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 I.I l IRARY 
 
 University of California. 
 
 Mi- < > i •■ 
 
 Mrs. SARAH P. WALSWORTH. 
 
 Received October, 1S04. 
 essions No.yjf$T£rJ„. Class No. 
 
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THE 
 
 YOUNG PREACHER'S MANUAL, 
 
 OR A COLLECTION OF 
 
 TREATISES ON PREACHING 
 
 COMPRISING 
 
 brown's address to students 
 
 in divinity. 
 fenelon's dialogues on the 
 
 eloquence of the pulpit. 
 olaude's essay on the composi- 
 
 tion OF A SERMON, ABRIDGED. 
 
 GREGORY ON THE COMPOSITION 
 AND DELIVERY OF A SERMON. 
 
 REYBAZ ON THE ART OF PREACH- 
 ING. 
 
 WITH A LIST OF BOOKS. 
 
 SELECTED AND REVISED 
 
 By EBENEZER PORTER. D. D. 
 
 \ \ 
 
 BARTLET PROF. OF SACRED RHETORIC IN THEOL. SEM. ANDOVER. 
 
 BOSTON 
 
 PUBLISHED BY CHARLES EWER, 
 AND FOR SALE AT HIS BOOKSTORE NO. 51 CORNHILL. 
 
 1819. 
 FLAOO 4Mi GOtTM).... PRINTERS. 
 
PC* 
 
 S"7:TS/ 
 
 DISTRICT OF MASSACHUSETTS, TO WIT : 
 
 DISTRICT CLERK'S OFFICE. 
 
 Be it remembered, that on the fifteenth day of March, A. d. 1819, and iu 
 the forty third year of the independence of the United States of America, Charles 
 Ewer, of the said district, has deposited in this office the title of 'a book, the 
 right whereof he claims as proprietor, in the words following, viz.-" The Young 
 Preacher's Manual, or a collection of Treatises on Preaching ; comprising 
 Brown'3 Address to Students in Divinity, Fenelon's Dialogues on the Eloquence 
 of the Pulpit, Claude's Essay on the Composition of a Sermon, abridged, Greg- 
 ory on the Composition and Delivery of a Sermon, Reybaz on the Art of Preach- 
 ing. With a List of Books. Selected and revised by Ebenezer Porter, d. d. 
 Bartlet Prof, of Sacred Rhetoric in the Theol. Sem. Andover. " In conformity 
 to the act of the congress of the United States of America entitled " An Act for 
 the encouragement of learning, by securing the copies of maps, charts and books, 
 to the authors and proprietors of such copie3 during the times therein mentioned ; 
 and also to an act, entitled, " An act supplementary to an act, entitled, An act 
 for the encouragement of learning, by securing the copies of maps, charts and 
 books, to the authors and proprietors of such copies, during the times therein 
 mentioned, and extending the benefits thereof to the arts of designing, engrav- 
 ing, and etching historical and other prints." 
 
 J. W. DAVIS, \ %■; °f th , e **** 
 
 ' \ ofjnassac/iuseits. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 1 he work of the Christian preacher is doubtless* 
 the most important, that can be committed to human 
 hands. But while the influence of the pulpit, upon the 
 everlasting interests of men, is generally admitted to be 
 a subject of the highest concern, the peculiar qualifica- 
 tions, which are requisite in the teachers of religion, 
 seem to have been too much overlooked by writers 
 of our times. The compiler of the young minister's 
 companion, which was published a few years ago, per- 
 formed an invaluable service for the church. The 
 heavy sale of that book is to be accounted for, only on 
 the supposition that our rising clergy are unacquainted 
 with the excellence of its contents. But, though the 
 principal treatises of that compilation, are perhaps the 
 best that were ever written, on the subjects which they 
 discuss ; their chief design is to form the character of 
 the Christian minister, and to exhibit the principles by 
 which he ought to be governed. Still, something corres- 
 ponding with the above compilation, in its general char- 
 acter, but relating directly to the duties of the pulpit, 
 was much needed. Some of the best treatises on 
 
IV PREFACE. 
 
 preaching can hardly be obtained of booksellers, and 
 others are to be found only in connexion with expensive 
 works. A collection of these treatises, in a cheap and 
 convenient form, must be an important acquisition to 
 every theological student. To furnish such a collection, 
 is the design of the young preacher's manual. 
 
 The excellent John Newton has well remarked, that 
 " a preacher is not to be made, as a mechanic makes a 
 table or a chair." His heart must be formed by divine 
 grace. So far, however, as intellectual qualifications 
 are concerned, they must be cultivated, as in other hu- 
 man attainments, by study, and a practical application 
 of the best rules of instruction. Rules on preaching 
 cannot make a preacher : nor can Euclid's Elements 
 make a mathematician. But skill in any art or science 
 presupposes acquaintance with its elementary princi- 
 ples. Knowledge of the Bible, and of systematic The- 
 ology, is essential to the Christian Teacher, but this is 
 not sufficient. He may possess this, and yet not be 
 qualified to write or speak his own thoughts in a per- 
 spicuous and interesting manner. "A man may be a 
 good lawyer, and yet a bad pleader ; so he may be a 
 good divine, and yet a verv indifferent preacher" 
 
 The Compiler of this manual hopes that it may 
 render some important aid to the student, in his prepar- 
 ation for the sacred office. 
 
 The address to students in divinity was written by 
 i Ik; Rev. John Brown of Haddington, whose character 
 *> a minister of the gospel is well known in this country. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 The dialogues on eloquence are from the pen of 
 Fenelon, in whom the taste of a fine scholar was united 
 with the piety of a fervent Christian. Dr. Doddridge 
 speaking of this work of the Archbishop, calls it, " his 
 incomparable dialogues on eloquence, which, (he says) may 
 God put it into the hearts of our preachers often and 
 attentively to read." 
 
 Fordyce, in his art of preaching, says ; " If you want 
 to see the whole machinery and apparatus of pulpit el- 
 oquence displayed, in the completest manner, I refer 
 you to the great and good Prelate of Cambray's Dia- 
 logues on that subject ; who was himself the justest 
 critic, and one of the best models of eloquence, that I 
 know." And Dr. Williams, speaking of this work, says, 
 it is "deservedly mentioned, by many writers of emi- 
 nence, with a sort of respect, bordering on veneration." 
 
 The essay on the composition of a sermon, was writ- 
 ten by the Rev. John Claude, a minister of the Reform- 
 ed French church. Robinson's translation of it is ac- 
 companied with cumbersome, and, to a great extent, 
 illjudged notes, making two volumes, octavo. It can 
 scarcely be obtained in this country, except in connexion 
 with Simeon's Skeletons, in five volumes, a work, which 
 very few ministers can afford, or would wish to purchase. 
 It is here given in a form, which the compiler thinks 
 preferable to that of Simeon or Williams. 
 
 In this Essay, and in the two following articles, 
 (though they are by no means to be regarded as per- 
 fect,) the judicious student will find many valuable 
 
VI PREFACE. 
 
 thoughts on preaching, and more, it is presumed, than 
 can be found elsewhere, in the same number of pages. 
 It is only necessary, further to apprize the reader, 
 that t lie marginal notes, in Fenelon's dialogues, selected 
 from other writers, generally confirming, but sometimes 
 invalidating the opinions of that celebrated author, are 
 designed to furnish a more ample view of the several 
 topics discussed, than is contained in the original work. 
 
 Theological Seminary, 
 Andover, March, 17, 1819. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 Page. 
 Address to Students in Divinity, by Rev. John Brown . 
 
 Dialogues on the Eloquence of the Pulpit, by M. Fenelon 29 
 
 Extract from a Letter to the French Academy, by the same 183 
 
 Essay on the Composition of a Sermon, by the Rev. John 
 
 Claude 213 
 
 Thoughts on the Composition and Delivery of a Sermon, by 
 
 Dr. Gregory 355 
 
 Letter on the Art of Preaching, by M. Reybaz .... 401 
 
 List of Books , . . 423 
 
ADDRESS 
 
 TO 
 
 STUDENTS OF DIVINITY. 
 
 MY DEAR PUPILS, 
 
 While I have been occupied in instructing you, your 
 consciences must bear me witness, that my principal 
 concern was to impress your minds with the great things 
 of God. Now, when I am gradually stepping into the 
 eternal state, to appear before the judgment-seat of 
 Christ, permit me to beseech you, as you wish to pro- 
 mote his honour, and the eternal salvation of your own 
 and your hearer's souls, 
 
 1. See, that ye be real Christians yourselves.. I now 
 more and more see, that nothing less than real, real 
 Christianity, is fit to die with, and make an appearance 
 before God. Are ye then indeed " born again, born 
 from above, born of the spirit ? created in Christ Jesus 
 unto good works ? new creatures in Christ Jesus," hav- 
 ing " all old things passed away, and all things become 
 new?" Are ye indeed the circumcision which " worship 
 
 God in the spirit, habitually reading, meditating, pray- 
 
 2 
 
10 ADDRESS TO STUDENTS. 
 
 ing, preaching, conversing with your hearts, under the 
 influence of the Holy Ghost ? Have you no " confidence 
 in the flesh, 1 ' no confidence in your self-righteousness, 
 your learning, your address, your care and diligence, your 
 gifts and graces ; but being emptied of self in every form, 
 are you " poor in spirit, less than the least of all saints," 
 and the least of all God's mercies ; nay, the very " chief 
 of sinners" in your own sight ? Has it pleased God " to 
 reveal his Son in" you? and to instruct you with a 
 strong hand, " to count all things but loss for the excel- 
 lency of the knowledge of Jesus Christ as your Lord, 
 and to count them but dung, that you may win him, and 
 be found in him, not having your own righteousness, but 
 the righteousness which is of God by faith, and to know 
 the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his 
 sufferings, and to press toward the mark for the prize 
 of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus ?" If you be, 
 or become, graceless preachers or ministers of the gos- 
 pel, how terrible is your condition ! If you open your 
 Bible, the sentence of your redoubled damnation flashes 
 into your conscience from every page. When you com- 
 pose your sermon, you but draw up a tremendous indict- 
 ment against yourselves. If you argue against, or re- 
 prove other men's sins, you but aggravate your own. 
 When you publish the holy law of God, you but add to 
 your rebellion against it, and make it an awful witness 
 against your treacherous dissimulation. If you announce 
 its threatenings, and mention hell, with all its insupport- 
 able torments, you but involve yourselves in it, and make 
 yourselves heirs to it as the inheritance appointed you 
 by the Almighty. When you speak of Christ and his 
 excellencies, fulness, love, and labours, it is but to tram- 
 ple him under your feet. If you take his covenant and 
 
ADDRESS TO STUDENTS, 11 
 
 gospel into your mouth, it is but to profane them, and 
 cast them forth to be trodden under foot of men. If 
 you talk of spiritual experiences, you but do despite to 
 the Spirit of grace. When you commend the Father, 
 the Son, and the Holy Ghost, and invite sinners to new- 
 covenant fellowship with them, you but treacherously 
 stab them under the fifth rib, betray them with a kiss, 
 and from your heart cry, This is the heir, the God, 
 come let us kill him. While you hold up the glass of 
 God's law or gospel to others, you turn its back to your- 
 selves. The gospel, which ye preach to others, is hid, 
 is a savour of death unto death to you, the vail remain- 
 ing on your hearts, and the god of this world having 
 blinded your minds. Without the saving, the heart- 
 transforming knowledge of Christ and him crucified, all 
 your knowledge is but an accursed puffier up, and the 
 murderer of your own souls. And unless the grace of 
 God make an uncommon stretch to save you, how des- 
 perate is your condition ! Perhaps no person under 
 heaven bids more unlikely to be saved, than a graceless 
 minister ; his conscience is so overcharged with guilt, so 
 seared as with an hot iron, and his heart so hardened 
 by the abuse of the gospel. Alas ! my dear pupils, 
 must all my instructions, all the strivings of the Holy 
 Ghost, all your reading, all your meditations, all your 
 sermons, all your evangelical principles, all your profes- 
 sion, all your prayers, as traps and snares, take and bind 
 any of you, hand and foot, that, as " unprofitable ser- 
 vants, you" may be cast into " outer darkness," with 
 all the contents of your Bible and other books, all your 
 gifts and apparent-like graces, as it were, inlaid in your 
 consciences, that, like fuel or oil, they may for ever feed 
 the flames of God's wrath upon your souls ! After be- 
 
12 ADDRESS TO STUDENTS. 
 
 ing set for a time at the gate of heaven, to point others 
 into it, after prophesying in Christ's name, and wasting 
 yourselves (o show others the way of salvation, and to 
 li-ht up the friends of our Redeemer to their heavenly 
 rest, must your own lamp go out in everlasting darkness, 
 and ye he bidden, " Depart from me, I never knew you, 
 ye workers of iniquity?" Must I — must all the churches 
 behold you at last brought forth and condemned as 
 arch-traitors to our Redeemer ? Must you, in the most 
 tremendous manner, for ever sink into the bottomless 
 pit, under the weight of the blood of the great God, our 
 Saviour ; under the weight of murdered truths, murder- 
 ed convictions, murdered gifts, murdered ministrations 
 of the gospel, and murdered souls of men! 
 
 2. Ponder much, as before God, what proper fur- 
 lMTURE you have for the ministerial work, and labour to 
 increase it. To him that hath shall be given. Has Je- 
 ous bestowed on you the Holy Ghost ? What distinct 
 knowledge have you of the mysteries of the kingdom ? 
 What aptness have you to teach, bringing out of the 
 good treasure of your own heart " things new and old ?" 
 What ability to make the deep mysteries of the gospel 
 plain to persons of weak capacities, and to represent 
 things delightful or terrible in a proper and affecting 
 manner? What proper quickness in conceiving divine 
 things ; and what rooted inclination to study them, as 
 persons devoted to matters of infinite importance? 
 What peculiar fitness have you for the pulpit, qualify- 
 ing you, in a plain, serious, orderly, and earnest manner, 
 to screw the truths of God into the consciences of your 
 hearers ? With what stock of self-experienced truths 
 and texts of inspiration did, or do you enter on the min- 
 
 •rial work? Of what truths, relative to the law of 
 
ADDRESS TO STUDENTS. 13 
 
 God ; or relative to sin, Satan, or the desertions and ter- 
 rors of God, has your soul not only seen the evidence, 
 but felt the power ? What declarations, promises, of- 
 fers, and invitations, of the glorious gospel, have ye, witl. 
 joy and rejoicing of heart, found and eaten, and there;' 
 tasted and seen that God is good ? Of what inspical 
 truths and texts can you say, "Even so we have believ- 
 ed, and therefore we speak :" what we have seen and 
 heard with the Father, and tasted and handled of the 
 word of life, that we declare unto you. Thrice happy 
 preacher, whose deeply-experienced heart is, next to 
 his Bible, his principal note-book ! 
 
 3. Take heed that your call from Christ and his 
 Spirit to your ministerial work be not only real, but 
 evident. Without this you can neither be duly excited 
 nor encouraged to your work ; nor hope, nor pray for di- 
 vine success in it ; nor bear up aright under the difficul- 
 ties you must encounter, if you attempt to be faithful. 
 If you run unsent by Jesus Christ and his Spirit, not- 
 withstanding the utmost external regularity in your li- 
 cense, call, and ordination, you, in the Avhole of your min- 
 istrations, must act the part of a sacrilegious thief and 
 robber, a pretended and treacherous ambassador for 
 Christ and his Father, and a murderer of men's souls, 
 not profiting them at all. What direction — what sup- 
 port — what assistance — what encouragement — what re- 
 ward, can you then expect ? Ponder, therefore, as be- 
 fore God : Have you taken this honour to yourselves ? 
 or, Were ye called of God, as was Aaron ? Has Jesus 
 Christ sent you to preach the gospel, and laid upon you 
 a delightful and awful necessity to preach it ? While 
 he powerfully determined you to follow providence, and 
 avoid every selfish and irregular step towards entrance 
 
14 ADDRESS TO STUDENTS. 
 
 into the office, as a mean of eating a piece of bread, or 
 enjoying carnal ease or honour, did he breathe on you, 
 v and cause you to receive the Holy Ghost ; filling you 
 li«with deep compassion to the perishing souls of men, and 
 res deep sense of your own unfitness for such arduous 
 Tiidork, and fervent desire, that if the Lord were willing 
 to use you as instruments of winning souls, he would 
 sanctify you, and make you meet for his work ? Per- 
 haps, providentially shut out from other callings, to 
 which you or your parents inclined, did you, in your ed- 
 ucation, go up " bound in the Spirit" by the love of 
 Christ burning in your hearts, and constraining you 
 cheerfully to surrender yourselves to poverty, reproach, 
 and hatred of men, for promoting his name and honour, 
 and the salvation of men in the world? What oracles 
 of God, powerfully impressed on your soul, have directed 
 and encouraged you to his work ? Know you in what 
 form Jesus Christ gave you your commission ? Whether 
 to " open the eyes of the Gentiles, and turn them from 
 darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto 
 God ; that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and an 
 inheritance among them who are sanctified by faith" in 
 him : — Or to " go make the heart of this people fat, 
 their ears heavy," and to " shut their eyes ?" 
 
 4. See that your end in entering into, or executing 
 your office, be single, and disinterested. Dare you appeal 
 to Him, whose eyes are "as a flame of fire," and w r ho 
 " searcheth the hearts and trieth the reins," to give to 
 every man according to his works, that you never in- 
 clined to be put into the priest's office, that you might 
 f* eat a piece of bread, and look every one for his gain 
 from his quarter ;" that ye " seek not great things for 
 s ourselves ;" that ye "covet no man's silver, gold," or 
 
ADDRESS TO STUDENTS. 15 
 
 "apparel j" that ye seek not men's property, but '• them- 
 selves, that you may win them to Christ for their eter- 
 nal welfare ;" that ye seek not your own honour, ease, 
 or temporal advantage, but the things of Christ and his 
 people ; that ye " seek not honour" or " glory of men," 
 but the honour of Christ and his Father, in the eternal 
 salvation of souls ; and have determined to prosecute 
 this end through whatever distress or danger the Lord 
 may be pleased to lay in your way ? 
 
 5. See that your minds be deeply impressed with 
 the nature, extent, and importance of your ministerial 
 work ; that therein it is required of you, as " ambassa- 
 dors for Christ," as " stewards" of the mysteries and 
 manifold grace of God — " to be faithful ;" to serve the 
 Lord with your spirit, and with much humility in the 
 gospel of his Son ; to testify repentance towards God, 
 and faith towards our Lord Jesus Christ, not keeping 
 back, or shunning to declare every part of the counsel 
 of God, or any profitable instruction, reproof, or encour- 
 agement; and, not moved with any reproach, persecu- 
 tion, hunger, or nakedness ; to be ready, not only to be 
 bound, but to die for the name of the Lord Jesus, in 
 order to finish your course with joy. Bearing with the 
 infirmities of the weak, and striving together in prayer, 
 that the word of the Lord may have free course, and 
 be glorified, and your messages provided by God, and 
 made acceptable to your hearers, you must labour with 
 much fear and trembling, determined to know, to glory 
 in, and make known, nothing but Jesus Christ and him 
 crucified; preaching the gospel, "not with enticing 
 words of man's wisdom," as men pleasers, but with 
 great plainness of speech, in demonstration of the Spirit, 
 and with power ; speaking the things which are freely 
 
16 A&&RES9 To STUDENTS. 
 
 given you by God, not in the words which man's wisdom 
 teaches, but in " words which the Holy Ghost teaches ;" 
 comparing spiritual things with spiritual, as having 
 the mind of Christ, always triumphing in Him, and mak- 
 ing manifest the savour of the knowledge of him in 
 every place, that you may be a sweet savour of Christ 
 in them who are saved, and in them who perish ; as of 
 sincerity, as of God, in the sight of God speaking in 
 Christ, and through the mercy of God, not fainting, but 
 renouncing the hidden things of dishonesty ; not walk- 
 ing in craftiness nor handling the w r ord of God, deceit- 
 fully, or corrupting the truth, but manifesting the truth 
 to every man's conscience, as in the sight of God ; not 
 preaching yourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord, and 
 yourselves servants to the church for his sake, alway 
 bearing about his dying, that his life may be manifested 
 in you ; and knowing the terror of the Lord, and deeply 
 impressed with the account, which you and your hearers 
 must give to him of your whole conduct in the day of 
 judgment, awed by his infinite authority, constrained and 
 inflamed by his love, you must persuade men, beseech- 
 ing them to be reconciled unto God, and making your- 
 selves manifest to God, and to their conscience ; and, as 
 their edification requires, changing your voice, and turn- 
 ing yourselves every way, and becoming all things to all 
 men, in order to gain them to Christ; jealous over them 
 with a godly jealousy, in order to espouse them to him, 
 as chaste virgins, travelling in birth, till he be formed in 
 their hearts. You must take heed to your ministry, 
 which you have received in the Lord, that you may ful- 
 fil it ; stir up the gifts, Avlnch were given you ; give your- 
 selves wholly to reading, exhortation, and doctrine ; and 
 perscveringly take heed to yourselves, and to the doc- 
 
ADDRESS TO STUDENTS. 4 1 
 
 trine which you preach, that you may save yourselves 
 and them that hear you ; watching for their souls, as 
 they who do and must give an account for them to God : 
 rightly dividing the word of truth, and giving every man 
 his portion in due season ; faithfully warning every man 
 with tears, night and day, teaching every man, particu- 
 larly young ones, and labouring to present every man 
 perfect in Christ Jesus ; and warring, not after the flesh, 
 nor with carnal weapons, but with such as are mighty 
 through God to the pulling down of strong holds, and 
 casting down imaginations, and subduing every thought 
 and affection to the obedience of Christ. Having him 
 for the end of your conversation, and holding fast the 
 form of sound words in faith, and in love to him, not en- 
 tangling yourselves with the affairs of this life, nor 
 ashamed of the Lord or of his cause or prisoners, but 
 ready to endure hardships as good soldiers of Jesus 
 Christ, and to endure all things for the elect's sake, that 
 they may obtain salvation with eternal glory; ye must 
 go forth without the camp, bearing his reproach, and. 
 exposed as spectacles of sufferings to angels and men ; 
 must not faint under your tribulations, but feed the flock 
 of God, which he has purchased with his own blood, and 
 over which the Holy Ghost has made you overseers : 
 preaching the word in season and out of season, reprov- 
 ing, rebuking, and exhorting with all long-suffering and 
 doctrine ; taking the oversight of your people, not by 
 constraint, but willingly, not for filthy lucre of worldly 
 gain, or larger stipends, but of a ready mind; neither as 
 being lords over God's heritage, but as examples to the 
 flock, exercising yourselves to have a conscience void of 
 offence towards God and towards man ; having a good 
 conscience, willing in all things to live honestly, exer- 
 
 3 
 
18 1DDRESS TO STl'DEVJ 
 
 ciscd to godliness, kindly affectioned, disinterested, holy, 
 just, and tmblameable, prudent examples of the believer 
 in conversation, in charity, in faith and purity, fleeing 
 youthful lusts, and following after righteousness, peace, 
 faith, charity ; not striving, but being gentle unto all men ; 
 in meekness, instructing them who oppose themselves ; 
 avoiding foolish and unlearned questions, and old wives 
 fables, fleeing from perverse disputings and worldly 
 mindedness, as most dangerous snares ; and following 
 after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meek- 
 ness ; fighting the good fight of faith, and laying hold on 
 eternal life ; keeping your trust of gospel truth and min- 
 isterial office, and without partiality or precipitancy, 
 committing the same to faithful men, who may be able 
 to teach others ; and, in fine, faithfully labouring, in the 
 Lord, to try, and confute, and censure false teachers ; 
 publicly rebuke or excommunicate open transgressors, 
 restore such as have been overtaken in a fault in the 
 spirit of meekness, and having compassion on them, to 
 pull them out of the fire, hating even the garment spot- 
 ted by the flesh, and never conniving at, or partaking 
 with any in their sins. Who is sufficient for these 
 things ? May your sufficiency be of God ; and as youi 
 days are, so may your strength be. 
 
 6. Sec that ye take heed to your spirits, that ye 
 deal not treacherously with the Lord. In approaching 
 to, or executing the ministerial office, keep your hearts 
 with all diligence ; for out of it are the issues of eternal 
 life, or death to yourselves and others. Building up 
 yourselves in your most holy faith, and praying in the 
 Holy Ghost, keep yourselves in the love of God, looking 
 for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life. 
 If you do not ardently love Christ, how can you faith- 
 
ADDRESS TO STUDENTS. 19 
 
 fully and diligently feed his lambs — his sheep? Alas! 
 how many precious sermons, exhortations, and instruc- 
 tions are quite marred and poisoned by coming through 
 the cold, carnal, and careless heart of the preacher, and 
 being attended with his imprudent, untender, and luke- 
 warm life ? If you have not a deep-felt experience of 
 the terrors of the Lord, of the bitterness of sin, vanity 
 of this world, and importance of eternity, and of the 
 conscience-quieting and heart-captivating virtue of Je- 
 sus' bleeding love, how can you be duly serious and 
 hearty in preaching the gospel ? If, all influenced by a- 
 predominate love to Christ, your heart be not fixed on 
 everlasting things, and powerfully animated to an eager 
 following of peace and holiness, how can you, without 
 the most abominable treachery, declare to men their 
 chief happiness, and the true method of obtaining it ? 
 If your graces be not kept lively, your loins girt, and 
 your lamps burning, all enkindled by the heart-constrain- 
 ing love of Christ, how cold, how carnal, and blasted 
 must your sacred ministrations be ? If your work, as 
 ambassadors of Christ, be to transact matters of ever- 
 lasting importance between an infinite God and immor- 
 tal, but perishing, souls of men ; if the honours and pri- 
 vileges of it be so invaluable, what inexpressible need 
 have you of habitual dependence on Christ by a lively 
 faith? What self-denial, what ardent love to Christ 
 and his Father, what disinterested regard to his honour, 
 what compassion to souls, what prudence, what faithful- 
 ness and diligence, what humility and holy zeal, what 
 spirituality of mind and conversation, what order, what 
 plainness, what fervour, what just temperature of mild- 
 ness and severity, is necessary in every part of it ! If, 
 while you minister-. in holy things, your lusts prevail and 
 
20 ADDRESS TO STl !>!. N I 3. 
 
 are indulged, you have less of real or lively Christianity 
 ihan the most weak and uncircumspcct saints under 
 your charge; if your evil heart of unbelief fearfulh 
 Carry you off from the living God, and you can live un- 
 concerned while the powerful and sanctifying presence 
 of God is with-hcld from yourselves or your ilocks ; how 
 sad is your and their case ! If your indwelling pride be 
 allowed to choose your company, your dress, your vic- 
 tuals, nay, your text, your subject, your order, your lan- 
 guage ; if it be allowed to indite your thoughts, and, to 
 the reproach and blasting of the gospel of Christ, to 
 deck your sermon with tawdry ornaments and fancies, 
 as if it were a stage-play ; to blunt and muffle up his 
 sharp arrows with silken smoothness and swollen bom- 
 bast ; if it be allowed to kindle your fervour, and form 
 your looks, your tone, your action ; or to render you en- 
 raptured or self-conceited, because of subsequent ap- 
 plause ; or sad and provoked, because your labours are 
 contemned, how dreadful is your danger and that of 
 vour hearers ! How can ministerial labours, originating 
 in pride, spurred on by the fame of learning, diligence, 
 or holiness, hurt the interests of Satan, from whose in- 
 fluence they proceed. If pride be allowed to cause you 
 to envy or wound the characters of such as differ from, 
 or outshine you, or to make you reluctant to Christian 
 reproof from your inferiors, how fearful is your guilt 
 and danger! Pride indulged is no more consistent with 
 a Christian character, than drunkenness and whoredom. 
 If you take up or cleave to any principle or practice in 
 religion, in the way of factious contention, how abomina- 
 ble to God is the -'sower of discord among brethren!" 
 If you undervalue the peace and prosperity of the 
 Church of Christ, and cur 1 , not afflicted with her in all 
 
ADDRESS TO STUDENTS. 21 
 
 hdY afflictions, how cruel and unchrist-like your conduct ! 
 If, in justly proving your opponents deceivers and blas- 
 phemers, you, by your angry manner, plead the cause 
 of the devil, will God accept it as an offering at your 
 hands ? If you are slothful in studying or declaring the 
 truths of Christ ; if, to save labour or expense, you are 
 inactive or averse to help such as have no fixed minis- 
 trations, or to contrive or prosecute projects for advan- 
 cing the kingdom of Christ, and promoting the salvation 
 of men, how great is your baseness, how dreadful your 
 hazard ? Think, as before God, did Jesus Christ fur- 
 nish you for, and put you into the ministry, that you 
 might idle away, or prostitute your devoted time, tear 
 his church, conceal or mangle his truths, betray his in- 
 terests, or starve and murder the souls of men ? Are 
 not your people the " flock of God, which he purchased 
 with his own blood ?" Will you then dare to destroy 
 his peculiar property and portion, and attempt to frus- 
 trate the end of his death ? Did Jesus die for men's 
 souls ? And will you grudge a small labour or expense 
 to promote his honour in their eternal salvation ? If 
 the Son of God was crucified for men, crucified for you, 
 will you refuse, through his Spirit, to crucify your sel- 
 fishness, your pride, your sloth, your worldly and covet- 
 ous disposition, in order to save yourselves, and them 
 that hear you. While your own salvation, and the sal- 
 vation of multitudes, are so deeply connected with your 
 faithfulness and diligence, while the powers of hell and 
 earth so set themselves in opposition to your work, that, 
 in your falls, they may triumph over Christ, your Mas- 
 ter, and his church; while so many eyes of God, angels, 
 and men are upon you, why do you ever think or speak 
 of eternal things, of heaven and hell, of Jesus' persoiu 
 
22 ADDRESS TO STDDEM> 
 
 nlliccs. righteousness, love, and free sahation, without 
 the most serious and deep impression of their impor- 
 tance ? While perhaps you preach your last sermon, 
 and have before you and on every hand of you, hundreds 
 or scores of perishing souls, suspended over hell by the 
 frail thread of mortal life, not knowing what a day or 
 an hour may bring forth ; souls already in the hands of 
 I he devil, and, as it were, just departing to be with him 
 in the lake, which burns with fire and brimstone ; souls 
 already slain by the gospel of our salvation blasted and 
 cursed to them, partly by your means, why do not tears 
 of deep concern mingle themselves with every point you 
 study, every sentence you publish in the name of Christ ? 
 When multitudes of your hearers, some of them never 
 to hear you more, and just leaping off into the depths 
 of hell, are, in respect of their needs, crying with an ex- 
 ceeding bitter cry, Minister, help, help, wc perish, we ut- 
 terly perish, -pluck the brand out of the burning fiery fur- 
 nace ; why spend your devoted time in idle visits, mod- 
 ifying converse, useless reading, or unnecessary sleep ? 
 What, if while you are so employed, some of your hear- 
 ers drop into eternal flames, and begin their everlasting 
 cursing of you for not doing more to promote their sal- 
 vation ? When Jesus arises to require their blood at 
 your hand, how accursed will that knowledge appear, 
 which was not improved for his honour who bestowed 
 it! that ease, which issued in the damnation of multi- 
 tudes! that conformity to the world which permitted, 
 or that unedifying converse which encouraged your 
 hearers to sleep into hell in their sins! that pride or 
 luxury, which restrained your charity, or disgracefully 
 plunged you into debt! Since, my dear pupils, all the 
 truths of God, all the ordinances and privileges of his 
 
ADDRESS TO STUDENTS. 23 
 
 church, the eternal salvation of multitudes, and the infi- 
 nitely precious honour of Jesus Christ and his Father, 
 as connected with the present and future ages of time, 
 are intrusted to you, how necessary, that, like Jesus, 
 your Master, you should be faithful in all things to him 
 who appointed you ? If you do the work of our Lord 
 deceitfully, in what tremendous manner shall your par~ 
 ents, who devoted and educated you for it ; your teachers, 
 who prepared you for it; the seminaries of learning, in 
 which you received your instruction ; the years, which 
 you spent in your studies ; all the gifts which were be- 
 stowed upon you; all the thoughts, words, and Avorks of 
 God in the redemption of men; all the oracles, com- 
 mands, promises, and threatenings of God, Avhich direct, 
 inculcate, or enforce your duty ; all the examples of Je- 
 sus Christ, and all his apostles, prophets, and faithful 
 ministers ; all the leaves of your Bible, all the books of 
 your closet, all the engagements you have come under, 
 all the sermons which you preach, all the instructions, 
 which you tender to others, all the discipline, which you 
 exercise, all the maintenance, which you receive, all the 
 honours, which you enjoy or expect ; all the testimonies, 
 which you give against the negligence of parents, mas- 
 ters, ministers, or magistrates ; all the vows and resolu- 
 tions, which you have made to reform, and all the prayers, 
 which you have presented to God for assistance or suc- 
 cess, rise up against you as witnesses, in the day of the 
 Lord ! 
 
 7. See that ye, as workmen, who need not be asham- 
 ed, earnestly labour rightly to divide the word of truth, 
 according to the capacities, necessities, and particular 
 occasions of your hearers, giving every one of them their 
 portion in due season. Never make your own case, 
 
24 ADDRESS? TO STUDENTS. 
 
 your inclination or honour, but the need of soul-, and 
 the glory of Christ, the regulator in your choice of sub- 
 jects. Labour chiefly on the principal points of religion,- 
 to bring down the fundamental mysteries of the gospel 
 to the capacities of your hearers, and inculcate on their 
 consciences the great points of union to and fellowship 
 with Christ, regeneration, justification, and sanctification, 
 these will require all your grace, learning, and labour. 
 Never aim at tickling the ears or pleasing the fancies of 
 your hearers; but at convincing their consciences, en- 
 lightening their minds, attracting their affections, and 
 renewing their wills ; that they may be persuaded and 
 enabled to embrace and improve Jesus Christ, as freely 
 offered to them in the gospel, for wisdom, righteousness, 
 sanctification, and redemption. Labour to preach the 
 law as a broken covenant, the gospel of salvation, and 
 the law as a rule of life, not only in their extensive mat- 
 ter, but also in their proper order and connexion. It 
 is only when they are properly connected, that the pre- 
 cious truths of God appear in their true lustre and glory. 
 It is at your infinite hazard, and the infinite hazard of 
 them that hear you, if you, even by negligence, either 
 blend or put asunder that law and gospel, which Jesus 
 Christ has so delightfully joined together. No where 
 is it more necessary to take heed, than in preaching up 
 the duties of holiness. Let all be founded in union to 
 and communion with Christ, all enforced by the pattern, 
 love, righteousness, and benefits of Christ. 
 
 3. You have stated yourselves public witnesses for 
 Jesus Christ, who profess to adhere 1o, and propagate 
 his injured truths, and to commemorate with thankful- 
 ness the remarkable mercies, which he has bestowed on 
 our church and nation, and to testify against, and moun< 
 
ADDRESS TO STUDENTS. 25 
 
 over our own and our father's fearful backslidings from 
 that covenanted work of reformation once attained in 
 our land. See that ye be judicious, upright, constant, 
 and faithful in your profession. I now approach death, 
 heartily satisfied with our excellent Westminister CW 
 fession of Faith., Catechisms, and Form of church-govern-, 
 ment, and cordially adhering to these Covenants, by which 
 our fathers solemnly bound themselves and their poster- 
 ity to profess the doctrines, and practise the duties 
 therein contained. I look upon the Secession as indeed 
 the cause of God, but sadly mismanaged and dishonoured 
 by myself and others. Alas ! for that pride, passion, 
 selfishness, and unconcern for the glory of Christ, and 
 spiritual edification of souls, which has so often pre- 
 vailed ! Alas ! for our want of due meekness, gentle- 
 ness, holy zeal, self-denial, hearty grief for sin, compas- 
 sion to souls in immediate connexion wjth us, or left in 
 the established church, which became distinguished wit- 
 nesses for Christ. Alas ! that we did not chiefly strive 
 to pray better, preach better, and live better than our neigh- 
 bours. Study to see every thing with your own eyes, 
 but never indulge an itch after novelties : most of those, 
 which are now esteemed such, are nothing but old errors, 
 which were long ago justly refuted, varnished over Avith 
 some new expressions. Never, bv your peevishness, 
 contentions, eagerness about worldly things, or the like, 
 make others think lightly of the cause of God among 
 your hands. If I mistake not, the churches are enter- 
 ing into a fearful cloud of apostacy and trouble. But 
 he that endures to the end shall be saved. Be ye faith- 
 ful unto the death, and Christ shall give you a crown of 
 life. But if any man draw back. God's soul shall have 
 no pleasure in him. 
 
 1 
 
26 ADDRESS TO STUDENTS. 
 
 9. Always improve and live on that blessed encour- 
 agement, which is offered to you as Christians and min- 
 isters in the gospel. Let all your wants be on Christ. 
 " My God shall supply all your need according to his 
 riches in glory by Christ Jesus." Cast all your cares on 
 him, for he careth for you. Cast all your burdens on 
 him, and he will sustain you. If your holy services, 
 through your mismanagement, occasion your uncommon 
 guilt, his blood " cleanseth from all sin." You have an 
 " Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous, 
 who is the propitiation for your sins." If you be often 
 difficulted how to act, he hath said, " The meek will he 
 guide in judgment : the meek will he teach his way. I 
 will instruct thee and teach thee in the way, which thou 
 shalt go. I will guide thee with mine eye set upon thee. 
 I will lead the blind in a way, which they know not." 
 If you be much discouraged because of your rough way, 
 and your want of strength, he has said, " When the 
 poor and needy seek water and there is none, and their 
 tongue faileth for thirst, I the Lord will hear them, I 
 the God of Israel will not forsake them. I will open 
 rivers in high places. Fear not ; for I am with thee : 
 be not dismayed, for I am thy God. I will strengthen 
 thee : yea, I will help thee : I will uphold thee with 
 the right hand of my righteousness. Fear not, worm 
 Jacob, I will help thee, saith the Lord thy Redeemer. 
 I will make thee a new sharp threshing-instrument, and 
 thou shalt thresh the mountains. My grace shall be 
 sufficient for thee : for my strength is made perfect in 
 weakness. As thy days arc, so shall thy strength be." 
 If your troubles be many, he hath said, "When thou 
 passest through the waters, I will be with thee : the 
 rivers shall not overflow thee : When thou Avalkcst 
 
ADDRESS TO STUDENTS. 27 
 
 through the fire, thou shalt not be burnt, noi» shall the 
 flame kindle upon thee." If your incomes be small and 
 pinching, " Ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, 
 that though he was rich, yet for our sakes he became 
 poor, that we, through his poverty, might be rich. He 
 shall see his seed, the travail of his soul, and be sat- 
 isfied :" and he has promised, " I will abundantly 
 bless her provision, and satisfy her poor with 
 bread. I will satiate the soul of her priests with fat- 
 ness." A salary of remarkable fellowship with Christ s 
 and of success in winning souls, is the most delightful 
 and enriching. If your labours appear to have little 
 success, be the more diligent and dependent on Christ. 
 " Never mourn as they that have no hope." Let not 
 " the eunuch say, I am a dry tree." Jesus hath said, 
 " I will pour water on him that is thirsty, and floods on 
 the dry ground. I will pour my Spirit on thy seed, and 
 my blessing on thine offspring. A seed shall serve him. 
 The whole earth shall be filled with his glory. The 
 kingdoms of this world shall become the kingdoms of 
 our Lord and his Christ." Believe it on the testimony 
 of God himself; believe it on the testimony of 
 all his faithful servants ; and, if mine were of any 
 avail, I should add it, that there is no master so kind as 
 Christ : no service so pleasant and profitable as that of 
 Christ ; and no reward so full, satisfying, and permanent 
 as that of Christ. Let us therefore " begin all things 
 from Christ ; carry on all things with and through 
 Christ; and let all things aim at and end in Christ." 
 
DIALOGUES 
 
 CONCERNING 
 
 ELOQUENCE IN GENERAL; 
 
 AND 
 
 PARTICULARLY THAT KIND, WHICH IS PROPER FDR THE 
 
 PULPIT. 
 
 BY M. DE FENELON, 
 
 Archbishop of Cambray, 
 
PREFACE, 
 
 BY THE CHEVALIER RAMSAY. 
 
 >oth the ancients and the moderns have treated of 
 eloquence, with different views, and in different ways ; 
 as logicians, as grammarians, and as critics : but we still 
 wanted an author, who should handle this delicate sub- 
 ject as a philosopher, and a christian : and this the late 
 Archbishop of Cambray has done in the following dia- 
 logues. 
 
 In the ancient writers Ave find many solid precepts 
 of rhetoric, and very just rules laid down with great 
 exactness : but they are oft-times too numerous, too 
 dry ; and, in fine, rather curious than useful. Our au- 
 thor reduces the essential rules of this wonderful art, 
 to these three points ; proving, painting, and moving the 
 passions. 
 
 To qualify his orator for proving, or establishing any 
 truth, he would have him a philosopher; who knows 
 how to enlighten the understanding, while he moves the 
 passions ; and to act at once upon all the powers of the 
 mind ; not only by placing the truth in so clear a light 
 as to gain attention and assent ; but likewise bv moving 
 all the secret springs of the soul, to make it love that 
 truth it is convinced of? In one word, our author would 
 have his orator's mind filled with bright, useful truths, 
 and the most exalted views. 
 
 That he may be able to paint, or describe well, he 
 should have a poetic kind of enthusiasm ; and know how 
 to employ beautiful figures, lively images, and bold 
 touches, when the subject requires them. But this art 
 ought to be entirely concealed : or. if it must appear, 
 
32 PREFACE. 
 
 it should seem to be a just copy of nature. Wherefore 
 our author rejects all such false ornaments as serve 
 only to please the car, with harmonious sounds; and 
 the imagination, with ideas that arc more gay and 
 sparkling, than just and solid. 
 
 To move the passions, he would have an orator set 
 every truth in its proper place ; and so connect them 
 that the first may make way for the second ; and the 
 next support the former : so that the discourse shall 
 gradually advance in strength and clearness, till the 
 hearers perceive the whole weight and force of the 
 truth. And then he ought to display it in the liveliest 
 images ; and both in his words and gesture use all those 
 affecting movements, that are proper to express the pas- 
 sions he would excite. 
 
 It is by reading the ancients that we must form our 
 taste, and learn the art of eloquence in all its extent. 
 But seeing that some of the ancients themselves have 
 their defects, we must read them with caution and judg- 
 ment. Our learned author distinguishes th'B genuine 
 beauties of the purest antiquity, from the false orna- 
 ments used in after ages ; he points out what is excel- 
 lent, and what is faulty, both in sacred and profane au- 
 thors ; and shews us that the eloquence of the Holy 
 Scripture, in many places, surpasses that of the Greeks 
 and Romans, in native simplicity, liveliness, grandeur, 
 and in every thing that can recommend truth to our as- 
 sent and admiration. 
 
DIALOGUES 
 
 CONCERNING ELOQUENCE. 
 
 THE FIRST DIALOGUE, BETWEEN A. AND B. AND C. 
 
 A. W ell, Sir, I suppose you have been hearing 
 the sermon to which you would have carried me. I 
 have but very little curiosity that way, and am content 
 with our parish minister. 
 
 B. I was charmed with my preacher. You had a 
 great loss, Sir, in not hearing him. I have hired a pew, 
 that I may not miss one of his Lent sermons. O ! he is 
 a wonderful man. If you did but once hear him, you 
 could never bear any other. 
 
 A. If it be so, I am never to hear him. I would not 
 have any one preacher give me a distaste of all others ; 
 on the contrary, I should choose one that will give me 
 such a relish and respect for the word of God, as may dis- 
 pose me the more to hear it preached every where. But 
 since I have lost so much by not hearing this fine dis- 
 course you are so pleased with, you may make up part 
 of that loss, if you will be so good as to communicate to 
 us what you remember of it. 
 
 B. 1 should only mangle the sermon, by endeav- 
 ouring to repeat any part of it. There were a hundred 
 
 5 
 
34 DIALOGUES CONCERNING ELOqUENCE. 
 
 beauties in it that one cannot recollect, and which none 
 but the preacher himself could display. 
 
 A. Well ; but let us at least know something of his 
 design, his proofs, his doctrine, and the chief truths he 
 enlarged on. Do you remember nothing? Were you 
 inattentive ? 
 
 B. Far from it : I never listened with more atten- 
 tion and pleasure. 
 
 C. What is the matter then, do you want to be en- 
 treated ? 
 
 B. No ; but the preacher's thoughts were so re- 
 fined, and depended so much on the turn and delicacy of 
 his expressions, that though they charmed me while I 
 heard them, they cannot be easily recollected ; and 
 though one could remember them, if they be expressed 
 in other words, they would not seem to be the same 
 thoughts ; but would lose all their grace and force. 
 
 A. Surely, Sir, these beauties must be very fading, 
 if they vanish thus upon the touch, and will not bear a 
 review. I should be much better pleased with a dis- 
 course which has more body in it, and less spirit ; that 
 things might make a deeper impression on the mind, and 
 be more easily remembered. What is the end of speak- 
 ing but to persuade people, and to instruct them in such 
 truths as they can retain? 
 
 C. Now you have begun, Sir, I hope you will go on 
 with this useful subject. 
 
 A. 1 wish I could prevail with you, Sir, to give us 
 some general notion of the elegant harangue you heard. 
 
 B. Since you are so very urgent, I will tell you 
 what 1 can recollect of it. The text was this,* ' I have 
 eaten ashes like bread.' Now could any one make a 
 
 * Psalm cii. 9. 
 
DIALOGUES CONCERNING ELOQUENCE. 35 
 
 happier choice of a text for Ash- Wednesday ! he shewed 
 us that, according to this passage, ashes ought this day 
 to be the food of our souls ; then in his preamble he in- 
 geniously interwove the story of Artemesia, with regard 
 to her husband's ashes. His* transition to his Ave Maria 
 was very artful ; and his division was extremely ingen- 
 ious : you shall judge of it. 1, ' Though this dust,' said 
 he, 'be a sign of repentance, it is a principle of felicity. 
 2. Though it seems to humble us, it is really a source 
 of glory. 3. And though it represents death, it is a 
 remedy that gives immortal life.' He turned this divi- 
 sion various ways, and every time he gave it a new lus- 
 tre by his antitheses. The rest of his discourse was not 
 less bright and elegant ; the language was polite ; the 
 thoughts new; the periods were harmonious; and each 
 of them concluded with some surprising turn. He gave 
 such just characters of common life, that his hearers 
 found their various pictures faithfully drawn : and his 
 exact anatomy of all the passions equalled the maxims 
 of the great Rochefoucault ; in short, I think it was a 
 master-piece. But, Sir, I shall be glad to know your 
 opinion of it. 
 
 A. I am unwilling to tell you my thoughts, or to 
 lessen your esteem, of it. We ought to reverence the 
 
 * The Romish preachers, in the preamble of their sermons, addressed them- 
 selves to the Virgin Mary ; and are ofttimes very artful in their transition to 
 it, as our author observes. We have a remarkable example of this in one of 
 the greatest French orators, M L'Esprit Flechier, bishop of Nismes, who seems 
 to be oftner than once alluded to in these dialogues. In his panegyric on S. Jo- 
 seph he introduces his Ave Maria thus, — Every thing seems to concur to the 
 glory of my subject ; the Holy Spirit, Jesus Christ, and Mary, are concerned in 
 it; why may I not hope for the assistance of one of them, the grace of the other, 
 and the intercessions of the Virgin ? To whom we will address ourselves in those 
 words that the angel said to her, and which S. Joseph no doubt often repeated j 
 Tlail ! Mary, &c. Panegyriques, Vol. i. p.. 71. 
 
30 DIALOGUES CONCERNING ELOQUENCE. 
 
 word of God ; to improve ourselves by all the truths 
 that a preacher explains ; and avoid a critical humour, 
 lest we should lessen the authority of the sacred func- 
 tion. 
 
 B. You have nothing to fear, Sir, at present. It is 
 not out of curiosity that I ask your opinion; but because 
 I would have clear notions of it ; and such solid instruc- 
 tions as may not only satisfy myself, but be of use to oth- 
 ers ; for you know my profession obliges me to preach. 
 Give us your thoughts therefore, without any reserve ; 
 and do not be afraid either of contradicting or offending 
 me. 
 
 A. Since you will have it so I must obey your com- 
 mands. To be free then ; 1 conclude, from your account 
 of this sermon, that it was a very sorry one.* 
 
 B. Why so ? 
 
 A. Why ; can a sermon, in which the scripture is 
 falsely applied ; a scrap of profane history is told after 
 a dry, childish manner ; and vain affectation of wit runs 
 throughout the whole ; can such a sermon be good ? 
 
 B. By no means : but I do not think that the ser- 
 mon I heard is of that sort. 
 
 A. Have patience, and I doubt not but you and I 
 shall agree. When the preacher chose these words for 
 his text, i I have eaten ashes like bread,' ought he to 
 have amused his audience with observing some kind of 
 
 * "A preacher may propose a very regular method, prosecute it very ex- 
 actly, express himself all along with abundance of accuracy, and, if you will, of 
 elegance too ; adorn the whole with many a fine flower and artificial trapping 
 of language ; in short, deliver a very pretty harangue, a very gcHteel discourse, 
 as it is commonly termed ; which yet may prove, after all, but a sorry sermon, 
 and in reality good for little, but to amuse superficial judges, and to convince 
 thorough ones, that the man aspires at the reputation, without the qualification, 
 if ?.n orator." Fordtce, on Pulpit Eloquence*. 
 
DIALOGUES CONCERNING ELOQUENCE. 37 
 
 relation between the mere sound of his text, and the 
 ceremony of the day ? should he not first have explain- 
 ed the true sense of the words, before he applied them 
 to the present occasion ? 
 B. It had been better. 
 
 A. Ought he not therefore to have traced the sub- 
 ject a little higher, by entering into the true occasion 
 and design of the Psalm ; and explaining the context ? 
 Was it not proper for him to inquire whether the inter- 
 pretation he gave of the words was agreeable to the true 
 meaning of them, before he delivered his own sense to 
 the people, as if it Avere the word of God ? 
 
 B. He ought to have done so : but what fault was 
 there in his interpretation ? 
 
 A. Why, I will tell you. David, (who was the au- 
 thor of the cii. Psalm,) speaks of his own misfortunes : 
 he tells us, that his enemies insulted him cruelly, when 
 they saw him in the dust, humbled at their feet, and re- 
 duced (as he poetically expresses it) to ' eat ashes like 
 bread,' and i to mingle his drink with weeping.' Noaa t , 
 what relation is there between the complaints of David, 
 driven from his throne, and persecuted by his son Ab- 
 salom ; and the humiliation of a Christian, who puts 
 ashes on his forehead, to remind him of his mortality, 
 and disengage him from sinful pleasures ? Could the 
 preacher find no other text in scripture ? Did Christ 
 and his apostles, or the prophets, never speak of death, 
 and the dust of the grave, to which all our pride and 
 vanity must be reduced ? Does not the scripture con- 
 tain many affecting images of this important truth ? 
 Might he not have been content with the A\ r ords of Gen- 
 esis,* Avhich are so natural and proper for this ceremony. 
 
 » Gen. iii. 19. 
 
38 DIALOGUES CONCERNING ELOQUENCE. 
 
 and chosen by the church itself? Should a vain delica- 
 cy make him afraid of too often repeating a text that 
 the Holy Spirit has dictated, and which the church ap- 
 points to be used every year ? Why should he neglect 
 such a pertinent passage, and many other places of scrip- 
 ture, to pitch on one that is not proper? This must 
 flow from a depraved taste, and a fond inclination to say 
 something that is new. 
 
 B. You grow too warm, Sir : supposing the literal 
 sense of the text not to be the true meaning of it, the 
 preacher's remarks might however be very fine and solid. 
 
 C. As for my part, I do not care whether a preach- 
 er's thoughts be fine or not, till I am first satisfied of their 
 being true. But, Sir, what say you to the rest of the 
 sermon ? 
 
 A. It was exactly of a piece with the text How 
 could the preacher give such misplaced ornaments to a 
 subject in itself so terrifying; and amuse his hearers 
 with an idle story of Artemesia's sorrow; when he 
 ought to have alarmed them, and given them the most 
 terrible images of death ? 
 
 B. I perceive then you do not love turns of wit, on 
 such occasions. But what would become of eloquence 
 if it were stript of such ornaments ? Would you confine 
 every body to the plainness of country preachers ? Such 
 men are useful among the common people ; but persons 
 of distinction have more delicate ears ; and we must 
 adapt our discourses to their polite taste. 
 
 A. You are now leading me off from the point. 1 
 was endeavouring to convince you, that the plan oi the 
 sermon was ill laid ; and I was just going to touch upon 
 the division of it : but I suppose you already perceive 
 the reason why I dislike it : for the preacher lays down 
 
DIALOGUES CONCERNING ELOQUENCE. 39 
 
 three quaint conceits for the subject of his whole dis- 
 course. When one chooses to divide a sermon, he should 
 do it plainly, and give such a division as naturally arises 
 from the subject itself, and gives light and just order to 
 the several parts ; such a division as may be easily re- 
 membered, and at the same time help to connect and 
 retain the whole ; in fine, a division that shews at once 
 the extent of the subject, and of all its parts. But, on 
 the contrary, here is a man who endeavours to dazzle 
 his hearers, and puts them otf with three points of wit, 
 or puzzling riddles, which he turns and plies so dex- 
 terously, that they must fancy they saw some tricks of 
 legerdemain.* Did this preacher use such a serious, 
 grave manner of address, as might make you hope for 
 something useful and important from him ? But, to re- 
 turn to the point you proposed ; did you not ask me 
 whether I meant to banish eloquence from the pulpit ? 
 B. Yes. I fancy that is your drift. 
 
 A. Think you so ? pray what do you mean by elo- 
 quence ? 
 
 B. It is the art of speaking well. 
 
 A. Has this art no other end, besides that of speak- 
 ing well ? Have not men some design in speaking ? Or 
 do they talk only for the sake of talking ? 
 
 B. They speak to please, and to persuade others. 
 A. Pray let us carefully distinguish these two things. 
 
 * " A blind desire to shine and to please, is often at the expense of that sub- 
 stantial honour which might be obtained, were Christian orators to give them- 
 selves up to the pure emotions of piety, which so well agree with the sensibility 
 necessarv to eloquence." Abbe Maury's Principles of Eloquence, sect. 9. 
 
 " Uncommon expressions, strong flashes of wit, pointed similes, and epigram- 
 matic turns, especially when they recur too frequently, often disfigure, rather 
 than embellish, a discourse. It commonly happens, in such cases, that twenty 
 insipid conceits are found for one thought which is really beautiful. 1 ' — Home's 
 Essays. 
 
40 DIALOGUES CONCERNING ELOQUENCE. 
 
 Men talk in order to persuade ; that is certain : and too 
 often they speak likewise to please others. But while- 
 one endeavours to please, he has another view; which, 
 though more distant, ought to be his chief aim. A man 
 of probity has no other design in pleasing others, than 
 that he may the more eifectually inspire them with the 
 love of justice, and other virtues; by representing them 
 as most amiable. He who seeks to advance his own in- 
 terest, his reputation, or his fortune, strives to please, 
 only that he may gain the affection and esteem of such 
 as can gratify his ambition, or his avarice : so that this 
 very design of pleasing is still but a different manner of 
 persuasion that the orator aims at; for he pleases oth- 
 ers to inveigle their affection ; that he may thereby 
 persuade them to what advances his interest. 
 
 B. You cannot but own then that men often speak 
 to please. The most ancient orators had this view. 
 Cicero's orations plainly shew that he laboured hard for 
 reputation: and who will not believe the same of Isoc- 
 rates, and Demosthenes too ? All the panegyrists were 
 more solicitous for their own honour, than for the fame 
 of their heroes ; and they extolled a prince's glory to 
 the skies, chiefly because they hoped to be admired for 
 their ingenious manner of praising him. This ambition 
 seems to have been always reckoned commendable both 
 among the Greeks and the Romans : and such emula- 
 tion brought eloquence to its perfection : it inspired men 
 with noble thoughts and generous sentiments, by which 
 the ancient republics were made to flourish. The ad- 
 vantageous light in which eloquence appeared in great 
 assemblies, and the ascendency it gave the orator over 
 the people, made it to be admired, and helped to spread 
 polite learning. I cannot see indeed why such an emu- 
 
DIALOGUES CONCERNING ELOQUENCE. 41 
 
 iation should be blamed even among christian orators ; 
 provided they did not shew an indecent affectation in 
 their discourses, nor in the least enervate the precepts 
 of the gospel. We ought not to censure what animates 
 young people, and forms our greatest preachers. 
 
 A. You have here put several things together, which, 
 if you please, Sir, we will consider separately; and ob- 
 serve some method in inquiring what we ought to con- 
 clude from them. But let us above all things avoid a 
 wrangling humour ; and examine the subject with calm- 
 ness and temper, like persons who are afraid of nothing 
 so much as of error, and let us place the true point of 
 honour in a candid acknowledgment of our mistakes, 
 whenever we perceive them. 
 
 B. That is the exact state of my mind ; or at least 
 I judge it to be so; and I entreat you to tell me when 
 you find me transgressing this equitable rule. 
 
 A. We will not as yet talk of what relates to preach- 
 ers ; for that point may be more seasonably considered 
 afterwards. Let us begin with those orators, whose 
 examples you vouched. By mentioning Demosthenes 
 and Isocrates together, you disparage the former ; for 
 the latter was a lifeless declaimer, that busied himself 
 in polishing his thoughts, and giving an harmonious ca- 
 dence to his periods. He had a very* low and vulgar 
 notion of eloquence ; and placed almost the whole of it, 
 
 * In the introduction of this very panegyric, that our author mentions, I- 
 socrates says, Such is the nature of eloquence ; that it makes great thing9 ap- 
 pear little ; and small things to seem great ; it can represent old things as new ; 
 and new things as if they were old ; and that therefore he would not decline a 
 subject that others had handled before him, but would endeavour to declaim bet- 
 ter than they. — Upon which Longinus (} 38.) makes this judicious remark ; that 
 by giving such a character of eloquence, in the beginning of his panegyric, the 
 orator in effect cautioned his hearers not to believe his discourse. 
 
 6 
 
H DIALOGUES CONCERNING ELOQUENCE. 
 
 in a nice disposal of his words. A man who employed 
 ten or (as others say) fifteen years, in smoothing the pe- 
 riods of a panegyric, which was a discourse concerning 
 the necessities of Greece, could give but a very small 
 and slow relief to the republic, against the enterprises of 
 the Persian king. Demosthenes spoke against Philip in 
 a quite different manner. You may read the comparison 
 that Dionysius Halicarnassius has made of these two 
 orators, and see there the chief faults he observed in 
 Isocrates ; whose discourses are vainly gay and florid ; 
 and his periods adjusted with incredible pains, merely to 
 please the ear : while on the contrary,* Demosthenes 
 moves, warms, and captivates the heart. He was too 
 sensibly touched with the interest of his country, to mind 
 the little glittering fancies that amused Isocrates. Eve- 
 ry oration of Demosthenes is a close chain of reasoning, 
 that represents the generous notions of a soul, who dis- 
 dains any thought that is not great. His discourses grad- 
 ually increase in force by greater light and new reasons ; 
 which are always illustrated by bold figures and lively 
 images. One cannot but see that he has the good of 
 the republic entirely at heart ; and that nature itself 
 speaks in all his transports : for his artful address is so 
 masterly, that it never appears. Nothing ever equalled 
 the force and vehemence of his discourses. Have you 
 never read the remarks that Longinus made on them, 
 in his treatise of the Sublime ? 
 
 * In oratoribus vero, Gratia quidem, admirabile est quantum inter orunes 
 unue excellat. Attamen cum esset Demosthenes, multi oratores magni, et cla- 
 ri fuerunt, et antea, fuerant, nee postea defecerunt. Cic. Oral, i 2. 
 
 Quid denique Demosthenes? non cunctos illos tenues et circumspectos (ora- 
 tores) vi, sublimitate, impetu, cultu, compositione superavit ? non insurgit lo- 
 cis? non figuris gaudet? non translationibus nitet ? non oratione ficta dat carea- 
 tibu» vocem ?-- Quintil. lib. xii. cap. 10. 
 
DIALOGUES CONCERNING ELOQUENCE. 43 
 
 B. No; is not that the treatise that Mr. Boileau 
 translated ? Do you think it fine ? 
 
 A. I am not afraid to tell you that I think it surpas- 
 ses Aristotle's Rhetoric ; which, though it be a very sol- 
 id tract, is yet clogged with many dry precepts, that are 
 rather curious, than fit Tor practice ; so that it is more 
 proper to point out the rules of art to such as are al- 
 ready eloquent, than to give us a just taste of rhetoric, 
 and to form true orators. But Longinus in his discourse 
 on the Sublime, intersperses among his precepts, many 
 fine examples from the greatest authors, to illustrate 
 them. He* treats of the Sublime in a lofty manner, as 
 his translator has judiciously observed : he warms our 
 fancy, and exalts our mind ; he forms our taste ; and 
 teaches us to distinguish what is either fine, or faulty, 
 in the most famous ancient writers. 
 
 B. Is Longinus such a wonderful author ? Did he not 
 live in the days of Zenobia, and the emperor Aurelian ? 
 
 Jl. Yes ; you cannot but know their history. 
 
 B. Did not those days fall vastly short of the po- 
 liteness of former ages ? and can you imagine that an au- 
 thor, who flourished in the declension of learning and el- 
 oquence, had a better taste than Isocrates ? I cannot be- 
 lieve it. 
 
 A. I was surprised myself, to find it so : but you need 
 only read him, to be convinced of it. Though he lived 
 in a very corrupted age, he formed his judgment upon 
 the ancient models ; and has avoided almost all the reign- 
 
 * Thee, bold Longinus ! all the nine inspire, 
 And bless their critic with a poet's fire : 
 An ardent judge, who, zealous in his trust, 
 With warmth gives sentence, yet is always just; 
 Whose own example strengthens all his laws, 
 And is himself that great Sublime he draws. 
 
 Mr. Pope's Essay on Criticism, p. 45, 
 
44 DIALOGUES CONCERNING ELOQUENCE. 
 
 ing faults of his own time ; I say almost all, for 1 must 
 own, he studied rather what is admirable, than what is 
 useful ; and did not consider eloquence as subservient to 
 morality ; nor apply it to direct the conduct of life. And 
 in this he does not seem to have had such solid views as 
 the ancient Greeks, and especially some of their philos- 
 ophers. But we ought to forgive him a failing, for which 
 Isocrates was far more remarkable, though he lived in 
 a more refined age. And this defect ought the rather 
 to be over-looked in a particular discourse, where Lon- 
 ginus does not treat of what is proper to instruct men, 
 but of what is apt to move and seize their passions. I 
 choose to recommend this author, Sir, because he will 
 help to explain my meaning to you. You will see what 
 a glorious character he gives Demosthenes, from whom 
 he quotes several passages that are most sublime : he 
 will likewise show you those faults of Isocrates that I 
 mentioned, If you be unwilling to take the trouble of 
 becoming acquainted with these authors, by reading their 
 works ; you may get a very just notion of them by con- 
 sulting Longinus. Let us now leave Isocrates ; and talk 
 of Demosthenes and Cicero. 
 
 B. You are for leaving Isocrates, because he is not 
 for your purpose. 
 
 A. Let us go on then with Isocrates, since you are 
 not yet convinced ; and let us judge of his rhetoric by 
 the rules of eloquence itself; and by the sentiments of 
 Plato, the most* eloquent writer among the ancients. 
 Will you be determined by him? 
 
 * Sed ego neque illis assentiebar, neque harum disputationum inventori, et 
 principi longe omnium in dicendo gravissimo, et Elloquentissimo Platoni, cujus 
 turn Athenis cum Carneade diligenlius legi Gorgiam quo in libro, hoc maxime 
 admirabar I'latonem, quod mihi in oratoribus irridendis, ipse esse Orator Sum- 
 mons vidcbalur. Cic dc Oral. lib. 1. \ 2. Quid denique Demosthenes ? — non 
 
DIALOGUES CONCERNING ELOQUENCE. 45 
 
 B. I will be determined by him, if he be in the right : 
 but I never resign my judgment implicitly to any author. 
 
 A. Remember this rule : it is all that I ask of you. 
 And if you do not let some fashionable prejudices bias 
 your judgment, reason will soon convince you of the 
 truth. I would therefore have you believe neither Isoc- 
 rates, nor Plato : but judge of them both, by clear prin- 
 ciples. Now I suppose you will grant that the chief end 
 of eloquence is to persuade men to embrace truth and 
 virtue. 
 
 B. I am not of your mind : this is what I have al- 
 ready denied. 
 
 A. I will endeavour to prove it then. Eloquence, if 
 I mistake not, may be considered in three respects : as 
 the art of enforcing truth on people's minds, and of mak- 
 ing them better : as an art indifferent in itself; which 
 wicked men may use as well as good ; and which may 
 be applied to recommend injustice and error, as well as 
 probity and truth : and as an art, which selfish men may 
 use to ingratiate themselves with others ; to raise their 
 reputation, and make their fortune. Which of these 
 ends do you admit of? 
 
 B. I allow of them all. What do you infer from this 
 concession ? 
 
 A. The inference will afterwards appear. Have 
 patience a little ; and be satisfied, if I say nothing but 
 what is evidently true, till by gradual advances I lead 
 you to the right conclusion. Of the three ends of elo- 
 quence, I now mentioned, you will undoubtedly prefer 
 the first. 
 
 illud jusjurandum per caesos in Marathone ac Salamine propugnatores reipubli- 
 cae, satis manifesto docet praeceptorem ejus Platonem fuisse . ? quem ipsum num 
 Asianum appellabimus plerumque instinctis divino spiritu vatibus comparandum ? 
 
 Quint, lib. xii. rap. 10. Sec Longinus, § xiii. 
 
46 DIALOGUES CONCERNING ELOQUENCE. 
 
 B. Yes : it is the best. 
 
 A. What think you of the second ? 
 
 B. I see what you drive at ; you are going into a fal- 
 lacy. The second sort is faulty, because of the ill use 
 the orator makes of his eloquence, to enforce error and 
 vice. But still the rhetoric of a wicked man may be 
 good in itself, though the use he makes of it be perni- 
 cious. Now we are talking of the nature and rules of 
 eloquence ; not of the uses it should be applied to. Let 
 us keep to the true state of the question. 
 
 A.- If you will do me the favour to hear me a little, 
 you will find that I have the point in dispute always in 
 view. You seem then to condemn the second sort of 
 eloquence ; or, to speak without ambiguity, you condemn 
 the abuse of rhetoric* 
 
 B. Right. You noAv speak correctly; so far then we 
 are agreed. 
 
 A. What say you of the third end of eloquence ; I 
 mean the orator's endeavouring to please others by 
 talking ; that he may raise his reputation or his for- 
 tune ? 
 
 B. You know my opinion already. I reckon such 
 an use of eloquence very fair and allowable ; seeing it 
 excites a laudable emulation, and helps to improve men's 
 talents. 
 
 * When 1 consider the means of happy living (says an eloquent writer) and 
 the causes of their corruption, I can hardly forbear recanting what I said before; 
 and concluding that eloquence ought to be banished out of all civil societies, as 
 a thing fatal to peace and good manners. To this opinion I should wholly in- 
 cline, if I did not find, that it is a weapon which may be as easily procured by 
 bad men, as by good ; and that if these only should cast it away, and those re- 
 tain it ; the naked innocence of virtue would be upon all occasions exposed to 
 the armed malice of the wicked. 
 
 Bishop SpraPs Hist, of the Royal Soticty, p. iii. 
 
DIALOGUES CONCERNING ELOQUENCE. 47 
 
 A. What kind of talents would you have chiefly im- 
 proved? Suppose you had some new state or common- 
 wealth, to model, in what kinds of knowledge would you 
 have the subjects trained up, and instructed ? 
 
 B. In every kind that could make them better. I 
 would endeavour to make them good subjects, peacea- 
 ble, obedient, and zealous for the public welfare. I 
 would have them fit to defend their country in case of 
 war ; and in peace to observe and support the laws ; to 
 govern their families ; cultivate their lands ; train up 
 their children to the practice of virtue, and inspire them 
 with a strong and just sense of religion : I would have 
 them carry on such a trade as the state and necessities 
 of the country might require : and apply themselves to 
 such arts and sciences as are useful in common life. 
 These, I think, ought to be the chief aims of a lawgiver. 
 
 A. Your views are very just and solid. You would 
 then have subjects averse to laziness ; and employed 
 about such useful things as should tend some wav or ©til- 
 
 's 
 
 way 
 
 er to advance the public good. 
 B. Certainly. 
 
 A. And would you exclude all useless professions ? 
 
 B. Yes. 
 
 A. You would allow only of such bodily exercises as 
 conduced to people's health, and strength ? I do not 
 mention the beauty of the body ; for that is a natural 
 consequence of health and vigour, in bodies that are duly 
 formed. 
 
 B. I would suffer no other exercises. 
 
 A. Would you not therefore banish all those that 
 serve only to amuse people, and cannot render them fit- 
 ter to bear either the constant labours and employment? 
 of peace, or the fatigues of war ? 
 
48 DIALOGUES CONCERNING ELOQUENCE. 
 
 B. Yes ; I should follow that rule. 
 
 A. I suppose you would do it for the same reason 
 that you would likewise condemn (as you already grant- 
 ed,) all those exercises of the mind which do not conduce 
 to render it more strong, sound, and beautiful j by mak- 
 ing it more virtuous. 
 
 B. It is so. What do you infer from that ? I do 
 not see your drift : your windings are very long. 
 
 A. Why ; I would argue from the plainest princi- 
 ples ; and not advance the least step, without carrying 
 light and certainty along with us. Answer me, then, if 
 you please. 
 
 B. Seeing we lay down down the rule you last men- 
 tioned, for the management of the body, there is certain- 
 ly greater reason to follow it in the conduct and improve- 
 ment of the mind. 
 
 A. Would you permit such arts as are only subser- 
 vient to pleasure, amusement, and vain curiosity ; and 
 have no relation either to the duties of domestic life, or 
 the common offices of society ? 
 
 B. I would banish all such from my commonwealth. 
 
 A. If you allowed of mathematicians then it would 
 be for the sake of mechanics, navigation, surveying of 
 land, the fortification of places ; and such calculations 
 as are useful in practice ; &c. So that it is the useful- 
 ness of the mathematics that would recommend them to 
 your patronage. And if you tolerated physicians and 
 lawyers, it would be for the preservation of health ; and 
 the support of justice. 
 
 B. Right. 
 
 A. And with the same view of usefulness you would 
 admit of all other serviceable professions. 
 ft. Certainly. 
 
DIALOGUES CONCERNING ELOQUENCE. 49 
 
 A. But how would you treat the musiciaus ? 
 
 B. I would encourage them. 
 
 A. Would you not lay them under some proper re- 
 straint, according to the judgment and practice of the 
 ancient Greeks, who always joined pleasure and useful- 
 ness together ? 
 
 B. Explain yourself a little. 
 
 A. Though they joined music and poetry together, 
 and carried both these arts to the greatest perfection; 
 they applied them to inspire people's minds with forti- 
 tude, and noble thoughts. They used poetry and music 
 to prepare them for battle ; and carried musicians and 
 their various instruments, to war. Hence came drums 
 and trumpets, which raised in them a spirit of enthusi- 
 asm, and a sort of fury that they called divine. It was 
 by music, and the charms of verse, that they softened 
 savage nations: and by the same harmony, they, sweetly 
 instilled wisdom into their children. They made them 
 sing Homer's verses to inspire their minds with the love 
 of glory, liberty, and their native country ; and with a 
 contempt of death, and riches, and effeminate pleasure. 
 They gave their very dances a grave and serious turn : 
 for it is certain they danced not merely for the sake of 
 pleasure. We see by David's example,* that the east- 
 ern people reckoned dancing a serious kind of employ- 
 ment, like music, and poetry. The mysterious dances 
 of the priests were adopted by the heathens among their 
 ceremonies, on solemn festivals, in honour of their gods. 
 There were a thousand instructions couched under their 
 poems, and their fables : nay, their most grave and aus- 
 tere philosophy always appeared with an air of gaiety, 
 and good humour. All those arts that consisted either 
 
 • 2 Sam. vi. 5, 14, 
 
jQ DIALOGUES CONCERNING ELOQUENCE. 
 
 in melodious sounds, regular motions of the body, or the 
 use of words ; music, dancing, eloquence, and poetry, 
 were invented to express the passions ; and, by that 
 means, to communicate these passions to others. Thus 
 did they endeavour to convey noble sentiments to peo- 
 ple's minds, and give them lively, affecting views of the 
 beauty of virtue, and the deformity of vice. So that all 
 these arts, under the show of pleasure, favoured the most 
 serious designs of the ancients ; and were used to pro- 
 mote morality and religion. Even the diversion of hunt- 
 ing was encouraged to train up the youth for war. 
 Their strongest pleasures contained always some solid 
 instruction. From which source flowed those many he- 
 roic virtues in Greece, which all ages have since admir- 
 ed. It is true, this first kind of instruction was after- 
 wards changed ; and of itself was accompanied with re- 
 markable defects. The chief fault of it was, its being 
 founded on a false and pernicious scheme of religion ; in 
 which the Greeks, and all the ancient sages of the hea- 
 then world were strangely deceived ; being plunged into 
 gross idolatry. But notwithstanding this fundamental 
 mistake, they chose a very proper way of inspiring men 
 with religion and virtue : their method was wise, agree- 
 able, and apt to make a lively, lasting impression. 
 
 C. You said that this first institution was afterwards 
 changed : pray, how did it happen ? 
 
 A. Though virtue gives men the true politeness; if 
 great care be not taken, politeness gradually degenerates 
 into an unmanly softness. The Asiatic Greeks fell first 
 into this corruption. The lonians grew effeminate ; and 
 all that coast of Asia was a theatre of luxury. The 
 Cretans too became corrupted, notwithstanding the wise 
 laws of Minos. You know the verse that St. Paul quotes 
 
DIALOGUES CONCERNING ELOQUENCE. 51 
 
 from one of their own poets.* Corinth was remarkable 
 for its excessiv r e riot, and dissoluteness. The Romans, 
 as yet unpolished, began co fall into such practices as 
 quite relaxed their rustic virtue. Athens was not free 
 from the general contagion, with which Greece was all-- 
 over infected. Pleasure, which was used at first to con- 
 vey wisdom into people's minds, usurped the place of 
 wisdom itself: and in vain did the philosophers remon- 
 strate against this disorder, Socrates arose, and showed 
 his deluded fellow-citizens that the pleasure, about which 
 they were entirely employed, ought only to be used as 
 the vehicle of wisdom, and an incentive to virtue. Pla- 
 to, his disciple, (who was not ashamed to compose his 
 dialogues on the plan and subject of his master's dis- 
 courses,) banished from his republic all such musical 
 notes, scenes of tragedy, and poetical compositions, (even 
 such parts of Homer himself,) as did not incline people 
 to love order, and wise laws. This, Sir, was the judg- 
 ment of Socrates and Plato concerning poets and musi- 
 cians : do you approve of it ? 
 
 B. I am entirely of their mind ; and would allow of 
 nothing that is useless. Since we may find pleasure 
 enough in solid and valuable things, we ought not to seek 
 for it elsewhere. In order to recommend virtue to 
 men's esteem and practice, we must show them that it 
 is consistent with pleasure ; and on the contrary, if we 
 separate pleasure from virtue, people will be strongly 
 tempted to forsake a virtuous course. Besides, that 
 which gives pleasure only, without instruction, can at 
 best but amuse and soften the mind. Do not you see, 
 Sir, how much a philosopher I am become, by hearing 
 
 Tit. i. i?. 
 
52 
 
 DIALOGUES CONCERNING ELOQUENCE. 
 
 you? But let us go on to the end ; for we are not yet 
 perfectly agreed. 
 
 A. I hope we shall be very quickly. And since you 
 are grown so much a philosopher, give me leave to ask 
 one question more. We have obliged musicians, and 
 poets, to employ their art only for promoting virtue ; 
 and the subjects of your new republic are debarred from 
 all such spectacles as can only please and not instruct 
 them. But what would you do Avith conjurers ? 
 
 B. They arc impostors, that ought to be banished 
 from all societies. 
 
 A. They do no harm. You cannot think they are 
 sorcerers ; so that you have no reason to be afraid of 
 their practising any diabolical art. 
 
 B. No, I do not fear that : nor should I give the 
 least credit to any of their senseless stories. But they 
 do harm enough by amusing the common people. I 
 will not suffer such idle persons in my commonwealth, 
 as divert others from their business, and have no other 
 employment but to amuse people with foolish talk. 
 
 A. But, perhaps, they get a livelihood that way ; 
 and lay up wealth for themselves, and their families. 
 
 B. No matter : they must find out some honest way 
 of living. It is not enough that they seek a livelihood ; 
 they must gain it by some employment that is useful to 
 the public. I say the same of all those strolling vaga- 
 bonds, who amuse crowds with silly prattle and foolish 
 songs. For though they should never lie, nor say any 
 thing that is immodest ; their being useless to the pub- 
 lic is guilt enough. So that they ought cither to be ex- 
 cluded from the society, or compelled to follow some 
 useful occupation. 
 
 A. Would you not at least tolerate tragedians, pro^ 
 
DIALOGUES CONCERNING ELOQUENCE. 53 
 
 vided they represent no scenes of immodesty or extrav- 
 agant love ? I do not ask you this question as a Chris- 
 tian ; answer only as a lawgiver, and a philosopher. 
 
 B. If tragedies did not conduce to instruction as well 
 as to pleasure, I should condemn them. 
 
 A. Right. In that you are exactly of Plato's opin- 
 ion ; for he would not allow of any poems or tragedies 
 in his republic, that should not first be examined by the 
 guardians of the laws ; that so the people might neither 
 hear nor see any thing but what should tend to strength- 
 en the laws, and promote virtue. In this you likewise 
 fall in with the sentiments of other ancient authors, who 
 judged that tragedy ought to turn chiefly upon two pas- 
 sions ; either the terror, that arises from a view of the 
 fatal ^fleets of vice ; or that compassion, which accom- 
 panies the representation of an oppressed and steady 
 virtue. Sophocles and Euripides wrote with these 
 views, and always endeavoured to excite either pity or 
 terror. 
 
 B. I remember I have met with this last rule in Mr. 
 Boileau's Art of Poetry. 
 
 A. You are right. He is a man that knows perfect- 
 ly well not only the foundation of poetry, but likewise 
 the solid aim to which philosophy (superior to all arts) 
 ought to direct the poet. 
 
 B. But whither are you leading me all this while ? 
 A. I lead you no farther : you guide yourself now ; 
 
 and are happily come to the conclusion I first proposed. 
 Have you not said, that in your republic, you would not 
 puffer idle people who amuse others, and have no other 
 business but merely to talk? Is it not upon this princi- 
 ple that you would exclude all such tragedies as do not 
 convey instruction as well as pleasure ? Now, will you 
 
54 DIALOGUES CONCERNING ELOQUENCE. 
 
 suffer that to be done in prose, that you will not tolerate 
 in verse ? After such a just rigour against useless poet- 
 ry, how can you show any favour to those declaiiners,* 
 who talk only to show their parts ? 
 
 B. But these orators we were speaking of, have two 
 designs that are commendable. 
 
 A. What are they ? 
 
 B. The first is to maintain themselves ; for, by their 
 profession they procure a subsistence. Their rhetoric 
 gets them repute ; and this brings along with it that 
 wealth they stand in need of. 
 
 A. You yourself have already answered this pre- 
 tence ; for, did you not say that it is not enough that one 
 gains a livelihood, unless he get it by some employment 
 that is useful to the public ? He, who should represent 
 tragedies that give no instruction, might get his bread 
 by them : but this would not hinder you from driving 
 him out of the commonwealth. You would say to him, 
 * Go, choose some regular useful employment; and do 
 not divert your neighbours from their business. If you 
 would have a lawful gain from them, apply yourself to 
 do them some real service ; or to make them more wise 
 
 * Who can behold, without indignation, how many mists and uncertainties 
 these specious tropes and figures have brought on our knowledge ? how many 
 rewards, that are due to more profitable and difficult arts, have been still snatch- 
 ed away by the easy vanity of fine speaking ; for now I am warmed with this 
 just anger, 1 cannot withhold myself from betraying the shallowness of all those 
 seemiu',' mysteries, upon which we writers and speakers look so big. And in 
 few words I dare say, that of all the studies of men, nothing may be sooner ob- 
 tained, than this vicious abundance of phrase, this trick of metaphors, this volu- 
 bility of tongue, which makes so great noise in the world. But I spend words in 
 vain ; for the evil is now so inveterate, that it is hard to know whom to blame ; 
 or where to begin to reform. We all value one another so much upon this beau- 
 tiful deceit, and labour so long after it, in the years of our education ; that we 
 cannot but ever after think kinder of it than it deserves. 
 
 Risohp Sprat's Hist, of the Royal Society, p. 118. 
 
DIALOGUES CONCERNING ELOQUENCE. 55 
 
 and virtuous.' Now why should you not say the same 
 to the rhetoricians ? 
 
 B. But I have a second reason to offer for tolerat- 
 ing them. 
 
 A. Pray, let us hear it. 
 
 B. Why ! the orator serves the public. 
 
 A. In what ? 
 
 B. He improves people's minds, and teaches them el- 
 oquence. 
 
 A. Suppose I should invent some fantastic art, or 
 imaginary language, that could not be of any use ; could 
 I serve the public by teaching such a senseless language, 
 or silly art ? 
 
 B. No • because one cannot serve others as a mas- 
 ter, unless he could teach them something that is useful. 
 
 A. You cannot prove then that an orator serves the 
 public, by teaching eloquence, unless you could first show 
 that it is an useful art. Of what use are a man's fine 
 thoughts if they do not advance the public good ? I am 
 very sensible that they are advantageous to himself; 
 for they dazzle his hearers ; who have so bad a taste 
 that they will applaud his skill, and even reward him 
 for his useless talk. But ought you to suffer such a 
 mercenary, fruitless eloquence in the government you 
 have to model ? A shoemaker is serviceable in his way, 
 and maintains his family with what he gains by supply- 
 ing other people's necessities. So that you see the most 
 ordinary employments tend to some useful purpose ; and 
 there is no other art but the rhetorican's that serves 
 only to amuse people with talking. In fine, such elo- 
 quence can only, on the one hand, satisfy the vain curi- 
 osity of the hearers, and encourage their idleness ; and, 
 on the other, gratify the declaimer's pride and ambition. 
 
36 DIALOGUES CONCERNING ELOQUENCE. 
 
 But, for the honour of your republic. Sir, do not tolerate 
 such an abuse. 
 
 B. I must grant that an orator's aim should be to 
 make people more wise and virtuous. 
 
 A. Do not forget this : you shall see the consequen- 
 ces of it by and by.* 
 
 B. Notwithstanding this concession, he, who is em- 
 ployed in instructing others, may at the same time, en- 
 deavour to acquire reputation and wealth for himself. 
 
 A. I told you before, that we are not now handling 
 the point as Christians : I need only use philosophy 
 against you. Let me put you in mind that you grant an 
 orator is obliged to instruct others with a design to im- 
 prove them in virtue. Thus we get rid of all useless 
 declaimers. We ought not even to suffer panegyrists 
 any farther than they render true wisdom and probity 
 more amiable by their praises ; and propose models of 
 virtue* and valour that are worthy of imitation. 
 
 B. What, then, is a panegyric good for nothing, un- 
 less it be full of morality ? 
 
 A. Have you not granted this already ? Instruction 
 is the proper end of speech : and the only good reason 
 for praising any hero is, that we may represent his worth 
 to others, in order to excite their emulation ; and to 
 shew them, that virtue and true glory are inseparable. 
 Therefore a panegyric should be kept free from all gen- 
 eral, excessive, flattering praises, and such barren thoughts 
 as do not afford the least instruction. Every thing should 
 tend to make the hearers in love with what is truly 
 
 * Perspicuum est igitur alia esse in homine optanda, alia laudanda. Genus, 
 forma, vires, opes, divitire, ceteraque qua? fortuna det, aut extrinsocus, 'aut cor- 
 pori, non habent in se veram laudem, qua? deberi Virtuti uni putatur. — Virtus 
 autera qua? est per se ipsa laudabilis, et sine qua nihil laudari potest, tamen habct 
 plures partes, quarum alia est ad laudatiouem aptior. Cic. de Orat. lib. ii. 
 
Dialogues concerning eloquence. 57 
 
 great and good. But we find that most panegyrists seem 
 to magnify particular virtues, only that they may the 
 more effectually praise those that practised them, and 
 set off their heroes to greater advantage. When they 
 have any one to praise, they exalt his peculiar virtues 
 far above all others. But every thing has its turn ; and, 
 on another occasion, those very qualities, which they 
 preferred before^ must now give place to some other 
 virtues, that come in course to be-ex tolled to the high- 
 est pitch. In this respect, I think Pliny is to be blamed. 
 If he had praised Trajan as a fit model for other heroes 
 to copy after, this would have been a design worthy of 
 an orator. But the praise of that prince (however de- 
 serving he was) ought not to have been Pliny's chief 
 aim. Trajan should only have been proposed to man- 
 kind as an imitable example, to allure them to virtue. 
 When a panegyrist has such a mean view, as to praise 
 the person, rather than the virtues that render him con- 
 spicuous, this is only flattery addressed to pride. 
 
 B. What think you then of those poems, that were 
 made in praise of ancient heroes ? Homer has his Achil- 
 les ; and Virgil his iEneas. Will you condemn these 
 two poets? 
 
 A. By no means, Sir ; do but examine the design of 
 their works. In the Iliad, Achilles is the chief hero ; 
 but his praise is not the main end of the poem. His 
 character is faithfully drawn with all it9 defects ; nay, 
 these very defects are a part of that instruction, which 
 the poet designed to convey to posterity. The great 
 design of this work was fo inspire the Greeks with the 
 love of warlike glory ; and a dread of discord, as the 
 Greatest obstacle to success. This moral instruction is 
 plainlv interwoven throughout th^ poem. The Odvssey 
 
 3 ' 
 
56" DIALOGUES CONCERNING ELOQUENCE. 
 
 indeed represents, in Ulysses, a hero more regular, and 
 more accomplished : but this is still natural. For, of 
 course, a man, like Ulysses, whose chief character is wis- 
 dom, must be more wary, and uniform in his conduct, 
 than such a rough, warm, forward youth as Achilles. So 
 that in drawing both these heroes, Homer seoms only to 
 have copied nature. In fine, throughout the Odyssey 
 we find innumerable instructions for the whole conduct 
 of life : and one cannot but observe that the poet's de- 
 sign, in describing a prudent man, whose wisdom makes 
 him always successful, was to shew posterity what good 
 effects might be expected from prudent piety, and a 
 regular life. Virgil in his iEneid, has imitated the Odys- 
 sey in his hero's character ; and has drawn him brave, 
 moderate, pious, and steady. But it is evident that the 
 praise of iEneas was not the poet's principal aim. That 
 hero was designed to represent the Roman people, who 
 descended from him ; and Virgil meant to show them 
 that their extraction was divine ; that the gods had des- 
 tined them to govern the world : and by this he animat- 
 ed them to the practice of such heroic virtues as might 
 support the glory designed for them. Now a heathen 
 could not possibly devise a nobler moral than this. The 
 only fault of which Virgil can be suspected, is his hav- 
 ing had his private interest too much in view ; and his 
 turning his excellent poem to the praise of Augustus, 
 and his family, with too great an air of flattery. But 
 we ought not to criticise any author too severely. 
 
 B. But will you not allow a poet, or an orator, to 
 seek his fortune in an honourable way? 
 
 A. After this useful digression concernimg panegyr- 
 ics, we now return to the difficulty you proposed. The 
 
DIALOGUES CONCERNING ELOQUENCE. 5S 
 
 question is, whether an orator ought to be entirely dis- 
 interested ? 
 
 B. I do not think that he ought ; for this would 
 overturn the most common maxims- 
 
 A. In your republic, would you not have orators 
 obliged to the strictest rules of truth ? do not you own 
 that they ought never to speak in public, but in order to 
 instruct people, to reform their conduct, and strengthen 
 the laws ? 
 
 B. Yes. 
 
 A. An orator then should have nothing either to hope 
 or fear from his hearers, with regard to his own interest 
 If you allowed of ambitious,* mercenary declaimers, do 
 you think they would oppose all the foolish, unruly pas- 
 sions of men ? If they themselves be subject to avarice, 
 ambition, luxury, and such shameful disorders, will they 
 be able to cure others ? If they seek after wealth ; can 
 they be fit to disengage others from that mean pursuit ? 
 I grant, that a virtuous and disinterested orator ought 
 always to be supplied with the conveniences of life : nor 
 can he ever want them, if he be a true philosopher ; I 
 mean, such a wise and worthy person as is fit to reform 
 the manners of men : for then he will live after a plain, 
 modest, frugal, laborious manner : he will have occasion 
 but for little ; and that little he will never want ; though 
 he should earn it with his own hands. Now, what is 
 superfluous ought not to be offered him, as the recom- 
 pense of his public services : and indeed it is not worthy 
 
 * Jam hoc quia non videt, maximam partem orationis in tractatu a?qui boni- 
 que consistere? dicetne de his secundum debitam rerum dignitatem malus atque 
 iniquus ? denique — demus id quod nullo modo fieri potest, idem igenii, studii, 
 doctrinae, pessimo, atque optirao viro, uter raelior dicetur orator ? nimirum qui 
 homo quoque melior. Non igitur unquam malus idem homo, et perfcntus orator 
 Quint, lib. xii. c, 1. 
 
60 DIALOGUES CONCERNING ELOQUENCE, 
 
 of his acceptance. He may have honour and authority 
 conferred on him ; but if he be master of his passions, 
 as we suppose, and above selfish views, lie will use this 
 authority only for the public good ; and be ready to re- 
 sign it, when he can no longer enjoy it without llattery 
 or dissimulation. In short, an orator cannot be fit to 
 persuade people, unless he be inflexibly upright ; for, 
 without this steady virtue, his talents and address, would, 
 like a mortal poison, infect and destroy the body politic. 
 For this reason Cicero* thought, that virtue is the chief 
 and most essential quality of an orator ; and that he 
 should be a person of such unspotted probity as to be a 
 pattern to his fellow citizens ; without which he cannot 
 even seem to be convinced himself of what he says ; and 
 consequently, he cannot persuade others. 
 
 B. I am sensible there is a great deal of weight in 
 what you say : but after all, may not a man fairly em- 
 ploy his talents to raise himself in the world ? 
 
 A. Let us look baek always to the principles we laid 
 down. We have agreed that eloquence, and the profes- 
 sion of an orator, should be devoted to the instruction of 
 people, and the reformation of their practice. Now, to 
 do this with freedom and success, a maw must be disin- 
 terested ; and must teach others to contemn death, and 
 
 * Est enim eloquentia una (juaedam de summis virtutibus — quae quo major est 
 ris, hoc est magis probitate jungenda, summaque prudentia ; quaruin virtutum 
 expettibus si dicendi copi&m tradiderimus, uon eos quidem oratores effeceri- 
 mus ; sed furentibus quasdam arma dedorimus. De Orat. 1. iii. 14. 
 
 Sit ergo nobis orator quern instituimus is, qui a M. Cicerone finjtur, vir bonus, 
 dicendi pcritus — Adde quod ne studio quidem operis pulcherriuii vacare mens, 
 nisi omnibus vitiis libera, potest — Quid pulamus facturas cupiditatem, avaritiam, 
 .nvidiam ? quarum irapoteutissima? cogitationes, soinnos etiam ipsos, et ilia per 
 quielem visa, perturbent. Nihil est enim tam orcupatum, tarn multiforme, tot 
 ',c lam variis affectibus concisum atque laceratum, quam mala mens. Quint. 
 cap. ' 
 
DIALOGUES CONCERNING ELOQUENCE. 61 
 
 riches, and unmanly pleasure. He must infuse into their 
 minds the love of moderation, frugality, a generous con- 
 cern for the public good, and an inviolable regard to the 
 laws and constitution : and the orator's zeal for all these 
 must appear in his conduct, as well as in his discourses. 
 But will he, who strives to please others, that he may 
 make his fortune ; and who therefore avoids disobliging 
 any body ; I say, will such an artful, selfish person incul- 
 cute unacceptable truths with boldness and authority ? 
 or, if he should, will any one believe a man, Avho does 
 not seem to believe himself? 
 
 B. But supposing him to be in narrow circumstances, 
 he does no harm, I hope, by endeavouring to improve 
 them. 
 
 A. If he be pinched, let him try to mend his condi- 
 tion some other way. There are other professions that 
 will easily set him above want. But if he be in such ex- 
 treme distress as to depend on relief from the public ; 
 he is not yet fit to be an orator. Would you choose men 
 that are indigent, and almost starving, to be judges in 
 your commonwealth? Would you not be afraid that their 
 wants might expose them to corruption ; or betray them 
 into some dishonourable compliance ? Would you not 
 rather choose persons of note and distinction, who are 
 above necessity, and out of the reach of its temptations ? 
 
