..   2   8vo ea. 3 50    63
KIRKLAND, MRS. C. M.
Evening Book....                I   I2mo        25    65
Holidays Abroad..                       2   I2mo   2 oo    65
Patriotic Eloquence...                    I2mo   I 75    64
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Paris in America..                       I   I2mo   I 25    69
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Commentary on Scriptures, Theolog. and Homiletical: Matthew (I); MARK AND LUKE (I);
ACTS (I); JAMES, PETER, JOHN, JUDE (I);
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TITUS, PHILEMON, HEBREWS (i); GENESIS, (I)   8vo ea. 5 oo 66-68
LAWRENCE, EUGENE.
British Historians, Lives of.        2   I2mo   3 50    69
LIBER  LIBRORUM...,   I    6mo    I 50    70
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OLD ROMAN WORLD..                          I crown 8VO 3 00  7C
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Naval Life......                      I   I2mo   I 50    71
MICLEOD, ALEX., D.D.
Life of, by Rev. S. B. Wylie..               8vo    2 oo   114
MACDONALD, J. M., D.D.
My Father's House.                         I    I2mo   I 50    72
MACLEOD, DONALD,
Works of....3   I2mo ea.  25    71
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Living Orators in America...       i       2mo        75    72
Orators of the American Revoluticn.., mo             72




6     Charkes  Scribner  &  Co.'s Condensed Catalogue.
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Ancient Law.    crown 8vo $3 oo    73
MARSH, HON. GEO.- P.
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Complete Works.                               4  post 8vo  -        76
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-Dream Life.....              I2mo  $I 75    77
Dr. oh'zns: A   o.....   2   I2mo   3 50    79
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Reveries of a Bachelor.I   I2mo   I 75    77
RURAL STUDIES.  I   I2mo   I 75    80
Seven Stories..                        I   I2mo   I 75    78
Wet Days at Edgewood....              I2mo   I 75    80
MITCHEL, PROF. O. M.
Astronomy of the Bible                         I   I2mo   I 75    SI
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Popular Astronomy...            2mo   I 75    8i
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Science of Language, Le6tures on..        crown 8vo 2 50    82
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Missions, Cyclopaedia of (32 Maps)..    I   8vo               83
ORLEANS, DUCHESS OF.
Memoirs of (Portrait)...          I   I2mo              86
OWEN, J. J., D.D.
Commentaries on the New  Testament: Hatthew (I); MARK AND LUKE (I); JOHN (I);
~ ACTS (-), in press; GENESIS (-), in press  I   I2mo ca. I 75 84 —8S
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