 B. I believe I should. 
 
 Ji. For the same reason, if you wanted orators, that 
 is, public masters to instruct, reclaim, and form the minds 
 and manners of the people, would you not choose such 
 men as wanted nothing, and are far above little selfish 
 aims ? And if there were others, who had proper talents 
 for this superior office, but were clogged with their per- 
 gonal concerns, and narrow views of private interests; 
 
432 DIALOGUES CONCERNING ELOQUENCE. 
 
 would you not excuse them from showing their eloquence 
 till they were more easy and disengaged in their circum- 
 stances ; and could speak in public without being sus- 
 pected of any mean design ? 
 
 B. It would be better. But does not the experi- 
 ence of our own age plainly shew, that an orator may 
 make his fortune by preaching rigid virtue with great 
 vehemence ? Where can we find keener satires against 
 the prevailing corruptions of the age, and severer moral 
 characters than those which come from the pulpit? Yet 
 people are not disturbed at them ; nay, they are pleased 
 with them ; and the ingenious preacher gets preferment 
 by them. 
 
 A. It is very true ; but moral instructions have no 
 weight nor influence, when they are neither supported 
 by clear principles, nor good examples. Whom do you 
 see converted by them ? People are accustomed to hear 
 such harangues ; and are amused by them, as with so 
 many fine scenes passing before their eyes. They hark- 
 en to such lectures just as they w T ould read a satire : and 
 they look on the speaker as one that acts his part well. 
 They believe his* life, more than his talk : and when 
 
 * The clergy have one great advantage beyond all the rest of the world in 
 this respect, besides all others, that whereas the particular callings of other men 
 prove to them great distractions, and lay many temptations in their way, to 
 divert them from minding their high and holy calling, of being Christians ; it is 
 quite otherwise with the clergy ; the more they follow their proper callings, they 
 do the moie certainly advance their general one ; the better priests they are, 
 they become also the better Christians. Every part of their calling, when well 
 performed, raises good thoughts, and brings good ideas into their minds ; and 
 fends both to increase their knowledge, and quicken their sense of divine mat- 
 ters. A priest then is more accountable to God, and the world, for his deport- 
 ment, and will be more Fcvcrcly accounted with, than any other person whatso- 
 ever. He is more watched over and observed than all others. Very good men 
 will be, even to a censure, jealous of him ; very bad men will wait for his halt- 
 ing, and insult upon it ; and all sorts of persons will be willing to defend them- 
 lelves against the authority of his doctrine and rwlmonitions, by this, he says 
 
DIALOGUES CONCERNING ELOQUENCE, 63 
 
 shey know him to be selfish, ambitious, vain, given up 
 to sloth and luxury ; and see that he parts with none of 
 those enjoyments which he exhorts others to forsake ; 
 though, for the sake of custom and ceremony, they hear 
 him declaim ; they believe and act as he does. But, 
 what is worst of all ; people are too apt to conclude, 
 that men of this profession do not believe what they, 
 teach : this disparages their function ; and when others 
 preach with a sincere zeal, people will scarce believe 
 this zeal to be sincere, 
 
 B. I cannot but own that your notions hang well to- 
 gether ; and that they are very convincing when one 
 considers them attentively. But tell me freely, does not 
 all you have said on this subject flow from a pure zeal 
 for christian piety ? 
 
 A. No; if an unbeliever reason justly, he must fall 
 into the same train of thoughts : but indeed one must 
 have a christian spirit to act up to them ; for it is grace 
 alone that can suppress the disorderly emotions of self- 
 love. When I pressed you with the authority of Socra- 
 tes and Plato, you would not resign your judgment to 
 theirs ; and now, since reason itself begins to convince 
 
 but does not ; the world will reverse this quite, and consider rather how a clerk 
 ?ives, than what he says. They see the one ; and from it conclude what he 
 himself thinks of the,. other ; and will think themselves not a little justified, if 
 they can say that they did no worse than they saw their minister do before them. 
 Therefore a priest must not only abstain from gross scandal ; but keep at the 
 farthest distance from them, — such diversions as bi3 health or the tempej of 
 his mind, may render proper for him, ought to be manly, decent, and grave ; 
 and such as may neither possess his mind or time too much, nor give a bad char- 
 acter of him to his people. He must also avoid loo much familiarity with bad 
 people ; and the squandering away his time in too much vain and idle discourse. 
 His cheerfulness ought to be frank ; but neither excessive nor licentious. 
 His friends, and his garden ought to be his chief diversions ; as his study, and 
 his parish ought to be his chief employment?. Bishop Burnet's Disc, of tb$ 
 pastoral care. ch. vifi. 
 
B4 DIALOGUES CONCERNING ELOQUENCE. 
 
 you ; and that I need not enforce the truth from author- 
 ities ; what if I should tell you after all, that-I have on- 
 ly used their arguments on this subject. 
 
 B. Is it possible ? I should be very glad of it. 
 
 A. Well then ; Plato introduces Socrates discoursing 
 with Gorgias, a famous rhetorician, and Callicles, one 
 of his disciples. This Gorgias was Isocrates' master 5 
 and (as Tully tells us,) he was the first man that 
 boasted of his being able to talk eloquently on every 
 thing: in which ridiculous vanity he was afterwards im- 
 itated by other Greek declaimers. These two men, 
 Gorgias and Callicles, harangued plausibly enough on ev- 
 ery subject ; being Avits that shone in conversation, and 
 had no other business but to talk finely. However they 
 wanted, what* Socrates wished every man to have, solid 
 principles of morality, and a sedate, just way of reasoning. 
 Plato therefore having shown what a ridiculous turn of 
 mind these men had ; he represents Socrates as divert- 
 ing himself with their folly, and facetiously puzzling the 
 two orators so much, that they could not tell him what 
 eloquence is. Then he proves that rhetoric, (which was 
 the profession of these declaimers) is not truly an art : 
 for, according to him, ' an art is a regular discipline, 
 which teaches men to do something that will help to 
 make them wiser, and better than they are.' So that 
 he allows of no other arts but the liberal ones : and he 
 shows that even these are perverted, when they are ap- 
 
 *— Inventi sunt qui, cum ipri doctrina, et ingeniis abundarent, a re autera 
 • ivili et negotiis, animi quodam judicio al>horrerent, banc dicendi exercitatio- 
 uem esagitarent, atquc contemnerent. Quorum princeps Socrates fuit, is qui 
 omnium cruditorum testimonio, totiu.-que judicio GraeitB, cum prudentia, et 
 acumme, ct venustatc, et eubtilitate, turn vero eloquentia, varietatc, copia, 
 quamcumque iu partem dedisset, omnium fuit facile princeps— cujus ingenium 
 •variosque sermoncs immortalitati siripti9 suis l'lato tradidit. 
 
 Cicero dc Oral. lib. i. i 16. 
 
DIALOGUES CONCERNING ELOQUENCE. Qj 
 
 plied to any other end besides training up men to virtue. 
 He proves that this was not the aim of the rhetoricians : 
 that even Themistoeles and Pericles had quite other 
 views; and that therefore they were not truly orators. 
 He says those famous men only persuaded the Atheni- 
 ans to make harbours, and build walls, and obtain victo- 
 ries : they only made their citizens wealthy, warlike. 
 and powerful ; and were afterwards ill treated for it ; 
 which was really no more than they might have expect- 
 ed. If they had rendered the people good and virtu- 
 ous by their rhetoric, they would have been sure of a 
 just recompense ; for, he who makes men upright, and 
 good, cannot lose the reward of his labour ; seeing virtue 
 and ingratitude are inconsistent. I need not tell you all 
 the arguments he uses to show how useless such false 
 rhetoric is ; for, all that I have said hitherto on this 
 point, in my own name, is really taken from him. It 
 will be more proper to represent to you what he says 
 of the evils that these vain haran^uers occasion in the 
 republic. 
 
 B. It is evident that such rhetoricians were danger- 
 ous in the Grecian commonwealths, where they could mis- 
 lead the people, and usurp the government. 
 
 A. That is the chief danger that Socrates appre- 
 hended from them. But the principles he lays down, 
 on this occasion, reach a greut deal further. In fine, 
 though you and I speak now of ordering a commonwealth; 
 our inquiry and conclusions are not applicable to democ- 
 racy alone ; but to every kind of government, whether it 
 be strictly a republic, an aristocracy, or a monarchy. 
 So that the particular form of government does not en- 
 ter into the present question. For in all countries, the 
 
 rules of Socrates arc equally useful. 
 
 9 
 
66 DIALOGUES CONCERNING ELOQUEN( l '.. 
 
 C. I wish you would explain them to us. 
 
 A. He says that seeing a man is composed of a mind 
 and a body; he ought to improve them both. Now 
 there are two arts that concern the mind ; and two oth- 
 ers, that relate to the body. The two that belong to 
 the mind, are moral philosophy, and the knowledge of 
 the national laws. Under the head of moral philosophy 
 he comprehends the laws of nature and nations : and all 
 those dictates of philosophy that arc proper to govern 
 the inclinations and manners of the Avholc republic, as 
 well as of every individual member of it. He consider- 
 ed the second art, as a remedy that is to be used to 
 suppress falsehood, injustice, and the like disorders among 
 the citizens ; for, by it lawsuits arc determined ; and 
 crimes are punished. So that moral philosophy serves 
 to prevent evil ; and the knowledge of the laws and 
 constitution, to punish it. There are likewise two arts 
 for managing the body ; the gymnastic art, which by due 
 exercise and temperance, renders it healthy, active, 
 vigorous, and graceful ; (for, you know, Sir, the ancients 
 made a wonderful use of this art ; which we have now 
 quite lost ;) and the knowledge of physic which cures the 
 oody when its health is lost, or impaired. The gymnastic 
 art assists the body, as moral philosophy doth the soul ; 
 namely, to form and improve it ; and skill in medicine is 
 helpful to the body, as the knowledge of the laws is to 
 the mind ; for correcting and curing disorders. But this 
 wise institution was altered, says Socrates ; instead of a 
 solid, practical philosophy, we have only the vain subtil- 
 ty of wrangling sophists: a set of spurious philosophers, 
 who abuse reason ; and, having no sense of public good, 
 aim only at promoting their own selfish ends. Instead 
 of attaining a thorough insight into the national laws, peo- 
 
DIALOGUES CONCERNING ELOQUENCE. 67 
 
 pie are amused and misled by vain-glorious ostentation 
 of these rhetoricians, who endeavour only to please and 
 dazzle the mind ; and instead of recommending the 
 knowledge of the public constitution, and the administra- 
 tion of justice, (which being the medicine of the soul, 
 should be applied to cure its disorderly passions,) these, 
 false orators think of nothing but how to spread their 
 own reputation. And with regard to the body, says 
 Socrates, the gymnastic art begins to be exchanged for 
 skill in dress ; which gives the body but false, deceitful 
 ornaments. Whereas we ought to desire only such a 
 natural comeliness as results from health of body, and 
 due proportion of its members ; which must be acquir- 
 ed and preserved by temperance and exercise. The 
 proper and seasonable use of medicine is likewise laid 
 aside to make room for delicious dishes, and such pala- 
 table things as raise and ensnare the appetite. And in- 
 stead of carrying off gross humours from the body bv 
 proper evacuations, to restore its health ; nature is clog- 
 ged and overcharged ; and a false appetite is excited 
 by all the various ways of luxury and intemperance. 
 He farther observes, that those orators, who, in order 
 to cure men, should have given them bitter physic, and. 
 with authority, have inculcated the most disagreeable 
 truths ; have on the contrary done for the mind, what 
 cooks do for the body : their rhetoric is only an art of 
 dressing up delicacies to gratify the corrupted taste of 
 the people. All their concern is to please and sooth 
 them, by raising their curiosity and admiration. For, 
 these declaimers harangue only for themselves. He 
 concludes his remarks with asking, where are those cit- 
 izens whom the rhetoricians have cured of their vicious 
 habits ? Whom have they made sober and virtuous ? 
 
68 
 
 r>l\LOGUES CONCERNING ELOQUENCE. 
 
 Thus Socrates describes the general disorders, and cor- 
 ruption of manners that prevailed in his time. But 
 does he not talk* like one of the present age, who 
 observes what passes among us ; and speaks of the 
 abuses that reign in our own days ? Now you have heard 
 the sentiments of this wise heathen: what do you say 
 of that eloquence which tends only to please, and give 
 pretty descriptions ; when (as he says) we ought to 
 cauterize, and cut to the quick ; and earnestly endeav- 
 our to cure people's minds by the bitterness of reme- 
 dies, and the severity of an abstemious diet ? I appeal 
 to your own judgment in this case : if you were sick, 
 would you be pleased with a physician, who, in the ex- 
 tremity of your illness, should waste his time, and amuse 
 you with explaining to you some fine hypothesis in an 
 elegant style ; instead of making pertinent inquiries into 
 the cause and symptoms of your distemper, and pre- 
 scribing suitable remedies ? Or, in a trial at law, where 
 your estate or your life were at stake, what would you 
 think of your lawyer, if he should play the wit in your 
 defence, and fill his pleading with flowers of rhetoric 
 and quaint turns, instead of arguing with gravity, strength 
 of reason, and earnestness, to gain your cause ? Our 
 natural love of life, and well-being, shows us plainly the 
 
 * Th« ornaments of speaking are much degenerated from their original use- 
 fulness. They were at first, no doubt, an admirable instrument in the hands of 
 wise meD, when they were only employed to describe goodness, honesty, obedi- 
 ence ; in larger, fairer, and more moving images ; to represent troth clothed 
 with bodies ; and to bring knowledge back again to our very senses, whence it 
 was at first derived to our understanding. But now they are generally changed 
 to worse uses ; they make the fancy disgust the best things, if they come sound 
 and unadorned ; they are in open defiance against reason ; professing not to hold 
 much correspondence with that ; but with its slaves, the passions ; they give 
 fie mind a motion too changeable and bewitching, to consist with right practice. 
 
 Bishop Sprat's Hist, of R. S. p. Ill, 1 \<ii. 
 
DIALOGUES CONCERNING ELOQUENCE* 69 
 
 absurdity of false oratory, and of the unseasonable os- 
 tentation of it, in such cases as I have now mentioned : 
 but we are so strangely unconcerned about religion, and 
 the moral conduct of life, that we do not observe the 
 same ridicule in careless vain-glorious orators ; who yet 
 ought to be the spiritual physicians and censors of the 
 people. Indeed the sentiments of Socrates on this sub- 
 ject ought to make us ashamed. 
 
 B. I perceive clearly enough that, according to your 
 reasoning, orators ought to be the defenders of the laws, 
 and instructors of the people to teach them true wis- 
 dom and virtue. But among the Romans the rhetoric 
 of the bar was otherwise employed. 
 
 A. That was certainly the end of it. For, when 
 orators had not occasion to represent in their discours- 
 es the general wants of the republic, they were oblig- 
 ed to protect innocence, and the rights of particular per- 
 sons. And it was on this account that their profession 
 was so much honoured ; and that Tully gives us such a 
 lofty character of a true orator.* 
 
 B, Let us hear then how orators ought to speak. 
 I long to know your thoughts on this point ; seeing you 
 deny the finical, florid manner of Isocrates, which is so 
 much admired and imitated by others. 
 
 * Neque vero mihi quidquam praestabilius videtur, quam posse dicendo tenerc- 
 bominum coetus, mentes allicere, voluntates compellere quo velit ; unde autem 
 velit, deducere. Haec una res in omni libero populo, maximeque in pacatis tran- 
 quillisque civitatibus prarcipue semper floruit, semperque dominita est. Quid enim 
 est aut tam admirabile, quam ex inCnita multitudine hominum existere uuum, qui 
 id quod omnibus natura sit datum, vel solus, vel cum paucis facere possit? — aut 
 tam potens, tamque magnificum, quam populi raotus, judicum religiones, sena- 
 tus gravitatem, unius oratione converti ? — ac ne plura, quae sunt pene innumera- 
 bilia, consecter, comprehendam brevi ; sic enim statuo, perfecti oraloris mod- 
 eratione, et sapientia, non solum ipsius dignitatem, sed et privatorum plurimo- 
 rum. et universe rpipnhlicn? salutem maxime contineri. Cic. de Oral. lib. i. 4 8, 
 
70 DIALOGUES CONCERNING ELOQUENCE. 
 
 A. Instead of giving you my opinion, I shall go on 
 to lay before you the rules that the ancients give us : 
 but I shall only touch upon the chief points ; for, I sup- 
 pose, you do not expect that I should enter into an end- 
 less detail of the precepts of rhetoric. There are but 
 too many useless ones ; which you must have read in 
 those books where they are copiously explained. 
 It will be enough if we consider the most important 
 rules. Plato in his Phaxlrus shews us, that the greatest 
 fault of rhetoricians is, their studying the art of persua- 
 sion, before they have learned, (from the principles of 
 true philosophy,) what those things are of which they 
 ought to persuade men. He would have orators begin 
 with the study of mankind in general ; and then apply 
 themselves to the knowledge of the particular genius 
 and manners of those whom they may have occasion to 
 instruct and persuade. So that they ought first of all 
 to know the nature of man, his chief end and his true 
 interest : the parts of which he is composed, his mind, 
 and his body ; and the true way to make him happy : 
 they ought likewise to understand his passions, the dis- 
 orders they are subject to, and the art of governing 
 them ; how they may be usefully raised, and employed 
 on what is truly good ; and, in fine, the proper rules to 
 make him live in peace, and become entirely sociable. 
 After this general study, comes that which is particular. 
 Orators ouoht to know the laws and customs of their 
 country ; and how far they are agreeable to the genius 
 and temper of the people ; what are the manners of the 
 several ranks and conditions among them ; their differ- 
 ent ways of education; the common prejudices, and 
 separate interests that prevail in the present age; and 
 
DIALOGUES CONCERNING ELOQUENCE. 7 1 
 
 the most proper way to instruct and reform the people. 
 You see, Sir, this knowledge comprehends all the solid 
 parts of philosophy and politics. So that Plato meant 
 to shew us that none but a philosopher can be a true 
 orator. And it is in this sense we must understand all 
 he says in his Gorgias, against the rhetoricians ; I mean, 
 that set of men who made profession of talking finely 
 and persuading others, without eudeavouring to know, 
 from *olid philosophy, what one ought to teach them. 
 In short, according to Plato, the true art of oratory con- 
 sists in understanding those useful truths of which we 
 ought to convince people ; and the art of moving their 
 passions, in order to persuasion. Cicero* says almost 
 the very same things. He seems, at first, to think that 
 an orator should know every thing ; because he may 
 have occasion to speak on all sorts of subjects ; and 
 (as Socrates observed before him)f a man can nev- 
 er talk well on a point of which he is not entirely mas- 
 ter. But afterwards, because of the pressing necessi- 
 ties and shortness of life, Tully insists only upon those 
 parts of knowledge that he thinks the most necessary 
 for an orator. He would have him at least well in- 
 structed in all that part of philosophy ,J which relates to 
 
 * Ac mea quidera sententia nemo poterit esse omni laude cumulatus orator, 
 nisi eiit omnium rerum magnarum, atque artium scientiam consecutus. Dt 
 Oral. lib. 1.5 6. Oralorem plenum atque perl'ectum esse eum dicam, qui de om- 
 nibus rebus possit varie copioseque dicere. Ibid. § 13. verum enim oraton 
 qure sunt in hominum vita, quandoquidem in ea versetur orator, atque ea est e£ 
 subjecta materies, omnia quaesita, audita, lecta, disputata, tractata, agitata es- 
 se debent. Lib. iii. Q 14. 
 
 t Etenim exrerum cognitione efflorescat, et redundet oportet oratio ; qua 
 nisi subest res ab oratore percepta, et cognita, inanem quandam habet elocutio- 
 nero, et pene puerilem. De Oral. lib. i. { G. 
 
 ^ Positumsit igitur in primis — sine philosophia non posse effici, quern quseriinu; 
 eloquentem — nee vero sine philosophorum disciplina, genus, et speciem cujusque 
 rei cernere, neqtie earn definiendo explicare, nee tribuere in partes possiimus ; 
 
72 DIALOGUES CONCERNING ELOQUENCE; 
 
 the conduct and affairs of social life. But above 
 all things, he would have an orator* know the frame 
 of man, both with regard to his soul, and body, 
 and the natural tendency and force of his passions ; be- 
 cause the great end of eloquence is to move the secret 
 springs of them. He reckons the knowledge! of the 
 laws, and constitution, to be the foundation of all public 
 discourses : but he docs not think a thorough insight in- 
 to all the particular cases and questions in law to be ne- 
 cessary ; because, upon occasion, one may have recourse 
 to experienced lawyers, Avhose peculiar profession it is to 
 understand and disentangle such intricate points. He 
 thinks, with Plato, that an orator should be a master^ of 
 reasoning ; and know how to define, and argue, and un- 
 ravel the most specious sophisms. He says we destroy 
 
 nee judicare qua: vera, quae falsa sint ; neque cernere consequenlia, repugnantia 
 videre, ambigua distinguere. Quid dicam de natura rerum cujus cognitio mag- 
 nara orationis suppeditat copiam? De vita, de ofiiciis, de virtute, de tuoribus? 
 Oral, i 4. 
 
 * Omnes animoruni raotus, quos hotninuin generi rerum natura tribuit, peni- 
 tus pernoscendi. — De Oral. lib. i. } 5. — Num admoveri possit oratio ad sen9us 
 animoruni, atque motus ve) inflatnmandos, vel etiam extinguendos (quod unura 
 in oratore dominatur,) sine dilige?itissima ptrvesligatione earum omnium rationum 
 quae de naturis humani generis, ac tuoribus, a pbilosophis explicantur. — De Oral, 
 lib. i. § 14. Quare hie locu9 de vita et tuoribus, totus est oratori perdiscendus. 
 Ibid. & 15. 
 
 t Bibliothecas mehercule omnium philosopborum unus inihi videtur duodecim 
 tabularum libellu9, si quis legum fontes, et capita viderit, et auctoritatis pondere, 
 et utilitatis ubertate superare. Ac si nos, id quod maxime debet, nostra patriu 
 delectat. — Cujus primum nobis mens, mos, disciplina nota esse debet ; vel quia 
 est patria, parens omnium nostrum, vel quia tanta sapientia fuisse in jure con- 
 stituendo putanda est, quanta fuit in his tantis operibus imperii comparandis. 
 Dc Oral. lib. i. i 44. 
 
 | Nee vero dialecticis modo sit inslructus, sed hubeat omnes philosophise noto9, 
 ettractatos locos. Nihil enim de religione, nihil de morte, nihil de pietate, nihil 
 de caritate patriae ; nihil du bonis rebus, aut main ; nihil de virtutibus, aut vi- 
 tiis — nihil, inquam, sine ea scientia, imam dixi, graviler, ample, copiose dici, et 
 explicari potest. Oral, i 33. 
 
DIALOGUES CONCERNING ELOQUENCE. f3 
 
 eloquence, if we should separate it from philosophy : for 
 then, instead of wise orators, we should have only trifling, 
 injudicious declaimers. He further requires not only an 
 exact knowledge of all the principles of ethics ; but like- 
 wise that the orator be fully acquainted with antiquity.* 
 He recommends the careful perusal of the ancient Greek 
 writers, especially the historians ; both for their style ? 
 and for the historical facts they relate. He particular- 
 ly enjoinst the study of the poets : because of the great 
 resemblance there is between the figures of poetry, and 
 those of eloquence. \n tine, he often declares that an 
 orator ought to furnish his mind with a clear, comprehen- 
 sive view of things, before he attempt to speak in pub- 
 lic. I fancy I could almost repeat some of his words on 
 this subject ; so often have I read them ; and so strong 
 an impression did they make on my thoughts. You will 
 be surprised to see how much knowledge, and how manyf 
 
 * Cognoscat etiam rerum gestarum et memorise veteris ordinem, maxime sci. 
 licet nostras civitatis ; sed et imperiosoruni populorum et regum illustrium — 
 nescire enim quid antea, quam natus sis, acciderit, id est semper esse puerum-— 
 comuaemoratio autem antiquilatis, exemplorumque prolatio summa cum delec- 
 tatione, et auctoritatem orationi affert, et fidem. Oral. $ 34. — Apud Graecos 
 autem eloquentissimi homines remoti a causis forensibus, cum ad caeteras res il- 
 lustres, turn ad scribeudam historian) maxime se applicaverunt. Namque et He- 
 rodotus — et post ilium Thucydides omnes dicendi arlificio mea sententia facile 
 vicit — denique etiam a philosophia prol'ectus princeps Xenophon. — De Oral, lib, 
 ii. } 13, 14. 
 
 t Legendi etiam poetre, cognoscenda historia, omnium bonarum artium 
 scriptores. — De Oral. lib. i. $ 34. Est cnim finitimus oratori poeta, numeris ad- 
 strictior paulo, verborum autem licentia liberior ; multis vero ornandi generibu3 
 socius ac pene par ; in hoc quidem certe prope idem, nu!!is ut termini3 circum- 
 scribat aut definiat jus suum, quo minus ei liceat eadem ilia facultate, et copia 
 vagari qua velit. — Ibid i 16. 
 
 % Non qua;ritur mobilitas linguae, non celeritas verborum, non denique ea 
 quae nobis non possurnus fingere, facies, vultus, sonus. In oratore autem acu- 
 men dialecticorum, sententise philosophorum, verba prope poctarum, memoria 
 juris consultorum, vox tragcedorum, geslus pene summorum actorum, est requi- 
 rendus, Quaroobrpm nihil in horninum genere rarius nprf"cto oratore inveniri 
 
 10 
 
74 niALOGUES CONCERNING ELOqUEN< l.. 
 
 qualities he requires. ' An orator,' says lie, ' ought to 
 have the acutcness of logicians, the knowledge of philos- 
 ophers, the style almost of the poets, the elocution and 
 gesture of the finest actors.' Consider now how much 
 application is necessary to attain all this. 
 
 C. I have observed, indeed, on several occasions, that 
 some orators, though they have good natural parts, want a 
 fund of solid knowledge. Their heads seem unfurnished; 
 and one cannot but perceive they labour hard for mat- 
 ter to fill up their discources. They do not seem to 
 speak from the abundance of their hearts, as if they 
 were full of useful truths : but they talk as if they were 
 at a loss for the very next thing they are to say. 
 
 A. Cicero takes notice of these kind of people ; who 
 live always, as it were, from hand to mouth, without 
 laying up any stock of provision. But the discourses of 
 such declaimers appear always thin and half-starved, 
 Avhatever pains they take about them. Though these 
 men could afford three months for studying a public ha- 
 rangue, such particular preparations, however trouble- 
 some, must needs be very imperfect : and any judicious 
 hearer will easily discern their defects. They ought to 
 have employed several years in laying up a plentiful store 
 of solid notions : and then after such a general prepara- 
 tion, their particular discourses would cost them but lit- 
 tle pains. Whereas, if a man, without this preparatory- 
 study, lay out all his application upon particular subjects, 
 he is forced to put off his hearers with florid* expres- 
 
 potest ; qua? enim singularum rcnirn artifices, singula si mediocriter adepti sunt, 
 probantur, ca nisi omnia summa sunt in oratorc, probari non possunt. De 
 Oral. lib. i. J ?8. 
 
 * There are two extremes to be avoided with the utmost core ; the frigid style, 
 and the boyish. The former renders a discourse dry and insipid, by a languor 
 '-md flatness of expression; the latter renders it ungiateful and shocking, by 
 
DIALOGUES CONCERNING ELOQUENCE. 75 
 
 sions, gaudy metaphors, and jingling antitheses. He de- 
 livers nothing but indeterminate common-place notions ; 
 and patches together shreds of learning and rhetoric, 
 which any one may see were not made one for another. 
 He never goes to the bottom of things, but stops in su- 
 perficial remarks, and oft-times in false ones. He is not 
 able to show truths in their proper light, and full extent ; 
 because all general truths are necessarily connected among 
 themselves ; so that one must understand almost all of 
 them, before he can treat judiciously of any one. 
 
 C. However, many of our public speakers get repute 
 by those slight attainments you so much despise. 
 
 Jt. It is true, they are applauded by women and the 
 undiscerning multitude, who are easily dazzled and im- 
 posed on : but this repute is very precarious ; and could 
 not subsist long, if it were not supported by a cabal of 
 acquaintance, and the zeal or humour of a party. They 
 who know the true end and rules of eloquence* cannot 
 
 a swelling loftiness, and affected amplification. Those who use the frigid style, 
 employ pompous expressions when the subject requires plain ones ; and they 
 who affect the boyish style, make use of low expressions when the matter re- 
 quires the loftiest. But our language is become so modest, so reserved, and so 
 scrupulous, that the frigid style includes all such expressions as are too strong; 
 or too sparkling ; too bold and hardy metaphors, and frequent turns of wit. 
 And the boyish style comprehends strokes of humour, and quaint conceits upon 
 serious subjects ; too loose and heavy repetitions in those parts of a discourse- 
 that ought to be close and concise ; too violent exaggerations, and too labori- 
 ous figures. Rapin. Reflections sur l'Eloquence 
 
 * Expression is the dress of thought, and still 
 Appears more decent, as more suitable ; 
 A low conceit in pompous words exprest, 
 Is like a clown in regal purple drest. 
 For different styles with different subjects sort, 
 As several garbs with country, town and court. 
 Some by old words to fame have made pretence ; 
 Ancients in phrase, mere moderns in their sense ! 
 Such labour'd nothings, in so strange a style, 
 Amaze th' unlearned, and make the learned smile. 
 
'*> DIALOGUES" CONCERNING ELOQUENCE. 
 
 hear such empty, vain haranguers, without satiety, dis- 
 gust, and contempt. 
 
 C. It seems then you would have a man wait sever- 
 al years before he attempt to speak in public ; for the 
 flower of his age must be spent in attaining that vast fund 
 of knowledge, which you reckon necessary to an orator : 
 and then he must be so far advanced in years, that he 
 will have but little time to exert his talents. 
 
 A. I would have him begin to exert them betimes : 
 for I know very well how great the power of action is. 
 But under the pretence of exercising his parts, I would 
 not have him immediately engage himself in any kind of 
 employment that will take off his mind from his studies. 
 A youth may try his skill, from time to time : but for 
 several years, a careful perusal of the best authors ought 
 to be his main business. 
 
 C. Your judicious observation puts me in mind of a 
 preacher I am acquainted with ; who lives, as you say, 
 from hand to mouth ; and never thinks of any subject 
 till he be obliged to treat of it ; and then he shuts him- 
 self up in his closet, turns over his concordance, combe- 
 fix, and polyanthea, his collections of sermons ; and com- 
 mon-place book of separate sentences and book quota-, 
 tions thathe has gathered together. 
 
 A. \ou cannot but perceive, Sir, that this method 
 will never make him an able, judicious preacher. In 
 such cases, a man cannot talk with strength and clear- 
 ness ; he is not sure of any thing he says ; nor doth any 
 thing flow easily from him. His whole discourse has a 
 borrowed air ; and looks like an awkward piece of patch- 
 work. Certainly those arc much to be blamed, who are 
 *o impatiently fond of showing their part^ 
 
DIALOGUES CONCERNING ELOQUENCE. 77 
 
 B. Before you leave us, Sir, pray tell us what you 
 reckon the chief effect of eloquence. 
 
 A. Plato says an oration is so far eloquent as it affects 
 the hearer's mind. By this rule you may judge certain- 
 ly of any discourse you hear ; if an harangue leave you 
 cold and languid ; and only amuses your mind, instead of 
 enlightening it ; if it does not move your heart and pas- 
 sions, however florid and pompous it may be, it is not; 
 truly eloquent. Tully approves of Plato's sentiments on 
 this point ; and tells us* that the whole drift and force 
 of a discourse should tend to move those secret springs 
 of action that nature has placed in the hearts of men. 
 Would you then consult your own mind to know wheth- 
 er those you hear be truly eloquent ? If they make a 
 lively impression upon you, and gain your attention and 
 assent to what they say ; if they move and animate your 
 passions, so as to raise you above yourself,t you may be 
 assured they are true orators. But if instead of affect- 
 ing you thus, they only please or divert you, and make 
 you admire the brightness of their thoughts, or the beau- 
 ty and propriety of their language, you may freely pro- 
 nounce them to be mere declaimers. 
 
 B. Stay a little, Sir, if you please, till I ask you a 
 few more questions. 
 
 A. I wish I could stay longer, gentlemen ; for your 
 conversation is very engaging ; but I have an affair to 
 despatch which will not admit of a delay. Tomorrow 
 I will wait on you again : and then we shall finish this, 
 subject at our leisure. 
 
 B. Adieu, then, Sir, till tomorrow. 
 
 x ' Lib. i. <i 5.. lib. ii. } 82, t See Longinus, { vii 
 
SECOND DIALOGUE. 
 
 B. You are extremely kind, Sir, in coming so punc- 
 tually. Your conversation yesterday was so agreeably 
 instructive, that we longed impatiently to hear you again 
 upon the same subject. 
 
 C. For my part, I made what haste I could, lest I 
 should have come too late ; for I was unwilling to lose 
 any part of your discourse. 
 
 A. Such conferences are very useful, among those 
 who really love truth, and talk with temper ; for then 
 they exchange their best thoughts, and express them as 
 clearly as they can. As for myself, gentlemen, I find an 
 advantage in conversing with you ; seeing you are not 
 displeased at the freedom I take. 
 
 B. Let us leave oil' compliments, Sir ; I know best 
 how to judge of myself; and I perceive clearly that 
 without your assistance I should have continued in sev- 
 eral errors. I entreat you, Sir, to go on, and set me en- 
 tirely right in my notions of eloquence. 
 
 A. Your mistakes, (if you will allow mo to call them 
 so,) prevail among most people of worth and learning, 
 who have not examined this matter to the bottom. 
 
 B. Let us lose no time in preamble ; we shall have 
 a thousand tilings to say. Proceed, therefore, Sir, to rec- 
 tify my mistakes ; and begin at the point where we left 
 off yesterday. 
 
DIALOGUES CONCERNING ELOQUENCE. 79 
 
 A. Of what point were we talking, when we part- 
 ed ? I have really forgot. 
 
 C. You were speaking of that kind of eloquence 
 which consists entirely in moving the passions. 
 
 B. Yes ; but I could not well comprehend that the 
 whole design of rhetoric is to move the passions. Is 
 that your opinion, Sir ? 
 
 A. By no means. 
 
 C. It seems then I mistook you yesterday. 
 
 A. What would you say of a man, who should per- 
 suade without any proof; and affect his hearers, with- 
 out enlightening them ? You could not reckon him a 
 true orator. He might seduce people by this art of 
 persuading them to what he would, without showing 
 them that what he recommends is right. Such a per- 
 son must prove very dangerous in the commonwealth : 
 as we have seen before from the reasoning of Socrates. 
 
 B. It is very true. 
 
 A. But on the other hand, what would you think of 
 a man, who in his public discourses should demonstrate 
 the truth, in a plain, dry, exact, methodical manner; or 
 make use of the geometrical way of reasoning ; without 
 adding any thing to adorn or enliven his discourse ? 
 Would you reckon him an orator ? 
 
 B. No ; I should think him a philosopher only. 
 
 A. To make a complete orator then, we must find 
 a philosopher, who knows both how to demonstrate any 
 truth ; and at the same time, to give his accurate rea- 
 soning all the natural beauty and vehemence of an agree- 
 able, moving discourse, to render it entirely eloquent. 
 And herein lies the difference between the clear, con- 
 vincing method of philosophy, and the affecting, per- 
 suasive art of eloquence. 
 
80 DIALOGUES CONCERNING ELOQUENCE. 
 
 G What do you say is the difference ? 
 
 A. I say a philosopher's aim is merely to demon- 
 strate the truth, and gain your assent ; while the orator 
 not only convinces your judgment, but commands your 
 passions. 
 
 C. I do not take your meaning exactly, yet. When 
 a hearer is fully convinced, what is there more to be 
 done ? 
 
 A. There is still wanting what an orator would do 
 more than a metaphysician, in proving the existence of 
 God. The metaphysician would. give you a plain de- 
 monstration of it ; and stop at the speculative view of 
 that important truth. But the orator would further 
 add whatever is proper to excite the most affecting sen- 
 timents in your mind ; and make you love that glorious 
 Being whose existence he had proved. And this is what 
 we call persuasion. 
 
 C. Now I understand you perfectly well. 
 
 A. You sec then what reason Cicero had to say, 
 that we must never separate philosophy from eloquence. 
 For, the art of persuading without wisdom, and previous 
 instruction, must be pernicious : and wisdom alone, with- 
 out the art of persuasion, can never have a sufficient in- 
 fluence on the minds of men ; nor allure them to the 
 love and practice of virtue. I thought it proper to ob- 
 serve this by the by, to show you how much those of 
 the last age were mistaken in their notions of tin's 
 matter. For, on the one hand there were some men of 
 polite learning, who valued nothing but the purity of 
 languages, and books elegantly written ; but having no 
 solid principles of knowledge, with their politeness and 
 erudition, they were generally libertines. On the other 
 hand, there were a set of dry, formal scholars, who dc- 
 
DIALOGUES CONCERNING ELOQUENCE. £! j 
 
 livered their instructions in such a perplexed, dogmat- 
 ical, unaffecting manner as disgusted every body. Ex- 
 cuse this digression. I return now to the point ; and 
 must remind you that persuasion has this advantage be- 
 yond mere conviction, or demonstration ; that it not only 
 sets truth in the fullest light, but represents it as amia- 
 ble ; and engages men to love and pursue it * The 
 whole art of eloquence, therefore, consists in enforcing 
 the clearest proofs of any truth, with such powerful mo- 
 tives as may affect the hearers, and employ their passions 
 to just and worthy ends ; to raise their indignation at 
 ingratitude ; their horror against cruelty ; their compas- 
 sion for the miserable ; their love of virtue ; and to 
 direct every other passion to its proper objects. This 
 is what Plato calls affecting the minds of an audience ; 
 and moving their bowels. Do you understand me, Sir ? 
 
 B. Very plainly ; and I see too that eloquence is not 
 a trifling invention to amuse and dazzle people with pom- 
 pous language ; but that it is a very serious art ; and 
 serviceable to morality. 
 
 A. It is both a serious and a difficult art. For which 
 reason Tully said he had heard several persons declaim 
 in an elegant, engaging manner ; but that there were but 
 very few complete orators, who knew how to seize and. 
 captivate the heart. 
 
 C. I am not surprised at that ; for I see but very 
 few who aim at it; nay, I freely own that Cicero him- 
 
 * — Omnes animorum motus, quos hominum generi rerum natura tribuit, pen- 
 itus pernoscendi ; quod omnis vis ratioque dicendi in eorum qui audiuut, nienti- 
 bus aut sedandis, aut excitandis, exprimenda est. Cic. De Oral. lib. i. § 5. 
 Maximaque pars orationis admovenda est ad aniinorum motus nonnunquaru aut 
 cohortatione, aut comonemoratione, aiiqua, aut in spera, aut in metum, aut ad. 
 cupiditatem, aut ad gioriam concitandos : ssepe etiam a temeritate, iracundia, 
 spe, injuria, credulitate revocandos. Jbid, lib. ii. i 82. 
 11 
 
82 DIALOGUES CONCERNING ELOQUENCE. 
 
 self, who lays down this rule, seems oftentimes to for- 
 get it. What do you think of those rhetorical ilowcrs 
 with which he embellished his harangues ? They might 
 amuse the fancy, but could not touch the heart. 
 
 A. We must distinguish, Sir, between Tully's ora- 
 tions. Those he composed in his youth, (when he chief- 
 ly aimed at establishing his character,) have oft-times 
 the gay defect you speak of. He was then full of am- 
 bition; and far more concerned for his own fame, than 
 for the justice of his cause. And this Avill always be the 
 case when people employ one to plead for them, who 
 regards their business no farther than as it gives him an 
 opportunity of distinguishing himself, and of shining in 
 his profession. Thus we find that among the Romans 
 their pleading at the bar, was oft-times nothing else but 
 a pompous declamation. After all we must own that 
 Tully's* youthful and most elaborate orations show a 
 
 * Nunc causa perorata, res ipsa et periculi magnitudo, C. AquilH, cogere 
 videtur, ut te, atque eos, qui tibi in consilio sunt, obsecret, obtesteterque P. 
 Quintius per senectutem ac 3olitudinem suam, nihil aliud, uisi ut vestra? naturae, 
 bonitatique obsequamini ; ut, cum Veritas hssc faciat, plus hujus inopia possit ad 
 misericordiam quam illius opes ad crudelitatem — si qua? pudore ornamenta sibi 
 peperit, Naivi, ea potest contra petulantiam, te defendente, obtinere ; spes estet 
 bunc miserum 3tque infelicem aliquando tandem posse consistere. Sin et pote- 
 nt Maevius id quod libet ; etei libebit, quodjion licet; quid agendum est? Qui 
 Deus appellandus est? Cujus hominis fides imploranda ? — Ab ipso [Naevio] 
 repudiatus, ab amicis ejus non snblevatus ; ab omni magistratu agitatus atque 
 perterritus, quern prater te appellet, [C. Aquilli] habet neminem; tibi se, tibi 
 suas omnes opes, forlunasque commendat ; tibi commitlit existimationem ac 
 spem reliquao vitse. Multis vexatus contumeliis, plurimis jactatus injuriis non 
 iurpis ad te, sed miser confugit ; e iundo ornatissimo dejectus, ignominiis omni- 
 bus appetitus— itaque te hoc obsecrat, C. Aquilli, ut quam existimationem, quam 
 honestatem injudiciura tuum, prope acta jam a'tale decursaque attulit, earn 
 Hceat ei secum ex hoc loco cllerre ; ne is, do cujus ollicio nemo tinquam dubita- 
 vit, sexagesimo dcnique anno, dedrcore, macula, turplssimaquc ignomioia note- 
 tur; ne ornamentis ejus omnibus, Sex. Nacvius pro spoliis abutatur ; ne per te 
 ferat, quo minus, qua; cxistimatio P. Quintium usque ad senectutem perduxit, 
 eadem usque ad rogurn proscquutur. Cie. Oraf. i>ro 1 J . tyuintio'. 
 
DIALOGUES CONCERNING ELOQUENCE. 85 
 
 great deal of his moving and persuasive art. But to form 
 a just notion of it, we must observe the harangues he 
 made in his more advanced age, for the necessities of 
 the republic- For then, the experience he had in the 
 weightiest affairs, the love of liberty, and the fear of 
 those calamities that hung over his head, made him dis- 
 play the utmost efforts of his eloquence. When he en- 
 deavoured to support and revive expiring liberty, and to 
 animate the commonwealth against Anthony, his enemy ? 
 you do not see him use points of wit and quaint antithe- 
 ses : he is then truly eloquent. Every thing seems art- 
 less, as it ought to be, when one is vehement. With a 
 negligent air, he delivers the most natural and affecting 
 sentiments ; and says every thing that can move and an- 
 imate the passions. 
 
 C. You have often spoke of witty conceits and quaint 
 turns. Pray, what do you mean by these expressions ? 
 For I can scarce distinguish those witty turns from the 
 other ornaments of discourse. In my opinion, all the 
 embellishments of speech flow from wit, and a vigorous 
 fancy. 
 
 A. But Tully thinks, there are many expressions that 
 owe all their beauty and ornament to their force and 
 propriety ; and to the nature of the subject they are ap- 
 plied to. 
 
 C. I do not exactly understand these terms ; be pleas- 
 ed to show me in a familiar way, how I may readily dis- 
 tinguish between a flash of wit, (or quaint turn,) and a 
 solid ornament, or noble, delicate thought.* 
 
 * True wit is nahire to advantage dresa'd, 
 What oft was thought, but ne'er so well express'd ; 
 Something, whose truth convinced at sight we find. 
 That gives us back the image of ou* mir!<>. 
 
i DIALOGUES CONCERNING ELOQUENCE. 
 
 A. Reading and observation will leach you best i 
 there arc a hundred different sorts of witty conceits. 
 
 C. But pray, Sir, tell me at least some general mark 
 by which I may know them: is it affectation? 
 
 A. Not every kind of affectation, but a fond desire 
 to please, and show one's wit. 
 
 C. This gives me some little light ; but I want still 
 some distinguishing marks, to direct my judgment. 
 
 A. I will give you one then, which perhaps will sat- 
 isfy you. We have seen that eloquence consists not 
 only in giving clear, convincing proofs ; but likewise in 
 the art of moving the passions. Now in order to move 
 them, Ave must be able to paint them well ; with their 
 various objects and effects. So that I think the whole 
 art of oratory may be reduced to proving, painting, and 
 raising the passions. Now all those pretty, sparkling, 
 quaint thoughts that do not tend to one of these ends, 
 are only witty conceits.* 
 
 C. What do you mean by painting ? I never heard 
 
 that term applied to rhetoric. 
 
 A. To paint.t is not only to describe things ; but to 
 
 As shades more sweetly recommend the light ; 
 
 So modest plainness sets off sprightly wit. 
 
 For works may have more wit than does them good -, 
 
 As bodies perish through excess of blood. 
 
 Pope's Essay on Criticism. 
 
 f I cannot forbear warning you, in the most earnest manner, against endeav- 
 ouring at wit in your sermons, because, by the strictest computation, it is very 
 near a million to one that you have none ; and because too many of your calling 
 have consequently made themselves everlastingly ridiculous by attempting it. I re- 
 member several young men in this town, who could never leave the pulpit under hall 
 a dozen conceits ; and this faculty adhered to those gentlemen a longer or a shorter 
 Time, exactly in proportion to their several degrees of dulness ; accordingly, I 
 am told that some of them retain it to this day. I heartily wish the brood were 
 at an end. 8vnfC» Letter to a Young Clergyman- 
 
 + See Longiuus, f xv. 
 
DIALOGUES CONCERNING ELOQUENCE. 05 
 
 represent the circumstances of them, in such a lively,* 
 sensible manner, that the hearer shall fancy he almost 
 sees them with his eyes. For instance ; if a dry histo- 
 rian were to give an account of Dido's death, he would 
 only say, she was overwhelmed with sorrow after the 
 departure of iEneas ; and that she grew weary of her 
 life, so went up to the top of her palace, and, lying 
 down on her funeral pile, she stabbed herself. Now 
 these words would inform you of the fact ; but you do 
 not see it. When you read the story in Virgil, he sets 
 it before your eyes.f When he represents all the cir- 
 cumstances of Dido's despair *, describes her wild rage ; 
 and death already staring in her aspect; when he makes 
 her speak at the sight of the picture and syvord that 
 iEneas left, your imagination transports you to Carth- 
 age ; where you see the Trojan fleet leaving the shore, 
 and the queen quite inconsolable. You enter into all 
 her passions, and into the sentiments of the supposed 
 spectators. It is not Virgil you then hear : you are too 
 attentive to the last words of unhappy Dido, to think of 
 him. The poet disappears ; and we see only what he 
 describes ; and hear those only whom he makes to 
 speak. Such is the force of a natural imitation, and of 
 painting in language. Hence it comes that the painters 
 and the poets are so nearly related ; the one paints for 
 the eyes ; and the other for the ears : but both of them 
 
 * Plus est evidentia, vel ut alii dicunt, repraesentalio, quam perspicuilas ; et 
 illud quidem patet ; haec se quodarnmodo ostendit — magna virtus est, res de 
 quibus loquimur, clare atque ut cerni videan/ur, enunciare. Non enim satis effi- 
 cit, neque ut debet plene dominatur oratio, si usque ad aures volet, atque ea sibi 
 judex de quibus cognoscit, narrari credit, non exprimi,et oculis mentis os/endi — 
 atque hujus summae, judicio quidem meo, virtutjs facillima est via. Nnturcm 
 intucamur, hanc sequamur. Quintil. lib. viii. c. 3, 
 
 t .Eneid, lib. iv. 
 
86 DIALOGUES CONCERNING ELOQUENCE. 
 
 ought to convey the liveliest pictures to people's imagi- 
 nation. I have taken an example from a poet to give 
 you a livelier image of what I mean by painting in elo- 
 quence : for poets paint in a stronger manner than ora- 
 tors. Indeed the main thing in which poetry differs 
 from eloquence is, that the poet paints with enthusiasm. 
 and gives bolder touches than the orator. But prose 
 allows of painting in a moderate degree ; for, without 
 lively descriptions, it is impossible to warm the hearer's 
 fancy, or to stir his passions. A plain narrative does 
 not move people : we must not only inform them of 
 facts ; but strike their senses,* by a lively, moving rep- 
 resentation of the manner and circumstances of the facts 
 we relate. 
 
 C. I never reflected on this before. But seeing 
 what you call painting is essential to oratory ; does it 
 not follow that there can be no true eloquence, without 
 a due mixture of poetry ? 
 
 Jh You are right : only we must exclude versifica- 
 tion ; that is, a strict regard to the quantity of syllables, 
 and the order of words in which the poet is obliged to 
 express his thoughts, according to the measure or verse 
 he writes in. Versification indeed, if it be in rhyme, is 
 
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 liovTai. Long 1 ms. § XV. 
 
DIALOGUES CONCERNING ELOQUENCE. 87 
 
 what injudicious people reckon to be the whole of poe- 
 try. Some fancy themselves to be pocts^ because they 
 have spoken or writ in measured words ; but there are 
 many who make verses without poetry ; ""and others are 
 very poetical without making verses.* If therefore we 
 set versifying aside, poetry in other respects is only a 
 lively fiction that paints nature. And if one has not this 
 genius for painting, he will never be able to imprint 
 things on the hearer's mind : but his discourse will be 
 flat, languid, and wearisome. Ever since the fall of 
 Adam, man's thoughts have been so low and grovelling, 
 that they are unattentive to moral truths ; and can 
 scarce conceive any thing but what affects their senses. 
 In this consists the degeneracy of human nature. Peo- 
 ple grow soon weary of contemplation ; intellectual ideas 
 do not strike their imagination ; so that we must use 
 sensible and familiar images to support their attention, 
 and convey abstracted truths to their minds.'}" Hence it 
 came, that soon after the fall, the religion of all the an- 
 cients consisted of poetry and idolatry ; which were al- 
 ways joined together in their various schemes of super- 
 stition. But let us not wander too far — you see plainly 
 that poetry, I mean, the lively painting of things, is, as it 
 were, the very soul of eloquence. 
 
 * The adventures of Telemachus, composed by our ingenious author, are 
 entirely written in that poetic prose he here speaks of. M. Bossu, the greatest 
 modern critic, does not think that work can be called a poem ; but he owns the 
 distinction that our author here takes notice of. ' There is good reason, says he, to 
 distinguish such artless composures (turned into verse) from true poetry, by giv- 
 ing them the name of versification ; and to make of versification and poetry, as it 
 were, two different arts. Ami indeed, 13 thete a greater difference between 
 grammar and rhetoric, than between the art of making verses, and that of in- 
 venting a poem?' Traile du poeme epique, !iv. i. ch. 5. 
 
 t Respicere exemplar vitre moruraque jubebo 
 Doctum imitatoreiD, r ;t vera? hinc ducere voc 
 
 Her. do A, P. 
 
88 DIALOGUES CONCERNING! ELOQUENCE. 
 
 C. But if true orators be poets, I should think that 
 poets are orators too ; for poetry is very proper to per- 
 suade. 
 
 A. Yes; they have the very same end. All the 
 difference between them consists in what I have told 
 you. Orators are not possessed Avith that enthusiasm, 
 which fires the poet's breast, and renders him more 
 lively, ltaore sublime, and bolder in expression. You re- 
 member the passage I quoted from Cicero. 
 
 C. Which ? is it not — 
 
 A. That an orator ought to have the style almost of 
 a poet ; that almost pointy out the difference between 
 them. 
 
 C. I understand you. But you do not come to the 
 point you proposed to explain to us. 
 
 A. Which? 
 
 C. The rule for distinguishing between witty turns 
 and solid ornaments. 
 
 A. You will soon comprehend that. For of what 
 use in discourse can any ornament be, thaf does not tend 
 either to prove, to paint, or to affect ? 
 
 C. It may serve to please. 
 
 A. We must distinguish here between such orna- 
 ments as only please ; and those that both please and 
 persuade. That, Avhich serves to please in order to 
 persuade, is good and solid : thus we are pleased with 
 strong and clear arguments. The just and natural emo- 
 tions of an orator have much grace and beauty in them : 
 and his exact and lively painting charms us. So that all 
 the necessary parts of eloquence are apt to please ; but 
 yet pleasing is not their true aim. The question is, 
 whether we shall approve such thoughts and expressions 
 as may perhaps give an amusing delight ; but in other 
 
DIALOGUES CONCERNING ELOQUENCE, 89 
 
 respects, are altogether useless : and these I call quaint 
 turns, and points of wit. You must remember now that 
 I allow all those graces of style, and delicate thoughts 
 that tend to persuasion : I only reject those vain, affect- 
 ed ornaments that the self-conceited author uses, to 
 paint his own character, and amuse others with his wit : 
 instead of filling their minds entirely with his subject. 
 In fine ; I think we ought to condemn not only all jingle 
 and playing with words, as a thing extremely mean and 
 boyish ; but even all witty conceits, and fanciful turns ; 
 I mean, such thoughts as only flash and glitter upon the 
 fancy ; but contain nothing that is solid, and conducive 
 to persuasion. 
 
 C. I could agree to that : but that I am afraid such 
 severity would retrench the chief beauties of discourse. 
 
 Jl. Do not you reckon Homer and Virgil very agree- 
 able authors ? are they not the most delicate you ever 
 read ? and yet in them you do not find what we call 
 points of wit. Their poems are full of a noble simplicity : 
 their art is entirely concealed :* nature itself appears in 
 all that they say. We do not find a single word that 
 seems purposely designed to shew the poet's wit. They 
 thought it their greatest glory never to appear ; but to 
 employ our attention on the objects they describe : as a 
 painter endeavours to set before your eyes wide forests, 
 mountains, rivers, distant views, and buildings ; or the 
 
 * When first young Metro sung of kings and wars, 
 'Ere warning Phoebus touch'd his trembling ears, 
 Perhaps he seem'd above the critic's law, 
 And but from nature's fountains scorn'd to draw ; 
 But when t' examine every part he came, 
 Nature and Homer were, he found, the same. 
 Learn hence for ancient rules a just esteem ; 
 To copy nature is to copy them, 
 
 • Pop*:. 
 
 12 
 
90 DIALOGUES CONCERNING ELOQUENCE. 
 
 adventures, actions, ami different passions of men, in such 
 a lively manner, that you cannot trace the masterly strokes 
 of his pencil : for art looks mean and coarse when it is 
 perceived. Plato, (who had examined this matter more 
 thoroughly than any other orator, or critic,) assures us 
 that in composing, the poet should always keep out of 
 sight, make himself be quite forgot by his readers, and 
 represent only those things and persons, which he would 
 set before their eyes. You see how much the ancients 
 excelled us in just and lofty sentiments. 
 
 B. I see the use and necessity of painting, in elo- 
 quence : let us next know the nature and use of those 
 affecting movements you spoke of. 
 
 A. They serve to raise in the hearers mind such 
 emotions as answer the orator's purpose. 
 
 C. But in what do these movements of an orator 
 consist ? 
 
 Jl. In his words, and in the actions of his body. 
 
 B. What movement can there be in words ? 
 
 Jl. A great deal. Tully tells us, that the very ene- 
 mies of Gracchus could not forbear weeping when he 
 pronounced these words* — ' Miserable man that I am ! 
 Whither shall I turn myself? Where can I go? to the 
 Capitol ? it swims with my brother's blood. Shall I go 
 to my own house ? there to see my unhappy mother 
 dissolved in tears, and oppressed with sorrow ?' This is 
 moving language. But now if one were to say the same 
 things in a cold manner, they w r ould lose all their force. 
 
 * Quid fuit in Graccho, quern tu, Calule, melius mcniinisli, quod me puero 
 tantopere ferretur I quo me miser con f cram ? quo virlmn? in Cupitoliumne ? at 
 fratris sanguine redundat. An domum? matrcmne ut mi scram lament a ntemque 
 videam, el abjectam ? cjurc sic ab ilio acta esse constahat oculis, voce, gestu, inim- 
 ici ut lachrymas tenere nun possent. Iloec eo dico pluribus, quod genus hoc lo- 
 tum oratores, qui sunt veritatis ipsius adores, reliquerunt ; itnitatores, autcm 
 vcritatis histriones, occupaverunt. Czc. <fc Oral. lib. iii. v 56. 
 
DIALOGUES CONCERNING ELOQUENCE. 91 
 
 B. Think you so ? 
 
 A. Let us try. i I know not where to go, nor whith- 
 er I should turn myself, amidst my misfortunes. The 
 Capitol is the place where my brother's blood was shed- 
 and at home, I shall see my unhappy mother lamenting 
 her condition, with the utmost grief.' This is the same 
 thing that was said before : but what is become of that 
 force and vivacity we then perceived ? Where is that* 
 vehement manner, and abrupt language, which so justly 
 describes nature in the transports of grief? The man- 
 ner of saying a thing shews us how it affects the mind ; 
 and that is what most effectually touches the hearer. In 
 such passages, one ought studiously to avoid all refined, 
 uncommon thoughts ; and even neglect connexion and or- 
 der : otherwise the passion described lias no appearance 
 of truth, or nature, in it. Nothing is more shocking than 
 a passion expressed in beautiful figures, pompous lan- 
 guage, and well turned periods. On this head I must 
 recommend Longinust to you, who quotes many sublime 
 examples from Demosthenes and others. 
 
 C. Besides the movements that attend an affecting, 
 vehement style, you mentioned others that flow from the 
 orator's gesture and action ; which I must entreat you 
 to explain. 
 
 A. I cannot pretend to give you a complete system 
 of rhetoric. It is a task I am not fit for. However 1 
 shall give you some remarks I have made on the poini 
 of gesture, we find inTullyand Quintillian.J that the ac- 
 tion of the Greeks and Romans was far more violent 
 
 * See Longinns, k xviii. t See Longinus, k xriii, xix, xx, xxi. 
 
 % Femur ferire, quod Athenis primus fecisse creditur Clcon, et U9itatum est, 
 ct indignatc-9 decet, et excitat auditorem. Idque in Callidio Cicero desiderat, 
 ■Xonfrons, inquit, pcrcussa ? non femur ? pedum nulla supplosio ? Quint, 
 
92 DIALOGUES CONCERNING ELOQUENCE. 
 
 than ours. They stamped on the ground ; and even 
 beat their forehead. Tully mentions an orator, who in 
 his pleading laid hold of his client, and tore open his 
 clothes to show the judges the wounds he had received 
 in the service of the republic. This was a vehement 
 kind of action indeed ; but such as is reserved for extraor- 
 dinary occasions ; and doth not fall within the common 
 rules of gesture. I think it is not natural to be always 
 moving one's arm in talking ; that motion* is proper 
 enough when the orator is very vehement : but he ought 
 not to move his arm in order to appear vehement. Nay, 
 there are many things that ought to be pronounced calm- 
 ly, and without any motion. 
 
 B. Would you have a preacher, for instance, use no 
 gesture at all on some occasions ? that would look very 
 strange indeed. 
 
 A. I know that most people lay it down for a rule, 
 (or a custom at least,) that a preacher should be always 
 in motion, whatever the subject be that he treats of. 
 But it might be easily shown that our [French] preach- 
 ers usually have too much gesture, and sometimes too 
 little. 
 
 B. I wish you would state this matter clearly. For 
 I always believed, from the example of *** that there 
 are not above two or three motions of the hands to be 
 used in a whole sermon. 
 
 A. Let us then lay down some principle to argue 
 upon. Now of what use is the action of the bodyt in 
 
 * Brachii modcrata projectio remissis humeris, atque explicantibus sc in 
 proferenda manu digitis, continuos et decurrentes locos maxime decet. Ibid. 
 
 + Actio inquara in dicendo una dominatur ; sine hac summus orator esse in 
 numero nuilo potest ; mediocris, hac instructus suramos saepe superare. Huic 
 primas dedisse Demosthenes dicitur, quum rogarctur quid in dicendo esset pri- 
 inum ; huic secundas ; huic tertias. De Oral, lib, iii. J 56. Est enim actio 
 
DIALOGUES CONCERNING ELOQUENCE, 93 
 
 ^peaking? Is it not to express the sentiments and pas- 
 sions of the mind ? 
 B. I think so. 
 
 A. The motion of the body then should help to paint 
 the thoughts of the soul. 
 
 B. Yes. 
 
 A. And that painting ought to be exact and faithful.* 
 Every look and motion should in an easy, natural manner 
 represent the speaker's sentiments, and the nature of 
 the things he says ; but so as to avoid all mean and the- 
 atrical gestures. 
 
 B. I think I understand your notion exactly. Let 
 me interrupt you then a little ; that you may see how 
 far I enter into the consequences that flow from the 
 principle you laid down. Yout would have an orator 
 use such a lively, natural, becoming action, as will help 
 to point out distinctly what his words alone could express 
 only in a flat and languid manner. So that you reckon 
 his very action a sort of painting.J 
 
 quasi sermo corporis ; quo magis menti congrua es3e debet — atque in iis omnibus 
 quae sunt actionis, inest quaedam vis a natura data ; quare etiam hac imperiti, 
 hac vulgus, hac denique barbari maxime commoventur — iisdem enim omnium 
 animi motibus concitantur, et eos iisdem notis, et in aliis agnoscuat, et in se ipsi 
 
 indicant. Ibid. § 54. 
 
 * 
 * Omnis enim motus animi suum quendam a natura babet vultum et sonum, 
 et gestum ; totumque corpus hominis, et ejus omnis vultus omnesque voces, ut 
 nervi in fidibus, ita sonant, ut a motu animi quoque sint pulsae. Cicero. 
 
 t Gestus quantum habeat in oratore momenti, satis vel ex eo patet quod 
 pleraque etiam citra verba signiiicat. Quippe non manus solum, sed Dutus etiam 
 declarant nostram voluntatem ; et in mutis pro sermone sunt — contra si gestus ac 
 vultus ab oratione dissentiat, tristia dicamushilares, aflirmemus aliquarenuentes, 
 non auctoritas modo verbis, sed etiam fides desit. Q«m/, lib, xi. c. 3. 
 
 X Our preachers stand stock still in the pulpit, and will not so much as move 
 a finger to set off the best sermons in the world. Our words flow from us in a 
 smooth, continued stream, without those strainings of the voice, motions of the 
 body, and majesty of the hand, which are so much celebrated in the orators of 
 
94 DIALOGUES CONCERNING ELOQUENCE. 
 
 A. Rio-lit. But wc must farther conclude that to 
 paint well, wc must imitate nature; and observe what 
 she does when she is left to herself; and is not constrain- 
 ed by art. 
 
 B. That is plain. 
 
 A. Now, doth a man naturally use many gestures 
 when he says common things, without vehemence, or the 
 least mixture of any sort of passion ? ^ 
 
 B. No. 
 
 A. On such common subjects then, we ought not to 
 use any action in public discourses ; or at least but little ; 
 for there we ought always to follow nature ;* nay, there 
 are some occasions where an orator might best express 
 his thoughts by silence. For, if, being full of some great 
 sentiment, he continued immoveable for a moment ; this 
 surprising pause would keep the minds of the audience 
 in suspense, and express an emotion too big for words to 
 utter. 
 
 B. I doubt not but such unexpected pauses seasona- 
 bly employed, would be very significant ; and powerful- 
 Greece and Rome. We can talk of life and death in cold blood, and keep our 
 temper, in a discourse which turns upon every thing that is dear to U9. Though 
 our zeal breaks out in the finest tropes and figures, it is not able to stir a limb 
 about us. I have heard it observed more than once, by those who have seen 
 Italy, that an untravelled Englishman cannot relish all the beauties of Italian 
 pictures, because the postures which are expressed in them are often such as 
 are peculiar to that country. One, who has not seen an Italian in the pulpit, will 
 not know what to make of that noble gesture in Raphael's picture of St. Paul, 
 preaching at Athens, where the apostle is represented as lifting up both his arni9, 
 and pouring out the thunder of his rhetoric, amidst an audience of pagan philos- 
 ophers. Addison. 
 
 * Unum jam his adjiciendum est, cum prrtcipuc in actionc spectetur decorum, 
 ■a pe aJiud alios decere. Est enim latens quacdam in hoc ratio, et inenarrabilis : 
 ct ut vere hoc dictum est caput esse artis, decere quod facias — quare norit se 
 quisque ; nee tantura ex communibus pra:ceptis, sed etiara ex natura sua capiat 
 consilium formandac actionis. Qum^. lib. xi. c. 3. 
 
DIALOGUES CONCERNING ELOQUENCE. 95 
 
 \y affect the hearers. But, Sir, you seem to think that 
 one, who speaks in public, ought to use no other action 
 than what is proper for ordinary conversation. 
 
 A. You mistake me, Sir ; I think the sight of a great 
 assembly, and the importance of the subject an orator 
 treats of, ought to animate him far more than if he were 
 talking familiarly with his friends. But both in private 
 and in public, he ought always to act naturally. He 
 should use some action when his words are moving : but 
 when his expressions are quite calm and simple, there is 
 no occasion to move the body ; except it be in the gen- 
 tlest manner. Nothing appears more shocking and ab- 
 surd, than to see a man very warm and active, when he 
 is saying the driest, coldest things. Though he sweats 
 himself, he chills the blood of his audience. Some time 
 ago, I happened to fall asleep at a sermon, as you know 
 one is apt to do in the afternoon : (and indeed in for- 
 mer times, they preached but once a-day, after the gos- 
 pel in the morning service :) but I soon waked and found 
 the preacher in a very violent agitation, so that I fan- 
 cied, at first, that he was pressing some important point 
 of morality — - 
 
 B. What was the matter then? 
 
 A. He was only giving notice, that on the Sunday 
 following he would preach upon repentance. I was ex- 
 tremely surprised to hear such an indifferent thing ut- 
 tered with so much vehemence ; and must have laughed 
 out, if the regard I had for the place, and some other 
 circumstances had not restrained me. The pronuncia- 
 tion of these declaimers is exactly like their gesture : 
 for, as their voice is a perpetual monotony ; so there is 
 an uniformity in their gesture,* that is no less nauseous 
 
 * In the delivering - of sermons, a great composure of gesture and behaviour 
 
96 DIALOGUES CONCERNING ELOQUENt I 
 
 and unnatural ; and equally contrary to the good effect 
 that one might expect from decent action. 
 
 B. You said that sometimes they have not action 
 enough. 
 
 A. We cannot wonder at that. For they do not dis- 
 cern the things that require warmth and earnestness. 
 They waste their spirits in saying the plainest things; 
 and so are forced to utter those things faintly which ought 
 to be delivered with a vehement action. I must own 
 indeed that the French arc not very capable of this ve- 
 hemence : for, they are too airy, and do not conceive 
 things with sufficient strength ; and therefore they do 
 not speak with a proper energy. The Romans had a 
 wonderful talent this way, and the Greeks a greater. 
 The eastern nations excelled in it ; and particularly the 
 Hebrews. Nothing can equal the strength and vivacity 
 of the figures they employed in their discourse ; and the 
 very actions they used to express their sentiments ; such 
 as putting ashes on their heads, and tearing their gar- 
 ments, and covering themselves with sackloth, under any 
 deep distress and sorrow of mind. I do not speak of 
 what the prophets did to give a more lively represen- 
 ts necessary to give them weight and authority. Extremes are bad here, as in 
 everj r thing else. Some affect a light and flippant behaviour ; and others think 
 that wry laces, and a tone in the voice will set off the matter. Grave and com- 
 posed looks, and a natural, but distinct pronunciation, will always have the best 
 effects. The great rule which the masters of rhetoric press much, can never be 
 enough remembered, that to make a man speak well, and pronounce with a right 
 emphasis, he ought thoroughly to understand all that he says ; be fully persuaded 
 of it ; and bring himself to have those affections, which he desires to infuse into 
 others. He that is persuadi d of the truth of what he says, and has a concern 
 about it in his mind, will pronounce with a natural vehemence, that is far more 
 lively than all the strains that art can lead him to. An orator, (if we hearken to 
 them) must be an honest man, and speak always on the side cf truth; and study 
 to feel all that he says ; and then he will speak it so as to make others feci it 
 likewise. Discourse of the pastoral care, chap, ix, 
 
DIALOGUES CONCERNING ELOQUENCES 97 
 
 tation of the things they foretold ; because such figura- 
 tive actions were the effect of divine inspiration. But 
 even in other cases, we find that those people under- 
 stood much better than we do, how to express their 
 grief, and fear, and other passions. And hence, no doubt 
 arose those surprising effects of elequence, which we 
 never experience now. 
 
 B. You approve then of many different gestures, 
 and various inflections of the voice ?* 
 
 A. It is that variety, which gives so much grace and 
 force to the action of an orator ; and made Demosthenes 
 far excel all others. The more easy and familiar that 
 the voice and action appear, when the speaker only nar- 
 rates, explains, or instructs, the more apt he will be to 
 surprise and move the audience in those parts of his dis- 
 course, where he grows suddenly vehement, and enforc- 
 es lofty, affecting sentiments, by a suitable energy of 
 voice, and action. This due pronunciation! is a kind of 
 
 * In omni voce, est quiddam medinm ; 3ed suum cuique ; hinc gradatim 
 adscendere vocem utile, et suave est ; (nam a principio claraare agreste quid- 
 dam est;) et illud idem ad formandum est vocem salutare; deinde est quiddam 
 contentius extremum — est item contra quiddam in remissione gravissimum, quo- 
 que tamquam sonorum gradibus descenditur. Haec varietas, et hie per omnes 
 sonos vocis cursus, et se tuebitur, et actioni afferet suavitatem. 
 
 Cic. de Oral. lib. iii. $ 61. 
 
 t Ornata est pronuntiatio, cui suffragatur vox faciiis, magna, beata, flexibi- 
 lis, firma, dulcis, durabilis, clara pura, secans sera, auribus sedens. Est enim 
 quredam ad auditum accommodata, non magnitudine sed proprietate, ad hoc 
 velut tractabilis ; utique habens omnes in se qui desiderantur sonos intenlion.es- 
 que, et toto ut aiunt organo instructa — illud vero maximum, quod secundum 
 rationem re-rum de quibus dicimus, animorumque habitus, conformanda vox est, 
 ne ab oratione discordet. Vitemus igitur illam quae Greece paovotcvioi vocatur, 
 una quaedam epiritus ac soni intentio ; non solum ne dicamus ciamose, quod in- 
 sanum est ; aut intra loquendi modum, quod motu caret ; aut summisso mur- 
 mure, quo etiam debilitatur omnis intentio ; sed ut in iisdem partibus, iisdemque 
 afTectibus, sint tamen quxdam non ita magnas vocis dcclinaliones, prout aut ver- 
 borum dignitas, aut sententiarum natura, aut depo?itio, aut inceptio, aut transi- 
 
 13 
 
98 DIALOGUES CONCERNING ELOQUENCE. 
 
 music ; whose beauty consists in the variety of proper 
 tones and inflections of the voice, which ought to rise or 
 fall with a just and easy cadence, according to the nature 
 of the things we express. It gives a light as well as a 
 grace to language ; and is the very life and spirit of dis- 
 course. 
 
 B. According to your notions of elocution, it is an art 
 unknown to our greatest orators. The preacher that 
 you and I heard, about a fortnight ago, did not observe 
 your rule : nor even seem to endeavour it. Except the 
 first thirty words of his sermon, he spake always in the 
 same tone : and the only sign I could perceive of his be- 
 ing more vehement in some parts of his discourse, than 
 in others, was, that when he seemed earnest, he spoke 
 faster than at other times. 
 
 A. To me, Sir, his voice seemed to have two tones 5 
 though they were well adapted to his words. You have 
 observed justly enough that he did not follow the rules 
 of pronunciation ; and I believe he did not perceive the 
 need of them. His voice is naturally melodious : and 
 though it be ill managed, it is however pleasing enough. 
 But you see plainly that it does not make those strong, 
 affecting impressions on the mind that it would produce, 
 if it had such various inflections as are proper to express 
 the speaker's sentiments. Such preachers are like fine 
 clocks, that give a clear, full, soft, agreeable sound ; but 
 after all they arc clocks only, of no significancy : and hav- 
 ing no variety of notes, they are incapable of harmony or 
 eloquence. 
 
 B. But were there not many graces in the rapidity 
 of his discourse ? 
 
 tus postulabit; ut qui singulis pinxerunt coloribus, alia tamen eniinentiora, alia 
 reductiora feccrunt; sine quo nc mcmbris quidera suas lineas dedissent. 
 
 Quint, lib. xi. c. 3. 
 
DIALOGUES CONCERNING ELOQUENCE. 99 
 
 A. Yes ; and I grant that in some affecting, lively 
 passages, one ought to speak faster than usual. But it 
 is a great fault to speak with so much precipitation that 
 one cannot stop himself, nor be distinctly understood. 
 The voice and action bear some resemblance to verse. 
 Sometimes we must use such a slow, and grave measure 
 as is fit to describe things of that character : and some- 
 times a short, impetuous one, to express what is quick 
 and ardent. To use always the same degree of action, 
 and the same tone of voice, is like prescribing one rem- 
 edy for all distempers. But we ought to excuse the uni- 
 formity of that preacher's voice and action. For, be- 
 sides his possessing many excellent qualities, the fault we 
 complain of, is the natural effect of his style. We have 
 already agreed that the modulation of the voice should 
 be exactly suited to the words. Now his style is even, 
 and uniform, without the least variety. On the one hand, 
 it is not familiar, insinuating, and popular ; and on the 
 other, it has nothing in it that is lively, figurative, and 
 sublime : but it consists of a constant flow of words, that 
 press one after the other ; containing a close and well- 
 connected chain of reasoning, on clear ideas. In a word, 
 he is a man that talks good sense very correctly. Nay? 
 we must acknowledge that he has done great service to 
 the pulpit : he has rescued it from the servitude of vain 
 declaimers ; and filled it himself with much strength and 
 dignity. He is very capable of convincing people : but 
 I know few preachers who persuade and move them less 
 than he doth. If you observe carefully, you will even 
 find that his way of preaching is not very instructive, 
 for, besides his not having a familiar, engaging, pathetic 
 manner of talking (as I observed before.) his discourse 
 
100 DIALOGUES CONCERNING CLOOJJEM I 
 
 docs not in the least strike the imagination,* but is ad- 
 dressed to the understanding only. It is a thread of 
 reasoning that cannot be comprehended without the clos- 
 est attention. And seeing there are but few hearers ca- 
 pable of such a constant application of mind, they re- 
 tain little or nothing of his discourse. It is like a tor- 
 rent that hurries along at once, and leaves its channel 
 dry. In order to make a lasting impression on people's 
 minds, wc must support their attention, by moving their 
 passions : for, dry instructions can havo but little influ- 
 ence. But the thing that I reckon least natural in this 
 preacher, is the continual motion he gives his arms ; 
 while there is nothing figurative, nor moving in his words. 
 The action used in ordinary conversation, would suit his 
 style best : or his impetuous gesture would require a 
 style full of sallies and vehemence ; and even then he 
 behoved to manage his warmth better, and render it less 
 uniform. In fine, I think he is a great man ; but not an 
 orator. A country preacher, who can alarm his hearers, 
 and draw tears from them, answers the end of elo- 
 quence better than he. 
 
 B. But how shall we know the particular gestures, 
 md the inflections of voice that are agreeable to nature. 
 
 * The senses and the imagination- are fruitful and inexhaustible sources of 
 mistakes and delusion ; but the understanding or mind acting by itself, is not so 
 subject to error ; we cannot always speak so as to affect the senses and imagin- 
 ation of others ; nor ought we always to endeavour it. When a subject is ab- 
 stracted, we can seldom render it sensible (or apt to strike the imagination,) 
 without making it obscure ; it is enough if it be made intelligible. Nothing can 
 be more unjust than the usual complaints of those, who would know everything; 
 and yet will not apply themselves to any thing. They take it amiss when we 
 require their attention ; and expect that we should always strike their fancy, and 
 continually please their senses, and their passions. But it is not in our power to 
 gratify them. The authors of romances and comedies are obliged thus to please 
 and amuse them ; but as for us, it is enough if we can instruct those who are 
 truly attentive. P. Malbranche's recherche de la verite, lit. iii. c. i 
 
DIALOGUES CONCERNING ELOQUENCE. 101 
 
 A. I told you before that the whole art of good or- 
 ators consists in observing what nature does when un- 
 constrained. You ought not to imitate those haranguers 
 who choose always to declaim ; but will never talk to 
 their hearers. On the contrary, you should address 
 yourself to an audience in such a modest, respectful, en- 
 gaging manner,' that each of them shall think you are 
 speaking to him in particular. And this is the use and 
 advantage of natural, familiar, insinuating tones of voice, 
 They ought always to be grave and becoming : and even 
 strong and pathetic, when the subject requires it. Bui 
 you must not fancy, that you can express the passions by 
 the mere strength of voice ; like those noisy speakers, 
 who by bawling and tossing themselves about, stun their 
 hearers, instead of affecting them. If we would succeed 
 in painting, and raising the passions, we must know ex- 
 actly what movements they inspire. For instance, ob- 
 serve what is the posture, and what, the voice of one, 
 whose heart is pierced with sorrow, or surprised at the 
 sight of an astonishing object ; remark the natural ac- 
 tion of the eyes ; what the hands do ; and what the 
 whole body. On such occasions nature appears ; and 
 you need only follow it ; if you must employ art,* conceal 
 it so well under an exact imitation, that it may pass for 
 nature itself. But to speak the truth, orators in such 
 cases are like poets, who write elegies or other passion- 
 ate verses ; they must feel the passion they describe,! 
 
 * Tots yap n t£X VY l ^s^eiog, yivlk' av tyvGic, zivai Soxyi. 
 n 5' av tyvGiq smrvftig, otav 'Aavdavovca 7t£pie%Yi Tr t v 
 rej(VYiv. Longinus, § XX n, 
 
 I Ut ridrntibus arrident, ita flentibus adsunt 
 Humani vultus. Si vis me flere, dolencium rst 
 Primuni ipsi tibi 
 
 ■male si raandata locjiicris, 
 
102 DIALOGUE9 CONCERNING ELOQUENCE. 
 
 else they can never paint it well. The greatest art im- 
 aginable can never speak like true passion,* and undis- 
 guised nature. So that you will always be but an im- 
 perfect orator, if you be not thoroughly moved with 
 those sentiments that you paint, and would infuse into 
 others. Nor do I say this from a pious motive ; I speak 
 now only as an orator.f 
 
 B. The case, I think, is abundantly plain ; but you 
 spoke to us of the eyes ; have they their rhetoric too ? 
 
 A. Yes ; if you will believe Tully,J and other an- 
 cient orators. Nothing is more intelligible than the as- 
 pect ; it expresses every passion of the soul. And in 
 
 Aut dormitabo, aut ridebo. Tristia moestum 
 Vultum verba decent ; iratum plena minarum. 
 Format enim natura prius nos intus ad omnem 
 Fortunarum habitum ; juvat, aut impellit ad iram, 
 Aut ad humum mcerore gravi deducit, et angit; 
 Post effert animi motus interprete lingua. 
 
 Hor. de Ar. Po. 
 
 * 0ap/)G>J> yap a<poptG(U[iviv av ug ovSev ovtag og to 
 yevvaiov rtadog evda %pv] fieyahyjyopov, oonep vno (laviag 
 nvog, xat nvsv^anog evBovGLaatixov exnveov, xau olovec 
 tyoiSaX^ov tovg Xoyovg. Longinus, § viii. 
 
 t Neque fieri potest, ut doleat is qui audit, ut oderit, ut invideat, ut perti- 
 rnescat aliquid, nisi omnes ii motus quos orator adhibere volet judici, in ipso 
 oratore impressi, atque inusti videbuntur — ut enim nulla materies tam facilis ad 
 exardescendum est, qua? nisi admoto igni ignera concipere possit ; sic nulla mens 
 est tam ad comprehendendam vim oratoris parata, qua; possit incendi, nisi in- 
 flammatus ipse ad earn et ardens accesseris. Cic. de Oral. lib. ii. } 45. 
 
 J Sed in ore sunt omnia. In eo autem ipso dominatus est omnis oculorum — 
 animi enim est omnis actio ; et imago animi vultus est, indices oculi. Nam ha?c 
 est una pars corporis quae quot animi motus sunt, tot significationes, et commu- 
 tationcs possit eflicerc — oculi sunt quorum turn intentione, turn remissione, turn 
 coujectu, turn hilaritate motus aniraorum significemus apte cum genere ipso ora- 
 tionis; est enim actio quasi scrmo corporis; quo magis menti congruens es3e 
 
 debet Quare in liac nostra actione secundum vocem vultus valet ; is autem 
 
 oculis gubcrnatur. Cic. deOrat. lib. iii. ^ 59. 
 
DIALOGUES CONCERNING ELOQUENCE. 103 
 
 the aspect, the eyes are most active and significant. 
 One well-timed look will pierce to the bottom of the 
 heart.* 
 
 B. The preacher, we were speaking of, has usually 
 his eyes shut. When we observe him near, it is very 
 shocking.f 
 
 A. It is disagreeable because we perceive that he 
 wants one of the chief things thnt ought to enliven his 
 discourse. 
 
 B. But why does he so ? 
 
 A. He makes haste to pronounce his words ; and 
 shuts his eyes, because it helps his labouring memory. 
 
 B. I observed indeed that it was very much burden- 
 
 * Smiles and sadness display themselves partly at the mouth ; the former by 
 raising, the latter by depressing, the corners of it ; and yet we might in many 
 cases mistake a laughing for a weeping countenance, if we did not see the eye- 
 Indeed this little organ, whether sparkling with joy, or melting in sorrow; wheth- 
 er gleaming with indignation, or languishing in tenderness; whether glowing with 
 the steady light of deliberate valour, or sending forth emanations of good will 
 and gratitude, is one of the most interesting objects in the whole visible universe. 
 There is more in it than shape, motion, and colour ; there is thought and pas- 
 sion ; there is life and soul ; there is reason and speech. Bcattie. 
 
 + But the face is the epitome of the whole man, and the eyes are as it were 
 the epitome of the face. No part of the body, besides the face, is capable of as 
 many chauges as there are different emotions in the mind, and of expressing 
 them all by those changes. As the countenance admits of so great variety, it 
 requires also great judgment to govern it. Not that the form of the face is to 
 be shifted on every occasion, lest it turn to farce and buffoonery ; but it is cer. 
 tain that the eyes have a wonderful power of marking the emotions of the mind ; 
 sometimes by a steadfast look, sometimes by a careless one — now by a sudden 
 regard, then by a joyful sparkling, as the sense of the word is diversified ; for 
 action is, as it were, the speech of the features and limbs, and must therefore 
 conform itself always to the sentiments of the soul. And it may be observed, 
 that in all which relates to the gesture, there is a wonderful force implanted by 
 nature ; since the vulgar, the unskilful, and even the most barbarous, are chief- 
 ly affected by this. None are moved by the sound of words but those who un- 
 derstand the language ; and the sense of many things is lost upon men of a dull 
 apprehension ; but action is a kind of universal tongue ; all men are subject to 
 the same passions, and consequently know tiie same marks of them in others, by 
 which they themselves express them. Spectator. 
 
104 DIALOGUES C0INCERN1.GG ELOQJ/E\(JE. 
 
 ed ; sometimes he repeated several words to find out 
 the thread of his discourse. Such repetitions make one 
 look like a careless school-boy that lias forgot his lesson. 
 They arc very disagreeable ; and would not be easily 
 excused in a preacher of less note. 
 
 A. It is not so much the preacher's fault as the de- 
 fect of the method he follows, after many others. So 
 long as men preach by heart, and often, they will be apt 
 to fall into this perplexity. 
 
 B. How do you mean ? Would you have us not 
 preach by heart ? Without doing so, one could not make 
 an exact, pithy discourse. 
 
 A. I am not against a preacher's getting some par- 
 ticular sermons by heart. They may always have time 
 enough to prepare themselves for extraordinary occa- 
 sions. And they might even acquit themselves hand- 
 somely without such great preparation. 
 
 B. How ? This seems incredible. 
 
 A. If I be mistaken, I shall readilv own it. Let us 
 only examine the point without prepossession. What 
 is the chief aim of an orator ? Is it not to persuade ? 
 And in order to this, ought he not to affect his hearers, 
 by moving their passions ? 
 
 B. I grant it. 
 
 A. The most lively and moving way of preaching is 
 therefore the best. 
 
 B. True ; what do you conclude from that ? 
 
 A. Which of two orators will have the most power- 
 ful and affecting manner ; he who learns his discourse 
 by heart ; or he avIio speaks without reciting word for 
 word what he had studied ? 
 
 B. He, I think, who has got his discourse by heart. 
 A. Have patience ; and let us state the question right 
 
DIALOGUES CONCERNING ELOQUENCE. 105 
 
 On the one hand, I suppose a man prepares his discourse 
 exactly, and learns it by heart to the least syllable. On 
 the other hand, I suppose another person, who fills his 
 mind with the subject he is to talk of; who speaks with 
 great ease ; (for you would not have any body* attempt 
 to speak in public, without having proper talents for 
 it :) in short, a man who has attentively considered all 
 the principles, and parts of the subject he is to handle ; 
 and has a comprehensive view of them in all their ex- 
 tent ; who has reduced his thoughts into a proper meth- 
 od ; and prepared the strongest expressions to explain 
 and enforce them in a sensible manner ; who ranges all 
 his arguments, and has a sufficient number of affecting 
 figures ; such a man certainly knows every thing that 
 he ought to say ; and the order in which the whole 
 should be placed ;t to succeed therefore in his delive- 
 ry, he wants nothing but those common expressions that 
 must make the bulk of his discourse. But do you be- 
 lieve now that such a person would have any difficulty 
 in finding easy, familiar expressions ? 
 
 * Ego nee studium sine divite vena, 
 
 Nee rude quid prosit video ingenium Hor. de A> P. 
 
 t He, then, that would prepare himself to be a preacher in this method, must 
 accustom himself to talk freely to himself, to let his thoughts flow from him; 
 especially when he feels an edge and heat upon his mind ; for then happy ex- 
 pressions will come in his mouth — he must also be writing essays upon all sorts 
 of subjects ; for by writing he will bring himself to a correctness both in thinking 
 and in speaking ; and thus by a hard practice for two or three years, a man may 
 render himself such a master in this way, that he can never be surprised ; nor 
 will new thoughts ever dry up upon him. He must talk over himself the whole 
 body of divinity ; and accustom himself to explain, and prove; to clear objec- 
 tions; and to apply evey part of it to some practical U3e — and if in these his 
 meditations, happy thoughts, and noble, tender expressions, do at any time offer 
 themselves, he must not lose them ; but write them down — by a very few years' 
 practice of two or three such soliloquies a day, chiefly in the morning, when 
 the head is clearest, and the spirits are liveliest, a man will contract a great 
 easiness, both in thinking and speaking. 
 
 Tip, Burnet's di*r. on the pastoral care, p. 210, 2t 1 , 
 
 14 
 
106 DIALOGUES CONCERNING ELOQUENCE. 
 
 B. He could not find such just and handsome ones 
 as he might have hit on, if he had sought them leisurely 
 in his closet. 
 
 A. I own that. But according to you, he would lose 
 only a few ornaments ; and you know how to rate that 
 loss, according to the principles we laid down before. 
 On the other side, what advantage must he not have in 
 the freedom and force of his action ; which is the main 
 thing. Supposing that he has applied himself much to 
 composing, (as Cicero requires of an orator,*) that he 
 has read all the best models ; and has a natural or ac- 
 quired easiness of style and speech ; that he has abun- 
 dance of solid knowledge and learning $ that he under- 
 stands his subject perfectly well ; and has ranged all 
 the parts and proofs of it in his head : in such a case 
 we must conclude that he will speak with force, and or- 
 der, and readiness.t His periods perhaps will not sooth 
 the ear so much as the others ; and for that reason he 
 must be the better orator. His transitions may not be 
 so fine ; it is no great matter ; though these he might 
 have prepared Avithout getting them by heart ; besides, 
 these little omissions were common to the most eloquent 
 orators among the ancients. They thought such negli- 
 gence was very natural ; and ought even to be imitated, 
 to avoid the appearance of too great preparation. 
 What then could our orator want ? He might make 
 
 * Caput autem est, quod (ut vere dicam) rainime facimus, (est enim magni 
 iaboris, quern plerique fugimus) quam plurimum scribere — stilus optimus, et 
 praestantissimus dicendi effector, ac raagister ; neque injuria ; nam si subitum et 
 fortuitam orationem, eommentatio, et cogitatio facile vincit; banc ip9am pro- 
 r ecto aasidua ac diligens scriptura superabit. De Oral. lib. i. k 33. 
 
 t cui lecta potenter erit res, 
 
 Nee facundia deseril hunc, nee lucidus ordo. 
 Verbaque provisam rem non invito sequcntur. 
 
 llor. dr Art. Porf. 
 
DIALOGUES CONCERNING ELOQUENCE. 10? 
 
 some little repetition ; but that too must have its use. 
 Not only will the judicious hearer take a pleasure in ob- 
 serving nature here, which leads one often to resume 
 whatever view of the subject strikes strongest upon the 
 mind ; but likewise this repetition imprints the truth more 
 deeply ; which is the best manner of instruction. At the 
 worst, one might find in his discourse some inaccuracy 
 of construction, some obsolete word that has been censur- 
 ed by the academy : something that is irregular ; or, if 
 you will, some weak or misapplied expression, that he 
 may happen to drop in the warmth of action. But sure- 
 ly they must have narrow souls, who can think such little 
 escapes worth any one's notice. There is abundance of 
 these to be met with in the most excellent originals.* 
 The greatest orators among the ancients neglected them : 
 and if our views were as noble as theirs, we should not so 
 much regard those trifles,! which can amuse none but 
 such as are not able to discern and pursue what is truly 
 great. Excuse my freedom, Sir ; if I did not think you 
 had a genius very different from these little, cavilling 
 
 * Hapa?e6e(i£vog 5' ovx oT^iya xcu avtog apaptvifiatai 
 xai Ofiyjpovt xcu tav aA/lov oaot (isyiGroh xoll rixiora toig 
 nfaiGfiaaiv ap£%o[i£Vogy o(iog Se ov% afiaprvjfiata {lahXov 
 avta txovaia xafadv, yj napopafiata 01 a^e/laav, £ixv\ rtov 
 xaidg Efwxev vno[i£ya?iofyviagavE7ttG ! Tar(>)gnapEVY}V£y[ieva, 
 
 Lo.VGJNTTS, { 33. 
 
 t Sunt delicta tamen, quibus ignovisse veliraus ; 
 
 Nam neque chorda sonum reddit quem vult manus et mens ; 
 Poscentique gravem persacpe remittit acutum ; 
 Nee semper feriet quodcunque minabitur arcus. 
 Verum ubi plura nitent in carmine, non ego paucis 
 Offfiudar maculis, quas aut incuria fudit, 
 
 Aut humana parum cavitnatura 
 
 Hor. de Art. Port. 
 
108 DIALOGUES CONCERNING ELOQUENCE. 
 
 critics I condemn, I should speak of them with greater 
 caution. 
 
 B. You may always speak your mind, Sir, without 
 any reserve on my account. Be pleased therefore to go 
 on with your comparison. 
 
 A. Consider then, in the next place, the advantages 
 that a preacher must have who does not get his sermon 
 by heart. He is entirely master of himself; he speaks 
 in an easy, unaffected way; and not like a formal declaim- 
 er. Things flow then from their proper source. If he 
 has a natural talent for eloquence, his language must be 
 lively and moving ; even the warmth that animates him,* 
 must lead him to such pertinent expressions and figures, 
 as he could not have found out by study. 
 
 B. Why ? Surely a man may enliven his fancy, and 
 compose very sprightly discourses in his closet. 
 
 A. I own that ; but a just elocution and gesture must 
 still give them a greater life and spirit. Besides, what 
 one. says in the ardour of action is far more natural and 
 affecting ; it has a negligent air ; and discovers none of 
 that art, which is visible in all elaborate composures. 
 
 * But the rule I have observed last, is the most necessary of all j and without 
 it all the rest will never do the business ; it is this ; that a man mu3t have in 
 himself a deep sense of the truth and power of religion ; he must have a life and 
 flame in his thoughts with relation to these subjects ; he must have felt himself 
 those things which he intends to explain and recommend to others. He must 
 observe narrowly the motions of his own mind ; — that so he may have a lively 
 heat in himself when he speaks of them ; and that he may speak in so sensible a 
 manner, that it may be almost felt that he speaks from his heart. There is an 
 authority in the simplest things that cau be said, when they carry visible charac- 
 ters of genuineness in them. Now if a man can carry on this method, and by 
 much meditation and prayer, draw down divine influences, which are always to 
 be expected when a man puts himself in the way of them, and prepares himself 
 for them; he will always feel that while he is musing ajirc is kindled within him j 
 and then he will speak with authority, and without constraint ; his thoughts will 
 be true; and his expressions free and easy. 
 
 Discourse of the pastoral ran, p. Ill, 11? 
 
DIALOGUES CONCERNING ELOQUENCE. 109 
 
 We may add farther, that a skilful, experienced orator, 
 adapts things to the capacity of his hearers ;* and varies 
 his discourse, according to the impression he sees it makes 
 upon their minds. For, he easily perceives whether 
 they understand him, or not ; and whether he gains their 
 attention, and moves their hearts ; and if it be needful, 
 he resumes the same things in a different manner, and 
 sets them in another light ; he clothes them in more fa- 
 miliar images, and comparisons ; or he goes back to the 
 plainest principles, from which he gradually deduces the 
 truths he would enforce ; or he endeavours to cure those 
 passions, that hinder the truth from making a due im- 
 pression. This is the true art of instruction and persua- 
 sion ; and without this address and presence of mind, we 
 can only make roving and fruitless declamations. Ob- 
 serve now how far the orator, who gets every thing by 
 heart, falls short of the other's success. If we suppose 
 then a man to preach, who depends entirely on his mem- 
 ory, and dares not pronounce a word different from his 
 lesson ; his style will be very exact ; but, as Dionysius 
 Halicarnassius observes of Isocrates, his composition 
 must please more when it is read, than when it is pro* 
 nounced. Besides, let him take what pains he will, the 
 inflexions of his voice will be too uniform ; and always a 
 little constrained. He is not like a man that speaks to 
 an audience ; but like a rhetorician, who recites or de- 
 claims. His action must be awkward and forced ; by 
 fixing his eyes too much, he shows how much his memory 
 labours in his delivery ; and he is afraid to give way to 
 
 * Erit igilur hxc facultas in eo qucm volumua esse eloquentem, ut definire rem 
 possit ; neque id faciat tam presse et anguste, quam in illis eruditissimis dispu- 
 tationibus fieri solet, 3ed cum explanatius; turn etiam uberius, et ad commuiu 
 udicium, nopularemque intelligentiam accoramodatius. 
 
 Cic. Orat. i 33, 
 
110 DIALOGUES CONCERNING ELOQUENCE. 
 
 an unusual emotion, lest he should lose the thread of his 
 discourse. Now the hearer perceiving such an undis- 
 guised art, is so far from being touched and captivated, 
 as he ought to be, that he observes the speaker's artifice 
 with coldness and neglect. 
 
 B. But did not the ancient orators do what you con- 
 demn ? 
 
 A. I believe not. 
 
 B. What ! do you think that Demosthenes and Tul- 
 ]y did not learn by heart those finished orations they 
 have left us ? 
 
 A. We know very well that they composed and 
 wrote their harangues, before they spake in public ; but 
 we have several reasons to believe that they did not get 
 them by heart, word for word. Even the orations of 
 Demosthenes, as we have them, shew rather the sublim- 
 ity and vehemence of a great genius, that was accustom- 
 ed to speak powerfully of public affairs ; than the accu- 
 racy and politeness of an author. As for Cicero, in sev- 
 eral places of his harangues, we find things spoken on 
 sudden emergencies, that he could not possibly have fore- 
 seen. And if we take his opinion of this matter ;* he 
 thinks an orator ought to have a great memory ; and he 
 even speaks of an artificial kind of memory as an useful 
 invention; but all he says on this point does not imply 
 that we ought to learn every word by heart. On the 
 contrary, he seems only to require, that we should range 
 all the parts of a discourse exactly in our memory, and 
 
 * Scd verbornm memoria, quae minus est nobis necessaria, majore imaginum 
 variolate distinguitur -, multa enim sunt verba. Quas quasi articuli connectunt 
 nxnnbra orationis, quee formari similitudine nulla possunt ; eorum fingendae nobii 
 sunt imagines, quibu9 semper utamur. Rerum memoria, propria est oratoris ; 
 cam singulis personis bene positi3 notare possumus, ut scntcntias imaginibus, or- 
 rfiium locis compreheudamus. Dc Oral. lib. ii. k 88. 
 
DIALOGUES CONCERNING ELOQUENCE. Ill 
 
 prepare the figures and chief expressions we are to use ; 
 so as to be ready to add, off-hand, whatever may occa- 
 sionally be suggested from a view of the audience, or un- 
 expected accidents. And it is for this reason, that he re- 
 quires so much application and presence of mind in an 
 orator. 
 
 B. You must allow me to tell you, Sir, that all this 
 does not convince me ; for I cannot believe that one can 
 speak so very well, without having prepared and adjust- 
 ed all his expressions. 
 
 C. The reason why it is so hard to persuade you 
 in this case, is, because you judge of the matter by com- 
 mon experience. If they, who get their sermons by heart, 
 were to preach without that preparation, it is likely they 
 would succeed but very ill ; nor am I surprised at it ; 
 for, they are not accustomed to follow nature : they have 
 studied only to compose their sermons : and that too 
 with affectation. They have never once thought of 
 speaking in a noble, strong, and natural manner.* Indeed 
 
 * This leads me to consider the difference that is between the reading, and the 
 speaking of sermon*. Reading is peculiar to this nation ; and is endured in no 
 other. It has indeed made our sermons more exact ; and so has produced to U3 
 many volumes of the best that are extant. But after all, though some few read 
 so happily, pronounce so truly, and enter so entirely into those affections which 
 they recommend ; that in them, we see both the correctness of reading, and the 
 seriousness of speaking sermons ; yet every one is not so happy. Some by hang- 
 ing their head perpetually over their notes, by blundering as they read ; and hy 
 a cursory running over them, do so lessen the matter of their sermons, that as 
 they are generally read with very little life or affection, so they are heard with 
 as little regard, or esteem. Those who read, ought certainly to be at a little 
 more pains, than (for the most part) they are to read true ; to pronounce with 
 an emphasis ; to raise their head, and to direct their eyes to their hearers ; and 
 if they practised more, alone, the just way of reading, they might deliver their 
 sermons with much more advantage. Man is a low sort of creature ; he does 
 not (nay, the greater part cannot) consider things in themselves, without those 
 little seasonings that must recommend them to their affections. — Besides, the peo- 
 ple (who are too apt to censure the clergy) are easily carried into an obvious re- 
 flection on reading, that it is an effect of lazines?. Discourse of the fasfora' 
 fare, ch. ix. 
 
112 DIALOGUES CONCERNING ELOQUE^ I 
 
 the greatest part of preachers have not a sufficient fund 
 of solid knowledge to depend on, and arc therefore afraid 
 to trust themselves, without the usual preparation. The 
 method of getting sermons by heart, qualifies many, who 
 have but very scanty and superficial parts, to make a 
 tolerable figure in the pulpit ; seeing they need only lay 
 together a certain number of passages and remarks : and 
 however little genius or assistance a man has, he may, 
 with time and application, be able to workup and polish 
 his matter into some form. But to preach with judg- 
 ment and strength, requires an attentive meditation upon 
 the first principles of religion; an exact knowledge of 
 morality ; an insight into antiquity ; strength of reason- 
 ing ; and suitable action. Is not this, Sir, what you re- 
 quire in an orator, who does not learn his discourse by 
 heart ?* 
 
 * It may be proper to present the reader, in one view, the opinion of several 
 other distinguished authors, on the use of written discourses in the pulpit. " I 
 knew a clergyman of some distinction, who appeared to deliver his sermon without 
 looking into his notes, which, when I complemented him upon, he assured me he 
 could not repeat six lines; but his method was to write the whole sermon in a large, 
 plain hand, with all the forms of margin, paragraph, marked page, and the like ; 
 then on Sunday morning he took care to run it over five or six times, which lie 
 could do in an hour ; and when he delivered it, by pretending to turn his face from 
 one side to the other, he would (in his own expression) pick up the lines, and 
 cheat his people by making them believe he had it all by heart. He farther 
 added, that whenever he happened by neglect to omit any of these circumstanc- 
 es, the vogue of the parish was, ' our doctor gave us but an indifferent sermon 
 to-day.' Now among us, many clergymen act so directly contrary to this me- 
 thod, that from a habit of saving time and paper, which they acquired at the 
 university, they write in so diminutive a manner, with such frequent blots and 
 interlineation?, that they are hardly able to go on without perpetual hesitations, 
 or extemporary expletives ; and 1 desire to know what can be more inexcusable, 
 than to see a divine and a scholar at a loss in reading his own compositions, 
 which it is supposed he has been preparing with much pains and thought for the 
 instruction of his people. The want of a little more care in this article is 
 the cause of much ungraceful behaviour. You will observe some clergymen 
 with their heads held down from the beginning to the end, within an inch of the 
 cushion, to read what is hardly legible ; which, beside the untoward manner, 
 
DIALOGUES CONCERNING ELOQUENCE. 113 
 
 A. You have explained my thoughts exactly. Only 
 it may not be improper to add, that though a man should 
 
 hinders them from making the best advantage of their voice ; others again have 
 a trick of popping up and down every moment from their paper to the audience, 
 like an idle school boy on a repetition day. 
 
 Let me entreat you therefore io add one half crown a year to the article of 
 paper ; to transcribe your sermons in as large and plain a manner as you can ; 
 and either make no interlineations, or change the whole leaf; for we, your hear- 
 ers, would rather you should be less correct, than perpetually stammering, which 
 I take to be one of the worst solecisms in rhetoric. And lastly, read your ser- 
 mon once or twice a day for a few days before you preach it ; to which you 
 will probably answer some years hence, ' that it was but just finished when the 
 last bell rang to church ;' and I shall readily believe, but not excuse you." 
 
 SwifPs Letter io a Young Clergyman. 
 " That a discourse well spoken hath a stronger effect than one well read, 
 will hardly bear a question. From this manifest truth I very early concluded, 
 aud was long of the opinion, that the way of reading sermons should be absolutely 
 banished from the pulpit. But from farther experience, I am now disposed to 
 suspect, that this conclusion was rather hasty. As to my personal experience I 
 shall frankly tell you, what I know to be fact. 1 have tried both ways ; I con- 
 tinued long in the practice of repeating, and was even thought (if people did not 
 very much deceive me) to succeed in it ; but I am absolutely certain, that I can 
 give more energy, and preserve the attention of the hearers better, to what I 
 read than ever it was in my power to do to what 1 repeated. Nor is it any won- 
 der. There are difficulties to be surmounted in the latter case, which have no 
 place at all in the former. The talents in other respects are the same, that fit 
 one to excel in either way. Now as it will, I believe, be admitted by every 
 body who reflects, that a discourse well read is much better than one ill spoken, 
 I should not think it prudent to establish any general rule, which would probably 
 make bad speakers of many, who might otherwise have proved good readers. 
 There is something in charging one's memory with a long chain of words and 
 syllables, and this is one of the difficulties I hinted at, and then running on, as it 
 were, mechanically in the same train, the preceding word associating and draw- 
 ing in the subsequent, that seems by taking oft* a man's attention from the thought 
 to the expression, to render him insusceptible of the delicate sensibility as to the 
 thought, which is the true spring of rhetorical pronunciation. That this is not 
 invariably the effect of getting by heart, the success of some actors on the stage 
 is an undeniable proof. Cut the comparative facility, arising from the much 
 greater brevity of their speeches, and from the relief and emotion that is given 
 to the player by the action of the other dialogists in the scene, makes the great- 
 est difference imaginable in the two cases. A man, through habit, becomes so. 
 perfectly master of a speech of thirty or forty lines, which will not take him 
 three minutes to repeat, that he hath no anxiety about recollecting the words ; 
 his whole retention is to the sentiment. The case must be very different, when 
 
 15 
 
114 DIALOGUES CONCERNING ELOQUENCE. 
 
 not possess all these qualities in a remarkable degree, he 
 may yet preach very well, if he has a solid judgment, 
 
 the memory is charged with a discourse, which will take thirty minutes to de- 
 liver. 1 ' 
 
 " Now when once the attention, as was hinted already, loses hold of the thought, 
 and is wholly occupied in tracing the series of the words, the speaker insensibly 
 to relieve himself from the difficulty of keeping up his voice at the same stretch, 
 falls into a kind of tune, which, without any regard to (he sense of what is said, 
 returns as regularly, as if it were played on an instrument. One thing further 
 may be urged in favour of reading, and it is of some consequence, that it always 
 requires some preparation. A discourse must be written before it can be read. 
 When a man who does not read, gets over, through custom, all apprehension 
 about the opinion of his hearers, or respect for their judgment, there is some dan- 
 ger, that laziness may prompt him to speak without any preparation, and con- 
 sequently to become careless what he says. But to return, the sum of what has 
 been offered, is not that reading a discourse is universally preferable to repeat- 
 ing it. By no means. But only that if the latter way admits of higher excel- 
 lence, the former is more attainable and less hazardous. 1 ' 
 
 Campbell's Lectures on Pulpit Eloquence. 
 " And here it may not, perhaps, be improper to make a few remarks on the 
 expediency of pronouncing sermons from memory ; and I make them the more 
 willingly, because what I have to say on this head may be comfortable to those 
 young men, whose memory, like my own, inclines rather to weakness, than to 
 strength. 
 
 " First, then, it can admit of no doubt, that every public speaker and teacher 
 oug;ht to be able to speak from memory, or even without premeditation, as the 
 circumstances may require ; and should, therefore, now and then practise ex- 
 temporary speaking, and stud}- to acquire a readiness of apprehension and a 
 command of words, and take every prudent method he can think of, for improv- 
 ing remembrance. 
 
 " Secondly, They whose faculties are uncommonly susceptible ; who can 
 retain a sermon after once or twice reading it ; or who, like the gentleman 
 abovementioned, can commit one to memory in two or three hours, may, at all 
 times, or as often as they choose, preach without notes; especially, if they have 
 confidence in their recollection, and can divest themselves of anxiety. But many 
 men there are, of good parts, who, from natural bashfulness, or from bodily 
 weakness, or from having been in danger of exposing themselves through a sud- 
 den failure of memory, cannot depend on their presence of mind, or quickness of 
 recollection, when they appear in public ; though in the ordinary affaiis of life 
 they have no reason to complain of this faculty. Such persons ought not to 
 preach without papers. If they do, it will be injurious both to themselves, and 
 to their hearers. To themselves, by tormenting them with solicitude, to the 
 great prejudice of their health. And to their hearers, because the fear of for- 
 getting will take off their attention from the management of their voice ; the 
 
DIALOGUES CONCERNING ELOQUENCE. I l, r > 
 
 a tolerable stock of knowledge, and an easy way of speak- 
 ing. For, in this method, as in the other, there may be 
 
 consequence whereof is, that they will speak without that energy which impress- 
 es the meaning on the audience ; and may, moreover, contract bad habits of 
 drawling, canting, hesitating, or quick speaking ; which are all disagreeable to 
 rational hearers, and make every hearer inattentive ; and the most eloquent 
 sermon insipid. 
 
 " Thirdly, Those preachers who, after much practice, cannot commit a dis- 
 course to memory in less than two days, (and this, I believe, is a common case,) 
 should never in my opinion, attempt it ; except, perhaps, on extraordinary oc 
 casioris, whe„ they may be obliged to speak with ease and elegance, and yet 
 have no opportunity of reading. Two days every week are almost a third part 
 of human life. And when one considers, that the sermons thus committed to 
 memory are forgotten as soon as delivered, which is also a common case, who 
 would not regret such a waste of time ? At this rate, of thirty years employed 
 in the ministry, there are almost ten consumed — in what ? in drudgery more 
 laborious, and far more unprofitable, than that of a schoolboy ; in loading the 
 memory with words, which are not remembered for three days together. Would 
 not the preacher have laid out those years to better purpose, in giving correct- 
 ness to his public discourses, or in other improving studies ; or in visiting and 
 instructing the neighbours ; or in agriculture, and the like liberal amusements ? 
 Besides, in these circumstances, a clergyman can never preach without long 
 preparation ; nor, if at any time his health should fail, without a degree of anxi- 
 ety that may be detrimental to both his mind and his body. 
 
 " Indeed, were sermons, that are pronounced from memory, found to have a 
 more powerful effect upon the hearer, than such as are read, I should not think 
 this time altogether lost. But, if the preacher have learned to read well, which 
 he may and ought to do, and if he write what he has to say with that distinctness 
 which is here recommended, and prepare himself for the public exhibition by sev- 
 eral private rehearsals at home, I am inclined to think, that he will pronounce 
 with more composure and self-command, and with an energy more becoming the 
 pulpit, than if he were to speak from recollection. For, in the one case, his mind 
 is at ease, and he has nothing to do, but to pronounce ; in the other, he pronoun- 
 ces and recollects at the same time ; and is, besides, liable to mistakes and fail- 
 ures of memory, and, if his nerves are not uncommonly strong, to occasional fits 
 of solicitude. Why does a musician choose to play by book even the music that 
 he remembers ? It is, because, by taking in, with one glance of his eye, a num- 
 ber of contiguous notes, his mind is always disengaged, and he is every where 
 the better prepared for introducing the expressive touches, and other necessary 
 ornaments. In like manner, a good reader will, if 1 mistake not, read more em- 
 phatically and with greater elegance, what he sees before him, and is well ac- 
 quainted with, than he can pronounce what is suggested by continual recollec- 
 tion ; especially, if the discourse he has to deliver be of considerable length. 
 
 " As to the effect upon the hearers; if I am to judge by my own feelings. 
 
116 UIVLOGUUS CONCERNING ELOQUENCE. 
 
 different degrees of eloquence. You may further ob- 
 serve, that most of those who preach without getting their 
 sermons by heart, do not prepare themselves enough. 
 They ought lo study their subject with the closest at- 
 tention ; prepare all those moving passages that should 
 affect the audience ; and give the several parts of their 
 discourse such an order as will best serve to set the 
 whole iu the most proper light. 
 
 B. You have oftentimes spoken of this order ; do 
 \ on mean any thing else by it than a division of the sub- 
 ject ? Perhaps you have some peculiar notion on this 
 point too. 
 
 A. You think that you rally me ; but in good ear- 
 nest, I am as singular in my opinion upon this head, as 
 on any other. 
 
 B. I easily believe you. 
 
 A. It is certainly so : and since we have fallen upon 
 this subject, I will show you how far I think the great- 
 er part of orators are defective in the point of order. 
 
 B. Since you are so fond of order, I hope you do 
 not dislike divisions. 
 
 and trust to the declaration cf many persons of candour and sensibility, I must 
 say, that sermons in the mouth of a good reader have a more powerful energy, 
 than those that are spoken without book. The pathos may be less vehement, 
 perhaps, but it is more solemn, and seems better adapted to the place, and to 
 the subject. Preachers, indeed, there are, who lay claim to extraordinary gifts, 
 and pretend to speak from supernatural impulse ; and there are hearers, -who 
 give them credit for this ; and think, that what is written, and read to them, has 
 too much the air of mere human doctrine. But such a conceit is of no account 
 in rational inquiry ; for it only proves, that the preacher is vain and the people 
 ignorant. 
 
 " In Italy and FraDce, sermons are generally pronounced without notes. But 
 they are at the same time accompanied with much theatrical gesture ; and the 
 consequence is, that the people consider them rather as an amusement, than as a 
 part of the church service. In England, the established clergy do for the most 
 part read their sermons. And England has produced a greater number of good 
 • chers. than any other country in Europe." Beattic on Memory. 
 
DIALOGUES CONCERNING ELOQUENCE. 117 
 
 A. I am far from approving them. 
 
 B. Why ? Do they not methodise a discourse ? 
 
 A. For the most part, divisions give only a seeming 
 order ; while they really mangle and clog a discourse, 
 by separating it into two or three parts ; which must in- 
 terrupt the orator's action, and the effect it ought to 
 produce. There remains no true unity after such divis- 
 ions -* seeing they make two or three different discours- 
 es, which are joined into one, only by an arbitrary con- 
 nexion. For three sermons preached at different times, 
 (if they be formed upon some regular concerted plan, 
 as the sermons in Advent usually are,) make one piece, 
 or entire discourse, as much, as the three points of any 
 of these sermons make one whole by being joined, and 
 delivered, together.! 
 
 * A text being opened, then the point upon which the sermon is to run is to 
 be opened ; and it will be the better heard and understood, if there be but one 
 point in a 9ermon ; so that one head, and only one, is well stated, and fully set 
 out. Discourse of the pastoral care, p. 249. 
 
 t A question has been moved, whether this method of laying down heads, as 
 it is called, be the best method of preaching. A very able judge, the archbish- 
 op of Cambray, in his dialogues on eloquence, declares strongly against it. But 
 notwithstanding his authority and arguments, I cannot help being of opinion, 
 that the present method of dividing a sermon into heads, ought not to be laid 
 aside. Established practice has now given it so much weight, that, were there 
 nothing more in its favour, it would be dangerous for any preacher to deviate so 
 far from the common track. Bat the practice itself has also, in my judgment, 
 much reason on its side. If formal partitions give a sermon less of the oratorical 
 appearance, they render it, however, more clear, more easily apprehended, and 
 of course, more instructive to the bulk of hearers, which is alwaj's the main ob- 
 ject to be kept in view. The heads of a sermon are great assistances to the 
 memory, and recollertion of a hearer. They serve also to fix his attention. They 
 enable him more easily to keep pace with the progress of the discourse ; they 
 give him pauses and resting places, where he can reflect on what has been said, 
 and look forward to what is to follow. They are attended with this advantage 
 too, that they give the audience the opportunity of knowing, beforehand, when 
 they are to be released from the fatigue of attention, and thereby make them 
 follow the speaker more patiently. " The conclusion of each head," says Quin- 
 tilian, " is a relief to the hearers ; just as upon a journey, the mile-stones, which 
 are set up on the road, serve to diminish the traveller's fatigue. For we are al- 
 
118 DIALOGUES CONCERNING ELOQUENCE. 
 
 B. What is it then that you mean by order ? How 
 confused must a discourse be that is not divided ? 
 
 A. Do you think there is more confusion in the ora- 
 tions of Demosthenes and Tully, than in the sermons of 
 your parish preacher ? 
 
 B. I do not know. I believe not. 
 
 A. You need not be afraid of giving your judgment 
 too freely. The harangues of these great men are not 
 divided as our sermons are. Nay, Isocrates (of whom 
 we spake so much before,) and other ancient orators, did 
 not follow our method of dividing. The fathers of the 
 church knew nothing of it. Even St. Bernard, the last 
 of them, only gives a hint of some divisions, and does 
 not pursue them; nor divide his discourses in form. 
 And for a long time after him, sermons were not divid- 
 ed : it is a modern invention which we owe originally to 
 the scholastic divines. 
 
 B. I grant that the schoolmen arc a very bad model 
 for eloquence ; but what form did the ancients use to 
 give their discourses ? 
 
 A. They did not divide them ; but they pointed out 
 carefully all those things that ought to be distinguished ; 
 to each of them they assigned its proper place ;* after 
 
 ways pleased with seeing our labour begin to lessen ; and, by calculating how 
 much remains, are stirred up to finish our task more cheerfully." W r ith regard 
 to breaking the unify of a discourse, I cannot be of opinion that there arises, from 
 that quarter, any argument against the method I am defending. If the unity be 
 broken, it is to the nature of the heads, or topics of which the speaker treats, 
 that this is to be imputed ; not to his laying them down in form. On the con- 
 trary, if his heads be well chosen, his marking them out, and distinguishing them, 
 in place of impairing the unity of the whole, renders it more conspicuous and 
 complete ; by showing how all the parts of a discourse hang upon one another, 
 'md tend to one point. Blair. 
 
 * Ordinis haec virtus erit, et venus, aut ego fallor, 
 Ut jam nunc dicat, jam nunc debentia dici 
 
 Pleraque differat, et pnesens in tempus omittat 
 
 Infelix operis suimna, quia ponera totum 
 
 !\ T csciet Hor. deA. P. 
 
DIALOGUES CONCERNING ELOQUENCE. 119 
 
 having attentively considered where it might be intro- 
 duced to the best advantage, and be fittest to make a 
 due impression. Ofttimes that, which would seem noth- 
 ing to the purpose, by being unseasonably urged, has a 
 very great weight when it is reserved for its proper 
 place : till the audience be prepared by other things to 
 feel all its force and consequence. Nay, a single word, 
 when happily applied, will set the truth in the strong- 
 est light. Cicero tells us, that Ave ought sometimes to 
 delay giving a full view of the truth, till the very con- 
 clusion. But then throughout our discourse, there ought 
 to run such a concatenation of proofs, as that the first 
 may make way for the second ; and the next always 
 serve to support the former. We ought at first to give 
 a general view of our subject, and endeavour to gain the 
 favour of the audience by a modest introduction,* a re- 
 spectful address, and the genuine marks of candour and 
 probity. Then we should establish those principles on 
 which we design to argue ; and in a clear, easy, sensible 
 manner, propose the principal facts we are to build on ; 
 insisting chiefly on those circumstances, of which we in- 
 tend to make use afterwards. From these principles 
 and facts we must draw just consequences ; and argue 
 in such a clear and well-connected manner, that all 
 our proofs may support each other ; and so be the 
 more remembered. Every step we advance, our dis- 
 course ought to grow stronger ; so that the hearers may 
 gradually perceive the force and evidence of the truth ; 
 and then we ought to display it in such lively images 
 
 * Sed haec adjuvant in oratore, lenitas vocis, vultus, pudoris significatio, ver- 
 borucQ comitas ; si quid persequare acrius, ut invitu?, et coactus facere videare. 
 Facilitatis, liberalitatis, mansuetudinis, pieta<is, grati animi, non appetentis, 
 non avidi signa prof'erri perutile est — tantum autem effkitur sensu quodain ac ra~ 
 tionc dicndi, ut quasi mores oratori3 effingat oratio. Cicero Dc Orat. 
 
120 DIALOGUES CONCERNING ELoqtENCL. 
 
 and movements as arc proper to excite the passions. In 
 order to tins we must know their various springs, and 
 the mutual dependence they have one upon another ; 
 which of them we can most easily move, and employ to 
 raise the rest ; and which of them in fine, is ahle to 
 produce the greatest effects ; and must therefore be 
 applied to, in the conclusion of our discourse. It is oft- 
 times proper, at the close, to make a short recapitu- 
 lation, in which the orator ought to exert all his force 
 and skill in giving the audience a full, clear, concise view 
 of the chief topics lie has enlarged on. In short, one is 
 not obliged always to follow this method without any 
 variation. There are exceptions and allowances to be 
 made, for different subjects and occasions. And even in 
 this order I have proposed, one may find an endless va- 
 riety. But now you may easily see, that this method, 
 (which is chiefly taken from Tully,) cannot be observed 
 in a discourse that is divided into three parts, nor can it 
 be followed in each particular division. We ought 
 therefore to choose some method, Sir, but such a meth- 
 od as is not discovered, and promised in the begin- 
 ning of our discourse. Cicero tells us, that the best 
 method is generally to conceal the order we follow, till 
 wc lead the hearer to it without his being aware of it 
 before. I remember he says in express terms, that we 
 ought to conceal even the number of our arguments; so 
 that one shall not be able to count them, though they 
 be very distinct in themselves ; and that we ought not 
 plainly to point out the division of a discourse. But such 
 is the undistinguishing taste of these latter ages, that an 
 audience cannot perceive any order, unless the speaker 
 distinctly explain it in the beginning ; and even intimate 
 to them his gradual advances from the first to the sec- 
 
DIALOGUES CONCERNING ELOQUENCE. 12 i 
 
 ond, and following general heads or subdivisions of his 
 discourse. 
 
 C. But do not divisions help to support the attention, 
 and ease the memory of the hearers? It is for their 
 better instruction that the speaker divides his discourse. 
 
 A. A division chiefly relieves the speaker's memory. 
 And even this effect might be much better obtained by 
 his following a natural order Avithout any express divis- 
 ion ; for the true connexion of things best directs the 
 mind. Our common divisions are of use to those only, 
 who have studied, and been trained up to this method 
 in the schools. And if the common people retain the 
 division better than the rest of the sermon ; it is only 
 because they hear it often repeated : but, generally 
 speaking, they best remember practical points, and such 
 things as strike their senses and imagination. 
 
 B. The order you propose may be proper enough 
 for some subjects : but it cannot be fit for all ; for, we 
 have not always facts to lay down. 
 
 A. When we have none, we must do without them : 
 but there are very few subjects into which they might 
 not be aptly introduced. One of Plato's chief beau- 
 ties is, that in the beginning of his moral pieces he 
 usually gives us some fragment of history, or some tra- 
 dition that serves as the foundation of his discourse. 
 This method would far more become those, who preach 
 religion j which is entirely founded upon tradition, histo- 
 ry, and the most ancient records. Indeed, most preach- 
 ers argue but weakly ; and do not instruct people suf- 
 ficiently, because they do not trace back things to these 
 sources. 
 
 B. We have already given you too much trouble, 
 Sir, and I am almost ashamed to detain you longer ; but 
 
 16 
 
122 DIALOGUES CONCERNING ELOQUENCE. 
 
 1 wish heartily you would allow rac to ask you a few 
 more questions concerning the rules of public discourse. 
 
 A. With all my heart ; I am not yet weary ; you 
 may dispose, as you please, of the little time I have left, 
 
 B. Well then, you would have all false and trifling 
 ornaments entirely banished from discourse. Now, 
 though you touched upon this point before, pray show 
 me by some sensible examples, how to distinguish such 
 false beauties from those that are solid and natural.* 
 
 A. Do you love quavering notes in music ? Are you 
 not better pleased with those brisk, significant notes that 
 describe things, and express the passions ? 
 
 B. Yes, certainly ; for, quavers are of no use ; they 
 only amuse the ear, and do not affect the mind. Our 
 music was once full of them, and was therefore very- 
 weak and confused : but now we begin to refine our 
 taste, and to come nearer the music of the ancients ; 
 which is a kind of passionate declamation that acts pow- 
 erfully upon the soul. 
 
 A. I knew that music, of which you are so good a 
 judge, would serve to make you understand what con- 
 cerns eloquence. There ought to be a kind of eloquence 
 in music itself; and in both these arts, Ave ought to re- 
 ject all false and trilling beauties. Do you not perceive 
 now that by a trilling discourse I mean the humming jin- 
 
 * False eloquence, like the prismatic glass, 
 Its gaudy colours spreads on every place ; 
 The face of nature we no more survey, 
 All glares alike without distinction gay. 
 Hut true expression, like the unchauging sun, 
 Clears and improves whate'er it shines upon, 
 It gilds all objects but it alters none. 
 Expression is the dress of thought, and still 
 Appears more decent, as more suitable. 
 
 Pope's Essay on Criticism. 
 
DIALOGUES CONCERNING ELOQUENCE. 123 
 
 gle of languid, uniform periods ; a chiming of words that 
 returns perpetually, like the burden of a song ? This is 
 the false eloquence that resembles bad music. 
 
 B. I wish, Sir, you could make it a little plainer still. 
 
 A. The reading of good and bad orators will more 
 effectually form your taste, on this point, than all the 
 rules in the world. However, it were easy to satisfy you 
 by some pertinent examples. I will not mention any 
 modern ones ; though we abound in false ornaments. 
 That I may not offend any person, let us return to Isoc- 
 rates, who is the standard of those nice and florid ha- 
 rangues that are now in vogue. Did you ever read his 
 famous panegyric on Helen ? 
 
 B. Yes ; I have read it some time ago. 
 
 A. How did you like it ? 
 
 B. Extremely well. I thought I never saw so much 
 wit, elegance, sweetness, invention and delicacy in any 
 composure. I own to you that Homer himself (whom I 
 read afterwards,) did not seem to have so much spirit as 
 he. But now that you have shown me what ought to 
 be the true aim of poets and orators, I see plainly that 
 Homer, who concealed his art, vastly surpasses Isocra- 
 tes, who took so much pains to display his skill. But I 
 was once charmed .with that orator, and should have 
 
 been so still, if you had not undeceived me. Mr. ~ 
 
 is the Isocrates of our days : and I perceive that by 
 showing the defects of that ancient orator, you condemn 
 all those, who imitate his florid, effeminate rhetoric. 
 
 A. I am now speaking of Isocrates only ; in the be- 
 ginning of his encomium he magnifies the love that The- 
 seus had for Helen, and fancied that he should give a 
 lofty idea of her, by describing the heroic qualities of 
 that great man who fell in love with her: as if Thcscmi 
 
124 DIALOGUES CONCERNING ELOQUENCE. 
 
 (whom the ancients always represent as Avcak and in- 
 constant in his amours,) could not have been smitten 
 with a woman of a moderate beauty. Then he comes to 
 the judgment that Paris formed of her. He says that 
 a dispute having arisen among the goddesses concerning 
 their beauty: they agreed to make Paris judge of it: 
 upon which occasion Juno proffered him the empire of 
 Asia : Minerva assured him of constant victory in bat- 
 tles : and Venus tempted him with the beautiful Helen. 
 Now seeing Paris, when he was to determine this matter, 
 could not behold the faces of those goddesses, because 
 of their dazzling splendor, he could only judge of the 
 worth of the three things that they offered ; and upon 
 the comparison he preferred Helen to empire, and to 
 victory. Then the orator praises the judgment of Paris, 
 jii whose determination the goddesses themselves acqui- 
 esced ; and adds these remarkable words :* "I wonder 
 that any one should think Paris indiscreet in choosing to 
 live with her, for whom many demi-gods would have 
 been willing to die." 
 
 C. This puts me in mind of our preachers, who are 
 bo full of antitheses and turns of wit. There are a great 
 many such orators as Isocrates. 
 
 A. He is their master ! all the rest of his panegyric 
 is of the same strain, t It is founded on the long war of 
 
 r " 0at>^a£o o" ei tig oierai xaxag {3£6ov%£vo0ai tov [isra 
 •Tavrvg %yiv £?iofx£vov s rig ivExa nohhoi tav r\[ii,d£uv anoQ- 
 vYiaxav eBe2.r,aav. Isqcr. Hf.l. Laud. 
 
 t His very next words are these, I1cj$ o' ovx av 
 
 elyi CLVOYitog £i rag $£<xg uhttg 7l£0L xaT^ovg cpihovuxovoagy 
 avrog xa?»?^ovg xaT£<ppovY;G£> xai ^.yj ravrqv evo[iiO£ y.£yLGTr t v 
 zivau tLiV o^puw, Ttept r,g xax£tvag iwpa (lafaora anovba- 
 &wag ; Ibid, 
 
DIALOGUES CONCERNING ELOQUENCE. 125 
 
 Troy ; the calamities that the Greeks suffered for the 
 rape of Helen, and the praise of beauty, which has so 
 much power over men. There is nothing in the whole 
 discourse solidly proved ; nor the least point of moral 
 instruction. He judges of the worth of things only ac- 
 cording to men's extravagant passions. And as his proofs 
 are weak, so his style is flourished and finical. I quoted 
 this passage, profane as it is, because it is a very famous 
 one ; and because this affected manner is very much in 
 fashion. The more grave discourses of Isocrates are 
 composed in the same spruce, effeminate way ; and are 
 full of such false beauties as that I have now mentioned, 
 C. I find you like none of those witty turns, which 
 have nothing in them that is either solid, natural, or af- 
 fecting : and tend neither to convince, nor paint, nor per- 
 suade. The example you have brought from Isocrates, 
 though it be upon a trifling subject, is yet very pertinent ; 
 for, all such tinsel wit must appear still more ridiculous 
 when it is applied to grave and serious matters.* 
 
 * A loose and indiscriminate manner of applying the promises and threaten- 
 ings of the gospel, is ill-judged and pernicious ; it is not possible to conceive a 
 more effectual method of depriving the sword of the Spirit of its edge, than 
 adopting that lax generality of representation, which leaves its hearer nothing 
 to apply, presents no incentive to self-examination, and besides its utter ineffi- 
 ciency, disgusts by the ignorance of human nature, or the disregard to its best 
 interests, it infallibly betrays. Without descending to such a minute specifica- 
 tion of circumstances, as shall make our addresses personal, they ought unques- 
 tionably to be characteristic, that the conscience of the audience may feel the 
 hand of the preacher searching it, and every individual know where to class 
 himself. The preacher who aims at doing good will endeavour, above all things, 
 to insulate his hearers, to place each of them apart, and render it impossible for 
 him to escape by losing himself in the crowd. At the day of judgment, the at- 
 tention excited by the surrounding scene, the strange aspect of nature, the dis- 
 solution of the elements, and the last trump, will have no other effect than to 
 cause the reflections of the sinner to return with a more overwhelming tide on 
 his own character, his sentence, his unchanging destiny ; and, amid the innume- 
 rable millions, who surround him, he will mown apart, It is thus the christian 
 
J 26 DIALOGUES CONCERNING ELOQUENCE. 
 
 A. But Sir, as to Isocrates, do not you think I had 
 reason to censure him as freely as Tully assures us Aris- 
 totle did ? 
 
 B. What says Tully ? 
 
 A. That Aristotle,t perceiving Isocrates had pervert- 
 ed eloquence from its proper use, to amusement and os- 
 tentation ; and thereby drawn to himself the most con- 
 siderable disciples, he applied to him a verse of Philoc- 
 tetes, to show how much he was ashamed of being silent, 
 while that vain declaimer carried all before him. But 
 I have done now ; it is time for me to be going. 
 
 B. We cannot part with you so soon, Sir ; will you 
 then allow of no antitheses ? 
 
 A. Yes ; when the things w r e speak of are naturally 
 opposite one to another, it may be proper enough to show 
 their opposition. Such antitheses are just, and have a 
 solid beauty, and a right application of them is often the 
 most easy and concise manner of explaining things. But 
 it is extremely childish to use artificial turns and wind- 
 ings to make words clash and play one against another. 
 At first, this may happen to dazzle those, who have no 
 taste ; but they soon grow weary of such a silly affecta- 
 tion. Did you ever observe the Gothic architecture of 
 ©ur old churches ? 
 
 B. Yes ; it is very common. 
 
 A. Did you take notice of the roses, holes, unconnect- 
 ed ornaments, and disjointed little knacks that these 
 Gothic buildings arc full of. These odd conceits are 
 just such beauties in architecture as forced antitheses 
 
 minister should endeavour to prepare the tribunal of conscience, and turn th' 
 r-yee of every one of his hearers on himself. 
 
 Hall on the discouragements and supports of the christian ministry. 
 
 t Lib. iii. f 85. 
 
DIALOGUES CONCERNING ELOQUENCE. 127 
 
 and quibbles are in eloquence. The Grecian architec- 
 ture is far more simple, and admits of none but natural, 
 solid, and majestic ornaments ; we see nothing in it but 
 what is great, proportioned, and well placed. But the 
 Gothic kind was invented by the Arabians ; who being 
 a people of a quick, sprightly fancy, and having no rule 
 nor culture, could scarce avoid falling into these whim- 
 sical niceties. And this vivacity corrupted their taste 
 in all other things. For, they used sophisms in their 
 logic ; they loved little knacks in architecture ; and in- 
 vented witticisms in poetry and eloquence. All these 
 are of the same kind. 
 
 B. This is curious, indeed. You think then that a 
 sermon, full of forced antitheses, and such kind of orna- 
 ments, is like a church built in the Gothic way. 
 
 A. Yes ; I think the comparison is just. 
 
 B. Let me ask you but one question more, and then 
 you shall go. 
 
 A. What is it ? 
 
 B. It seems very difficult to give a particular account 
 of facts, in a noble style ; and yet we ought to do so, if 
 we talk solidly as you require. Pray, what is the pro- 
 per style for expatiating, in such cases ? 
 
 A. We are so much afraid of a low strain, that our 
 expressions are usually dry, lifeless, and indeterminate. 
 They, who praise a saint, pitch on the most magnificent 
 phrases. They tell us he was an admirable person; 
 that his virtues were celestial ; that he was rather an 
 angel, than a man. And thus the whole encomium is a 
 mere declamation, without any proof; and without draw- 
 ing a just character. On the contrary, the ancient 
 Greeks made little use of these general terms, which 
 prove nothing : but they insisted much on facts, and the 
 
128 DIALOGUES CONCERNING ELOQUENCE. 
 
 particulars of a character. For instance, Xenophon does 
 not once say in all his Cyropaedia, that Cyrus was an ad- 
 mirable man : but throughout the work he makes us 
 really admire him. Thus is it, that we ought to praise 
 holy persons, by entering into the particular detail of 
 their sentiments and actions. But there prevails an af- 
 fected politeness among the pedantic and conceited part 
 of all ranks and professions, who value themselves upon 
 their wit or learning. They never venture to use any 
 expression, but what they reckon fine and uncommon. 
 They talk always in a high strain;* and would think it 
 beneath them to call things by their proper names. 
 Now in true eloquence almost every thing may be intro- 
 duced. The perfection of poetry itself, (which is the 
 loftiest kind of composure) depends On a full and lively 
 description of things in all their circumstances. When 
 Virgil represents the Trojan fleet leaving the African 
 shore, or arriving en the coast of Italy, you see every 
 proper circumstance exactly described. But we must 
 own that the Greeks entered still further into the par- 
 ticular detail of things ; and followed nature more close- 
 ly in representing the smallest circumstances. For which 
 reason, many people would be apt (if they dared) to 
 reckon Homer too plain and simple in his narrations. In 
 this ancient, beautiful simplicity, (which few are able to 
 relish,) this poet very much resembles the holy scrip- 
 ture : but in many places the sacred writings surpass his, 
 as much as he excels all the other ancients, in a natural 
 and lively representation of things. 
 
 * Prima est eloquential virtus perspicuilas ; et quo quisque ingenio minus 
 valet, hoc se inagis altollere et dilatare conatur; ut statura breves indigitos eri- 
 guntur; et plura infirmi minantur. Nam lumidos, ct corruptos, et limiulos, et 
 quocumque alio cacozeliai geuere peccantes, certum liabeo, non virium, sed in- 
 firmitatis vitio laborare ; ut corpora non robore, sed valctudine, inilantur. 
 
 Quint, lib. ii. c. 3. 
 
DIALOGUES CONCERNING ELOQUENCE. 129 
 
 B. In relating facts, then, ought we to describe every 
 individual circumstance that belongs to them? 
 
 A. No : we should represent nothing to the hearers 
 but what deserves their attention ; and helps to give a 
 clear and just idea of the things we describe ; so that it 
 requires great judgment to make a right choice of cir- 
 cumstances.* But we must not be afraid of mentioning 
 such as can be any way serviceable ; for it is a false po- 
 liteness that leads us to suppress some useful things, be- 
 cause we do not think them capable of any ornament. 
 Besides, Homer has shown us by his example, that we 
 might give a proper grace and embellishment to every 
 
 subject/!" 
 
 B. Seeing you condemn the florid, swelling style ; 
 what kind do you reckon fittest for public use ? 
 
 A. There ought to be a variety of style in every dis- 
 course. We should rise in our expression when we speak 
 of lofty subjects ; and be familiar, in common ones, with- 
 out being coarse, or grovelling.^ In most cases, an easy 
 simplicity and exactness is sufficient ; though some things 
 
 * See Longinus, $ x. 
 t First follow nature, and your judgment frame 
 By her just standard, which is still the same ; 
 Unerring nature, still divinely bright, 
 One clear, unchanged, and universal light ; 
 Life, force, and beauty must to all impart, 
 At once the source, and end, and test of art. 
 Art from that fund each just supply provides, 
 Works without show ; and without porup presides. 
 Those rules of old discover'd, not devised, 
 Are nature still, but nature methodiz'd ; 
 Nature, like monarchy, is hut restrain'd 
 By the same laws which first herself ordained. 
 
 Pope's Essay on Criticism. 
 
 X Ecri'tv ap' o iSiGytictfiog evlote tov xoGpov 7tapa7tohv 
 
 ElxtpavictrMdtepov' zniyLvuGxEHai yap avtofov ex xov xoi- 
 
 17 
 
130 DIALOGUE? COXCERNIXC: ELOQUENCE. 
 
 require vehemence, and sublimity. If a painter should 
 draw nothing but magnificent palaces, he could not fol- 
 low truth ; but must paint his own fancies ; and by thaf 
 means soon cloy us. He ought to copy nature in its 
 agreeable varieties ; and after drawing a stately city, it 
 might be proper to represent a desert, and the huts of 
 shepherds. Most of those, who aim at making fine ha- 
 rangues, injudiciously labour to clothe all their thoughts 
 in a pompous, gaudy dress ;* and they fancy that they 
 have succeeded happily, when they express some gene- 
 ral remarks in a florid, lofty style. Their only care is 
 to fill their discourse with abundance of ornaments, to 
 please the vitiated taste of their audience ; like ignorant 
 cooks, who know not how to season dishes, in a proper, 
 natural way ; but fancy they must give them an exquis- 
 ite relish by mixing excessive quantities of the most sea- 
 
 vov fiiov* to he (JvvyjOec; y$yi matoreoov Tairta yap 
 
 syyvg 7tapa%vEi t^v ihtuTYiv, a/l/l' ovx i&iorevEi tq Gyjfiav- 
 
 TlX(j). LoNGINUS, § XXXI. 
 
 " Affectation of every 9ort is odious, and more especially an affectation that 
 betrays a minister into expressions fit only for the mouths of the illiterate. 
 Truth, indeed, needs no ornament, neither does a beautiful person ; hut to clothe 
 it therefore in rags, when a decent habit was at hand, would be esteemed pre- 
 posterous and absurd. The best proportioned figure may be made offensive by 
 beggary and filth ; and even truths, which came down from Heaven, though they 
 cannot forego their nature, may be disguised and disgraced by unsuitable lan- 
 guage. He that speaks to be understood by a congregation of rustics, and yet 
 in terms that would not offend academic ears, has found the happy medium. 
 This is cerlaini}' practicable to men of taste and judgment, and the practice of 
 a few proves it." Couper. 
 
 • Namque illud genus ostentationi compositum, solum petit audientium vo- 
 luptatem ; ideoque oinnes dicendi arles aperit, ornatumque orationis exponit — 
 mala affectatio, per omne dicendi genus peccat. Nam ct tumida, et cxilia, et 
 pra;dulcia, et abundantia, et arcessita, et exultantia sub idem nomen cadunt. 
 Denique x«>so£»}Aov vocatur, quicquid est ultra virtutmi ; quoties ingenium judi- 
 cio caret, et specie boni falletur ; omnium in eloquentia vitionun pessimum ; 
 nam cetera cum vitentur, hoc petitur. Quint, lib. viii. c. 3. 
 
DIALOGUES CONCERNING ELOQUENCE. I J 1 
 
 sonin^ things. But the style of a true orator has nothing 
 in it that is swelling or ostentatious ; he always adapts 
 it to the subjects he treats of, and the persons he in- 
 structs ; and manages it so judiciously that he never aims 
 at being sublime and lofty, but when he ought to be so.* 
 
 * The style most fit for the pulpit is thus defined by Dr. Fordyce. " I 
 would call it, in a lew words, simple, yet great ; adorned, yet chaste ; animated 
 and strong, at the same time easy, and somewhat diffuse ; and, in fine, numerous 
 and flowing, without running into the poetical, or swelling into bombast." 
 
 Eloquence of the Pulpit. 
 
 I have been curious enough to take a list of several hundred words in a 
 sermo*. of a new beginner, which not one of his hearers among a hundred could 
 possibly understand ; neither can I easily call to mind any clergyman of my own 
 acquaintance who is wholly exempt from this error, although many of them agree 
 with me in the dislike of the thing. But I am apt to put myself in the place of 
 the vulgar, and think many Avords difficult or obscure, which the preacher will 
 not allow to be so, because those words are obvious to scholars. I believe the 
 method observed by the famous Lord Falkland, in some of his writings, would 
 not be an ill one for young divines ; I was assured by an old person of quality, 
 who knew him well, that when he doubted whether a word was perfectly intelli- 
 gible or not, he used to consult one of his lady's chambermaids, (not the waiting 
 woman, because it was possible she might be conversant in romances,) and by 
 her judgment was guided whether to receive or reject it. And if that great per- 
 son thought such a caution necessary in treatises offered to the learned world, 
 it will be sure at least as proper in sermons, where the meanest hearer is sup- 
 posed to be concerned, and where very often a lady's chambermaid may be al- 
 lowed to equal half the congregation, both as to quality and understanding. But 
 I know not how it comes to pass, that professors in most arts and sciences are 
 generally the worst qualified to explain their meanings to those who are not of 
 their tribe ; a common farmer shall make you understand in three words, that 
 his foot is out of joint, or his collar-bone broken; wherein a surgeon, after a 
 hundred terms of art, if you are not a scholar, shall leave you to seek. It is 
 frequently the same case in law, physic, and even many of the meaner arts. 
 
 SwiJVs Letter to a Young Clergyman. 
 
 A man of merit and breeding you may disguise by putting him in the apparel 
 of a clown, but you cannot justly find fault, that in that garb he meets not with 
 the same reception in good company, that he would meet with if more suitably 
 habited. The outward appearance is the first thing that strikes us in a person ; 
 the expression is the first thing that strikes us in a discourse. Take care at 
 least, that in neither, there be any thiug to make an unfavourable impression, 
 which may preclude all further inquiry and regard. It was extremely well said 
 by a very popular preacher in our own days, who, when consulted by a friend 
 that had a mind to publish, whether he thought it befitting a writer on religion to 
 
132 ERA LOGUES CONCERNING ELOQUENCE. 
 
 B. What you said concerning the language of scrip- 
 ture, makes me wish earnestly that you would show us 
 ihe beauty of it. May we not sec you some time to- 
 morrow ? 
 
 A. I shall hardly have time to-morrow ; but I will 
 endeavour to wait on you this evening. And since you 
 seem so desirous of it, Ave will talk of the word of God ; 
 for hitherto we have only spoken of the language of men. 
 
 C. Farewell, Sir, I beg of you to be punctual ; oth- 
 erwise we must come and find you out. 
 
 attend to such little matters as grammatical correctness ; answered, " By all 
 means. It is much better to write so as to make a critic turn Christian, than so 
 •?£ to make a Christian turn critic." Campbell on Pulpit Eloquence. 
 
THIRD DIALOGUE. 
 
 C. I Began to fear, Sir, that you would not come ; 
 and was very near going to seek for you at Mr. . 
 
 A. I was detained by a perplexing affair I had upon 
 my hands : but I have got rid of it to my satisfaction. 
 
 B. I am very glad of it ; for, we wanted you ex- 
 tremely to finish the subject we were talking of in the 
 morning. 
 
 C. Since I parted with you, Sir, I heard a sermon 
 
 at , and I thought of you. The preacher spoke in 
 
 a very edifying manner : but I question whether the 
 common people understood him or not. 
 
 A. It happens but too often (as I heard an ingenious 
 lady observe,) that our preachers speak Latin in English. 
 The most essential quality of a good preacher is to be 
 instructive :* but he must have great abilities and expe- 
 rience to make him so-t On the one hand he must be 
 
 * As I take it, the two principal branches of preaching are, first, to tell the 
 people what is their duty, and then to convince them that it is so. The topics 
 for both these, we know, are brought from scripture and reason. Upon the for- 
 mer, I wish it were often practised to instruct the hearers in the limits, 
 extent, and compass of every duty ; which requires a good deal of skill and 
 judgment ; the other branch is, I think, not so difficult. But what I would offer 
 upon both, is this, that it seems to be in the power of a reasonable clergyman, if 
 he will be at the pains, to make the most ignorant man comprehend what is his 
 duty, and to convince him by arguments drawn to the level of his understanding, 
 that he ought to perform it. Swift. 
 
 t At the bar, in the senate, on the bench of justice, and in the chair of state, 
 it is admitted that a sound and cultivated understanding is necessary. Shall a 
 weak, honest man then, be deemed adequate to the discharge of duties which 
 made the chiefest of the apostles exclaim, " who is sufficient for these things ?'.' 
 An illiterate physician injures our health ; an unskilful advocate sacrifices our 
 money; a weak general frustrates a campaign. What then? An incompetent 
 
134 DIALOGUES CONCERNING ELOQUENCE. 
 
 perfectly acquainted with the force of scripture expres- 
 sions : on the other he must understand the capacity of 
 those to whom he preaches ; and adapt himself to it. 
 Now this requires a solid knowledge, and great discern- 
 ment. Preachers speak every day to people of the 
 scripture, the church, the Mosaic law, the gospel ; of 
 sacrifices ; of Moses and Aaron, and Melchisedec ; of the 
 prophets and apostles : but there is not sufficient care 
 taken to instruct the people in the true meaning of these 
 things, and in the characters of those holy persons. 
 One might follow some preachers twenty years, without 
 getting sufficient knowledge of religion. 
 
 B. Do you think that people are really ignorant of 
 those things you mentioned ? 
 
 C. For my part I believe they are ; and that few 
 or none understand them enough to receive any benefit 
 from sermons. 
 
 spiritual guide endangers our souls. Talent and science are far, far less neces- 
 sary to the emperor, than to the preacher. The former, may do his business by 
 proxy; or if not done, still only temporal interests suffer. But the preacher's 
 work is to be done by himself, and if done unskilfully, the evil is irreparable and 
 eternal. Next to piety, he needs sound, practical good sense. He needs this, 
 among a thousand reasons, to preserve him from mistaking affectation of origin- 
 ality, for great genius; rhapsody, for eloquence; and turgid declamation, for 
 powerful instruction. To secure the respect of intelligent hearers, he needs a 
 deep and steady judgment, and a thorough knowledge of men. Erasmus, who 
 has been regarded as a sort of oracle on this subject, says ; " It is not enough to 
 know what should be spoken, without knowing when, to whom, how, with what 
 words, in what order, with what ornament, with what action." God forbid, that 
 talent or learning should be exrdted at the expense of piety. " Let the collected 
 •wisdom of Greece and Home bow before the cross. At the altar of God we 
 would kindle the torch of science ; and when kindled let it be quenched without 
 scruple, if it docs not, like the star of Bethlehem, conduct to the Saviour. 1 ' But 
 surely, he will be most likely to be an able instructor, who is himself wise and 
 well instructed. With a good understanding, replenished by extensive reading, 
 lie cm make his knowledge of languages, of oriental antiquities and usages, phi- 
 losophy, logic, history, criticism and eloquence, all tributary to the grand pur- 
 pose of explaining and enforcing the sacred truths of the bible. Editor. 
 
DIALOGUES CONCERNING ELOQUENCE. 135 
 
 B. That may be true of the lowest rank of people. 
 
 C. Well ; ought not they to be instructed as well 
 as others ? Do not they make up the bulk of mankind ? 
 
 A. The truth is, persons of rank and fashion have 
 but little more knowledge of religion than the common 
 people. There are always three fourth parts of an ordi- 
 nary audience, who do not know those first principles of 
 religion, in which the preaches, supposes every one to 
 be fully instructed. 
 
 B. Would you then have him explain the catechism 
 in his sermons to a polite congregation ? 
 
 A. I grant there is a due regard to be had to an au- 
 dience ; and discretion to be used in adapting a discourse 
 to their capacity. But still without giving the least of- 
 fence, a preacher might remind the most discerning 
 hearers of those passages of the sacred history, which 
 explain the origin and institution of holy things. This 
 way of having recourse to the first foundations of relig- 
 ion, would be so far from seeming low, that it would 
 give most discourses that force and beauty which they 
 generally want. This is particularly true with regard 
 to the mysteries of religion ; for the hearers can never 
 be instructed, nor persuaded, if you do not trace things 
 back to their source. For example, how can you make 
 them understand what the church says, after St. Paul,* 
 that Jesus Christ is our Passover, if you do not explain 
 to them the Jewish Passover, which was appointed to 
 be a perpetual memorial of their deliverance from 
 Egypt, and to typify a more important redemption that 
 was reserved for the Messiah. It is for this reason, I 
 said that almost every thing in religion is historical. 
 And if preachers would have a full knowledge of this 
 truth, they must be very conversant in the scripture. 
 
 * 1 Cor. v, 7. 
 
13b DIALOGUES CONCERNING ELOQUENCE. 
 
 B. You must excuse my interrupting you on this 
 subject ; Sir, you told us in the morning, that the scrip- 
 tures are eloquent ; and I was glad to hear you say so. 
 Let me intreat you to show us how we may discern the 
 beauties of scripture ; and in what its eloquence con- 
 sists. The Latin Bible seems to me most vulgar and 
 inaccurate. I see no delicacy in it. What is it then 
 that you so much admire ? 
 
 A. The Latin is only a literal version in which, out 
 of respect to the original, there are many Greek and 
 Hebrew phrases retained. Do you despise Homer be- 
 cause he has been sorrily translated into French ? 
 
 B. But the Greek itself (which is the original lan- 
 guage of the New Testament) appears to me very 
 coarse and impolite. 
 
 A. The apostles were not acquainted with the gen- 
 uine Greek, but used that corrupted kind which prevail- 
 ed among the Hellenistical Jews. For this reason St. 
 Paul says* * I am rude in speech,' but not in knowledge. 
 It is very obvious that the apostle here only meant he 
 was not a master of the Greek tongue ; though he solid- 
 ly explained the doctrine of the holy scripture. 
 
 C. Had not the apostles the gift of speaking un- 
 known tongues ? 
 
 A. Undoubtedly : and they even conveyed that gift 
 to great numbers of their illiterate converts. But as 
 for the languages that the apostles had learnt in a nat- 
 ural way, we have reason to believe that the Spirit of 
 God permitted them to speak as they did before. St. 
 Paul, who was a citizen of Tarsus, in Cilicia, naturally 
 spake the corrupted Greek used among the Jews there : 
 and we find that this is the language he wrote in. St. 
 Luke seems to have understood Greek a little better. 
 
 * 2Cor. xi. 16. 
 
DIALOGUES CONCERNING ELOQUENCE. 137 
 
 C. But I always thought that in the passage you 
 mentioned, St. Paul gave up all pretences to oratory ; 
 and regarded nothing but the simplicity of the evangel- 
 ical doctrine. Nay, I have heard several persons of 
 worth and good judgment affirm, that the holy scripture 
 is not eloquent. St. Jerom was punished for being dis- 
 gusted at the simplicity of scripture ; and liking Tully 
 better. St. Austin (in his confessions) seems to have 
 fallen into the same fault. Did not God intend to try 
 our faith by the obscurity, and even by the lowness of 
 the scripture-style, as well as by the poverty of our Re- 
 deemer ? 
 
 A. You seem, Sir, to carry this point too far. 
 Whether do you choose to believe St. Jerom, when he 
 was punished for having followed his youthful studies 
 too closely in his retreat ; or when he had made the 
 greatest progress both in sacred ,ind profane learning ; 
 and, in an epistle to Paulinus, inviied him to study the 
 scripture ; assuring him that he would find more charms 
 in the prophets than he had discovered in the heathen 
 poets ? Or, was St. Austin's judgment better in his 
 youth, when the seeming meanness of the sacred style 
 disgusted him ; than when he composed his books of 
 the Christian Doctrine ? There he often says, that St, 
 Paul was powerfully persuasive ; and that the torrent 
 of his eloquence must be perceived by the most unat- 
 tentive reader. He adds, that in the apostle, wisdom 
 did not seek after the beauty of language ; but that the 
 beauties of language offered themselves, and attended 
 his wisdom. He quotes many lofty passages of his epis- 
 tles ; wherein he shows all the art and address of the 
 heathen orators far outdone. St. Austin excepts only 
 two things in this comparison : he says, that these ora- 
 
 18 
 
138 DIALOGUES CONCERNING ELOQUENCE. 
 
 tors studied the ornaments of eloquence ; but that the 
 beauties of oratory naturally followed St. Paul, and oth- 
 ers of the sacred writers. And then he owns that he 
 did not sufficiently understand the delicacies of the 
 Greek tongue, to be a competent judge, whether there 
 be the same numbers and cadence of periods in the sa- 
 cred text, that we meet with in profane authors. I for- 
 got to tell you that he quotes that passage of the proph- 
 et Amos which begins thus, 4 wo to them that are at 
 ease in Zion, and trust in the mountain of Samaria :'* 
 and assures us that in this place the prophet has sur- 
 passed every thing that is sublime in the heathen ora- 
 tors. 
 
 C. But how do you understand these words of St. 
 Paul it " my speech and my preaching was not with the 
 enticing (persuasive) words of man's wisdom ?" Does he 
 not tell the Corinthians that he came not to preach Christ 
 to them, with the sublimity of discourse and of wisdom ; 
 that he " knew nothing among them but Jesus, and him 
 crucified :" that his preaching was founded, not upon the 
 persuasive language of human wisdom and learning, but 
 upon the sensible effects of the Spirit and the power of 
 God ; to the end (as he adds) " that their faith should 
 not depend upon the wisdom of men, but on the power 
 of God." What is the meaning of these words, Sir ? 
 What stronger expressions could the apostle use to con- 
 demn this art of persuasion that you would establish ? 
 For my part, I freely own that at first I was glad when 
 you censured all those affected ornaments of discourse 
 that vain declaimers are so fond of: but the sequel of 
 your scheme does not answer the pious beginning of it. 
 I find that you would still make preaching a human art. 
 and banish apostolical simplicity from the pulpit. 
 * Ch. vi. I 1 Cor. xi. 4. 
 
DIALOGUES CONCERNING ELOQUENCE. 139 
 
 A. Though you judge very unfavourably of my es- 
 teem for eloquence, I am not dissatisfied at the zeal, 
 with which you censure it. However, Sir, let us endeav- 
 our to understand one another aright. There are sev- 
 eral worthy persons who judge, with you, that eloquent 
 preaching is repugnant to the simplicity of the gospel. 
 But when we have mutually explained our sentiments, 
 perhaps they may be found to agree. What then do 
 you mean by simplicity ? And what do you call elo- 
 quence ? 
 
 C. By simplicity, I mean a discourse without any 
 artifice or magnificence. By eloquence. I mean a dis- 
 course full of art and ornaments. 
 
 A. When you require an artless, simple discourse, 
 would you have it without order, and connexion ; with- 
 out solid and convincing proofs ; and without a proper 
 method for instructing the ignorant ? Would you have a 
 preacher say nothing that is pathetic, and never endeav- 
 our to affect the heart ? 
 
 C. Far from it ; I would have a discourse that both 
 instructs and moves people. 
 
 A. That would make it eloquent ; for we have seen 
 before that eloquence is the art of instructing and per- 
 suading men, by moving their passions. 
 
 C. I grant that preachers ought to convince and af- 
 fect their hearers ; but I would have them to do it with- 
 out art, by an apostolical simplicity. 
 
 A. The more artless and natural such a convincing 
 persuasive eloquence is, it must be the more powerful. 
 But let us inquire whether the art of persuasion be in- 
 consistent with the simplicity of the gospel. What mean 
 you by art ? 
 
 C. I mean a system of rules that men have invented, 
 
140 DIALOGUES CONCERNING ELOQUENCE. 
 
 and usually observe in their discourses, to make them 
 more beautiful, elegant, and pleasing. 
 
 A. If by art you only mean this invention to render 
 a discourse more handsome and polished in order to 
 please people ; I will not dispute with you about words; 
 but Avill readily acknowledge that this art ought not to 
 be admitted into sermons ; for, (as we agreed before,) 
 this vanity is unworthy of eloquence, and far more unbe- 
 coming the sacred function. This is the very point about 
 which I reasoned so much with Mr. B. But if by art 
 and eloquence, you mean what the most judicious writers 
 among the ancients understood, we must then set a just 
 value upon eloquence. 
 
 C. What did they understand by it ? 
 
 A. According to them the art of eloquence compre- 
 hends those means, that wise reflection and experience 
 have discovered, to render a discourse proper to persuade 
 men of the truth ; and to engage them to love and obey 
 it. And this is what you think every preacher should 
 be able to do. For did you not say that you approved 
 of order, and a right manner of instruction ; solidity of 
 reasoning, and pathetic movements ; I mean such as can 
 touch and affect people's hearts ? Now this is what I 
 call eloquence ; you may give it what name you please. 
 
 C. Now I comprehend your notion of eloquence ; and 
 I cannot but acknowledge that such a manly, grave, se- 
 rious manner of persuasion would much become the pul- 
 pit ; and that it seems even necessary to instruct people 
 with success. But how do you understand those words 
 of St. Paul that I quoted before ? Do they not express- 
 ly condemn eloquence ? 
 
 A. In order to explain the apostle's words, let me 
 k you a few questions. 
 
DIALOGUES CONCERNING ELOQUENCE. 141 
 
 C. As many as you please, Sir. 
 
 A. Is it not true that the apostle argues with won- 
 derful strength in his epistles ? Does he not reason 
 finely against the heathen philosophers, and the Jews? 
 in his epistle to the Romans ? Is there not great force, 
 in what he says concerning the inability of the Mosaic 
 law to justify men ? 
 
 C. Certainly. 
 
 A. Is there not a chain of solid reasoning in his epis- 
 tle to the Hebrews, about the insufficiency of the ancient 
 sacrifices ; the rest that David promised to the children 
 of God, besides that which the Israelites enjoyed in Pal- 
 estine after Joshua's days ; concerning the order of Aa- 
 ron, and that of Melchisedec ; and the spiritual and 
 eternal covenant that behoved to succeed the carnal and 
 earthly one which was established by the mediation of 
 Moses, for a time only ? Are not the apostle's argu- 
 ments on these several subjects very strong and conclu- 
 sive ?* 
 
 * The eloquence of St. Paul, in most of his speeches and argumentations, 
 bears a very great resemblance to that of Demosthenes. Some important point 
 being always uppermost in his view, he often leaves his subject, and flies from ii 
 with brave irregularity, and as unexpectedly again returns to his subject, when 
 one would imagine that he had entirely lost sight of it. For instance, in his 
 defence before king Agrippa, Acts, chap, xxvi., when, in order to wipe off the 
 aspersions thrown upon him by the Jews, that he was a turbulent and seditious 
 person, he sets out with clearing his character, proving the integrity of his mor- 
 als, and his inoffensive, Hnblameable behaviour, as one who hoped, by those 
 means, to attain that happiness of another life, for which the twelve tribes served 
 God continually in the temple; on a sudden he drops the continuation of his de- 
 fence, and cries out, " Why should it be thought a thing incredible with you, 
 that God should raise the dead ?" It might be reasonably expected, that this 
 would be the end of his argument ; but by flying to it, in so quick and unexpect- 
 ed a transition, he catches his audience before they are aware, and strikes dumb 
 bis enemies, though they will not be convinced. And this point being once car- 
 ried, he comes about again as unexpectedly, by, I verily thought, &c, and goes 
 on with his defence, till it brings him again to the same point of the Resurrec- 
 tion, in verse 23. Smith's Longinus. 
 
142 DIALOGUES CONCERNING ELOQUENCE. 
 
 C. I think they are. 
 
 A. When St. Paul, therefore, disclaimed the use of 
 li the persuasive words of man's wisdom," he did not 
 mean to condemn true wisdom, and the force of rea- 
 soning. 
 
 C. That appears plainly from his own example. 
 
 A. Why then do you think that he meant to con- 
 demn solid eloquence, any more than true wisdom ? 
 
 C. Because he expressly rejects eloquence in that 
 passage, which I desired you to explain. 
 
 A. But doth he not likewise disclaim wisdom ? The 
 place seems to be more express against wisdom, and hu- 
 man reasoning, than against eloquence. And yet he him- 
 self reasoned frequently ; and was very eloquent. You 
 grant that he argued well ; and St. Austin assures you 
 that the apostle was an orator. 
 
 C. You plainly point out the difficulty ; but you do 
 not answer it. Prav, show us how it is to be solved. 
 
 A. St. Paul reasoned much ; he persuaded effectu- 
 ally : so that he was really an excellent philosopher and 
 an orator. But as he tells us in the place you quoted ; 
 his preaching was not founded on human reasoning, nor 
 on the art of persuasion. It was a ministry of divine in- 
 stitution, that owed its efficacy to God alone.* The con- 
 
 * On (he one hand, it deserves attention, that the most eminent and success- 
 ful preachers of the gospel in different communities, a Brainerd, a Baxter, and a 
 Schwartz, have been the most conspicuous for a simple dependance upon spirit- 
 ual aid; and, on the other, that no success whatever has attended the ministra- 
 tions of those by whom this doctrine has been either neglected or denied. They 
 have met with such a rebuke of their presumption, in the total failure of their 
 efforts, that none will contend for the reality of divine interposition, as far as 
 they arc concerned ; for when has the arm of the Lord been revealed to those 
 pretended teachers of Christianity, who believe there is no such arm? We must 
 leave them to labour in a field, respecting which God has commanded the cloud* 
 not to rain upon it. As if conscious of this, of late they have turned their efforts 
 into a new channel, and, despairing of the conversion of sinners, have confined 
 
DIALOGUES CONCERNING ELOqUENCE. 143 
 
 version of the whole world was, according to the ancient 
 prophecies, to be the great and standing miracle of the 
 Christian religion. This was the kingdom of God that 
 came from heaven ; and was to convert and reduce all 
 the nations of the earth to the worship and service of 
 the true God. Jesus Christ crucified, by his being de- 
 clared to them, was to draw them all to himself merely 
 hy the power of his cross. The philosophers had reas- 
 oned and disputed, without converting cither themselves^ 
 or others. The Jews had been intrusted with a law 
 that showed them their miseries, but could not relieve 
 them. All mankind were convinced of the general dis- 
 order and corruption that reigned among them. Jesus 
 Christ came with his cross ; that is, he came poor, hum- 
 ble, and suffering for us. To silence our vain, presump- 
 tuous reason, he did not argue like the philosophers ; 
 but he determined with authority. By his miracles, and 
 his grace, he showed that he was above all. That he 
 might confound the false wisdom of men, he sets before 
 them the seeming folly and scandal of his cross ; that is, 
 the example of his profound humiliation. That, which 
 mankind reckoned folly,* and at which they were most 
 offended, was the very thing, that should convert and 
 lead them to God. They wanted to be cured of their 
 pride, and their excessive love of sensible objects : and 
 to affect them the more, God showed them his Son cru- 
 cified. The apostles preached him ; and walked in his 
 steps. They had not recourse to any human means, 
 
 themselves to the seduction of the faithful ; in which, it must be confessed, they 
 have acted in a manner perfectly consistent with their principles ; the propaga- 
 ■ ion of heresy requiring, at least, no divine assistance. 
 
 Hall on the discouragements and supports of the christian ministry. 
 
 * 1 Cor, i. 23. 25. 
 
144 DIALOGUE CONCERNING fcLCKiUENCfc. 
 
 neither to philosophy, nor rhetoric, nor policy, nor wealth 
 nor authority. God would hav r c the sole glory of his 
 work : and the success of it, to depend entirely on him- 
 self: he therefore chose what is weak ; and rejected 
 what is strong; to display his power in the most sensi- 
 ble manner. He brought all out of nothing in the con- 
 version of the world, as Avell as at the creation of it. 
 That work therefore had this divine character stamped 
 upon it, that it was not founded upon any thing that the 
 world admired, or valued. It would only have weak- 
 ened and frustrated the wonderful power of the cross 
 (as St. Paul says*) to ground the preaching of the gos- 
 pel upon natural means. It was necessary that without 
 human help, the gospel should of itself open people's 
 hearts ; and by that prodigious efficacy show mankind 
 that it came from God. Thus was human wisdom con- 
 founded, and rejected. Now, what must we conclude 
 from hence ? This only ; that the conversion of the na- 
 tions, and the establishment of the Christian church, was 
 not owing to the learned reasonings, and persuasive words 
 of man's wisdom. It does not imply that there was no 
 eloquence, nor wisdom in several of those, who first 
 preached the gospel : but only, that they did not de- 
 pend on this eloquent wisdom ; nor did they study it as 
 a thing that was to give an efficacy to their doctrine. 
 It was founded (as the apostle tells ust) not upon the 
 persuasive discourses of human philosophy ; but solely 
 upon the effects of the Spirit, and the power of God ; 
 that is, upon the miracles that struck the eyes and minds 
 of men, and upon the inward operation of the divine 
 
 <2,race. 
 
 * 1 Cor. i. 17. 
 
 Ovx ev neidoig avBpunivvjq cotyiag Tioyoig 
 
 1 Cor. ii. 4. 
 
DIALOGUES CONCERNING ELOQUENCE. 14.J 
 
 C. According to your reasoning, then, they make void 
 the efficacy of our Saviour's cross, who ground their 
 preaching upon human wisdom and eloquence. 
 
 A. Undoubtedly. The ministry of the word is en- 
 tirely built upon faith : and the preachers of it ought to 
 pray and purify their hearts, and expect all their success 
 from heaven. They should arm themselves with 'the 
 sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God;' and not 
 depend on their own abilities.* This is the necessary 
 preparation for preaching the gospel. But though the 
 inward fruit and success of it must be ascribed to grace 
 alone, and the efficacy of God's word ; there are yet 
 some things that man is to do on his part. 
 
 C. Hitherto you have talked very solidly : but I see 
 plainly you are now returning to your first opinion. 
 
 A. I did not change it. Do not you believe that the 
 work of our salvation depends upon God's grace ? 
 
 C. Yes ; it is an article of faith. 
 
 A. You own, however, that we ought to use great 
 prudence in choosing a right station and conduct in life; 
 
 * The preacher peculiarly needs assistance from heaven. He can neither rely 
 on his own talents, nor trust his own heart. He cannot rely on his fellow-men. 
 Whither then shall he look ? Who shall make him able, or faithful, or success- 
 ful in his work ? Who shall open to him the treasures of divine truth ? Who shall 
 give him access to the hearts of his hearers, and enable him to speak in demon- 
 stration of the Spirit, and with power? Who shall sooth the anxieties that agi- 
 tate his bosom, cheer his trembling spirit, and guide his footsteps, in seasons of 
 despondence ? Who shall give him that knowledge of his own heart, that con- 
 troul of his temper and actions, that meekness, fortitude and exemplary holiness, 
 which become his sacred office ? In short, who shall secure him against falling 
 into foul immorality, or fatal apostacy from the truth ? Blessed be God, that a 
 poor worm may ask and receive help from Him, in whom is everlasting strength. 
 Weakness itself may look up with courage, to the throne of grace; and venture 
 forward in the greatest work, relying on a Savvy/'s all sufficient aid. Yes, 
 blessed be God, that the humble minister, while he feels himself to be less than 
 nothing, may yet say without presumption ; " I con do all things, through Christ 
 which atrengtheneth me." Editor. 
 
 19 
 
14(5' DIALOGUES CONCERNING ELOQUENCE. 
 
 and in avoiding dangerous temptations. Now, do we 
 make void the grace of God, and its efticacy, by watch- 
 ing, and prayer, and a prudent circumspection ? Certain- 
 ly not. We owe all to God ; and yet he obliges us to 
 comply with an external order of human means. The 
 apostles did not study the vain pomp, and trifling orna- 
 ments of the heathen orators. They did not fall into the 
 subtile reasonings of the philosophers, who made all to 
 depend upon those airy speculations in which they lost 
 themselves. The apostles only preached Jesus Christ 
 with all the force, and magnificent simplicity of the scrip- 
 ture language. It is true they had no need of any pre p- 
 aration for their ministry ; because the Spirit, who de- 
 scended upon them in a sensible manner, supplied them 
 with words in preaching the gospel. The difference then 
 betwixt the apostles, and their successors in the ministry, 
 is, that these, not being miraculously inspired like the 
 apostles, have need to prepare themselves, and to fill 
 their minds with the doctrine and spirit of the scripture, 
 to form their discourses. But this preparation should 
 never lead them to preach in a more artless manner than 
 the apostles. Would you not be satisfied if preachers 
 used no more ornaments in their sermons than St. Peter. 
 St. Paul, St. James, St. Jude, and St. John did ? 
 
 C. I think I ought to require no more. And I must 
 confess that since (as you say) eloquence consists chiefly 
 in the order, force, and propriety of the words by which 
 men are persuaded and moved ; it does not give me so 
 much olfcnce as it did. I always reckoned eloquence to 
 be an art that is inconsistent with the simplicity of the 
 gospel. 
 
 A. There are two sorts of people that have this no- 
 tion of it ; the false orators, who are widely mistaken in 
 
DIALOGUES CONCERNING ELOQUENCE. 147 
 
 seeking after eloquence amidst a vain pomp of words ; 
 and some pious persons who have no great depth of knowl- 
 edge : but though out of humility they avoid that false 
 rhetoric, which consists in a gaudy, ostentatious style : 
 they yet aim at true eloquence, by striving to persuade, 
 and move their hearers. 
 
 C. I now understand your notions exactly well : let 
 us now return to the eloquence of the scripture. 
 
 A. In order to perceive it, nothing is more useful 
 than to have a just taste of the ancient simplicity : and 
 this may best be obtained by reading the most ancient 
 Greek authors.* I say the most ancient ; for those 
 Greeks whom the Romans so justly despised, and call- 
 ed Grasculi, were then entirely degenerate. As I told 
 you before, you ought to be perfectly acquainted with 
 Homer, Plato, Xe nophon, and the other earliest writers. 
 After that, you will be no more surprised at the plain- 
 ness of the scripture style; for in them you will find al- 
 most the same kind of customs, the same artless narra- 
 tions, the same images of great things, and the same 
 movements. The difference between them upon com- 
 parison is much to the honour of the scripture. It sur- 
 passes them vastly in native simplicity, liveliness, and 
 grandeur. Homer himself never reached the sublimity 
 of Moses' songs ; especially the last, which all the Is- 
 raelitish children were to learn by heart. Never did 
 
 * JLv$Eixvvtou 5' yifxiv ovrog 6 avyjp (IIAATflN) ei (3a- 
 hoi[iEda fjivi xoLTohiyopYiGai) ug xat akhvi tig Ttapa ra el- 
 p>7 k U£va 6Sog etIl hol [nJ/^Xa Heivec Tloia Se xat tig avtYi; 
 n rav E(i7tpoadEv psya'kcdv 6vyypa<p£Qv xai tiqiyihuv \ii\xyi- 
 aig te xat ^viXidGic,' Kat rovtov y£, ^t/lTare, anyi% e%g>[££- 
 da *ov Oxonov. Longinus, § xiii. 
 
148 DIALOGUES CONCERNING ELOQUENCE. 
 
 any ode, cither Greek, or Latin, come up to the lofti- 
 ness of the Psalms; particularly that which begins 
 thus ;* ' The mighty God, even the Lord hath spoken,* 
 surpasses the utmost stretch of human invention. Neith- 
 er Homer nor any other poet ever equalled Isaiaht de- 
 scribing the majesty of God, in whose sight the ' nations 
 of the earth are as the small dust ; yea, less than noth- 
 ing and vanity ;' seeing it is ' He that stretcheth out the 
 heavens like a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent 
 to dwell in.' Sometimes this prophet has all the sweet- 
 ness of an eclogue, in the smiling images he gives us of 
 peace ; and sometimes he soars so high as to leave 
 every thing below him. What is there in antiquity that 
 can be compared to the Lamentations of Jeremiah, when 
 he tenderly deplores the miseries of his country ? or to 
 the prophecy of Nahum, when he foresees, in spirit, the 
 proud Nineveh fall under the rage of an invincible ar- 
 my. We fancy that we sec the army, and hear the 
 noise of arms and chariots. Every thing is painted in 
 such a lively manner as strikes the imagination. The 
 prophet far outdoes Homer. Read likewise Daniel de- 
 nouncing to Belshazzar the divine vengeance ready to 
 overwhelm him ; and try if you can find any thing in 
 the most sublime originals of antiquity that can be com- 
 pared to those passages of sacred writ. As for the rest 
 of scripture, every portion of it is uniform and consistent ; 
 every part bears the peculiar character that becomes 
 it; the history, the particular detail of laws, the descrip- 
 tions, the vehement and pathetic passages, the myste- 
 ries, and prophecies, and moral discourses ; in all these 
 
 • Psal. 1. 1 — 6. + Isaiah, xl. 9 — 28. See chapters xi. and xxxv. 
 
 Lam. i. 1, 2, 16,20; ii. 1, 0, 11, 12, 19,20, 21 ; iii. 39. Nahum, i. 3, 5, 6; 
 
 :;. 1,3, 4, 8,9, 10; iii. 3, 13, 17, 18 Daniel, chap. v. 15—29. 
 
DIALOGUES CONCERNING ELOQUENCE. 1 19 
 
 there appears a natural and beautiful variety.* In short, 
 there is as great a difference between the heathen poets, 
 and the prophets ; as there is between a false enthusi- 
 asm, and the true. The sacred writers, being truly in- 
 spired, do in a sensible manner express something di- 
 vine : while the others, striving- to soar above them- 
 selves, always show human weakness in their loftiest 
 flights. The second book of Maccabees, the book of 
 Wisdom, especially at the end, and Ecclesiasticus in the 
 beginning, discover the gaudy, swelling style that the 
 degenerate Greeks had spread over the east ; where 
 their language was established with their dominion. 
 But it would be in vain to enlarge upon all these par- 
 ticulars ; it is by reading that you must discover the 
 truth of them. 
 
 * Any reader will observe, that there is a poetical air in the predictions of 
 Balaam in the xxiii. chapter of Nitmbers, and that there is particularly an un- 
 common grandeur in verse 19. 
 
 " God is not a man, that he should lie, neither the son of man, that he should 
 repent. Hath he said, and shall he not do it? or, hath he spoken, and shall he 
 not make it good ?" 
 
 What is the cause of this grandeur will immediately be seen, if the sense be 
 preserved, and the words thrown out of interrogation : 
 
 God is not man, that he should lie, neither the son of man, that he should 
 repent. What he hath said, he will do ; and what he has spoke, he will make 
 good." The difference is so visible, that it is needless to enlarge upon it. 
 
 How artfully does St. Paul, in Acts xxvi. transfer his discourse from Festus 
 to Agrippa. In ver. 26, he speaks of him in the third person. " The King 
 
 (says he) knoweth of these things, before whom I also speak freely ." Then 
 
 in the following he turns short upon him; "King Agrippa, believest thou the 
 prophets ?" and immediately answers hia own question, " I know that thou be- 
 lievest. 1 ' The smoothest eloquence, the most insinuating complaisance, could 
 never have made such impression on Agrippa, as this unexpected and pathetic 
 address. 
 
 To these instances may be added the whole xxxviii. chapter of Job ; where 
 we behold the Almighty Creator expostulating with his creature, in terms which 
 express at once the majesty and perfection of the one, the meanness and frailty 
 of the other. There we see how vastly useful the figure of interrogation is, in 
 giving us a lofty idea of the Deity, while every question awes us into silence, 
 and inspires a sense of our own insufliciency, Smith's Longinu*. 
 
150 DIALOGUES CONCERNING ELOQUENCE. 
 
 B. I long to set about it : we ought to apply our- 
 selves to this kind of study, more than we do. 
 
 C. I easily conceive that the Old Testament is writ- 
 ten with that magnificence ; and those lively images you 
 speak of. But you say nothing of the simplicity of 
 Christ's words. 
 
 A. That simplicity of style is entirely according to 
 the ancient taste. It is agreeable both to Moses and 
 the prophets, whose expressions Christ often uses. But 
 though his language be plain and familiar, it is however 
 figurative and sublime in many places. I could easily 
 show by particular instances, (if we had the books here 
 to consult,) that we have not a preacher of this age 
 who is so figurative in his most studied sermons, as 
 Jesus Christ was in his most popular discourses. I do 
 not mean those that St. John relates, where almost 
 every thing is sensibly divine : I speak of his most fa- 
 miliar discourses recorded by the other evangelists. 
 The apostles wrote in the same manner ; with this dif- 
 ference ; that Jesus Christ being master of his doctrine, 
 delivers it calmly. He says just what he pleases ; and 
 speaks, with the utmost easiness, of the heavenly king- 
 dom and glory, as of his father's house.* All those ex- 
 alted things that astonish us, were natural and familiar 
 to him : he is born there ; and only tells us what he 
 saw ;t as he himself declares. On the contrary, the 
 apostlesf sunk under the weight of the truths that were 
 revealed to them ; they Avant words, and are not able 
 to express their ideas.§ Hence flow those digressions 
 
 * John xiv. 2. + Chap. viii. 38. % 2 Cor. xii. 2, 4, 7. 
 
 t Yet, after all, there is often found in the apostolic manner, a sublimity of 
 sentiment, a pomp of description, a clearness, strength, and brevity of precept, 
 a closeness of appeal, a force and abruptness of interrogation, a simplicity of 
 words, and pathos of address, that are admirable in themselves, and worthy thr 
 imitation of every preacher. Fordycc, Art of Preaching. 
 
DIALOGUES CONCERNING ELOQUENCE. 151 
 
 and obscure passages in St. Paul's writings, and those 
 transpositions of his thoughts, which show his mind was 
 transported with the abundance and greatness of the 
 truths that offered themselves to his attention. All this 
 irregularity of style shows that the Spirit of God forci- 
 bly guided the minds of the apostles. But notwith- 
 standing these little disorders of their style, every thing 
 in it is noble, lively, and moving. As' for St. John's 
 Revelation, we find in it the same grandeur and enthu- 
 siasm that there is in the prophets. The expressions are 
 ofttimes the same ; and sometimes this resemblance of 
 style gives a mutual light to them both. You see there- 
 fore that the eloquence of scripture is not confined to 
 the books of the Old Testament ; but is likewise to be 
 found in the New. 
 
 C. Supposing the scripture to be eloquent, what will 
 you conclude from it. 
 
 A. That those who preach it, may, without scruple, 
 imitate, or rather borrow, its eloquence. 
 
 C. We find that preachers do choose those passages 
 they think most beautiful. 
 
 Jl. But it mangles the scripture thus to show it to 
 Christians only in separate passages. And however 
 great the beauty of such passages may be, it can never 
 be fully perceived, unless one knows the connexion of 
 them : for, every thing in scripture is connected ; and 
 this coherence is the most great and wonderful thing 
 to be seen in the sacred writings. For want of a due 
 knowledge of it, preachers mistake those beautiful pas- 
 sages ; and put upon them what sense they please. 
 They content themselves with some ingenious interpre- 
 tations ; which, being arbitrary, have no force to per- 
 suade men. and to reform their manners. 
 
132 DIALOGUES CONCERNING ELOQUENCE. 
 
 B. What would you have preachers to do? Must 
 they use only the language of scripture ? 
 
 A. I would have them at least not think it enough 
 to join together a few passages of scripture that have 
 no real connexion. I would have them explain the 
 principles, and the series of the scripture doctrine ; and 
 take the spirit, the style, and the figures of it, that all 
 their discourses may serve to give people a right under- 
 standing, and true relish of God's word. There needs 
 no more to make preachers eloquent ; for by doing this, 
 they would imitate the best model of ancient eloquence. 
 
 B. But in this case we behoved (as I said before) to 
 explain the several parts of scripture as they lie. 
 
 A. I would not confine all preachers to this. One 
 might make sermons upon the scripture without explain- 
 ing the several parts of it as they lie. But it must be 
 owned that preaching would be quite another thing, if, 
 according to ancient custom, the sacred books were thus 
 explained to the people in a connected, judicious man- 
 ner. Consider what authority a man must have who 
 should say nothing from his own invention; but only fol- 
 low and explain the thoughts and words of God. Be- 
 sides, he would do two things at once. By unfolding 
 the truths of scripture, he would explain the text ; and 
 accustom the people to join always the sense and the 
 letter together. What advantage must they not reap, 
 if they were used to nourish themselves with this spir- 
 itual bread? An audience, who had heard the chief 
 points of the Mosaic law explained, would be; able to 
 receive far more benefit from an explication ol the 
 truths of the gospel, than the greatest part of Christians 
 arc now. The preacher we spoke of betore, has this 
 failing among many great qualities, that his sermons. ar* 
 
DIALOGUES CONCERNING ELOQUENCE. 153 
 
 trains of fine reasoning about religion ; but they are not 
 religion itself. We apply ourselves too much to draw- 
 ing of moral characters, and inveighing against the gen- 
 eral disorders of mankind ; and we do not sufficiently 
 explain the principles and precepts of the gospel.* 
 
 C. Preachers choose this way, because it is far easi- 
 er to declaim against the follies and disorders of man- 
 kind, than to explain the fundamental truths and duties 
 of religion judiciously. To be able to describe the cor- 
 ruptions of the age, they need only have some knowledge 
 of men and things ; and proper words to paint them. 
 But to set the great duties of the gospel in a just light, 
 requires an attentive meditation and study of the holy 
 scriptures. There are but few preachers who have such 
 a solid, comprehensive knowledge of religion as can en- 
 
 * See page 125; the note on that page was intended to be inserted here. 
 
 If I should read to a sick person a learned lecture on the benefit of health, 
 and exhort him to take care to recover it, but never inquire into the nature of 
 his disease ; or prescribe proper methods and medicines for the cure, he would 
 hardly acquiesce in me for his physician, or resign to me the care of his bodily 
 health. Nor is it a more likely way to the soul's health, to rest in mere general 
 exhortations to holiness, without distinctly handling the several branches thereof, 
 and the opposite sins. If a man, professing physic, should administer or pre- 
 scribe one constant medicine for fevers, and another for consumptions, and so for 
 other distempers, without considering the age, constitution, strength, and way of 
 living of his patient ; and not vary his method and medicines as those vary, we 
 should hardly call this the regular practice of physic. Nor can I think this gen- 
 eral and undistinguished way will be more 3afe, or likely to answer its end, in 
 divinity than in medicine. Jennings. 
 
 We do not warn the man whose house is on fire, by the abstract assurance 
 that " fire is dangerous ; by introducing a third person to s?.y, " he is in danger ;" 
 by continually adverting to those noble public institutions, the general fire in- 
 surance companies. Nor must the delegated apostle of Christianity fail to dis- 
 criminate, to individualize, to strike home, to draw the line between the form 
 and spirit of religion ; to show that the best church cannot of itself sanctify those 
 who enter it ; 'to speak,' as old Baxter says, ' like a dying man, to dying men ;' 
 to ' warn, rebuke, exhott,' like one who expects to meet his congregation next 
 at the bar of God. Christian Observer. \ 
 
 20 
 
154 DIALOGUES ( OM ERN1NG BLOQjl EN< E 
 
 able them to explain it clearly to others. Nay, there 
 are some who make pretty discourses ; and yet could not 
 catechise the people, and far less make a good homily. 
 
 A. Very true ; it is here that our preachers are most 
 defective. Most of their fme sermons contain only phi- 
 losophical reasonings. Sometimes they preposterously 
 quote scripture only for the sake of decency or ornament J 
 and it is not then regarded as the word of God ; but as 
 the invention of men. 
 
 C. You will grant, I hope, that the labours of such 
 men tend to make void the cross of Christ. 
 
 A. I give them up; and contend only for the eloquence 
 of scripture which evangelical preachers ought to imitate. 
 So that we are agreed on this point ; provided you will 
 not excuse some zealous preachers, who, under pretence 
 of apostolical simplicity, do not effectually study either 
 the doctrine of scripture, or the powerful manner of per- 
 suasion that we are taught there. They imagine that 
 they need only bawl, and speak often of hell and the 
 devil. Now without doubt a preacher ought to affect 
 people by strong, and sometimes even by terrible images; 
 but it is from the scripture that he should learn to make 
 powerful impressions. There he may clearly discover 
 the way to make sermons plain and popular, without los- 
 ing the force and dignity they ought always to have. 
 For want of this knowledge a preacher oftentimes doth 
 but stun and frighten people ; so that they remember 
 but few clear notions ; and even the impressions of ter- 
 ror they received are not lasting. This mistaken sim- 
 plicity that some affect, is too often a cloak for ignorance; 
 and at best it is such an unedifying manner of address, 
 as cannot be acceptable either to God or men. Nothing 
 can excuse such homely preachers, but the sincerity of 
 
EUALOGOES CONCERNING ELOQUENCE. 155 
 
 their intentions. They ought to have studied and med- 
 itated much upon the Avord of God, before they under- 
 took to preach. A priest Avho understands the scripture 
 fully, and has the gift of speaking, supported by the au- 
 thority of his function, and of a good life, might make 
 excellent discourses Avithout great preparation. For one 
 speaks easily of such truths as make a clear and strong 
 impression on his mind. Noav above all things, such a 
 subject as religion must furnish exalted thoughts ; and 
 excite the noblest sentiments ; and this is the design of 
 eloquence. But a preacher ought to speak to his audi- 
 ence as a father Avould talk to his children, Avith an aL 
 fectionate tenderness;* and not like a declaimer, pro- 
 
 * In the most awful denunciations of the divine displeasure, an air of unaf- 
 fected tenderness should be preserved, that while with unsparing fidelity we de- 
 clare the whole counsel of God, it may appear we are actuated by a genuine 
 spirit of compassion. A hard and unfeeling manner of denouncing the threaten- 
 ings of the word of God, is not only barbarous and inhuman, but calculated, by 
 inspiring disgust, to rob them of all their efficacy. If the awful part of our mes- 
 sage, which may be stiled the burden of the Lord, ever fall with due weight on 
 our hearers, it will be when it is delivered with a trembling hand and faultering 
 lips; and we may then expect them to realize its solemn import, when they 
 perceive that we ourselves are ready to sink under it. Of whom I have told you 
 before, said St. Paul, and now tell you weeping, that they are the enemies of the 
 cross of Christ. What force does that affecting declaration derive from these 
 tears ! An affectionate manner insinuates itself into the heart, renders it soft and 
 pliable, and disposes it to imbibe the sentiments and follow the impulse of the 
 speaker. Whoever has attended to the effect of addresses from the pulpit, must 
 have perceived how much of their impression depends upon this quality, which 
 gives to sentiments comparatively trite, a power over the mind beyond what the 
 most striking and original conceptions possess without it. 
 
 Hall on the discouragements and supports of the christian ministry. 
 
 There is another strain of preaching, which, though it wears the garb of zeal, 
 is seldom a proof of any power but the power of self ; I mean angry and scolding 
 preaching. The Gospel is a benevolent scheme, and whoever speaks in the pow- 
 er of it, will assuredly speak in love. In the most faithful rebukes of sin, in the 
 most solemn declarations of God's displeasure against it, a preacher may give 
 evidence of a disposition of good-will and compassion to sinners, and assuredly 
 will, if he speaks under the influence of the power of truth. If we can indulge 
 invective and bitterness in the pulpit, we know not what spirit wc are of; we 
 
156 DIALOGUES CONCERNING ELOQUENCE. 
 
 nouncing an harangue with stiifness, and an affected del- 
 icacy. It were to be wished indeed that, generally 
 speaking, none were allowed to feed the christian flocks 
 but their respective shepherds, who ought best to know 
 their wants. In order to this, none should be chosen for 
 pastors, but such as have the gift of preaching. The 
 neglect of this occasions two evils : one is, that dumb 
 pastors, and such as speak without abilities, are little es- 
 teemed. Another evil is, that the function of voluntary 
 preachers allures many vain, ambitious spirits, that en- 
 deavour to distinguish themselves this way. You know 
 that in former ages the ministry of the word was reserv- 
 ed for the bishops ; especially in the western church. 
 You must have heard of St. Austin's case ; that, contra- 
 ry to the established rule, he was obliged to preach 
 while he was only a presbyter ; because that Valerius 
 his bishop and predecessor, was a stranger who could 
 not talk easily ; this was the beginning of that custom 
 in the western parts. In the east, priests sooner began 
 to preach; as appears from St. Chrysostom's sermons, 
 which he made at Antioch, when he was only a pres- 
 byter. 
 
 C. I grant that generally speaking the office of preach- 
 ing should be reserved for the parochial clergy. This 
 would be the way to restore to the pulpit that simplicity 
 and dignity that ought to adorn it. For if pastors joined 
 
 are but gratifying our own evil tempers, under the pretence of a concern for the 
 cause of God and truth. A preacher of this character, instead of resembling a 
 priest bearing in his censer hallowed fire taken from God's altar, may be com- 
 pared to the madman described in the Proverbs, who scattereth at random fire- 
 brands, and arrows, and death, and saith, Am not I in sport? Such persons may 
 applaud their own faithfulness and courage, and think it a great attainment that 
 they can so easily and constantly set their congregation at defiance ; but they 
 must not expect to be useful, so long as it remains a truth, that the wrath of 
 ir-an worketh cot the righteousness of God. Newton, 
 
DIALOGUES CONCERNING ELOQUENCE. 157 
 
 the knowledge of the scriptures to their experience in the 
 ministerial function, and the conduct of souls; they would 
 speak in such a way as is best adapted to the wants of 
 their flocks. Whereas those preachers who give up 
 themselves chiefly to study and speculation, are less able 
 to obviate people's prejudices and mistakes ; they do not 
 suit their discourses to vulgar capacities ; and insist chief- 
 ly on such general points as do not instruct nor affect 
 men ; to say nothing of the weight and influence that 
 the shepherd's own voice must have among his flock, 
 above a stranger's. These, methinks, are convincing 
 reasons for preferring a pastor's sermons before other 
 people's. Of what use are so many young preachers, 
 without experience, without knowledge, and without pi- 
 ety ? It were better to have fewer sermons, and more 
 judicious ones. 
 
 B. But there are many priests who are not pastors, 
 and who preach with great success. How many persons 
 are there of the religious orders, who fill the pulpit to 
 advantage ? 
 
 C. I own there are many ; and such men ought to 
 be made pastors of parishes ; and even be constrained 
 to undertake the care of souls. Were not anchorets of 
 old forced from their beloved solitude, and raised to pub- 
 lic stations, that the light of their piety might shine in 
 the church, and edify the faithful ? 
 
 A. But it does not belong to us to regulate the disci- 
 pline of the church. Every age has its proper customs, 
 as the circumstances of things require. Let us show a 
 regard to whatever the church tolerates : and, without 
 indulging a censorious humour, let us finish our character 
 of a worthy preacher, 
 
 C. What you have said already gives me, I think, an 
 exact idea of it. 
 
158 DIALOGUES CONCERNING ELOQ.UENCE. 
 
 A. Let us hear then what you reckon necessary to 
 make a complete preacher. 
 
 C. I think that he ought to have studied solidly, dur- 
 ing his younger days, whatever is most useful in the po- 
 etry and eloquence of the ancients.* 
 
 A. That is not necessary. It is true, when one has 
 finished such studies successfully, they may be of use to 
 him, even towards a right understanding of the scrip- 
 tures : as St. Paul has shown in a treatise he composed 
 on this very subject. But after all, this sort of study is 
 rather useful than necessary. In the first ages of the 
 church, the clergy found a want of this kind of learning. 
 Those indeed who had applied themselves to it, in their 
 youth, turned it to the service of religion, when they 
 became pastors: but such as had neglected these studies 
 before, were not permitted to follow them, when they 
 had once engaged themselves in the study of the sacred 
 writings; which were then reckoned to be sufficient 
 Hence came that passage in the Apostolical Constitu- 
 tions^ which exhorts Christians not to read the heathen 
 authors. * If you want history, (says the book,) or laws, 
 or moral precepts, or eloquence, or poetry, you will find 
 them all in the scriptures.' In effect we have already 
 seen that it is needless to seek elsewhere, for any thing 
 that is necessary to form our taste and judgment of true 
 eloquence. St. Austin says that the smaller stock we 
 have of other learning, we ought so much the more to 
 
 • The Greek and Romau authors have a spirit in them, a force, both of 
 thought and expression, that latter ages have not been able to imitate ; Bu- 
 chanan only excepted ; in whom, more particularly in his Psalms, there is a 
 beauty, and life, an exactness as well as a liberty, that cannot be imitated, and 
 scarce enough commended. 
 
 Discourse of the pastoral care, ch. viii 
 
 t B. i. c.6. 
 
DIALOGUES CONCERNING ELOQUENCE. 159 
 
 enrich ourselves out of that sacred treasure ; and that 
 seeing our notions are too scanty to express divine things 
 in a proper way, we have need to exalt and improve 
 our knowledge, by the authority of Scripture ; and our 
 language, by the dignity of its expressions. But I ask 
 your pardon for interrupting you. Go on, Sir, if you 
 please. 
 
 C Well then ; let us be content with the sufficien- 
 cy of scripture. But shall we not add the fathers ? 
 
 A. Without doubt ; they are the channels of tradi- 
 tion. It is by their writings that we learn the manner 
 in which the church interpreted the scripture in all 
 ages. 
 
 C. But are preachers obliged to explain every pas- 
 sage of scripture according to the interpretations that 
 the fathers have given us. We find that one father 
 gives a spiritual or mystical sense ; and another gives 
 a literal one. Now which must we choose ? for there 
 would be no end of mentioning them all. 
 
 A. When I affirm that we ought to interpret the 
 scripture according to the doctrine of the fathers ; I 
 mean, their constant and uniform doctrine. They fre- 
 quently gave pious interpretations that differed very 
 much from the literal sense ; and were not founded on 
 the prophetical allusions, and the mysterious doctrines 
 of religion. Now seeing these interpretations are arbi- 
 trary, we are not obliged to follow them ; ' seeing they 
 did not follow one another.' But in those places where 
 they explain the sentiments of the church concerning 
 points of faith or practice ; it is not allowable to explain 
 the scripture in a sense contrary to the doctrine of the 
 fathers. This is the authority that wc ought to ascribe 
 to them. 
 
100 DIALOG ES • ONCERNING ELOQUENCE. 
 
 C. This seems clear enough. I would there lore 
 have a clergyman (hefore he begin to preach) be thor- 
 oughly acquainted with the doctrine of the fathers, that 
 he may follow it. I would even have him study the 
 principles they laid down for their conduct ; their rules 
 of moderation; and their method of instruction. 
 
 A. Right ; they are our masters. They had an ex- 
 alted genius : they had great and pious souls, full of he- 
 roical sentiments. They had a singular knowledge of 
 the tempers and manners of men ; and acquired a great 
 repute ; and a very easy way of preaching. We even 
 find that many of them were very polite, and knew 
 whatever is decent, either in writing or speaking in pub- 
 lic; and what is handsome both in familiar conversation, 
 and in discharging the common duties of life. Doubt- 
 less all this must have conduced to render them elo- 
 quent ; and fit to gain upon people's minds. Accord- 
 ingly we find in their writings a politeness not only of 
 language, but of sentiments and manners ; which is not 
 to be seen in the writers of the following ages. This 
 just taste and discernment, (which agrees perfectly well 
 with simplicity, and rendered their persons acceptable, and 
 their behaviour engaging) was highly serviceable to re- 
 ligion. And in this point Ave can scarce imitate them 
 enough. So that after the scriptures, the knowledge of 
 the fathers will help a preacher to compose good ser- 
 mons. 
 
 C. When one has laid such a solid foundation, and 
 edified the church by his exemplary virtues; he would 
 then be fit to explain the gospel with great authority, 
 and good effect. For by familiar instructions, and use- 
 ful conferences, (to which we suppose him to have been 
 aucustomed betimes,) he must have attained a sufficient 
 
DIAL0GUE3 CONCERNING ELOQUENCE. 1 6' 1 
 
 freedom and easiness of speaking. Now if such pastors; 
 applied themselves to all the particular duties of their 
 function, as administering the sacraments ; directing pi- 
 ous souls ; and comforting afflicted, or dying persons ; 
 it is certain they could not have much time to make 
 elaborate sermons, and learn them word for word. 
 ' The mouth behoved to speak from the abundance of 
 the heart ;'* and communicate to the people the fulness 
 of gospel-knowledge, and the affecting sentiments of the 
 preacher. As for what you said yesterday, about getting 
 sermons by heart, I had the curiosity to seek out a passage 
 in St. Austin that I had read before : it is to this purpose : 
 1 He thinks that a preacher ought to speak in a more 
 plain and sensible manner than other people : for, seeing 
 custom and decency will not permit his hearers to ask 
 him any questions ; he should be afraid of not adapting 
 his discourse to their capacity. Wherefore,' says he, 
 ' they, who get their sermons by heart, word for word, 
 and so cannot repeat and explain a truth till they see 
 that their hearers understand it, must lose one great end 
 and benefit of preaching.' You see bv this, Sir, that St. 
 Austin only prepared his subject, without burdening his 
 memory with all the words of his sermons. Though the 
 precepts of true eloquence should require more ; yet the 
 rules of the gospel-ministry will not permit us to go far- 
 ther. As for my own part, I have been long of your 
 opinion concerning this matter ; because of the many 
 pressing necessities in the Christian church, that require 
 a pastor's continual application. While a priest, who 
 ought to be ' a man of God/f thoroughly furnished unto 
 all good works,' should be diligent in rooting out igno- 
 rance and offences from the field of the church ; I think 
 
 * Mattli. xii. 34. t 2 Tira. iii. 17, 
 
 21 
 
162 DIALOGUES CONCERNING ELOQJJEiV 
 
 it unworthy of him to waste his time in his closet, in 
 smoothing of periods ; giving delicate touches to his de- 
 scriptions ; and inventing quaint divisions. When one 
 falls into the method and employment of these pretty 
 preachers, he can have no time to do any thing else ; he 
 applies himself to no other business, or useful kind of 
 study : nay, to refresh himself, he is oftentimes forced 
 to preach the same sermons over and over again. But 
 what kind of eloquence can a preacher attend to, when 
 his hearers know beforehand all the expressions, and pa- 
 thetic figures he will use. This is a likely way indeed, 
 to surprise and astonish ; to soften, and move, and per- 
 suade them. This must be a strange manner of conceal- 
 ing one's art ; and of letting nature speak. To tell you 
 freely, Sir, this gives me great offence. What ! shall a 
 dispenser of the divine mysteries be an idle declaimer, 
 jealous of his reputation, and fond of vain pomp?* Shall 
 he not dare to speak of God to his people, without hav- 
 ing ranged all his words, and learned his lesson by heart 
 like a school boy ? 
 
 A. I am very much pleased with your zeal. What 
 you say is true. But we must not however inveigh 
 against this abuse with too much violence : for we ought 
 to show a regard to persons of worth and piety, who, out 
 of deference to custom, or being prepossessed by exam- 
 ple, have, with a good design, fallen into the method that 
 
 * Sed his ornatus (repetam enim) virilis, fortis et sanclus sit — non debet 
 quisquam ubi maxima rerum momenta versantur, de verbis esse sollicitus — prima 
 virtus est viliocarere. Igitur ante omnia, ne speremus ornatam orationem fore, 
 quae probabilia non erit. Probabile autem, Cicero id genus dicit, quod non plus, 
 minusve est quam decet. Non quia comi expolirique non debeat; nam et haec 
 ornatus pars est ; sed quia vitium est) ubique quod nimium est. Itaque vult 
 esse auctoritatem et pondus in verbis : Bententiej vcl graves, vcl aptas opinioni- 
 bus hominuin ac moribus. 
 
 QuintH. lib. viii. c. 3. 
 
DIALOGUES CONCERNING ELOQUENCE. 163 
 
 you justly censure. But I am ashamed to interrupt you 
 so often. Go on, I beseech you. 
 
 C. I would have a preacher explain the whole plan 
 of religion; and unfold every part of it, in the most in- 
 telligible manner ; by showing the primitive institution 
 of things ; and pointing out the sequel and tradition of 
 them : that, by showing the origin and establishment of 
 religion, he might destroy the objections of unbelievers, 
 without offering to attack them openly : lest he should 
 thereby lay a stumbling block in the way of illiterate, 
 well meaning Christians.* 
 
 * Particular care ought to be taken in expounding the scriptures to the peo- 
 ple, not to appear over-learned and over-critical in one's explications. There 
 is no occasion to obtrude on an audience, as some do, all the jarring interpreta- 
 tions given by different commentators, of which it is much better that the people 
 should remain ignorant, than that they should be apprized. For this knowledge 
 can serve no other purpose, than to distract their thoughts and perplex their 
 judgment. Before you begin to build, it is necessary to remove such impedi- 
 ments, as lie directly in your way ; but you could not account him other than a 
 very foolish builder, who should first collect a deal of rubbish, which w.as not in 
 his way, and consequently could not have obstructed his work, that he might 
 have the pleasure and merit of removing it. And do the fantastic, absurd, and 
 contradictory glosses of commentators deserve a better name than rubbish ? No, 
 surely. But if such absurd glosses are unknown to your congregation, they are 
 rubbish which lies not in your way. No interpretation therefore or gloss should 
 ever be mentioned in order to be refuted, unless it be such a3 the words them- 
 selves on a superficial view, might seem to countenance, or such as is generally 
 known to the people to be put upon them by some interpreters, or sects of Chris- 
 tians. Where a false gloss cannot be reasonably supposed to be either known 
 or thought of by the audience, it is in the preacher worse, than being idly ostenta- 
 tious of his learning, to introduce such erroneous gloss or comment. And as to an 
 excess of criticism in this exercise, it ought also doubtless carefully to be avoid- 
 ed. We must always remember the difference between a church and a college. 
 In most christian congregations there are very few, if any, linguists. I do not 
 say that in our lectures we ought never to mention the original or recur to it. 
 Justice to the passage we explain may sometimes require it. Nor is it necessa- 
 ry, that our translators should be deemed infallible even by the multitude, it is 
 enough, that we consider as the pure dictates of the Spirit those intimations, 
 with which the prophets and apostles were inspired. But then, on the other 
 hand, it is neither modest nor prudent in the preacher, especially if a young man, 
 to be at every turn censuring the translators, and pretending to mend their ver 
 
164 DIALOGUES CONCERNING ELOQUENCE. 
 
 A. That is very right. The best way of proving the 
 truth of religion, is to explain it justly; for it carries its 
 own evidence along with it, when we represent it in its 
 native purity. All other proofs that are not drawn from 
 the very foundation of religion itself, and the manner of 
 its propagation, are but foreign to it. Thus, for instance, 
 the best proof of the creation of the world, of the del- 
 uge, and the miracles of Moses, may be drawn from the 
 nature of those miracles ; and the artless, impartial man- 
 ner in which the Mosaic history is written. A wise, un- 
 prejudiced person needs only to read it, to be fully con- 
 vinced of its truth. 
 
 sion. It is not modest, as they, over whom the corrector assumes a superiority, 
 are allowed on all hands to have heen men of eminent talents and erudition. 
 And it is not prudent, as this practice never fails to produce in the minds of the 
 people a want of confidence in their Bible, which tends greatly to lessen its au- 
 thority. Therefore, though I am by no means for ascribing infallibility to any 
 human expositors, propriety requires, that we should neither too often, nor too 
 abruptly tax with blundering, before such a promiscuous audience as our con- 
 gregations commonly are, men of so respectable memory. Manly freedom of 
 inquiry, becoming a protestant, becoming a Briton, tempered with that decent 
 reserve which 6uits the humble Christian, will guard the judicious against both 
 extremes, an overweaning conceit of his own abilities, and an implicit faith in 
 those of others. And indeed in regard to every thing, which may be introduced 
 either in the way of criticism or comment, it ought ever to be remembered, that 
 it is not enough, that such an observation is just, that such an interpretation hath 
 actually been given, or that such an opinion hath been maintained; the previous 
 inquiry, which the preacher ought to make by himself is, whether it be of any 
 consequence to the people to be informed of the observation, comment, or opin- 
 ion. This inquiry impartially made will prove a check against the immoder- 
 ate indulgence of what is perhaps the natural bent of his own genius, whether it 
 be to critical or controversial disquisition, and which it is not always easy for 
 youth, commonly impetuous and opinionative, duly to restrain. If on other oc- 
 casions, more especially on this, the apostolical admonition ought to be sacredly 
 observed, that " nothing proceed out of the speaker's mouth, but that which is 
 good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace to the hearers." But 
 for our direction in this kind of discernment, no precepts, it must be acknow- 
 ledged, will suffice. A fund of good sense is absolutely necessary, enlightened 
 by a knowledge of mankind. In this, as in every other kind of composition, the 
 ipaxim of the poet invariably holds, 
 
 ^crjbendi recte sapere est principium et fons. 
 
 Campbell on pulpit eloquence. 
 
DIALOGUES CONCERNING ELOQUENCE. 165 
 
 C. I would likewise have a preacher assiduously ex- 
 plain to the people in a connected train not only all the 
 particular precepts and mysteries of the gospel, but like- 
 wise the origin and institution of the sacraments ; the 
 traditions, discipline, the liturgy, and ceremonies of the 
 church. By these instructions he would guard the faith- 
 ful against the objections of heretics ; and enable them 
 to give an account of their faith ; and even to affect such 
 heretics as are not obstinate : he would strengthen peo- 
 ple's faith, give them an exalted notion of religion; and 
 make them receive some edification and benefit from 
 what they see in the church. Whereas with the super- 
 ficial instruction that is generally given them at present, 
 they comprehend little or nothing of what they see ; and 
 have but a very confused idea of what they hear from 
 the preacher. It is chiefly for the sake of this connect- 
 ed scheme of instruction that I would have fixed persons, 
 such as pastors, to preach in every parish. I have of- 
 ten observed that there is no art, nor science, that is not 
 taught coherently by principles and method, in a con- 
 nected train of instructions. Religion is the only thing 
 that is not taught thus to Christians. In their childhood 
 they have a little, dry catechism put into their hands, 
 which they learn by rote, without understanding the sense 
 of it. And after that, they have no other instruction but 
 what they can gather from sermons upon unconnected, 
 general subjects. I would therefore, (as you said) have 
 preachers teach people the first principles of their relig- 
 ion ; and, by a due method, lead them on to the highest 
 mysteries of it. 
 
 A. That was the ancient way. They began with 
 catechising; after which, pastors taught their people the 
 several doctrines of the gospel, in n connected tram of 
 
I(3G DIALOGUES CONCERNING ELOQUENCE. 
 
 homilies. This instructed Christians fully in the word of 
 God : you know St. Austin's book, of ' catechising the ig~ 
 norant ;' and St. Clement's tract, which lie composed, to 
 show the heathen whom he converted what were the 
 doctrines and manners of the christian philosophy. In 
 those days the greatest men were employed in these cat- 
 echetical instructions ; and accordingly they produced 
 such wonderful effects, as seem quite incredible to us. 
 
 C. In fine, I would have every preacher make such 
 sermons as should not be too troublesome to him ; that 
 so he might be able to preach often. They ought there- 
 fore to be short ; that without fatiguing himself or wea- 
 rying the people he might preach every Sunday after 
 the gospel. As far as we can judge, those aged bishops 
 who lived in former times, and had constant labours to 
 employ them, did not make such a stir as our modern 
 preachers do in talking to the people in the midst of di- 
 vine service ; which the bishops themselves read solemn- 
 ly every Lord's day.* A preacher now-a-days gets little 
 credit unless he comes out of the pulpit sweating and 
 breathless; and unable to do any thing the rest of the 
 day. The bishop's upper vestment, (which was not then 
 
 * A clergyman must bring his mind to an inward and feeling sense of those 
 things that are prayed for in our offices : this will make him pronounce them with 
 an equal measure of gravity and affection ; and with a due slowness and empha- 
 sis. I do not love the theatrical way of the church of Rome, in which it is a 
 great study, and a long practice, to learn in every one of their offices, how they 
 ought to compose their looks, gesture, and voice ; yet a light wandering of the 
 eyes, and a hasty running through the prayers, are tilings highly unbecoming: 
 they very much lesson the majesty of our worship ; and give our enemies advan- 
 tage to call it dead and formal ; when they sec plainly that he who officiates, is 
 dead and formal in it. A deep sense of the things prayed for, a true recollec- 
 tion and attention of spirit, and a holy earnestness of soul, will give a composure 
 to the look, and a weight to the pronunciation, that will be tempered between 
 affectation on the one hand, r.nd levity on the other. 
 
 Discourse of the pastoral care, ch. viii. 
 
DIALOGUES CONCERNING ELOQUENCE. 167 
 
 opened at the shoulders as it is now, but hung equally 
 down on all sides,) probably hindered him from moving 
 his arms, as some preachers do. So that as their sermons 
 were short, so their action must have been grave and 
 moderate. Now, Sir, is not all this agreeable to your 
 principles ? is not this the idea you gave us of good 
 preaching ? 
 
 A. It is not mine : it is the current notion of all an- 
 tiquity. The farther I inquire into this matter, the more 
 I am convinced that the ancient form of sermons was the 
 most perfect. The primitive pastors were great men: 
 they were not only very holy, but they had a complete, 
 clear knowledge of religion, and of the best way to per- 
 suade men of its truth : and they took care to regulate 
 all the circumstances of it. There is a great deal of 
 wisdom, hidden under this air of simplicity : and we ought 
 not to believe that a better method could have been af- 
 terwards found out. You have set this whole matter in 
 the best light, and have left me nothing to add : indeed 
 you have explained my thoughts better than I should 
 have done myself. 
 
 B. You magnify the eloquence, and the sermons of 
 the fathers mightily. 
 
 A. I do not think that I commend them too much. 
 
 B. I am surprised to see, that after you have been so 
 severe against those orators, who mix turns of wit with 
 their discourses, you should be so indulgent to the fath- 
 ers, whose writings are full of jingling antitheses, and 
 quibbles, entirely contrary to all your rules. I wish you 
 would be consistent with yourself. Pray, Sir, unfold all 
 this to us. Particularly, what do you think' of Tertul- 
 lian ? 
 
 J. There arc many excellent things in him. The 
 
168 DIALOGUES CONCERNING ELOQUENCE. 
 
 loftiness of his sentiments is oftentimes admirable. Be v 
 sides, he should be read for the sake of some principles 
 concerning tradition, some historical facts, and the disci- 
 pline of his time. But as for his style, I do not pretend 
 to justify it. He has many false and obscure notions, 
 many harsh and perplexed metaphors; and the gener- 
 ality of readers are most fond of his faults. He has 
 spoiled many preachers.* For, the desire of saying 
 something that is singular leads them to study his works ;t 
 
 * One of the greatest and most remarkable proofs of the strong influence that 
 jorne imaginations have over others, is the power that some others have to per- 
 suade, without any proof. For example, the turn of words that we find in Ter- 
 tullian, Seneca, Montaigne, and some other authors, has so many charms, and 
 so much lustre, that they dazzle most readers — their words, however insignifi- 
 cant, have more force than the reasons of other people — I protest I have a great 
 value for some of Tertullian's works ; and chiefly for his Apology against the 
 Gentiles; his book of Prescriptions against heretics ; and for some passages of 
 Seneca ; though I have very little esteem for Montaigne. Tertullian was indeed 
 a man of great learning ; but he had more memory than judgment — the regard 
 he shewed to the visions of Montanus, and his prophetesses, is an unquestionable 
 proof of his weak judgment. The disorder of his imagination sensibly appears 
 in the heat, the transports, and enthusiastic flights he falls into, upon trifling sub- 
 jects — what could he infer from his pompous descriptions of the changes that 
 happen in the world? Or how could they justify his laying aside his usual dress 
 to wear the philosophical cloak ? The moon has different phases ; the year has 
 several seasons ; the fields change their appearance in summer and winter ; 
 whole provinces are drowned by inundations, or swallowed up by earthquakes — 
 in fine, all nature is subject to changes ; therefore he had reason to wear the 
 cloak rather than the common robe ! — nothing can excuse the silly arguments 
 and wild fancies of this author, who, in several others of his works, as well as in 
 that de Pallio, says every thing that comes into his head, if it be a far fetched 
 conceit, or a bold expression ; by which he hoped to show the vigour, (we must 
 rather call it, the disorder) of his imagination. .Maleb ranchers recherche de la 
 vtrite. Lie. ii. p. 3. c. 3. 
 
 t Eccentricity is sometimes found connected with genius, but it does not coa- 
 lesce with true wisdom. Hence men of the first order of intellect, have never 
 betrayed it ; and hence also men of secondary talents drop it as they grow 
 wiser ; and are satisfied to found their consequence on real and solid excellency, 
 not on peculiarity and extravagance. They are content to awaken regard, and 
 obtain applause by the rectitude and gracefulness of their going, rather than to 
 make passengers stare and laugh by leaping over the wall or stumbling along the 
 
DIALOGUES CONCERNING ELOQUENCE. 169 
 
 and his uncommon pompous style dazzles them. We 
 must, therefore, beware of imitating his thoughts or ex- 
 pressions, and only pick out his noble sentiments, and 
 the knowledge of antiquity. 
 
 B. What say you of St. Cyprian ? Is not his style 
 too swelling ? 
 
 A. I think it is ; and it could scarce be otherwise in 
 his age and country. But though his language has a 
 tang of the African roughness, and the bombast which 
 prevailed in his days ; yet there is great force and elo- 
 quence in it. Every where we see a great soul, who 
 expresseth his sentiments in a very noble, moving man- 
 ner. In some places of his works we find affected orna- 
 ments f especially in his epistle to Donatus ; which St 
 Austin quotes, however, as a letter full of eloquence. He 
 says, that God permitted those strokes of vain oratory 
 to fall from St. Cyprian's pen, to show posterity how 
 much the spirit of christian simplicity had, in his follow- 
 ing works, retrenched the superfluous ornaments of his 
 style ; and reduced it within the bounds of a grave and 
 modest eloquence. This, says St. Austin, is the ristin- 
 
 road. True greatness is serious ; trifling is beneath its dignity. We are more 
 indebted to the regular, sober, constant course of the sun, than to the glare of 
 the comet ; the one indeed occupies our papers, but the other enriches our fields 
 and gardens ; we gaze at the strangeness of the one, but we live by the influ- 
 of the other. Jay. 
 
 * Locus enim cum die convenit, et mulcendis sensibus, ac fovendis, ad lenes 
 auras blaodientis autumni hortorum facies amcena consentit. Hie jucundum 
 sermonibus diem ducere, et studentibus fabulis in divina prrecepta conscientiam 
 pectoris erudirc. Ac ne colloquium nostrum arbiter profanus impediat, aut cla- 
 mor intemperans familiar strepentis obtundat, petamu3 hanc sedem. Dant seces- 
 sum vicina secreta, ubi dum erratici palmitum lapsus nexibus pendulis per arun- 
 dines bajulus repunt, vileam porticum frondea tecta fecerunt; bene hie studia ia 
 aures damus ; et dum in arbores, et in vites quas videmus, oblectante prospectu, 
 oculos arweoamua, animum simul et auditus instruit, et pascit obtutus. 
 
 C-iipr. Ad Donnt, EpisL 
 
 22 
 
170 DIALOGUES CONCERNING ELOQUENCE. 
 
 guishing character of all the Letters which St. Cyprian 
 wrote afterwards ; which we may safely admire and 
 imitate, as being written according to the severest rules 
 of religion ; though we cannot hope to come up to them 
 without a great application. In fine ; though his letter 
 to Donatus, even in St. Austin's opinion, be too elabo- 
 rately adorned ; it deserves, however, to be called elo- 
 quent. For, notwithstanding its many rhetorical embel- 
 lishments, we cannot but perceive that a great part of 
 the epistle is very serious and lively ; and most proper 
 to give Donatus a noble idea of Christianity. In those 
 passages where he is very earnest, he neglects all turns 
 of wit, and falls into a sublime and vehement strain. 
 
 B. But what do you think of St. Austin ? Is he not 
 the most jingling quibbler that ever wrote ?* Will you 
 defend him ? 
 
 A. No; I cannot vindicate him in that. It was the 
 reigning fault of his time ; to which his quick, lively 
 fancy naturally inclined him. This shows that he was 
 not a perfect orator. But notwithstanding this defect, 
 he httd a great talent for persuasion. He reasoned gen- 
 
 * Misi nuncios meos omnes et sensus interiores, ut quaererem te, et non inve- 
 ai, quia male quaerebam. Video enim, lux mea, Deus qui illuminasti me, quia 
 te per illos quaerebam quia tu es intus, et tamen ipsi ubi intraveris, nescive- 
 runt — et tamen cum Deum meum quaero, quasro nihilominus quandara lucem, 
 quam non capit oculus ; quandam vocem super omnem vocem, quam non capit 
 auris ; quendam odorem super omnem odorem, quern non capit naris ; quendara 
 dulcorem superomnem dulcorem, quern non capit gestus ; quendam amplexum 
 super omnem amplexum, quern non capit tactus. Ista lux quidem fulget ubi 
 locus non capit ; ista vox sonat, ubi spiritus non rapit ; odor isle redolet, ubi 
 flatus, non spargit ; sapor iste 3apit ubi non estedacitas ; amplexus iste tangitur, 
 ubi non divellitur. Aug. Solil. i. 31. 
 
 O dies prasclara etpulchra, nesciens vesperum, non habeas occasum — ubi non 
 erit hostis impugnans, neque ulla illecebra, sed suinma et cerla securitas, secu- 
 ra trauquillitas, et tranquilla jocundifas, jocunda felicitas, frclix a;ternitas, aeter? 
 na beatitudo, et beata Triuitas, et Tiinitatis unitas, et unitatis Deitas, et Dei- 
 tatis beata vitio, quae est gaudiura Domini Dei tui. Aug. Solil. }. 35. 
 
DIALOGUES CONCERNING ELOQUENCE. 171 
 
 erally with great force ; and he is full of noble notions. 
 He knew the heart of man entirely well, and was so 
 polite, that he carefully observed the strictest decency 
 in all his discourses. In short he expressed himself al- 
 most always in a pathetic, gentle, insinuating manner. 
 Now ought not the fault we observe in so great a man 
 to be forgiven? 
 
 C. I must own there is one thing in him that I never 
 observed in any other writer : I mean, that he has a 
 moving way, even when he quibbles. None of his 
 works are more full of jingling turns, than his confessions, 
 and soliloquies ; and yet we must own they are tender,* 
 and apt to affect the reader. 
 
 A. It is because he checks the turns of his fancy as 
 much as he can by the ingenuous simplicity of his pious, 
 affecting sentiments. All his works plainly show his 
 love of God. He was not only conscious of it ; but knew 
 well how to express to others the strong sense he had 
 of it. Now this tender, affecting way, is a part of elo- 
 quence. But we see besides that St. Austin knew ex- 
 actly all the essential rules of it. He tells ust that a 
 persuasive discourse must be simple and natural ; that 
 art must not appear in it ; and that if it be too fine and 
 elaborate, it puts the hearers upon their guard.J To 
 
 * Quemadmoduni desiderat cervus ad fontes aquarum, ita desiderat anima 
 mea ad te, Deu9. Sitivit anima mea ad te Deum, fontem vivum ; quando ve- 
 niam et apparebo ante faciem tuam ? O fons vitre, vena aquarum viventium ; 
 quando veniam ad aquas dulcedinis tux de terra deserta, invia et inaquosa ; ut 
 videam virtutem tuam, et gloriam tuam, et saliem ex aquis misericordiae tua; 
 sitim meam ? sitio, Dcmine, fons vitae es, salia me. Sitio, Domine, sitio te 
 Deum vivum ; O quando veniam et apparebo, Domine, ante faciem tuam ? 
 
 Aug. Solil. cap. xxxv. 
 i De doct. Chr. 1, 2. 
 
 \ "There is a false eloquence, in being ambitious to say every thing with 
 spirit, and turn all things with delicacy. — If you would attain to true eloquence, 
 you must first lay aside the passion for appearing eloquent. So long as you have 
 vain, ambitious view3, you wiil never preach well, and you will never become 
 truly eloquent." OslcrvaWs Led. iv. 
 
112 DIALOGUES CONCERNING ELOQUENCE. 
 
 /Ins purpose lie applies these words; which you cannot 
 but remember, 'qui sophistice loquitur odibilis est.' He 
 talks likewise very judiciously of the mixing different 
 kinds of style in a discourse ; of ranging the sev- 
 eral parts of it in such a manner as to make it in- 
 crease gradually in strength and evidence; of the neces- 
 sity of being plain and familiar, even as to the tones of 
 the voice, and our actions in particular passages ; though 
 every thing we say should still have a dignity when we 
 preach religion. In fine, he likewise shows the way to 
 awaken and move people. These arc St. Austin's no- 
 tions of eloquence. But if you w r ould see with how 
 much art he actually influenced people's minds, and with 
 what address he moved their passions, according to the 
 true design of eloquence ; you must read the account he 
 gives oi a discourse he made to the people of Csesarea, 
 in Mauritania, in order to abolish a barharous practice. 
 It seems there prevailed among them an ancient custom, 
 which they had carried to a monstrous pitch of cru- 
 elty. His business therefore was to draw off the peo- 
 ple from a spectacle that delighted them extremely. 
 Judge now what a difficult enterprise this was. However, 
 he tells us that after he had talked to them for some 
 time, they spake aloud and applauded him. 
 
 But he concluded that his discourse had not persuaded 
 them, seeing they amused themselves in commending 
 him. He thought he had done nothing while he only 
 raised delight and admiration in his hearers ; nor did he 
 begin to hope for any good effect from his discourse, till 
 he saw them weep. ' ; In effect," says he, " the people 
 were at length prevailed on to give up this delightful 
 spectacle ; nor has it been renewed these eight years." 
 Js not St. Austin then a true orator? Have we any 
 preachers that are able to talk so powerfully now ? As 
 
DIALOGUES CONCERNING ELOQUENCE. 173 
 
 for St. Jerom, he has some faults in his style : but his 
 expressions are manly and great. He is not regular ; 
 but he is far more eloquent than most of those who val- 
 ue themselves upon their oratory. We should judge 
 like mere grammarians if we examined only the style 
 and language of the fathers. You know there is a great, 
 diiference between eloquence, and what we call ele- 
 gance, or purity, of style. St. Ambrose likewise fell in- 
 to the fashionable defects of his time ; and gives his 
 discourse such ornaments as were then in vogue. Per- 
 haps these great men, (who had higher views than the 
 common rules of rhetoric,) conformed themselves to the 
 prevailing taste of the age they lived in, that they might 
 the better insinuate the truths of religion upon people's 
 minds, by engaging them to hear the word of God with 
 pleasure. But notwithstanding the puns and quibbles 
 that St. Ambrose sometimes uses, we see that he wrote 
 to Theodosius with an inimitable force and persuasion. 
 How much tenderness does he express when he speaks 
 of the death of his brother Satyrus ? In the Roman 
 breviary we have a discourse of his, concerning John 
 the Baptist's head, which, he says, Herod respected and 
 dreaded, even after his death. If you observe that dis- 
 course, you will find the end of it very sublime. St. 
 Leo's style is swelling, but truly noble. Pope Gregory 
 lived still in a worse age : and yet he wrote several 
 things with much strength and dignity. We ought to 
 distinguish those failings into which the degeneracy of 
 arts and learning led these great men, in common with 
 other writers of their several ages ; and at the same 
 time observe what their genius and sentiments furnish- 
 ed them with, to persuade their hearers. 
 
 C. But do you think then that the taste of eloquence 
 
1 74 DIALOGUES CONCERNING ELOQUENCE. 
 
 was quite lost in those ages that were so happy for re- 
 ligion? 
 
 A. Yes : within a little time after the reign of Au- 
 gustus, eloquence, and the Latin tongue began to de- 
 cline apace. The fathers did not live till after this cor- 
 ruption; so that we must not look on them as complete 
 models. We must even acknowledge that most of the 
 sermons they have left us are composed with less skill 
 and force, than their other works. When I showed you 
 from the testimony of the fathers that the scripture is 
 eloquent ; (which you seemed to believe upon their 
 credit ;) I knew very well that the oratory of these 
 witnesses, is much inferior to that of sacred writino-s 
 themselves. But there are some persons of such a de- 
 praved taste, that they cannot relish the beauties of 
 Isaiah ; and yet they will admire Chrysclogus ; in whom, 
 (notwithstanding his fine name,) there is little to be 
 found besides abundance of evangelical piety couched 
 under numberless quibbles, and low witticisms. In the 
 east, the just way of speaking and writing was better 
 preserved ; and the Greek tongue continued for some 
 time, almost in its ancient purity. St. Chrysostom spake 
 it very well. His style, you know, is copious ; but he 
 did not study false ornaments. All his discourse tends 
 to persuasion ; he placed every thing with judgment ; 
 and was well acquainted with the holy scripture, and 
 the manners of men. He entered into their hearts ; and 
 rendered things familiarly sensible to them. He had 
 sublime and solid notions; and is sometimes very affect- 
 ing. Upon the whole, we must own he is a great orator.* 
 
 * What are you doing, wicked wretch ? You require an oath on the holy 
 Inhle; and you sacrifice cruelly your brother on the same altar where Jesus 
 ' ijrist, who sacrificed himself for you, lies ? Thieves assassinate, but then they 
 do it in secret ; but you, in presence of the church, our common parent, murder 
 
DIALOGUES CONCERNING ELOQUENCE. 1*75 
 
 St. Gregory Nazianzen is more concise, and more poetic- 
 al ; but not quite so persuasive. And yet he has sever- 
 al moving passages ; particularly in his funeral oration 
 upon his brother St. Basil ; and in his last discourse at 
 taking leave of Constantinople. St. Basil is grave, sen- 
 tentious, and rigid, even in his style. He had meditat- 
 ed profoundly on all the truths of the gospel ; he knew 
 exactly all the disorders and weaknesses of human nature; 
 and he had a great sagacity in the conduct of souls. 
 There is nothing more eloquent than his epistle to a vir- 
 gin that had fallen ; in my opinion it is a masterpiece. 
 But now if a preacher should not have formed his taste 
 in these matters before he studies the fathers, he will 
 be in danger of copying the most unaccurate parts of 
 their works; and may perhaps imitate their chief defects 
 in the sermons he composes. 
 
 one of her children, in which you are more wicked than Cain ; for he concealed 
 his guilt in the desert, and only deprived his brother of a transitory life ; but 
 yon plunge your neighbour into everlasting death, and that in the midst of the 
 temple, and before the face of the Creator ! Was then the Lord's house built 
 for swearing, and not for prayer ? Is the sacred altar to occasion the commit- 
 ting of crimes, instead of expiating them? But if every other religious senti- 
 ment is extinguished in you, revere, at least, the holy book, with which you 
 present your brother to swear upon. Open the holy gospel, on which you are 
 going to make him swear, and upon hearing what Christ Jesus say3 of swearing, 
 tremble and withdraw. And what does Christ say there ? " It has been said 
 by them of old time, thou shalt not forswear thyself. . . . But I say unto you, 
 swear not at all." How! you make people swear on that very book which 
 forbids the taking of oaths! Impious procedure ! Horrid sacrilege ! This is 
 making the legislator, who condemns murder, an accomplice in the guilt of it. 
 1 shed fewer tears when I hear that a person has been murdered on the high- 
 way, than when I see a man go up to the altar, lay his hand on the holy book of 
 the gospels, and take his oath aloud. On this occasion, it is impossible for me 
 to keep from changing colour, from trembling, and shivering, both for him who 
 administers, and for lum who takes the oath. Miserable wretch ! to secure to 
 thyself a doubtful sum of monej r , thou losest thy soul ! Can the benefit thou 
 reapest, be put in competition with thine and thy brother's loss ? If thouknow- 
 est, that he from whom thou exactest an oath is a good man, why then art thou 
 not contented with his word? But if he is not, why dost thou force him to for- 
 swear himself? Chrysostom against oaths, llomil. xv. ad Pop. Jlntioch. 
 
176 DIALOGUES CONCERNING ELOQUENCE. 
 
 C. But how long continued this false eloquence which 
 succeeded the true kind ? 
 
 A. Till now. 
 
 C. What do you mean? Till now? 
 
 A. Yes, till now : for we have not yet corrected our 
 taste of eloquence, so much as we imagine. You will 
 soon perceive the reason of it. The barbarous nations 
 that overran the Roman empire, did spread ignorance 
 and a bad taste every where. Now we descended from 
 them. And though learning began to revive in the fif- 
 teenth century ; it recovered then but slowly. It was 
 with great difficulty that we were brought by degrees 
 to have any relish of a right manner : and even now, 
 how many are there who have no notion of it ? How- 
 ever, we ought to show a due respect not only to the 
 fathers but to other pious authors, who wrote during this 
 long interval of ignorance. From them we learn the 
 traditions of their time, and several other useful instruc- 
 tions. I am quite ashamed of giving my judgment so 
 freely on this point : but, gentlemen, ye desired me. 
 And I shall be very ready to own my mistakes if any 
 one will undeceive me. But it is time to put an end to 
 this conversation. 
 
 C. We cannot part with you till you give us your 
 opinion about the manner of choosing a text. 
 
 Jl. You know very well that the use of texts arose 
 from the ancient custom that preachers observed, in not. 
 delivering their own reflections to the people ; but only 
 explaining the words of the sacred text. However by 
 degrees they came to leave off this way of expounding 
 the whole words of the gospel that was appointed for 
 the day ; and discoursed only upon one part of it, which 
 they called the text of the sermon. Now if a preacher 
 
DIALOGUES CONCERNING ELOQ,UEN< 177 
 
 does not make an exact explication of the whole gospel, 
 or epistle, he ought at least to choose those words that 
 are most important ; and best suited to the wants and 
 capacities of the people. He ought to explain them 
 well ; and to give a right notion of what is meant by a 
 single word, it is oft times necessary to expound many 
 others in the context. But there should be nothing re- 
 fined or far fetched in such instructions. It must look 
 very strange and awkward in a preacher to set up for 
 wit and delicacv of invention, when he ous;ht to sneak 
 with the utmost seriousness and gravity ; out of regard 
 to the authority of the Holy Spirit, whose words he bor- 
 rows. 
 
 C. I must confess I always disliked a forced text. 
 Have you not observed that a preacher draws from a text, 
 whatever sermon he pleases ? He insensibly warps and 
 bends his subject to make the text fit the sermon that 
 he has occasion to preach. This is frequently done in 
 the time of Lent. I cannot approve of it. 
 
 B. Before we conclude, I must beg of you to satisfy 
 me as to one point that still puzzles me, and after that 
 we will let you go. 
 
 A. Come, then ; let us hear what it is. I have a 
 great mind to satisfy you if I can. For I heartily wish 
 you would employ your parts in making plain and per- 
 suasive sermons. 
 
 B. You would have a preacher explain the holy 
 scriptures with connexion, according to the obvious sense 
 of them. 
 
 A. Yes ; that would be an excellent method. 
 
 B. Whence then did it proceed that the fathers in- 
 terpreted the scripture quite otherwise ? They usually 
 give a spiritual, and allegorical meaning to the sacred 
 
 23 
 
1 78 DIALOGUES CONCERNING ELOQUENCE. 
 
 text Read St. Austin, St. Ambrose, St. Jcrom, Origen, 
 and others of the fathers : they find mysteries every 
 where, and seldom regard the letter of the scripture.* 
 
 A. The Jews that lived in our Saviours days abound- 
 ed in these mysterious allegorical interpretations. It 
 seems that the Therapeuta? who lived chiefly at Alexan- 
 dria, (and whom Philo reckoned to be philosophical Jews, 
 though Eusebius supposes they were primitive Chris- 
 tians,) were extremely addicted to these mystical inter- 
 pretations. And indeed it was in the city of Alexandria 
 that allegories began to appear with credit among Chris- 
 tians. Origen was the first of the fathers who forsook the 
 literal sense of scripture. You know what disturbance he 
 occasioned in the church. Piety itself seemed to re- 
 commend these allegorical interpretations. And besides 
 there is something in them very agreeable, ingenious, and 
 edifying. Most of the fathers, to gratify the humour of 
 the people (and probably their own too) made great use 
 of them. But they kept faithfully to the literal, and the 
 prophetical sense (which in its kind is literal too) in all 
 points where they had occasion to show the foundations 
 of the christian doctrine. When the people were fully 
 instructed in every thing they could learn from the letter 
 of scripture; the fathers gave them those mystical inter- 
 pretations to edify and comfort them. These explications 
 were exactly adapted to the relish of the eastern people, 
 among whom they first arose : for, they are naturally fond 
 of mysterious and allegorical language. They were the 
 more delighted with this variety of interpretations, be- 
 cause of the frequent preaching, and almost constant 
 reading of scripture, which was used in the church. But 
 
 * See note A. at the end of the extract from Fenelon's Letter to the French 
 Academy. 
 
DIALOGUES CONCERNING ELOQUENCE. 179 
 
 among us the people are far less instructed ; we must 
 do what is most necessary ; and begin with the literal 
 sense ; without despising the pious explications that the 
 fathers gave. We must take care of providing our dai- 
 ly bread ; before we seek after delicacies. In interpret- 
 ing scripture we cannot do better that to imitate the so- 
 lidity of St. Chrysostom. Most of our modern preach- 
 ers do not study allegorical meanings, because they have 
 sufficiently explained the literal sense ; but they forsake 
 it, because they do not perceive its grandeur ; and reck- 
 on it dry and barren in comparison of their way of preach- 
 ing. But we have all the truths and duties of religion 
 m the letter of the scripture, delivered not only with au- 
 thority, and a singular beauty, but with an inexhaustible 
 variety ; so that without having recourse to mystical in- 
 terpretations, a preacher may always have a great num- 
 ber of new and noble things to say. It is a deplorable 
 thing to see how much this sacred treasure is neglected 
 even by those who have it always in their hands. If the 
 clergy applied themselves to the ancient way of making 
 homilies, we should then have two different sorts of 
 preachers. They who have no vivacity, or a poetical 
 genius, would explain the scriptures clearly, without im- 
 itating its lively, noble manner ; and if they expounded 
 the word of God judiciously, and supported their doc- 
 trine by an exemplary life, they would be very good 
 preachers. They would have what St. Ambrose requires, 
 a chaste, simple, clear style, full of weight and gravity ; 
 without affecting elegance, or despising the smoothness 
 and graces of language. The other sort, having a poet- 
 ical turn of mind would explain the scripture in its own 
 style and figures ; and by that means become accomplish- 
 ed preachers. One sort would instruct people with clear 
 
180 DIALOGUES CONCERNING ELOQUENCE. 
 
 ness, force, and dignity ; and the other would add to this 
 powerful instruction, the sublimity, the enthusiasm,* and 
 vehemence of scripture ; so that it would (if J may so 
 say) be entire, and living in them, as much as it can be 
 in men who are not miraculously inspired from above. 
 
 B. Oh, Sir ; I had almost forgot an important arti- 
 cle. Have a moment's patience, I beseech you; a few 
 words will satisfy me. 
 
 A. What now ? Have you any body else to censure? 
 
 B. Yes ; the panegyrists. Do you think that when 
 they praise a saint, they ought so to give his character, 
 as to reduce all his actions and all his virtues to one 
 point ? 
 
 A. That shows the orator's invention and refined 
 
 sense. 
 
 B. I understand you. It seems you do not like that 
 method. 
 
 * Inspiration may be justly called divine enthusiasm — for inspiration is a real 
 feeling of the divine presence ; and enthusiasm a false one. Characteristics, Vol. 
 i.p. 53. 
 
 This is what our author advances, when in behalf of ciithusiasm he quotes 
 its formal enemies, and shows that they are as capable of it as its greatest con- 
 fessors and martyrs. So far is he from degrading enthusiasm, or disclaiming it 
 in himself, that he looks upon this passion, simply considered, as the most na- 
 tural ; and its object, the justest in the world. Even virtue itself he takes to be 
 no other than a noble enthusiasm, justly directed and regulated by that high 
 standard which he supposes in the nature of things — nor is thorough honesty, in 
 his hypothesis, any other than this zeal, or passion, moving strongly upon the 
 species, or view of the decorum and sublime of actions. Others may pursue 
 different forms, and fix their eye on different species, (as all men do on one or 
 other ;) the real honest man, however plain or simple he appears, has that high- 
 est species [the honeslum, pulchrum, to kccXov Trgtzrov] honesty itself in view ; 
 and, instead of outward forms or symmetries, is struck with that of inward 
 character, the harmony, and numbers of the heart, and beauty of the affections, 
 which form the manners, and conduct of a truly social life — upon the whole 
 therefore, according to our author, enthusiasm is in itself, a very natural, honest 
 passion, and has properly nothing for its object but what is good and honest. 
 
 Char. Vol. iii. Miscel. 2. eh. 1 , 
 
DIALOGUES CONCERNING ELOQUENCE. 181 
 
 A. I think it wrong in most cases. He must put a 
 force upon things, who reduces them all to a single point. 
 There arc many actions of one's life that flow from divers 
 principles, and plainly show that he possessed very dif- 
 ferent qualities. The way of referring all the steps of 
 a man's conduct to one cause, is but a scholastic subtilty, 
 which shows that the orator is far from knowing human 
 nature. The true way to draw a just character, is to 
 paint the whole man, and to set him before the hearer's 
 eyes, speaking and acting. In describing the course of 
 his life, the preacher should chiefly point out those pas- 
 sages wherein either his natural temper, or his piety best, 
 appeared. But there should always be something left 
 to the hearer's own observation. The best way of prais- 
 ing holy persons is to recount their laudable actions. 
 This gives a body and force to a panegyric : this is what 
 instructs people ; and makes an impression upon their 
 minds. But it frequently happens that they return home 
 without knowing any thing of a person's life, about whom 
 they have heard an hour's discourse : or at least they 
 have heard many remarks upon a few separate facts, 
 related without any connexion. On the contrary a preach- 
 er ought to paint a person to the life ; and show what 
 he was in every period, in every condition, and in the 
 most remarkable junctures of his life. This could not 
 hinder one from forming a character of him: nay, it might 
 be better collected from his actions, and his words, than 
 from general thoughts, and imaginary design:-. 
 
 B. You would choose then to give the history of a 
 holy person's life, and not make a panegyric. 
 
 A. No ; you mistake me. I would not make a sim- 
 ple narration. I should think it enough to give a cohe- 
 rent view of the chief facts in a concise, lively, close, pa- 
 
182 DIALOGUES CONCERNING ELOQUENCE. 
 
 thetic manner. Every thine; should help to give a just 
 idea of the holy person I praised ; and at the same time 
 to give proper instruction to the hearers. To this I 
 would add such moral reflections, as I should think most 
 suitable. Now do not you think that such a discourse as 
 this would have a noble and amiable simplicity? Do not 
 you believe that the lives of holy people would be bet- 
 ter understood this way, and an audience be more edified 
 than they generally are ? Do you not think that accord- 
 ing to the rules of eloquence we laid doAvn, such a dis- 
 course would even be more eloquent than those over- 
 strained panegyrics that are commonly made ? 
 
 B. I am of opinion that such sermons as you speak 
 of would be as instructive, as affecting, and as agreeable 
 as any other. I am now satisfied, Sir ; it is time to re- 
 lease you. I hope the pains you have taken with me 
 will not be lost ; for I have resolved to part with all my 
 modern collections, and Italian wits ; and in a serious 
 manner to study the whole connexion and principles of 
 religion ; by tracing them back to their source. 
 
 C. Farewell, Sir ; the best acknowledgment I can 
 make, is to assure you that I will have a great regard to 
 what you have said. 
 
 A. Gentlemen, good night. I will leave you with 
 these words of St. Jerom to Nepotian : ' when you teach 
 in the church, do not endeavour to draw T applause, but 
 rather sighs and groans from the people ; let their tears 
 praise you.* The discourses of a clergyman should be 
 full of the holy scripture. Be not a declaimer, but a true 
 teacher of the mysteries of God.' 
 
 * " When you observe a hearer in silence, not uttering a word, but sorrowful, 
 dejected, thoughtful, and in this condition returning straight home, and by his 
 conduct, displaying the fruits of preaching; you ought to make more account of 
 inch a one, than of him who crowns the preacher with praise and applause ' 
 O'/rrrtW 1 * Lect, vi. 
 
EXTRACT 
 
 FROM 
 
 THE LETTER OF M. FENELON 
 
 TO THE FRENCH ACADEMY. 
 
 .Rhetoric has no such influence among us, as it had 
 among the ancients. Public assemblies meet only for 
 shows and ceremonies. We have scarce any remains 
 of a powerful eloquence, either of our old parliaments, 
 or our general states, or our assemblies of chief persons. 
 Every thing is determined secretly in cabinet-councils, 
 or in some particular negociation; so that our people 
 have no encouragement to use such application as the 
 Greeks did, to raise themselves by the art of persuasion. 
 The public use of eloquence is now almost confined to 
 the pulpit and the bar. 
 
 The warmth of our lawyers to gain a cause relating 
 to the estate of a private person, cannot equal the am- 
 bition which the Greek orators had to possess them- 
 selves of the supreme authority in a commonwealth. A 
 lawyer loses nothing ; nay, he gets his fee, though he 
 loose the cause he undertook. Is he young ? he ap- 
 plies himself to plead elegantly, that he may acquire 
 some reputation, without having ever studied either the 
 grounds of the law, or the great models of antiquity. 
 Has he established his character? he leaves oil* plead- 
 ing, and enriches himself by chamber-practice. The 
 most valuable lawyers are those who set facts in a clear 
 light; who recur to some fixed principle of law ', and 
 
184 LETTER TO THE FRENCH ACADEMY* 
 
 answer all objections according to it. But where are 
 those who have the art of forcing the assent, and mov- 
 ing the hearts of a whole people ? 
 
 Shall I presume to speak with the same freedom 
 concerning preachers; God knows how much I rever- 
 ence the ministers of his word. But I cannot offend 
 any particular person among them, by observing in gen- 
 eral, that they are not all equally humble and disinterested. 
 Young men, who have little reputation, are too forward 
 in preaching. People fancy they see that those seek 
 their own glory more than God's ; and that they are 
 more earnest about making their fortune, than for the 
 salvation of souls. 
 
 They talk like sparkling orators, rather than like 
 ministers of Christ, and stewards of his mysteries. It 
 was not with this vain pomp of words that St. Peter 
 preached the crucified Jesus, in those sermons which 
 converted so many thousand people. 
 
 Would we learn the rules of a serious, effectual elo- 
 quence from St. Austin? He follows Cicero in distin- 
 guishing three different kinds of speaking. He says we 
 must speak submissively, in a humble, familiar way; 
 mildly, in an engaging, soft, insinuating manner, to make 
 people love the truth : and nobly, that is, in a lofty, 
 vehement strain, when we would captivate men, and 
 rescue them from the dominion of their passions. He 
 adds, that the only reason for using such expressions as 
 may please people, is because there are few men reason- 
 able enough to relish such truths in a discourse as are 
 quite dry and naked. As for the sublime and vehement 
 kind, he would not have it florid; "nor embellished 
 with the ornaments of speech : but rather full of the 
 
LETTER TO THE FRENCH ACADEMY. 185 
 
 most pathetic emotions.* For the speaker, following 
 the impulse of his thoughts, does not industriously study 
 the beauties of elocution ; but naturally uses such as 
 rise from the subject itself." The same father observes, 
 that a man who fights resolutely with a sword, enriched 
 with gold and jewels, uses these arms, (without regard- 
 ing the value of them,) because they are fit for fighting. 
 He adds, that God had permitted St. Cyprian to use 
 some affected ornaments in his letter to Donatus, that 
 posterity might see how much the purity of the Chris- 
 tian doctrine had corrected this superfluous vanity, and 
 brought him to a more grave and modest eloquence. 
 
 But nothing can be more affecting than the two sto- 
 ries that St. Austin relates to show us the true way of 
 preaching with success. In the first instance, he was as 
 yet but a priest. The holy bishop Valerius appointed 
 him to preach to the people of Hippo, in order to re- 
 claim them from riotous feasting on solemn days.t He 
 opened the scriptures, and read to them the most vehe- 
 ment and threatening reproaches. He earnestly be- 
 sought his hearers, ' by the ignominies and the sorrows, 
 by the cross, by the blood of Christ, not to destroy them- 
 selves ; to pity him who spake to them with so much af- 
 fection : and to show some regard to their venerable old 
 bishop, who, out of tenderness to them, had commanded 
 him to instruct them in the truth. I did not make them 
 weep, (says he,) by first weeping over them : but while 
 I preached, their tears prevented mine. I own that 
 then I could not restrain myself. After we had wept 
 
 * Ncn tain verborum ornatibus comtum est, quam violentura animi affectibus 
 • — fertur quippe impetu suo, et elocutionis pulchritudinem, si occurrerit, vi re- 
 rum rapit, non cura decoris assumit. — Aug. de Doct, Chr. L. iv. 
 t Episl. xx ix, ad Alyp. 
 
 24 
 
(86 LETTER TO THE FRENCH ACADEMY. 
 
 together, I began to entertain great hope of their amend- 
 ment.' On this occasion he quite varied from the dis- 
 course he had prepared ; because he did not now think 
 it suitable to their penitent disposition. In fine, he had 
 the satisfaction of seeing this people tractable, and re- 
 formed from that very day. 
 
 The other occasion, wherein he powerfully swayed 
 the minds of his audience, is thus related by himself: 
 *■ we must not imagine that a man has spoken in a lofty, 
 sublime manner, when he receives many acclamations, 
 and great applause. These are sometimes given to the 
 lowest turns of wit, and the ornaments of the moderate 
 sort of eloquence. But the sublime strain ofttimes over- 
 whelms people's minds with its vehemence : it renders 
 them speechless : it melts them into tears. When I 
 endeavoured to persuade the people of Cassarea in Mau- 
 ritania to abolish a combat among the citizens, in which 
 relations, brothers, fathers, and sons, being divided into 
 two parties, fought publicly for several days, at a certain 
 time of the year; and every man endeavoured to kill 
 the person he attacked : according to the utmost of my 
 ability, I used the most pathetic expressions to extirpate 
 such a cruel, inveterate custom from the minds and man- 
 ners of this people. However, I thought I had done 
 nothing, while I only heard their acclamations. But 
 their tears gave me some hope : their applauses showed 
 that I had instructed them ; and that they were pleased 
 with my discourse : but their tears declared that their 
 minds were changed. When I saw them weep, I be- 
 lieved that this horrible custom they had received from 
 their ancestors, and been so long enslaved to, would be 
 abolished — it is now eight years ago, and upwards, and 
 by the grace of God they have been restrained from at- 
 
LETTER TO THE FRENCH ACADEMY. 187 
 
 tempting' any such practice.' If St. Austin had weaken- 
 ed his discourse by the affected ornaments of the florid 
 kind of rhetoric, he would never have been able to re- 
 form the people of Hippo and Caesarea. 
 
 Demosthenes likewise followed this rule of true elo- 
 quence. ' O Athenians ! (said he) do not fancy that 
 Philip is like a deity, assured of succees in all his attempts. 
 Among those who seem devoted to his interest, there are 
 some that hate, and dread, and envy him — but your neg- 
 ligence and sloth puts all things to a stand. — Consider, O 
 Athenians, to what condition ye are reduced. This 
 wicked man is gone so far as to leave you no choice be- 
 tween vigilance and inactivity. They say he threatens 
 you ; and talks arrogantly. He is not content now with 
 what he has already conquered : he forms new projects 
 every day ; and lays snares for you on all sides, while 
 you continue still backward and slothful. When then, 
 O Athenians ! when is it that ye will do what ye ought 
 to do ? when will ye attempt something ? when will ne- 
 cessity determine you to act ? what must we think of 
 what is now a-doing ? in my opinion, no necessity can be 
 more urgent upon a free people than what arises from 
 the shame of their past ill conduct. Will ye still wan» 
 der about in public places, inquiring after news ? what 
 stranger news can there be, than that a man of Macedon 
 subdues the Athenians, and governs all Greece ? is Phil- 
 ip dead ? says one : no, says another, he is only sick, 
 what avails it, which he is ? for if he were dead, you 
 would soon raise up another Philip.' Here good sense 
 speaks without any other ornament than its native force. 
 The orator makes the truth plain to all the people : he 
 awakens them : he spurs them on to action : he shows 
 them their impending ruin. Every thing is spoken for 
 
188 LETTER TO THE FRENCH ACADEMY . 
 
 the common good; not a word to show ln.-> own wit: 
 there is no glittering thought : all tends to instruct, and 
 move the people. 
 
 Indeed the Romans began very late to follow the 
 example of the Greeks, in improving polite learning. 
 
 Graiis ingenium, Graiis dedit ore rotundo 
 Musa loqui, praeter laudem nullius avaris. 
 Romani pueri lengis rationibus asscm 
 Piscunt in partes centum deducere 
 
 Hor. de At. Poel, v. 323. 
 
 The Romans were employed about their laws and 
 rights ; about war, and husbandry, and commerce : which 
 gave Virgil occasion to say, 
 
 Excudent alii spirantia mollius aera; 
 
 Credo equidem ; vivos ducent de marmorc vultus. 
 
 Orabunt causas melius ; — 
 
 Tu regere imperio populos, Romane, memento ; 
 Hae tibi erunt artes ; — 
 
 Aen. vi. v. 848. 
 
 Sallust finely describes the manners of antient Rome ; 
 even while he owns, that she neglected literature. ' The 
 most prudent (says he) were always the busiest. No 
 one exercised his wit more than his body. The worthi- 
 est persons chose rather to act wisely, than to declaim : 
 and to have their brave deeds applauded by others; 
 rather than to bury themselves in recording their neigh- 
 bour's good actions.' 
 
 We must acknowledge, however, according to Livy's 
 testimony, that a strong and popular eloquence was well 
 cultivated at Rome in the days of Manlius. This man, 
 who had saved the capitol from the Gauls, tried to stir 
 up the people to sedition, " How long," said he, ^ will 
 
LETTER TO THE FRENCH ACADEMY. 189 
 
 ye be ignorant of your strength ; which nature discov- 
 ers to the very beasts ? Count at least how many ye 
 are — I should think ye would fight more resolutely for 
 liberty, than those men for dominion. — How long will 
 ye look upon me ? Ye may all of you depend on me to 
 the utmost," &c. This powerful orator persuaded all 
 the people to pardon him, stretching out his hands to- 
 wards the capitol, which he had formerly saved. Nor 
 could his death be obtained of the multitude, till he was 
 carried into a sacred wood ; whence he could no longer 
 show them the capitol. " The Tribunes found," says 
 Livy, " that seeing the people's minds were so strongly 
 prepossessed with the merit of Manlius, it would be im- 
 possible to persuade them he was really guilty, unless 
 they could carry them out of the sight of the capitol, 
 which reminded them of his glorious service. Then his 
 crime appeared." 
 
 Every one knows what troubles eloquence occasion- 
 ed among the Greeks. At Rome, Cataline's oratory 
 brought the republic to the brink of ruin. But that el- 
 oquence tended only to persuade people and to move 
 their passions. Wit was never employed in it. A flor- 
 id declaimer could have had no influence in public affairs. 
 
 Nothing can be more artless than Brutus, when he 
 writes to Cicero with such an air of superiority, as to 
 reprove and silence him. " You beg our life and safety 
 of Octavius," says he ; " what death could be so bad ? 
 By this request you show that tyranny is not destroyed; 
 and that Ave have only changed our tyrant. Consider your 
 own words ; and deny if you can, that such a petition is lit to 
 be offered to none but a kins; ; and from a slave too. You 
 say, that you ask and expect only one favour of him ; that 
 
190 LETTER TO THE FRENCH ACADEMY. 
 
 he would save the lives of those citizens who are es- 
 teemed by persons of worth, and by all the Roman peo- 
 ple. What, then, unless he shall graciously please, we 
 must not live ! But it is better to die than to owe our 
 lives to him. No : I cannot think the gods arc such de- 
 clared enemies to the safety of Rome, as to be willing 
 that the life of any citizens should be begged of Octavi- 
 us ; and far less the^lives of those who are the deliverers 
 of the universe. O Cicero ! can you confess that he has 
 such power ! and still be one of his friends ? Or if you 
 love me, can you desire to see me at Rome, when I 
 cannot come thither without obtaining that boy's per- 
 mission ? For what do you thank him, if you think that 
 our life must still be begged of him as a favour ? Must 
 we reckon it a happiness that he chooses to have such 
 favours asked rather of him, than of Antony ? — This 
 weakness and despair, which others are guilty of as well 
 as you, first emboldened Caesar to make himself king. — 
 But if we remembered that we are Romans, the am- 
 bition of these base men to usurp the government, 
 would not have been greater than our courage in de- 
 fending it. I am afraid that you, who have been consul, 
 and avenged the public of so many crimes, have there- 
 by only delayed our ruin for a short while. How can 
 you behold what you have done ?" How weak, inde- 
 cent, and mean, must this discourse have appeared, if 
 it had been filled with witticisms and quaint conceits ! 
 But now, shall those, who ought to speak like apos- 
 tles, gather up, with industrious affectation, those flow- 
 ers of rhetoric which Demosthenes, Manlius, and Bru- 
 tus, trampled on? Shall we imagine (hat the ministers 
 of the gospel have less concern for the eternal salvation 
 of souls, than Demosthenes for the liberty of his conn- 
 
LETTER TO THE FRENCH ACADEMY. 191 
 
 try ; less zeal to do good, than Manlius had ambition to 
 seduce the multitude ; or less resolution than Brutus, 
 who chose death rather than to owe his life to a tyrant ? 
 I own, that the ilorid kind of eloquence has its beau- 
 ties : but they are quite misapplyed in those discourses 
 that ought to be animated with the noblest passions ; and 
 wherein there is no room for delicate turns of wit. The 
 florid sort of rhetoric can never come up to the true sub- 
 lime. What would the antients have said of a tragedy, 
 wherein Hecuba laments her misfortunes with points of 
 wit. True grief does not talk thus. Or what could we 
 think of a preacher who should, in the most affected jin- 
 gle of words, show sinners the divine judgment hanging 
 over their head, and hell open under their feet ? there 
 is a decency to be observed in our language, as in our 
 clothes.* A disconsolate widow does not mourn in frin- 
 ges, ribbons, and embroidery. And an apostolical minis- 
 ter ought not to preach the word of God in a pompous 
 style, full of affected ornaments. The Pagans would not 
 have endured to see even a comedy so ill acted. 
 
 Ut ridentibus arrident, ita flentibus adflent 
 Humani vultu?. Si vis me flere, dolendum est 
 Primum ipsi tibi ; tunc tua me infortunia laedent, 
 Telephe, vel Peleu ; male si mandata loqueris, 
 Aut dormitabo, aut ridebo ; tristia moestum 
 
 Vultum verba decent 
 
 Hor.de Ar. Poet. v. 101, 
 
 We must not judge so unfavourably of eloquence as 
 to reckon it only a frivolous art that a declaimer uses to 
 
 * Nunc quid aptum sit, hoc e9t, quid masime deceat in oratione, videamus . 
 quamquam id quidem perspiciium est, non omni causae, nee auditori, neque per- 
 sonae, neque tempori congruere orationis unum genus — omnique in re pos3e quod 
 deceat facere, artie et naturae est ; scire, quid, quandoque deceat, prudentiae. 
 
 Cicero de Oral. lib. iii. i 55. 
 
192 LETTER TO THE FRENCH ACADEMY. 
 
 impose upon the weak imagination of the multitude, and 
 to serve his own ends. It is a very serious art ; design- 
 ed to instruct people; suppress their passions; and re- 
 form their manners; to support the laws; direct public 
 councils; and to make men good and happy. The more 
 pains an haranguer takes to dazzle me, by the artilices 
 of his discourse, the more I should despise his vanity. 
 His eagerness to display his wit would in my judgment 
 render him unworthy of the least admiration. I love a 
 serious preacher, who speaks for my sake ; and not for 
 his own ; who seeks my salvation, and not his own 
 vain-glory. He best deserves to be heard, who uses 
 speech only to clothe his thoughts ; and his thoughts on- 
 ly to promote truth and virtue. Nothing is more des- 
 picable than a professed declaimer, who retails his dis- 
 courses as a quack does his medicines. 
 
 I am willing this point should be determined by the 
 very heathens. Plato would not permit in his republic 
 such effeminate notes of music as the Lvdians used. The 
 Lacedemonians excluded from theirs all instruments that 
 were too compounded ; lest they should soften the peo- 
 ple's temper. Such harmony as serves merely to please 
 the ear, is an amusement fit only for soft and idle per- 
 sons ; and is unworthy of a well-ordered commonwealth. 
 It is no farther valuable than the sounds agree to the 
 sense of the words ; and the words inspire virtuous sen- 
 timents. Painting, sculpture, and other elegant arts, 
 ou«;ht to have the same end. This ouffht undoubtedlv 
 to be the design of eloquence too. Pleasure ought to 
 be mixed with it only to serve as a counterpoise to 
 men's vicious passions ; and to render virtue amiable. 
 
 I would have an orator prepare himself a long time 
 bv general studv : in acquire :i large stock of knowledge : 
 
LETTER TO THE FRENCH ACADEMY. 193 
 
 and to qualify himself for composing well ; that so he 
 might need the less preparation for each particular dis- 
 course. I would have him naturally a man of good sense; 
 and to reduce all he says to good sense,* as the standard 
 of his discourse. His studies should be solid ; he should 
 apply himself to reason justly ; and industriously avoid 
 all subtile and over-refined notions. He should distrust 
 his imagination ; and not let it influence his judgment. 
 He should ground every discourse upon some evident 
 principle ; and from that draw the most obvious and nat- 
 ural consequences. 
 
 Scribendi recte sapere est et principium et fans ; 
 Rem tibi Socraticae poterunt ostendere chartae ; 
 Verbnque provisam rem non invita sequentur. 
 Qui didicit patriae, quid debeat, et quid amicis, 
 Quo sit ainore parens, quo frater amandus et hospes ; 
 
 . ille profecto 
 
 Reddere personae scit convenientia cuique. 
 
 Hor. de Ar. Poet. v. 309* 
 
 Generally speaking, a florid declaimer knows neither 
 the principles of sound philosophy, nor those of the chris- 
 tian doctrine, for perfecting the manners of men. He 
 minds nothing but bright expressions, and ingenious turns. 
 What he chiefly wants is solid knowledge. He can talk 
 handsomely, Avithout knowing what he ought to say. 
 He weakens the most important truths by his vain and 
 elaborate turns of fancy, or expression. 
 
 On the contrary, the true orator adorns his discourse 
 
 * Caeterarum artium studia fere reconditis, atque abdilis e fontibus hauriun- 
 tur; dicendi autem omnia ratio in medio posila, commtini quodam in usu, atque 
 in hominum more et sermone versatur; ut in caeteris id maxime excellat, quod 
 longissime sit ab imperitorum intelligentia sensuque disjunctum ; in dicendo au- 
 tem vitium vel maximum est, a vulgari genere orationis, atque a consuetudini*. 
 communis sensus abhorrcrc. Cicero de Oral., lib. i. $ 3. 
 
 25 
 
li)4 LETTER TO THE FRENCH ACADEMY. 
 
 only with bright truths,* noble sentiments, and such 
 strong expressions as are adapted to his subject, and to 
 the passions lie would excite. He thinks ; he feels ; and 
 his words naturally flow from him. ' He does not de- 
 pend on words, (says St. Austin,) but they on him.' A 
 man that has a great and active soul, with a natural ea- 
 siness of speech, improved by practice, needs never fear 
 the want of expressions. His most ordinary discourses 
 will have exquisite strokes of oratory that the florid ha- 
 ranguers can never imitate. He is n,ot a slave to words,t 
 but closely pursues the truth. He knows that vehe- 
 mence is as it were the soul of eloquence. He first lays 
 down the principle which must serve to clear the sub- 
 ject he treats of. He sets this principle in the fullest 
 light. He turns it every way to give his slowest hear- 
 ers a clear view of it. He draws the remotest conse- 
 quences from it by a concise and obvious train of reason- 
 ing. Every truth is set in its proper place with regard 
 to the whole ; it prepares, leads on, and supports, anoth- 
 er truth that needed its assistance. This just order pre- 
 vents the trouble of needless repetitions ; but it retrench- 
 es none of those useful ones, that serve to direct the 
 hearer's attention frequently to that chief point on 
 which the whole depends. The orator must often show 
 him the conclusion that is contained in the principle, and 
 from this principle, as from the centre, he must spread a 
 due light over all the parts of the discourse ; as a skil- 
 ful painter places the light so in his picture, as from one 
 single point to distribute a due proportion of it to every 
 
 * Sed ornatus (repetani enim) virilis, fortis et sanetus sit ; nee effecminatain 
 laevitatem, nee fuco eminentem colorem ainet ; sanguine et viribus niteat. 
 
 Quinl. lib. viii. c. 3. 
 
 t Propterea non debet quisr|uam ubi maxima rerum momenta versantur, dt. 
 verbis esee solicitiis. Quint, lib. viii. c. 3. 
 
LETTER TO THE FRENCH ACADEMY. 195 
 
 figure. The whole discourse is one ; and may be reduc- 
 ed to one single proposition, set in the strongest light, by 
 various views and explications of it. This unity of design 
 shows the whole performance at one view; as in the pub- 
 lic places of a city, one may see all the streets and gates of 
 it, when the streets are straight, equal, and duly propor- 
 tioned. The discourse is the proposition unfolded ; and 
 the proposition is an abstract of the discourse, 
 
 Denique sit quodvis simplex duntaxat et unum. 
 
 Hor. de Ar. Poet. v. 23. 
 
 He, who perceives not the beauty and force of this 
 unity and order, has never seen any thing in its full 
 light. He has only seen shadows in Plato's cavern. 
 What should we say of an architect, who could see no 
 difference between a stately palace, whose apartments 
 are adjusted with the exactest proportion, so as to make 
 one uniform structure ; and a confused heap of little 
 buildings, which do not compose one regular plan, though 
 they be all placed together? what comparison is there 
 between the Colisaeum, and a confused multitude of ir- 
 regular houses in a city ? there can be no true unity in 
 any composure, unless there can be nothing taken from 
 it without spoiling it. It never has a right order but 
 when we cannot displace any part without weakening, 
 obscuring, and disordering the whole. This is what 
 Horace explains perfectly well. 
 
 — cui leota potcntcr erit res 
 Nee facundia deseret hunc, nee lucidus ordo. 
 Ordinis haec virtus erit, et Venus, aut ego fallov 
 Ut jam nunc dicat, jam nunc debentia dici 
 Pleraque diffcrat, et pracsens in tempus omittat. 
 
 DeAr. Poet.— 
 
 An author who does not thus methodize his discourse 
 is not fully master of his subject : he has but an imper 
 
i<»6 LETTER TO TI1L FRENCH ACADEMY. 
 
 feet taste, and a low genius. Order indeed is an excel- 
 lence we seldom meet with in the productions of the 
 mind. A discourse is perfect when it has at once meth- 
 od, propriety, strength, and vehemence. But in order 
 to this, the orator must have viewed, examined, and com- 
 prehended every point, that he may range each word in 
 its proper place.* This is what an ignorant declaimer, 
 who is guided by his imagination, can never discern. 
 
 Isocratcs is smooth, insinuating, and elegant ; but 
 can we compare him to Homer ? I will go farther ; 
 and am not afraid to say, that I think Demosthenes a 
 greater orator than Ciccro.f I protest there is no man 
 admires Cicero more than I do. He embellishes every 
 thing he handles. He is an honour to speech ; and 
 makes that happy use of words that no one else could. 
 He has a vast variety of wit. He is even concise and 
 vehement, when he designs to be so against Catiline, 
 Verres, Anthony ; but we may perceive some finery in 
 his discourses. His art is wonderful, but still we discern 
 
 * II is an infaliibe proof of the want of just integrity in every writing, from 
 the epopeia, or heroic poem, down to the familiar epistle, or slightest essay either 
 in verse or prose, if every several part or portion fits not its proper place so ex- 
 actly, that the least transposition would be impracticable. — If there be any pas- 
 sage in the middle, or end, which might have stood in the beginning ; or any in 
 the beginning, which might have stood as well in the middle, or end ; there is 
 properly, in such a piece, neither beginning, middle, or end ; it is a mere rhap- 
 sody, not a work. And the more it assumes the air or appearance of a real 
 woik, the more ridiculous it becomes. C/iaraclerislics, vol. iii. p. 259, 260. 
 
 'r Quorum ego virtutcs plerasque arbitror similes, consilium, ordinem divi- 
 dendi, pracparandi, probandi rationem ; omnia denique, quae sunt inventionis. 
 to eloquendo est aliqua divcrsitas ; densior ille, (Demosthenes;) hie (Cicero) 
 copiosior; ille concludit adatiictius ; hie latius pugnat ; ille acumiue semper ; 
 hie frequenter et pondere : illi nihil detrahi potest ; huic nihil adjici ; cura; plus 
 in hoc ; in illo natune. — Ccdendum vero in hoc quidem, quod ille et prior fuit, et 
 ex magna parte Ciceroncm, quantus est, fecit. iNaro mihi vidctur M. Tullius. 
 cum se totum ad iinitaliontin Cm-cortim contulisset, efiiinxisse vim Demosthe- 
 nes, copiam I'latonis, jucunditatem Isocratis. — Quint, lib. x.cap. 1. 
 
LETTER TO THE FRENCH ACADEMY. 197 
 
 it. While he is concerned for the safety of the repub- 
 lic, he does not forget that he is an orator ; nor does he 
 let others forget it. Demosthenes seems transported, 
 and to have nothing in view but his country. He does 
 not study what is beautiful, but naturally falls into i(, 
 without reflecting. He is above admiration. He uses 
 speech, as a modest man does his clothes, only to cover 
 himself. He thunders, he lightens ; he is like a torrent 
 that hurries every thing along with it. We cannot 
 criticise him ; for he is master of our passions. We 
 consider the things he says, and not his words. We 
 lose sight of him : we think of Philip only, who usurps 
 every thing. I am charmed with these two orators ; but I 
 confess that Tully's prodigious art and magnificent elo- 
 quence effects me less than the vehement simplicity of 
 Demosthenes.* 
 
 Artt lessens and exposes itself, when it is too open. 
 Thus Longinus says, that " Isocrates blundered like a 
 school boy, when he began one of his panegyrics in this 
 manner ;" — ' Seeing such is the nature of eloquence, 
 that it can make great things appear little, and 
 small things to seem great ; that it can represent 
 the oldest things as new, and the newest as old.' 
 — " Is it thus, O Isocrates !" one might say, " that 
 you are going to change all things with regard to the 
 Lacedemonians and the Athenians ? By this manner of 
 praising eloquence, he makes a preamble, to caution his 
 hearers against believing any thing he should say." In 
 effect, it was to declare to the world, that orators are 
 only sophists, such as Plato's Gorgias was, and the other 
 
 * For a comparison between Cicero and Demosthenes, the reader may con- 
 duit Roi.lin's Belles Letters, vol. ii. chap. 3. sect. 3. — Dr. Blair's Led. vol. 
 ii. — Mr. Hume's Essays, vol. i. essay 12. — Knox's Essays, vol. i. No. 44. 
 
 + Sed hoc pati non possumus, et perire artem pufumus, nisi apparcai ; cum 
 desinat ars esse, si apparet, Quint, lib. iv. cap. 2, 
 
198 LETTER TO THE FRENCH ACADEMY. 
 
 dcclaimers of Greece ; who perverted rhetoric to im- 
 pose on the people. 
 
 Since eloquence requires that an orator should be a 
 man of probity, and be esteemed such, if he would ex- 
 pect success in the most common affairs of life ; how 
 much greater reason have we to believe this saying of 
 St. Austin, concerning those avIio ought to speak like 
 apostles ? ' He preaches sublimely, whose life is irre- 
 proachable.'* What good can we expect from the 
 discourses of a young man without solid knowledge, 
 without experience, without an established character ; 
 who makes a diversion of oratory ; and, perhaps, endeav- 
 ours to raise his fortune by that ministry, which obliges 
 us to be poor with Jesus Christ ; to bear our cross with 
 him, by self-denial ; and to command men's passions in 
 order to convert them? 
 
 * "• With respect to preaching, the whole of it depends on piety. It is that 
 which makes you seek out edifying subjects, and confine yourselves to such as 
 are useful and necessary. That gives force and unction to your discourse, and 
 makes you say affecting things. A pious man understands the human heart ; 
 piety is the source of true eloquence, which is natural, simple, and sublime. " 
 
 PSTERYAJ,D , S T,fd. \ 
 
 
NOTE A, 
 
 REFERRED TO ON PAGE 178. 
 
 The quaint and whimsical exposition of the scriptures, often intro- 
 duced into sermons, especially when a metaphor belongs to the 
 subject of discourse, is so inconsistent with the proper ends of 
 preaching ; that it seems desirable to place this fault in a dis- 
 tinct light, for the admonition of those, who are entering upon 
 the duties of the sacred office. 
 
 The folloroing pages are extracted from the Christian Observer, 
 as containing a detailed specimen of this defect, which, in 
 greater or smaller degrees of excess, is common in the pulpit, 
 
 A few clays ago I heard a sermon preached at S church, 
 
 by the Rev. Mr. B , from Mark i. 17; "And Jesus said 
 
 unto them, Come ye after me, and I will make you to become 
 fishers of men. 1 ' 
 
 Mr. B observed, that Jesus Christ used to teach the 
 
 people spiritual things, by means of sensible and familiar objects. 
 In the present case, he spoke to fishermen, who understood well 
 what fishing was : he therefore represented to them the nature 
 of the Gospel ministry by means of this their trade. " In pros- 
 ecution of this idea, I propose," said the preacher, " to show 
 you three things : First, As the fish caught by these fishermen 
 were taken out of the sea, so I shall show you what is that sea 
 out of which those spiritual fish spoken of by Christ are taken; 
 secondly, I shall show the manner of taking them ; and thirdly, 
 the effects of their being so taken. For as Christ made use of 
 this metaphor, we may be sure that the metaphor is perfect, and 
 that it must be a suitable one in all its parts. 
 
 " First, then, what is that sea out of which the spiritual fish 
 are taken? — The sea is unquestionably the world ; that world, 1 
 mean, which ' lieth in wickedness.' To prove this, let us mark 
 some othfr passages of scripture. 
 
200 
 
 ■• 1. Docs not the scripture say, ' That the wicked are like 
 a troubled sea ;' yea, that they arc like a sea ' which caslcth up 
 mire and dirt ?' Again, does not Job speak of the sea as con- 
 taining things innumerable, both small and great ? — and there is 
 that great Leviathan, which hath his pastime therein. So the 
 world contains people great and small, high and low ; people 
 various and innumerable. In another striking particular does 
 the wicked world resemble the sea. In the sea the fishes, of 
 which some are great and some are small, devour one another. 
 They live by this means ; for God has appointed it. And in 
 this wicked world what a confusion is there ! Confusion in fam- 
 ilies, confusion in cities, confusion in kingdoms ! Turn your 
 face now to France, turn it to Italy — what horrid wickedness 
 and confusion is every where seen — how does one man or one 
 party devour another! At one time the king of France is put 
 to death by the people ; then the people are overwhelmed by 
 one faction and then by another, and so it is ; confusion upon 
 confusion, factions and individuals all destroying one another. 
 
 " Again, the wicked world is like the sea, inasmuch as the 
 fishes in the sea, like the wicked men in the world, are all fol- 
 lowing their own natural propensities, and have no taste for any 
 thing else. How do the youth run to the ball, and the play, 
 and the card-table, and place all their delight therein ! They 
 have no taste for spiritual pleasures — no more than a fish has 
 for any pleasures or employments out of the water. 
 
 " And this brings me to the second thing, which is to shew 
 you what is the manner in which these spiritual fish are caught. 
 But here, first, I would observe, that there is such a thing as un- 
 lawful nets ; and so in the Gospel there is an unlawful net which 
 some fishermen throw ; I mean the net of mere morality. Mo- 
 rality never did, nor never can convert one poor sinner to God. 
 From the creation of the world to the present hour, it never con- 
 verted one ; and why ? Because it is not the Gospel. When 
 men speak of the stupendous love of Christ, of his mercy and 
 grace to sinners, of the guilt and wretchedness of man, and of a 
 free salvation, then they throw the Gospel- net, and God will 
 then bless his word, for he has promised that such fishermen as 
 
201 
 
 those shall never labour in vain. They may be disappointed 
 for a time. We may throw our net on one Sunday and catch no 
 fish, and then throw it again on another Sunday ; but on one 
 day if not on another, some poor soul shall be converted to God 
 by it* It is true, that angling is another way of catching fish ; 
 on which I must say, that they who preach mere morality are 
 like fishermen who throw the bait into the water — a pleasing 
 bait, which the fish are very eager after, but there is no hook to 
 it. The spiritual fish are never caught in this way. 
 
 "What, then, is the way in which these spiritual fish are 
 caught ? — And first, I would say, that they are taken out of the 
 water, and no more return to it. And so is the matter repre- 
 sented in Scripture, where it is said, that God hath translated us 
 into the kingdom of his dear Son. He that is caught in the Gos- 
 pel-net never returns to the world. He experiences a total 
 change in conversion — as great a change as it would be for a 
 fish to be taken out of the sea, and to have the nature of one of 
 those animals given him, which live on dry land ; for this would 
 be a miracle, undoubtedly ; and so conversions are miracles, 
 Each individual conversion is as much a miracle as that would 
 be, for it is wrought by the omnipotent power of God. And in 
 this I apprehend consists the chief beauty of the present meta- 
 phor. It is that which seems to have been particularly intended 
 by it. 
 
 " Again, when fish are caught, you know they always strive 
 to get back again, though they cannot. So the sinner, when 
 caught in the Gospel-net, struggles hard to get back into the 
 sea ; that is, into the world ; but the omnipotent power of God 
 keeps him out. Say, now, you that have been drawn out of 
 the world by the grace of God, did you not struggle a while to 
 return thither again ? 
 
 " Again, there are nets of various sorts and sizes used in fish- 
 ing ; and so the Gospel-minister has various subjects by which 
 he endeavours to draw his hearers — ' We do not use the same 
 net for sprats that we do for salmon.' Some ministers alarm the 
 conscience by the terrors of the Lord, some melt and draw the 
 sinner by the sweet mercies of the Gospel, &c &c. 1 have of. 
 
 26 
 
202 
 
 ten admired those passages in St. Paul, by which he endeavoured 
 to win the hearts of his several hearers. And so we also have 
 our different nets. We take one text on one day, and endeavour 
 to catch you by it, and we take another text another day ; and 
 we handle the Gospel sometimes in one manner, and sometimes 
 in a new and different manner; and thus it is, that different souls 
 are caught. 
 
 " And now, thirdly, what is the effect or consequence of 
 catching these spiritual fish ? The first and chief consequence 
 I would name is, that as a fish dies when taken out of the water, 
 so are they dead to the things in which they once lived. Mark 
 now that passage of the Apostle, " For ye are dead, and your 
 life is hid with Christ in God." They come into a new ele- 
 ment ; they have no taste for the pleasures of that element in 
 which alone they could once live. What is the world's element ? 
 It is pleasure, riches, and so forth. But the converted person is 
 dead to these. — And here let me call your attention to that par- 
 ticular passage of Scripture, in which Peter is employed in catch- 
 ing a fish, in whose mouth a piece of money was found. On 
 this there is, I believe, a remark made by an old expositor, which 
 will be of use to us in the present case. Peter threw in his 
 hook at the command of Christ, and drew up the fish ; and be- 
 hold in its mouth was a piece of %money ! Now this money in 
 the fish's mouth may shew how much money and wealth are apt 
 to be in the mouth, and also in the heart, of the unconverted 
 man, till the fisherman catches him and draws him out. But 
 when the fish is drawn out of the water, then he drops the money 
 out of his mouth ; and what does he do with it ? " He gives it 
 to Peter," — that is to say, he commits it to Peter, or some min- 
 ister or steward of God, to be employed by him in deeds of 
 mercy and loving-kindness to his brethren. 
 
 "Again, when the spiritual fish are caught, we may observe, 
 ihat their next business is to catch others ; ' when thou art con- 
 verted, strengthen thy brethren.' One becomes a bait for an- 
 other, &c. 
 
 " And now, my brethren," the preacher observed in conclu- 
 sion. " may God grant that some of you may be converted to 
 
203 
 
 God this night ; or if not this night, may you at least be caught 
 in the Gospel-net before the awful hour of death shall come. 
 Think of that hour ; how dreadful to the sinner ! how happy to 
 the saint! We set before you the Gospel-promises. If it were 
 not for these, we should have no hope of gaining your soul. 
 But it is because your bodies must die and moulder in the grave : 
 it is because your souls must live for ever : it is because heaven 
 is so glorious, and hell so dreadful, that we so earnestly address 
 you. These are the baits by which we would allure you. But 
 ye must be born again : ye cannot go to heaven without it. An 
 unconverted man, if he was in heaven, would be more miserable 
 than if he was in the lowest hell ; for what pleasure would there 
 be in heaven to him who has no heart to pray, to attend the 
 preaching of the Gospel, and to hear the precious name of 
 Christ sounded forth in his ears ?" — He ended with praying that 
 what had now been said might be the means of awakening and 
 converting some present, and that Jesus Christ would send down 
 his Spirit, that his name might be glorified, and their souls ever- 
 lastingly saved. 
 
 In justification of the above sermon, it will probably be said 
 by the favourers of this mode of preaching, and it may in part, 
 perhaps, be said with truth — 
 
 1. That though faulty in some particulars, it contains much 
 "Gospel-truth;" that the fundamental points of Christianity, 
 viz. the fall and total corruption of man, the necessity of regene- 
 ration, salvation by free grace, and faith in Christ are either 
 strongly asserted or clearly implied ; and that to these, whenever 
 clearly preached, though with much imperfection, God may be 
 expected to give his blessing. 
 
 2. That this manner of preaching is also popular, being 
 likely both to draw a congregation to church, and also to fix 
 their attention when there, which is a great point ; most minis- 
 ters finding it very difficult to gain hearers, while this preacher's 
 church is always remarkably full. 
 
 3. It will also perhaps be urged, that this gentleman's preach- 
 ing has been found useful ; many having been awakened and 
 converted by it, and that the test of good and bad preaching is, 
 generally speaking, the effect. 
 
204 
 
 In palliation of the faults of it, it will probably be said — 
 
 1. That the preacher is a man of a lively, and perhaps too 
 fanciful, turn of mind; that all men have their particularities; 
 and that too strict criticism must not be applied to the sermons 
 of every lively preacher ; for whose sermons will bear this ? 
 
 2. That although some texts of Scripture were strained by 
 the preacher, and many inferences from the text pushed beyond 
 our Saviour's intention, yet that every material thing stated in 
 the course of the sermon was true, and proveable from other 
 texts of Scripture, if not from his own text. 
 
 3. That many other good men besides Mr. B , fall into 
 
 the same way of too much spiritualizing a plain text ; that, in 
 particular, many a good old Puritan used to do so ; and that the 
 part of his sermon most liable to the objection of a critic seems 
 to have been borrowed from some old Puritan or commentator 
 of Scripture, who partook largely of this fault. 
 
 Having thus stated what may be said in favour of this mode 
 of preaching, it will now be well to consider what are the ob- 
 jections to it. 
 
 1. And first, the use made of the words of the text (which 
 were words spoken by our Saviour himself) is dearly not the use 
 which oar Saviour intended that we should make of them. The 
 truth of this objection it seems hardly necessary to prove ; for 
 who can believe that our Saviour, in merely saying to these fish- 
 ermen, " Come after me, and 1 will make you fishers of men," 
 meant also to teach us that the world was like the sea, and also 
 that it was like the sea because both fishes and men are in the 
 habit of devouring one another, &c. &c. &c. The manner, in- 
 deed, in which Mr. B attempts to establish the resemblance, 
 
 is a clear proof how ridiculous is the attempt. He quotes the 
 following text, " The wicked are like the troubled sea, the waves 
 whereof cast up mire and dirt :" that is to say, wicked men are 
 like the troubled sea ; but what he had asserted was that the 
 icorld or place in which wicked men live was like the sea, not 
 that wicked men themselves were. The wicked men themselves 
 he had compared to fishes. Thus the introduction of the text 
 from Isaiah only increases the confusion, not to mention how 
 
205 
 
 ridiculous it would be to suppose a connexion between this pas- 
 sage of Isaiah and our Saviour's words in the text, even if they 
 accorded. He next says, The sea is like the world, because as 
 there are fishes of many sizes in the sea, so there are men of 
 many degrees in the world. Equally, therefore, might it be said 
 that the world is like the air because there are in it birds of 
 many sizes ; or like, in short, almost every thing in nature which 
 consists of many parts ; for what is there of which the many 
 parts are not of many sizes ? 
 
 The error as to the present point seems to be this : Mr. B — 
 says, that " the words of Christ in the text are a metaphor," 
 and that " we may be sure that every metaphor used by Christ 
 must be perfect and complete in all its parts." To which it is 
 answered, that every metaphor is perfect and complete, if it per- 
 fectly and completely answers the purpose of giving the one 
 simple impression intended by* it. 
 
 '.' Alexander was a lion," is a metaphor which has been often 
 used ; and this is the common instance of a metaphor which is 
 given in the most simple books on that subject. Does it then 
 follow that they who have used that metaphor have intended to 
 say that Alexander was like a lion in any thing else than in his 
 fierceness and his courage ? Is the metaphor imperfect unless 
 Alexander can be also shown, in some ingenious way or other, to 
 have four legs like a lion, and a long and flowing mane ? So 
 likewise it is not to be supposed, that because our Saviour by a 
 metaphor called ministers fishers of men, he intended therefore 
 that we should find out a resemblance between the world and 
 the sea, between the act of drawing a fish out of the sea and the 
 act of converting a sinner, and between the effects, which follow 
 after catching a fish, and the effects which follow after converting 
 a man. To attempt such a resemblance is not ingenious ; it is 
 ridiculous j and it tends, therefore, to render the gospel ridicu- 
 lous. 
 
 Our Saviour was sober and serious, and not playful, when he 
 used the expression in the text : he meant to speak seriously, 
 and only generally and briefly, of the future occupation of the 
 fishermen whom he was then calling to the ministry, and he did 
 
2013 
 
 not advert at all to the multitude of little circumstances which 
 belong to fishing or belong to the Gospel-ministry ; but Mr. 
 B — has run a long parallel between fishing and preaching, &c. 
 &c, and he has therefore done that which was never intended 
 by Christ. And thus, while he has amused his hearers, he has 
 sacrificed their edification ; for perhaps hardly any thing is more 
 hostile to edification than the little wit and humour and petty 
 conceit of the pulpit. 
 
 He that negociates between God and man, 
 
 As God's ambassador, the grand concerns 
 
 Of judgment and of mercy, should beware 
 
 Of lightness in his speech. 'Tis pitiful 
 
 To court a grin when you should woo a soul ; 
 
 To break a jest, when pity would inspire 
 
 Pathetic exhortation ; and t 1 address 
 
 The skittish fancy with facetious tales, 
 
 When sent with God's commission to the heart '. 
 
 2. Let us consider, a little more closely, some of the serious 
 mischiefs which result from this as well as from every other false 
 and corrupt mode of treating Scripture. — For the preacher to 
 give to the people, in any respect, a false idea of the things in- 
 tended by God to be taught by a text is certainly a serious evil. 
 The Scriptures are Scriptures of truth : they should be rever- 
 enced as conveying truth. A truly serious mind is alhirst to 
 search out those truths they contain, and is anxious to have no 
 human alterations or additions made to them. Such a one wish- 
 es to have a text of Scripture explained, applied to his con- 
 science, and accommodated to present circumstances and pres- 
 ent times, by fair and simple inference ; but he wishes not to 
 have any new, conceited, entertaining, or surprising meaning 
 given to it : he desires only to have the pure word of God. 
 
 This anxiety to know the truth, which must be the character- 
 istic of every serious mind, will be accompanied with much 
 jealousy on the subject. Such a person will be afraid of being 
 seduced out of the plain path of Scripture in order to gather 
 flowers : he will keep close to Scripture in every respect. He 
 will not be satisfied, therefore, with that apology for misinter- 
 
207 
 
 preting a text which is so common ; namely, that though the 
 text is misinterpreted, yet their might be found other texts which 
 would prove the point that is assumed. He reflects that this is 
 an unsafe way of proceeding for one whose eternal interests are 
 at stake ; that a false interpreter of one text is but too likely to 
 be a false interpreter of another; that interpretations must be 
 watched in each case ; and that one false interpretation is apt, 
 in many instances, almost necessarily to beget another. More- 
 over, he considers that there are some false interpretations which 
 indicate a false system of interpretation ; such for instance, as 
 the present ; for the same person who thinks he must, by his in- 
 genuity, discover certain coincidences in treating the present 
 metaphor, which coincidences our Saviour never intended, will 
 be likely to exercise a like sort of mischievous ingenuity in ex- 
 plaining every other metaphor and parable, and possibly almost 
 every other passage in Scripture which he may chance to handle. 
 Nay, there is great danger lest he should choose those texts to 
 preach upon, the false and conceited interpretations of which he 
 may find it most easy to deal in without being detected by his 
 hearers. When this is the case, it will be the dark, the doubt- 
 ful, and difficult texts that will be chiefly presented to a congre- 
 gation ; and the plainest, which are the most important, will be 
 neglected as not affording scope for the ingenuity of the orator. 
 How awful a case is this! How awful for the hearers on the 
 one hand ! How awful also for the preacher ! The guilt of 
 such a conduct in one, who is a steward of the mysteries of God, 
 and who is required to be found faithful, and especially in one 
 who professes to preach not himself but Christ Jesus the Lord, 
 is what I will not attempt to estimate. It can only be estimated 
 on the great judgment clay. Every indulgence of a conceited 
 taste, lead?, however, this zoay ; and this taste is one of the great 
 corrupters of the oracles of God. Again — when this habit of 
 false interpretation takes place, who shall say that the ortho- 
 doxy of the preacher is a sufficient security to his hearers ; for 
 does not orthodoxy, in its enlarged and most proper sense, con- 
 sist in thinking rightly as to all the several parts of Scripture, as 
 to practice as well as faith ; and even if the faith in a few great 
 
208 
 
 doctrines continues right, yet docs not the liberty which men 
 take with texts give great opportunity of destroying the due 
 proportion and the just symmetry of Scripture ? May not a 
 favourite tenet be magnified beyond all bounds ? May not 
 apostles and prophets be represented by means of this ingenui- 
 ty, as ever dwelling on the same point as the preacher ? May 
 not one class of texts be multiplied, and another class of texts 
 diminished, just as much as if erasures and interpolations of 
 Scripture were to take place ? And is not a wo pronounced on 
 the man who shall either add too, or take away from, the words 
 of that book ? 
 
 Again ; if one man may interpret falsely for one purpose, why 
 may not another man claim the same right for another? How is 
 Scripture thus rendered a book of a thousand different and con- 
 trary meanings ; and how may every point of orthodoxy be thus 
 successfully attacked or undermined, by those who use only the 
 same false system of interpretation in attacking it, which others 
 use in defending it ! How may error be thus promoted on every 
 side ! How may also differences of opinion be multiplied, and 
 christian charity and unity destroyed ! How may the several and 
 contradictory whims of men become all sanctioned by its being 
 pretended of them all that they make a part of the word of God ! 
 All this, I say, may be done by that free and general use of mis- 
 applied ingenuity and conceit, of which this sermon, throughout 
 the chief parts of it, affords a license and an example. 
 
 There is, perhaps, no point in what is commonly called or- 
 thodoxy, which it is more necessary to guard, than our general 
 system and habit of interpreting scripture. A preacher, whose 
 general rules and habits of interpreting Scripture are false and 
 incorrect, insensibly but most effectually communicates to his 
 hearers the same habits which he has unhappily adopted. The 
 hearer learns to misinterpret his own bible at home, to make it 
 bend to his own prejudices, extravagances, and errors, and per- 
 haps learns to look into it for little else than riddles and conceits, 
 and not for plain and sober directions how he may walk so as to 
 please God. 
 
 3. Another evil arising from a preacher's using this false in- 
 
209 
 
 genuity in treating texts of Scripture is, the disadvantage under 
 which it places those more upright and more faithful ministers, whose, 
 consciences will not allow them to resort to the same art of pleasing 
 a congregation. — The true minister of the Gospel is undervalued ; 
 his explanations of Scripture seem flat and insipid ; his spiritual 
 knowledge and penetration into Scripture are thought inferior; 
 his character is discredited ; perhaps it is doubted whether he is 
 a true minister of the Gospel ; his church is thinned ; in the mean 
 time, the man of mere conceit is followed and is extolled for his 
 spiritual light. 
 
 4. But the great evil of al! is, the mischief done to the souls of 
 the persons zoho crowd to hear those entertaining harangues, which 
 consist of sparkling conceits and misinterpretations of Scripture. — 
 There can be no doubt that the hearers mistake the pleasure they 
 feel in partaking of the entertainment for the pleasure of hearing 
 the Gospel. Man is a being extremely liable to be deceived by 
 false associations of things. Is there a sermon preached which 
 is half fanciful and ludicrous, and half evangelical and just? 
 Hearers will flock to it for the sake of the fanciful part ; will con- 
 found the whole together in their minds : and though in truth, 
 they are only or chiefly entertained by the many fanciful passag- 
 es they will confidently think that it is the evangelical part of the 
 sermon which pleases them. It is thus that multitudes deceive 
 their own souls ; " for the heart of man is deceitful above all 
 things, as well as desperately wicked." It seems to have been 
 for this reason that Paul abstained from all meretricious orna- 
 ments, when he preached the Gospel of Christ. He was afraid 
 lest his hearers, if he mixed his own fancifulness, or his own 
 studied and affected oratory, with the pure word which he deliv- 
 ered, should follow him for the sake of this, and not for the sake 
 of the Gospel. " I determined," therefore, said he, " not to 
 know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified, 
 and my speech and my preaching were not with enticing words 
 of man's wisdom ;" " for do I now please man, or God ?" 
 
 It is material to apply this observation still more particularly 
 to the present sermon. There is in it, undoubtedly, an occasion- 
 al mention (and in a plain manner) of some leading truths of the 
 
 27 
 
210 
 
 Gospel : and yet, if the manner of mentioning these is well con- 
 sidered ; if the probable character of the audience is taken into 
 contemplation ; and if, likewise, the general drift of the sermon 
 is weighed, it may then possibly be found that even those Gos- 
 pel truths, slated as they were, and under all the circumstances 
 of the case, were likely not only to be inefficient, but perhaps 
 even worse than inefficient, in respect to no small part of the con- 
 gregation. 
 
 The Gospel truths chiefly asserted were the total corruption 
 of man, the necessity of conversion, of faith, and of the love of 
 Christ, as well as the inefficacy of preaching morality ; — all 
 points of infinite importance, but which need to be taught, not 
 by being briefly named only, or violently asserted, but by being 
 fully and clearly explained, both as to their nature and effects. 
 
 Now it may be observed, that the common people, (of whom 
 a large part of this congregation consisted,) generally like strong 
 doctrine, and seldom take offence at its strength. We mean, 
 that even they whose lives evince that they are not the better for 
 it, seldom quarrel with the doctrine, if they are people of the 
 lower class. The reasons of this are several : — One is, that the 
 lower people are credulous, and apt to take upon trust any doc- 
 trine that is vehemently preached. Another is, that the common 
 people reflect and reason little, and do not therefore easily per- 
 ceive the holines of life and practice to which the doctrine binds 
 them, nor even the manner in which a doctrine condemns them- 
 selves. A further reason of their loving strong doctrine is, that 
 they love to be somewhat roughly dealt with, and to be even, in 
 any way, strongly and vehemently impressed. The brief men- 
 tion of two or three strong doctrines to an unlettered audience, 
 is therefore both a means of being popular among them, and, if 
 this brief and strong mention of it be all, is a means of doing but 
 little good. In the present case, there is reason to fear, that the 
 good and sound doctrine, for such there certainly is in it, may 
 have been given only in such manner and quantity, as even to 
 promote in many persons the self-delusion so much to be dread- 
 ed ; for, in order successfully to introduce into any mixed con- 
 gregation delusion and error, there must always be some mix- 
 ture of truths. Had Mr. 13 's sermon consisted of nothing elsr 
 
211 
 
 than an uninterrupted succession of mere conceits, lew, or none, 
 probably would have been misled by it ; but the good Gospel 
 sayings in it would make it pass. 
 
 It will, however, probably be replied to all that has been said, 
 
 that such preaching as that of Mr. B has, in point of fact, 
 
 been found very useful, very many persons having been convert- 
 ed by it. To this I answer, that it would not be enough to say 
 that many had been converted by him ; for the very point, which 
 I have been labouring to prove, is, that the word Conversion, un- 
 less the clear nature of the thing be fully and at large explained, 
 is a word extremely vague and delusive. Before we can admit 
 the force of the observation, it must be therefore shown in detail 
 from what, and to what, he has converted so many people. The 
 fair presumption certainly is, that he has converted them to just 
 his own way of interpreting Scripture, and to all his own tenets 
 as far as they appear in his sermons. The mere circumstance 
 of an effect being produced, is not to be allowed to be in itself 
 material. The Pharisees of old produced an effect by theit 
 preaching; for it is observed in Scripture, that they made pros* 
 elytes ; out then the misfortune was, that their proselytes were 
 ten times more the children of hell than before. The Socinians 
 of this day make converts ; but unhappily it is converts to Socin- 
 ianism. Mr. Huntington has made many converts, but they are 
 many of them converts to every tittle of his own extravagant and 
 antimonian opinions. It is of the nature of every seed to pro- 
 duce after its own kind. To assume that because a man's 
 preaching makes converts to his own opinions it is a conclu- 
 sive proof of the goodness of the preacher, is therefore to beg 
 the whole question. The probability in this case is, that since 
 
 the hearers of Mr. B occasionally hear other preachers, 
 
 the effect produced is the joint effect of the whole of the preach- 
 ing which they hear. What may be defective in Mr. B- 's 
 
 preaching, may partly be supplied by others, and the full evil ot 
 his system may for that reason not appear. 
 
 I might also have dwelt on the subject of the false taste and 
 conceit of certain parts of this sermon, and particularly of one- 
 part of it, which seems to have been a quotation. Such ludi- 
 
212 
 
 crous expositions of Scripture are well known to have marked the 
 character of those persons who, in the time of Cromwell, most 
 shamefully disgraced the profession of religion ; and are not un- 
 likely to be considered by reflecting men as symptoms of a sim- 
 ilar tendency among the zealous religionists of the present day. 
 We have chosen, however, to attack this sermon chiefly in what 
 appeared to be most fundamental, namely, on account of the in- 
 effectual way in which Gospel doctrine is taught in it ; on ac- 
 count of the room for self-flattery, which it affords to the bulk of 
 hearers ; and also on account of the unfair and unwarrantable 
 mode in which the preacher attempts to catch attention, by a 
 false system of interpreting Scripture. To borrow his own 
 phrase, may it not be even questioned whether he himself, in this 
 instance, may not be one of those persons, who have been fish- 
 ing with an unlawful net, and casting among his hearers an agree- 
 able bait, which, however, may have had nahook attached to it ° 
 
CLAUDE'S ESSAY 
 
 ox tiif. 
 
 COMPOSITION OF A SERMON 
 
ESSAY, &c. 
 
 CHAP. I. 
 
 ON THE CHOICE OF TEXTS. 
 
 There are in general five parts of a sermon, the ex- 
 ordium, the connexion, the division, the discussion, and 
 the application : but, as connexion and division are parts 
 which ought to be extremely short, we can properly 
 reckon only three parts ; exordium, discussion, and appli- 
 cation. However, we will just take notice of connex- 
 ion and division after we have spoken a little on the 
 choice of texts, and on a few general rules of discussing 
 them.* 
 
 * Bishop Wilkin says, "Preaching should have its rules and canons, where- 
 by men may be directed to the easiest and readiest way for the practice of it. 
 Besides all academical studies of languages, sciences, divinity, &c. besides all 
 these, there i9 a particular art of preaching. Two abilities are requisite in every 
 one ; a right understanding of sound doctrine, and an ability to propound, con- 
 firm, and apply it to others. The first may be without the other ; and, as a mac 
 may be a good lawyer, and yet not a good pleader ; so he may be a good divine, 
 and yet not a good preacher. One reason why mea of eminent parts are so slow 
 and unskilful herein, is, that they have not been versed in this study, and are 
 therefore unacquainted with those proper rules and directions by which they 
 should be guided in the attaining and exercise of this gift. It hath been the 
 usual course at the university, to venture upon this calling in an abrupt, over- 
 hasty manner. When scholars have passed over their philosophical studies, and 
 made some little entrance on divinity, they presently think themselves fit for the 
 pulpit, without any father inquiry, as if the gift of preaching, and sacred orato- 
 ry, was not a distinct art of itself. This would be counted very preposterous 
 in other matters, if a man should presume on being an orator because he was a 
 logician, or to practise physic because he had learned philosophy," &c. 
 
 Wilkin's Ecclesiaf'." 
 
21G . ESSAY ON THE 
 
 1. Never choose such texts as have not a complete sense ; 
 for only impertinent and foolish people will attempt to 
 preach from one or two words, which signify nothing. 
 
 2. Not only words, which have a complete sense of 
 themselves must be taken, but they must also include 
 the complete sense of the writer, whose words they are; 
 for it is his language, and they arc his sentiments, which 
 you explain. For example, should you take these 
 words of 2 Cor. i. 3. Blessed be God, the Father of our 
 Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and the God of 
 all comfort, and stop here, you would conclude a com- 
 plete sense ; but it would not be the apostle's sense. 
 Should you go farther, and add, who comfortcth vs in all 
 our tribulation, it would not then be the complete sense of 
 St. Paul, nor would his meaning be wholly taken in, un- 
 less you went on to the end of the fourth verse. When 
 the complete sense of the sacred writer is taken, you 
 may stop ; for there are few texts in scripture, which 
 do not afford matter sufficient for a sermon; and it is 
 equally inconvenient to take too much text, or too little ; 
 both extremes must be avoided. 
 
 When too little text is taken, you must digress from 
 the subject to find something to say ; flourishes of wit 
 and imagination must be displayed, which are not of the 
 genius of the pulpit ; and, in one word, it will make the 
 hearers think, that self is more preached than Jesus 
 Christ ; and that the preacher aims rather at appearing 
 a wit, than at instructing and edifying his people. 
 
 When too much text is taken, either many important 
 considerations, which belong to the passage, must be 
 left out, or a tedious prolixity must follow. A proper 
 measure, therefore, must be chosen, and neither too Iit- 
 rte, nor too much matter taken. Some say, preaching is 
 
COMPOSITION OF A SERMON. 217 
 
 designed only to make scripture understood, and there- 
 tore they take a great deal of text, and are content with 
 giving the sense, and with making some principal reflec- 
 tions ; but this is a mistake ; for preaching is not only 
 intended to give the sense of scripture, but also of the- 
 ology in general ; and, in short, to explain the whole of 
 religion, which cannot be done, if too much matter be 
 taken ; so that, I think, the manner commonly used in our 
 churches is the most reasonable, and the most comform- 
 able to the end of preaching. Every body can read 
 scripture with notes and comments to obtain simply the 
 sense ; but we cannot instruct, solve difficulties, unfold 
 mysteries, penetrate into the ways of divine wisdom, es- 
 tablish truth, refute error, comfort, correct, and censure, 
 fill the hearers with an admiration of the wonderful 
 works and ways of God, inflame their souls with zeal, 
 powerfully incline them to piety and holiness, which are 
 the ends of preaching, unless we go farther than barely 
 enabling them, to understand scripture. 
 
 3. To be more particular, regard must be paid to 
 circumstances, times, places and persons, and texts must 
 be chosen relative to them* Times are ordinary or ex- 
 traordinary. Ordinary times are Lord's supper-days, 
 new-year's day, &c. On these days particular texts should 
 be chosen, which suit the service of the day ; for it 
 would discover great negligence to take texts on such 
 days, which have no relation to them. It is not to be 
 questioned but on these days peculiar efforts ought to 
 be made, because then the hearers come with raised ex- 
 pectations, which, if not satisfied, turn into contempt, 
 and a kind of indignation against the preacher. 
 
 Particular days not fixed, but occasional, are fast 
 clays, ordination days, days on which the flock must be 
 
 28 
 
218 AN ESSAY ON* THE 
 
 extraordinarily comforted, either on account of the 
 falling out of some great scandal, the exercise of 
 some great affliction, or the inflicting of some great 
 censure. On fast-days, it is plain, particular texts 
 must be expressly chosen for the purpose ; but on 
 other occasions it must rest on the preacher's judg- 
 ment ; for most texts may be used extraordinarily, 
 to comfort, exhort, or censure ; and, except the sub- 
 ject in hand be extremely important, the safest way 
 is not to change the usual text. For ordination-days ex- 
 traordinary texts and agreeable to the subject in hand 
 must be taken, whether it regards the ordainer, or the 
 ordained ; for very often he, who is ordained in the 
 morning, preaches in the afternoon. 
 
 I add one word touching sermons in strange church- 
 es. 1. Do not choose a text which appears odd, or the 
 choice of which vanity may be supposed to dictate. 2. 
 Do not choose a text of censure ; for a stranger has no 
 business to censure a congregation, which he does not 
 inspect; unless he have a particular call to it, being eith- 
 er sent by a synod, or intreated by the church itself. 
 In such a case the censure must be conducted with wis- 
 dom, and tempered with sweetness. Nor 3. Choose a 
 text leading to curious, knotty questions ; then it would be 
 said, the man meant to preach himself. But 4. Choose 
 a text of ordinary doctrine, in discussing which, doctrine 
 and morality may be mixed, and rather let moral things 
 be said by way of exhortation and consolation than by 
 way of censure ; nor that the vicious should not be cen- 
 sured ; for reproof is essential to preaching ; but it 
 must be given soberly, and in general terms, when we 
 are not with our own ilocks. 
 
COMPOSITION OF A SERMON. 219 
 
 CHAP. II. 
 
 GENERAL RULES OF SERMONS. 
 
 Although the following general rules are well known, 
 yet they are too little practised : they ought, however, 
 to be constantly regarded. 
 
 1. A sermon should clearly and purely explain a text, 
 make the sense easy to be comprehended, and place 
 things before the people's eyes, so that they may be un- 
 derstood without difficulty. This rule condemns embar- 
 rassment and obscurity, the most disagreeable thing in 
 the world in a gospel pulpit. It ought to be remember- 
 ed, that the greatest part of the hearers are simple peo- 
 ple, whose profit, however, must be aimed at in preach- 
 ing : but it is impossible to edify them, unless you be 
 very clear. As to learned hearers, it is certain, they 
 will always prefer a clear before an obscure sermon ; 
 for, first, they will consider the simple, nor will their be- 
 nevolence be content if the illiterate be not edified ; and 
 next, they will be loth to be driven to the necessity of 
 giving too great an attention, which they cannot avoid, 
 if the preacher be obscure. The minds of men, wheth- 
 er learned or ignorant, generally avoid pain ; and the 
 learned have fatigue enough in the study, without in- 
 creasing it at church. 
 
 2. A sermon must give the entire sense of the whole 
 text, in order to which it must be considered in every 
 view. This rule condemns dry and barren explications, 
 wherein the preacher discovers neither study nor inven- 
 tion, and leaves unsaid a great number of beautiful things, 
 with which his text would have furnished him. Preach- 
 
220 AN ESSAY ON THE 
 
 ments of this kind are extremely disgustful ; the mind is 
 neither elevated, nor informed, nor is the heart at all 
 moved. In matters of religion and piety, not to edify 
 much, is to destroy much ; and a sermon cold and poor 
 will do more mischief in an hour, than a hundred rich 
 sermons can do good. I do not mean, that a preacher 
 should always use his utmost efforts, nor that he should 
 always preach alike well ; for that neither can nor ought 
 to be. There are extraordinary occasions, for which all 
 his vigour must he reserved. But I mean, that, in ordi- 
 nary and usual sermons, a kind of plenitude should satis- 
 fy and content the hearers. The preacher must not al- 
 ways labour to carry the people beyond themselves, nor 
 to ravish them into extacies : but he must always satis- 
 fy them, and maintain in them an esteem and an eager- 
 ness for practical piety. 
 
 3. The preacher must be wise, soher, chaste. I say 
 wise, in opposition to those impertinent people, who utter 
 jests, comical comparisons, quirks and extravagancies ; 
 and such are a great part of the preachers of the church 
 of Rome. I say sober, in opposition to those rash spir- 
 its, who would penetrate all, and curiously dive into mys- 
 teries beyond the bounds of modesty. Such are those, 
 who make no difficulty of delivering in the pulpit all the 
 speculations of the schools, on the mystery of the trinity, 
 fhe incarnation, the eternal reprobation of mankind ; 
 such as treat of questions beyond our knowledge ; viz. 
 What would have been if Adam had abode in innocence ; 
 what the state of souls after death ; or what the resur- 
 rection ; and our state of eternal glory in paradise. 
 Such are they, who fill their sermons with the different 
 interpretations of a term, or the different opinions of in- 
 terpreters on any passage of scripture ; who load their 
 
COMPOSITION OF A SERMON. 221 
 
 hearers with tedious recitals of ancient history ; or on 
 account of the divers heresies which have troubled the 
 church upon any matter ; all these are contrary to the 
 sobriety of which we speak, and which is one of the most 
 excellent pulpit virtues. I say farther chaste, in oppo- 
 sition to those bold and impudent geniuses who are not 
 ashamed of saying many things, which produce unclean 
 ideas in the mind. Chastity should weigh the expres- 
 sions, and Diake a judicious choice, in order to keep the 
 hearers' minds at the greatest distance from all sorts of 
 carnal and terrestrial ideas. The likeliest way of suc- 
 ceeding in these cases is to beware of pressing metaphor- 
 ical terms too far ; to adhere to general considerations, 
 and if possible to explain the metaphorical terms in 
 few words, and afterwards to cleave entirely to the thing 
 itself. 
 
 4. A preacher must be simple and grave. Simple, 
 speaking things full of good natural sense without meta- 
 physical speculations ; for none are more impertinent 
 than they, who deliver in the pulpit abstract specula- 
 tions, definitions in form, and scholastic questions, which 
 they pretend to derive from their texts ; — as, on the 
 manner of the existence of angels ; the means whereby 
 they communicate their ideas to each other ; the manner 
 in which ideas eternally subsist in the divine understand- 
 ing ; with many more of the same class, all certainly op- 
 posite to simplicity. To simple I add grave, because all 
 sorts of mean thoughts and expressions, all sorts of vul- 
 gar and proverbial sayings, ought to be avoided. The 
 pulpit is the seat of good natural sense ; and the good 
 sense of good men. On the one hand then, you are not 
 to philosophize too much, and refine vour subject out of 
 
222 AN ESSAY ON THE 
 
 sight ; nor, on the oilier, to abase yourself to the lan- 
 guage and thoughts of the dregs of the people. 
 
 5. The understanding must be informed, but in a 
 manner, however, which affects the heart ; cither to com- 
 fort the hearers, or to excite them to acts of piety, re- 
 pentance or holiness. There are two ways of doing this, 
 one formal, in turning the subject to moral uses, and so 
 applying it to the hearers ; the other in the simple choice 
 of the things spoken ; for if they be good, solid, evan- 
 gelic, and edifying of themselves, should no application 
 be formally made, the auditors would make it them- 
 selves; because subjects of this kind are of such *a na- 
 ture, that they cannot enter the understanding without 
 penetrating the heart. I do not blame the method of 
 some preachers, who, when they have opened some 
 point of doctrine, or made some important observation, 
 immediately turn it into a brief moral application to the 
 hearers ; this Mr. Daille frequently did : yet I think it 
 should not be made a constant practice, because, 1st, 
 what the hearer is used to, he will be prepared for, and 
 so it will lose its effect ; and 2dly, because you would 
 thereby interrupt your explication, and consequently al- 
 so the attention of the hearer, which is a m-cat incon- 
 venience. Nevertheless, when it is done but seldom, 
 and seasonably, great advantage may be reaped. 
 
 6. One of the most important precepts for the dis- 
 cussion of a text, and the composition of a sermon, is, 
 above all things, to avoid excess : JVc quid nimis. 
 
 1. There must not be too much genius ; I mean, not 
 too many brilliant, sparkling, and striking things ; for 
 they would produce very bad effects. The auditor will 
 never fail to say, The man preaches himself, aims to 
 display his genius, and is not animated by the spirit of 
 
COMPOSITION OF A SERMON. 223 
 
 God, but by that of the world. Besides, the hearer 
 would be overcharged ; the mind of man has its bounds 
 and measures, and as the eye is dazzled with too strong 
 a light, so is the mind offended with the glare of too 
 great an assemblage of beauties. Farther, it would des- 
 troy the principal end of preaching, which is to sanctify 
 the conscience ; for when the mind is overloaded with 
 too many agreeable ideas, it has not leisure to reflect on 
 the objects ; and, without reflection, the heart is unaf- 
 fected. 
 
 2. A sermon must not be overcharged with doctrine. 
 because the hearers' memories cannot retain it all, and 
 by aiming to keep all, they will lose all ; and because 
 you will be obliged either to be excessively tedious, or 
 to propose the doctrine in a dry, barren, scholastic man- 
 ner, which will deprive it of all its beauty and efficacy. 
 A sermon should instruct, please and affect ; that is, it 
 should always do these as much as possible. As the 
 doctrinal part, which is instructive, should always be 
 proposed in an agreeable and affecting manner ; so the 
 agreeable parts should be proposed in an instructive man- 
 ner; and even in the conclusion, which is designed wholly 
 to affect, agreeableness must not be neglected, nor alto- 
 gether instruction. Take care, then, not to charge your 
 sermon with too much matter. 
 
 3. Care must also be taken never to strain any par- 
 ticular part, either in attempting to exhaust it, or to 
 penetrate too far into it. If you aim at exhausting a 
 subject, you will be obliged to heap up a number of 
 common things without choice or discernment ; if at 
 penetrating, you cannot avoid falling into many curious 
 questions, and unedifying subtilties ; and frequently in 
 attempting it you will distil the subject till it evaporates. 
 
224 LM ESSATf UN THK 
 
 4. Figures must not be overstrained. This is done by 
 stretching metaphor into allegory, or by carrying a par- 
 allel too far. A metaphor is changed into an allegory, 
 when a number of things are heaped up, which agree to 
 the subject, in keeping close to the metaphor. As in 
 explaining this text, God is a sun and a shield ; it 
 would be stretching the metaphor into an allegory to 
 make a great collection of what God is in himself; 
 what to us ; what he does in the understanding and 
 conscience of the believer ; what he operates on the 
 wicked ; what his absence causeth ; and all these 
 under terms, which had a perpetual relation to the 
 sun. Allegories may be sometimes used very agree- 
 ably ; but they must not be strained, that is, all, that 
 can be said on them, must not be said. A parallel is 
 run too far, when a great number of conformities be- 
 tween the figure, and the thing represented by the fig- 
 ure, are heaped together. This is almost the perpetual 
 vice of mean and low preachers ; for when they catch a 
 figurative word, or a metaphor, as when God's word is 
 called a fire, or a sword ; or the church a house, or a 
 dove ; or Jesus Christ a light, a sun, a vine, or a door ; 
 they never fail making a long detail of conformities be- 
 tween the fio-ures and the subjects themselves ; and fre- 
 quently say ridiculous things. This vice must be avoid- 
 ed, and you must be content to explain the metaphor in 
 a few words, and to mark the principal agreements, in 
 order afterward to cleave to the thing itself. 
 
 5. Reasoning must not be carried too Jar. This may 
 be done many ways ; either by long trains of reasons, 
 composed of a quantity of propositions chained together, 
 or principles and consequences ; which way ol reasoning 
 is embarrassing and painful to the auditor; or by mak- 
 
COMPOSITION OP A SERMON. 220 
 
 ing many branches of reasons, and establishing them one 
 after another ; which is tiresome and fatiguing to the 
 mind. The mind of man loves to be conducted in a 
 more smooth and easy way ; all must not be proved at 
 once ; but, supposing principles, which are true and 
 plain, and which you, when it is necessary, are capable 
 of proving and supporting, you must be content with 
 using them to prove what you have in hand. Yet I do 
 not mean, that in reasoning, arguments should be so 
 short and dry, and proposed in so brief 4 a manner as to 
 divest the truth of half its force, as many authors leave 
 them. I only mean, that a due medium should be pre- 
 served ; that is, that without fatiguing the mind and at* 
 tention of the hearer, reasons should be placed in just as 
 much force and clearness, as are necessary to produce 
 the effect. 
 
 Reasoning also may be overstrained by heaping 
 great numbers of proofs on the same subject. Nume- 
 rous proofs are intolerable, except in a principal matter, 
 which is like to be much questioned or controverted by 
 the hearers. In such a case you would be obliged to 
 treat the subject fully and ex professo ; otherwise the 
 hearers would consider your attempt to prove the matter 
 as an useless digression. But when you are obliged to 
 treat a subject fully, when that subject is very impor- 
 tant, when it is doubted and controverted, then a great 
 number of proofs are proper. In such a case you must 
 propose to convince and bear down the opponent's judg- 
 ment, by making truth triumph in many different man- 
 ners. In such a case, many proofs associated together 
 to produce one effect, are like- many rays of light, which 
 naturally strengthen each other, and which all together 
 form a body of brightness, which is irresistible. 
 
 29 
 
226 v R ESSAY ON THE 
 
 6. You must as much as possible abstain from all 
 sorts of observations foreign from theology. In this class 
 I place, 1. Grammatical observations of every kind, Avhich 
 not being within the people's knowledge can only wea- 
 ry and disgust them. They may nevertheless be used 
 when they furnish an agreeable sense of the word, or 
 open some important observation on the subject itself, 
 provided it to be done very seldom and very pertinently. 
 
 2. Critical observations about different readings, dif- 
 ferent punctuations, &c. must be avoided. Make all the 
 use you can of critical knowledge yourself; but spare 
 the people the account, for it must needs be very disa- 
 greeable to them. 
 
 I add, 3dly. Avoid philosophical and historical ob- 
 servations, and all such as belong to Rhetoric ; or, if you 
 do use them, do not insist on them, and choose only 
 those, which give either some light to the text, or 
 heighten its pathos and beauty ; all others must be re- 
 jected. 
 
 Lastly. I say the same of passages from Profane 
 ■Authors, or Robbies, or Fathers, with which many think 
 they enrich their sermons. This farrago is only a vain 
 ostentation of learning, and, very often they who fill their 
 sermons with such quotations, know them only by rela- 
 tion of others. However, I would not blame a man who 
 should use them discreetly. A quotation not common, 
 and properly made, has a very good effect. 
 
COMPOSITION OF A SERMON. 227 
 
 CHAP. III. 
 
 OF CONNEXION. 
 
 The connexion is the relation of your text to the 
 foregoing or following verses. To find this, consider 
 the scope of the discourse, and consult commentators 5 
 particularly exercise your own good sense ; for commen- 
 tators frequently trifle, and give forced and far-fetched 
 connexions, all which ought to be avoided, for they are 
 not natural, and sometimes good sense will discover the 
 scope and design of a writer far better than this kind of 
 writers. 
 
 There are texts, the connexions of which (I own) it 
 will be sometimes difficult to perceive. In such a case 
 endeavour to discover them by frequent and intense 
 meditation, or take that, Avhich commentators furnish ; 
 and among many, which they give, choose that, which ap- 
 pears most natural ; and if you can find none likely, Ihe 
 best way will be to let the passage alone. The connex- 
 ion is a part, which must be very little insisted on, be- 
 cause the hearers almost always pass it over, and re- 
 ceive but little instruction from it. 
 
 When the coherence will furnish any agreeable con- 
 siderations for the illustration of the text, they must be 
 put in the discussion ; and this will very often happen. 
 Sometimes also you may draw thence an exordium : in 
 such a case the exordium and connexion will be coi> 
 founded together. 
 
'-228 AN ESSAY ON THE 
 
 CHAP. IV. 
 
 OF DIVISION. 
 
 Division, in general, ought to be restrained to a small 
 number of parts : they should never exceed four or five 
 at the most ; the most admired sermons have only two 
 or three parts * 
 
 There are two sorts of divisions, which we may very 
 properly make ; the first, which is the most common, is 
 the division of the text into its parts ; the other is of the 
 discourse, or sermon itself, which is made on the text.t 
 
 I. The division of a discourse, is proper, when, to 
 give light to a text, it is necessary to mention many 
 things, which the text supposes but does not formally 
 express ; and which must be collected elsewhere, in or- 
 der to enable you to give in the end a just explication of 
 the text. In such a case you may divide your discourse 
 into two parts, the first containing some general consid- 
 erations necessary for understanding the text ; and the 
 second the particular explication of the text itself. 
 
 1. This method is proper when a prophecy of the Old 
 Testament is handled ; for generally, the understanding of 
 
 * A proper method of division may be seen in the following specimen from 
 Cicero. 
 
 Causa quae sit videti? ; nunc quid agendum sit considerate. Primum mihi 
 videtur de genere belli ; deinde de magnitudine ; turn de imperatore deligendo 
 esse dicendum. Primum bellum Asiaticum genere suo grave et necessarium es- 
 se. 1. Quia agitur gloria pop. Rom. 2. Quiaagitur aalus sociorum. 3. Quia 
 aguntur vectigalia maxima. 4. Quia aguntur fortunes multorum civium. . . . 
 Tertium Pompeius est bonus imperator, quia in eo sunt quatuor virtutes, qua? 
 bonum imperatorem commendant. 1. Scientia rei militaris. 2. Virtus. 3. 
 Auctoritas. 4. Felicitas. Pro lege Manilla. 
 
 '&< 
 
 + These may be called textual and topica'. 
 
COMPOSITION OF A SERMON. 229 
 
 ihese prophecies depends on many general considera- 
 tions, which, by exposing and refuting false senses, open 
 a way to the true explication ; as appears by what has 
 been said on Gen. iii. 15 ; "I will put enmity between 
 thee, and the woman ; and between thy seed, and her 
 seed ; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his 
 heel ;" and on the covenant made with Abraham, &c* 
 
 2. This method is also proper on a text taken from a 
 dispute, the understanding of which must depend on the 
 state of the question, the hypotheses of adversaries, 
 and the principles of the inspired writers. All these 
 lights are previously necessary, and they can only be 
 given by general considerations : For example, Rom. iii. 
 28. " We conclude that a man is justified by faith with- 
 out the deeds of the law." Some general considerations 
 must precede, which clear up the state of the question 
 between St. Paul and the Jews, touching justification ; 
 which mark the hypothesis of the Jews upon that subject, 
 and which discover the true principle, which St. Paul 
 would establish ; so that in the end the text may be 
 clearly understood. 
 
 3. This method also is proper in a conclusion drawn 
 from a long preceding discourse ; as for example, Rom. 
 
 v. i. " Therefore being justified by faith we have peace 
 with God, through our Lord Jesus Christ." Some think 
 that, to manage this text well, we ought not to speak of 
 justification by faith ; but only of that peace, which we 
 have with God, through our Lord Jesus Christ. I grant, 
 
 7 o o 
 
 we ought not to make justification the chief part of the 
 sermon ; but the text is a conclusion drawn by the apos- 
 tle from the preceding discourse ; and we shall deceive 
 
 s These genera) considerations appear better still in an exordium. 
 
2'M \A ESSAY ON THE 
 
 ourselves, if wc imagine this dispute between St. Paul 
 and the Jews so well known to the people, that it is 
 needless to speak of it ; they are not, in general, so well 
 acquainted with scripture". The discourse then must be 
 divided into two parts, the first consisting of some gene- 
 ral considerations on the doctrine of justification, which 
 St. Paul establishes in the preceding chapters ; and the 
 second, of his conclusion, That, being thus justified, we 
 have peace with God, &c. 
 
 The same may be said of the first verse of the viii. 
 of Romans, " There is therefore now no condemnation to 
 them, that are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the 
 flesh, but after the Spirit ;" for it is a consequence drawn 
 from what he had been establishing before. 
 
 4. The same method is proper for texts, which are 
 quoted in the New Testament from the Old, You must 
 prove by general considerations, that the text is properly 
 produced, and then you may come clearly to its explica- 
 tion. Of this kind are Heb. i. 5, 6. " I will be to him a 
 father and he shall be to me a son :" ii. 6. " One in a 
 certain place testified, saying, What is man that thou 
 art mindful of him ?" iii. 7. " Wherefore, as the Holy 
 Ghost saith, To-day if ye will hear his voice, harden not 
 your hearts." There arc many passages of this kind in 
 the New Testament. 
 
 5. In this class must be placed divisions into different 
 vespects, or different views. These, to speak properly, 
 are not divisions of a text into its parts, but rather dif- 
 ferent applications, which are made of the same text to 
 divers subjects. Typical texts should be divided thus ; 
 and a great number of passages in the Psalms, which re- 
 late not only to David, but also to Jesus Christ; such 
 should be considered, first, literally, as they relate to 
 
COMPOSITION OF A SERMON. 231 
 
 David ; and then, in their mystical sense, as they refer 
 to the Lord Jesus. 
 
 There are also typical passages, which beside their 
 literal senses have also figurative meanings, relating not 
 only to Jesus Christ, but also to the church in general, 
 and to every believer in particular ; or which have dif- 
 ferent degrees of their mystical accomplishment.* 
 
 For example, Dan ix. 7. " O Lord, righteousness 
 belongeth unto thee, but unto us confusion of face as at 
 this day :" (which is a very proper text for a fast- 
 day,) must not be divided into parts ; but considered in 
 different views. 1. In regard to all men in general. 2. In 
 regard to the Jewish church in Daniel's time. And, 3. In 
 regard to ourselves at this present day. 
 
 II. As to" the division of the text itself, sometimes the 
 order of the words is so clear and natural, that no divis- 
 ion is necessary ; you need only follow simply the order 
 of the words. As for example, Eph. i. 3. " Blessed be 
 the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath 
 blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places 
 in Christ." It is not necessary to divide this text, be- 
 cause the words divide themselves ; and to explain them 
 we need only follow them. Here is a grateful ac- 
 knowledgment, blessed be God. The title, under which 
 the apostle blesses God, the Father of our Lord Jesus 
 Christ. The reason, for which he blesses him, because 
 he hath blessed its. The plenitude of this blessing, with 
 all blessings. The nature or kind, signified by the term. 
 spiritual. The place, where he hath blessed us, in heav- 
 enly places. In whom he hath blessed us, in Christ. 
 
 * Types should be handled cautiously, and soberly, and always under the 
 immediate direction of the New Testament writers. A man is always safe when 
 he follows these guides. 
 
232 Afl ESSAY ON TiiL 
 
 Most texts, however, ought to be formally divided; 
 for which purpose you must principally have regard to 
 the order of nature, and put that division, which natural- 
 ly precedes, in the first place ; and the rest must follow, 
 each in its proper order. This may easily be done by 
 reducing the text to a categorical proposition, beginning 
 with the subject, passing to the attribute, and then to 
 the other terms ; your judgment will direct you how to 
 place them* 
 
 * Oratio cujus summa virtus est perspicuitas, quaui sit viliosa si egeatintei- 
 prete ! Quint. Inst. lib. i. c. 4. 
 
 Allowing that tests are to be divided alter reducing them to categorical, i. e. 
 to single propositions, either simple, the subjects and predicates of which consist 
 of single terms ; or complex, the subjects and predicates of which are made up 
 of complex terms ; allowing that the subject is to be considered first, then the 
 attributes, which in logic are the same with predicates, or what may be affirmed 
 or denied of any subject ; allowing all this, yet it must not be forgotten that this 
 operation, and these terms belong to the laboratory, and should never appear in 
 prescriptions to the people ; especially as Mr. Claude's proposed end may be 
 better answered without them. He aims to make divisions natural; here is an 
 example. 
 
 Archbishop Flechier, on Saul's conversion, considers, first, what Jesus Christ 
 did for St. Paul. 2. What HI. Paul did for Jesus Christ. In the first part he 
 opens divine compassion, as a spring whence flowed Paul's creation, preservation, 
 conversion, gifts, graces, usefulness, &c. The second part relates the use that 
 St. Paul made of all these out of gratitude, and to God's glory. Flech. Ser. torn. i. 
 
 The Archbishop of Cambray, Feiielon, (preaching to a religious order, some 
 of whom had been employed in missions to the East, from Isa. lx. 1 . Arise, shine, 
 for thy light is come, Sic. introduces his division thus ; l But I feel my heart 
 moved within me ; it is divided between joy and grief; the ministry of these 
 apostolic men, and the call of these Eastern people, are the triumphs of religion; 
 but perhaps they may also be the effects of a secret reprobation, which hangi 
 over us. Pmfyaps these people may rise upon our ruins, as the Gentiles rose 
 upon the ruins of the Jews. Let us then rejoice in the Lord ; but let us rejoice 
 with trembling. These two exhortations divide my discourse. Fenel. Oeuvr. 
 torn. ii. 
 
 Uishop Massillon, preaching to his clergy, on Luke ii. .34, "This child is set 
 for the fall and rising again of many in Israel," after an agreeable exordium, 
 says, ' Let us pass all other reasons of this mystery, and coufine ourselves to one 
 single truth, which regards ourselves.' He then accommodates the words to 
 every minister entering on his holy ofllce, adding, ' for on this solemn occasion 
 it may be said of him ; Heboid thil man it tttfor the fall, or ruing again of majiy 
 
COMPOSITION OF A SERMON. 233 
 
 It remains to be observed, that there are two natu- 
 ral orders, one natural in regard to subjects themselves, 
 the other natural in regard' to us. The first considers 
 every thing in its natural situation, as things are in them- 
 selves, without any regard to our knowledge of them; 
 the other, which I call natural in regard to us, observes 
 the situation, which things have as they appear in our 
 minds, or enter into our thoughts. 
 
 When in anv text the natural order of things differs 
 from that, which regards our knowledge of them, we 
 may take that way, which we like best ; however, I be- 
 lieve, it would be best to follow that of our knowledge, 
 because it is easiest, and clearest for the common peo- 
 ple. 
 
 There arc texts, which contain the end and the 
 means ; the cause and the effect ; the principle and the 
 consequence deduced from the principle ; the action and 
 the principle of the action ; the occasion and the motive 
 of the occasion : in these cases it is arbitrarv either to 
 begin with the means, and afterwards treat of the end • 
 with the effect, and proceed to the cause, and so on ; or 
 to follow the contrary order. For instance, 2 Tim. ii. 
 10. " Therefore I endure all things for the elect's sake, 
 that they may also obtain the salvation which is in Christ 
 with eternal glory." It is plain, that the text has three 
 
 in Israel; he comes to be the instrument of the perdition, or the salvation of ma- 
 ny. On this terrible alternative runs the destiny of a minister, and it is literally 
 true of every one of you, that you already are, or are about to be established to 
 build up, or to pull down ; to rid the church of scandals, or to cause new ones ; 
 to save or to destro}'; in one word, to be a savour of life unto life, or of death 
 ■unto death among the people ; these are the two parts, &C. 1 
 
 I will not say that these gentlemen did not reduce their texts to categorical 
 propositions in private, in the study ; but I may venture to say, if they did, they 
 brought them to a right issue in the pulpit. And this I think is Mr. Claude's 
 meaning. Robinson. 
 
 30 
 
234 AN ESSA* ON THE 
 
 parts ; the sufferings of the apostle ; the end he propos- 
 es ; and the principle, from which he proposes this end. 
 The order is then arbitrary; you may cither speak, first 
 of St. Paul's love to the elect ; secondly of the salvation, 
 which he desired they might obtain in Jesus Christ ; and 
 thirdly, of the sufferings, which he endured in order to 
 their obtaining it ; or, first of his sufferings ; secondly of 
 the end, which he proposed in them, the salvation of the 
 elect with eternal glory ; and thirdly, of his love for the 
 elect, which is the principle. 
 
 But though, in general, you may follow which of the 
 two orders you please, yet there are some texts, that de- 
 termine the division ; as Phil. ii. 13. " It is God who 
 worketh effectually in you, both to will, and to do, of his 
 own good pleasure." There are, it is plain, three things 
 to be discussed ; the action of God's grace upon men, 
 God worketh effectually in yon ; the effect of this grace, to 
 will and to do ; and the spring or source of the action, 
 according to his good pleasure. I think the division would 
 not be proper if we were to treat, 1. Of God's good 
 pleasure. 2. Of his grace. And 3. Of the will and works 
 of men. I should rather begin with volition and action, 
 which are the effects of grace ; then I should speak of 
 the grace itself, which produces willing and doing in us 
 effectually ; and lastly, of the source of this grace, which 
 is the good pleasure of God. In short, it is always ne- 
 cessary to consult good sense, and never to be so con- 
 ducted by general rules as not to attend to particular 
 circumstances. 
 
 Above all things, in divisions, take care of putting 
 any thing in the first part, which supposes the under- 
 standing of the second, or which obliges you to treat of 
 the second to make the first understood ? for by these 
 
COMPOSITION OF A SERMON. 23£> 
 
 means you will throw yourself into a great confusion, and 
 be obliged to make many tedious repetitions. You must 
 endeavour to disengage the one from the other as well 
 as you can ; and when your parts are too closely con- 
 nected with each other, place the most detached first, 
 and endeavour to make that serve for a foundation to 
 the explication of the second, and the second to the 
 third ; so that at the end of your explication the hearer 
 may with a glance perceive, as it were, a perfect body, 
 or a finished building ; for one of the greatest excel- 
 lencies of a sermon is, the harmony of its component 
 parts, that the first leads to the second, the second 
 serves to introduce the third ; that, they which go be- 
 fore, excite a desire for those, which are to follow ; and, 
 in a word, that the last has a special relation to all the 
 others, in order to form in the hearer's mind a com- 
 plete idea of the whole. 
 
 This cannot be done with all sorts of texts, but with 
 those only, which are proper to form such a design upon. 
 Remember, too, it is not enough to form such a plan ; it 
 must also be happily executed. 
 
 You will often find it necessary in texts, which you 
 reduce to categorical propositions, to treat of the subject, 
 as well as of the attribute : then you must make of the 
 subject one part. This will always happen, when the 
 subject of the proposition is expressed in terms, that 
 want explaining, or which furnish many considerations : 
 For example ; " He that abideth in me, and I in him, 
 the same bringeth forth much fruit." This is a categor- 
 ical proposition, and you must needs treat of the subject, 
 he who abides in Jesus Christ, and in whom Jesus Christ 
 abides. So again, " He that believeth in me, hath ev- 
 erlasting life," " He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh 
 
-36 \N EsbAtf Oft THE 
 
 my blood, abideth in me, and I in him." " There is 
 therefore now no condemnation to tlicm, tliat are in 
 Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the 
 Spirit." " If any man be in Christ, he is a new crea- 
 ture." The two last oujjht to be reduced to categorical 
 propositions, the subjects of which are, they who arc in 
 Christ. In these, and in all others of the same kind, 
 the subject must make one part, and must also be con- 
 sidered first, for it is more natural, as well as most agree- 
 able to the rules of logic, to begin with the subject of a 
 proposition. Sometimes it is necessary not only to make 
 one part of the subject, and another of the attribute ; 
 but also to make a third of the connexion of the subject 
 with the attribute. In this case, you may say, after you 
 have observed in the first place the subject, and in the 
 second the attribute, that you will consider in the third 
 the entire sense of the ivhofe proposition ; this must be 
 done in these texts ; 4; If any man be in Christ, he is a 
 new creature." ;i He, that believeth in me, hath eter- 
 nal life," &c. 
 
 Sometimes there are, in texts reduced to categorical 
 propositions, terms, which in the schools are called syn- 
 categorematica, and they relate sometimes to the sub- 
 ject and sometimes to the attribute.* 
 
 When in a text there are several terms, which need 
 a particular explanation, and Avhich cannot be explained 
 without confusion, or without dividing the text into too 
 many parts, then I would not divide the text at all : but I 
 would divide the discourse into two or three parts ; and 
 i would propose, first to explain the terms, and then the 
 subject itself. This would be necessary on Acts ii. 27; 
 
 * Syncategorematica. Of this kind are those words, which of themselves sic- 
 jjfy nothing, but in conjunction with others in a proposition arc very significant 
 
COMPOSITION OF A SERMON. 237 
 
 " Thou wilt not leave my soul in the grave, neither wilt 
 thou suffer thy Holy One to see corruption." To discuss 
 this text properly, I think, the discourse should be divid- 
 ed into three parts, the first consisting of some general 
 considerations, to prove that the text relates to Jesus 
 Christ, and that Peter alleged it properly : The second 
 of some particular considerations on the terms, sold, which 
 signifies life ; grave, which also signifies hell ; on which 
 the church of Rome grounds her opinion of Christ's de- 
 scent into, what her divines call limbus pat rum ; holy, 
 which in this place signifies immortal, unalterable, inde- 
 structible ; corruption, which means not the moral cor- 
 ruption of sin, but the natural corruption of the body. 
 Finally, we must examine the subject itself, the resurrec- 
 tion of Jesus Christ. 
 
 In texts of reasoning, the propositions which compose 
 the syllogism must be examined one after another, and 
 each apart. 
 
 Sometimes it will be even necessary to consider the 
 force of the reasoning, and to make one part of that also. 
 
 There are texts of reasoning, which are composed 
 of an objection and the answer, and the division of such 
 is plain ; for they naturally divide into the objection and 
 the solution. As Rom. vi. 1, 2. " What shall Ave say 
 then, shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound ? 
 God forbid : how shall we, that are dead to sin, live any 
 longer therein ?" Divide this into two parts, the objec- 
 tion, and the answer. The objection is, first, proposed 
 m general terms, what shall we say then ? 2. In more 
 particular terms, shall we continue in sin ? And, 3. The 
 reason and ground of the objection, because grace abounds. 
 The solution of the question is the same. In general, 
 Cod forbid. In particular, how shall ivc live in sin" 
 Vnd the reason, ivc are dead to sin. 
 
2IJB AN ESSAY ON THE 
 
 There are some texts of reasoning, which are extreme- 
 ly difficult to divide, because they cannot be reduced to 
 many propositions without confusion, or savouring too 
 much of the schools, or having a defect in the division ; 
 in short, without being unsatisfactory. In such a case, 
 let ingenuity and good sense contrive some extraordina- 
 ry way, which, if proper and agreeable, cannot fail of 
 producing a good eiFect. For example, John iv. 10. 
 " If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith 
 to thee, Give me to drink, thou wouldest have asked of 
 him, and he would have given thee living water :" I think 
 it might not be improper to divide it into two parts, the 
 first including the general propositions contained in the 
 words, and the second, the particular application of these 
 to the Samaritan woman. In the first, observe these 
 following propositions : That Jesus Christ is the gift of 
 God. — That though he asked for drink, he is the foun- 
 tain of living water himself. — That he is the object of our 
 knowledge, both as the gift of God, and as the fount of 
 living water. — That an application to him for this living 
 water, flows from our knowledge of him. — That he gives 
 the water of life to all, who ask it. In the second part 
 you may observe, that Jesus Christ did not disdain to 
 converse with a woman, a Samaritan woman, a schismatic, 
 out of the communion of the visible church, a very wick- 
 ed woman, a woman, who in her schism and sin disputed 
 against the truth. — That Jesus Christ improved this op- 
 portunity to teach her his grace, Avithout amusing him- 
 self with directly answering what she said. — You may 
 remark the ignorance of this woman in regard to the Lord 
 Jesus ; she saw him ; she heard him ; but she did not 
 know him : from which you may observe, that this is the 
 general condition of sinners, who have God always be- 
 
COMPOSITION OF A SERMON. 239 
 
 fore their eyes, yet never perceive him. — That from the 
 woman's ignorance arose her negligence and loss of such 
 a fair opportunity of being instructed. Observe also the 
 mercy of Jesus Christ towards her ; for he even promis- 
 ed to save her. When he said, " If thou wouldest have 
 asked of him he would have given thee living water ;" 
 it was as much as if he had offered to instruct her. — ■ 
 Remark, too, that Jesus Christ went even so far as to 
 command her to ask him for living water ; for when he 
 said, " If thou wouldest have asked him," he did as much 
 as say, ask him now. — Observe, finally, that he excited 
 her to seek, and to know him, and removed her ignorance, 
 the cause of all her mistakes, and miseries. 
 
 There are sometimes texts which imply many impor- 
 tant truths without expressing them, and yet it will be 
 necessary to mention and enlarge upon them, either 
 because they are useful on some important occasion, 
 or because they are important of themselves. Then 
 the text must be divided into two parts, one implied, and 
 the other expressed. I own this way of division is bold, 
 and must neither be abused, nor too often used ; but 
 there are occasions, it is certain, on which it may be very 
 justly and agreeably taken. A certain preacher on a 
 fast-day, having taken for his subject these words of 
 Isaiah, " Seek the Lord while he may be found," divided 
 his text into two parts, one implied, the other expressed. 
 In the first he said, that there were three important 
 truths, of which he was obliged to speak : 1. That God 
 was far from us. 2. That we weve far from him. And, 
 3. That there was a time, in which God would not be 
 found, although we sought him. He spoke of these one 
 after another. In the first he enumerated the afflictions 
 of the church, in a most affecting manner ; observing 
 
240 A.\ ESSAl ON THE 
 
 that all these sad events did but too plainly prove the 
 absence of the favour of God. 2. He enumerated the 
 sins of the church, and shewed how distant we were 
 from God. And in the third place he represented that 
 sad time, when God's patience was, as it were, wearied 
 out, and added, that then he displayed his heaviest judg- 
 ments without speaking any more the language of mer- 
 cy. At length coming to the part expressed, he explain- 
 ed what it was to seek the Lord, and by a pathetic ex- 
 hortation, stirred up his hearers to make that search. 
 Finally, he explained what was the time, in which God 
 would be found, and renewed his exhortations to repent- 
 ance, mixing therewith hopes of pardon, and of the bles- 
 sing of God. His sermon was very much admired, par- 
 ticularly for its order. 
 
 In texts of history, divisions are easy : sometimes an 
 action is related in all its circumstances, and then you may 
 consider the action in itself first, and afterward the cir- 
 cumstances of the action. 
 
 Sometimes it is necessary to remark the occasion of 
 an action, and to make one part of it. 
 
 Sometimes there are actions and words, which must 
 be considered separately. 
 
 Sometimes it is not necessary to make any division 
 at all : but the order of the history must be followed. 
 In short, it depends on the state of each text in particu- 
 lar. 
 
 III. To render a division agreeable, and easy to be 
 remembered by the hearer, endeavour to reduce it as 
 often as possible to simple terms. By a simple term I 
 mean a single word, in the same sense as in logic what they 
 call terminus simplex is distinguished from what they call 
 terminus complex. Indeed, when the parts of a discourse 
 
COMPOSITION OF A SERMON". 241 
 
 are expressed in abundance of words, they are not only 
 embarrassing, but also useless to the hearers, for they 
 cannot retain them. Reduce them then as often as you 
 can to a single term, 
 
 Observe also, as often as possible, to connect the parts 
 of your division together ; either by way of opposition, 
 or of cause and effect, or of action and end, or action 
 and motive, or in some way or other ; for to make a di- 
 vision of many parts, which have no connexion, is exceed- 
 ingly offensive to the hearers, who will be apt to think, 
 that all you say, after such a division, is nonsense ; be- 
 sides, the human mind naturally loving order, it will 
 much more easily retain a division, in which there ap- 
 pears a connexion.* 
 
 As to subdivisions, it is always necessary to make 
 them ; for they very much assist composition, and dif- 
 fuse perspicuity through a discourse : but it is not always 
 needfal to mention them; on the contrary, they must be 
 very seldom mentioned ; because it would load the 
 hearer's mind with a multitude of particulars. Never- 
 theless, when subdivisions can be made agreeably, either 
 on account of the excellence of the matter, or when it 
 will raise the hearer's attention, or when the justness of 
 parts harmonize agreeably one with another, you may 
 formally mention them ; but this must be done very 
 seldom ; for the hearers would be presently tired of 
 such a method, and by that means cloyed of the whole.t 
 
 * This direction of Mr. Claude's, like most of his other rules, is founded on 
 the knowledge of human nature, which delights in orderly connexions, and is ex- 
 tremely disgusted with every thing incongruous. Robinson. 
 
 t Powerful reasoning should be the soul of all our sermons. Reasoning in el- 
 oquence is like love in religion ; without love you may have the shadow, but 
 you cannot have the substance of religion. — Without love you are nothing; if 
 you have not love, your virtue is only noise, it is only as souodina: brass and ? 
 
 31 
 
-42 AN ESSAY ON Till 
 
 CHAP. V. 
 
 OF TEXTS TO BE DISCUSSED BY WAY OF EXPLICATION. 
 
 I proceed now from general to more particular rules, 
 and will endeavour to give some precepts for invention 
 and disposition. 
 
 I suppose, then, in the first place, that no man will 
 be so rash as to put pen to paper, or begin to discuss a 
 text, till he has well comprehended the sense of it. I 
 have given no rule about this before ; for a man, who 
 wants to be told, that he ought not to preach on a text, 
 before he understands it, ought at the same time to be 
 informed, that he is fitter for any other profession than 
 that of a minister. 
 
 I suppose, secondly, that the student, having well 
 understood, the sense of his text, begins by dividing it, 
 and that, having the several parts before his eyes, he 
 very nearly sees what are the subjects, which he will 
 have to discuss, and consequently, what ought to enter 
 into his composition. 
 
 I suppose, farther, that he is a man not altogether a 
 novice in divinity ; but that he is acquainted with com- 
 mon places, and the principal questions, of which they 
 treat. 
 
 Supposing all these, the first thing that I would have 
 such a man do, is to observe the nature of his text ; for 
 
 tinkling cymbal. In like manner in regard to eloquence, speak with authority- 
 open all the treasures of erudition, give full scope to a lively and sublime imagin- 
 ation, and harmonize your periods ; yet what will all your discourses without 
 reason be ? a noise, a sounding brass, a tinkling cymbal. You may confound, but 
 you cannot convince ; you may dazzle, but you cannot instruct ; you may delight, 
 but cannot hope to change, to sanctify, and to transform your hearers. Sawrxn, 
 
COMPOSITION OF A SERMON. 243 
 
 there are doctrinal, historical, prophetical, and typical 
 texts. Some contain a command, others a prohibition ; 
 some a promise, others a threatening; some a wish, 
 others an exhortation ; some a censure, others a motive 
 to action ; some a parable, some a reason ; some a com- 
 parison of two things together, some a vision, some 
 a thanksgiving ; some a description of the wrath, or ma- 
 jesty of God, of the sun, or some other thing ; a com- 
 mendation of the law, or of some person ; a prayer ; an 
 amplification of joy, or affliction ; a pathetic exclama- 
 tion of anger, sorrow, admiration, imprecation, repent- 
 ance, confession of faith, patriarchal or pastoral bene- 
 diction, consolation, &c. I take the greatest part to be 
 mixed, containing different kinds of things. It is very 
 important for a man, who would compose, to examine 
 his text well upon these articles, and carefully to dis- 
 tinguish all its characters, for in so doing he will pres- 
 ently see what way he ought to take. 
 
 Having well examined of what kind the text is, en- 
 ter into the matter, and begin the composition ; for 
 which purpose you must observe, there are two general 
 ways, or two manners of composing. One is the way of 
 explication, the other of observations ; nor must it be im- 
 agined, that you may take which of the two ways you 
 please on every text, for some texts must be treated in 
 the explicatory method, and others necessarily require 
 the way of observations. When you have a point of 
 doctrine to treat of, you must have recourse to explica- 
 tion, and when a text of history, the only way is obser- 
 vation. 
 
 In discernment upon this article the judgment oi a 
 man consists; for as texts of scripture are almost infinite, 
 it is impossible to give perfect rules thereupon ; it dc- 
 
244 AN ESSAY ON THE 
 
 ponds in general on good sense ; only this I say, when 
 we treat of a plain subject, common and known to all 
 the world, it is a great absurdity to take the way of 
 explication ; and when we have to treat of a difficult or 
 important subject, which requires explaining, it would 
 be equally ridiculous to take the way of observations. 
 
 The difficulty, of which we speak, may be consider- 
 ed, either in regard to the terms of the text only, the 
 subject itself being clear, after the words are explained ; 
 or in regard to the subject only, the terms themselves 
 being very intelligible ; or in regard to both terms and 
 things. 
 
 If the terms be obscure, we must endeavour to give 
 the true sense : but if they be clear, it would be trifling 
 to affect to make them so ; and we must pass on to the 
 difficulty, which is in the subject itself. If the subject 
 be clear, we must explain the terms, and give the true 
 sense of the words. If there appear any absurdity or 
 difficulty in both, both must be explained : but always 
 begin with explanation of the terms. 
 
 In the explication of the terms, first propose what 
 they call ratio dubitandi, that is, whatever makes the 
 difficulty. The reason of doubting, or the intricacy, 
 arises often from several causes. Either the terms do 
 not seem to make any sense at all ; or they are equivo- 
 cal, forming different senses ; or the sense, which they 
 seem at first to make, may be perplexed, improper, or 
 contradictory ; or the meaning, though clear in itself, 
 may be controverted, and exposed to cavillers. In all 
 these cases, after you have proposed the difficulty, de- 
 termine it as briefly as you can ; for which purpose avail 
 yourself of criticisms, notes, comments, paraphrases, &c. 
 and, in one word, of the labours of other persons. 
 
COMPOSITION OF A SERMON. 245 
 
 If none of these answer your expectation, endeavour 
 to find something better yourself; to which purpose, 
 examine all the circumstances of the text, what pre- 
 cedes, what follows, the general scope of the discourse, 
 the particular design of the writer in the place, where 
 your text is, the subject of which it treats, parallel pas- 
 sages of scripture, which treat of the same subject, 
 or those in which the same expressions are used, 
 &c. and by these means it is almost impossible, that you 
 should not content yourself. Above all, take care not 
 to make of grammatical matters a principal part : but 
 only treat of them as previously necessary for under- 
 standing the text. 
 
 To proceed from terms to things. They must, as I 
 have said, be explained, when they are either difficult 
 or important. There are several ways of explication. 
 You may begin by refuting errors, into which people - 
 have fallen ; or you may fall upon the subject immedi- 
 ately, and so come to a fair and precise declaration of 
 the truth, and, after this, you may dilate, (if I may ven- 
 ture to say so) by a deduction of the principles, on which 
 the text depends, and on the essential relations, in which 
 it ought to be considered. 
 
 The same method must be taken, when texts are 
 misunderstood, and gross and pernicious errors adduced. 
 In such a case, first reject the erroneous sense, and (if 
 necessary) even refute it, as well by reasons taken from 
 the texts, as by arguments from other topics, and at 
 length establish the true sense. 
 
 I would advise the same method for all disputed texts. 
 Hold it as a maxim, to begin to open the way to a truth by 
 rejecting a falsehood. Not that it can be always done ; 
 sometimes you must begin by explaining the truth, and 
 afterwards reject the error: because there arc certain 
 
246 AN ESSAY ON THE 
 
 occasions, on which the hearers' minds must be pre-occu- 
 pied, and because also truth, well proposed and fully 
 established, naturally destroys error : but, notwithstand- 
 ing this, the most approved method is to begin by re- 
 jecting error. After all, it must be left to a man's judg- 
 ment when he ought to take different courses. 
 
 There are texts of explication, in which the difficul- 
 ty arises neither from equivocal terms, nor from the 
 different senses, in which they may be taken, nor from 
 objections, which may be formed against them, nor from 
 the abuse, which heretics have made of them ; but 
 from the intricacy of the subject itself which may be dif- 
 ficult to comprehend, and may require great study and 
 meditation. On such texts you need not, you must not 
 amuse yourself in proposing difficulties, nor in making ob- 
 jections : but you must enter immediately into the explica- 
 tion of the matter, and take particular care to arrange your 
 ideas well, that is to say, in a natural and easy order, 
 beginning where you ought to begin ; for if you do not 
 begin right you can do nothing to the purpose ; and on 
 the contrary, if you take^a right road, all will appear 
 easy as you go on to the end. 
 
 If, for example, I were to preach from this text, 
 " The law was given by Moses ; but grace and truth 
 came by Jesus Christ ; I would divide this text into two 
 parts.. The first should regard the ministry of the law ; 
 the second, that of the gospel : the one expressed in 
 these words, " the law was given by Moses ;" the other 
 in these. '-Grace and truth came by Jesus Christ." I 
 should subdivide the first into two parts, the law, and 
 its author, Moses.* 
 
 * Instead of the remarks on this passage, which in Robinson's Claude occupy 
 forty six pages, Mr. Simc>nV -tbridgemont is here inserted, in the form of a ree- 
 nter scheme. 
 
COMPOSITION OF A SERMON. 247 
 
 I. The ministry of the law. 
 
 The law may be considered as a ministry of Rigour, 
 as opposed to Grace. 
 
 [Man knew neither himself nor his God — 
 
 It was necessary therefore to discover to him his misery, and his duty— 
 This was the end which God proposed in the ministry of the law — 
 The ministration of the law was well calculated to answer this end* — ] 
 
 It may be considered also as a ministry of Shadows, 
 as opposed to Truth. 
 
 [It held out Promises of what was afterwards to be accomplishedt — 
 It exhibited in Types the mercies which God had in reserve for them — 
 It imparted the Beginnings of that salvation, which was to be afterwards 
 
 more largely bestowed — 
 Yet it could only be called " Law," because, however the Grace of the 
 Gospel was blended with that economy, the legal part was predomi- 
 nant — ] 
 
 The author or dispenser of this law was Moses. 
 
 [God indeed was the first and principal author of this law — 
 
 Moses was only the Mediator by whom God dispensed it — 
 
 Nor as a Mediator was He a real, but only a typical Mediator.^] 
 
 As the dispenser of it He was greatly honoured by 
 God. 
 
 [He was the Interpreter of the Israelites to God, and of God to them} — 
 
 He was employed to show forth the Mighty Power of Jehovah — 
 
 He was inspired to transmit inioriling the history of his own nation — ] 
 
 * God awfully displayed his own majesty on Mount Sinai ; and by the per- 
 fect law which he promulgated, He showed at once what a creature ought to do. 
 and what a sinner must expect. And while by the ceremonial law he declared 
 the necessity of an Atonement, he loaded the Israelites with an insupportable 
 yoke of ceremonies, enforcing the observance of them by the severest penalties; 
 and gave just such a portion of his Spirit, as might enable them to see their 
 guilt and misery, and dispose them to receive the promised Messiah. 
 
 + Gen. iii. 15. and xlix. 10. Deut. xviii. 15. 
 
 \ To prevent entirely the idea of his being really the Mediator of the Cove- 
 nant, Divine Wisdom has recorded his sins and failings ; and it is worthy of ob- 
 servation that the Priesthood was assigned, not to him, but to his brother Aaron ; 
 and that not he, but Joshua, had the honour of leading the Israelites into Ca- 
 naan. 
 
 ? Exod. xx. 19. 
 
24ii AN ESSAY ON THf! 
 
 II. The ministry of the Gospel. 
 
 " Grace and truth" arc here put for the Gospel of 
 Jesus Christ — 
 
 The Gospel is called Grace, in opposition to the 
 Rigours of the Law. 
 
 [God manifested himself in it, not as on Mount Sinai with thunderings, but 
 
 in a gentle manner, under the veil of human flesh — 
 In it he reveals his mercy and parental love — 
 It is his/zee Gift according to his on n good Pleasure — 
 It is accompanied with a Divine Efficacy to the souls of men — 
 It operates on us, not enthusiastically, but in a rational manner— "] 
 
 It is called Truth, in opposition to Falsehood. 
 
 fit is the accomplishment of what existed only in promises before — 
 It is the substance of what was before exhibited in types* — 
 It is the completion of what, under the law, was only begunf — 
 
 The Author of this Gospel was Jesus Christ. 
 
 [lie like Moses was an Interpreter between God and men — 
 His Ministry also, like Moses 1 was accompanied with miracles — 
 He moreover caused his Gospel to be written for a perpetual rule — ] 
 
 As such He was honoured infinitely above Moses. 
 
 [ Moses was only the dispenser of the law, but Christ was the Author of 
 Grace and Truth — 
 
 Moses did not procure the Covenant of which he was mediator ; whereas 
 the Covenant of Grace was given, not only through Christ, but on his 
 account — 
 
 Moses could oDly report God's will to men : but Jesus Christ both report- 
 ed it to them, and became a Guarantee for their performance of it — 
 
 Moses was not the source, nor even the dispe7iser of the Spirit, that accom- 
 panied the legal economy ; but Christ communicates the Spirit out of 
 his own fulness ?$ — 
 
 Moses wrought miracles by a foreign power ; but Jesus Christ by his 
 own — 
 
 Moses was established over God" 1 * house as a servant ; but Jesus Christ as 
 a Hon, (i. e. a Master and Heir) over his own house. — ] 
 
 There are some lexts, which must be discussed by 
 w ay of explication, although neither terms nor things 
 are difficult ; but because the matter is important, and 
 a meditation of it beautiful and full of edification. Pas- 
 
 * Heb. x. i. t Horn. viii. ]j. J John i. 16. 
 
COMPOSITION OF A SERMON. 249 
 
 sages of this kind must needs be proposed in all their 
 extent. 
 
 Take, for example, these words of St. Paul, 2 Cor. iv» 
 7. " We have this treasure in earthern vessels, that the 
 excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us."* 
 
 * The terms and subject are easy, yet on account of the importance of th< 
 matter, the passage must be extensively proposed. 
 
 I. The apostle's proposition, " We have this treasure in earthen vessels." 
 
 1. What is the treasure ? It is the gospelof Christ ; and so called, 
 On account of its worth and excellence. 
 
 Because of its abundance. 
 For its truth and reality. 
 
 Because it cannot be possessed without joy, jealousy, caution, &c. 
 Because in the context it is called light, glory, knowledge — of God. 
 It is deposited in the hands of ministers. 
 
 It is a treasure iu all who enjoy it ; but most in ministers ; especially as the 
 apostles possessed it. In all its extent, degrees, and purity. 
 
 It is a treasure in opposition to the false treasures of the earth. 
 It was once hid in God's decrees, but is now displayed. 
 
 2. But this treasure is as in earthen vessels. 
 
 The passage probably alludes to Gideon's pitchers and lamps. 
 The word in angels was in precious vessels. 
 When God revealed it himself, it was without vessels. 
 
 When God declared himself by the sun, moon, &c. it was in vessels of grandeur. 
 The apostles are vessels ; not authors of the gospel, but instruments. 
 They were earthen vessels, for the meanness of their conditions. 
 For the afflictions to which they were subject. 
 In regard to their own infirmities. 
 
 Yet the apostles wisely magnified their office for their treasure, while they 
 humbled, and as it were, annihilated themselves, calling themselves earthen vessels* 
 
 II, The reason assigned. " That the excellency of the power," &c. 
 
 1. The excellency of the power of the gospel. This consists, 
 In the happy success of the gospel in the conversion of men. 
 
 There is a divine virtue in the doctrine of the gospel to humble, comfort, in- 
 struct, exhilerate, embolden, &c. 
 
 Miracles accompanied the preaching of the apostles. 
 
 The energy of the Holy Ghost accompanied the preaching of the gospel. 
 
 2. The end that God proposed ; "That this power might appear to be of him, 
 and not of men." 
 
 Men are inclined to ascribe all effects to second causes. 
 Thus the Heathen worshipped and served the creature more than God th** 
 Creator. 
 
 The Lycaonians would fain have sacrificed fo Paul and Barnabas. 
 
 :$2 
 
250 AN ESSAY ON THE 
 
 Observe, farther, there are two sorts of explications. 
 The first is simple and plain, and needs only to be pro- 
 posed, and enlivened with clear and ngreeablc elucida- 
 tions. 
 
 The other kind of explications must not only be stat- 
 ed and explained ; but they must also be confirmed by 
 sufficient evidence. Sometimes a text speaks of a fact, 
 which can be confirmed only by proofs of fact ; some- 
 times it is a matter of right, that must be established 
 by proofs of right ; and sometimes it is a subject made 
 up of both fact and right, and consequently proofs of 
 right, as well as proofs of fact, must be adduced. We 
 will give an example of each. 
 
 For the first, take this text, Phil. ii. 6. " Jesus Christ, 
 being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be 
 equal with God." Having explained what it is to be in 
 the form of God, and to count it not robbery to be equal 
 with God, namely, that it is to be God, essentially equal 
 with the Father, and co-eternal with him, &c. you must 
 needs make use of proofs of fact -on this occasion ; for, 
 every one sees, it is a fact, which it is necessary to prove, 
 
 The Jews, who should have known better, were disposed to ascribe undue 
 power to Peter and John. 
 
 And John himself was surprised by this inclination, when he fell prostrate be- 
 fore the angel. 
 
 We see the same spirit in the church of Rome. 
 
 God therefore, took this method, in order to slem this tori eat, and to preclude 
 such abuses. 
 
 Besides, their meanness contributed to display the glory of the divine power. 
 
 Never did the power of Jesus Christ appear more, than when he subjugated 
 principalities and powers, and triumphed over them by the ministry of the cross. 
 These earthen vessels triumphed over the whole world with the sound of their 
 voice. Idols fell ; temples were demolished ; oracles were struck dumb ; the 
 people flocked in crowds to adore Jesus Christ. It is not enough to say, " This 
 is Ihejinger of God ;" we must rather exclaim, "This is the out-stretched arm 
 of the Lord." Claudk. 
 
COMPOSITION OF A SERMON. 251 
 
 not merely by the force of St. Paul's terms ; but also by 
 many other Scripture-proofs, which establish the divini- 
 ty of Jesus Christ. 
 
 But were you to preach from the 14th and 15th ver- 
 ses of the same chapter, " Do all things without murmur- 
 ings, and disputings ; that ye may be blameless and harm- 
 less, the sons of God without rebuke, in the midst of a 
 crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as 
 lights in the Avorld ; holding forth the word of life ;" it 
 is evident, that, after you have explained the vices, 
 which St. Paul forbids, and the virtues which he recom- 
 mends, the exhortation must be confirmed by reasons of 
 right, which show how unworthy and contrary to our 
 calling these vices are ; how much beauty and propriety 
 in the virtues enjoined ; and how strong our obligations 
 are to abstain from the one, and to practise the other. 
 
 Our third example includes proofs of both, kinds. 
 Take the seventh verse of the same chapter, " Jesus 
 Christ made himself of no reputation, and took upon him 
 the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of 
 men :" or the 8th verse, " And being found in fashion as 
 a man, He humbled himself, and became obedient to the 
 death of the cross :" or the 9th verse, which speaks of 
 Christ's exaltation. Having explained the subject, you 
 must endeavour to confirm it, not only by proofs of fact. 
 but also by proofs of right ; to which purpose you must 
 prove, 1. That the fact is, as St. Paul says. And 2. 
 That it ought to be, as it is, by reasons taken from the 
 wisdom of God, &c. 
 
 In like manner in discussing this text, " Whom the 
 Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son 
 whom he receiveth;" after you have proposed in a few 
 words the apostle's doctrine, it ought to be confirmed, as 
 
*2b\L AN ESSAY OS THE 
 
 well by proofs of fact, which make it plain, that God 
 has always been pleased to observe this method, as by 
 proofs of right, which show that he does thus with a 
 great deal of wisdom. You will meet with an almost in- 
 finite number of texts of this nature. 
 
 There are sometimes texts of explication, in which 
 we are obliged to explain some one great and important 
 article consisting of many branches. As for example, 
 predestination; and efficacious, converting grace. In this 
 case you may either reduce the matter to a certain num- 
 ber of propositions, and discuss them one after another ; 
 or you may reduce them to a certain number of questions, 
 and discuss them in like manner : but you ought (choose 
 which way you will) to take particular care not to lay 
 down any proposition, or any question, which is not for- 
 mally contained in your text, or which does not follow 
 by a near and easy consequence ; for otherwise you 
 would discuss the matter in a common-place way. 
 
 For example. " It is God, who worketh effectually 
 m you both to will and to do of his own good pleasure."* 
 
 Above all, take care to arrange your propositions 
 well, when you take this method. Place the most gen- 
 eral first, and follow the order of your knowledge, so 
 
 The thing to be explained is, the operation of divine grace ; and it is to 
 be explained in an immediate reference to the text. It might be said then, 
 that its operation is sovereign, rational, efficacious. It is sovereign, the result of 
 •' God's good pleasure,' 1 since man has not so much as a disposition to do good, 
 till God has given it him ; and therefore can have nothing in himself that can in- 
 duce God to give it him. It is rational; for God influences us to action, not as 
 mere machines, but by illuminating our understanding, and inclining our " will." 
 It is efficacious; for if he work in us " to will, 1 ' he will surely work in us " to 
 do ;" nor, however separate, in idea, volition and action may be, shall they ever 
 be separated in his people's experience. 
 
 This would include the principal observations of Mr. Claude, and render them 
 both more intelligible, and more easy to be remembered Simeon. 
 
COMPOSITION OF A SERMOX. 253 
 
 that the first propositions may serve as steps to the sec- 
 ond, the second to the third, and so of the rest.* 
 
 Sometimes, what you have to explain in a text will 
 consist of one or more simple terms ; sometimes in certain 
 ways of speaking peculiar to Scripture, or at least of such 
 great importance, that they will deserve to be particu- 
 larly weighed and explained ; sometimes in particles 
 which they call syncategorematica ; and sometimes in 
 propositions. For example, simple terms, are, the divine 
 attributes, goodness, mercy, wisdom, &c. The virtues 
 of men, faith, hope, love, &c. Their vices and passions, 
 ambition, avarice, vengeance, wrath, &c. In short, sim- 
 ple terms are single words, and they are either proper, 
 or figurative. In order to explain figurative words, you 
 must give the meaning of the figure in a few w T ords ; and 
 without stopping long upon the figure, pass to the thing 
 itself. And in general observe this rule, never insist long 
 on a simple term, unless it be absolutely necessary ; for to 
 aim at exhausting, (as it were) and saying all, that can 
 be said, on a single Avord, is imprudent in a preacher, es- 
 pecially when there are many important matters in the 
 text to be explained. Should any one (for example) in 
 explaining these words of Isaiah, " His name shall be 
 called Wonderful, Counsellor, the Mighty God, the Ev- 
 erlasting Father, the Prince of Peace," should a preach- 
 er, I say, insist on each term, and endeavour to exhaust 
 each word, he would handle the text in a common-place 
 way, and quite tire the hearer. You ought then, in dis- 
 cussing such passages, to select the most obvious articles, 
 and to enlarge principally on essential remarks. 
 
 * Arrange your propositions well. Nothing elucidates a subject more than 
 
 a conformity to this rule. Cicero's three words are well known, aple, distincte, 
 ornate. 
 
254 IB ESSAY ON THE 
 
 Sometimes there are simple terms, of which you must 
 only take notice cursorily, and en passant, as it were, just 
 as they relate to the intention of the sacred author. For 
 example, in St. Paul's ordinary salutations, " Grace be to 
 you, and peace from God our Father, and from our Lord 
 Jesus Christ," it must not be imagined, that each of the 
 terms or phrases is to be considered ex professo, either 
 grace, or peace, or God the Father, or Jesus Christ : but 
 the whole text is to be considered as a salutation, a ben- 
 ediction, an introduction to the epistle, and in these views 
 make necessary remarks on the terms. In one word, 
 take care to explain simple terms as much as possible in 
 relation to the present design of the sacred author, and 
 to the circumstances of the text ; for by these means you 
 will avoid common-places, and say pro'per and agreeable 
 things. 
 
 Sometimes you will meet with texts, the simple terms 
 of which must be discussed professedly ; and in order to 
 give a clear and full view of the subject, you must give 
 a clear and distinct idea of the terms. 
 
 When there are many simple terms in a text, you 
 must consider, whether it would not be more proper to 
 treat of them comjmratively With, each other, than to dis- 
 cuss them separately or each apart ; for sometimes it 
 would be very injudicious to discuss them separately, 
 and very agreeable to do it by comparison. Take for 
 example St. Luke's words, chap. ii. 8, 9, 10, 11. "And 
 there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the 
 fields, keeping watch over their flocks by night. And 
 lo ! the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glo- 
 ry of the Lord shone round about them ; and they were 
 sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not ; 
 for behold ! I bring you good tidings of great joy, which 
 
COMPOSITION OP A SERMON. 255 
 
 shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day, 
 in the city of David, a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord." 
 In ray opinion it would be very absurd to pretend to 
 treat separately these simple terms, in order to explain 
 what is a shepherd, and what is an angel, &c. But a 
 comparison of these terms with each other would aiford 
 very beautiful and agreeable considerations, as will ap- 
 pear by the following analysis of the text. Let it then 
 be divided into two parts ; let the first be the appear- 
 ance of the angels to the shepherds with all the circum- 
 stances, which the history remarks : and the second, the 
 angel's message to them. The first is contained in the 
 eighth and ninth verses, and the second in the tenth and 
 eleventh. 
 
 As to the first, you may remark, that this meeting 
 of the angel and shepherds was not accidental or by 
 chance, but by the order of the providence of God, who 
 there placed the shepherds, and thither sent his angel. 
 You may amplify this by showing, 
 
 1. That God causes his grace to descend not only upon 
 the great and powerful of the world, but also on the most 
 simple and inconsiderable. 
 
 2. That it seems as if he took more pleasure in be- 
 stowing his favours on the most abject than in distribut- 
 ing them among persons of elevated rank. Matt. xi. 25, 
 1 Cor. i. 26. For while he sent the ivise men of the 
 East to Herod, he sent an angel of heaven to the shep- 
 herds, and conducted them to the cradle of the Saviour 
 of the world. 
 
 3. That in this meeting of the angels and shepherds, 
 there is a character of the economy of Jesus Christ, where- 
 in the highest and most sublime things are joined with 
 the meanest and lowest. In his person the eternal word 
 is united to a creature, the divine nature to the hu- 
 
256 AX ESSAY ON THE 
 
 man, the Lord of Glory to mean flesh arid blood. In 
 his baptism he is plunged in the water, and the Father 
 speaks to him from heaven; he is under the hand of 
 John the Baptist, and the Holy Ghost descends upon 
 him. In his temptation he hungers, yet miraculously 
 supports a fast of forty days : the devil tempts him and 
 angels obey him. On his cross, naked, crowned with 
 thorns and exposed to sorrows, yet at the same time 
 shaking the earth and eclipsing the sun. Here in like 
 manner angels are familiar with shepherds : angels to 
 mark his majesty, shepherds his humility; angels be- 
 cause he is Creator and master of all things ; shep- 
 herds because he made himself of no reputation, and 
 took upon himself the form of a servant. 
 
 After this you may make a proper reflection on the 
 time mentioned by St. Luke, who says, " The shepherds 
 were abiding in the field, keeping watch over their 
 flock by night." You may observe that while these 
 shepherds were busy in their calling, God sent his angel 
 to them ; and that, however simple and mean the em- 
 ployments of men may be, it is always very pleasing to 
 God when they discharge them with a good conscience. 
 
 Remark a second circumstance ; The glory of the 
 Lord shining around the shepherds. Here you may 
 observe, 
 
 That when angels borrow human forms to appear 
 to men, (as it is likely this angel did, when he appeared 
 to the shepherds) they have always appeared with some 
 ensigns of grandeur and majesty, to show that they were 
 not men but angels, that is to say, beings of a superior 
 order. Thus the angels, who appeared at Christ's res- 
 urrection, were clothed with shining garments ; and so 
 were they, who appeared to the disciples after his as- 
 
COMPOSITION OF A SERMON. 257 
 
 cension. Here the angel is accompanied with a great 
 light shining around the shepherds. 
 
 The third remarkable circjumstance in the text, is 
 the greats/ear with which the shepherds were seized. 
 
 1. This was an effect of their great surprise. When 
 grand objects suddenly present themselves to us, they 
 must needs fill us with astonishment and fear. 
 
 2. This fear also arose perhaps from emotions of con- 
 science, Man is by nature a sinner, and consequently an 
 object of the justice and vengeance of God ; when there- 
 fore, any thing extraordinary and divine appears to him, 
 he necessarily trembles. This may be exemplified by 
 Adam, who, having sinned, fled, and, the moment he 
 heard the voice of God, hid himself; or by the Israel- 
 ites, who were terrified, when God appeared to them 
 upon the mountain : and hence that proverbial saying 
 among them, we shall die, for we have seen God. 
 
 But, as the thoughts of God are far different from 
 the thoughts of men, these poor shepherds did not long 
 remain in this state : but joy presently succeeded their 
 fear. Fear not, said the Angel, behold ! I bring you, 
 glad tidings. Agreeable surprise ! far different from 
 what will befal sinners at the last day ; for when they 
 cry, Peace, peace, then sudden destruction shall come upon 
 them : but here, when the shepherds trembled, when 
 they were seized with a dreadful horror, which made 
 them apprehend all danger, forth issues the greatest of 
 all joys, the most affecting of all consolations, the news 
 of the birth of the Saviour of the world. 
 
 Proceed now to the second part of the text ; the 
 Angel's discourse to the shepherds. And observe, 
 
 1. The Angel says to them. Fear not. He uses this 
 33 
 
258 IN ESSAY ON Tin. 
 
 preface to gain their attention, which tear (no doubt) 
 had almost entirely dissipated. 
 
 After this preface the Angel acquits himself of his 
 commission, and announces to the shepherds the great 
 and mysterious news of the Redeemers birth. " Be- 
 hold !" says he, " I bring you glad tidings of great joy, 
 which shall be to all people ; for unto you is born this 
 day in the city of David, a Saviour, which is Christ the 
 Lord." Remark in the front of his message the word 
 behold, which is generally used in scripture to denote 
 the greatness and importance of the subject in question, 
 and to gain attention. The prophets had often used it. 
 Isaiah on a like account had said, Behold ! a virgin 
 shall conceive. Zechariah had cried, Daughter of Zion, 
 Behold ! thy king cometh, just, and having salvation. 
 Malachi had said, Behold ! — the Lord, whom ye seek, 
 shall suddenly come to his temple. It is easy to remark 
 that the angel could never more properly use this word 
 than on this occasion. Do you doubt of it ? Hear his mes- 
 sage. / bring you, says he to them, glad tidings of great 
 
 i°y- 
 
 In order to examine the words properly, you must 
 begin with the Angel's description of the person, of whom 
 he speaks ; a Saviour, Christ the Lord. Then pass to 
 what he says about him ; he is born unto you, says he. 
 He marks the time ; this day. He describes the place ; 
 in the city of David. And, in fine, he specifies the na- 
 ture of this important news ; a great joy, which shall be to 
 all people. 
 
 Having considered his titles in general, and each 
 apart, you may proceed to consider them in a compara- 
 tive view. This comparison may be of the words with 
 
COMPOSITION OF A SERMON. 259 
 
 each other, or with the other parts of the text, or with the 
 words which follow the text. 
 
 In the first view, you may say, that the Angel in- 
 tended primarily to give the shepherds an idea of the 
 benefits, which they might expect of the Messiah, and 
 for this reason began with the title Saviour, in or- 
 
 & 
 
 der to affect them with their own interest, and indeed 
 with the greatest of all interests. Afterwards, to con- 
 firm their hope upon that point, he rises to the source 
 of this salvation, the mercy of God, who bestowed it on 
 them ; therefore he says, the Saviour is Christ, that is, 
 the promised Messiah. In fine, in order to convince 
 them with what profound respect men ought to receive 
 him, he adds, that he is sovereign Lord. In the title 
 Saviour, he shows the end of Christ's coming into the 
 world. In that of Christ, the right, which he had to 
 undertake so great a work, which was the Father's 
 mission, who for that purpose had anointed him. And 
 in that of Lord, he marks the sovereign power, with 
 which he should happily execute the office, that the 
 Father had committed to him. 
 
 In comparing these three titles with the other parts 
 of the text, you may show, that the Angel calls him a Sa- 
 viour, to justify that great joy, ivhich, says he, I bring you, 
 That he calls him Christ, the Son of God, the promised 
 Messiah, with relation to his birth in the city of David. 
 And that he calls him Lord, to render, in some sort, a 
 reason for an angel's coming with the glad tidings ; as if 
 he had said, / bring you the glad tidings, because he is 
 Lord of all, both yours and ours. 
 
 In comparing the words with what follows, you may 
 observe, that the Angel calls him a Saviour, Christ, the 
 Lord, in order to guard the shepherds against their be- 
 
260 AN ESSAY ON THE 
 
 ing offended at what lie was about to tell them, that 
 they should find him a babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, 
 tying Ml ct manger. As if he had said, let not the'sc sad 
 appearances offend you ; he whom you will find an 
 infant, in swaddling clothes, and in a manger* is the Re- 
 deemer of the world, the true anointed of God, the Lord' 
 of the whole universe. 
 
 This Saviour, this Christ, this Lord, says the Angel, 
 i$ bom unto you. 
 
 Here you may commence a lively exhortation to 
 joy, the motives to which may be taken from the terms 
 of the text; that there is a Saviour ; that he is Christ ; 
 that he is the Lord ; that after being so long expected, 
 at length he came ; that he was born for us ; that we 
 have an interest in him above angels ; that he has tes- 
 tified his love to us by submitting to sinless infirmities ; 
 you may compare his first with his last Advent, and dis- 
 pose your auditors to feel a still greater joy in expecta- 
 tion of his coming to raise them from the dead, and put- 
 ting the last hand to the work of our redemption ; then 
 will he appear a Saviour indeed, for he will complete 
 the salvation of the faithful. Then will he appear a 
 Christ indeed, for he Avill finish the design of his unction, 
 and mill make us kings and priests to God his Father. 
 Then will he appear Lord indeed, for all things shall 
 be subjected to him, he will triumph over our enemies, 
 he will swallow up death in victory, and he will elevate 
 us to the possession of eternal glory.* 
 
 Having spoken of simple terms, I proceed to add 
 something concerning expressions peculiar to scripture. 
 
 * This discourse wa9 verj' Jong and tedious. All that could elucidate the 
 rraling of texts by comparison is retained ; but that, which tended only to di? 
 iract the mind, is expunged. 
 
COMPOSITION OP A SERMON. 261 
 
 These deserve a particular explication, and should be 
 discussed and urged with great diligence, as well, because 
 they are peculiar modes of speaking, as because they 
 are rich with meaning. In this class I put such forms 
 of speaking as these. " To be in Christ Jesus. To 
 come to Jesus Christ. To come after Jesus Christ. To 
 live in the flesh. To live after the flesh. From faith 
 to faith. From glory to glory. To walk after the 
 flesh. To walk after the spirit. The old man. The 
 new man. Jesus Christ lives in you. To live to Jesus 
 Christ. To live to ourselves. To die to the world. 
 To die to ourselves. To be crucified to the world. 
 The world to be crucified to us. Jesus Christ made sin for 
 us, we made the righteousness of God in him. Christ 
 put to death in the flesh, quickened by the Spirit. Die 
 unto sin. Live unto righteousness. Quench the Spirit. 
 Grieve the Spirit. Resist the Holy Ghost. Sin against the 
 the Holy Ghost." And I know not how many more such 
 expressions, which are found almost no where but in scrip- 
 ture. Whenever you meet with such forms of speech as 
 these, you must not pass them over lightly, but you must 
 fully explain them, entering well into the spirit and mean- 
 ing of them. It would be very convenient for a young 
 man to procure for this purpose an exact collection, and 
 endeavour to inform himself of the sense of each. 
 
 This subject would require, as it well deserves, a par- 
 ticular treatise ; however, I will briefly give an exam- 
 ple of the manner, in which expressions of this kind 
 should be discussed. Let us take these words. Mark 
 viii. 34. " Whosoever will come after me, let him deny 
 himself, and take up his cross and follow me." Methinks 
 it would not be improper to divide the sermon into two 
 parts. In the first we would treat of the expressions, 
 
-62 AN ESSAY ON TI1K 
 
 which Jesus uses, Come after me — deny himself '-—take up 
 his cross — and folio in me. — And in the second, we would 
 examine the entire sense of our Saviour's whole proposition. 
 
 To begin then with the explication of these expres- 
 sions. To come after Jesus Christ signifies no other thing 
 than to be his disciples, to take him for the rule and 
 model of our conduct, in a word, to profess an acknowl- 
 edgment of him as our head and master, our supreme 
 prophet and teacher, our pattern and exemplar. 
 
 Deny himself 'is an expression so singular, that it seems 
 to shock reason and nature, and to suppose a thing diffi- 
 cult, yea, absolutely impossible, or at least extremely 
 criminal. Yet, it is certain, nothing can be more holy, 
 nothing more necessary, nothing more just, than this self- 
 renunciation, which Jesus Christ here ordains. He does 
 not mean, that we should divide ourselves from our- 
 selves, or that we should hate ourselves ; but he intends, 
 
 1. In general, that we should renounce all that is in 
 us excessive, vicious and irregular; this he calls self be- 
 cause corruption is become, as it were, natural to us, we 
 being conceived in sin, and shapen in iniquity. 
 
 2. He commands us particularly to renounce that vi- 
 olent, immoderate, and excessive love, which man in a 
 state of depravity has for himself, making self-love his 
 chief and only principle of action, in one word, being a 
 god to himself. 
 
 3. He enjoins the renunciation of that false and per- 
 verse pretence, which all sinners have, that they are their 
 own masters, that no one has a right over them, that to 
 themselves only belongs the disposition of words, actions, 
 and thoughts. The Saviour means, that, renouncing this 
 unjust and foohsli pretence, we should submit ourselves 
 to the government and direction of God. confiding in the 
 
COMPOSITION OP A SERMON. 263 
 
 conduct of his wisdom, and receiving him to reign in our 
 hearts by his word and Spirit. 
 
 Take up his cross, is an expression consecrated by 
 Jesus Christ to a sacred purpose, though it does not be- 
 long only to scripture style. Here two things are in- 
 tended by it. The mystical cross of conversion, and the 
 cross of afflictions. 
 
 1. Conversion is called in scripture a cross ; because 
 sin and carnal lusts are made to die within our hearts ; 
 this the scripture calls crucifying the old man. 
 
 2. Afflictions are justly called crosses, not only be- 
 cause nature suffers, but also because by these means we 
 become the horror and reproach of the world. 
 
 Finally, to follow Jesus Christ, is, 1. To become his 
 disciple, to believe his doctrine, to approve his maxims, to 
 be persuaded of the truth of his mysteries and holiness 
 of his laws. 
 
 2. To follow is to imitate him, to propose him as our 
 exemplar and pattern in the whole conduct of our lives, 
 to walk in the same way as he walked, in order to ob- 
 tain communion with him in glory. 
 
 3. To profess openly our subjection to him, as our 
 Master and Lord, to obey his orders, &c. In a word 5 
 to follow is the same as to come after him, which we just 
 now explained. 
 
 This is the first part. The second consists in con- 
 sidering the entire sense of Jesus Christ's whole proposi- 
 tion. He means, then, that, if we would be really of 
 the number of his disciples and followers, we must sub- 
 mit to two things, sanctification and affliction. 
 
 1. Sanctification. Here enter into the subject, and 
 show how impossible it is to belong to Jesus Christ with- 
 out forsaking sin. and entirely changing the life. " Th<" 
 
2(54 ll« i.ss.vv on TUi 
 
 grace of God, that bringeth salvation, hath appeared to 
 all men ; teaching us, that denying ungodliness, and 
 worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and 
 godly, in this present world, looking for that blessed 
 hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God, and 
 our Saviour Jesus Christ." 
 
 These are St. Paul's words to Titus, and three 
 things may be remarked in them, grace, holiness, and 
 glory* And you may easily observe, that grace, conducts 
 to glory only by means of holiness : take away holiness 1 
 and grace and glory can never be joined together. The 
 apostle therefore does not say, ' The grace of God hath 
 appeared to all men, teaching us to look for the glorious 
 appearing of Jesus Christ ;' but, he says, " The grace of 
 God hath appeared to all men, teaching us to deny un- 
 godliness and worldly lusts, to live soberly, righteously, 
 and godly, in this present world ;" and so to be looking 
 for that blessed hope, the glorious appearing of the great 
 God and our Saviour Jesus Christ. Grace indeed ends 
 in glory ; but it can only do so by the intervention of 
 holiness. 
 
 You may also allege, to the same purpose, the end 
 of Jesus Christ's coming into the world, which was not 
 only to destroy sin, as it subjected us to eternal punish- 
 ment, but as sin. You may finally show, how much it 
 is for the glory of the Father, and of Jesus Christ, and 
 for the reality and plenitude of salvation, that the disci- 
 ples of Jesus should be sanctified. 
 
 2. Affliction. Two things here must be discussed. 
 1. The truth of the fact, that true believers are ex- 
 posed to afflictions in this world. 2. The reasons why 
 the divine wisdom subjects believers to these trials. 
 
 1. The truth qf the fact results 1. from v the examples 
 
COMPOSITION OF A SERMON. 205 
 
 of all the great servants of God who have appeared in 
 the world to this day : as Noah, Abraham, Lot, Moses, 
 St. Paul, and all the other apostles of Jesus Christ. 2. 
 From the whole history of the church, which was always 
 nourished and increased in afflictions. This may be il- 
 lustrated by the burning bush, which appeared to Mo- 
 ses ; or by the ship, into which Jesus and his apostles 
 went, tossed with waves, and exposed to the violence of 
 winds and storms. 
 
 2. The reasons for this dispensation of divine provi- 
 dence may be taken from a common-place of afflictions, 
 as, by means of afflictions God restrains our impetuous 
 passions, exercises our virtues, detaches us from the world, 
 elevates us to the hope of a better life, and displays the glo- 
 ry o/'that admirable providence, which governs us. Af- 
 flictions also are particular honours, which God confers 
 on us, by them enabling us to walk in the steps of Jesus 
 Christ, and conforming us by them to our divine leader. 
 For these reasons, and many more of the same kind, we 
 may fairly conclude, that with profound wisdom Jesus 
 Christ has called us to affliction, and joined the cross to 
 the profession of true Christianity.* 
 
 We have before observed, that, beside simple terms, 
 and singular expressions peculiar to scripture, there are 
 also sometimes in texts, particles, that are called syncate- 
 gorematica, which serve either for the augmentation or 
 limitation of the meaning of the proposition. As the word 
 so in John iii. 16. " God so loved the word." The word 
 now in the viii. of Romans. " There is therefore now no 
 condemnation to them, which are in Christ Jesus ;" — 
 and in many more passages of the same kind. 
 
 This is somewhat abridged, for the same reason as the foregoing. 
 
 34 
 
266 IN ESSA1 on mi 
 
 Whenever you* meet with these terms, carefully ex- 
 amine them ; for sometimes the greatest part, and very 
 often the whole of the explication, depends upon them, 
 as we have already remarked on that passage just now 
 mentioned, " God so loved the world :" for the chief 
 article, in the doctrine of the love of God, is its great- 
 ness, expressed by the word so. It is the same with 
 that other term now, " there is therefore now no con- 
 demnation to them, which are in Christ Jesus ;" for the 
 word note shows, that it is a conclusion drawn from the 
 doctrine of justification, which the apostle had taught in 
 the preceding chapters, and it is as if he had said, From 
 the principles, which I have established, it follows, that 
 there is now no condemnation, &c. Having then ex- 
 plained, 1. What it is to be in Christ Jesus. 2. What it 
 is to be "no more subject to condemnation," chiefly in- 
 sist, in the third place, on the word now ; and show, that 
 it is a doctrine, which necessarily follows from what St. 
 Paul had established touching justification in the fore- 
 going chapters ; so that this term makes a real part of 
 the explication, and indeed the most important part. 
 
 Sometimes these terms in question are not of conse- 
 quence enough to be much dwelt on : but may be more 
 properly passed with a slight remark. The word Be- 
 hold, with Avhich many propositions in scripture begin, 
 must be treated so ; you must not make one part of this, 
 nor insist on it too long. The same may be said of that 
 familiar expression of Jesus Christ, Verily, Verily, which 
 is an asseveration, or, if you will, an oath : but neither 
 on this must you insist much. So again, Jlnicn, or so be 
 it, which closes some texts. Woe be to you, which Jesus 
 Christ often repeats in the gospel, with many more of 
 the same kind. I know no certain rule to distinguish 
 
COMPOSITION OF A SERMON, 267 
 
 when they are important : but it must be left to the 
 preacher's taste ; and a little attention will make the 
 necessary discernment very easy* 
 
 When the matter to be explained in a text consists 
 of a proposition, you must, 1. Give the sense clearly and 
 neatly, taking care to develope it of all sorts of ambigu- 
 ity. 
 
 2. If it be requisite, show how important in religion 
 it is to be acquainted with the truth in hand ; and for 
 this purpose open its connexion with other important 
 truths ; and its dependence on them ; the inconveniences, 
 that arise from negligence ; the advantageous succours, 
 which piety derives thence, with other things of the 
 same nature. 
 
 3. Having placed it in a clear light, and shown its 
 importance, if it require confirmation, confirm it. In all 
 cases endeavour to illustrate either by reasons, or exam* 
 pies, or comparisons, of the subjects with each other, or 
 by remarking their relation to each other, or by show- 
 ing their conformities, or differences, all with a view to il- 
 lustrate the matter that you are discussing. You may 
 also illustrate a proposition by its consequences, by show- 
 ing how many important inferences are included in it, 
 and flow from it. 
 
 In fine, you may illustrate by the person, ivho propos- 
 es the subject ; by the state, in which he was, when he 
 proposed it ; by the persons, to whom it is proposed ; by 
 circumstances of time, and place, &c. All these may give 
 great openings ; but they must be judiciously and dis- 
 creetly used ; for to attempt to make an assemblage of 
 all these in the discussion of one proposition, would be 
 trifling, endless, and pedantic. 
 
 Sometimes one single proposition includes many truths. 
 
2()U \.\ BSSA1 ON TH! 
 
 which it will be necessary to distinguish : but, in doing 
 this, take care that eacli truth, on which you intend to 
 insist, be of some importance in religion, not too common, 
 nor too much known. This your own good sense must 
 discern. 
 
 Sometimes one proposition must be discussed in the 
 different views, in which it may be taken ; and in this 
 case you must remark those different relations. 
 
 Sometimes the doctrine contained in the proposition 
 has different degrees, which it will also be necessary to 
 remark. 
 
 Sometimes the proposition is general, and this gener- 
 ality seems to make it of little importance. In this case 
 you must examine, whether some of its parts be not more 
 considerable ; if they be, you will be obliged to discuss 
 these parts by a particular application. 
 
 First. To give the sense of a proposition neat and 
 clear, and afterwards to confirm and illustrate it, let us 
 take Eph. i. 13. "The eyes of your understanding be- 
 ing enlightened, that ye may know what is the hope of 
 his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his in- 
 heritance in the saints." 
 
 This text must be divided into two parts. The first 
 is the apostle's prayer, " May God enlighten the eyes of 
 your understanding !" the second is the end of this illu- 
 mination, " that ye may know what is the hope of his 
 calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheri- 
 tance in the saints " 
 
 I. The apostle's wish or prayer contains a proposi- 
 tion, which is, that " it is God who enlightens the eyes 
 of our understanding." To give clearly the sense, you 
 must first observe in a few words, that scripture frequent* 
 !y borrows the names and images of the faculties of the 
 
COMPOSITION OF A SERMON. 269 
 
 body to represent those of the soul ; therefore it gives 
 us feet to walk in the way of righteousness, hands to work 
 out our salvation, knees to bow at the name of Jesus, 
 ears to hear the sacred truths of the gospel, a mouth to 
 eat the flesh and drink the blood of Jesus Christ, and 
 eyes to see the mysteries of his kingdom. All this is 
 founded not only on the natural conformity, or resem- 
 blance, which there is between the operations of the 
 soul and the organs of the body, but also on the scrip- 
 ture-manner of calling the whole of our regeneration and 
 conversion a new man. Here, then, eyes of the under- 
 standing is an expression agreeable to the ordinary style 
 of scripture, and signifies simply our understanding, the 
 faculty by which we know and judge objects. 
 
 2. But, beside this, you must remark, that our eyes 
 have two very different uses ; one consists only in viewing 
 objects indifferently, for no other purpose than our diver- 
 sion ; as when in a rural walk we look at the starry heav- 
 ens, or admire extensive plains, and flowing rivers : this 
 may be called a simple view of contemplation : the oth- 
 er goes farther, and consists not barely in seeing objects, 
 but in looking at them so as to conduct and regulate our 
 actions : so a traveller sees roads in his journey ; so a 
 man sees his friend to open his own heart, and ask his 
 friend's advice ; so a prisoner sees his deliverer to ask 
 his freedom : this may be called a view of action or di- 
 rection. Thus it is with the understanding ; it has two 
 functions, one a simple knowledge of objects, as of phys- 
 ical or metaphysical truths, called in the schools, specu- 
 lative knowledge : the other a knowledge of objects in 
 order to act by them, and to use them for a rule, and a 
 guide, as when we know the nature of virtue, and the 
 precepts of morality, the rules of art, and the maxims of 
 
270 Afl ESSAY ON THE 
 
 jurisprudence ; this is what the schools call practical 
 knowledge. Now, here the understanding is spoken of, 
 not in the former, but latter sense ; for the mysteries of 
 the Christian religion are not mysteries of simple con- 
 templation, the scripture does not propose them for our 
 diversion, nor to gratify our curiosity ; but they are mys- 
 teries of practice, which we ought to know, in order to 
 act towards them, by embracing them with all the pow- 
 ers of our hearts, by receiving their impression and yield- 
 ing to their energy ; in one word, by making them a rule 
 of our conduct. The apostle's proposition then means, 
 That it is God, who by the interior light of his spirit 
 opens the eyes of our understandings to receive, as we 
 ought, the truths of his word, thereby enabling us to 
 judge of them, to love and follow them, and to make 
 them the rules of our conduct. 
 
 The proposition, thus explained, must be proved. 
 This may be done directly, or indirectly ; indirectly by 
 producing divers passages of scripture, which represent 
 the greatness of natural depravity, and the inability of 
 man to convert himself. Such passages are very nume- 
 rous, as where the heart is called an " an heart of stone." 
 Where the prophet asks, " Can the Ethiopian change 
 his skin, or the leopard his spots ? then may ye also do 
 good, that are accustomed to do evil.'' A direct confir- 
 mation consists of passages, in which our conversion is 
 formally ascribed to God, and to the efficacy of his spirit, 
 which are also very numerous. 
 
 While you are confirming this proposition by scrip- 
 ture, you may mix an illustration of it by reasoning, by 
 showing that our attachments to the world are so many 
 and so strong, that supernatural grace is absolutely nec- 
 essary to dissolve them: thai the obscurities of our mind? 
 
COMPOSITION OF A SERMON. 271 
 
 arising either from our prejudices, or passions, or old 
 habits, or the colours, under which the Gospel first pre- 
 sents itself to us, are such as render it impossible for us 
 to judge rightly. This may be particularly inserted in 
 the indirect way. 
 
 In the direct way you may also mix reasoning, by 
 showing, that the divine wisdom determines, our regen- 
 eration should be all heavenly ; that neither flesh, nor 
 blood, nor natural principles contribute any thing ; that 
 the new man, being the pure work of the Holy Spirit, 
 renders us more conformable to Jesus Christ ; for, ac- 
 cording to St. Paul, " God has predestinated us to be 
 conformed to the image of his Son." When Jesus Christ 
 came into the world, he came not in the ordinary, natu- 
 ral way; but by a law above all laws in the world. He 
 was made of a virgin, formed by the power of the Holy 
 Ghost. God declares, that christians " are born, not of 
 blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of 
 man, but of himself;" and on this account they are em- 
 phatically styled the children of God, and the brethren 
 of Christ. 
 
 In confirming this proposition you may also illustrate 
 it by some examples, as by that of the converted thief; 
 that of St. Paul ; that of the Jews, converted on the day 
 of Pentecost, at the preaching of St. Peter, &c. In short, 
 by any examples, in which the power of grace remark- 
 ably shone in conversion. 
 
 The subject may be illustrated by comparing conver- 
 sion with the almighty work of God in creating the uni- 
 verse ; and you may remark in a few words their con- 
 formities and differences. 
 
 You may illustrate by its consequences, showing the 
 greatness and importance of the change wrought in men? 
 when God opens the eyes of their understandings. 
 
'272 A\ ESSAY ON THE 
 
 The illustration may flow from inevidence, by show- 
 ing, that Jesus Christ alone lias taught men this truth, 
 thai conversion is of God. All false religions attribute 
 this -work to man himself: philosophy is not acquainted 
 with this grace from on high. 
 
 Finally, you may illustrate the subject by the person 
 who proposes it, who is St. Paul. He had felt all its ef- 
 ficacy, fathomed, as it were, all its depth, and conse- 
 quently could well speak of it. Or by the persons to 
 whom it was addressed, the Ephesians, who had been 
 reclaimed from the greatest superstition that was among 
 the pagans, that is to say, the worship of Diana. 
 
 The manner, in which St. Paul proposes this truth, 
 must not be forgotten ; it is in the form of a wish or 
 prayer. " May God give you an illumination of the eyes 
 of your understanding!"' Which shows the necessity 
 and importance of grace, without which all the other 
 mercies of God would be rather hurtful than profitable. 
 
 You may also remark the circumstances of time and 
 place ; for St. Paul wrote this epistle, when he was in 
 prison at Rome, when he was loaded with chains, and 
 when the gospel was every where persecuted. Under 
 such forbidding circumstances, the Holy Ghost must 
 needs display a mighty power in conversion.* 
 
 Secondly, to give an example of propositions, includ- 
 ing divers truths, which must be distinguished from each 
 other. We cannot choose a more proper text than the 
 remaining part of the passage, which was just now ex- 
 plained. " That you may know," says St. Paul, " what 
 is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the 
 glory of his inheritance in the saints." The apostle's 
 
 * Out of these various methods of illustration Mr. Claude would have the 
 preacher choose the most proper, and not attempt to crowd all into one sermon. 
 
COMPOSITION OF A SERMON. 273 
 
 proposition is, That, by the illumination of grace, we 
 understand the innumerable blessings, to the enjoyment 
 of which God calls us by his gospel. Now this propo- 
 sition includes many truths, which it will be necessary to 
 distinguish.* 
 
 CHAP. VI. 
 
 OF TEXTS TO BE DISCUSSED BY WAY OF OBSERVATION. 
 
 Some texts require a discussion by way of considera-* 
 tion, or observation. The following hints may serve for 
 a general direction. 
 
 1. When texts are clear of themselves, and the mat- 
 ter well known to the hearers, it would be trifling to amuse 
 the people with explication. Such texts must be taken 
 
 ■ 1. The gospel is a divine vocation ; " Awake thou that sleepest, &c." 
 
 The church is not a tumultuous assembly, &c. but a society which has God 
 for its author — 
 
 2. A vocation in which God proposes something to our hope. 
 
 Not a vocation of mere authority, much less of seduction to sin — 
 But like that to Abraham, or to Lazarus — 
 
 3. This call proposes to our hopes an Inheritance. — 
 Not a recompense proportioned to our merit — 
 But a good bestowed in virtue of adopting grace — 
 
 4. This inheritance is a heavenly one ; %n holy, or heavenly places — 
 
 The apostle intends, not only the nature of the divine blessings, but also the 
 place of possessing them — 
 
 5. These are blessings of infinite abundance, of inexpressible value — 
 
 " Riches of the glory ;" a way of speaking proper to the Hebrews, and 
 often used — 
 
 6. The apostle would have us know the admirable greatness of this hope — 
 All our deviations, and wrong attachments, arise from our ignorance of this 
 
 glory— 
 
 7. The knowledge we have of this matter comes from divine Illumination. 
 
 CliAVDKi 
 
 35 
 
274 AN ESSAY ON THL 
 
 as they are, that is, clear, plain, and evident, and only 
 observations should be made on them. 
 
 2. Most historical texts must be discussed in this way ; 
 for, in a way of explication, there would be very little to 
 say. For example, what is there to explain in this pas- 
 sage ? " Then Jesus, six days before the passover, came 
 to Bethany, where Lazarus was, which had been dead, 
 whom he raised from the dead. There they made him 
 a supper, and Martha served : but Lazarus was one of 
 them, that sat at table with him." John xii. Would it 
 not be a loss of time and labour to attempt to explain these 
 words ; and are they not clearer than any comments can 
 make them? the way of observation, then, must be taken. 
 
 3. There are some texts, which require both explica- 
 tion and observation, as when some parts may need ex- 
 plaining. For example, Acts i. 10. " And while they 
 looked stedfastly toward heaven, as he went up, behold! 
 two men stood by them in white apparel." Here it will 
 be necessary to explain in a few words the cause of their 
 " looking stedfastly toward heaven ;" for by lifting their 
 eyes after their divine Master, they expressed the inward 
 emotions of their minds. It will be needful also to ex- 
 plain this other expression, " as he went up," and to ob- 
 serve, that it must be taken in its plain, popular sense ; 
 and that it signifies not merely the removal of his visible 
 presence, while he remained invisibly upon earth ; but 
 the absolute absence of his humanity. This is the natu- 
 ral sense of the words, and the observation is necessary 
 to guard us against that sense, which the church of Rome 
 imposes on them for the sake of transubstantiation. You 
 may also briefly explain this other expression, "behold! 
 two men," and show that they were Angels in human 
 shapes. Here you may discuss the question of angelical 
 
COMPOSITION OF A SERMON. 275 
 
 appearances under human forms. Notwithstanding these 
 brief explications, this is a text, that must be discussed 
 by way of observation. 
 
 Observe, in general, when explication and observa- 
 tion meet in one text, you must always explain the part, 
 that needs explaining, before you make any observations ; 
 for observations must not be made, till you have estab- 
 lished the sense plainly and clearly. 
 
 4. Sometimes an observation may be made by way 
 of explication, as when you would infer something impor- 
 tant from the meaning of an original term in the text. 
 For example ; Acts ii. 1. " And when the day of Pen- 
 tecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in 
 one place." 
 
 It will be proper here to explain and enforce the 
 Greek word o^oBv[xaSov, which is translated with one ac- 
 cord, for it signifies, that they had the same hope, the 
 same opinions, the same judgment ; and thus their una- 
 nimity is distinguished from an exterior, and negative 
 agreement, which consists in a mere profession of hav- 
 ing no different sentiments, and in not falling out ; but 
 this may proceed from negligence, ignorance, or fear of 
 a tyrannical authority. The uniformity of which the 
 church of Rome boasts, is of this kind; for if they have 
 no disputes and quarrels among them on religious mat- 
 ters, (which however, is not granted,) it is owing to the 
 stupidity and ignorance, in which the people are kept, or 
 to that indifference and negligence, which the greatest 
 part of that community discover towards religion, con- 
 cerning which they seldom trouble themselves ; or to 
 the fear of that tyrannical domination of their prelates, 
 with which the constitution of their church arms them. 
 Now, consider such an uniformity how you will, it will 
 
276 AN ESSAY ON THE 
 
 appear a false peace. If ignorance or negligence pro- 
 duce it, it resembles the quiet of dead carcases in a bu- 
 rymg-ground, or the profound silence of night, when all 
 are asleep ; and, if it be owing to fear, it is the stillness 
 of a galley-slave under the strokes of his officer, a mere 
 shadow of acquiescence produced by timidity, and un- 
 worthy of the name of unanimity. The disciples of Jesus 
 Christ were not uniform in this sense : but their una- 
 nimity was inward, and positive, they " were of one 
 heart, and one soul." This explication, you perceive, is 
 itself a very just observation, and there are very many 
 passages of scripture, which may be treated of in the 
 same manner. 
 
 5. Observations, for the most part, ought to be the- 
 ological, that is to say, they should belong to a system 
 of religion. Sometimes, indeed we may make use of 
 observations historical, philosophical, and critical ; but 
 these should be used sparingly, and seldom ; on necessa- 
 ry occasions, and when they cannot well be avoided ; and 
 even then they ought to be pertinent, and not common, 
 that they may be heard with satisfaction. Make it a law 
 to be generally very brief on observations of these kinds, 
 and to inform your audience, that you only make them 
 en passant. 
 
 There are, I allow, some cases, in which observations 
 remote from theology are necessary to the elucidating of 
 a text. When these happen, make your observations 
 professedly, and explain and prove them. But, I repeat 
 it again, in general, observations should be purely theo- 
 logical ; either speculative, which regard the mysteries 
 of Christianity, or practical, which regard morality; for 
 >he pulpit was erected to instruct the minds of men in 
 
COMPOSITION OF A SERMON. 277 
 
 religious subjects, and not to gratify curiosity ; to inflame 
 the heart, and not to find play for imagination. 
 
 6. Observations should not be proposed in scholastic 
 style, nor in common-place guise. They should be sea- 
 soned with a sweet urbanity, accommodated to the ca- 
 pacities of the people, and adapted to the manners of 
 good men.* One of the best expedients for this purpose 
 is a reduction of obscure matters to a natural, popular, 
 modern air. You can never attain this ability, unless you 
 acquire a habit of conceiving clearly of subjects yourself, 
 and of expressing them in a free, familiar, easy manner, 
 remote from every thing forced, and far-fetched. All 
 long trains of arguments, all embarrassments of divisions 
 and subdivisions, all metaphysical investigations, which 
 are mostly impertinent, and, like the fields, the cities, and 
 the houses, which we imagine in the clouds, the mere 
 creatures of fancy, all these should be avoided. 
 
 7. Care, however must be taken to avoid the oppo- 
 site extreme, which consists in making only poor, dry, 
 spiritless observations, frequently said under pretence of 
 avoiding school-divinity, and of speaking only popular 
 things. Endeavour to think clearly, and try also to think 
 nobly. Let your observations be replete with beauty, 
 as well as propriety, the fruits of a fine fancv under the 
 
 * Urbanity is opposed to rusticity, and that of which our author speaks, re- 
 gards both the subject itself, and the language, in which it is expressed. In short, 
 if urbanity be not in the preacher, it will never be in his sermons. 
 
 Ministers, who aim at this excellence, should remember, that there is such a 
 tiling as being loo familiar. As to an easy manner also, there are two extremes. 
 The formal sliffncss of a pedant, and the carelessness of a man who does Dot re- 
 spect his company, are both at a distance from Mr. Claude's ease. The ease 
 of the man?icr of a christian preacher, in the pulpit, is not the ease of a man when 
 alone, but of a well-bred man in company. 
 
 A subject is far-fetched, when, although it may have some connexion with the 
 text, yet this connexion lies at a great distance, and obliges the preacher to go a 
 long, long way to come at it, Robinson, 
 
278 AN ESSAY ON THE 
 
 direction of a sober judgment. If you be inattentive to 
 this article, you will pass for a contemptible declaimer, 
 of mean and shallow capacity, exhausting yourself and 
 not edifying your hearers ; a very ridiculous character ! 
 To open more particularly some sources of observa- 
 tions, remark every thing, that may help you to think, 
 and facilitate invention ; 
 
 1. 
 
 RISE FROM SPECIES TO GENUS.* 
 
 Psal. 1. 14. " Sacrifice to God thanksgiving, and 
 pay thy vows unto the most High." In discussing this 
 text, I would observe first the terms, sacrifice thanksgiv- 
 ing, and would elucidate them by going from the species 
 to the genus. The dignity of sacrifice in general would 
 lead me to observe ; that it is the immediate commerce 
 of a creature with his God, an action, in which it is dif- 
 ficult to judge whether earth ascend to heaven, or 
 heaven descend to earth ; that in almost all the other 
 acts of religion the creature receives of his Creator : but 
 in this the Creator receives of his creature ; that the 
 Lord of the universe, who needs nothing, and who eter- 
 nally lives in a rich abundance, hath such a condescen- 
 sion as to be willing to receive offering at our hands ; 
 that, of all dignities, that of the priesthood was the 
 highest, for which reason the ancient priests dwelt in 
 the tabernacle, or temple of God ; that when God di- 
 vided Canaan among the children of Israel, each tribe 
 had its portion except that of Levi, to which God as- 
 signed nothing. Why ? because he loved th'em less ? 
 
 This is a topic peculiarly proper in an exordium. 
 
COMPOSITION OF A SERMON. 279 
 
 No, but because he gave them the priesthood, and be- 
 cause he, who had the priesthood, the altar, and the 
 censer, had God for his portion, and consequently could 
 have no need of temporal things. This is, you see, to 
 rise from species to genus ; for the text does not speak 
 of sacrifice in general, but of the sacrifice of praise in 
 particular ; yet, when these general considerations are 
 pertinent, they cannot fail of being well received. 
 
 II. 
 
 DESCEND FROM GENUS TO SPECIES. 
 
 An example may be taken from Psal. cxxiii. 2. " Be- 
 hold ! as the eyes of servants look unto the hand of their 
 masters, so our eyes wait upon the Lord our God." 
 Here you may aptly observe in masters with regard to 
 servants, and in God with regard to us, three senses of 
 the phrase. There is a hand of beneficence, a hand of 
 'protection or deliverence, and a hand of correction. A 
 servant expects favours from the hand of his master, not 
 from that of a stranger. He looks to him for protec- 
 tion and deliverence in threatening dangers, and refuses 
 all help, except that of his master. He expects cor- 
 rection from him, when he commits a fault, and, when 
 corrected, humbles himself under his master's frown, in 
 order to disarm him by tears of repentance. The ap- 
 plication of these to the servants of God is easy. The 
 word succour is general, and may very well be considered 
 by descending from the genus to the species, and by ob- 
 serving the different occasions, which we have for divine 
 assistance, and, consequently, the different assistances 
 and succours, which God affords us ; as the help of his 
 word to remove our ignorance, doubts, or errors : the 
 
280 AN ESSAY ON THE 
 
 help of his providence to deliver us out of afflictions ; the 
 help of his grace and spirit to guard us from the temp- 
 tations of the world, and to aid us against the weaknesses 
 of nature ; the help of divine consolations to sweeten the 
 bitterness of our exercises under distressing circumstan- 
 ces, and to give us courage to bear afflictions ; the help 
 of his mercy to pardon our sins, and to restore to our 
 consciences that tranquility, which they have lost by of- 
 fending God. You will meet with a great number of 
 texts which may be discussed in this manner ; but great 
 care must be taken not to strain the subject ; for that 
 would make you look like a school-boy. The best way is to 
 make only one general observation, and then to apply it 
 to several particular subjects, collecting all at last into 
 one general point of view. 
 
 III. 
 
 REMARK THE DIVERS CHARACTERS OF A VICE, WHICH IS FOR- 
 BIDDEN, OR OF A VIRTUE, WHICH IS COMMANDED.* 
 
 You might easily take the characters of vices from 
 this pattern of characterising virtues ; however, I will 
 
 * For example, 2 Thess. iii. 5. '* The Lord direct your hearts into the love 
 of God, and into the patient waiting for Christ. 1 ' Begin with the characters of 
 true love to God. The seat of it is the heart ; it possesses the whole heart ; and 
 though it is not alone, it holds the chief place ; its emotions and acts are injinite y 
 without measure or subordination, without bounds or partition ; but sets bounds 
 to every emotion towards other objects ; is accompanied with humility and/ear; 
 principally consists in obedience ; is inflamed under the rod of correction ; and 
 is not superstitious. — it is tranquil and peaceable ; yet always active ; and finally, 
 one of the greatest evidences of love to God is, spontaneous obedience, not 
 waiting for chastisenu nts to awake us, after we have fallen into sin. So much 
 for the characters of love. 
 
 Then subjoin the emotions included in the words, " patient waiting." On 
 which, remark, That the coming of Jesus Christ being the subject in question, 
 ♦he expectation of a believer is a true and real hope, accompanied with an holy 
 
COMPOSITION OP A SERMON. 281 
 
 add an example on avarice, taking for a text Heb. xiii. 5. 
 " Let your conversation be without covetousness, and 
 be content with such things as ye have." 
 
 1. Avarice is a disposition so gross, that it obscures the 
 understanding and reason of a man, even so far as to 
 make him think of profit, where there is nothing but 
 loss, and imagine that to be economy, which is nothing 
 but ruin. Is it not in this manner, that a covetous man, 
 instead of preventing maladies by an honest and frugal 
 expense, draws them upon himself by a sordid and nig- 
 gardly way of living ; and by this means brings himself 
 under an unavoidable necessity of consuming one part of 
 his substance to recover a health, which, by an exces- 
 sive parsimony, he has lost ? There are even some, who 
 bring inevitable death upon themselves, rather than 
 spend any thing to procure necessary relief, and are im- 
 pertinent enough to imagine that riches had better be 
 without a possessor, than a possessor without riches ; as 
 if man were made for money, and not money for man. 
 
 But, 2dly, this would be but little, if avarice affected 
 only the avaricious themselves ; it goes much farther, 
 it renders a man useless to society. It subverts the idea 
 of our living to assist one another ; for a covetous man 
 is useless to the whole world. He resembles that earth, 
 of which St. Paul speaks, which " drinketh in the rain, 
 that comes often upon it, and beareth only thorns and 
 briars." He is an unfruitful tree ; a gulf, which draws 
 in waters from all parts ; but from which no stream 
 rims : or, if you will, an avaricious man is like death, 
 
 and ardent desire, as being an expectation of the greatest blessings, and an holy 
 Inquietude, almost like what we feel when we expect an intimate friend ; but 
 this inquietude does not hinder us from possessing our souls in patience — and finally, 
 ; f n^p^p.rily includes a holy preparation. Clamor. 
 
 36 
 
282 AN BBSAT ON THL 
 
 that devours all, and restores nothing ; whence it comes 
 to pass, that no man is in general so much despised, 
 while he lives, as a miser, and no man's death is so 
 much desired as his. He never opens his treasures, till 
 he is leaving the world ; he therefore can never receive 
 the fruits of gratitude, because his favours arc never 
 conferred till his death, 
 
 3d. Farther, this vice not only renders a man useless 
 to society : but it even makes him hurtful and pernicious 
 to it. There is no right so inviolable, no law so holy, 
 which he will not violate greedily to amass riches, and 
 cautiously to preserve them. How many violent in- 
 croachments! how many criminal designs! how many 
 daik and treasonable practices ! how many infamies and 
 wickednesses have proceeded from this perverse inclina- 
 tion. If a covetous man is barren in kindnesses, he is 
 fruitful in sins and iniquities. There are no boundaries, 
 which he cannot pass, no barriers which he cannot read- 
 ily go over to satisfy his base passions for money. 
 
 4th. By this we may already perceive how incom- 
 patible this vice is with true faith, and with the genius of 
 Christianity. The spirit of Christianity is a spirit of 
 love and charity, always beneficent, always ready to 
 prevent the necessities of our christian brethren, kind 
 and full of compassion, inquiring into the wants of others, 
 and, without asking, seeking means to prevent them. 
 But avarice, on the contrary, makes a man hard, cruel, 
 pitiless, beyond the reach of complaints and tears, ren- 
 dering the miser not only jealous of the prosperity of 
 his neighbour ; but even making him consider the pit- 
 tances of the miserable as objects of his covetous de- 
 sires. 
 
 5th. It is not without reason, that St. Paul calls av- 
 
COMPOSITION OF A SERMON. 283 
 
 arice, idolatry ; for one of the principal characters of 
 this cursed inclination is a making gold and silver one's 
 God. It is money, in effect, which the covetous adores, 
 it is this that he supremely loves, this he prefers above 
 all other things, it is his last end, his life, his confidence, 
 and all his happiness. He, who fears God, consecrates 
 to him his first thoughts, and devotes to his glory and ser- 
 vice the chief of his cares, to his interests the whole of his 
 heart, and for the rest commits himself to the care of his 
 providence. It is the same with a covetous man in regard 
 to his treasures, he thinks only of them, he labours only 
 to increase and preserve them, he feels only for them, 
 he has neither rest, nor hope, which is not founded on 
 his riches; he would offer incense to them, could he do 
 it without expense. 
 
 6th. It is surprising, and sometimes sufficiently di- 
 verting, to see in what manner all the other inclinations 
 of a miser, good and bad, virtues and vices, his love and 
 his hatred, his joy and his sorrow respect and obey his 
 avarice. They move or rest, act or do not act, agreea- 
 bly to the orders which this criminal passion gives them. 
 If he be naturally civil, mild, and agreeable in his con- 
 versation, he will not fail to lay aside all his civilities, 
 and good manners, when his avarice tells him he may 
 get something by doing so ; and, on the contrary, when 
 he has received some injury, when some insult has been 
 offered him, which is a just ground of resentment, you 
 may see in an instant his wrath is removed, and all his 
 vehemence abated, in hope of a little money offered to 
 appease him, or in fear of a small expense to gratify his 
 resentment. If an object of public joy, or sorrow offer 
 itself to his view, simply considering it in a general view, 
 he will be glad or sorry according to the nature of the 
 
'281 Afs ESSAY ON THE 
 
 thing in question : but should this occasion of public joy 
 interest him ever so little, or in any manner prejudice 
 his pretensions, all on a sudden you will see all his joy 
 turned into sorrow. In like manner, when a public ca- 
 lamity gives him an opportunity of gaining any thing, all 
 his sorrow is turned into joy. If he ardently loves any 
 one, he will love him no longer if he begin to cost him 
 any thing ; avarice will turn all his love into indifference 
 and coldness. If reason and common honesty oblige him 
 to be of a party, who have justice on their side, he will 
 maintain and even exaggerate their rights, and defend 
 the equity of them, while his purse is not engaged; en- 
 gage his purse, and it is no longer the same thing ; what 
 was just is become now unjust to him ; he has quickly 
 whys, and howevers in his mouth — but, however, we were 
 mistaken in such a point — why should we be obstinate in 
 such, or such a thing ? &c. 
 
 IV. 
 
 OBSERVE THE RELATION OF ONE SUBJECT TO ANOTHER. 
 
 For example, always when in scripture God is called 
 a. Father, the relation of that term to children is evident, 
 and we are obliged not only to remark the paternal in- 
 clinations, which are in God towards us, and the advan- 
 tages, which we receive from his love, but also the du- 
 ties to which we are bound as children of such a father. 
 The same may be said of all these expressions of scrip- 
 ture, God is our God, we arc his people; he is our por- 
 tion, we arc his heritage ; he is our master, we are his 
 servants ; he is our king, we arc the subjects of his king- 
 
COMPOSITION OF A SERMON. 285 
 
 dom ; he is our 'prophet or teacher, we are his disciples ; 
 with many more of the same kind. When we meet 
 with such single and separate, they must be discussed 
 in relation to one another, and this relation must be par- 
 ticularly considered. Thus, when the kingdom of God, 
 or of Jesus Christ, is spoken of, all things relative to this 
 kingdom must be considered; as, its laws; arms; throne ; 
 crown; subjects; extent of dominion; palace where the 
 king resides ; &c. So when our mystical marriage with 
 Jesus Christ is spoken of, whether it be where he is call- 
 ed a bridegroom, or his church a bride, you should, after 
 you have explained these expressions, turn your attention 
 to relative things ; as the love of Jesus Christ to us, 
 which made him consent to this mystical marriage ; the 
 dowry, that we bring him, our sins and miseries ; the 
 communication, which he makes to us both of his name 
 and benefits ; the rest, that he grants us in his house, 
 changing our abode ; the banquet at his divine nuptials : 
 the inviolable fidelity, which he requires of us ; the right 
 and power he acquires over us ; the defence and pro- 
 tection, which he engages to afford us ; but, when these 
 relative things are discussed, great care must be taken 
 neither to insist on them too much, nor to descend to 
 mean ideas, nor even to treat of them one after another 
 in form of a parallel ; for nothing is more tiresome, than 
 treating these apart, and one after another. They must, 
 then, be associated together ; a body composed of many 
 images must be formed : and the whole must be always 
 animated with the sensible, and the spiritual, 
 
28G AN ESSAY ON THE 
 
 
 V. 
 
 OBSERVE WHETHER SOME THINGS BE NOT SUPPOSED, WHICH 
 
 ARE NOT EXPRESSED. 
 
 This is a source of invention different from the for- 
 mer ; for the former is confined to things really relative ; 
 but this speaks in general of things supposed, which have 
 no relation to each other. For example, when we speak 
 of a change, what they call the terminus a quo necessa- 
 rily supposes the terminus ad quern : and the terminus 
 ad quern supposes the terminus a quo. 
 
 A covenant supposes two contracting parties ; a re- 
 conciliation effected, or a peace made, supposes war and 
 enmity ; a victory supposes enemies, arms, and a combat; 
 life supposes death, and death life ; the day supposes 
 night, and the night day ; sometimes there are proposi- 
 tions, which necessarily suppose others, either because 
 they are consequences, depending on their principles, or 
 because they are truths naturally connected with others. 
 It is always very important to understand well what 
 things are supposed in a text ; for sometimes several 
 useful considerations may be drawn from them, and not 
 unfrequcntly the very expressions in the text include 
 them. 
 
 For example. Rom. xii. 17: " Recompense to no 
 man evil for evil. In discussing this text you may very 
 properly observe the truths, Avhich are implied, or sup- 
 posed in the words ; as 1. The disorder into which sin 
 has thrown mankind, so that men are exposed to receive 
 
COMPOSITION OF A SERMON. 287 
 
 injuries and insults from each other. A society of sin- 
 ners is only a shadow of society; they are actually at 
 war with each other, and, like the Midianitish army, 
 turning every one his sword against his companion. The 
 spirit of the world is a spirit of dispersion rather than of 
 association. Different interests, diversities of sentiments, 
 varieties of opinions, contrarieties of passions make a 
 perpetual division, and the fruits of this division are in- 
 sults and injuries. It may be said of each in such socie- 
 ties, as of Ishmael in the prophecy, " his hand is against 
 every man, and every man's hand against him." 
 
 2. We must not imagine that faith, and the dignity 
 of a christian calling raise the disciple of Christ above 
 injuries ; on the contrary, they expose him oftener to 
 evils than others ; as well because God himself will have 
 our faith tried, that we may arrive at heaven through 
 many tribulations, as because a christian profession nec- 
 essarily divides believers from infidels. The world and 
 sin form a kind of communion between the wicked and 
 worldly, which produces a mutual forbearance and friend- 
 ship : but there is no communion between a believer and 
 an unbeliever, any more th? between light and dark- 
 ness, Christ and Belial. Thence come all the persecu- 
 tions of the church, and thence will good men continue 
 to meet with opposition from the wicked to the end of 
 time. Jesus Christ, when he sent his apostles, did not 
 fail to apprise them of this ; he said, " I send you forth 
 as sheep in the midst of wolves:" and again, "If ye 
 were of the world, the world would love his own ; but 
 because ye are not of the world, therefore the world 
 hateth you." 
 
 You may make an observation on each of these sup- 
 posed truths ; and, having established the apostle's pre- 
 
2U8 O ESSAY ON THE 
 
 cept, by showing that private revenge is contrary to the 
 laws of Christianity, and incompatible with true piety, 
 you may observe a third supposed truth. 
 
 3. That the gospel not only forbids resentment and 
 revenge ; it even commands us to pardon offences ; and, 
 farther, obligeth us to do good to our enemies, and to 
 pray for our persecutors, according to the precepts of 
 Jesus Christ, " Love your enemies, bless them that curse 
 you, and pray for them that despitefully use you :" and 
 according to the doctrine of St. Paul in another place, 
 " If thine enemy hunger, feed him ; if he thirst, give 
 him drink/' 
 
 It remains that you take care in treating supposed 
 truths, 
 
 1st, Not to fitch them too Jar, or to bring them about 
 by long circuits of reasoning. Avoid this for two rea- 
 sons ; first, because you would render your discourse ob- 
 scure by it ; for every body is not capable of seeing 
 truths, which are very distant from the text : and, sec- 
 ondly, because by this means you might bring in cdl the 
 whole body of divinity into your text ; which attempt 
 would be vicious, and conepuy to the rules of good sense. 
 Of supposed truths, you must choose the most natural, 
 and those which lie nearest the text.* 
 
 In the 2d place, do not enlarge on implied truths : it 
 is proper, indeed, that hearers should know them ; but 
 they are not principal articles^- 
 
 * Thus Bishop Fletcher, in a sermon concerning the rich man, who said, 
 Luke xii. 18. " I will pull down ray barns," &c. "The rich man does not 
 propose to employ his fortune in faction ; he does not intend to increase his es- 
 tate by encroaching on his neighbours ; nor to get richer by extortion and usury ; 
 he does not mean to trouble and persecute good people, who do not live as he 
 doth ; nor does he design so give himself up to sordid avarice, or to ostentation 
 and pom;;; on\y, Soul, take thine epseS 1 Robinson. 
 
COMPOSITION OF A SERMON. 289 
 
 And, 3dly, take care also that these supposed things 
 be important, either for instruction in general, or for 
 casting light particularly on the text, or for consolation, 
 or for the correction of vice, or practice of piety, or 
 some useful purpose ; otherwise you would deliver tri- 
 fling impertinences under the name of implied truths, 
 
 VI. 
 
 REFLECT ON THE PERSON SPEAKING OR ACTING. 
 
 For an example, let us take the last-mentioned text 
 of St. Paul, " recompense to no man evil for evil. Here 
 you may very pertinently remark, 1. That this precept 
 is more beautiful in the mouth of St. Paul, than it could 
 have been in that of any other man. The reason is this 5 
 he of all the men in the world had the greatest reason 
 for resentment upon worldly principles ; for never was 
 there a man more persecuted, never a man more unjust- 
 ly persecuted than he ; he was persecuted by his own 
 countrymen the Jews, persecuted by the Gentiles, per- 
 secuted by false brethren, persecuted by false apostles, 
 persecuted when he preached the gospel, persecuted 
 even by those, for whose salvation he was labouring, per- 
 secuted to prison, to banishment, to bonds, to blood ; how 
 amiable, then, is such a precept in the mouth of such a 
 man ! How forcible is such a precept, supported by one 
 of the greatest examples we can conceive ! by the ex- 
 ample of a man whose interest seems to dictate a quite 
 contrary practice ! When we give such precepts to the 
 worldly, they never fail to say to us, Yes, yes ! you talk 
 finely ! you have never been insulted as we have ! had 
 you met with what we have, you would talk otherwise ! 
 
 37 
 
290 v\ ESSAY ON Till 
 
 But there is no reason to say so to St. Paul, any more 
 than to Jesus Christ, his master, the author of this di- 
 vine morality ; for who was ever so persecuted as Jesus 
 Christ ? and, after him, who suffered more than his ser- 
 vant St. Paul ? 
 
 2. You may also very properly remark, that, to take 
 a different view of the apostle Paul, no man was more 
 obliged to teach and love such a morality than himself. 
 Whv ? Because of all those, whom God in his ineffable 
 mercy had called to the knowledge of the truth, he had 
 been the most concerned in cruel efforts of rage against 
 God and his church ; all inflamed with fury he went from 
 Jerusalem to Damascus, to ravage the flock of Jesus 
 Christ. In this raging violence of his hatred, God made 
 him feel his love, pardoned his sins, softened his heart, 
 and from heaven cried to him, " Saul, Saul, why perse- 
 cutest thou me ?" Who, then, could be more obliged 
 to preach mercy than this man, to whom God had show- 
 ed so much mercy ? Might he not say, when he gave 
 these rules of morality, what he said on another subject, 
 " I have received of the Lord that, which I deliver un- 
 to you ;" I have received the same mercy, which I teach 
 you. Add to this, the apostle had not only met with 
 pardoning love to an enemy on God's part, but he had 
 also experienced it from the church. Far from render- 
 ing him evil for evil, far from avenging his persecutions, 
 the disciples of Christ reached out the arms of their 
 love to him, received him into their communion, and num- 
 bered him with the apostles of Jesus Christ- 
 
COMPOSITION OP A SERMON. 291 
 
 VII. 
 
 REFLECT ON THE STATE OF THE PERSONS SPEAKING 
 
 OR ACTING. 
 
 Thus in explaining 1. Thess. v. 16. Rejoice evermore, 
 you must not fail to consider the state of St. Paul, when 
 he wrote that epistle ; for he was at Athens, engaged in 
 that superstitious city, where, as it is said in the xvii. of 
 Acts, his spirit was " stirred in him," observing " the city 
 wholly given to idolatry ;" where he was treated as a 
 " babbler, a setter forth of strange gods," and where, in 
 short, he was the object of Athenian ridicule and raille- 
 ry. Yet, amid so many just causes of grief, he exhorts 
 the Thessalonians always to preserve their spiritual joy; 
 not that he meant to render them insensible to the evils, 
 which he suffered, nor to the afflictions of the new-born 
 church; but because our spiritual afflictions, I mean those, 
 which we suffer for the glory of God, and the good of 
 his church, are not incompatible with peace and joy of 
 conscience : on the contrary, it is particularly in these 
 afflictions that God gives the most lively joys, because 
 then he bestows on his children more abundant meas- 
 ures of his grace, and more intimate communion with 
 himself. Moreover, on these sad occasions we general- 
 ly become better acquainted with the providence of God, 
 we feel an assurance that nothing happens without his 
 order, and that, happen what will, " all things work to- 
 gether for good to them that love God," This gives us 
 true rest, a joy which nothing is capable of disturbing. 
 
292 AN ESSAY ON THE 
 
 VIII. 
 
 REMARK THE TIME OF A WORD OR ACTION. 
 
 For example, St. Paul in his first epistle to Timothy 
 requires, that in the public services of the church prayers 
 should be made for all men ; but " first for kings, and for 
 those that were in authority." Here it is very natural 
 to remark the time. It was when the church and the 
 apostles were every where persecuted ; when the faith- 
 ful were the objects of the hatred and calumny of all 
 mankind, and in particular of the cruelty of these Ty- 
 rants. Yet none of this rough treatment could stop the 
 course of Christian charity. St. Paul not only requires 
 every believer to pray for all men ; but he would have 
 it done in public, that all the Avorld might know the max- 
 ims of Christianity, always kind, patient, and benevolent. 
 Believers consider themselves as bound in duty to all 
 men, though men do nothing to oblige them to it. He 
 was aware, malicious slanderers would call this worldly 
 policy and human prudence, and would say, Christians 
 only meant to flatter the great, and to court their fa- 
 vour ; yet even this calumny does not prevent St. Paul ; 
 he orders them to pray 'publicly, and first for civil gov- 
 ernors. We ought always to discharge our duty, and, 
 for the rest, submit to the unjust accounts that men give 
 of our conduct. 
 
 IX. 
 
 OBSERVE PLACE. 
 
 St. Paul says to the Philippians, " forgetting the 
 things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those 
 
COMPOSITION OF A SERMON. 293 
 
 things which are before, I press toward the mark for 
 the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus." 
 The place, where he writes this, furnishes a very beau- 
 tiful consideration. He was then in prison, at Rome, 
 loaded with chains, and deprived of his liberty ; yet he 
 speaks as if he were as much at liberty as any man in 
 the world ; as able to act as he pleased, and to dispose 
 of himself as ever : he talks of havino - entered a course, 
 running a race, forgetting things behind, pressing toward 
 those that were before, and, in short, of hoping to gain 
 a prize ; all these are actions of a man enjoying full lib- 
 erty. How could he, who was in a prison, be at the same 
 time on a race-course ? how could he run, who was load- 
 ed with irons ? how could he hope to win a prize, who 
 every day expected a sentence of death ? But it is not 
 difficult to reconcile these things : his bonds and impris- 
 onment did not hinder the course of his faith and obedi- 
 ence. His prison was converted into an agreeable Sta- 
 dium, and death for the Gospel might well be consider- 
 ed under the image of a complete victory ; for a Martyr 
 gains an unfading crown as a reward of his sufferings. 
 
 X. 
 
 CONSIDER THE PERSONS ADDRESSED. 
 
 Let us again take St. Paul's words for an example. 
 u Recompense to no man evil for evil," Rom. xii. 17. 
 They, to whom the apostle addressed these words, were 
 Romans, whose perpetual maxim was violently to re- 
 venge public injuries, and totally to destroy those, who 
 intended to destroy them, or had offered them any af- 
 fronts ; witness the Carthagenians and Corinthians. They 
 totally destroyed Carthage, because she had carried her 
 
204 AN ESSAY ON THE 
 
 arms into Italy by Hannibal's means, and had been upon 
 the point of ruining Rome. Corinth they sacked and 
 burnt for having affronted their ambassadors. You may 
 also remark this particular circumstance ; that, although 
 the Romans had succeeded in avenging their injuries, 
 and the empire owed its grandeur to such excesses, yet 
 their success did not hinder the apostle from saying, 
 " Recompense to no man evil for evil ;" because neither 
 examples nor successes ought to be the rules of our con- 
 duct, but solely the will of God, and the law of Chris- 
 tianity. 
 
 XL 
 
 EXAMINE THE PARTICULAR STATE OF PERSONS ADDRESSED. 
 
 For example, " Recompense to no man evil for evil." 
 St. Paul writes to Romans ; but to Roman Christians, 
 who saw themselves hated and persecuted by their fel- 
 low-citizens, and in general abused by the whole world. 
 Yet, however reasonable resentment might appear at 
 first sight, the apostle would not have them obey such 
 passions as the light of reason, the instinct of nature, and 
 the desire of their own preservation might seem to ex- 
 cite : he exhorted them to leave vengeance to God, and 
 advised them only to follow the dictates of love. The 
 greatest persecutors of the primitive Christians were 
 the Jews, on whom the Roman Christians could easily 
 have avenged themselves under various pretexts; for 
 the Jews were generally hated and despised by all other 
 nations, and nothing could be easier than to avail them- 
 selves of that public hatred, to which the religion of the 
 Jews exposed them. Nevcrthelsss, St. Paul not only 
 says in general, "Render not evil for evil ;" but in partic- 
 
COMPOSITION OF A SERMON. 295 
 
 ular, Recompense to no man evil for evil. As if he had 
 said, Do not injure those, on whom you could most 
 easily avenge yourselves ; hurt not the most violent en- 
 emies of the name of Jesus Christ, and of the christian 
 profession ; not even those, who have crucified your Sa- 
 viour, and every day strive to destroy his gospel. 
 
 XII. 
 
 CONSIDER THE PRINCIPLES OF A WORD OR ACTION. 
 
 For example, John v. 14. " Behold ! thou art 
 made whole, sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto 
 thee." This was the language of Jesus Christ to the 
 man whom he had just before healed of an infirmity of 
 thirty-eight years' standing. Him Jesus now found in the 
 temple. It is not imaginable that this meeting was 
 fortuitous, and unforeseen to Jesus Christ ; his provi- 
 dence, no doubt, conducted the man that way, directed 
 him to the temple, whither he himself went to seek 
 him. Examine then, upon what principles Jesus Christ 
 went to seek this miserable sinner. 
 
 In like manner, if you had to examine these words of 
 Jesus Christ to the Samaritan woman, " Go, and call thy 
 husband," John iv. You might examine the intention of 
 Jesus Christ in this expression. He did not speak thus, 
 because he was ignorant what sort of a life this Avoman 
 lived ; he knew that, to speak properly, she had no hus- 
 band. It was then, 1. A word of trial ; for the Lord 
 said this to give her an opportunity of making a free 
 confession, 1 have no husband. 2. It was also a word of 
 land reproof; for he intended to convince her of the sin 
 in which she lived. 3. It was also a word of grace ; 
 for the censure tended to the woman's consolation. 4. 
 
29(5 AN ESSAY ON THE 
 
 It was farther, a word of wisdom ; for our Lord intend- 
 ed to take occasion at this meeting to discover himself 
 to her, and more clearly to convince her, that he had a 
 perfect knowledge of all the secrets of her life, as he 
 presently proved by saying, " Thou hast well said, I 
 have no husband ; for thou hast had five husbands, and 
 he, whom thou hast now, is not thy husband. 
 
 Were you going to explain the ninth verse of the 
 first of Acts, where it is said, " When Jesus was taken 
 up, his disciples beheld him," it would be proper to re- 
 mark the sentiments of the disciples in that moment, 
 and to show from what principles proceeded that atten- 
 tive and earnest looking after their divine Master, while 
 he ascended to heaven. 
 
 XIII. 
 
 CONSIDER CONSEQUENCES. 
 
 Thus, when you explain the doctrine of God's mercy, 
 it is expedient (at least sometimes) to remark the good 
 and lawful uses, which we ought to make of it. These 
 uses are, to renounce ourselves ; to be sensible of our 
 infinite obligations to God, who pardons so many sins 
 with so much bounty ; to consecrate ourselves entirely 
 to his service, as persons over whom he has acquired a 
 new right ; and to labour incessantly for his glory, in 
 gratitude for what he has done for our salvation. 
 
 You may also observe the false and pernicious con- 
 sequences, which ungrateful and wicked men, who sin 
 that grace may abound, pretend to derive from this doc- 
 trine. They say, we are no longer to consider justice 
 now we are under grace : the more we sin, the more 
 
COMPOSITION OF A SERMON, 297 
 
 God will be glorified in pardoning us ; this mercy will 
 endure all the time of our lives ; and therefore it will 
 be enough to apply to it at the hour of death ; with 
 many more such false consequences, which must be both 
 clearly stated, and fully refuted. 
 
 It is much the same with the doctrine of the effica- 
 cious grace of the Holy Ghost in our conversion ; for 
 the just and lawful consequences, which are drawn from 
 it are, 1. That such is the greatness of our depravity, it 
 can be rectified only by almighty aid. 2. That we should 
 be humble, because there is nothing good in us. 3. That 
 we should ascribe all the glory of our salvation to God, 
 who is the only author of it. 4. That we must adore the 
 depths of the great mercy of our God, who freely gave 
 his Holy Spirit to convert us. 
 
 You must remark at the same time the abuses, and 
 false consequences, which insidious sophisters draw from 
 this doctrine, as that, since the conversion of men is by 
 the almighty power of God, it is needless to preach his 
 word ; and to address to them on God's part exhorta- 
 tions, promises and threatcnings ; that it is in vain to tell 
 a sinner, it is his duty to turn to God, as without effica- 
 cious grace (which does not depend upon the sinner) he 
 cannot do it ; that it has a tendency to make men negli- 
 gent about their salvation to tell them, it does not de- 
 pend on their power. These, and such like abuses, must 
 be proposed and solidly refuted. 
 
 Moreover, this method must be taken, w 7 henyou have 
 occasion to treat of the doctrines of election and repro- 
 bation ; the propitiatory sacrifice of Christ's blood ; and, 
 in general, almost all religious subjects require it ; for 
 there is not one of them all, which is not subject to use 
 and abuse. Take care, however, when you propose 
 
 38 
 
_!»U. AN ESSAY ON THE 
 
 these good and bad consequences, that you do it proper- 
 ly, and when an occasion naturally presents itself; for 
 were they introduced with any kind of affectation and 
 force, it must be disagreeable. 
 
 XIV. 
 
 REFLECT ON THE END PROPOSED IN AN EXPRESSION OR AN 
 
 ACTION. 
 
 Although this is not very different from the way of 
 principles, of which we have already spoken, yet it may 
 afford a variety in discussing them. 
 
 If, for example, you were speaking of justification, 
 in the sense in which St. Paul taught it, you must ob- 
 serve the ends, which the apostle proposed, as 1. To 
 put a just difference between Jesus Christ and Moses, 
 the law and the gospel, and to show against those, who 
 would blend them together, and so confound both in one 
 body of religion, that they cannot be so united. 2. To 
 preserve men from that pharisaical pride, which reign- 
 ed among the Jews, who sought to establish their own 
 righteousness, and not the righteousness of God. 3. To 
 take away such inadequate remedies as the law by 
 way of shadow exhibited for the expiation of sins ; as 
 sacrifices and purifications ; as well as those, which 
 pagan superstition proposed, such as washing in spring 
 water, offering victims to their gods, &c. 4. To bring 
 men to the true and only atonement for sin, which is the 
 blood of Jesus Christ. 
 
COMPOSITION OF A SERMON. 29$ 
 
 XV. 
 
 CONSIDER WHETHER THERE BE ANY THING REMARKABLE IN 
 THE MANNER OF THE SPEECH OR ACTION. 
 
 For example. " In all these things we are more than 
 conquerors through him that loved us." Rom. viii. 37. 
 You may remark, that there is a more than ordinary 
 force in these words, more than conquerors ; for they ex- 
 press an heroical triumph. He does not simply say, We 
 bear our trials with patience ; he not only says, We shall 
 conquer in this conflict ; but he affirms, We are more than 
 conquerors. It is much that faith resists trials without 
 being oppressed ; it is more to conquer these trials after 
 a rude combat ; but to affirm the believer shall be 
 more than a conqueror, is as much as to say, he shall con- 
 quer without a combat, and triumph without resistance ; 
 it is as much as to say, he shall make trials the matter 
 of his joy and glory, as the apostle says, we glory in trib- 
 ulation, considering them not as afflictions and sorrows, 
 but as divine honours and favours. This was also the 
 apostle's mind, when he wrote to the Philippians, " unto 
 you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe 
 on him, but also to suffer for his sake." He considers 
 sufferings as gifts of the liberality of God, for which the 
 faithful are obliged to be thankful. So in this other 
 passage, " I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life> 
 nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things pres- 
 ent, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any 
 other creature shall be able to separate us from the love 
 of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." You may 
 here remark the heroism and magnanimity of St, Paul 
 
300 AN ESSAY ON THE 
 
 His faith seems to defy all the powers of nature. He 
 assembles them all — life, death, angels, Sec. to triumph 
 over them, and to exult in their defeat. This language 
 marks a full persuasion of the favour of God, and an in- 
 vincible confidence in his love. 
 
 Such remarks as these may be made upon many ex- 
 pressions of Jesus Christ, wherein are discovered dignity 
 and majesty, which cannot belong to any mere creature : 
 as when he says, " Before Abraham was, I am." " While 
 I am in the world I am the light of the world." "All 
 mine are thine, and thine are mine, and I am glorified in 
 them." " Ye believe in God, believe also in me." 
 " Whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do." 
 There are many passages of the same kind. 
 
 XVI. 
 
 COMPARE WORDS AND ACTIONS WITH SIMILAR WORDS AND AC- 
 TIONS. 
 
 The Evangelist speaks of " the things, that Jesus be- 
 gan to do and to teach," Acts i. 1. Now he says the 
 same of Moses, " he was mighty in words and in deeds," 
 Acts vii. 22. Here you may observe, that these two 
 things joined together, doing and teaching, are distin- 
 guishing characters of a true prophet, who never sepa- 
 rates practice from doctrine. You may then make an 
 edifying comparison between Moses and Jesus Christ ; 
 both did and taught : but there was a sreat difference 
 between the teaching of one and that of the other. 
 One taught justice, the other mercy; one abased, the 
 other exalted; one terrified, the other comforted. 
 There was also a great difference between the deeds of 
 the one, and those of the other. Most of the miracles 
 
COMPOSITION OF A SERMON. 301 
 
 of Moses were miracles of destruction, insects, frogs, hail, 
 and others of the same kind, with which he chastised 
 the Egyptians. But the miracles of Jesus Christ were 
 always miracles of benevolence, raising the dead, giving 
 sight to the blind, &c. 
 
 So again, when the infidelity of the Jews in reject- 
 ing the Messiah is discussed, you may examine their 
 prejudices and their maxims, as they are narrated in the 
 gospel ; and these you may compare with those of the 
 church of Rome in rejecting the reformation ; for they 
 are very much alike. 
 
 So again, when you consider St. Paul's answers to the 
 objections of the Jews, who pleaded that they were the 
 people of God, and that his covenant belonged to Abra- 
 ham and his posterity ; you may observe, that these an- 
 swers are like ours to the Roman church, when they 
 affirm they are the church of God. As the apostle dis- 
 tinguished two Israels, one after the flesh, and the other 
 after the spirit, so we distinguish two churches ; one, 
 which is only so in outward profession before men, pos- 
 sessing the pulpits, the churches, and the schools ; and 
 the other, which is the church in the sight of God, hav- 
 ing a holy doctrine, and a lively faith. These an- 
 swer precisely to the apostle's " Israel after the 
 flesh, and Israel after the spirit." As the apostle 
 applies the promises of God, and their accomplish- 
 ment, not to Israel after the flesh, but to the Israel- 
 ites after the spirit, so we also apply the promises, 
 which God has made to his church, not to those, who 
 occupy the pulpits, the churches, and the schools ; but 
 to them who believe and practise the pure doctrine of 
 the gospel. As St. Paul defines the true people of God 
 f o be those, whom God by his electing love hath taken 
 
302 AN ESSAY ON THE 
 
 from among men, so wc define the true church by the 
 same electing grace ; maintaining that the Lord has 
 made all the excellent promises, with which scripture 
 abounds, to his elect only, and that his elect are such as 
 he has chosen according to his good pleasure, without 
 any regard to particular places, conditions, or qualifica- 
 
 tions among men. 
 
 XVII. 
 
 REMARK THE DIFFERENCES OF WORDS AND ACTIONS ON DIFFER- 
 ENT OCCASIONS. 
 
 When a weak scrupulosity, or a tenderness of con- 
 science was in question, which put some of the faithful 
 upon eating only herbs, St. Paul exhorted the strong to 
 bear the infirmities of the weak ; " let not him that eat- 
 eth, despise him that eateth not ; and let not him, which 
 eateth not, judge him that eateth ; for God hath receiv- 
 ed him." Rom. xiv. 3. But when the same St. Paul 
 speaks of false teachers, who wanted to impose a yoke 
 on conscience, and who under pretext of meats and days 
 were attempting to join Moses with Jesus Christ, as if 
 Christians were yet obliged to observe the ceremonial 
 law ; then the apostle has no patience with them, but 
 condemns and anathematises them, as people who 
 preached another gospel, and exhorts the faithful to 
 " stand fast in the liberty, wherewith Christ had made 
 them free, and not to be entangled again with the yoke 
 of bondage/' Gal. v. 1. 
 
 So again, when you find in the gospel, that Jesus 
 Christ sometimes forbade his disciples to publish the 
 miracles that he wrought, and to declare his diviniU j 
 
COMPOSITION OF A SERMON. 303 
 
 and, at other times, that he ordered them to publish up- 
 on the house-tops what they had heard in private, and to 
 preach to all nations the mysteries of his kingdom, you 
 must remark, that this difference is owing to different 
 occasions. While Jesus Christ was upon earth, the mys- 
 teries of his kingdom were covered with the veil of his 
 humiliation, it being necessary in some sense to conceal 
 them ; but after his exaltation, it became proper to pub- 
 lish them to the whole earth. 
 
 The same diversity may be remarked in what the 
 Lord Jesus said to the Canaanitish woman ; that he was 
 " only sent to the lost sheep of the house of Israel ;" 
 and that it was " not meet to give the children's bread to 
 dogs." This seems contrary to an almost infinite num- 
 ber of passages of scripture, which affirm, Jesus Christ 
 is " the light of the Gentiles ; to him shall the gather- 
 ing of the people be." These, and all other such passa- 
 ges will perfectly agree, if you distinguish time and oc- 
 casion. While Jesus Christ was upon earth, he was the 
 minister of the circumcision, as St. Paul speaks, that is, 
 his personal, ministerial commission was only to the Jews: 
 but when he was exalted to glory, his ministry extended 
 over the whole earth. 
 
 XVIII. 
 
 CONTRAST WORDS AND ACTIONS. 
 
 Thus you may oppose the agonies and terrors, which 
 seized Jesus Christ at the approach of death, against the 
 constancy and joy of the martyrs, who flew to martyr- 
 dom as to a victory. This contrariety of emotions is ac- 
 counted for by the difference of the persons. Jesus 
 
304 AN ESSAY ON THL 
 
 Christ was the Mediator of men towards God, bearing 
 their sins, and engaging with the eternal justice of his 
 Father : but the martyrs were believers, reconciled to 
 God, fighting under Christ's banner, and as mystical sol- 
 diers maintaining: his righteous claims. One was filled 
 with a sense of God's wrath against men : the others 
 were tilled with a sense of his love. Christ met death 
 as an armed enemy, and as one who, till that time, had 
 a right to triumph over mankind ; but martyrs approach- 
 ed him as a vanquished enemy, or rather as an enemy 
 reconciled, who having changed his nature was become 
 more favourable to men. In one word, Jesus Christ was 
 at war with death : whereas, death was at peace and 
 in friendship with the martyrs. 
 
 In general, we may affirm, that contrast is one of the 
 most beautiful topics of Christian rhetoric; and that 
 which furnishes the most striking illustrations. Great 
 care, however, must be taken, that the oppositions be 
 natural, easy to comprehend, and properly placed in a 
 full, clear light. 
 
 XIX. 
 
 EXAMINE THE GROUNDS, OR CAUSES OF AN ACTION OR AN 
 EXPRESSION ; AND SHOW THE TRUTH OR EQUITY OF IT. 
 
 For example. When the incarnation of Jesus Christ 
 is in question, as in this text, the icord was made flesh, you 
 may recur to the foundations of this truth, as revealed 
 in scripture, in order to show that a divine person did 
 take upon him real, true humanity, in opposition to the 
 notions of some ancient heretics, who imagined that the 
 human nature of Christ wa^ only apparent. For this 
 
COMPOSITION OF A SERMON. 305 
 
 purpose, you must look into the ancient prophecies for 
 such passages as attribute two natures, the human and 
 divine, to the one person of the Messiah. To the same 
 purpose you may also apply New Testament texts, 
 which speak of the same subject ; and you may farther 
 observe such reasons of this singular economy, as theol- 
 ogy furnisheth, and which are taken from the design of 
 our salvation. 
 
 In like manner, when you treat of the resurrection of 
 Christ, or his ascension to heaven, you must take this to- 
 pic, and show the fidelity and credibility of the testimo- 
 ny borne by his apostles* Your argument may be es- 
 tablished by observing what followed his resurrection 
 and ascension ; as the effusion of the Spirit, the aboli- 
 tion of the empire of the devil and his idols, the conver- 
 sion of whole nations to the worship of the one true 
 God, miracles, prophecies, &c. 
 
 The same method is proper, when some predictions 
 are your subjects ; as the destruction of Jerusalem, and 
 the rejection of the Jews : for you may either narrate 
 history to show the execution, or you may reason upon 
 the subject to show how wonderful the divine wisdom 
 was in that dispensation : the whole will evince the truth 
 of the predictions. 
 
 I said also, the grounds and causes of an action or ex- 
 pression might be examined, to show the equity and truth 
 of either.* This principally takes place, when any thing 
 
 * Thus Massillon persuades to a life of piety, though accompanied with 
 many disgustful circumstances ; John x. 31. "Then the Jews took up stones to 
 stone him." These were the returns of gratitude which Jesus Christ received of 
 men ; these the cousolations with which heaven permitted him to be exercised 
 in the painful course of his ministry. At one time they treated him as a Samari- 
 tan, as one that had a devil ; at another a they took up stones to stone him." And 
 thus the Son of God passed the whole time of his life, always exposed to the most 
 
 39 
 
J0t5 AN ESSAY ON THE 
 
 surprising and uncommon is in question ; tor such things at 
 first seem to shock the minds of auditors ; or when you 
 arc pressing home an exhortation to the practice of any 
 duty, which cannot be performed without difficulty. For 
 example. The Pharisees complain in the gospel, that 
 the disciples of Christ did not keep the traditions of the 
 ciders. In order to justify the disciples, show the foun- 
 dations of Christian liberty, and remark, that the true 
 worship of God does not consist in the observation of 
 external ceremonies, much less in the observation of hu- 
 man traditions and customs : but it consists of true piety, 
 real inward holiness, and actual obedience to the com- 
 mandments of God. 
 
 So again, when Jesus Christ, after he had healed the 
 paralytic man, commanded him to " sin no more, lest a 
 worse thing should come unto him." You must go to 
 the grounds of the expression, to show its equity. Now 
 these are, that some sins had drawn the wrath of God 
 upon him before — that, if he continued in them, that 
 wrath would certainly return — that the favours, which 
 we receive from God, engage us to glorify him by good 
 works, &c. This topic is of great use in explaining the 
 
 obstinate contradictions, meeting with almost none but such as were insensible 
 ol" his benefit, and rebellious against his preaching ; and all this without his let- 
 ting fall the least sign of impatience, or the least complaint. 
 
 But must I add ? We, my brethren ! we his members and disciples, alas ! 
 the smallest disgusts, the least oppositions we meet with, in the practice of piety, 
 offend our delicacy ! Nothing is to be heard but complaining and murmuring, 
 when we cease to taste those pleasing attractions, which render duty a delight. 
 Tossed and distressed, we are almost tempted to abandon God, and return to the 
 wcrld, as to a gentler and more convenient master ; in short, we would have no- 
 thing but comforts and pleasures in the service of God ! 
 
 But we ought to abide in a course of obedience, though we do meet with 
 disgusts ; Because, — disgusts are inevitable in tkis life ; those of piely are not so 
 bitter as we imagine ; they are less than (hose of the world ; and, lastly, let them 
 be as great as they may, pious people have resources which worldlings have not. 
 
 Massii.lon 
 
COMPOSITION OF A SERMON. 307 
 
 commandments of the law, the equity of which must be 
 made to appear ; for it must be proved, that they are 
 all founded in nature, and have an inviolable fitness in 
 the order of things. 
 
 In short, it is proper to take this method with all ex- 
 hortations to piety, charity, &c. which are found in scrip- 
 ture. In order to persuade people to the practice of 
 them, their fitness must be showed, by opening the 
 grounds, reasons, and principles of our obligations to the 
 practice of all these virtues. 
 
 XX. 
 
 REMARK THE GOOD AND BAD IN EXPRESSIONS AND ACTIONS, 
 
 r 
 
 This topic is of very great use in explaining the his- 
 tories recorded in the gospel, where you will frequently 
 find actions and words, which may be called mixed ; be- 
 cause, in general, they proceed from some good princi- 
 ples, and, in particular, they have a good deal of weak- 
 ness and infirmity in them. If you would explain Matt. 
 xvi. 22. " Then Peter took him, and began to rebuke 
 him, saying, Be it far from thee, Lord, this shall not be 
 unto thee ;" you may observe what there is good and 
 what bad in this expression of St. Peter. 1. You see 
 herein his love to his master ; for his not being able to 
 bear the discourse of Jesus Christ concerning his suffer- 
 ings at Jerusalem could only proceed from his ardent af- 
 fection to him. 2. Herein appears not that cold and 
 lukewarm regard, which most men have for one another, 
 but a most lively affection, interesting him for his mas- 
 ter, an affection full of tenderness, which could not even 
 
308 AN ESSAY ON THE 
 
 bear to hear a word, or entertain a thought about the 
 death of Jesus Christ. 3. You may observe an honest 
 freedom, which put him upon freely addressing Jesus 
 Christ himself, using that familiar access, which his con- 
 descension allowed his disciples, without a mixture of 
 mean and despicable timidity. 4. You see, in fine, a 
 strong fait li in his master's power, as by addressing him 
 he seems persuaded, that it depended only on himself to 
 suffer or not to suffer; "Lord, be it far from thee, this 
 shall not be unto thee." Now, all these are good dispo- 
 sitions. Here follow the bad ones. 1. Peter discovers 
 gross ignorance of the ways of divine wisdom in sending 
 Jesus Christ into the world ; for he does not seem yet 
 to know, that Jesus Christ must needs suffer; and with 
 this ignorance the Lord reproaches him in the next verse, 
 " Thou savourest not the things, which are of God ; but 
 those, which are of men." 2. His love to his master 
 had something merely human and carnal in it, since he 
 only considered the preservation of his temporal life, and 
 concerned himself only about his body, instead of elevat- 
 ing his mind to that superior glory of Jesus Christ, which 
 was to follow his sufferings, or considering 1 the great 
 work of man's salvation, to perform which he came into 
 the world. 3. You may also remark a troublesome and 
 criminal boldness. He means to be wiser than Jesus- 
 Christ. "Peter took him," says the evangelist, "and 
 began to rebuke him, saying, Be it far from thee." Rash 
 attempt ! as if Peter were called into the counsel of God 
 and Jesus Christ his Son, to give his opinion concerning 
 this grand affair. 4. It even seems as if Peter, hearing 
 Christ speak of his sufferings, imagined, this discourse 
 proceeded only from his fear of death, and from a mean 
 timidity ; for he aims to encourage and comfort him as 
 
COMPOSITION OF A SERMON. 309 
 
 we do persons whose fears exceed the bounds of reason. 
 " Lord !" says he, " be it far from thee, this shall not be 
 to thee ;" as if he had said to him, Do not afflict your- 
 self, your apprehensions of death are groundless, noth- 
 ing of this is like to happen to you. 
 
 XXL 
 
 SUPPOSE THINGS. 
 
 This topic is principally used in controversy. For 
 example : When you are speaking of the merit of good 
 works, you may take this way of supposition, and say, 
 Let us suppose, that Jesus Christ and his apostles held 
 the doctrines of the church of Rome, and that they be- 
 lieved, men merited eternal life by their good works: 
 let us suppose, that they intended to teach us this doc- 
 trine in the gospels and epistles ; tell me, I beseech you, 
 if upon this supposition (which is precisely what our ad- 
 versaries pretend) they ought to have affirmed what they 
 have. Tell me, prav, do you believe yourself well and 
 sufficiently instructed in the doctrine of the merit of good 
 works, when you are told, " when you have done all these 
 things, ye are unprofitable servants ?" Again, wheii the 
 example of a miserable publican is proposed to you, who 
 prays, "God be merciful to me a sinner, who smites his 
 breast, and dares not lift his eyes to heaven ; when he 
 is placed in opposition to a pharisee, glorying in his works ; 
 and when you are informed, the first went down " to his 
 house justified rather than the other" — when you are 
 told, " if it be by grace, it is no more of works, other- 
 wise grace is no more grace ; if it be by works, it is no 
 more grace, otherwise work is no more work:" when 
 
310 AN ESSAY ON THE 
 
 you are told, "you are saved by grace through faith, 
 and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God" — when 
 you are assured, you are "justified freely by grace, 
 through the redemption, that is in Christ Jesus, not of 
 works, lest any man should boast" — when you hear, that 
 " to him that worketh not, but believeth on him, that 
 justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteous- 
 ness" — when you are taught to believe, " the wages of 
 sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life" — tell me, 
 I once more intreat you, can you persuade yourself that 
 Jesus Christ and his apostles, by all these means, intend- 
 ed to teach you, that man acquires justification, and a 
 right to eternal life, by the merit of his works ? 
 
 You may also make such suppositions in morality as 
 well as in controversy, in order to give greater weight 
 to your exhortations.* 
 
 XXII. 
 
 GUARD AGAINST OBJECTIONS. 
 
 There are very few texts of scripture where this 
 topic may not be made use of; and it is needless to men- 
 
 • Bishop Massillon's sermon on Christ's divinity, is formed on this plan — 
 ; If Jesus Christ were only a mere man, 
 
 I. The glory of his ministry would be an inevitable occasion of idolatry to us. 
 An illustrious person was expected by all mankind ; promised by the prophets ; 
 his birth, life, miracles, &c. were all grand, glorious, and unheard of, and all cor- 
 responding with prophecy. 
 
 II. The spirit of his ministry would become a dreadful snare to our iunocence. 
 He preached and practised holiness, as even they who deny his divinity own. 
 The world received numberless advantages, in consequence of his coming. He 
 foretold many events since Fulfilled. If then we own the truth of the bible, we 
 most own his divinity." Mass. Serm. Advent. 
 
COMPOSITION OF A SERMON. 311 
 
 tion examples, they will occur to every one without much 
 reflection. 
 
 Remark, however, objections must be natural, and 
 popular, not far-fetched, nor too philosophical; in a word, 
 they must be such as it is absolutely necessary to observe 
 and refute. 
 
 They must be proposed in a clear and simple style, 
 without rhetorical exaggerations; yet not unadorned nor 
 unaffecting. 
 
 I think, it is never advisable to state objections, and 
 defer the answers to them till another opportunity ; an- 
 swer them directly, forcibly, and fully. 
 
 Here, it may be asked, whether, in stating objections 
 to be answered, it be proper to propose them altogeth- 
 er at once, and then come to the answers ; or whether 
 they should be proposed and answered one by one ? I 
 suppose discretional good sense must serve for both guide 
 and law upon this subject. If three or four objections 
 regard only one part of the text, if each may be propos- 
 ed and answered in a few words, it would not be amiss 
 to propose these objections altogether, distinguishing 
 them however by first, second, third ; this may be done 
 agreeably ; but if these objections regard different parts 
 of the text, or different matters, if they require to be 
 proposed at full length, and if it would also take some 
 time to answer them, it would be impertinence to pro- 
 pose them all together: in such a case they must be 
 proposed and answered apart. 
 
312 A\ ESSAY ON Tlir 
 
 XXIII. 
 
 CONSIDER CHARACTERS OF MAJESTY, MEANNESS, INFIRMITY, 
 NECESSITY, UTILITY, EVIDENCE, &C. 
 
 Majesty and magnanimity. 
 
 Take an example of this from John xiv. 1. " Let 
 not your heart be troubled ; you believe in God, believe 
 also in me." These words arc characterised by a ma- 
 jesty, which exalts Jesus Christ above all ordinary pas- 
 tors, and above all the prophets; for who beside the 
 Son of God could say, "Ye believe in God, believe also 
 in me ?" These words equal Jesus Christ to the eter- 
 nal Father, and make him the object of our faith and 
 confidence as well as the Father ; for they imply that 
 faithful souls may repose an entire confidence in his pow- 
 er, protection, and government, and that the shadow of 
 his wings will dissipate the sorrows of their minds, and 
 leave no more room for fear. 
 
 You see also a character of tenderness and infinite love 
 towards his disciples, which appears in the assurance with 
 which he inspires them, and in the promise which he tac- 
 itly makes them, of always powerfully supporting, and nev- 
 er forsaking them. The same characters, or others like 
 them, may be observed in all this discourse of our Sa- 
 viour, which goes on to the end of the sixteenth chap- 
 ter. As in these words, " I am the way, the truth and 
 the life ;" in these, " He that hath seen me, Philip, hath 
 seen the Father ;" in these, " Whatsoever ye ask in my 
 name I will do it ;" and again in these, " I will not leave 
 you orphans : I will come to you." In general, we see 
 
COMPOSITION OF A SERMON. 313 
 
 almost in every verse majesty, tenderness, love of holi- 
 ness, confidence of victory, and other such characters, 
 which it is important to remark. 
 
 Meanness and infirmity. 
 
 You will very often observe characters of meanness 
 and infirmity in the words and actions of the disciples of 
 Jesus Christ. As when they asked him, " Wilt thou at 
 this time restore again the kingdom to Israel ?" Acts. i. 
 6. You see, even after the resurrection of Jesus Christ, 
 they were full of that low and carnal idea, which they 
 had entertained, of a temporal Messiah. 
 
 You also see a rash curiosity in their desiring to know 
 the times and seasons of those great events, which God 
 thought fit to conceal. 
 
 Observe again, Peter's vision. A great sheet was 
 let down from heaven, and filled with all sorts of ani- 
 mals ; a voice said to him, "Rise, Peter, kill and eat;" 
 to which he answered, " Not so, Lord ; for I have nev- 
 er eaten any thing that is common and unclean." You 
 see in this answer an over-scrupulous conscience, all em- 
 barrassed with legal ceremonies ; and a verv defective, 
 imperfect knowledge of gospel liberty. 
 
 There is almost an infinite number of texts in the 
 New Testament, where such infirmities appear; and 
 you must not fail to remark them in order to prove ; 
 1. That grace is compatible with much human weak- 
 ness. 2. That heavenly light arises by degrees upon 
 the mind, and that it is with the new man as with the nat- 
 ural man, who is born an infant, lisps in his childhood, and 
 arrives at perfection insensibly and by little and little. 
 3. That the strongest and fartherest advanced Christians 
 
 40 
 
314 AN ESSAY ON THE 
 
 ought to bear the infirmities of the weak, since God him- 
 self does not "break the bruised reed, nor quench the 
 smoking flax." This he was pleased to exemplify in 
 the most ample manner in the person of Jesus Christ, 
 when he was upon earth. 
 
 Necessity. 
 
 In regard to necessity, you may very often remark 
 this in explaining the doctrines of religion ; as when you 
 speak of the mission of Jesus Christ into the world ; of 
 his familiar conversation with men ; of his death ; res- 
 urrection ; and ascension to heaven, &c. : for you may 
 not only consider the truth, but also the necessity of each ; 
 and by this means open a most beautiful field of theo- 
 logical argument and elucidation. 
 
 The same may be affirmed of sending the Comfort- 
 er, that is the Holy Ghost into the world; in explain- 
 ing these words, " I will pray the Father, and he shall 
 give you another comforter." John xiv. 16. You may 
 very properly consider the necessity of this comforter ; 
 cither because without his light and help we can never 
 release ourselves from the bondage of sin and satan ; or 
 because without his assistance all that Jesus Christ has 
 done in the economy of salvation would be entirely use- 
 less to us. You may also observe the necessity of his 
 eternal abode with us ; because it is not enough to be 
 once converted by his efficacious power ; we need his 
 continual presence and efficacy, to carry on and finish 
 the work of sanctification ; otherwise we should quick- 
 ly relapse into our first condition. 
 
COMPOSITION OF A SERMON. 315 
 
 Utility. 
 
 Where a tiling docs not appear absolutely necessary, 
 you may remark its utility ; as, in some particular mira- 
 cles of Jesus Christ; in some peculiar afflictions of the 
 faithful ; in the manner in which St. Paul was convert- 
 ed ; and in an infinite number of subjects which present 
 themselves to the preacher to be discussed. 
 
 Evidence. 
 
 Evidence must be particularly pressed in articles 
 which are disputed, or which are likely to be contro- 
 verted. For example ; were you to treat of the sec- 
 ond commandment in opposition to the custom and prac- 
 tice of worshipping images in the church of Rome, you 
 should press the evidence of the words. As, 1. It has 
 pleased God to place this command not in some obscure 
 part of revelation, but in the moral law ; in that law, 
 every word of which he caused to proceed from the 
 midst of the flames. 2. He uses not only the term im- 
 age, but likeness, and specifies even the likenesses of all 
 the things in the world, of those which are in heaven 
 above, of those which are in the earth beneath, and of those 
 which are under the earth. 3. In order to prevent all 
 the frivolous objections of the human mind, he goes yet 
 farther, not only forbidding the worshipping of them, but 
 also the making use of them in any manner of way ; and 
 which is more, he even forbids the making of them. 
 Thou shall not bow down thyself to them. Thou shalt not 
 serve them. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven im- 
 age, &c. 4. Add to all this, that the Lord subjoined 
 the highest interests to inforce it. He interested herein 
 
316 AN ESSAY ON THE 
 
 his majesty, his covenant, and his infinite power ; for 
 (says he) / am Jehovah thy God. He goes farther, and 
 interests Ins jealousy, that is, that inexorable justice, 
 which avenges affronts offered to his love. Yea, in or- 
 der to touch us still more sensibly, he even goes so far 
 as to interest our children, threatening us with that 
 terrible wrath, which docs not end with the parents, but 
 passes down to their posterity. What could the Lord 
 say more plainly and evidently, to show that he would 
 suffer no ima^e in his religious worship? After all this, 
 is it not the most criminal presumption to undertake to 
 distinguish, in order to elude the force of this command- 
 ment ? 
 
 You may, if you choose, over and above all this, add 
 Moses's explication of this command in the fourth of 
 Deuteronomy. 
 
 You may also use the same character of evidence 
 when you explain several passages, which adversaries 
 abuse, as these words, " this is my body which is brok- 
 en for you ;" and these in the sixth of John, " eat the 
 flesh of the son of man and drink his blood ;" and those 
 passages also in St. James, which speak of justification 
 by works ; for in treating these passages in opposition to 
 the false senses, which the church of Rome gives of 
 them, you must assemble many circumstances, and place 
 each in its proper light, so that all together they may 
 diffuse a great brightness upon the text, and clearly 
 show its true sense.* 
 
 * It is fashionable with many divines, to boast of their avereion to controver- 
 sy, and to make a merit of teaching only such doctrines as arc not disputable, 
 but, is there any one doctrine of natural or revealed religion, which is not con- 
 troverted? Does not every deist deny our bible, and every atheist the being of 
 our God? A man, therefore, who determines to teach only undisputed articles, 
 determines, ipso facto, to teach nothing at all. 
 
COMPOSITION OF A SERMON. 317 
 
 XXIV. 
 
 REMARK DEGREES. 
 
 For example, Gal. i. " If we, or an angel from 
 heaven preach any other gospel unto you, than that 
 which we have preached unto you, let him be accurs- 
 ed." After you have remarked the extreme force and 
 signiticancy of the words, observe that the apostle de- 
 nounced an anathema twice, even denouncing it against 
 himself, should he ever be guilty of what he condemns, 
 denouncing it even against an angel from heaven in the 
 same case. 
 
 You must observe, the apostle does not always use 
 the same vehemence when he speaks against error. In 
 the fourteenth of the epistle to the Romans he contents 
 himself with calling those weak in the faith, who would 
 eat only herbs, and exhorts the other believers to bear 
 ■with them. In the third chapter of the first to the Co- 
 rinthians he protests to those, who build with wood, hay, 
 and stubble upon Christ the foundation, that their 
 work should be burnt, but that they should be saved, 
 though it should be as by fire. In the seventeenth of 
 Acts we are told, his spirit was stirred, when he saw 
 the idolatry and superstition of the Athenians. Else- 
 where, he says, " if any man defile the temple of 
 God, him shall God destroy." In all these there 
 is a force ; but nothing like what appears in these reit- 
 
 No theological subject requires more accurate investigation than this article 
 of evidence. Evidence is that which demonstrates. Now there are various kinds 
 and degrees of evidence, and it would very much contribute to clear a point in 
 debate, were disputants first of all to agree on certain data, or what should be 
 allowed evidence of the case in ouestion. Robixson. 
 
3\U AN ESSAY ON THE 
 
 crated words, " though, we, or an angel from heaven, 
 preach any other gospel to you, than that, which we 
 have preached unto you, let him be accursed. As we 
 said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any 
 other gospel unto you than that which we have preach- 
 ed, let hira be accursed." Why so? because the apos- 
 tle speaks here of an essential corruption of the gospel, 
 which the false apostles aimed at in the churches of 
 Galatia ; they were annihilating the grace of Christ by 
 associating it with the mosaic economy ; they aimed at 
 the entire ruin of the church by debasing the purity of 
 the gospel. In this case the conscience of this good 
 man could contain no longer ; he stretched his zeal and 
 vehemence as far as possible ; he became inexorable, 
 and pronounced anathemas ; nothing prevented him, 
 neither the authority of the greatest men, no, nor yet 
 the dignity of the glorious angels ; " if we, or an angel 
 from heaven, preach any other gospel, let him be ac- 
 cursed." 
 
 XXV. 
 
 * 
 
 OBSERVE DIFFERENT INTERESTS. 
 
 Thus if you are explaining the miracle, which Jesus 
 Christ wrought in the Synagogue on a Sabbath-day, 
 
 * Massili.ok, in a sermon on Christmas-day, composes by this topic — "God 
 and niun are interested in Christ's birth." 
 
 I. God's glojy was concerned. For idolatry had transferred that worship to 
 othera, which was due only to him. Formality prevailed among the Jews, and 
 they rendered him a service not worthy of him. Philosophy had conveyed away 
 the glory of his providence and eternal wisdom. Three daring insults, which 
 mankind offered to God and which Christ came to remove. 
 
 II. The peace of mankind was interested in Christ's birth, for they had rob- 
 bed one another of that, by pride, by voluptuousness, by revenge. " Christ's 
 
 rat, his doctrine the second, his example the last." 
 
 Four JVocl Advent 
 
COMPOSITION OF A SERMON. 319 
 
 when he healed the withered hand in the presence of 
 the Herodians and Pharisees, you may remark the dif- 
 ferent interests of the spectators in that act of our Lord 
 Jesus ; for on the one hand, Jlfoses and his religion seem- 
 ed interested therein two ways : 1. This miracle was 
 done on a day, in which Moses had commanded them to 
 do no manner of work. And, 2. This was done in a 
 synagogue consecrated to the mosaic worship, so that it 
 was in a manner insulting Moses in his own house. Far- 
 ther, the Herodians, who were particularly attached to 
 the person of Herod, either for political reasons, or for 
 some others unknown, were obliged to be offended; for 
 this miracle had a tendency to prove Christ's Messiah- 
 ship, and thereby (as was commonly thought) his right 
 to the kingdom of Israel ; and consequently, this must 
 blacken the memory of Herod, who endeavoured to kill 
 him in his infancy. The Pharisees were no less interested; 
 for they considered Christ as their reprover and enemy 
 and could not help being very much troubled, whenever 
 they saw Jesus Christ work a miracle. Observe the in- 
 terest of our Lord Jesus Christ ; his concern was to do 
 good, wherever he had an opportunity, and to glorify 
 God his Father, by confirming the word of his gospel by 
 acts of infinite power. The poor afflicted man had a 
 double interest in it, the healing of his body, and the im- 
 provement of his mind. 
 
 Thus this action of Jesus Christ, having divers rela- 
 tions, becomes, as it were a point, whence many lines may 
 be drawn, one on this side, another on that ; and hence 
 arise the different remarks which may be made upon it. 
 
•'$20 AN ESSAY ON THK 
 
 XXVI. 
 
 DISTINGUISH DEFINE DIVIDE. 
 
 To speak properly, we distinguish when we consid- 
 er a thing in different views. As, foi example, Faith is 
 considerable either objectively, or subjectively. In the 
 view of its object, faith is the work of Jesus Christ; his 
 word and cross produce it ; for, take away the death of 
 Jesus Christ, and there is no more faith. His resurrec- 
 tion also is the cause of it. " If Jesus Christ be not risen 
 our faith is vain, we are yet in our sins." But if you con- 
 sider faith in regard to its subject, or, to speak more prop- 
 erly, in regard to its efficient cause producing it in the 
 subject, it is the work of the Holy Ghost. So again (to 
 use the same example) faith may be considered with a 
 view to justification, or with a view to sanctification. In 
 the first view it is opposed to works : in the second it 
 is the principle and cause of good works; it contains 
 them in summary and abridgment. 
 
 Thus man may be considered with a view to civil so- 
 ciety ; so he is obliged to such and such duties, and par- 
 takes of such and such advantages : or he may be con- 
 sidered with regard to church-fellowship • and so he is 
 subject to other laws, and enjoys other privileges. This 
 custom of distinguishing into different views is very com- 
 mon in preaching. 
 
 Definition. 
 
 This is sometimes used when an act of God is spok- 
 en of, as the pardon of our sins — the justification of our 
 persons, &c. — or when a virtue or a vice is in question; 
 for then it may not be improper to define. 
 
COMPOSITION OP A SERMON. 321 
 
 Division. 
 
 This either regards different species of the genus; or 
 different parts of a whole ; and it may sometimes be us- 
 ed profitably. Thus, in speaking of God's providence in 
 general, you may consider the extent of that providence 
 to which are subject, 1. Natural causes. 2. Contingent. 
 3. Independent. 4. Good and bad. 5, Great and small, 
 
 XXVII. 
 
 COMPARE THE DIFFERENT PARTS OF THE TEXT TOGETHER. 
 
 This is a very useful topic; and it will often furnish 
 very beautiful considerations, if we know how to make 
 a proper use of it. For example, in this text of St. Paul 
 to the Romans, "There is therefore now no condemnation 
 to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after 
 the flesh, but after the spirit." You may make a very 
 edifying comparison between this last part, " who Avalk 
 not after the flesh, but after the spirit," with the first 
 part, " there is no condemnation ;" and you may remark, 
 that in the one, the apostle expresses what God does in 
 favour of the faithful, and in the other what the faithful 
 do for the glory of God. God absolves them; and they live 
 holily, and devote themselves to good works. God im- 
 poses holiness upon us in justification ; and justification is 
 the parent of holiness ; take away justification, and there 
 cannot possibly be any good works ; take away good 
 works, and there is no more justification. 
 
 You may also compare this last part with the condi- 
 tion in which the believer is here considered ; he is in 
 
 11 
 
322 iS ESSAY ON THE 
 
 Christ Jesus ; and remark that these two things perfect- 
 ly agree together, because Jesus Christ is the true cause 
 of our justification ; and sanctification is the principal ef- 
 fect of our communion with Jesus Christ. 
 
 So again, in this beautiful passage in the second of 
 Ephesians; "God who is rich in mercy, for his great 
 love wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead 
 in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ ; by grace 
 are ye saved/' You may oppose and compare these two 
 subjects in the text, dead in sin, and rich in mercy, as being 
 two extremes, extreme misery, and extreme mercy, one 
 in us, and the other in God. The greatness of our crimes 
 manifest the riches of God's mercy : and the riches of 
 his mercy absorb the greatness of our crimes. Had our 
 sins been less, it must indeed have been mercy to par- 
 don our sins, but not riches of mercy. If God had been 
 only lightly inclined to mercy he might indeed have par- 
 doned smaller sins, but this would never have extended 
 to persons dead in their sins ; this belongs only to extra- 
 ordinary and abounding mercy.* 
 
 * The Editor has omitted in this place a long - discourse upon 1 Thcss. iv. 7. 
 which Mr. Claude had subjoined with a view to exemplify the discussion of a 
 text by way of observations. But it was not altogether calculated to answer the 
 end proposed, because it exemplified very few of the preceding topics, and those 
 without any attention to their order, or any intimation what topics he intended 
 to exemplify. Though, therefore, the discourse contained, as every production 
 of Mr. Claude's must, many striking and useful sentiments, the reader, who seeks 
 information respecting the Composition of a Sermon, has no occasion to regret 
 the omission of it ; more especially as the discourse was at least one third as long 
 as all the twenty-seven topics taken together. It should be remembered, how- 
 ever, that these topics are subject both to use and abuse. They are suggest- 
 ed in order to aid invention; hut they require judgment and discretion in the 
 use of them. Simeon. 
 
COMPOSITION OF A SERMON. 32.H 
 
 CHAP. VII. 
 
 OP TEXTS TO BE DISCUSSED IN A WAY OF CONTINUED 
 
 APPLICATION. 
 
 We have said, there are two general ways of discus- 
 sing a text, that of explication, and that of observation. 
 These two ways of preaching we call textuary, because, 
 in effect, they keep to the text without digression, they 
 regard it as the subject matter of the whole discussion, 
 or, if you please, as the field, which they have to culti- 
 vate, or to reap : but, beside these, there is a third way, 
 which is, without explaining or making observations, the 
 making of a continual application of it, and the reducing 
 of it immediately to practice. 
 
 In this manner we must principally manage texts ex- 
 horting to holiness, and repentance, as this of Zephani- 
 ah, " examine yourselves diligently, O nation not desira- 
 ble ;" for, instead of explaining the terms — or making 
 observations on the necessity of the exhortation — the 
 prophet who spoke it — the Jews to whom it is address- 
 ed — the description of the nation not desirable — the mer- 
 cy of God in calling these sinners to repentance, &c. the 
 whole may very usefully be turned into practice, and we 
 may enter upon that serious self-examination, which the 
 prophet commands. 
 
 The same may be said of 1 Cor. xi. 28. " Let a man 
 examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and 
 drink of that cup ;" for, laying aside all theological ob- 
 servations, you may actually enter upon self-examination. 
 
 This manner, well and wisely disposed, by choosing 
 proper occasions, will produce (as I have elsewhere said) 
 
•'524 AN ESSAY ON Till 
 
 an excellent effect ; but always remember on this rule, 
 that in using this method, something searching and pow- 
 erful must be said, or it would be better let alone.* 
 
 CHAP. VIII. 
 
 OP TEXTS TO BE DISCUSSED IN PROPOSITION S. 
 
 To these three, a fourth may be added, which con- 
 sists in reducing the texts to a number of propositions, 
 two at least, and three or four at most, having mutual 
 dependence, and connexion. Thus, for example, Rom. 
 viii. 13. "If ye live after the flesh, ye shall die ; but if 
 ye through the spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, 
 ye shall live/' You may, without pretending to explain 
 the terms, jiesh — spirit — death — life, or the phrases, live 
 after the flesh — mortify the deeds of the body — (which is 
 the usual method) you may reduce the whole to two 
 propositions ; the one, that the damnation of sinners is 
 inevitable — and the other, that a good and holy life is 
 both a principal end of the gospel, and an inseparable 
 character of Christianity. When this method is taken, 
 there is much more liberty than in the former, and a more 
 extensive field opens. In the former methods you arc 
 restrained to your text, and you can only explain and ap- 
 ply that ; you can make no other observations, than such 
 as precisely belong to it ; but here your subject is the 
 matter contained in your propositions, and you may treat 
 oi them thoroughly, and extend them as far as you please, 
 provided you do not violate the general rules of a ser- 
 mon. Here you must propose not to treat of the text, 
 
 • An example of a locg sermon 18 here omitted: 
 
COMPOSITION OF A SERMON. 325 
 
 but of those subjects, which you have chosen from sever- 
 al contained in the text. The way of explication is most 
 proper to give the meaning of Scripture ; and this of 
 systematical divinity. The way of application rather re- 
 gards practice than theory : but this, which we call the 
 <> way of propositions, or points, is more proper to produce 
 an acquaintance with systematical divinity, and it will 
 equally serve theory and practice.* 
 
 * For example, Rom. viii. 13. " If ye live after the flesh, ye shall die ; but 
 if through the Spirit, &c." After explaining the terms, the whole discourse 
 may be reduced to two propositions ; 
 
 I. The damnation of the wicked i3 inevitable. 
 
 It is deplorable to consider the blindness in which the greatest part of the 
 people in the world live, who seldom think of the punishments of hell, or the con- 
 sequences of death. From this blindness comes their insensibility to religion, 
 and their extreme attachment to the vanities of this present evil world. 
 
 Yet, however great this blindness is, it is in a measure voluntary, proceeding 
 more from the malice of the heart, than the darkness of the understanding ; for 
 the passions avoid those objects, which are disagreeable to them, and perpetual- 
 ly substitute others to employ the mind. Hence, it is of the last importance to 
 meditate on this matter, on which depends our eternal interest in a future world. 
 
 1. Man is a creature subject to a law ; and even the light of his conscience 
 discovers an essential difference between vice and virtue, good actions and bad. 
 But a law is no law, if it do not suppose a judgment ; and judgment is no judg- 
 ment, if it do not suppose punishment. 
 
 And by the consent of ail mankind, in the thickest darkness of paganism, 
 when God suffered all nations to walk in their own ways, even then, it was al- 
 ways acknowledged that there were rewards to the virtuous, and punishments to 
 the impious. 
 
 But this is capable of further proof by the principles of all religions. There 
 never was, nor can there ever be any, which is not founded on this principle, 
 that God is our sovereign Judge, who holds in his hands our life and death. 
 
 Finally, we observe, that revealed religion has carefully placed this truth in 
 full evidence ; showing not only the truth of the punishment of sinners, but also 
 the degrees of it. — A punishment after death and judgment — which involves both 
 body and soul — which has truly the essence of pain, and not annihilation— a 
 punishment proportional in greatness as well as in duration. 
 
 2. Having thus established the truth of our proposition, we may pass on to 
 the vain subterfuges, which sinners use on the subject. — It is a distressing sub- 
 ject, therefore they do not like to think about it; but what folly is there in this 
 conduct. They resemble prisoners already in irons, and doomed to punishment, 
 -vho stifle the sense of the misery by plunging into debauchery. 
 
326 AN ESSAY ON THE 
 
 It must not be thought, that these y?wr ways of dis- 
 cussing texts arc so heterogeneous, that they can never 
 
 When worldly men cannot entirely avoid the thought of damnation, they ven- 
 ture to take refuge in false notions. — ' God, say they, is a gracious judge, he has 
 the compassion of a father.' What a marvellous abuse is this of mercy ! But 
 will mercy allow the impunity of that sinner, who persists in sin, and would 
 make compassion itself an accomplice in his crimes? 
 
 The wicked seldom fail to abuse the evangelical doctrine of the death of Christ 
 . — to hide in a multitude like themselves— to consider damnation as a very dis- 
 tant thing — to extenuate their sins, and to hide the enormity and number of them. 
 
 But, to speak plainly, all these are only vain pretences, the falsehood of which 
 even the wicked acknowledge ; the only reason why they avoid conversion is, 
 that ardent love, that obstinate attachment, which they have to vice. This is 
 the true cause ; and all the rest, if they would speak honestly, are only vain pre- 
 tences. 
 
 Now, I ask, is not this Jove to sin the greatest folly in the world ? while on 
 the one hand, it renders us incapable of enjoying ourselves ; and, on the other 
 hand, draws upon us the condemnation of God, and conducts us a great pace to- 
 wards those eternal torments, which he has prepared for the wicked. 
 
 II. The practice of good works, and an holy and religious life, is the princi- 
 pal end which the gospel proposes, and the principal character of the true chris- 
 tian. 
 
 This is manifest from passages of scripture innumerable. — " The grace of 
 God that bringeth salvation," &c. &c. 
 
 Indeed, by a general view of the end for which Christ came into the world, 
 you will see he came to destroy the works of the devil. The works of the devil 
 are principally two, sin and punishment — let us not imagine that Jesus Christ 
 came into the world to take away the punishment only, and to leave sin trium- 
 phant. 
 
 I will even venture to say, he came to destroy sin rather than sorrow. Suf- 
 fering concerns onty the creature; but sin concerns the Creator as well as the 
 creature ; it dishonours the one and distresses the other. 
 
 Is it likely, think ye, that Jesus Christ would have quitted his mansion of 
 glory, and descended to this earth, to acquire an impunity for criminals, leaving 
 them immersed in sensuality and sin ? Is it likely that he can hold communion 
 with people in rebellion and profaneness? 
 
 From all which it clearly follows, that an unsanctified man has not the spirit 
 of Christ, is not in communion with him, does not belong to his mystical body, 
 i- not a true believer ; in a word, is not a true christian. Holiness is an insepa- 
 rable companion, and a necessary effect of the gospel. 
 
 But, if holiness be a necessary consequence of the gospel, it is no less true 
 that the gospel is an inexhaustible source of motives to holiness. I pass over 
 its precepts, and rules of conduct — all its mysteries point at this — all its doc- 
 trines arc so many bonds, to bind our hearts to the obedience of faith. 
 
COMPOSITION OP A SERMON. 327 
 
 be mixed together ; on the contrary, there are a great 
 many texts, in which it Avill be necessary to make use of 
 two, or three, and sometimes even of all the four ways. 
 When a text is explained, it will be very often needful 
 to make some observations also, and the matter will re- 
 quire as long an application. Sometimes, to explain a 
 text weii, the matter must be reduced into many propo- 
 sitions, as we have observed on these words, "It is God 
 that worketh in you to will and to do of his good pleas- 
 ure." In like manner, when the method of observation 
 is used, it very often happens that some part of the text 
 needs explaining, and so of the rest. These four ways 
 must be distinguished for two reasons. 1. Because they 
 they are very different from one another ; to explain, to 
 make observations, to apply, and to reduce to proposi- 
 
 To which we may add, the gospel consecrates to holy uses, even what (he 
 light of nature tcacheth us, — as, that God is our Creator, and made us by his 
 power ; and our Preserver, who supports us by a perpetual influence, and pre- 
 vents cur falling back into non-entity ; that it is his providence which governs 
 the whole universe, and particularly watches over us. 
 
 O powerful motives to love and obedience! Shall it be said that God pre- 
 serves ungrateful and rebellious creatures, who do nothing but affront him ? Shall 
 it be said bis sun cheer9 us in the same manner, as it does serpents and vipers ? 
 and that it influences us as it does envenomed dragons? 
 
 Rut all these motives, however great and powerful, are nothing in compari- 
 son of those which the gospel takes from its own source ; and they are such as 
 must affect every soul, whie'a is not, I do not say hard and insensible, but entire- 
 ly dead in sin, or possessed by the devil. For, in one word, that God, after all 
 our rebellions, and all our crimes, should yet be reconciled to us ; that he should 
 give his Son, that he should give him to be flesh and Hood like us, that he should 
 give him to die for us ! is not this love and mercy worthy of eternal praise ? Ana 
 what horrible ingratitude must it be, if after all this we should be yet capable 
 of wilfully sinning against a God so good, and of counting the blood of such a cov 
 enant an unholy thing. 
 
 Hence it appears, that Christianity is dishonoured, when the outward profes- 
 sion of it is attended with a bad life — how Ihey deceive themselves, who, with- 
 out sanctification and good works, imagine themselves christians — and that it is 
 the vainest of all hope3 to imagine they may be saved by such a bare profession. 
 Many will come to Jesus Christ in the last day, saying " Lord, Lord," &c. 
 
 Claude. 
 
328 Hi ESSAY ON THL 
 
 lions, are lour very different ways of treating texts. A 
 composer, then, must not confound them together ; but 
 he must observe the difference well, that he may use 
 them properly. 2. Because it is customary to give the 
 discussion of a text the name of the prevailing manner of 
 handling it. We call that the way of explication, in 
 which there is more explication than observation. We 
 not only call that the way of observation, which has only 
 observations, but that in which there is more observa- 
 tion than explication, or application ; and so of the rest. 
 
 CHAP. IX. 
 
 OF THE EXORDIUM. 
 
 The exordium is that part, in which the minds of the 
 hearers are prepared, and a natural and easy way open- 
 ed to the discussion. 
 
 But, first, a question presents itself (on which opin- 
 ions are much divided.) whether exordiums be necessa- 
 ry ? or even whether they be not in all cases quite useless, 
 and in some hurtful ? Whether it would not be better en- 
 tirely to omit them, to begin immediately with the connex- 
 ion of the text with the preceding verses, pass to the di- 
 vision, and so enter on the discussion ? There are many of 
 this opinion, and their reasons are, 1. That there appears 
 too much artifice in an exordium, which is more likely to 
 dissipate, than to conciliate, the attention of your hear- 
 ers. " It is evident (say they) to the auditors, that you 
 design to come insensibly, and by a kind of artful ma- 
 noeuvre, to your matter, and to lead your hearers almost 
 imperceptibly to it; but this seems a finesse altogether 
 
COMPOSITION OF A SERMON. 329 
 
 unworthy of the gospel, and contrary to that sincerity, 
 ingenuousness, gravity, and simplicity, which should 
 reign in the pulpit. Indeed, when a wise hearer per- 
 ceives you design to deceive him, he conceives a strong 
 prejudice against you, and that prejudice will certainly 
 be hurtful in the following part of the discourse." 
 
 They add, in the second place, that " exordiums are 
 extremely difficult to compose, and justly styled the crosses 
 of preachers. Should some small advantage be gained 
 by exordiums, it would not be of consequence enough to 
 induce us to compose them. In so doing we should waste 
 a part of our time and strength, which might be much 
 more usefully employed." 
 
 They say thirdly, that " the principal end proposed 
 in an exordium is either to conciliate the hearer's affec- 
 tion, or to excite his attention, or to prepare the way 
 to the matters to be treated of: but all these are to be 
 supposed. As to their affection, pastors, who preach to 
 their own flocks, ought not to doubt that. We speak to 
 christians, to persons, who consider us as the ministers of 
 Jesus Christ, whom, consequently, they respect and love. 
 As to attention, it ought also to be supposed: not only 
 because pulpit-subjects are divine and salutary to men, 
 but also because such only come to public worship as 
 desire to hear the word of God attentively ; and, indeed, 
 if the auditors have not that disposition of themselves, 
 an exordium cannot give it them. Such a disposition is 
 an effect of a man's faith, and piety, and it is not to be 
 thought, that an exordium of eight or ten periods can 
 convert the worldly and profane, or give faith and piety 
 to those, who have them not. As to what regards the 
 introducing of the matter to be treated of, the bare read- 
 ing of the text sufficiently does that : for, according to 
 
 42 
 
.'51)0 AN ESSAY ON THE 
 
 the common way of preaching, the text contains the sub- 
 ject to be discussed." 
 
 Finally, they add, " delivering an exordium is only 
 
 mispcnding time, uselessly dissipating a part of the hear- 
 ers' attention, so that afterward, they frequently sleep 
 very quietly when you enter on the discussion. Would 
 it not be better, then, immediately to engage them in 
 the matter, so that their attachment may afterward 
 serve to maintain their attention, according to the natur- 
 al inclination, which all men have to finish what they 
 have once begun ?" 
 
 But none of these reasons are weighty enough to 
 persuade us to reject exordiums, or to be careless about 
 them. As to the first, The art which appears in an ex- 
 ordium, so far from being odious in itself, and seeming 
 unnatural to the hearers, is, on the contrary, altogether 
 natural. It is disagreeable to enter abruptly into theo- 
 logical matters without any preparation. It would not 
 be necessary, were our minds all exercised about divine 
 things ; but as, alas ! we are in general too little versed 
 in such exercises, it is good to be conducted to them 
 without violence, and to have emotions excited in us in 
 a soft, and insensible manner. It is not finesse, and de- 
 ceit, since in doing it we only accommodate ourselves to 
 the weakness of man's mind, and indeed, it is what he 
 himself desires. Moreover, it is to be observed, that 
 hearers arc now so habituated to an exordium, that if 
 they heard a preacher enter abruptly into his matter, 
 they would be extremely disgusted, and would imagine, 
 the man was aiming to do with them what the angel did 
 with Habakkuk, when he took him by the hair of his 
 head, and transported him in an instant from Judea to 
 Babylon. Some time then ought to be employed gently 
 
COMPOSITION OF A SERMON. 331 
 
 to lead the mind of the hearer to the subjects, of which 
 you are going to treat. You are not to suppose that he 
 already understands them, nor that he is thinking on 
 what you have been meditating, nor that he can apply 
 it instantly without preparation. 
 
 The second reason may have some weight with 
 weak and lazy preachers ; but it has none with wise and 
 diligent students ; and, after all, exordiums are not so 
 difficult, as to be impracticable : a little pains taking is 
 sufficient, as we every day experience. 
 
 The third is not more considerable. I grant, preachers 
 ought to suppose the love and affection of their hearers ; 
 yet it docs not follow, that they ought not to excite it, when 
 they preach to them. Perhaps their affection is not al- 
 ways in exercise : it may be sometimes suspended, and 
 even opposed by contrary sentiments ; by coolness and 
 indifference, by hatred or envy, arising from the defects 
 of the pastor (for, however able, he is not perfect,) or 
 from the depravity of the hearers. The same may be 
 said of attention, although they ought to have it entire- 
 ly for the divine truths, which the preacher speaks ; 
 yet, it is certain, they have it not ; and all that a preach- 
 er can desire is, that his hearers have a general disposi- 
 tion to hear the gospel. The preacher must endeav- 
 our to give them a peculiar attention to such matters as 
 he has to discuss. As to the rest, it must not be thought, 
 that the bare reading of the text, or the connexion, or 
 the division only can produce that effect ; a greater 
 compass must be taken, to move the human mind, and 
 apply the subject. And this also may be said of pre- 
 paration, for which an exordium is principally designed. 
 The reading of the text may do something ; connexion 
 
S32 AN ESSAY ON THE 
 
 and division may contribute more ; but all this, without 
 an exordium, will be useless. 
 
 Nor is it difficult to answer the fourth reason ; for* 
 beside the advantages of an exordium, which are great 
 enough to prevent our calling it lost time, its parts are 
 ordinarily so short, that they cannot justly be accused of 
 dissipating or fatiguing the hearer's minds. To which I 
 add, that the exordium itself, if well chosen will always 
 contain agreeable and instructive matter, so that, con- 
 sidered in itself, something good is always to be learned 
 from it. 
 
 We cannot approve, then, of the custom of the Eng- 
 lish preachers, who enter immediately into the literal 
 explication of the text, and make it serve for an exordi- 
 um; after which they divide their discourses into sev- 
 eral parts, which they discuss as they go on. Surely 
 the hearer is not suddenly able to comprehend their ex- 
 plications, having yet neither emotions nor preparation. 
 Methinks, it would be much better gently to stir them 
 up, and move them by something, which gives no pain, 
 than to load them all on a sudden Avith an explication, 
 which they can neither clearly comprehend, nor perhaps 
 distinctly hear. 
 
 Least of all do we approve of the custom of some of 
 our own preachers, who, intending to explain the text, 
 or to make some reflections throughout the whole ser- 
 mon, enter immediately into the matter, without any ex- 
 ordiums at all. I am persuaded, they are induced to do 
 thus only for the sake of avoiding the difficulty of com- 
 posing an exordium, that is, in one word, only for the 
 sake of indulging their idleness and negligence. 
 
 Taking it for granted, then, that an exordium must 
 be used, it may be asked, what are the principal bene- 
 
COMPOSITION OF A SERMON, 33 
 
 o 
 
 lits we expect to receive from them ? and with what 
 general views ought they to be composed ? In answer, 
 we say, the principal design of an exordium is to attract 
 or excite the affections of the audience ; to stir up their 
 attention; and to prepare them for the particular mat- 
 ters, of which we are about to treat.* 
 
 The two first of these must only be proposed indi- 
 rectly. A preacher would render himself ridiculous, if 
 in ordinary discourses, and without cases of extreme 
 necessity, he should labour by this means to acquire the 
 esteem and affection of his congregation. This method 
 would be more likely to make them rather despise than 
 esteem him. 
 
 You must not, then, compliment the people, nor 
 praise yourself, nor indeed speak of yourself in any man- 
 ner of way. These are affectations, which never suc- 
 ceed ; and yet some able preachers slip into this weak- 
 ness, especially when they preach to strange congrega- 
 tions, and, above all, when they address assemblies of 
 the rich, the learned, or the noble. 
 
 Then they never fail to interlard their exordiums 
 with some common place saws ; either the pleasure it 
 gives them to be called to that pulpit ; or an affectation 
 of self-contempt ; a confession of their great weakness ; 
 or something of this kind. To speak my opinion freely, 
 I think these are pedantic airs, which have a very bad 
 effect. Sensible auditors do not like to hear such fan- 
 
 * Introductions are intended to excite affection and attention, and to prepare 
 the auditor for the subject. " Causa principii nulla alia est, quam ut auditorem, 
 quo sit nobis in casteris partibus accommodatior, praeparemus. Id fieri tribus 
 maxime rebus, inter actores plurimos constat, si benevolum, attcnturn, docilem 
 fecerimus ; non quia ista per totam actionem non sint custodienda, sed quia in 
 initiis raaxime necessaria, per qua? in animura judicis, ut procedere ultra poesi- 
 mus, cdmittimur." Quint. Inst. lib. iv. cap. i. 
 
334 AN ESSAY ON THE 
 
 tastical pretences, which are both contrary to the grav- 
 ity of the pulpit, and to the decency of a modest man. 
 
 How then, you will ask, must the affections of the 
 hearers be attracted ? I answer, indirectly, by an exor- 
 dium well chosen, and well spoken; and this is the sur- 
 est way of succeeding. 
 
 In regard to attention, it is certain it ought to be 
 awakened, and fixed in the same manner, that is, by 
 something agreeable, and worthy of being heard, a com- 
 position of piety and good sense. I do not disapprove 
 of asking sometimes for attention, either on account of 
 the importance of the matter, the solemnity of the day, 
 the state of the church, or, in short, of any other par- 
 ticular occasion ; but it must not be done often : for 
 then it would never be minded ; and, when it is done, 
 the fewer words the better.* 
 
 The 'principal use of an exordium is to prepare the 
 hearer's mind for the particular matters you have to 
 treat of, and insensibly to conduct him to it. If this end 
 be not obtained, the exordium cannot but be imperti- 
 nent ; and, on the contrary, if this end be answered, the 
 exordium cannot be improper. 
 
 When I say, the hearer's mind must be prepared 
 for, and conducted to the matter, I mean to say, these 
 are two different things. You prepare the hearer for 
 the matter, when you stir up in him such dispositions as 
 he ought to have, to hear well, and to profit much. 
 
 * The fathers, about the time of Chrysostora, made use of what some have 
 called Praexordia, and they thought they derived the custom from the apostles. 
 Paul begins his epistles with, " Grace and peacc'be with you from God the Fa- 
 ther, and our Lord Jesus Christ." In imitation of this, when a father ascended 
 the pulpit, he used to pause a moment, and then say, Peace he with you all ! or, 
 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all ! or something of this kind. 
 In return the people answered, And with thy spirit ! and then he entered on his 
 fcrmon. Robinson. 
 
COMPOSITION OF A SERMON. 335 
 
 You insensibly conduct your hearer to the matter, when, 
 by the natural connexion of the subjects of which you 
 speak, you lead him from one thing to another, and en- 
 able him to enter into the doctrine of your sermon. 
 
 Let us advert a moment to each. The preparation 
 must be determined by the subject, of which you are 
 going to speak ; for if it be a sad and afflicting subject, 
 in which you aim to excite the compassion, the grief, 
 and the tears of your audience, you must begin the ex- 
 ordium by imparting such a disposition. 
 
 If you have to treat of a profound and difficult mys- 
 tery, aim to diffuse elevation and admiration among the 
 hearers. If some terrible example of God's justice be 
 the subject, endeavour to stir up fear. If some enor- 
 mous crime, prepare the mind for horror by a medita- 
 tion on the enormity of human corruption. If you have 
 to treat of repentance, and in an extraordinary manner 
 to interest your hearers in it, you must begin to dispose 
 them to it by general ideas of God's wrath, which we 
 have deserved ; of the little fruit we have borne to his 
 glory ; or something of a like nature. If, on the contra- 
 ry, the matter, you have to treat of, be common and 
 tranquil, aim in your exordium to place the mind in its 
 natural state, and only endeavour to excite honest and 
 christian tempers, which we all ought always to have. 
 In a word the exordium must always participate the 
 spirit of the subject, that you mean to discuss, in order 
 to dispose your hearers for it. Not to use in this man- 
 ner, is to loose all the benefit of an exordium ; and to 
 use it to an opposite purpose, would be to renounce com- 
 mon sense, and to act like an idiot. 
 
 The second use of an introduction is to conduct the 
 hearer gradually to the subject, of which you are about 
 
336 AN BSSAt ON THE 
 
 to treat. This (as I have said) depends on the connex- 
 ion between the subjects of the exordium with them- 
 selves, and with the matter of the discussion. I say first 
 with themselves ; for they must, as it were, hold each 
 other by the hand, and have a mutual dependence and 
 subordination, otherwise the auditor will be surprised to 
 find himself suddenly transported from one topic to anoth- 
 er. I say also with the discussion, for the exordium is 
 principally intended to introduce that. 
 
 The first quality of an exordium is brevity. This, how- 
 ever, has a proper measure ; for as it ought not to be 
 excessively long, so neither should it be too short; the 
 middle way is best. The longest exordium may have 
 ten or twelve periods, and the shortest six or seven, pro- 
 vided the periods be not too long. The reason is, that, 
 on the one hand, proper time may be given the hearer 
 to prepare himself to hear you with attention, and to fol- 
 low you in the discussion of the matter ; and, on the 
 other, that in giving time sufficient for that, you may 
 prevent his wandering out of the subject, wearying him- 
 self, and becoming impatient. If the exordium were too 
 short, it would oblige the hearer to enter too soon into 
 the matter without preparation enough ; and excessive 
 length would weary him ; for it is with an auditor, as 
 with a man who visits a palace, he does not like to stay 
 too long in the court, or first avenues, he would only view 
 them transiently without stopping, and proceed as soon 
 as possible to gratify his principal curiosity. 
 
 2. An exordium must be clear, and consequently disen- 
 gaged from all sorts of abstruse and metaphysical thoughts. 
 It should be expressed in natural and popular terms, and 
 not overcharged with matter. Indeed, as the auditors 
 are neither enlivened nor moved, yet you must not ex- 
 
COMPOSITION OF A SERMON.- 337 
 
 poet ol them at first a great degree of penetration and el- 
 evation, nor even a great attempt towards these, though 
 they may be capable of them when they are animated. 
 You must therefore, in an exordium, avoid all that can 
 give pain to the mind, such as physical questions, long 
 trains of reasoning, and such like. However, do not im- 
 agine, that, under pretence of great clearness, an exordi- 
 um must have only theological matter, or consist rather 
 of words than things. This would be falling into the 
 other extreme. An exordium, then, must contain matter 
 capable of nourishing and satisfying the mind ; to do 
 which, it must be clear, easy to comprehend, and express- 
 ed in a very natural manner. 
 
 3. An exordium must be cool and grave* Canse- 
 co 
 
 quently no grand figures may be admitted, as apostrophes, 
 violent exclamations, reiterated interrogations, nor, in a 
 word, any thing that tends to give vehement emotions 
 to the hearers : for, as the discourse must be accommo- 
 dated to the state of the hearer, he in the beginning be- 
 ing cool, and free from agitations, the speaker ought to 
 be so too. No wise man will approve exordiums full of 
 enthusiasms, and poetical raptures, full of impetuous or 
 angry emotions, or of oold interrogations, or surprising 
 paradoxes to excite admiration. You must in the begin- 
 ning speak gently, remembering that your auditors are 
 neither yet in heaven, nor in the air, nor at all elevated 
 
 * An exordium must be cool. Mr. Claude's rule is undoubtedly good in g en 
 eral, and his reason weighty. 
 
 This, however, is a rule sometimes dispensed with. Cicero begins an ora- 
 tion thus ; " Quousque tandem abutere, Catalina, patientia nostra ? Quamdiu, 
 etiam furor iste tuus nos illudet ? Quern ad finem sese effrenata jactabit auda- 
 cia?" &c. Perhaps an exordium somewhat more animated than usual may be 
 proper on such occasions, as the first and twelfth of the skeletons, published by 
 the Editor. 
 
 43 
 
J3U \\ ESSA1 OS TftE 
 
 mi their way thither, but upon earth, and in a place of 
 worship. 
 
 4. An exordium, however, ought not to be so cool 
 iiid <rrave, as not to be at the same time engaging and 
 
 agreeable. There are three principal ends, which a 
 preacher should propose, namely, to instruct, to please, 
 and to affect ; but, of these three, that which should 
 reign in an exordium is, to please. I own you should 
 also aim to instruct and affect ; but less to instruct than 
 to please, and less still to affect than to instruct. Indeed, 
 if you can judiciously and properly introduce any thing 
 tender into an exordium (especially on extraordinary oc- 
 casions) you may to good purpose ; but, be that as it 
 may, the agreeable should reign in this part. You easi- 
 ly see by this that you must banish from the exordium, 
 all ill-natured censures, terrible threatenings, bitter re- 
 proaches, and, in general, all that sayours of anger, con- 
 tempt, hatred, or indifference, and in short, every thing 
 that has the air of quarrelling with the hearers. Their 
 attention must not only be excited (you may sufficiently 
 do so by censures and reproaches) but you must softly 
 insinuate yourself into their esteem, so that they may 
 not only not oppose what you say, but be well satisfied 
 you are an honest and well-meaning man.t 
 
 5. Hie whole of the exordium must be naturally con- 
 nected with all the matter of the text. I say first the whole 
 
 t Satisfy your hearers that you are a ucH-meaning man. Hence Quintilian 
 so much insists on his orator's being a good man. The whole first chapter of his 
 twelfth book is spent in proving the necessity of this; and, if this be so needful 
 at the bar, how much more so is it in the pulpit! His conclusion is enough to 
 make a christian minister blush. " Men had belter be bom dumb, and even des- 
 titute of reason, than pervert those gifts of providence to pernicious purposes. Mu - 
 tos cnim nasci, et ogerc omni ratione s;ttius fuissct, quam providentia- munera in 
 T.ntuam pcrnlciem conve/ttrc.'' , Quint. I. xii r. i 
 
COMPOSITION OF A SERMON. 339 
 
 of the exordium ; for great care must be taken to put 
 nothing there foreign to your subject : therefore the best 
 exordiums are those, which are composed of two pro- 
 positions, the first of which is naturally and immediately 
 connected with the second, and the second naturally and 
 immediately with the text. Each of these propositions 
 may be either proved, or amplified ; but the last must 
 always conduct you with ease to the subject in question, 
 nor must the first be very distant. According to this 
 maxim, all exordiums must be condemned, which, instead 
 of leading you into the text, make you, as it were, tum- 
 ble from a precipice into it, which is intolerable. Those 
 also are to be condemned, which conduct to the text by 
 many long circuits, that is, by many propositions chained 
 together, which is certainly vicious, and can only fatigue 
 the hearer. I add, in the second place, the exordium 
 must be connected with the whole matter of the text. It 
 ouoht not merely to relate to one of its parts, (or to one 
 view only, if you intend to consider it in different views) 
 but to all. One of the principal uses of an exordium is 
 to prepare the mind of the hearer for the matter to be 
 discussed. If, therefore, the exordium refer only to one 
 of its parts ; or to one view only, it will prepare the 
 mind of the hearer for that one part, for that one view 
 only, and not for the rest. 
 
 6. An exordium must be simple. We would not en- 
 tirely banish figures : on the contrary, we would always 
 employ such as may render the discourse pleasant and 
 agreeable : but pompous and magnificent expressions 
 must be avoided, as far as the things spoken will admit. 
 Do not use a style too elevated, bordering on bombast ; 
 nor periods too harmonious ; nor overstrained allegories ; 
 nor even metaphors too common or too bold j for indeed 
 
340 AN ESSAY ON THE 
 
 the hearers mind, yet cool and in its natural state, can 
 bear nothing of this kind. 
 
 7. An exordium must not be common. As this is a 
 rule much abused, it will be needful to explain it. By a 
 common exordium, I do not mean an exordium, which 
 will suit many texts ; for if the texts are parallel, and 
 the subject be managed with the same views, and in the 
 same circumstances, what occasion is there to compose 
 different exordiums ? By a common exordium, I mean, in 
 the first place, one taken from trivial things, and which 
 have been said over and over again ; these the people 
 already know, and your labour will infallibly be thrown 
 away. Such are exordiums taken from comparisons of 
 the sun — of kings — of conquerors — of the ancient Re- 
 mans, <fec. — or from some histories of the Old Testa- 
 ment, which have been often repeated — or of some well- 
 knoAvn types, as the Israelites' passage through the Red 
 Sea— and many more of the same kind. In the second 
 place, I mean, by a common or general exordium, one, 
 which may be alike applied to two texts of different 
 matter, or to two contrary interpretations of the same 
 text. It is in this sense that common exordiums are vic- 
 ious and distasteful. 
 
 8. Even in metaphorical or figurative texts, it is quite 
 puerile to make an exordium join the text by a meta- 
 phor ; for, whatever ingenuity there may seem to be in 
 it, it is certain, there is no taste, no judgment discovered 
 in the practice ; and, however it may pass in college 
 declamations, it would appear too trilling in the pulpit. 
 The exordium, then, must be connected with the text 
 by the matter itself; that is, not by the figure, but by 
 (he subject intended to be conveyed by the figure. I 
 would not, however, forbid the joining of the exordium 
 
COMPOSITION OP A SERMON. 341 
 
 to the text sometimes by the figure, provided it be done 
 in a chaste and prudent manner. 
 
 Let us give one example. " He that eateth my flesh 
 and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life." John vi. 54. 
 An exordium to a sermon from this text may be taken 
 from the idea, which holy scripture teaches us to form 
 of our conversion, as if it were a new birth, which begins 
 a new life ; that for this purpose, it speaks of a new 
 man, a new heaven, which illuminates, and a new earth. 
 which supports him ; that, attributing to this new man 
 the same senses, which nature has formed in us, as sight, 
 hearing, feeling, smelling, tasting, it attributes also to 
 him objects proportioned to each of these mystical sen- 
 ses, and ascribes to them effects like those, which our 
 senses produce by their natural operations. It tells us ; 
 that our eyes contemplate the celestial light, which illu- 
 minates and guides us in the ways of righteousness ; that 
 our ears hear the voice of God, who calls us, and who 
 by these means makes us obey our vocation. It tells us 
 that the gospel is a savour of life, which communicates 
 salvation to us. And, finally, it attributes to us a month 
 to eat the flesh, and drink the blood of the Son of God, 
 in order to nourish us to life eternal. It is this last ex- 
 pression, which Jesus Christ has made use of in the 
 sixth of John, and which says in my text, " he that eat- 
 eth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life." 
 
 This exordium joins itself to the text by the figure 
 made use of in the text, but in such a manner as not to 
 be chargeable with aifectation, or witticism ; for it is by 
 a serious reflection on the scripture use of the figure, ac- 
 knowledging it to be a figure, and preparing the hearer 
 \<> attend to the explication. 
 
 To these rules I subjoin a word or two on the vices 
 
342 AN E53AY ON THE 
 
 of exordiums. J. There arc some preachers, who im- 
 agine it a fine thing to take exordiums from the persons 
 oi" their hearers, or the circumstances of times, places, 
 general affairs, or news of the world : but I believe this 
 is altogether a vicious method, and should never be used 
 but on extraordinary occasions. First, there is too much 
 affectation in it. Is it not a vain parade, to begin a dis- 
 course with things which have no relation to the mat- 
 ter ? It is certainly contrary to the chastity and mod- 
 esty of a christian pulpit. Secondly, exordiums of this 
 sort are usually pulled in by head and shoulders. How 
 should it be otherwise, when the articles, of which they 
 are composed, have, if any, only a very distant relation 
 to the text ? By such means you defeat the principal 
 design of an exordium, which is to prepare the hearers* 
 minds, and to conduct them insensibly to the subject. 
 And, finally it is very difficult in such exordiums to avoid 
 saying impertinences ; for what, in a public discourse, 
 can be more indelicate, than to speak of yourself, or 
 hearers, or times, or news ? In my opinion such exordi- 
 ums ought to be entirely rejected. 
 
 2. You must also, for the most part, reject exordi- 
 ums taken from profane history, or what they call the 
 apothegms of illustrious men. This method savours too 
 much of the college, and is by no means in the taste of 
 pious, well bred men. Alexander, Caesar, Pompey, al! 
 the great names of antiquity have no business to ascend 
 the pulpit; and if they are not suffered now-a-days, 
 either in orations in the senate, or in pleas of the bar, 
 much less ought they to be allowed in christian sermons. 
 It may not be amiss, if they appear now and then in the 
 discussion, or in the application ; but even there we 
 aught to see them but seldom, not oftener than once n 
 
COMPOSITION OF A SERMON. 343 
 
 year at most : but to introduce them at the beginning 
 of a sermon is intolerable. I say much the same of 
 citations from profane authors ; they must be forborne, 
 unless it be something so particular, so agreeable, and 
 so apt to the text, as to carry its own recommendation 
 along with it. 
 
 In general the best exordiums are taken from theol- 
 ogy ; for, as, on the one hand, they have always more 
 relation to the matter of the text, so, on the other, they 
 much better prepare the hearers' minds, being more 
 grave, and free from the puerile pedantries of the col- 
 lege. 
 
 In order to compose an exordium, after you have 
 well considered the senses of the text, and observed what 
 are the principal matters, which ought to enter into the 
 discussion, and after you have made the division, en- 
 deavour to reduce the whole to one common idea, and 
 then choose some other idea naturally connected with 
 that common idea, either immediately, or by means of 
 another. If it be immediately connected with the sub- 
 ject, endeavour to reduce it to one proposition,, which 
 may be cleared and proved as you go on ; or if it have 
 parts, which require separate explications and proofs, it 
 must be managed so as to include them ; and finally, by 
 the natural connexion of that proposition with the dis- 
 cussion, enter into the text If the proposition be con- 
 nected with the text only remotely, then establish the 
 first, pass on to the second, and so proceed from the 
 second to the text. 
 
 Exordiums may be taken from almost all the same 
 topics as observations, that is, from genus, species, contra- 
 ries, 8{c. For there are but few good exordiums, which 
 might not go into the discussion, under the title of £en- 
 
> ! i AN ES8A1 o.s THE 
 
 eral observation. Of such observations, that must be 
 chosen for an exordium, which is least essential, or least 
 necessary to the discussion, and which, besides, is clear, 
 agreeable, and entertaining. A comparison may sometimes 
 be employed in an exordium, but not often ; nor must 
 trivial comparisons be used, which all the world know, 
 or which are taken from any thing mean ; nor must they 
 be embarrassing, taken from things unknown to the peo- 
 ple, as those are, which are borrowed from mechanics, 
 astronomy, &c. of which the people know nothing at all. 
 
 Bible-history may be used, but sparingly ; and the 
 application must be always just, agreeable, and, in some 
 sort, new and remarkable. 
 
 Types may also be employed ; but with the same 
 precautions, always consulting good sense and taste. 
 
 The best method is to compose several exordiums 
 for the same text, by turning your imagination divers 
 ways, by taking it in all its different relations ; for by 
 such means you may choose the most proper. But af- 
 ter all these general precepts, which indeed ought to be 
 known, and by which exordiums must be regulated, it is 
 certain, the invention and composition of an exordium can 
 only become easy by practice. A young preacher ought 
 not to complain of trouble, nor to be any way negligent 
 in the matter ; for he may be sure of succeeding by at- 
 tention and application. 
 
COMPOSITION OF A SERMON, 345 
 
 CHAP. X. 
 
 OF THE CONCLUSION.* 
 
 The Conclusion ought to be lively and animating, 
 full of great and beautiful figures, aiming to move chris- 
 tian affections, as the love of God, hope, zeal, repent- 
 ance, self-condemnation, a desire of self-correction, con- 
 solation, admiration of eternal benefits, hope of felic- 
 ity, courage and constancy in afflictions, steadiness in 
 temptations, gratitude to God, recourse to him by prayer, 
 and other such dispositions.t 
 
 * Conclusion. This in a sermon answers to what in an oration is called the 
 peroration. " It recapitulates, or sums up the strongest and chief arguments, and, 
 by moving the passions, endeavours to persuade the hearers to yield to the force 
 of them."— Arist. Rhtt. 
 
 The fire of the preacher should blaze here ; he should collect the ideas of his 
 whole sermon into this part, as rays are collected in the focus of a burning-glass 
 and inflame the hearts of hi3 auditors. 
 
 f Bishop Burnet says, " A sermon, the conclusion whereof makes the audi- 
 tory look pleased, and sets them all talking with one another, was certainly ei- 
 ther not rightly spoken, or not rightly heard ; it has been fine, and has probably 
 delighted the congregation rather than edified it ; but that sermon that makes 
 every one go away silent, and grave, and hastening to be alone to meditate, and 
 pray the matter over in secret, has had a true effect." Past, care, chap. ix. 
 
 Let the peroration, or conclusion, be short ; let it be bold and lively ; and 
 let some one or more striking ideas, not mentioned before in the discussion, be 
 reserved for this part, and let it be applied with vigour. Bucholtser used to say, 
 A good preacher was known by his conclusion. He frequently concluded his dis- 
 course with some such sentence as the following. Here, my brethren, I stop, I 
 leave the Holy Spirit to preach to you. Now, christians, 1 have done my part. 
 May the Lord condescend to do his in your hearts ! I have planted and watered. 
 May God give the increase ! I have been preaching to you, and setting before 
 you the gospel of Salvation. May the Lord God apply it to your hearts, for his 
 glory, and for your eternal felicity ! May the Lord set home to your hearts what 
 I have been preaching ! For my part, I am only his messenger to you. He is 
 the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls. Keckeumanni Rhtt. Keel. 
 
 The publisher of Massillon's sermons describes, in the preface, the bishop's 
 
 44 
 
346 AN ESSAY ON THE 
 
 There are three sorts of dispositions, or emotions ; 
 the violent, the tender, and the elevated. The violent 
 are, for example, indignation, fear, zeal, courage, firm- 
 ness against temptations, repentance, self-loathing, &c. 
 
 The tender emotions are joy, consolation, gratitude ; 
 tender subjects are pardon, pity, prayer, &c* The cl- 
 
 method of prsaching, by saying, that " What formed the distinct character of fa- 
 ther .Wassillon's eloquence, was, that all his strokes aimed directly at the heart, 
 so that what was simply reason and proof in others, was feeling in his mouth. 
 Hence the remarkable effects of his instructions ; nobody after hearing him stop- 
 ped to praise or criticise his sermon. Each auditor retired in a pensive silence, with 
 a thoughtful air, downcast eyes, and composed countenance, carrying away the ar- 
 row fastened in his heart. When Massillon had preached his first advent at Ver- 
 sailles, Lewis XIV. said these remarkable words to him : ' Father, I have heard 
 many fine orators in my chapel, and have been very much pleased with them ; but as 
 for you, always when I have heard you, I have been very much displeased with 
 myself.' Serm. de Massill. pet. car. pre/. 
 
 * Tender conclusion. Example of a tender conclusion, from a sermon of Bish- 
 op Massillon to his clergy. And indeed, my brethren, can a pastor live either 
 without prayer, or can he pray but seldom ; or can he pray without fervour and 
 zeal, or can he confine all his pra} r ers to a cold, inattentive, and hasty rehearsal 
 of his breviary, while he passes his life among his parishoners, and sees the great- 
 est part of them lying in sin, and perishing every day before his eyes? When 
 the high priest Aaron saw a part of his people smitten by the hand of God, and 
 expiring before him, he ran between the dead and the living — he lifted his hands 
 to heaven — he wept for the misery of such as fell before his eyes — he cried — he 
 wrestled — and his prayer w'as heard, the plague was stopped, and the sword of 
 God's anger retired. A good pastor never prays for his people in vain. " And 
 Aaron stood between the dead and the living, and the plague was stayed." 
 
 This, my brethren, is the image of a good pastor. Among his people (as I 
 may say) he walks between the dead and the living. He sees by his side some 
 of his flock dead, and others ready to expire, having only some flattering signs 
 of life. He sees the invisible sword of God's wrath hang over these people; he 
 sees reigning crimes and hastening death. All this he beholds, and it is a spec- 
 tacle, which he has every day before his eyes. If he is not affected with this, he 
 is not a pastor, he is a mercenary wretch, who sees in cold blood the destruction 
 of his flock. He is either a minister fallen from the grace of the priesthood, or 
 one who has never received it. Hut if this affects him, ah ! what must the first 
 motion of his grief and zeal be? He will address himself to God, who wound? 
 and heals ; he will open to him secret tears of grief and love to his people ; he 
 will remind an angry God of his ancient mercies ; he will move his paternal 
 
COMPOSITION OF A SERMON. 34? 
 
 evated are admiration of the majesty of God, the ways 
 of providence, the glory of Paradise, the expectation of 
 benefits &c. 
 
 There are some christian passions which may be ex- 
 cited either by a tender, or violent method. Repen- 
 tance is of this kind ; for which extremely tender mo- 
 tives may be employed, as the love, and bounty of God, 
 which we have so unworthily treated. Violent motives 
 may also be used, as censure, an enumeration and de- 
 scription of the enormity of the sins reigning among us. 
 the horror of our ingratitude, the fear of God's judgments, 
 the justice of his scourges, and chastisements, &c. 
 
 In like manner, firmness against temptations may be 
 discussed ; for tender motives may be used, as — the van- 
 ity of the promises and hopes of this world, which are 
 only false, and delusive appearances ; the consideration 
 of the miserable state of backsliders, and apostates ; the 
 dignity to which God calls his children ; the eternal 
 rewards, which attend perseverance ; the joy of a 
 good man when he has gained a signal victory over temp- 
 tations. Violent methods may also be employed, as — 
 inspiring an holy ambition to defeat the designs of the 
 world; a contempt of the plots, and powers against us; 
 the hope, or rather the inviolable assurance we have, 
 
 heart by his sighs ; and offer himself to be accursed (Rom. is. 3.) for his breth- 
 ren. " Aaron stood between the dead and the living, and the plague was stay- 
 ed." 
 
 No, my brethren, a priest, a pastor who does not pray, who does not love 
 prayer, does not belong to that church which prays without ceasing. He is not 
 united to the spirit of prayer and love. He is a dry and barren tree, which 
 cumbers the Lord's ground. He is the enemy, and not the father of his people. 
 He is a stranger who has usurped the pastor's place, and to whom the salvation 
 of the flock is indifferent. Wherefore my brethren, be faithful in prayer, and 
 your functions will be more useful, your people more holy, your labours will seem 
 much sweeter, and the church's evils will diminish. 
 
 Ma ss it., Disc. Si/nod, Tom. ii. Disc. 10. 
 
348 AN ESSAY ON THE 
 
 that all the powers of earth joined together cannot shake 
 us. St. Paul uses mixed motives at the end of the eighth 
 of Romans. " Who shall separate us from the love of 
 Christ ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or 
 famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword ? Nay, in all 
 these things, we are more than conquerors through him 
 that loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, 
 nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor 
 things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, 
 nor any other creature shall be able to separate us from 
 the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."* 
 
 * Conclusion may be mired. Example of a mixed conclusion from Massil- 
 lon. The annihilation of the soul is the last resource of impiety. But what 
 punishment would it be for a wicked man to be no more? He wishes for annihil- 
 ation, and proposes it as his highest hope. He lives tranquil in the midst of his 
 pleasures in this agreeable expectation. What ! will the just God punish a sin- 
 ner by giving him what he desires? Ah ! it is not thqs that God punishes. For 
 what can the wicked find so very bad in annihilation? Would it be the privation 
 of God ? But a wicked man does not love him, he does not know him, he will 
 not know him, for his god is himself. Would it be annihilation? But what more 
 pleasing to such a monster, who knows that if he lives after death, it is only to 
 suffer, and expiate the horrors of an abominable life. Would it be the loss of 
 worldly pleasures, and of all the objects of his passions ? But when he ceases to 
 be, he must cease to live. Imagine if you can a more desirable lot for the wick- 
 ed, and shall this after all be the sweet end of his debaucheries, horrors and bjas- 
 phemies ! 
 
 No, my brethren, the hope of the xcicked shall perish : but his crimes shall not 
 perish with him, His torments will be as endless as his pleasures would have 
 been, if he had been master of his fate. He would fain perpetuate upon earth 
 his sensual pleasures; death limits his crimes, but does not limit his criminal de- 
 sires. The just Judge, who starches the heart, will proportion then the suffer- 
 ing to the ofl'euce ; immortal flames for intentionally immortal pleasures, and 
 eternity itself will only be a just compensation, and an equality of punishment. 
 These shall go away into everlasting punishme>it. 
 
 What is the conclusion of this discourse ? — That a wicked man is to be piti- 
 ed for placing his highest hope in a frightful uncertainity about revealed truths. 
 He is to be pitied, in that he is not able to live peaceably, unless he lives with- 
 out faith, without worship, without God, without hope ; that he is to be pitied 
 if the gospel must be a fable, the faith of all ages credulity, the consent of all 
 men a popular error, the first principles of nature and reason childish prejudices, 
 the blood of so many martyr.-. whom the hope of a futurity supported in tor- 
 
COMPOSITION OF A SERMON. 349 
 
 A conclusion should be diversified. I mean, we should 
 not be content to move one single christian passion ; 
 many must be touched, and a proper length of discourse 
 assigned to each, in order to stir up the passion. Too 
 long time, however, must not be spent ; but when the ef- 
 fect is evidently produced, pass to another passion. As 
 the conclusion ought to be composed at least of four, or 
 five reflections, (naturally arising from the text, either 
 general, from the whole text, or particular, from some 
 of the parts, into which it is divided,) so, if possible these 
 reflections must be placed in prudent order, so that the 
 weakest and least powerful may be the first, and the 
 strongest last, and so that the discourse may become 
 more rapid as it runs. 
 
 I think, however, it would be vicious to finish with 
 motives too violent, as subjects tending to horror, indig- 
 nation, or heavy censure. It would be much better, in 
 general, to close Ayith a tender, or even with an elevating 
 
 ments, a concerted scheme to deceive mankind ; the conversion of the universe 
 a human enterprize ; the accomplishment of prophecies a lucky hit ; in one word, 
 if all that is best established in the universe must be found false, so that he may 
 not be eternally miserable. What madness to be able to contrive a kind of tran- 
 quillity made up of so many foolish suppositions ? 
 
 O man ! I will show you a more excellent way. Fear this futurity, which you 
 force yourself to doubt. Ask us no more what passes in that other life, of which 
 we speak; but ask yourseif frequently what you are doing in this. Calm your 
 conscience by the innocence of your manners, and not by the impiety of your 
 sentiments. Set your heart at rest by calling upon God, and not by doubting 
 whether he sees you. The peace of the wicked is only a frightful despair ; seek 
 your happiness, not in shaking oft' the yoke of faith, but in tasting how sweet it 
 is. Practice the maxims it prescribes, and your reason will no longer refuse to 
 submit to the mysteries it proposes. Futurity will cease to be incredible to you, 
 when you cease to live like those that confine all their felicity within the hounds of 
 life. Then far from fearing the futurity, you will hasten to it in desire, you will 
 sigh after the happy day, when the Son of Man, the Father of the world to come, 
 will appear to punish infidels, and to receive into his kingdom all such as have 
 lived in expectation of a blessed immortality. 
 
 Massit.. Ser, Car. Tom. i. 
 
350 COMPOSITION- OF A SERMON. 
 
 motive. Different motives may be (and indeed they 
 ought to be) mixed in the same conclusion, that is, vio- 
 lent, tender, and elevated, in order to stir up many pas- 
 sions of different kinds. 
 
 Conclusion sometimes delights in examples, similitudes, 
 short and weighty sentences, the inventions of a fine im- 
 agination, and, in one word, it need not be either so 
 chaste, or so regular as the body of the sermon, where 
 more accuracy must be observed. There is no danger 
 when a preacher in a conclusion gives himself up to the 
 fire of his genius, provided he say nothing extravagant 
 or capricious, nothing that savours of enthusiasm or dec- 
 lamation.* 
 
 * To this purpose Bishop Burnet observes, " Artificial eloquence, without a 
 flame within, is like artificial poetry ; all its productions are forced, and unnat- 
 ural, and in a great measure ridiculous. Art helps, and guides nature ; but, if 
 one was not born with this flame, art will only spoil, and make him redundant. 
 A man must have'in himself a deep sense of the truth and power of religion. He 
 must have a life and flame in his thoughts with relation to these subjects. He 
 must have felt in himself those things, which he intends to explain, and recom- 
 mends to others. There is an authority in the simplest things that can be said, 
 when they carry visible characters of genuineness in them." Past, care, c. ix. 
 
 Give attendance to reading, exhortation, and doctrine. Neglect not the gift 
 that is in thee. Meditate upon these things, give thyself icholly to them. Take 
 heed to thyself, and to thy doctrine, continue in them ; for, in doing this, thou shalf 
 both save thyself, and them that hear thee. Paul to Tim. 
 
SYLLABUS 
 
 OF THE PRECEDING ESSAY. 
 
 CHAP. I. 
 
 ON THE CHOICE OF TEXTS. 
 
 farts of a Sermon five 215 
 
 Each text must contain the complete sense of the writer . . . 216 
 
 must not contain too little matter nor too much . . . 217 
 
 The end of preaching ......... 217 
 
 What subjects are proper for stated days of public worship . . 217 
 
 What for occasional, as ordinations, &c 217 
 
 CHAP. II. 
 
 GENERAL RULES OP SERMONS. 
 
 Sermons should be explicit and clear . 
 must give the entire sense of the text 
 must be wise, sober, chaste 
 simple and grave 
 instructing and affecting 
 Whether a preacher should apply as he goes on 
 Preacher should avoid excess 
 Of genius 
 Of doctrine 
 Of investigation 
 Of figures of speech 
 Of reasoning 
 Of grammatical remarks 
 Of criticisms . » 
 
 Of philosophical, historical, rhetorical observations 
 Ofcmotations . , 
 
 219 
 219 
 
 220 
 221 
 
 222 
 222 
 222 
 222 
 223 
 223 
 224 
 224 
 226 
 226 
 226 
 226 
 
;..•_' 
 
 SYLLABUS uf THE PRECEDING ESSAY. 
 
 CHAR m. 
 
 OF CONNEXION. 
 
 Connexion defined and how to, find it 
 must seldom be enlarged on 
 must sometimes make a part of the discussion 
 and sometimes it affords an exordium 
 
 227 
 
 227 
 227 
 227 
 
 CHAP. IV. 
 
 or DIVISION. 
 
 A text should not be divided into many parts .... 
 Division of the Sermon is proper in general for obscure subjects 
 Division of the text after the order of the words .... 
 Nothing must be put in the first branch of division that supposes a knowl 
 
 edge of the second . 
 
 Division of subject and attribute . 
 
 Division must be expressed simply for the sake of being remembered 
 must be connected together ...... 
 
 Subdivision ...... 
 
 223 
 228 
 231 
 
 234 
 235 
 240 
 241 
 241 
 
 CHAP. V. 
 
 OF TEXTS TO DE DISCUSSED BY WAY OE EXPLICATION. 
 
 Treacher must understand the sense of the text 
 
 comprehend the whole subject together, and perceive the 
 parts of which it consists 
 
 have a general idea of theology 
 
 study the nature of his text 
 Two general ways of discussing a text ; explication and observation 
 Rules to determine the choice 
 
 Difficult passages must be treated of by way of explication 
 Difficulties arise from ivords or things 
 How to explain difficult words 
 Difficult and important subjects must be explained 
 Controverted texts, how to explain 
 Different ways of explaining disputed texts 
 How to explain an intricate subject 
 How to explain texts not difficult but important 
 Explication with and without proof * . 
 Explications of texts which have many parts 
 Explication of simple terras 
 
 sometimes not to be explained 
 How to explain and illustrate a proposition 
 Explication of propositions which contain divers truths 
 
 242 
 
 242 
 
 242 
 
 242 
 
 243 
 
 244 
 
 244 
 
 244 
 
 244 
 
 245 
 
 245 
 
 245 
 
 245 
 
 248 
 
 250 
 
 252 
 
 253 
 
 266 
 
 267 
 
 267 
 
SYLLABUS OF THE. PRECEDING ESSAY. 
 
 353 
 
 Explication considerable in divers views . 
 
 which have different degrees of accomplishment 
 Inconsiderable propositions . . . . . 
 
 268 
 
 268 
 263 
 
 CHAP. VI. 
 
 topic 
 
 OF TEXTS TO BE DISCUSSED BY WAV OF OBSERVATION. 
 
 Some texts must be discussed by way of observation 
 as clear texts ..... 
 
 historical texts .... 
 
 Some texts require both explication and observation 
 How to arrange the discussion of passages of this kind 
 Observation sometimes includes explication 
 Observations should generally be theological 
 But in some cases they may be taken from other 
 Observation should neither be pedantic 
 
 nor vulgar 
 Topics ...... 
 
 As I. Genus . . . 
 
 II. Species .... 
 
 III. Character of a virtue or a vice 
 
 IV. Relation .... 
 
 V. Implication .... 
 
 VI. Persons speaking or acting 
 
 VII. State . ' . 
 
 VIII. Time .... 
 
 IX. Place .... 
 
 X. Persons addressed 
 
 XI. Particular stale of persons addressed 
 
 XII. Principles .... 
 
 XIII. Consequences 
 
 XIV. End proposed 
 
 XV. Manner .... 
 
 XVI. Comparison of some subjects with 
 
 XVII. Difference 
 
 XVIII. Contrast 
 
 XIX. Ground .... 
 
 XX. Composition 
 
 XXI. Supposition 
 
 XXII. Objection 
 
 XXIII. Character of expression . 
 
 XXIV. Degrees 
 
 XXV. Interests .... 
 
 XXVI. Distinction 
 
 XXVII. Comparison of one part of a subject with another part of 
 
 the same subject ....... 
 
 45 
 
 othe 
 
 subjects 
 
 273 
 273 
 274 
 275 
 275 
 276 
 276 
 276 
 277 
 277 
 278 
 278 
 278 
 280 
 284 
 286 
 289 
 291 
 292 
 292 
 293 
 295 
 295 
 296 
 298 
 299 
 30O 
 302 
 303 
 304 
 307 
 309 
 310 
 312 
 317 
 318 
 320 
 
 321 
 
<.i i bYLLABUS OF THE PRECEDING ESSAY- 
 
 CHAP. VII. 
 
 UF APPLICATION. 
 Discussion by application ...... . 323 
 
 CHAP. VIII. 
 
 OP PROPOSITION. 
 Discussion of proposition, what . . . . . • • • 324 
 
 CHAP. IX. 
 
 OF THE EXORDIUM. 
 
 Exordium, what 328 
 
 Whether exordiums be necessary 328 
 
 The ends proposed in exordiums ....... 333 
 
 They are principally two . 335 
 
 Exordiums must be short &c. . 336 
 
 May sometimes be figurative 340 
 
 Vices of exordiums ........ • 341 
 
 Affectation ... 342 
 
 Use of apothegms ......... 342 
 
 Citations from profane authors 342 
 
 In what cases they are proper 342 
 
 The best are taken from theology 343 
 
 How to compose them 343 
 
 They may be taken from common-places, sacred history, types, &c. . 343 
 
 CHAP. X. 
 
 OF THE CONCLUSION. 
 
 What conclusions ought to be in general ...... 345 
 
 May sometimes be mixed 348 
 
 Must always be diversified ....... 349 
 
 The best conclusions ......... 
 
GREGORY 
 
 ON THE COMPOSITION AND DELIVERY OF 
 
 A SERMON. 
 
ON THE 
 
 COMPOSITION AND DELIVERY 
 
 OS A 
 
 SERMON. 
 
 I do not know any species of composition, which is 
 more deserving of critical attention, than that, which is 
 appropriated to the pulpit ; and I will add, that I do not 
 know any which appears to want it more. That it is 
 from its nature liable to very great abuses, and at no 
 time since the apostolic age has been free from error, 
 must be allowed by every person conversant in the lit- 
 erary history of the church ; but, of late years, so de- 
 praved a taste has been introduced by the love of nov- 
 elty, and the admission of illiterate persons into holy or- 
 ders, that the keenest inspection of criticism is become 
 necessary to reduce to order the extravagancies of pul- 
 pit empiricism. A few observations, therefore, having 
 occurred to my recollection, and conceiving that this vol- 
 ume might probably be read by some of the younger 
 clergy, as well as by a few of the religious part of the 
 laity, I determined to embrace the opportunity of pre* 
 renting them to the public. 
 
358 ON THE COMPOSITION AND 
 
 The utility of these remarks, however, may possibly 
 not be altogether confined to one species of composition. 
 What I have to advance, with respect to style in par- 
 ticular, will, I flatter myself, not be unacceptable to young 
 writers in general : indeed, every attempt to refine the 
 taste, and to exercise the judgment, is generally found 
 of advantage beyond the sphere of its immediate inten- 
 tion. 
 
 As I do not pretend to exhibit a complete view of 
 the subject, I have entitled this attempt, "Thoughts on 
 the Composition and Delivery of a Sermon." But, as 
 desultory maxims or precepts are seldom of much use, J 
 have endeavoured to reduce my sentiments to some kind 
 of order ; and (after stating in general terms the rise 
 and progress of this species of oratory in the christian 
 church) the grand divisions, which I mean to adopt, will 
 be, the choice of a subject, the arrangement, and the style ; 
 to which I mean to add a few cursory observations re- 
 specting manner or delivery* 
 
 * The design of Christian oratory (says St. Augustin) is either to instruct 
 men in the truth, to refute their errors, or to persuade them to the practice of 
 ■virtue, and an abhorrence of vice. The first requires plain narration ; the sec- 
 ond, strength of argument and ratiocination -, and the third, the art of moving the 
 mind and affections. As the Christian orator speaks that only which is holy, 
 just, and good, he endeavours to speak in such a manner, that he may be heard 
 with understanding, with pleasure, and with effect. — That he may be heard with 
 understanding, he speaks with plainness and perspicuity, and a regard to the ca- 
 pacities and knowledge of his hearers ; that he may be heard with pleasure, he 
 will pay such attention to the common rules of eloquence, as to endeavour to 
 ppeak with acuteness, elegance, and strength ; and, that he may be heard with 
 effect, he will labour to persuade and to convince his auditors of the truth and 
 importance of his doctrines. 
 
 Aug. de Doctrin. Christo, I. 4. c. 4. 
 
 Idem, 1. 4. c. 15. Idem, 1. 4. c. 5, 
 
 Idem, 1.4. c. 12. 
 
DELIVERY OF A SERMON. 359 
 
 I. 
 
 OP THE ORIGIN AND PROGRESS OF PULPIT ORATORY. 
 
 In the primitive church a custom prevailed, which 
 may be ultimately traced into the Jewish ;* though the 
 time of its introduction into the latter is not very easily 
 ascertained. The bishop or presbyter, who read the 
 portion of Scripture selected for the day, concluded that 
 part of the service with a general explanation of what 
 had been read, and with earnestly exhorting the audi- 
 ence to profit from the instructions, or to imitate the ex- 
 ample, which had then been exhibited/!" These exhorta- 
 tions were brief and unadorned, and were sometimes ac- 
 companied with other explications of Scripture, which 
 were successively delivered by those of the society, who 
 declared themselves under the peculiar influence of the 
 Spirit ; while their prophetic brethren, who were pres- 
 ent in the assembly, decided upon the respect which 
 was due to their authority.^ It is probable that what 
 at first consisted only of a few short and perhaps uncon- 
 nected sentences would gradually, and by those who 
 possessed fluency of thought and facility of expression, 
 be made to assume a more regular form.§ Origen was 
 the first who introduced long explanatory discourses into 
 Christian assemblies ; and preaching in his time began to 
 be formed upon the nice rules of Grecian eloquence. 
 
 The great superiority of these studied and regular 
 
 * See Luke iv. 16, 17. xx. 1. xxi. 37. John viii. 20. Acts xiii. 13. 
 
 t Justin. Apol. 2, p. 98. 
 
 X Mosheim, Cent. 1, Part 2, Chap. 4. 
 
 i Mosh. Cent. 3, Part 2. Chap, 4. 
 
**60 ON THE COMPOSITION AND 
 
 compositions over extempore effusions soon excluded the 
 latter almost entirely from the service of the church, 
 though at some periods we find them occasionally re- 
 sorted to. Origen,* the great father of pulpit-oratory, 
 at above sixty years of age, and when by continued use 
 and exercise he had acquired great facility both in com- 
 position and delivery, began to indulge himself in the 
 practice of extempore oratory. The custom, however, 
 was not confined to him. Cyril and several of his 
 contemporaries addressed their respective audiences in 
 unprepared discourses, which the diligence of the pub- 
 lic notaries of the church has preserved from oblivion ; 
 and many of the sermons of Chrysostom, together with 
 his celebrated discourse upon his return from banish- 
 ment, are proofs not only of the existence of the cus- 
 tom, but that extempore compositions are not necessari- 
 ly deficient either in elegance or method. It is proba- 
 ble, however, that, at a time when nice and determined 
 rules had been formed for pulpit-oratory, few would at- 
 tempt extempore addresses, except upon sudden and 
 particular emergencies, and then they would be at- 
 tempted by such only as previous habits of study and 
 recitation had peculiarly qualified for the practice. Of 
 those which have reached posterity, we know that many, 
 and probable the greater part, received the after cor- 
 rections of their respective authors.'}" 
 
 However diminutive and simple in its origin, preach- 
 ing very soon came to be considered as a principal part 
 
 * Euseb. lib. 6. c. 36. 
 t At the Reformation in England, many complaints were made of those, who 
 were licensed to preach ; and tiiat they might be able to justify themselves, they 
 began generally to write and read their sermons ; the manifest superiority of this 
 mode over extempore preaching has continued it in the church of England ever 
 since. See Burnett's Hist. Reform. Vol. I. p. 317. 
 
DELIVERY OP A SERMON. 361 
 
 of public worship. Sometimes two or three sermons* 
 were preached in the same assembly by the presbyters 
 and bishops in succession ; and, when two or more bish- 
 ops happened to be present, it was usual for them to 
 preach after each other, reserving the last place for the 
 most eminent person. The sermons upon these occa- 
 sions were necessarily short, as the time limited for pub- 
 lic worship was only two hours. It was probably upon 
 some of these occasions that the short sermons of St. 
 Augustin were composed, many of which may be pro- 
 nounced distinctly, and delivered in eight minutes, and 
 a few in almost half that time. 
 
 The general regard, which was paid to preaching, as 
 a necessary part of public worship, is evident from its 
 having formed a part of the discipline of every Chris- 
 tian church, except that of Rome, in which, as Sozo- 
 men informs us,t at the time he wrote no such custom 
 existed. Sermons were however again introduced into 
 that church by Leo, but again discontinued, till, after 
 an interval of more than five hundred years, Pius V. 
 once more made them a necessary part of public wor- 
 ship. 
 
 As the institution of preaching commenced in the 
 explication of Scripture, it still retained, through the 
 many revolutions of the public taste, some respect to its 
 origin ; and, with a few exceptions, a portion of the sa- 
 cred writings always constituted the basis of the dis- 
 course ;J though latterly it was reduced almost to the 
 form of a motto, which had frequently but little con- 
 
 * Bingham's Eccl. Antiq. book 14. c. 4. 
 
 t Sozom. lib. 7. c. 19. 
 £ Some of the homilies ofChrysostom were preached without a text. Chrts. 
 Horn. Post. Red. 3, 4, 5, 6. &c. Melancthon heard a priest at Paris, who took 
 his text from Aristotle's Ethics. 
 
 46 
 
362 u.\ rut: composition am; 
 
 nexion with the principal subject. From this state oi' 
 facts we may easily perceive the source of those two 
 modes of exhortation, which now prevail in the church ; 
 I mean the simply explanatory, and the didactic or es- 
 say style. Both have their particular uses, and perhaps 
 neither ought to be uniformly preferred. 
 
 II. 
 
 OF THE CHOICE OF A SUBJECT. 
 
 However custom may have indulged the Christian 
 orator with respect to the modes in which he is to con- 
 vey instruction, still, in the choice of a subject, young 
 preachers will do well to advert in general to the origin 
 of the institution ; to consider that its immediate design 
 is the exposition of Scripture. And, though I see no 
 reason for excluding utterly from the pulpit those dis- 
 courses, which treat of the virtues and vices in an ab- 
 stract and philosophical manner ; yet I confess, that 
 sermon, which follows the order of the text, appears 
 more immediately consistent with the design, and more 
 correspondent to the nature of the composition. 
 
 For the same reason, I am induced to prefer those 
 discourses, which tend to remove the difficulties, and elu- 
 cidate the obscurities of the Scriptures. I do not wish 
 to be understood, as recommending any tedious philolog- 
 ical disquisitions, any laborious collations, or those exei- 
 cises, which are obviously only calculated for the closet. 
 It is difficult to command the attention of a common 
 congregation, be the matter ever so plain and practical. 
 It would therefore be scarcely less absurd to introduce 
 mathematical calculations than such disquisitions as these. 
 
 I am still more offended with those preachers, who 
 
DELIVERY OP A SERMON. 363 
 
 regularly pay their audience the unwelcome compliment 
 of supposing their faith in continual danger of invasion ; 
 and conceive it absolutely necessary to be constantly in- 
 sisting on the proofs of revelation. The persons, to 
 whom alone such reasoning can be of use, take care very 
 seldom to throw themselves in its way ; and, as Swift 
 remarks, can any thing be more absurd, " than, for the 
 sake of three or four fools, who are past grace, to per- 
 plex the minds of well disposed people with doubts, 
 which probably would never have otherwise come into 
 their minds ?" 
 
 The church of God was never intended as a school 
 of speculation, or a place to indulge the licentiousness 
 of fancy in doubtful disputation. It is a wretched abuse 
 of time to bewilder our hearers in the nice distinctions 
 of the schoolmen, in the explanation of mysteries, which 
 perhaps are not to be explained, or which at least re- 
 quire much previous study, and call for all the advan- 
 tages of solitude, and of leisure, to enable the mind to 
 comprehend or to follow the tenour of the argument. 
 
 But, the most absurd and useless of all discourses are 
 those, which treat of questions absolutely removed be- 
 yond the sphere of our knowledge. Such are many 
 sermons concerning the manner of the divine existence • 
 the state of the soul after death ; the nature of the hy- 
 postatic union ; the existence, the number of the angels, 
 and the means of their communication ; what would 
 have been the state of Adam if the fall had never taken 
 place ; and abundance of other topics, which can only 
 serve to gratify an idle and visionary humour of specu- 
 lation, and can answer no practical end whatever. 
 
 In this place it may not be improper to remark, that 
 all fantastical applications of Scripture are carefully to. 
 
364 ON THE COMPOSITION AND 
 
 be avoided. It is dangerous on any occasion to depart 
 from the plain track of common sense ; and there is no 
 attempt at ingenuity so easy as that, which borders up- 
 on nonsense. Most of the French sermons arc of this 
 kind.* There is one of Massillon upon the story of the 
 woman of Samaria, which will afford a tolerable speci- 
 men. " I find here," says the preacher, " three reasons 
 for resisting the grace of Christianity: 1st, her station 
 or condition ; How is it that thou being a Jew, askest 
 drink of me, who am a woman of. Samaria ? 2d, the diffi- 
 culty; the well is deep, &c. 3d, the variety of opinions; 
 our fathers worshipped on this mountain, &c." The heads 
 of the discourse are extremely well chosen; but it is 
 obvious, that the application of the text to them is mere 
 trifling ; a sport of the fancy in opposition to every prin- 
 ciple of reason, and contrary to that seriousness and re- 
 spect, with which the word of God ought ever to be 
 treated. 
 
 Lastly. Unity and simplicity are in every case essen- 
 tial to perfection. A sermon must have one determinate 
 end and object ; must be confined to the explaining of 
 a single doctrine, or the enforcing of some one virtue. 
 An accumulation of thought always oppresses the hu- 
 man mind ; and, where there are too many arguments or 
 
 * Those critics, whose complaisance or whose indolence has induced them to 
 take their opinion of Gallic eloquence from the critics of that nation, have rash- 
 ly assigned the preference to the oratory of the French pulpit. I have gone 
 through the drudgery of perusing all the most celebrated of their preachers ; 
 and 1 will not hesitate to declare, that, except a sermon or two of Massillon, there 
 are scarcely any which deserve, I will not say to be compared with the English 
 preachers, but to be read at all. They are in general written, indeed, in a style 
 of animated rhetoric, but altogether in a bad taste. They abound in points, 
 antitheses, and conceits. But, their great defect is a poverty of matter- It is 
 difficult, through the mass of words, to find any ideas at all ; and when you have 
 found them, as Gratiano says, " they are not worth the search." 
 
DELIVERY OF A SERMON. 365 
 
 precepts, there is a great chance that none of them will 
 be remembered.* Those preachers, who attempt to 
 crowd the whole duty of a man, moral and religious, in- 
 to a single sermon, can only be compared to their breth- 
 ren of the laity, who pretend to cure all diseases by a 
 single nostrum. By thus attempting to give you every 
 thing, they in fact give you nothing ; and we find that, 
 however they vary their texts, the sermon is always 
 the same ; the same trite chain of general sentiments, 
 without any specific or useful instruction whatever. 
 
 By recommending an attention to the origin of the 
 institution, I may seem to have insinuated, that a long 
 text is generally preferable to a short one. I have 
 however found it otherwise by experience, and have sel- 
 dom known the former either useful or agreeable. A 
 long text frequently involves such a number of proposi- 
 tions as must effectually destroy the unity of a discourse ; 
 besides, that a text, when well-chosen, and not too long, 
 will commonly be remembered, and of itself will make 
 a distinct and useful impression on the hearers. 
 
 The contrary error is, however, still more reprehen- 
 sible. It is one of the mean artifices of barren genius, 
 to surprise the audience with a text consisting of one or 
 two words. I have heard of a person of this descrip- 
 tion, who preached from the words " Jehovah Jireh," 
 and another, from the monosyllable " But."f These 
 are contemptible devices, more adapted to the moving 
 
 * " Propose one point in one discourse, and stick to it ; a hearer never car- 
 ries away more than one impression." Paley^S Ordination Sermon. 
 
 t He perhaps might justify himself upon the same principle with Dr. Ea- 
 chard's divine, who made and one of the heads of his discourse, adding ; " this 
 word is but a particle, and a small one ; but small things are not to be despis- 
 ed .; Matt, yviii. 10 ; Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones." 
 
 Contempt of the Clergy, p. C2. 
 
366 ON THE COMPOSITION AND 
 
 theatre of the mountebank than to the pulpit, and can 
 only serve to captivate the meanest and most ignorant 
 of the vulgar.* 
 
 III. 
 
 OF ARRANGEMENT. 
 
 With respect to arrangement, it will also be necessa- 
 ry to have some regard to what has been remarked con- 
 cerning the origin of preaching. It is evident that, when 
 a sermon is explanatory or illustrative of Scripture, it 
 ought to follow the order and spirit of the text. When 
 it is not so, it must follow that order, which is dictated 
 by sound logic, and the laws of composition. There are 
 some texts, which contain several members, or inferior 
 propositions ; such is that of Micah vi. 3 ; " What is re- 
 quired of thee, O man, but to do justly, and to love 
 mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God ?" Such is 
 that of St. Paul, 1 Cor. xiii; " Charity suffereth long, 
 and is kind; charity envieth not ; charity vauntcth not 
 itself," &c. and these naturally divide themselves. Though 
 I think young preachers ought to be cautioned rather to 
 follow the order of the sense than of the words. Again, 
 there are some texts, which as it were carry the preach- 
 er along with the course of the narrative ; of this we 
 have an example in Massillon's sermon on the parable 
 of the rich man and Lazarus. Some texts, according to 
 the nature of the subject, will only admit of two divis- 
 
 * " Never choose such texts as have not a complete sense ; for, only imper- 
 tinent and foolish people will attempt to preach from one or two words, which 
 signify nothing. 11 Claude, c. i. 
 
 " Give me a serious preacher, (says Fenelon,) who speaks for my sake, and 
 not for his own." 
 
DELIVERY OP A SERMON. 367 
 
 ions, even when they seem to contain more parts or 
 members ; for instance, Bishop Taylor's famous sermon 
 on Matt. xvi. 26 ; " What shall a man profit, if he gain 
 the whole world, and lose his own soul; or, what shall 
 a man give in exchange for his soul ?" Here the preach- 
 er divides his sermon into two parts ; and first inquires 
 into the value of the world, and how far a man may be 
 profited by the possession of it ; and, secondly, he in- 
 quires into the nature and value of a soul, and the loss 
 to be sustained in parting with it.* 
 
 There are, however, texts, which contain only one 
 simple proposition. In this case, the sermon assumes 
 the form of an essay : and the judgment of the author 
 must direct him to that arrangement, which appears 
 most commodious. For instance, if the purpose of the 
 discourse be to recommend the practice of some moral 
 virtue, the preacher may first state its general utility to 
 mankind ; afterwards its necessity, according to the law 
 of God ; and, lastly, he may enforce it in a particular ad- 
 dress to his hearers, founded on the preceding argu- 
 ments. 
 
 The sermons of the last century in general consisted 
 of too many divisions. The hearers were bewildered 
 
 * Sermons will perhaps admit of another classification. 1. When the dis- 
 course is altogether an explanation or elucidation of the text. 2. When a prac- 
 tical application is to be drawn from the text. And, 3. When both these objects 
 are united ; and I apprehend it will be found the most acceptable mode of preach- 
 ing on doctrinal texts, or those, which require explanation, to endeavour towards 
 the close of the discourse, to draw some practical inference from it. 
 
 Vitringa's rules, for preaching on doctrinal texts, are — " 1. State the doc- 
 trine clearly. 2. Prove and illustrate it by parallel texts ; and, if possible, by 
 reasoning. 3. Vindicate it, if you think any of your auditors deny it. 4. Bring 
 it home to the heart." Robinson's Claude, Vol. I. p. 402. 
 
 "The Sermons of the third century (says Mr. Robinson) are divisible into 
 three general parts. 1. A short introduction. 2. An exposition of the text. 
 And. last, a moral exhortation arising out of the discussion. 1 ' Ibid. 
 
368 ON THE COMPOSITION AND 
 
 in pursuing the arrangement of the preacher, and lost 
 the sentiments while they were attending to the order 
 of the discourse. There are indeed some sermons, which 
 only deserve the name of heads of an oration. The 
 moderns have fallen into an opposite extreme, namely, 
 a total neglect of order and method. Common sense 
 points out a middle course : it is obvious, that a few nat- 
 ural and easy divisions assist the memory; while it is 
 commonly perplexed and confused by too many. 
 
 Thus far as to the arrangement of sermons in partic- 
 ular ; but there is an arrangement, or order, of a gener- 
 al nature, which must be attended to in every composi- 
 tion ; and is absolutely necessary to be observed in those 
 discourses, which are founded upon such texts as con- 
 tain a simple proposition, and therefore treat of the vir- 
 tues or vices, or of the particular doctrines of religion 
 in an abstract manner, and without any regard to the 
 literal order of the text. Perhaps the simplest division 
 is that of Aristotle,* into, the exordium, which introduc- 
 es the speaker and the subject ; the proposition, which 
 explains the design of the oration; the proof, or argu- 
 ment, which supports it; and the conclusion, which ap- 
 plies it directly to the audience. 
 
 I. With respect to the exordium, or introduction, the 
 first rule is, that it be very clear. For, as the intent of 
 it is to prepare the minds of the hearers, if any thing 
 abstruse or paradoxical occur, there will be some dan- 
 ger of alienating their minds in such a manner, that they 
 will probably not be able to recover their attention dur- 
 ing the whole discourse. For this reason, long senten- 
 ces ought to be avoided, as they are apt to perplex the 
 understanding, as well as to fatigue the ear, and run the 
 
 * Rhet. I. iii. c. 13. 
 
DELIVERY OP A SERMON. 369 
 
 speaker out of breath before he is properly entered 
 upon his subject. 
 
 In the second place, an exordium should always be 
 cool, temperate, and modest. The exordium of Sterne 
 to his sermon on the house of mourning, — u That I de- 
 ny," — is a paltry artifice, unworthy the imitation of any 
 man of taste or genius. Indeed I know no author so 
 likely as Sterne to corrupt the style and taste of his 
 readers ; all his writings are full of trick and affectation, 
 (the very opposite of those chaste models of eloquence 
 which antiquity has transmitted to us,) and are at best 
 only calculated to excite the momentary admiration of 
 the unthinking part of mankind. 
 
 Thirdly. It is remarked by Cicero, that a common- 
 place exordium, such as the following, " Happiness is the 
 great end and aim of all human pursuits," is generally a 
 token of a barren genius, and has therefore a very ill 
 effect. As the whole oration is necessarily confined with- 
 in very narrow limits, that exordium, which leads most 
 directly to the subject, is certainly to be preferred. 
 
 Fourthly. An exordium should be agreeable and ea- 
 sy. The pleasing is absolutely necessary to conciliate 
 the good opinion of every audience. 
 
 Fifthly. I would recommend brevity as a particular 
 excellence on the present occasion. It was the usual 
 custom of the old divines to introduce their discourses 
 by a long historical or explanatory exordium, setting forth 
 the state and circumstances of the person to whom the 
 text related, &c. &c, which was nothing more than re- 
 tailing the history of the Bible, in language always infe- 
 rior, and frequently very indifferent and homely ; as our 
 
 47 
 
J 70 ON THE COMPOSITION AND 
 
 auditors, however, are not quite so patient, these tedious 
 introductions are necessarily and properly laid aside.* 
 
 I would wish one point to be particularly adverted 
 to in this place ; and that is, that the eloquence of the 
 pulpit is essentially di tie rent from that of political assem- 
 blies. In the latter it may be proper, and is probably 
 sometimes absolutely necessary, to preface a motion or 
 argument by some account of the speaker and his mo- 
 tives. In the pulpit, there can be nothing so disgusting, 
 so impertinent, and so vulgar, as egotism. The preach- 
 er should never appear himself; he is only the represen- 
 tative of another ; he comes to explain the word of God, 
 and not to sacrifice to his own vanity. The long intro- 
 ductions of Cicero or Demosthenes are, therefore, not to 
 be imitated by pulpit orators. 
 
 II. The necessity of acquainting the audience with 
 the design of the speaker is so obvious, that little need 
 be urged on the subject of the propositive part of a dis- 
 course. If any definitions of terms be required, (as may 
 be the case, when the text is liable to be misunderstood, 
 or when some material doctrine depends upon the inter- 
 pretation of that passage of Scripture,) it will be prop- 
 er to introduce them in this part ; since, if deferred to 
 the middle or the conclusion, they may chance to prove 
 soporiferous. In truth, I do not know any thing more 
 disgusting than insisting too much on the definition of 
 
 * Brevity, in every part of a composition designed for the pulpit, appears to 
 have been at all times a considerable desideratum with great numbers of the peo- 
 ple. Frequent exhortations, to hear patiently the word of God, occur in the 
 writings of the fathers, and various stratagems were used to detain their auditors 
 till the close of the service, even so far as to lock the doors of the church and 
 confine them. These ingenious devices were inforced by ecclesiastical laws ; 
 and the 4th council of Carthage enacted, that those, who showed a contempt for 
 'he discourses of their teachers should be excommunicated from the church. 
 
 Cyprian Fit. Cwsar, c. 12. Cone. Carth. 4. Can. 24. 
 
DELIVERY OF A SERMON. 371 
 
 single terms. M. Claude, who appears in general to 
 have had very just notions of preaching, errs greatly 
 against simplicity in this respect. In one of the outlines 
 of sermons, which he exhibits as models, from a single 
 expression in the text, " Whoever will come after me, 
 let him deny himself, and take up his cross," he takes 
 occasion to introduce a long dissertation on sanctification, 
 another on affliction ; and the plan of the discourse, ac- 
 cording to his arrangement, contains the substance of at 
 least four moderate sermons. 
 
 III. The proofs, or argumentative part, must entire- 
 ly depend upon the nature of the subject. There is an 
 excellent collection of topics upon moral subjects in Ar- 
 istotle's Rhetoric ; but Bishop Wilkins' Ecclesiastes, or 
 Gift of Preaching, is one of the most ingenious books 
 that I have seen for the assistance of young preachers. 
 I cannot pass this opportunity without again recom- 
 mending, in the strongest terms, an attention to unity. 
 Without this, a composition (if indeed it deserve the 
 name) can never be useful ; and least of all a composi- 
 tion which is to be heard, and not studied. A good sermon 
 must have a single object, the more simple the better ; 
 and every part of the discourse must tend to impress 
 this object forcibly on the mind. It is almost unneces- 
 sary to add, that a judicious preacher will form a sort of 
 climax in his reasoning, and reserve his most forcible ar- 
 guments for the last. The argument ought also to be 
 full and pointed. I have heard sermons, in which, after 
 the principal matter was closed, a tail, or codicil, contain- 
 ing something not very essential to the subject, succeed- 
 ed, which, like Pope's Alexandrine, 
 
 " dragg'd its slow length along." 
 
 There is a very good receipt for sermon-making in 
 
.')72 ON THE COMPOSITION A¥D 
 
 M. Claude's Essay on that subject. I would oven ad- 
 vise the unpractised student to adopt occasionally some 
 of his topics, and form them into sermons, in the order 
 which he has prescribed ; this exercise will tend to give 
 him just notions of method, and a facility in arranging 
 his ideas : and will not only be more improving, but more 
 creditable than the usual practice of transcribing printed 
 sermons. 
 
 Another practice, which I would recommend to young 
 divines, is, before they sit down to compose a sermon, to 
 read some of the best authors, who have treated of the 
 same subject ; to close the books, and endeavour to 
 throw the matter into that order, which appeared most 
 perspicuous and pleasing. Reading different authors 
 upon the subject will give a variety to their ideas ; and, 
 by writing without the books before them, the expres^ 
 feion will at least be their own. 
 
 If, however, the young preacher be altogether diffi- 
 dent of his own powers ; not willing to hazard original 
 composition, and yet desirous of improvement ; let him 
 take the substance of his discourse from some approved 
 commentary on the Scriptures, and occasionally enliven 
 the explication by some remarks of his own. Let him 
 draw a few practical inferences at the conclusion ; and 
 this will not only improve him in the knowledge of the 
 Scriptures, but will gradually exercise his judgment, and 
 form his taste for composition. 
 
 I must add, that most of the proofs, which Christian 
 preachers introduce, ought to be scriptural proofs. — If 
 they preach morality, it must be the morality of the 
 Gospel. Unless a sincere and fervent strain of piety 
 pervade the whole composition, it will not, nor indeed 
 Blight it to meet with general regard. The sermons of 
 
DELIVERY OP A SERMON, 373 
 
 Archbishop Seeker are deserving of high commendation 
 in this respect ; but the most perfect models are to be 
 found in a volume lately published by an amiable and 
 accomplished prelate of our church.* 
 
 IV. The conclusion of a sermon should not (indeed, 
 considering the present length of discourses, must not) 
 be prolix. It ought in general to be practical ; and it 
 is obvious, that it requires a more animated style than 
 any other part of the composition. I do not know a 
 more useful form for a concluding address, than that 
 which consists of a recapitulation of the principal matter 
 of the sermon ; indeed, if the subject be not very plain 
 and obvious, such a conclusion is absolutely necessary. 
 It serves not only to recal all the useful and striking- 
 passages to the minds of the audience, but gives them 
 a clearer view of the whole than they would otherwise 
 have, and impresses it on the memory, t Variety is how- 
 ever necessary; and, I confess, I do not know so great a 
 blemish in Dr. Ogden's excellent sermons, as a want of 
 variety in their conclusions. If the peroration do not 
 consist of a recapitulation, it ought at least to proceed 
 naturally and regularly from the subject. 
 
 On the whole, it is practice only, which can impart 
 facility and method in the arrangement of our ideas. 
 Rules can only serve to restrain the irregularities of the 
 imagination. It would be impossible, in such a disserta- 
 tion as the present, or indeed in any work of criticism, 
 
 * The practice here recommended lias been the torpedo of the English pul- 
 pit. Editor. 
 
 t It would not be easy for the popular preachers of the day to adopt this 
 form, as their compositions are mere farragos, collected from all quarters of the 
 globe, with no unity of subject, no regard to text, no express object whatever in 
 view. I speak not of extempore preachers, since method is hardly to be expect- 
 ed from them. I speak of those who pretend to write, and would be thought, 
 very profound theologians. 
 
374 ON THE COMPOSITION AND 
 
 to furnish thoughts or sentiments. Since Mr. Addison 
 recommended the practice, it is become \crj common 
 among the clergy to preach from the sermons of ap- 
 proved authors, either by abridging them, or sometimes 
 by transcribing them entire. The practice is, in my 
 opinion, more for the benefit of the audience, than of 
 the clergy themselves, though the former are the only 
 persons likely to complain.* What person of common 
 sense, indeed, would not rather hear a sermon of Sher- 
 lock, of Seeker, of Porteus, or of Blair, than the trite 
 and unconnected jargon, with which we are generally 
 assailed by the most popular preachers in the metrop- 
 olis ? If these men (whose voices are generally good, and 
 whose manner, if not quite so affected, might be rather 
 conciliating) would, in the room of their own bombast, 
 favour their auditors with a good printed sermon, they 
 would find that they might, in general, pass undetected, 
 and their exhibitions would not be so uniformly disgust- 
 ing as they are to persons of taste and erudition. 
 
 The most formidable objection against the use of 
 printed sermons, is, that it removes the younger clergy 
 out of the way of improvement, and probably produces 
 a habit of indolence. When, however, they do not com- 
 pose their own discourses, I would advise them to apply 
 to approved authors, rather than to obscure or indiffer- 
 ent writers, as is frequently done to avoid discovery. It 
 is much better to be sometimes detected, than to tire an 
 audience by continually preaching indiiferent matter; 
 and the observation is but too true, that, where there is 
 
 * Thi<= practice is so far from novel, that it is of considerable antiquity in 
 the church. Augustin rather commended than blamed those preachers, who, 
 when conscious of their own inability to compose well, availed themselves of the 
 performances of others, Aug. Doctrin. Christ. I. 4. r. 29. 
 
DELIVERY OF A SERMON. 375 
 
 not genius to compose, there is seldom judgment to se- 
 lect. 
 
 IV. 
 
 OF STYLE. 
 
 The third object, which I proposed to treat of in this 
 dissertation, is style. I must hoAvever premise, that in 
 the compositions for the pulpit, as well as in every oth- 
 er, unless there be a ground work of good sense and ar- 
 gument, unless there be solidity of reasoning and energy 
 of sentiment, all the graces of style will be accumulated 
 in vain. 
 
 The essentials of a good style, at least as far as re- 
 gards the present subject, may be reduced to three : 
 'perspicuity, purity, and a moderate portion of ornament. 
 I. Perspicuity is the first excellence of style ; indeed 
 I do not know so decisive a proof of genius. A smooth 
 and polished diction, or pompous figures, are frequently 
 the achievements of dullness ; but it is the characteristic 
 of genius alone to flash conviction and instruction on the 
 minds of the audience.* Perspicuity will depend, in the 
 first place, on the choice of words ; and, secondly, on the 
 arrangement of them. 
 
 As far as regards the choice of words, obscurity results, 
 in the first place, 
 
 From obsolete or affected language, which is not gen- 
 erally understood. No person of taste would wish at 
 present to imitate the language of our liturgy in the use 
 of the word prevent, — " Prevent Us, O Lord, in all our 
 doings ;" nor in that of the word after, — " O Lord, re- 
 
 * " By perspicuity, (says Quintilian,) care is taken, not that the hearer may 
 understand, if he will ; but, that he must understand, whether he will or not. 1 " 
 
376 o.\ THE COMPOSITION AND 
 
 ward us not alter our iniquities." Many abuses of Avoids 
 have been introduced from the French idiom : Lord Bo- 
 lingbroke, for instance, says, " by the persons I intend 
 here," instead of I mean. — Analogous to this is the use 
 of Latinisms, as integrity to denote entireness, conscience 
 for consciousness : " The conscience of approving one's self 
 a benefactor to mankind is the noblest recompense for 
 bein£ so. 
 
 
 Again, obscurity proceeds from the use of ambiguous 
 or indefinite words. Examples of this occur in the fol- 
 lowing sentences : " As for such animals as are mortal, 
 (or noxious,) we have a right to destroy them." " The 
 Christians rudely disturbed the service of paganism ; and, 
 rushing in crowds round the tribunals of the magistrates, 
 called upon them to pronounce and inflict the sentence 
 of the law." Here it is not easy to define what service 
 is meant, whether civil or religious. A similar ambigui- 
 ty may be found in the same author. Speaking of the 
 cruelty of Valentinian, the historian adds : — " The merit 
 of Maximin, who has slaughtered the noblest families of 
 Rome, was rewarded with the royal approbation and 
 the prefecture of Gaul. Two fierce and enormous bears, 
 distinguished by the appellations of Innocence and Mi- 
 caaurea, could alone deserve to share the favour of Max- 
 imin." It is evident that we must have recourse to the 
 context to understand that these creatures were not the 
 favourites of Maximin, but of Valentinian. A writer on 
 criticism has the following sentence : — " There appears 
 to be a remarkable difference between one of the first of 
 ancient and of modern critics." The embarrassment of 
 this sentence would have been entirely avoided by in- 
 serting the words one of the first a second time, which 
 probably an apprehension of offending the ear prevented. 
 
DELIVERY OF A SERMON. 377 
 
 The cases are so very numerous, in which an ill 
 choice of words, or an imprudent use of them, may 
 darken the expression, that it would be almost impossi- 
 ble to prescribe any definite rules upon the subject- 
 Perfection in this respect is only to be acquired by prac- 
 tice. Possibly the following remarks may be of some 
 use to young writers. First. Endeavour to inform your- 
 self perfectly concerning the etymology and meaning of 
 words. Secondly, Consult the best modern authors, and 
 observe their different applications. The original sense- 
 is not always a certain guide in the use of common 
 words ; though, if nicely attended to, it will sometimes 
 help us to the reasons of their application. Thirdly, 
 Be not too anxious for variety of expression. It is well 
 observed by the Abbe Girard, that when a perform- 
 ance grows dull, it is not so much, because the ear is 
 tired by the frequent repetition of the same sound, as 
 because the mind is fatigued by the frequent recurrence 
 of the same idea. Lastly. We cannot be too much on 
 our guard against the vulgar idiom. Most writers who 
 affect ease and familiarity in writing are apt to slide in- 
 to it. 
 
 " But ease in writing flows from art, not chance, 
 
 " As those move easiest who have learn'd to dance:" 
 
 That ambiguity, as well as inaccuracy, is not uncommon- 
 ly the effect of introducing the vulgar phraseology into 
 written composition, is evident from the very incorrect 
 and absurd use of the active verb to lay, instead of the 
 neuter verb to lie. This solecism has arisen I presume 
 from confounding the past tense of the latter with the 
 present of the former verb. Let it be observed, how- 
 ever, that when a noun follows in the objective case, the 
 verb active (to lay) may be used : as. to lay down an 
 
 48 
 
3 7& OH THE COMPOSITION AM; 
 
 employment; and sometimes when the verb is reflect- 
 ed ; as, 
 
 " Soft on the llow'ry herb I found me laid.*) 
 
 But, to say "Death lays upon her like an untimely frost,"' 
 or to say " I have a work laying by me, would be a gross 
 and intolerable barbarism. 
 
 Perspicuity is injured by bad arrangement, in the fol- 
 lowing instances. 
 
 1st. By separating the adjective from its proper sub- 
 stantive ; " they chose to indulge themselves in the hour 
 of natural festivity." — Better " in the natural hour of 
 festivity." 
 
 2dly. By using the same pronoun in reference to 
 different persons or things in the same sentence ; " and 
 they did all eat and were filled ; and they took up of the 
 fragments that remained twelve baskets full." By the 
 last they it is difficult to say who are meant, the multi- 
 tude or only the disciples. The following sentences are 
 faulty on account of an indiscreet use of the relative. 
 Speaking of Porto Bello ; " this celebrated harbour, 
 which was formerly very well defended by forts, which 
 Admiral Vernon destroyed in 1740, seems to afford an 
 entrance 600 toises broad ; but is so straitened with 
 rocks that are near the surface of the water, that it is re- 
 duced to a very narrow channel." Better thus: " this 
 celebrated harbour was defended, &c." " It seems to 
 afford, &c." "This activity drew great numbers of en- 
 terprising men over to Virginia, who came cither in 
 search of fortune, or of liberty, which is the only compen- 
 sation for the want of it :" here the two antecedents 
 are so confounded, that it requires a pause to distinguish 
 them, and the construction is very ungraceful as well as 
 obscure. One mode of avoiding ambiguity in this case 
 
DELIVERY OF A SERMON. 379 
 
 will be, when two antecedents occur, putting one of 
 them, if possible in the plural, and the other in the sin- 
 gular number. 
 
 3dly. Obscurity is produced by separating the ad- 
 verb and the adjective, or the adverb and the 
 verb. Ex. " A power is requisite of fixing the in- 
 tellectual eye upon successive objects so steadily, as 
 that the more may never prevent us from doing jus- 
 tice to the less important." " His subject is precisely 
 of that kind, which a daring imagination could alone 
 have adopted :" here it is not accurately defined wheth- 
 er a daring imagination only could have adopted, &c. or 
 whether it could have adopted that subject only, and no 
 other. " He conjured the senate, that the purity of 
 his reign might not be stained by the blood even of a 
 guilty senator ;" the arrangement would be more per- 
 fect, " by the blood of even a guilty senator." " He 
 atoned for the murder of an innocent son, by the execu- 
 tion, perhaps, of a guilty wife ;" the doubt in this sen- 
 tence may apply to the reality of the execution. " Their 
 intimacy had commenced in the happier period, perhaps, 
 of their youth and obscurity." 
 
 4thly. The following is an example of ambiguity 
 arising from the wrong position of a conjunction. The 
 historian, speaking of an impolitic edict of Julian, thus 
 expresses himself ; " He enacted that, in a time of scarc- 
 ity, it (corn) should be sold at a price, which had seldom 
 been known in the most plentiful years." A common 
 reader would infer from the above, that it was a stand- 
 ing order, that corn should in every time of scarcity be 
 sold cheaper than in a time of plenty, which does not 
 appear from the context to be the intention of the au- 
 thor. Speaking of parents misjudging of the conduct of 
 schoolmasters, a modern author on education adds ; " It 
 
380 ON THE COMPOSITION AND 
 
 has broke* the peace of many an ingenuous man, who 
 had engaged in the care of youth, and paved the way 
 to the ruin of hopeful boys. It is not perfectly clear 
 whether the circumstance or the master " paved the 
 way, &c." It is impossible to decipher the following 
 sentence. Respecting the Pennsylvania marble, of which 
 chimney-pieces, tables, &c. are made, the historian adds ; 
 " These valuable materials could not have been found in 
 common in the houses, unless they had been lavished in 
 the churches." 
 
 5thly. Perspicuity is injured very frequently by the 
 fear of concluding a sentence with a trifling word ; but 
 surely, however ungraceful, a confused style is a much 
 greater blemish. " The court of chancery," savs a re- 
 spectable author, " frequently mitigates, and breaks 
 " the teeth of the common law." From this sentence 
 it might be inferred, that it mitigated the teeth. Bet- 
 ter, therefore ; frequently mitigates the common law, 
 and breaks the teeth of it," or "its teeth." 
 
 6thly. It is an old observation, that the desire of 
 brevity generally induces obscurity. This is exempli- 
 fied in many forms of expression, to which habit serves 
 to reconcile us, but which are in themselves really am- 
 biguous. Thus we speak of " the reformation of Lu- 
 ther ;" which, if the circumstance were not well under- 
 stood, might mean the reformation of the man, instead 
 of the reformation of the church. 
 
 7thly. An error opposite to this is long sentences 
 and parentheses. Long periods, however, seldom create 
 obscurity, when the natural order of thought is preserv- 
 ed ; especially if each division, clause, or member of the 
 sentence, be complete in itself. It is in general the in- 
 
 * Bxoki iostpad of broken, is bad grammar. 
 
DELIVERY OF A SERMON. 381 
 
 sertion of foreign matter, and parenthetical sentences, 
 that confuse a style. 
 
 From these few observations concerning perspicuity, 
 it will be sufficiently obvious, that the obscurity of some 
 preachers does not result from the profundity and sub- 
 limity of their matter, (as they would wish us to be- 
 lieve,) nor yet altogether from a confusion of ideas, but 
 frequently from a turbid and perplexed style. In gen- 
 eral, however, we may safely lay it down as an incontro- 
 vertible maxim, that the sermon, which is not clear and 
 intelligible, is the worst of sermons : since, however trite 
 the matter, however vulgar the language, if it be under- 
 stood, something may still be gleaned from it. 
 
 II. The second essential of a good style, which I 
 pointed out, was purity, or elegance. The style of seiv 
 mons, I am ready to grant, ought to be suited in general 
 to the audience. But there is a certain style, which is 
 adapted to people of almost all descriptions ; that, I 
 mean, which equally avoids technical and affected ex- 
 pressions, and those which are mean and vulgar. In 
 pursuing this subjects that I may not fatigue the reader 
 with new distinctions, I shall follow the method which I 
 adopted in the former case, and shall first consider pu- 
 rity of style as relating to the choice of words ; and. 
 next, as to the arrangement of them. 
 
 The offences against purity of style, as far as respects 
 the choice of words, may be reduced to the folio wing- 
 heads. 1. Obsolete or uncommon expressions.* 2. Vul- 
 garisms. 3. Jargon, or cant. 
 
 * In words, as fashions, the same rule will hold - 
 Alike fantastic, if too new or old. 
 Be not the first hy whom the new are try'd, 
 ;Vor yet the last to lay the old asidp. 
 
 Em. 071 ' 
 
382 ON THE COMPOSITION AND 
 
 1. In an age of novelty we have very little to appre- 
 hend from obsolete expressions. Scarcely any person, 
 who is at all conversant with polite company, would use 
 such expressions as behoof, behest, peradventure, sundry, 
 anon, &c. It is not a very easy matter to determine the 
 era of pure English ; but I think we should not look fur- 
 ther back than the revolution : Hooker, Bacon, Milton, 
 Hobbes, and even Temple, are scarcely to be consider- 
 ed as authorities in this respect. 
 
 Contrary to this, is the more fashionable error of using 
 affected language, and particularly Gallicisms. This na- 
 tion has been little indebted to the literature of France ; 
 and we have no occasion to change the bullion of our 
 language for the tinsel of theirs. Dr. Campbell has, 
 with great accuracy, collected a variety of these new 
 imported phrases, which he very properly calls, " stray 
 words, or exiles," that have no affinity to our language, 
 and indeed are no better than insects of the day. It is 
 of the utmost importance to literature to adopt some 
 standard of language ; there is no setting bounds to the 
 liberty of coining words, if it be at all admitted ; and, in 
 that case, the invaluable productions of our ancestors 
 will soon become totally unintelligible. 
 
 2. But the more dangerous vice, because it is the 
 more common, and especially among the popular preach- 
 ers of the day, is vulgarity. Some instances of this, how- 
 ever, are to be found in very approved authors, and seem 
 to demonstrate how necessary it is to be on our guard 
 against it. Lord Kaims speaks of the comedies of Aris- 
 tophanes wallowing in looseness and detraction, (which 
 is moreover a false metaphor ; of " the pushing genius of 
 a nation ; of a nation being devoid of bowels,^ &c. The 
 following phrase is surely intolerably low for serious com- 
 
DELIVERY OF A SERMON. 383 
 
 position : " To imagine that the gratifying of any sense, 
 or the indulging of any delicacy in meat, drink, or ap- 
 parel, is in itself a vice, can never enter into a head that 
 is not disordered, &c." Dr. Beattie is not free from 
 such expressions as '• a longivinded rhetorician," "scream- 
 ing and squalling,- 1 &c. and Dr. Blair speaks of a circum- 
 stance popping out upon us ; of Milton having chalked out 
 a new road in poetry ; of Achilles pitching upon Briseis, 
 &c. — Perhaps nothing but good books and good compa- 
 ny can purify the style from coarse and vulgar expres- 
 sions ; sometimes, indeed, the aptness of these words 
 renders it difficult to reject them. When, however, we 
 meet with a low word, we ought diligently to look for 
 one synonymous to it. It would probably be a very im- 
 proving exercise to make a collection as they occur, of 
 choice and elegant expressions, which may be employed 
 instead of the common and colloquial. Thus, for heap- 
 ing up, we may use accumulating ; for shunned, avoided ; 
 for to brag, to boast ; for their betters their superiors • 
 for I got rid of, I avoided. A polite writer, instead of 
 saying he is pushed, on, will say impelled ; instead of go 
 forwards, or go on, proceed ; instead of you take me, you 
 understand; instead of I had as lief, I should like as 
 well ; instead of a moot point, a disputed point ; instead 
 of pro 8f con, on both sides ; instead of by the bye, by the 
 way, (though I do not much like either;) instead of shut 
 our ears, close our ears ; instead of fell to work, began. 
 Some words it will be better to omit; as, instead of say- 
 ing, " he has a considerable deal of merit," say, " he has 
 considerable merit." 
 
 When an idiom can be avoided, and a phrase strictly 
 grammatical introduced, the latter will always be most 
 graceful ; for instance, it is more elegant to say. " I 
 
384 ON THE COMPOSITION A>Ii' 
 
 would rather," than " I had rather.'"' This idiom prob- 
 ably took its rise from the abbreviation Pd, which in 
 conversation stands equally for I would, or I had. 
 
 When a substitute cannot be found for a mean word, 
 it is better to reform the sentence altogether, and to 
 express it by a periphrasis ; one such " fly will mar the 
 ointment" of the most harmonious periods. 
 
 3. Nothing, however, can be more opposite to puri- 
 ty or elegance of style, than the unmeaning jargon, which 
 low and illiterate preachers introduce, sometimes in order 
 to assume an air of erudition.* Such phrases as creature- 
 ly comforts ; man-God; everlasting ubiquity ; celestial pan- 
 oply ; Triune God ; &c. &c. are barbarisms not to be en- 
 dured- Indeed, were I to detail the instances of this de- 
 praved phraseology, I should scarcely be less disgusting 
 than those who employ it. Similar to these are the 
 endearing diminutives, the compound epithets, such as 
 life-giving, soul-saving, &c. and the fulsome repetition of 
 the most sacred names, introduced by some preachers. 
 Unaffected is an epithet, appropriated in a manner to real 
 devotion, which is displayed in actions, and in sentiments, 
 and not in words ; indeed I do not know, whether the 
 too frequent and familiar introduction of the most solemn 
 expressions, even in the pulpit, may not serve to lessen, 
 rather than to increase our respect for the great object 
 of Christian worship. 
 
 Purity of style, as far as respects arrangement, is equal- 
 ly violated by affected stateliness, and by negligence and 
 incorrectness. Of the former kind are the following in- 
 stances. 
 
 * There is a sort of divines, who, if they do but happen of an unlucky hard 
 word all the week, think themselves not careful of their flock, if they lay it not 
 up till Sunday, and bestow it among them in their next sermon. 
 
 Eaohard's Contempt of the Clergy, p. 46. 
 
DELIVERY OF A SERMOa. 385 
 
 1. Placing the nominative case after the verb. Ex, 
 il Wonderful are the effects of this passion in every view*" 
 " Not a little elegant is this manner of writing." 
 
 2. The objective case in the beginning of the sentence. 
 " Varieties of national character we observe imprinted 
 on the physiognomy of nations." And not unlike this is 
 Mr. Gordon's very depraved construction in his transla- 
 tion of Tacitus ; " At this time war there was none." 
 
 3. The objective case before the imperative mood. 
 " How many nations have certainly fallen from that 
 importance, which they had formerly borne among 
 the societies of mankind, let the annals of the world de- 
 clare." 
 
 I know nothing that more enfeebles a style, than be- 
 ginning sentences with connective particles, such as and, 
 though, but, however, therefore, &c. It seems to put the 
 reader out of breath, and partakes in some measure of 
 the ungracefulness and confusion of long sentences. It 
 also destroys that compactness, which gives energy to 
 style. These circumstances have made it common to 
 introduce the connective as the second or third word of 
 the sentence : and the same reasons are almost equally 
 forcible against the use of relatives in the beginning of 
 sentences. 
 
 It has also been generally esteemed ungraceful to con- 
 clude a sentence with a preposition or a trifling word. 
 The auxiliary verbs are generally very bad conclusions. 
 Ex. " If this affects him, what must the first motion 
 of his zeal be ?" 
 
 Lastly. There is often inelegance in placing the ad- 
 verb before the auxiliary verb, as in the following in- 
 stance : " the question stated in the preceding chapter 
 
 49 
 
<J8t> OS THE COMPOSITION AND 
 
 never has been fully considered." It would, I think, 
 he better, "has never been fully, &c." 
 
 It would be impossible on this occasion to descend to 
 a very minute detail. A good ear, and the perusal of 
 good authors must unite to form a good taste in this 
 particular. Pedantry, however, more frequently mis- 
 leads us than any other cause. The style of female 
 writers flows easier, and is commonly more harmonious, 
 than that of professed scholars. One general rule may 
 indeed be admitted : in narrative or plain didactic cora- 
 I position, in those which are intended merely to convey 
 information, the natural order of the words is to be pre- 
 ferred ; but, when passion or sublimity is the object, this 
 order may be departed from, and a sentence must nev- 
 er conclude with a weak member or a trifling word, 
 As perspicuity demands that enough shall be displayed 
 in the first part of the sentence to make the aim of it 
 manifest ; so elegance and vivacity demand a degree of 
 energy at the termination of it in order to leave an im- 
 pression on the mind. Sometimes, however, in very an- 
 imated expression, it has a good effect to place the em- 
 phatic word the first in order, as ; Blessed is he " that 
 cometh in the name of the Lord." "Silver and gold 
 have I none, but such as I have I give thee." In this 
 last sentence, the eager expectation, and the imploring- 
 look of the beggar naturally lead to a vivid conception of 
 what was in his thoughts ; and this conception is an- 
 swered by the form, in which the declaration of the 
 apostle is couched. 
 
 III. As a sermon is an oratorical composition, as it 
 is intended for a popular assembly, and ought to inter- 
 est the attention at least of the auditors, perspicuity and 
 purity of style are scarcely sufficient commendations- 
 
DELIVERY OF A SERMON. 387 
 
 It should be calculated not only to instruct, but to per- 
 suade ; not only to inform the judgment ; but to concil- 
 iate the passions. Some degree of Rhetorical embellish- 
 ment, therefore, becomes absolutely necessary ; and it is 
 one of the most difficult points to determine the nature, 
 as well as the degree of this embellishment. 
 
 It is obvious that the ornaments of oratory are ma- 
 terially different from those of poetry. The aim of the 
 former is to inform and persuade ; of the latter to amuse. 
 The one addresses the judgment and the passions ; the 
 other, the fancy. The one requires the utmost perspi- 
 cuity ; in the other, some degree of obscurity is fre- 
 quently a beauty ; a different choice and selection of the 
 imagery and figures, which are employed, becomes 
 therefore requisite in these different forms of composi- 
 tion. 
 
 The elegance of poetry frequently depends upon 
 the happy application of imagery assumed from natural 
 objects ; the imagery proper for oratory is the imagery 
 of sentiment. In the one, the woods, the plains, the 
 fountains, and the hills, the expanded ocean, the sereni- 
 ty of the heavens, are the most striking objects ; in the 
 other, the human passions and pursuits, the fate of em- 
 pires, the revolutions of fortune, and the uncertainty and 
 variation in human affairs. 
 
 The comparison, which is frequently one of the most 
 engaging figures in poetry, and affords the fullest scopt 
 for luxuriant description, is in general too cold and form- 
 al for oratory. The beauty of metaphors will frequent- 
 ly be lost in an attention to the subject, or in the warmth 
 of the enunciation ; and allusions and metonymies will 
 rather obscure than enlighten the subject. Personifica- 
 tion is still more allied to obscurity ; and allegory is lea** 
 
388 ON THE COMPOSITION AND 
 
 adapted of all to this species of composition. Instead of 
 this play of the imagination, the orator must employ a 
 force and energy of expression, a warmth of sentiment, 
 and the stronger figures of iteration, crotcsis, and climax* 
 In the use of these, however, he must be extremely 
 cautious ; for they are dangerous in the hands of the 
 unskilful, and require the nicest taste in the application 
 of them. 
 
 After all, it is a question, whether the modern com- 
 positions of the pulpit are not rather to be blamed for 
 too much than for too little affectation of ornament.t 
 In this case, perhaps, negative instruction may be the 
 most useful ; and to show what a style ought not to be, 
 may answer a better purpose, than an imperfect endeav- 
 our to describe all the excellencies and graces, which a 
 lively imagination and a fine taste may invent. 
 
 * The following is a fine instance of what I call the iteration, or repetition. " I 
 have slain, I have slain, not a Sp.Maeliiis, who was suspected of aiming at the regal 
 power ; not a Tiberius Gracchus, who seditiously deposed his colleague from the 
 magistracy ; but I have slain the man, whose adulteries our noblest matrons dis- 
 covered in the sacred recesses of the gods ; the man, by whose punishment the sen- 
 ate so frequently determined to expiate the violation of the most solemn rites ; the 
 man, who by the hands of his slaves expelled a citizen, who was esteemed by the 
 senate, by the people, by every nation on earth, the preserver of the city; the man, 
 who gave and took away kingdoms, and distributed the world at his pleasure ; 
 the man, who defiled the forum with blood ; the man, who fired the temple of 
 the nymphs ; in a word, the man, who governed himself by no principle, who ac- 
 knowledged no law, who submitted to no limitation." Cic.pro Milone. The 
 writings of St. Paul abound in these bold figures, particularly the erotesis, of 
 which there are some uncommonly animated examples ;— " What ! have ye not 
 houses to eat and to drink in ? or despise ye the church of God, and shame them 
 that have not? What shall I say to you ? Shall I praise you in this ? I praise you 
 not. 1 ' 1 Cor. xi. 22, The following is an example of the three figures united ; 
 " Are they Hebrews? so am I. Are they Israelites? so am I. Are they the 
 seed of Abraham ? so am I. Are they ministers of Christ ? (I speak as a fool,) 
 I am more," &c. 2 Cor. xi. 22, 23. 
 
 t "The ornaments of language generally cost the writer much trouble, and 
 produce small advantage to the hearer. Let the*character of your sermons bo 
 truth and information, and a decent particularity." Paley's Ordin. Serm. 
 
a 
 
 DELIVERY OF A SERMON. 389 
 
 In the first place the popular harangues of the day 
 have more of poetry* than of oratory in them, if false 
 metaphor, inconsistent allegory, and in all respects 
 prose run mad," can have any claim to that appella- 
 tion. Not satisfied with adopting whimsical allusions. 
 they pursue them to an extreme of absurdity. 
 
 "And duetile dulness new meanders makes, 
 
 " And one poor word a thousand senses takes."! 
 
 It can be no gratification to a rational mind to give pain, 
 otherwise I could furnish specimens of this kind abun- 
 dantly ridiculous.^ Figures, which have no ingenuity to 
 recommend them, but are trite and common, ought care- 
 fully to be avoided. 
 
 * " Another thing, that brings great disrespect and mischief upon the clergy, 
 is their packing their sermons so full of similitudes ; which all the world know, 
 carry with them but very small force of argument, unless there be an exact agree- 
 ment with that which is compared; of which there is very seldom any sufficient 
 care taken." Eachard's Contempt, &c. p. 58. 
 
 t "This is almost the perpetual vice of mean and low preachers ; for, when 
 they catch a figurative word, or a metaphor, as when God's word is called a 
 fire, or a sword, or the church a house, Sic. they never fail to make a long detail 
 of conformities between the figures and the subjects themselves, and frequently 
 say ridiculous things." Robinson's Claude, c. ii. 
 
 + It would be no very difficult matter to parallel the following specimens, 
 which Dr. Eachard has quoted from the popular orators of his day. 
 
 11 'Tis reported of a tree growing upon the bank of the Euphrates, that it 
 brings forth an apple, to the eye very fair and tempting, but inwardly it is filled 
 with nothing but useless and deceitful dust. — Dust we are, and to dust we must 
 all go." Contempt of the Clergy, p. 62. 
 
 " I cannot omit that of the famous divine, who, advising the people in days of 
 danger to run unto the Lord, tells them, that they cannot go to the Lord, much, 
 less run without feet; there are therefore two feet to run to tho Lord, faith and 
 prayer. 'Tis plain that faith is a foot ; for, by faith tec stand. 2 Cor. i. 24. 
 The second is prayer, a spiritual leg to bear us thither; now, that prayer is a 
 spiritual leg, appears from several places of Scripture, as from Jonah, c. ii. v. 
 7. and my prayer came unto thy holy temple," Sic. lb. p. 70. 
 
 Upon the text, Matt. iv. 25. and there followed him great multitudes of peo- 
 ple from Gami.ee. " I discover," (says the preacher,) " when Jesus prevails 
 with us, we shall soon leave our Galilees. I discover also (says he) a great 
 miracle, viz. that the way after Jksus being strait, that such a multitude should 
 follow him." lb. p. 84, 
 
390 ON THE COMPOSITION AND 
 
 Secondly. One of the most glaring vices of bad or- 
 ators is the exclamation: "Oh!* my beloved Chris- 
 tians !" "Ah! my dear hearers !" " How delightful ! how 
 enlivening! how wonderful ! how stupendous !" Such un- 
 meaning phrases as these (ill up all the blanks of their dis- 
 courses, and stand in the place of sense and sentiment ; to 
 the critical eye, however, they never fail to discover "the 
 nakedness of the land," and to exhibit the preacher la- 
 bouring at a strain of pathos, which he is not able to ef- 
 fect. There is no figure, which is so nearly allied to the 
 frigid as this. It was therefore never admitted by the 
 Greeks, and very rarely by the Roman orators. It 
 never appears in the discourses of Barrow, of Sherlock, 
 and of Atterbury. Whether our popular preachers 
 have improved upon these models or not, the reader will 
 be at no loss to determine. 
 
 Thirdly. It is a poor expedient, and frequently bor- 
 ders on the ridiculous, to introduce the interlocutors in a 
 sermon, and make speeches for the different characters. 
 This artifice is generally adopted in order to display the 
 theatrical gesture, and versatile talents of the preacher. 
 It is impossible to see a good religious face-maker (as they 
 are termed by the sagacious Dr. Eachard) perform one 
 of these pulpit farces, without thinking of the strolling 
 player in Scarron, who acted a whole play himself, only- 
 varying his position, attitude and voice, according as he 
 represented the King, the Queen, or the Ambassador. 
 
 • There is not a word in the whole compass of the English language to which 
 the popular preacher is under so many obligations as this small interjection. It 
 intrudes itself upon all occasions, and if uttered with a proper vociferation, and 
 a smart thump upon the breast, seldom fails to be followed by a reasonable num- 
 ber of groans and sighs from a certain part of the congregation. To every per- 
 son, however, of taste and reflection, it only indicates a wish to be pathetic with- 
 out the power of being so. This is not the oratory of Mr. Fox, Mr. Burke or Mr. 
 Sheridan. 
 
DELIVERY OF A SERMON. 391 
 
 These minor orations are commonly very dull para- 
 phrases of some animated passage of Holy Writ, and are 
 sometimes no less inconsistent with decorum, than with 
 the rules of chaste composition. 
 
 A fourth device of these flimsy orators, when in a 
 strait for matter or sentiment, (which is often the case,) 
 is to force in a huge scripture quotation ; no matter how 
 foreign to the general subject of the discourse ; it has an 
 air of piety, and therefore generally imposes on the 
 well-meaning, but undiscerning, part of the audience. 
 
 Young orators are generally fond of the sublime to a 
 degree of enthusiasm, and are too apt to affect it when 
 least qualified. They are therefore very liable to devi- 
 ate into bombast. The marking characters of the bom- 
 bastic, or false sublime, are : 1st. Words without a dis- 
 tinct appropriate meaning, which the author himself 
 probably could not define^ if he were called upon to do 
 it. 2dly. Descriptions, which cannot be reduced to can- 
 vass, which exhibit no distinct and uniform picture. 3dly, 
 Similes and figures disproportioned to the subject. 4thly. 
 An abundance of redundant, and unmeaning epithets. 
 
 An error apparently opposite to this, but frequently 
 united with it, is the feeble style. The characters of this 
 are : 1st. Loose and disjointed sentences, without point 
 or conclusion. 2dly. Common-place imagery and ex- 
 pressions. 3dly. Colloquial expressions : as, " Well, 
 but says some objector," &c. 
 
 One of the most common and the most dangerous 
 errors, however, is the mock pathos, Many (I doubt 
 not well-intentioned) persons conceive that they are to 
 go to church for nothing but to weep; and the pitiful 
 methods employed by some preachers to excite their 
 tears cannot fail to have a direct contrary effect with 
 
392 OH Tin: COMPOSITION AND 
 
 every rational person.* I am sensible that much wilf? 
 in this case, depend upon the acting of a sermon, (as Dr. 
 W arburton calls it.) I could mention a popular preach- 
 er, who regularly weeps at a certain period of his dis- 
 course, whether the subject be pathetic or not. The 
 device generally succeeds with that part of the audience 
 (and that is a pretty considerable portion) who pay 
 no attention to the matter, and regard only the-gesticu- 
 lation of the preacher. This religious buifoonery, how* 
 ever, must necessarily disgust every judicious hearer; 
 and the censure of one person of sense is, in my opinion, 
 but weakly counterbalanced by the overflowing scale of 
 vulgar popularity. 
 
 V. 
 
 OF MANNER, OR DELIVERY. 
 
 In treating of manner, I shall endeavour to contract 
 this dissertation within still narrower limits than I have 
 done on the preceding topics : and for this plain reason, 
 that I conceive it to be the least necessary. 
 
 More attention has lately been lavished upon this art, 
 than upon the more substantial objects of criticism ; and, 
 after all, the careful observation of good speakers will 
 do more than all the abstract study in the world. 
 
 Speaking is a practical art, and we might as well pre- 
 tend to teach a young person to dance, as to speak, by 
 books only. 
 
 The principal points to be observed on this subject, 
 are modulation, emphasis, and action. 
 
 * u A lady asked a certain great person coming out of church, whether it 
 were not a very moving discourse? — Yes, said he, / teas extremely sorry ; for the 
 man is my friend. ■ ifps Let. to a Young Clergyman. 
 
DELIVERY OF A SERMON. 393 
 
 First, with respect to modulation. It is evident, that 
 the voice naturally assumes a different tone on different 
 occasions. In common conversation, and in narrative, 
 the voice flows in an even tenor, often approaching to 
 monotony. In teaching or explaining, it is slower, more 
 distinct, something more energetic, and rather less in- 
 clining to monotony. In extremes of passion, it is une- 
 qual, tremulous, and frequently interrupted. The great 
 excellence of art is to reduce those observations, with 
 which we are furnished by nature, to a regular system ; 
 and to produce on all occasions, what nature will do in 
 its most perfect state, 
 
 The modulation suitable to the pulpit will be suffi- 
 ciently apparent from these considerations. That vio- 
 lence of passion, which it is the excellence of a player 
 to imitate, cannot possibly have any place there. The 
 preacher's business is to argue, to convince, to persuade, 
 not to storm or rage at his congregation. The raving 
 and furious manner of some preachers may indeed, by 
 mere dint of lungs, keep a congregation from dozing, but 
 can neither inform nor conciliate any person of true taste 
 or real piety. 
 
 From the nature of his office, from the nature of his 
 composition, the preacher should always, in his enuncia- 
 tion, study " to beget a temperance that may give it a 
 smoothness." Nothing can compensate for the loss of 
 dignity ; and the strong, energetic, yet temperate and 
 even manner, is alone consistent with true diomitv. 
 
 Above all things, the young preacher ought most 
 carefully to avoid an unnatural or affected tone. At a 
 period, when, from the frequency of theatrical exhibi- 
 tions, the taste of the public, with respect to speaking, 
 is much improved, such a defect will scarcely escape the 
 
 50 
 
J94 ON THE COMPOSITION AND 
 
 censure of even the ignorant and vulgar. In fact, I nev- 
 er knew of but one instance to the contrary. I remem- 
 ber, some years ago, in a considerable town in the North 
 of England, a person offered himself as a candidate for 
 a living, who performed the service in a tone of voice, 
 which could only be compared to very bad chanting ; 
 it savoured indeed more of the synagogue than of the 
 cathedral ; and the composition of his sermon was as un- 
 intelligible as his manner was extraordinary. The ju- 
 dicious electors, because the exhibition was uncommon, 
 concluded that it must be something remarkably fine. 
 They afterwards accidentally discovered their mistake, 
 but not till it was too late to rectify it. 
 
 Secondly. It is obvious, that every person, in discours- 
 ing earnestly upon any subject, usually marks, by a cer- 
 tain force or inflexion of voice, the significant and ener- 
 getic words and expressions ; and, both the number of 
 those expressions, and the force with which they are 
 enunciated, increase in proportion to the passion or ve- 
 hemence of the speaker. 
 
 Emphasis is either absolute or relative. Absolute 
 emphasis depends upon the subject, and consists in lay- 
 ing a stress upon such words, as we would wish to be 
 particularly marked, and remembered ; such as are di- 
 rectly connected with the sense of the whole ; and on 
 which it seems, in some degree, to depend. 
 
 Relative emphasis has a respect to something imme- 
 diately going before or coming after, on which the sense 
 of the sentence depends. The whole point and force 
 of the following sentence would be lost by a wrong em- 
 phasis : " Philosophy alone can boast, (and perhaps it is 
 only the boast of philosophy,) that her gentle hand is 
 able to eradicate from the human mind the latent and 
 
DELIVERY OF A SERMON. 395 
 
 deadly principle of fanaticism." " Another servant, be- 
 ing his kinsman, whose ear Peter cut off;" here, unless 
 a proper emphasis be laid, there will be some room for 
 supposing, that the servant was the kinsman of Peter, 
 and that he was actually the person, whose ear had been 
 cut off. In the following lines, much obscurity may be 
 produced by an improper emphasis : 
 
 " If clouds or earthquakes break Dot heaven's design, 
 " Why then a Borgia or a Cataline . ? " 
 
 Unless the reader remembers, that the word should is 
 understood, and reads the verses accordingly, the audi- 
 tors might suppose the latter line to relate merely to 
 the existence of a Borgia, &c* 
 
 Sometimes half a sentence is emphatic with respect 
 to the rest. Ex. " The odia in longum jacens, I thought 
 had belonged only to the ivorst character of antiquity" 
 Unless each of these latter words be pronounced with 
 equal force, the sense of -the author will be destroyed, 
 as will be evident by placing the emphasis on either 
 worst or antiquity, and comparing it with the context. 
 
 The great use of emphasis is to render a discourse 
 plain and intelligible to the auditors ; and, consequently, 
 that emphasis is most judicious, which is most discrimin- 
 ative. For this reason, I disagree with both Mr. Gar- 
 rick and Dr. Johnson in their mode of accenting the lai- 
 rs 
 
 ter commandments of the Decalogue. " Thou shalt not 
 steal," for instance. Here Mr. Garrick placed the em- 
 phasis upon the auxiliary verb, shalt, which was evident- 
 
 * If the great convulsions of nature, says Mr. Pope in this couplet, do not 
 interrupt the order of Almighty providence, why should it be interrupted by the 
 convulsions of the moral world ; why should a Borgia or a Cataline not make a 
 part of the plan and order of divine government, as much as those natural phe- 
 nomena, the causes of which are now well understood, and which arc known to 
 be perfectly consistent with the general laws of nature ? 
 
39() ON THE COMPOSITION ANL» 
 
 ]y wrong, as Dr. Johnson objected that the command- 
 ment was negative ; and he accordingly placed the em- 
 phasis upon not. It is plain, however, that this empha- 
 sis neither serves to explain the nature of the command- 
 ment, nor to point the attention to its principal object. 
 The congregation are sufficiently aware, that the Dec- 
 alogue consists of authoritative precepts, and therefore 
 there cannot be the least necessity for dwelling upon the 
 verb shall ; most of the commandments are of a nega- 
 tive kind, and of course there can be no occasion to make 
 not the principal word in the sentence ; and that, too, 
 with a manifest risk that the principal object of the com- 
 mandment shall not be heard, or at least not attended 
 to. Besides this, we are so accustomed to Avhat I call 
 relative emphasis, that, by accenting either of those 
 words, the ear is naturally led to expect something cor- 
 respondent to them : thus, by saying " Thou shalt not 
 steal," the auditor is induced to expect the antithetical 
 but, with some correspondent appendage. The truth is, 
 both these words should be pronounced with a full tone 
 of voice ; but, the real force of the emphasis ought to 
 rest upon the word steal, or whatever word particularly 
 distinguishes the commandment from the rest. 
 
 Thirdly. On the subject of action, I find much to 
 reprehend in most preachers, and I might add in most 
 players also. The most general vice is unmeaning ac- 
 tion. Mr. Garrick used less action than any performer 
 I ever saw; but his action had always some meaning, it 
 always spoke ; and, by making use of less than other 
 actors, it perhaps had the greater force. 
 
 In this case, some respect must be had to the char- 
 acter of the nation, which is gravity ; some respect must 
 be had to that which the speaker assumes ; and a 
 
DELIVERY OP A SERMON. 397 
 
 preacher of the gospel is certainly the gravest of char- 
 acters. Much action is expressive of levity, and there- 
 fore altogether inconsistent with both these circumstan- 
 ces. Besides, action is in general expressive of great 
 passion, and therefore cannot be required, or even ex- 
 pected in a public speaker, whose business is only to 
 teach or to explain. 
 
 Some kinds of action are in themselves ungraceful. 
 I have seen one preacher, whose hands were constantly 
 employed, as if he were engaged in the occupation of a 
 grave digger; and another, who seemed perpetually 
 hammering nails into the pulpit. I know no attitude 
 so completely disgusting as what I call the spread- 
 eagle attitude, with both wings elevated as if in the ac- 
 tion of flying; and I have heard of a certain preacher, 
 who was ludicrously compared to a tea-pot, from the af- 
 fected position in which he commonly addressed the 
 multitude. 
 
 The meanest species of buffoonery is that of acting 
 your words ; and yet I have known this practice confer 
 some degree of popularity. To understand perfectl < y 
 the absurdity of it, it is only necessary to observe it in 
 excess. What should we think of the person, for in- 
 stance, who, in reading the following lines, should think 
 proper to represent the actions which they describe ? 
 
 " Did some more sober critic come abroad, 
 
 " If wrong, I smiPd ; ii" right, I kissed the rod." 
 
 Or if, in reading the introductory sentence of the Com- 
 mon Prayer, " Rend your hearts, and not your garments,"' 
 a clergyman were to mimic these actions, should we not 
 think he meant to ridicule either the liturgy or the con- 
 gregation? Depend upon it, it is not less essentially ab- 
 surd, and only differs in degree, when the preacher, ov- 
 
398 ON THE COMPOSITION AND 
 
 cry time the heart is mentioned, claps his hand to his 
 breast; or, if he reads " the heavens declare the glory of 
 God," thinks it necessary to raise his arm, as if pointing 
 to a sign post. 
 
 Every thing like affectation ought to be cautiously 
 avoided.* If a preacher can unite good sense and piety 
 with a style tolerably smooth and harmonious ; if his 
 voice be not harsh or disgusting ; and if his delivery be 
 easy and unembarrassed, he will find no need of flourish- 
 es to render himself agreeable. Few can excel in the 
 higher requisites of oratory ; few can be fine speakers ; 
 but all may be correct and agreeable speakers, if they 
 will not be too ambitious of being fine speakers. If an 
 orator once lose sight of nature, no exertion of art can 
 compensate for the deviation. 
 
 It has been frequently debated, whether a sermon 
 may be delivered to most advantage, perfectly extem- 
 pore, from memory, or from written notes. I have tried 
 all these methods ; and, from repeated experience, I do 
 not hesitate to give the preference to the last. In speak- 
 ing extempore, the mind is too intent upon the matter 
 and the language, to attend to the manner ; and, though 
 the emphasis will in general be right, this is more than 
 counterbalanced by the defects in modulation, and by 
 the want of that harmonious and full conclusion of the 
 periods, which may be effected, when we are previously 
 acquainted with the extent of the sentence. In deliver- 
 ing ja composition by rote, the memory is so much upon 
 ihe stretch, that a degree of embarrassment necessari- 
 ly ensues. The success of the actors, I am aware, will 
 
 : " Off come the gloves : and, the hands being well chafed, he shrinks up 
 his shoulders, and sf retches forth himself as if he were going to cleave a bullock's 
 head, or rive the body of an oak." F.achardh Contempt of the Clcrgij. 
 
DELIVERY OF A SERMON. 399 
 
 form a strong objection to this observation ; but, let it 
 be remembered, the speeches, which they have to com- 
 mit to memory, are so short, that they will not bear any 
 comparison with the delivery of a long and complex 
 piece of composition ; not to mention the aids, which 
 they receive from what is called the cue, or the respon- 
 ses of the other characters, and from the constant atten- 
 tion of the prompter. 
 
 It was my intention to have concluded with a criti- 
 cal examination of the most approved specimens extant 
 in this species of composition ; but I find I have already 
 exceeded my limits, and, I fear, have exhausted the pa- 
 tience of the reader. Indeed I have been compelled, 
 for the sake of brevity, to omit several remarks, which 
 might have been useful to some, and acceptable to many 
 persons ; and have confined myself to what I esteemed 
 absolutelv necessarv- 
 
A LETTER 
 
 OK 
 
 THE ART OF PREACHING 
 
 TRANSLATED FROM M, REYBAZ. 
 
 !)1 
 

LETTER 
 
 ON 
 
 THE ART OF PREACHING. 
 
 Being about to take upon yourself the office of a 
 Preacher of the Gospel, you solicit my advice, which I 
 consider as a proof, that you feel the difficulties attend- 
 ant upon what you are going to perform. How many 
 young Preachers do we see, who have received no pre- 
 vious instructions— and who have not, it may be presum- 
 ed, considered instruction necessary ; presenting them- 
 selves, with confidence before a public assembly ! The 
 modesty, which characterises you, is an omen of your 
 success, and you deserve a more able guide, than my 
 knowledge and abilities allow me to be. 
 
 As you have resolved to adopt the ecclesiastical vo- 
 cation, you have, doubtless, made a previous investiga- 
 tion of your resources, and compared your several fac- 
 ulties, not with those of persons, whose lives have been 
 devoted to their profession, but with those which the 
 discharge of the duty requires. You have also, I trust, 
 compared the importance of the work, with the powers 
 of your mind ; remembering, that you should not under- 
 take any engagement without having first ascertained 
 your capability to fulfil it. 
 
104 OS THE ART OF PREACHING. 
 
 Few vocations require such an union of talents, as 
 that of a minister of the gospel. It calls forth every en- 
 dowment of the mind, all the faculties of the soul, and 
 the most attractive gracefulness of the body. Of these 
 several powers, some are more essential than others; 
 some are so indispensably necessary, that a young man 
 is unpardonable, if he engage in this work of the Lord, 
 without them. 
 
 If our studies have been well directed ; if we have 
 profited by application ; and if we are ambitious to dis- 
 tinguish ourselves in our profession ; it is quite sufficient 
 to have been born with common abilities, to possess the 
 qualities of mind requisite for a preacher. A certain 
 flow of ideas, and a perfect knowledge of the holy scrip- 
 tures, is the effect of mature study. One view of a sub- 
 ject will discover what it principally contains, to form 
 the basis of a discourse ; and a knowledge of logic will 
 teach you to make an happy decision, and just arrange- 
 ment. There is not a man, devoted, in any degree, to 
 his calling, who cannot, with care and labour, compose 
 a sermon, which, if not eloquent, will, at least, be useful 
 and edifying. 
 
 A knowledge of the human heart is just as necessa- 
 ry to a preacher, as that of the holy scriptures. The 
 human heart is a difficult book, and if we do not read, 
 carefully, every page, we ought, at least, to study the 
 principal chapters : it will prevent us from erring, by 
 describing an imaginary, in the place of a real, being, 
 and will supply us with that information, which will ena- 
 ble us to know, what is of all things the most difficult ; 
 ourselves. 
 
 For want of society, which is, in this respect, the 
 best school for a preacher, but which we cannot always 
 
ON THE ART OF PREACHING, 405 
 
 frequent, he should study the most celebrated moralists : 
 let him, above all, read that celebrated orator, Massil- 
 lon, from whom nothing that concerned the human heart 
 was concealed. I am not ashamed to recommend to his 
 perusal, works of imagination, which are distinguished 
 by purity of morals, "and detail of character, designed at 
 once, to interest the affections, and improve the under- 
 standing. 
 
 There is not a subject within the sphere of an ora- 
 tor, which does not demand a certain diversity of 
 thoughts, the solution of which requires care and exer- 
 cises judgment, together with an order and method, in 
 the arrangement of them. There is, moreover, a cer- 
 tain quality, valuable in itself, and indispensable to an 
 orator, which animates and inspires all his discourses, 
 and which displays its intuitive power more fully in some 
 persons than others ; this quality is inherent in the soul ; 
 it cannot be acquired by diligence : I describe it in one 
 word — sensibility. 
 
 If an orator has not sensibility, he cannot attain the 
 highest end of his labours, which is to affect the heart, 
 while he informs the understanding. There is no enac- 
 tion produced by eloquence, which does not spring from 
 sensibility. It was that which inspired Fenelon, Bossu- 
 et, Flechier, Massillon, Saurin, the Abbe Poul, in some 
 of their finest passages. He, who is so phlegmatic, as 
 always to leave his hearers unaffected, is in want of an 
 oratorical requisite, for which no learning can atone, and 
 which no diligence will supply. 
 
 What then shall we say of those preachers, who, 
 far from transforming into sentiment, the abstract prin- 
 ciples of morality, even speak in the language of meta- 
 physics ? Would an orator, endowed with sensibility. 
 
406 ON THE ART OF PREACBOTCT. 
 
 pursue so inefficacious a mean of edification ? Be a phi- 
 losopher ; but in discourses from the pulpit, assume 
 neither the tone, nor the language, of philosophy. 
 
 Sensibility, it is to be observed, has its degrees, and 
 may increase by exercise. Thus, I would not prevent a 
 man from becoming a preacher, because he discovers no 
 more than a spark of it, or because his attempt to in- 
 troduce it into his discourses is feeble, and in consequence 
 unsuccessful. It is sufficient to be not absolutely devoid 
 of sensibility, provided we can by the force of applica- 
 tion, excite in ourselves a certain degree of energy. 
 For that purpose, shun those exhibitions, which harden 
 the heart ; frequent no spectacles, which do not give 
 soft impressions ; let your time be employed in that 
 course of reading, which inspires virtue, whose natural 
 delineations affect the breast with gentle emotions, with- 
 out rending it. When this power has taken possession 
 of the heart, it will show itself in your public discours- 
 es. You have then only to yield to its impressions ; and 
 when you come to deliver your subject from the pulpit, 
 your enunciation, while it evinces your meaning, will 
 Communicate your portion of sensibility to your auditory. 
 
 In order that your sermons may produce the effect 
 intended by them, you must endeavour to rehearse them 
 from memory. Have you then a memory adapted to 
 that purpose ? Can you, without occupying too much 
 time, and giving too great diligence, learn your sermon, 
 so as to deliver it with ease, and repeat it without em- 
 barrassment ? Memory is, like sensibility, strengthened 
 by exercise. I know it. You cannot have finished your 
 academical studies, without having frequently exerted 
 your memory, and tried its power. You can, therefore, 
 
ON THE ART OF PREACHING. 407 
 
 form, in this respect, a tolerably competent judgment of 
 yourself. 
 
 If your memory be treacherous, and you cannot de- 
 pend upon it ; how will you be distinguished in a pro- 
 fession, of which it a principal requisite ? If you at- 
 tempt to repeat your sermon, and do not perfectly re- 
 collect it, you occasion great distress to your audience : 
 and how can you give that freedom to your utterance, 
 and that action to your elocution, which are indispensa- 
 ble towards producing a high effect ? If you hesitate, 
 you deprive your delivery of the advantages it has over 
 reading. In that case, rather read, than attempt to re- 
 peat ; or, I would say, rather give up the pulpit forever, 
 where there is a barrier to your success, and which, if 
 you have any attachment to your profession, or respect 
 for yourself, will produce in you only uneasiness and 
 mortification.* 
 
 But in vain do you possess an unruffled memory, if 
 your audience lose any parts of your discourse, through 
 the weakness of the organ which is to transmit it to 
 them. A clear, loud voice, which can, without straining 
 or effort, be distinctly heard by a numerous assembly, is 
 a happy and an invaluable quality in an orator. A pow- 
 erful voice commands the attention, and prevents the 
 distraction of mind, which is, alas ! too prevalent in the 
 best disposed congregations. It is not only requisite. 
 
 * To address the congregation, is the mode of speaking both the mosi 
 pleasing and useful to the auditory, and at the same time, the most natural and 
 satisfactory to the orator; by which, I mean, the directing his voice both to the 
 right and left ; to be able to do this oratorically, he must know his sermon 
 thoroughly, and by glancing his eye upon it, as he turr.9 his head from one 9ide 
 to the other — for there should be scarce any motion of his person — he will havr. 
 the appearance of repeating, while he possesses the advantage of frequent re 
 ■course to his manuTripf. 
 
408 ON THE ART OF PREACHING. 
 
 that every individual should, without being eagerly in- 
 tent, and throughout every part of the church, hear the 
 preacher ; but it is also requisite, that it should be im- 
 possible not to hear him ; and that the sound should be 
 clear and full, even when he is giving the utmost melo- 
 dy to his periods. 
 
 It is not always that a voice is of sufficient extent, 
 and it is not always that a public speaker is an orator. 
 It has happened to me, more than once, to have been 
 present at a sermon, and not to have heard it : many 
 others were in the same predicament. What signified 
 it, therefore, whether the sermon was good or bad ? 
 The preacher may, under shelter of one defect, conceal 
 many. 
 
 Monotony is one of the natural and unhappy attend- 
 ants upon a feeble enunciation. The orator, possessing 
 only a small compass of voice, cannot vary his cadence. 
 It is still worse if he make any efforts to be heard : he 
 then does not speak ; he only squeaks ; his voice be- 
 comes unnatural ; he has only one tone, and it offends? 
 the ear. 
 
 Exercise it is said, strengthens the voice, gives it 
 power and extent ; this is true, when the weakness is in 
 the organ only ; when the voice wants merely to be ex- 
 erted, and to have a more ample range. But if this de- 
 fect, as it often happens, arises from the lungs, it cannot 
 be overcome, except at the risque of one's health, or, it 
 may be of life. 
 
 The chief means of remedying the weakness of the 
 organs, is to articulate very distinctly. Clearness of 
 pronunciation will contribute to make you heard more 
 than the greatest exertion of voice ; the syllables should, 
 in succession, strike the ear, and this should be the oV 
 
ON THE ART OF PREACHING, 409 
 
 ject of unceasing attention. You will form a very erro- 
 neous judgment, if you take the tone of familiar conversa- 
 tion as a rule for a public discourse. In the one case, you 
 speak, if I may be allowed the expression, to the ear of 
 your hearer, and nothing escapes him ; in the other, the 
 word has to find his ear — to reach him at the extremi- 
 ties of a large building; feeble sounds never arrive there; 
 and if even the pronunciation is not unusually distinct no- 
 thing is heard in the remote parts of the church, but 
 sounds, which are altogether inarticulate. 
 
 Clearness of pronunciation is, to the ear, what clear- 
 ness of perception is to the mind ; we must express our- 
 selves without embarrassment, to be heard ; and we may 
 apply to the delivery of a discourse, what Quintilian said 
 of the discourse itself; prima virtus orationis pcrspicuitas, 
 
 I suppose then, you possess those elemental qualities 
 I have briefly mentioned, and which constitute the very 
 first principles of elocution ; you are now about to com- 
 mence your vocation, 
 
 Do you know, my friend, how to read ? This ques- 
 tion may astonish you ; but you may have read a great 
 deal, without knowing how to read. There are some 
 preachers, who, arrived at old age, have read all their 
 life, and who are, themselves, the evidences, that good 
 reading is very rare. 
 
 To read, is not to collect letters and syllables ; it is 
 not to pronounce words and sentences : it is to express 
 the sense of these sentences; it is to represent the 
 thoughts of a discourse, in their appropriate colours. 
 It is to blend the different passages, in such a manner aa 
 not to injure each other ; but, on the contrary, to give 
 to each mutual strength and assistance. It is to distin- 
 guish, by the accent, what is only argumentative, from 
 
 52 
 
4 10 ON THE ART OF PREACHING. 
 
 what is pathetic and oratorical ; it is to discern any im- 
 portant end in a sentence, in order to detach it from 
 the rest, and express it without affectation, and without 
 the appearance of design ; it is to convey the idea, rather 
 than the expressions, the sentiments rather than the 
 words; it is to follow the impulse of the discourse, in such 
 a manner, that the delivery may be quick or slow, mild 
 or impetuous, according to the emotions it should excite. 
 
 To read, is to express, by variations of voice, the 
 comforts arising from the consciousness of innocence, and 
 the horrors, from the instigations of vice ; the warmth 
 of zeal, and coolness of indifference ; indignation, fear, 
 pity, and benevolence ; the blessings and chastisements 
 of God ; the pride and misery of man ; the supplications 
 to the Supreme Being, and the pathetic exhortations to 
 sinful men. In short, to read, is to distinguish our sev- 
 eral thoughts and sentiments, by inflections of voice, 
 which should, at once, describe their meaning, and im- 
 press their power. 
 
 When you have got the better, if it be possible, of 
 all provincial accent, and your pronunciation is pure and 
 correct ; when you have accustomed yourself to read 
 aloud, with feeling, and varying your tones, in such a 
 way, that what you read, may be well understood ; then, 
 progressively, raise your voice, three or four notes high- 
 er than the common tone ; and do not appear in the 
 pulpit, until you have many times repeated this useful 
 experiment. 
 
 Timidity, when its influence is greatly predominant, 
 disconcerts ; it prevents the exertion of talent. On the 
 other hand, presumptuous confidences prejudices an au- 
 ditory against the speaker, who should, by all means, pre- 
 possess their ^ood-will. Keep then, a wise moan. Ap- 
 
ON THE ART OF PREACHING. 41 1 
 
 pear, at least, to entertain a very modest opinion of 
 yourself, which has always the, effect of disarming criti- 
 cism, and conciliating the esteem of a congregation. I 
 have seen preachers, who, to practise a little deceit on 
 themselves, and thereby shun the distractions which 
 their timidity might occasion, fix their eyes on a pillar 
 of the church,* and address their discourse, exclusively, 
 to it. This mode of speaking is not judicious. The 
 preacher loses by it all the warmth of his zeal, and de- 
 stroys the effect of the expression of countenance. It is 
 the assembly he ought to look in the face. To them he 
 proposes his questions ; to them he addresses the rea- 
 soning of his propositions, the gentleness of his reproofs, 
 and the earnestness of his exhortations. It is the assem- 
 bly which animates the orator, which inspires him with 
 suitable tones, and with a pleasing cadence. How, 
 without looking continually around him, can he perceive, 
 whether the attention of his congregation is supported, 
 or relaxed ? And how can he again attract it, when it 
 has been suffered to escape, but by redoubled zeal, and 
 a more impassioned address ? 
 
 Scarcely has the preacher opened his mouth than a 
 religious fascination inspires the audience. He is no 
 longer an ordinary person. He is an heavenly ambas- 
 sador, invested with divine authority ; his language, hi? 
 accents, assume a more grave and solemn character than 
 those of a mere man. Happy, if nothing throughout the 
 discourse happen to dissipate the illusion, and divert the 
 attention of the auditory ! 
 
 * When a Clergyman preaches in a Church, with which he is not at all 
 acquainted, to direct his voice, at the beginning of his sermon, to a distant ob- 
 ject, is not injudicious. Dr. Hinchliffe, the late bishop of Peterborough, always 
 did so, and he was, during his life, considered one of the best preachers in th r 
 
 church of England. 
 
412 ON THE ART OF TRE ACHING. 
 
 You comprehend that it is not necessary, in the ex- 
 ordium of your discourse, to give yourself up to decla- 
 mation. If you except these cases when the preacher 
 seems overcome with a thought which prepossesses him ; 
 when he communicates to his auditory, a powerful im- 
 pulse, the effect of his preceding meditations ; except, I 
 say, these cases, which are rare, you should enter on 
 your discourse with composure, elegance, and simplicity. 
 
 We see preachers who seem to be exhausted with 
 their exordium. They elevate their voice to the high- 
 est pitch at the very commencement. Did that exordia 
 um constitute the whole of the sermon, they would not 
 be reprehensible; but it is only an introduction; and 
 when they come to the main point of the subject, they 
 are not able to support the power with which they set 
 out ; and their discourse appears like a monster, with 
 a large head and a meagre body. 
 
 Let the mildness of your exordium prescribe to you 
 the proper tone in which it requires to be delivered. 
 Four guarded gesture should correspond with it, and all 
 action should be restrained. An exordium, indeed, is 
 not always necessary ; sometimes a preacher enters on 
 the subject without a previous introduction. 
 
 I do not hesitate to prefer, in a sermon, divisions 
 formally announced, to those which are only intimated 
 by transitions, in the arrangement of the discourse. 
 This last method, is doubtless, the most oratorical, but, 
 certainly, not the best adapted to assist the memory of 
 those, who pay little attention. 
 
 In printed discourses I prefer divisions, rather impli- 
 ed than expressed, where the reader can review the 
 plan, which the author has traced. Whereas, in a dis- 
 course, which is to be delivered, clear divisions are ne- 
 
ON THE ART OP PREACHING, 413 
 
 cessary, for the sake of remembering what has been 
 spoken. It is the handle of a vase, in the taking hold 
 of which, every thing it contains, goes with it ; but if it 
 has no handle, and is out of our reach, its contents are 
 lost to us. 
 
 After having fixed the attention of your audience on 
 the plan you propose to follow, you then fully open 
 your discourse, and pass, by means of transition, from 
 one point to another. 
 
 It is by incorporating argument and eloquence, doc- 
 trine and exhortation, precept and address, that you are 
 enabled to vary your delivery ; if, at least, your mode 
 of speaking corresponds to your plan of composition. 
 
 Most of the French Catholic preachers are full of fire ; 
 but as they begin they conclude ; the whole discourse 
 is a constant peroration.* Let me not be mistaken ; 
 atone always exalted; a severe system of morality; 
 singularity of sentiment, and extravagance of hyperbole, 
 are only the characters of vehemence, and by no means 
 denote the excellence of the preacher. I would rather 
 undo, than overdo, the thing: what does not attain the 
 proposed end, is but feeble ; what exceeds it, is ridicu- 
 lous. 
 
 There are some cases in the delivery, where the 
 manner of speaking depends entirely on the preceding 
 parts. After, for instance, some very vehement passa- 
 ges, the more tranquil should gradually abate of their 
 force ; the waves of an agitated sea do not calm imme- 
 diately, although the wind ceases. 
 
 * Notwithstanding tin's censure passed upon the Catholic preachers, sure I 
 am, that their Sermons, if judiciously abridged, and adapted to an English 
 Protestant congregation, would produce the highest effects. The preacher, who 
 would thus prepare them, would, I doubt not, have an auditory, both increasing 
 In numbers, and improving in morals. 
 
fl 14 OX THE ART OF PREACHING. 
 
 Would you be indeed distinguished ; be simply ele- 
 gant, and uniformly proper ; be calm, in general, in or- 
 der to be vehement, when the juncture shall arrive. 
 Reserve your oratorical powers for the conclusion of 
 your discourse, when you apply more particularly to 
 your audience, the general truths, which you have been 
 propounding. 
 
 In avoiding monotony, that is, a tone uniformly the 
 same, be careful not to fall into what is called a whine 
 or cant, w r hich is still more insupportable than monotony 
 itself. This whine or cant, consists in the use of two or 
 three tones, which return in the same order, and ter- 
 minate by the same fall ; the preacher acquires these 
 bad habits, when the weakness of his voice forbids the 
 variety of necessary tones, or when habit takes the 
 place of sense, and of earnestness. This fault is tolera- 
 ble to an audience, and not unfrequently, renders preach- 
 ing useless. 
 
 I much wish that young preachers would not neglect 
 any means of forming their voice, and improving their 
 car. Some knowledge of vocal music* would be very 
 useful to them ; the practice of it would acquaint them 
 with many secrets. 
 
 What I remark on the voice, may, in many respects, 
 be said of action. It ought to be just, expressive, sim- 
 ple, and at the same time varied. But what gives ex- 
 pression to action ? What are its defects and qualities ? 
 Are there any rules to follow concerning it ? We have 
 no fixed model to consult, as we have on written elo- 
 
 * I once heard the following remark made by a clergyman, who is an orna- 
 ment to hie profession, and it is consonant to general observation ; — "The re- 
 commendation of vocal music ?cems equivocal, and is not founded on experience, 
 since I have known the finest singers and players, unable to read well, and onthr 
 ontrary, excellent readers make vtry bad singers." 
 
 
ON THE ART OF PREACHING. 415 
 
 quence. We must collect transient observations, and 
 determine between disputed principles. 
 
 Action is indispensably necessary in the art of ora- 
 tory ; it is dictated by feeling, emotion, and zeal, and is 
 not always regulated without difficulty. Observe the 
 drawings of great painters, in their representation of the 
 action, which they give to persons, Junius, in his trea- 
 tise on the painting of the ancients, says, that the hands 
 assist the words, that they can demand, promise, call, 
 detest, interrogate, refuse, and declare the different af- 
 fections of the soul. Action is the means by which the 
 dumb make themselves understood : by it they express 
 all their sentiments, and convey all their thoughts. 
 
 Gesture is very common and familiar to persons, who 
 are quick and lively ; it is less so with sedate and quiet 
 people. The Italians use much gesticulation when they 
 speak ; it is not the case with the inhabitants of the 
 more nothern countries. In France, where exterior 
 appearance is so much studied, good taste suppresses all 
 gesture ; the women, especially, who pass for the most 
 accomplished, absolutely renounce it, finding,- no doubt, 
 that it is much easier to abstain from, than to regulate 
 it. Their conversation would, in consequence, appear 
 uninteresting, did they not supply the place of action, 
 by a cadence in their speech, and an ease in their de- 
 portment. 
 
 An orator without action, would deprive himself of 
 one great means of persuasion and effect ; his eloquence 
 would be unaffecting, and would be destitute both of its 
 charms and power. 
 
 Gesture should not approach to pantomime. Too 
 much repeated, and too vehement, it fatigues the eyes, 
 and Iopcs its excellence. 
 
41(5 ON THE ART OF PREACHWd. 
 
 If any profound sentiment affect you ; if you speak 
 of any thing, which inspires you with reverence, as God, 
 his providence, and adorable perfections, gesture is then 
 altogether unseasonable ; more especially, if you intro-, 
 duce the divinity as speaking unto man, let a perfect 
 composure have place throughout your whole frame ; 
 as gesture and action could give neither power to your 
 language, nor dignity to your sentiments. 
 
 If you have any principle to establish, any feeling to 
 describe, call in action to your assistance ; but let it be 
 grave and chaste, and not intemperate and ludicrous.' 
 The violent motion of the hands is not less offensive, 
 than the babbling of the tongue ; there is a dignity pe- 
 culiar to the pulpit, which is violated by unseemly action. 
 
 Action should be free and unrestrained. It should 
 proceed from the shoulders ; that which arises from the 
 elbow, and, more especially, from the hands, 'is not suf- 
 ficiently dignified. When your period is finished, let 
 your action cease : and do not use a variety of gestures 
 to express one idea. 
 
 The two arms, only, can contribute to action. Be 
 careful, when you use them together, that their motions 
 correspond. Their want of concord would be as offen- 
 sive to the eye, as harshness of sound is grating to the 
 ear. 
 
 In general, when one hand only is used, the right 
 should be preferred. Not that it is has any advantage 
 over the left ; but whether it is that a public speaker is 
 more accustomed to use it, or that the eye is more ha- 
 bituated to the use of it, the action of the left hand sel- 
 dom appears graceful. 
 
 Some writers on oratory have endeavoured to pre- 
 scribe bounds to the height the action of the hand should 
 
ON THE ART OF PREACHING, 417 
 
 be carried ; do not, it has been said by some, let it pass 
 the head ; by others, let your passions direct you ; and 
 if they impel you to raise your hands above your head, 
 they will produce no bad effect. It is, then, nature, 
 which dictates it. Nature, alone, should limit you in 
 your animating exclamations ; and in an ardent invoca- 
 tion, and in a transport of admiration, nature, alone, 
 should be your guide. 
 
 But let your action be always just ; there are some 
 men, in whom it is, unfortunately, always false. Hav- 
 ing neither judgment nor ear, their action is never what 
 it should be. 
 
 Should this, unhappily, be your case, discard action 
 altogether. It is much better to deprive yourself of its 
 advantages, were it even unexceptionable, than to make 
 it either embarrass your periods, or give them a con- 
 trary meaning. Just action, and a correct judgment, 
 usually go together. Nature seldom allows the perfec- 
 tion of one, with the absence of the other. 
 
 The action, which would attempt to express words, 
 of which a sentence is composed, would evidently fail in 
 its effect. It would be as offensive as trifling : it is the 
 general meaning, and predominant idea which should be 
 conveyed. But how is this to be accomplished ? It 
 cannot be taught. Judgment, taste, and above all, good 
 models will illustrate it. 
 
 To vary the gesture is a talent, and this talent leads 
 to correctness; for, if the turn of a discourse varies con- 
 siderably, the action in order to express it, ought to va- 
 ry likewise. When a preacher has only one gesture, it 
 will, necessarily, be incorrect or insignificant ; notwith- 
 standing which, a dull uniformity of action is the com- 
 mon defect of preachers. The whole eloquence of the 
 
 53 
 
118 o.N THE ART OF TRLACHlNo. 
 
 person, at least, with many preachers, consists in spread- 
 ing their hands, for the purpose of uniting them with a 
 loud noise,* and in continually repeating this periodical 
 motion. Thus they make the auditor the victim of their 
 unskilfulness ; they torment his eyes, and wound his 
 ears, without mercy, by means injudiciously designed to 
 attach and please them. 
 
 The arms and hands are not the only instruments of 
 action ; the whole person ought to concur in it. The 
 positions of the body should vary, sometimes by turning 
 to the right,*!" and sometimes to the left. I have often 
 regretted, that our pulpits^ were not, as in many places 
 in Italy, formed like a tribune, where the preacher 
 could move at liberty. 
 
 Expressions of countenance, the fire and energy of 
 the looks, add greatly to the manner of delivery ; the 
 turn of the eyes is a species. of action, which gives life 
 to eloquence. 
 
 These various talents are only means to add effica- 
 cy to the action of the preacher. To action, all the ob- 
 servations I have made, exclusively relate. It is the 
 vehicle of thoughts and feelings, with which a minister 
 can more sensibly affect his audience. To say, that a 
 preacher has just and appropriate action, is to say, he 
 possesses in an eminent degree, all the exterior qualities 
 
 * This censure equally applies to the Methodists, Calvinists, Independ- 
 ents, &c. 
 
 t In small churches no inconvenience may arise from following these direc- 
 tions; but in a large building, where the pulpit is central, while the person of the 
 preacher is turned towards one half of the congregation, the other is generally 
 prevented from hearing. 
 
 % Many of the English pulpits are, it is true, sufficiently awkward ; but such 
 as M. Reybaz proposes, would only tend to make the speaker theatrical, and 
 would totally destroy the solemnity of the preaching. 
 
ON THE ART OF PREACHING. 419 
 
 of an orator, in alliance with the liveliness, which gives 
 to these qualities their power, and determines their ef- 
 ects. 
 
 Demosthenes being asked, in what eloquence con- 
 sisted, centered the whole in action ; and repeated the 
 same word three times, as if he had said, it included 
 every thing, and that eloquence could not exist, inde- 
 pendent of it. I contrast action with the coolness of 
 those orators, little deserving of the name, with those 
 ministers of habit, who do not, themselves, feel the 
 truths of which they are commissioned to make others 
 sensible ; or, who are absolutely indifferent to the relig- 
 ion which they preach, and the effect it is intended to 
 produce. 
 
 I do not hesitate to pronounce, however influenced 
 we may be by custom, that the effect of eloquence is 
 astonishing. Compose an indifferent discourse, and re- 
 peat it perfectly, you will satisfy your audience much 
 more, than with an excellent sermon, delivered with 
 disgusting monotony, or lifeless utterance. 
 
 How many times have we been delighted with the 
 delivery of a composition, the perusal of which we 
 could not endure ? And, on the contrary, how often has 
 a work, which pleased us in the reading appeared oth- 
 erwise when spoken ? what inference shall we draw 
 from this ? That elocution is an important art ; and 
 that a preacher cannot apply himself to it too attentive- 
 ly : not for the purpose of giving effect to a bad dis- 
 course, but to exhibit with all its advantages, a sermon, 
 convincing by its argument, and efficacious by its per- 
 suasion. 
 
 You will find, in the history of eloquence, that the 
 orator owes his success, principally, to declamation. 
 The harangues of Pericles, produced, in his mouth, the 
 
420 ON THE ART OF TREACHING. 
 
 highest effect. He published them ; but Quintihari es- 
 teemed them unworthy of the reputation they had ac- 
 quired. The minister Du Bosc was deputed by the 
 Protestant clergy to address to Louis XIV. their remon- 
 strances. I have just heard, said that prince, the finest 
 preacher in my kingdom. The extreme feebleness of 
 the sermons published by Du Bosc, strongly prepossess 
 us in favour of his exterior eloquence. 
 
 There are three* sorts of declamation ; that of the 
 pulpit, of the theatre, and of the bar. But as each has 
 a species of eloquence peculiar to itself, so it hath of de- 
 clamation likewise. Whatever it is that a person re- 
 peats, he should always consider who it is that speaks ; 
 who are the people addressed ; what ought to be the 
 subject matter of the discourse \ and under what cir- 
 cumstances the auditory is convened. These considera- 
 tions regulate the art of speaking. 
 
 The preacher commonly speaks to instruct the as- 
 sembly ; he is transported with the emotions he endeav- 
 ours to excite. If he feel sensibly, if he be sometimes 
 moved to tears, he has always in view the welfare of 
 his audience ; the declamation of the preacher will be 
 influenced by that single motive ; the whole tenor of his 
 action will be to persuade the affections, and to impress 
 the heart. 
 
 One successful method of an orator's conciliating the 
 esteem of his audience is, by the observance of oratori- 
 cal decorum. It is not becoming in a young preacher to 
 censure old age with severity ; it is not becoming in 
 him to be austere in his system of morality, to declaim 
 against permitted pleasures, and not to allow any thing 
 
 * M. Reybaz knew nothing of the eloquence of the British parliament, whicb 
 surpasses often the eloquence of the pulpit, even in France. 
 
ON THE ART OF PREACHING. 421 
 
 to human weakness. It is not becoming in him whose 
 situation in life is obscure, to inveigh loudly against rich- 
 es ; not to censure, indiscriminately, the application of 
 them, as he will only subject himself to the suspicion of 
 envy. He must take care, at the Festivals of the 
 church, and on days set apart, by authority, for solemn 
 worship, not to preach on moral subjects, which have 
 been often discussed, since they will not be esteemed ju- 
 dicious and appropriate. 
 
 Be attentive to what your age, your rank in the 
 church, your condition in society, the times, places and 
 persons prescribe to you to say, and you will preserve 
 decorum. Religion does not discard, but enjoins it ; re- 
 ligion recommends prudence, which suggests the great- 
 est caution in not wounding, unnecessarily, the feelings 
 of others. The Essay of the Abbe Mallet, on oratori- 
 cal decorum, is worthy of your serious perusal. 
 
 There are many works on preaching ; the aera of 
 Louis XIV. produced many, and the seventeenth century 
 has produced more. Much as may, confessedly, be 
 gained by the study of Treatises on Oratory, if your ob- 
 ject be to arrive at celebrity, as a preacher, still, a great 
 genius is far superior to their instructions. They will 
 teach you to shun the defects of the art; but will they 
 inspire you with its beauties ? There exists a natural 
 relation between the mode of speaking, and of what Ave 
 speak. I have never heard an eloquent composition de- 
 livered, by the Author, in an ungraceful and uninterest- 
 ing manner. 
 
 The substance of all the rules I have laid down is 
 this, that a preacher ought not merely to seem, but ac- 
 tually to be impressed with the truths he delivers. 
 Let a truly religious disposition prevail throughout your 
 
422 ON THE ART OF I'EACHMG. 
 
 discourse. Let not your preaching be such as will be 
 flattering to yourself, but adapted to the improvement 
 and edification of your audience. The perfection of el- 
 oquence, in a Christian orator, consists in forgetting him- 
 self; the importance of what he is delivering, and the 
 effect it ought to produce, should suppress all conscious- 
 ness of his own talents. 
 
 Above all, let your morals be correspondent to your 
 doctrine. Let your appearance excite the ideas of wis- 
 dom, integrity and piety. By your virtues, attract the 
 respect and confidence of mankind, that every heart 
 may be disposed to profit by your instructions. Justify, 
 by your example, the definition, which Quintilian gave of 
 an orator, when he said, the upright is the eloquent 
 man. 
 
 You asked me for instruction in the art of preaching, 
 persuaded they would be useful to you. If I have been 
 fortunate enough to answer your expectations, answer 
 mine in return. May you make an happy application of 
 the principles I have laid down. May your ministry flour- 
 ish, and be productive of the most blessed effects ! May 
 you, by the successful cultivation of the Lord's vineyard, 
 receive as the reward of your labours, not the admira- 
 tion and the praises, but the blessings, of those you have 
 instructed, consoled, and nourished, with the words of 
 life! 
 
A LIST OF BOOKS 
 
 TO AID 
 
 YOUNG PREACHERS IN THE SELECTION OF A LIBRARY. 
 
 '1 O any one, who is acquainted with books, it will be evi- 
 dent that the following list is not designed to be taken as a guide, 
 in the selection of an extensive library. It would require a vol- 
 ume to mention even the titles of those books, which might be 
 recommended as desirable for a preacher to possess. All that 
 is intended here, is to enumerate so many of the most valuable 
 works as to assist theological students, of limited means, in their 
 early selections. They whose resources will admit of expensive 
 purchases, will of course resort to such catalogues and biblioth- 
 ecas, as contain ample information to direct their choice. 
 
 The price of books depends so much on the quality of the 
 edition, and the circumstances of the purchase, that it is omitted 
 in the following list. 
 
 Biblia Heb. Michaelis, vel Simonis, vel Vander Hooght. 
 Lexicon Heb. Simonis edit, ab Eichhornio, vel Gesenii, edit. 
 
 secund. 
 Schleusneri Lexicon Nov. Test. 2 vols. 8vo. 
 Poli Synopsis Criticorum, 5 vols, folio. 
 Campbell on the Gospels, 4 vols. 8vo. 
 Lowth's Lectures on Heb. Poetry, 8vo. 
 
 Translation of Isaiah, 8vo. 
 Cruden's Concordance 4to. 
 Concordantice Grseca, Schmidii, folio. 
 Scott's Commentary, 5 vols. 4to. or 6 vols. 8vo„ 
 Doddridge's Expositor, 6 vols. 8vo. 
 Guyse's Paraphrase, 3 vols. 4to. or 6 vols. 8vo. 
 Macknight on the Epistles, G vols. 8vo. 
 
424 UST OF BOOKS* 
 
 Owen on the Hebrews, 4 vols. 8vo. 
 
 Titmannus in Evang. Johann. 8vo. 
 
 Patrick, Lowth, and Whitby united, on the Old and New 
 
 Testaments, 6 vols, folio. 
 Rosenmuller in Nov. Test. 5 vols. 8vo. recommended so far 
 
 as philology is concerned. 
 Rosenmuller in Vet. Test. 18 vols. 8vo. recommended only so 
 
 far as philology is concerned. 
 Wolfii Curse Criticas in Nov. Test. 5 vols. 4to. 
 Mori Hermeneutica Nov. Test. 2 vols. 8vo. 
 Marsh's Michaelis Introd. to New Testament, 8vo. 
 Ernesti Institutio Interpretis, 12mo. 
 Newcome's Greek Harmony of the Evangelists, 3vo. 
 Kuinoel Cora, in Evangel. .3 vols. 8vo. 
 Paley's Evidences of Christianity, 12mo. 
 
 Horas Paulina?, 8vo. 
 Campbell on Miracles, 12mo. 
 Stillingfleet's Origines Sacra;, folio. 
 Leland's Advantage and Necessity of revelation, 2 vols. 8vo. 
 
 View of Deistical writers 2 vols. 8vo. 
 Leslie' Short Method, 8vo. 
 Chalmer's Evidences, 8vo. 
 Berkeley's Minute Philosopher, 8vo. 
 Butler's Analogy, 8vo. 
 Douglas's Criterion, 8vo. 
 Gisborn,e's Testimony of Nat. Theol. to Christianity, 12mo. 
 
 Paley's Nat. Theology, 12mo. 
 
 Turrettini Institutio Theologian Elenchticae, 3 vols. 4to» 
 
 Van Mastricht's Theology 
 
 Calvin's Institutes, translated by Allen, 3 vols. 8vo. 
 
 Edwards's Works, 8 vols. 8vo. 
 
 Edwards Jun. on Liberty and Necessity, 8vo. 
 Against Chauncey, 8vo. 
 
 Hopkins' System, 2 vols. 8vo. 
 
 Dwight's Theology, 5 vols. 8vo. 
 
 Ridgley's Body of Divinity, with notes by Wilson, 4 vols. 8vo. 
 
 Magee on Atonement. 8vo. 
 
LI3T OF BOOKS. 42- ; > 
 
 Bellamy's Works, 3 vols. 8vo. 
 
 Fuller's Works. 
 
 Witsius on the Covenants, 3 vols. 8vo. 
 
 Wardlaw on the Socinian Controversy. 
 
 Watts' Works, 7 vols. 8vo. 
 
 Witherspoon's Works, 4 vols. 8vo. 
 
 Johnson's Dictionary, 4 vols. 8vo. or with corrections and iargf. 
 
 additions by Todd, 5 vols. 4to. 
 Walker's Pronouncing Dictionary, 8vo. 
 
 Elements of Elocution, 8vo. 
 
 Key to Proper Names, 8vo. 
 Crabb's English Synonymes, 8vo. 
 
 Campbell's Philos. of Rhetoric, 2 vols. 8vo. or Amer. edit. 8vo. 
 Pickering's Vocabulary of Americanisms, 8vo. 
 Foster's Essays, 12mo. 
 Westminster Con. of Faith. 
 
 Campbell's Lectures on Syst. Theol. and Pulpit Eloquence, 8vo. 
 Young Minister's Companion, 8vo. 
 Young Preacher's Manual, 8vo. 
 Emmons' Sermons, 3 vols. 8vo. 
 Smalley's Sermons, 2 vols. 8vo. 
 Griffin's Park Street Lectures, 8vo. 
 Bates' Works, 2 vols. foL 
 Gisborne's Sermons, 3 vols. 8vo. 
 Cooper's Sermons, 2 vols. 8vo. 
 Davies' Sermons, 5 vols. 8vo. 
 Walker's (Robert) Sermons, 4 vols. 8vo, 
 Jay's first vol. 
 
 Evans' Sermons on Christian temper. 
 Owen on 139th Psalm,— on Indwelling Sin. and on Spiritual 
 
 mindedness. 
 Flavel's Works, 2 vols. fol. 
 John Newton's Works, 6 vols. 8vo„ 
 Baxter's Practical Works. 
 Law's Serious Call, 12mo. 
 Wilberforce's Practical View, 12mo. 
 Thomas a Kempis. 8vo. 
 
 54 
 
420 LIST OF BOOKS. 
 
 Pike's Cases of Conscience, 12mo. 
 
 Boston's Fourfold State, 12mo. 
 
 Doddridge's Rise and Progress, 12mo. 
 
 Leighton on 1 Peter, 2 vols. 8vo. All his works are good. 
 
 Campbell's Lectures on the Pastoral Office, 8vo. 
 
 Massillon's Charges, 8vo. 
 
 Mosheim's Eccles. Hist. 6 vols. 8vo. 
 
 Milner's Hist, of the Church, 5 vols. 8vo. 
 
 Prideaux' Connexion, 4 vols. 8vo. 
 
 Lowman's Heb. Ritual, 8vo. 
 
 Among the standard English works that might be useful to 
 
 the young preacher in forming his style, may be reckoned, 
 
 Alison on Taste, 8vo. 
 
 Spectator, with preface, historical and biographical, by Chal- 
 mers, 10 vols. 12mo. 
 
 Johnson's Rambler, 3 vols. 12mo. 
 Beattie's Works, 10 vols. 12mo. 
 Milton's Paradise Lost, &c. 2 vols. 12mo. 
 Young's Night Thoughts, 12mo. 
 Cowper's Task, 12mo. 
 Pope's Poetical Works, 4 vols. 12mo. 
 
 A few general books of reference, are almost indispensable 
 in the library of a preacher, as they often furnish him with im- 
 portant information when he most needs it, and with a small ex- 
 pense of time. Among these may be mentioned, 
 Lempriere's Biographical Dictionary, 2 vols. 8vo. 
 
 Classical Dictionary, 8vo. 
 Calmet's Dictionary of the Holy Bible, 4 vols. 4to. 
 Harmer's Observations, 4 vols. 8vo. 
 Wells' Geography, 2 vols. 8vo. 
 Burder's Oriental Customs, 2 vols. 8vo. 
 H. Adams's View of Religions, 8vo. 
 Gaston's Collections, 8vo. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 Page 
 
 Action, its design 93, 396 
 
 , its importance 415 
 
 , rules for 415 
 
 , should not be too uniform. ..95, 
 
 97, 414 
 
 , not represent words, but 
 
 thoughts 397 
 
 , among the ancients 92, 96 
 
 , of English preachers in the 
 
 time of Addison 93 
 
 Affectation, of peculiarity 128 
 
 . , its effect upon style 130 
 
 Antithesis, artificial, should be a- 
 
 voided 126 
 
 Ambrose, St 173 
 
 Aristotle, character of his Rhetoric. 43 
 Articulation, distinct, its impor- 
 tance 408 
 
 Austin, St 170 
 
 , his rules of effectual elo- 
 quence 184 
 
 , his opinion of the design of 
 
 Christian oratory 378 
 
 , success of his preaching.... 185 
 
 Chrysostom, St 174, 179, 360 
 
 Cicero, compared with Demosthenes 196 
 
 , his opinion of the knowledge 
 
 necessary to an orator. 71 — 74 
 Classics, ancient, their importance 
 
 to a preacher 158 
 
 Criticisms, learned, improper for 
 
 sermons, note 163 
 
 Cyprian, St 169 
 
 Demosthenes, an example of simple 
 
 eloquence 187 
 
 , compared with lsocrates..41 
 
 , compared with Cicero... 196 
 
 Divine A ssistance, peculiarly neces- 
 sary to the preacher 145 
 
 , encouragement of the 
 
 preacher to seek and ex- 
 pect it 26 
 
 , does not supersede the 
 
 necessity of eloquence 144,146 
 Divisions in sermons 116 — 121,367,412 
 
 Page 
 Divisions, rules respecting.. 39,228-241 
 
 Eloquence, what 81,84, 140, 191 
 
 , ends of. 39,45 
 
 . rules of. 184 
 
 , examples of simplel85 — 190 
 
 — — , of the Scriptures. ..147 — 151 
 
 , of Paul 141 
 
 , Socrates and Plato's opin- 
 ion of. 64 — 69 
 
 Emphasis 394 
 
 Eyes, their influence in expressing 
 
 emotion 103 
 
 , their motions, how to be reg- 
 ulated in the pulpit 411 
 
 Fathers, knowledge of desirable to 
 
 the preacher 159, 160 
 
 , their allegorical interpreta- 
 tion of Scripture 177 
 
 Greeks and Romans, progress of ef- 
 feminacy among 50 
 
 , their application of music 
 
 and poetry 49 
 
 Homer, design of his Iliad 57 
 
 , inferior in sublimity to the 
 
 Scriptures 147 
 
 Isocrates, perverted eloquence. .42, 123, 
 126 
 ■,compared with Demosthenes 41 
 
 Jerom, St 173 
 
 Knowledge, importance of, to a 
 
 preacher 74 
 
 , of men 70,404 
 
 Longinus, his treatise on the sublime 43 
 , his description of Isocra- 
 tes 197 
 
 Men, knowledge of. 70, 404 
 
 .Modulation 393 
 
 Music, use made of by the ancients... 49 
 
 Orator, true described 77, 194 
 
 , importance of virtue to 59 
 
 , how qualified 192 
 
 Origen, the father of pulpit oratory. 360 
 
 , his allegorical interpretation 
 
 of Scripture 178 
 
 Panegyrics, legitimate design of 56 — 58 
 
428 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Page 
 
 Panegyric, rules respecting ISO 
 
 Paul, resemblance of his eloquence 
 
 to Demosthenes. • 141 
 
 Piety in a preacher 9-12, 198 
 
 Plato, his opinion of the Rhetori- 
 cians 64 
 
 , his manner of forming an orator 70 
 
 Poetry, use made of, by the ancients 49 
 Preacher, importance of example 
 
 in 62, 63 
 
 , effect of superficial knowl- 
 edge on a 76 
 
 , necessity of talents and 
 
 learning in a 133,'404 
 
 — — — , importance of sensibility 
 
 in a 405 
 
 Preaching, origin and progress cf...359 
 —362 
 
 , end of 14 
 
 , importance of. 15,20 
 
 , should be suited to the 
 
 capacities and wants of the 
 
 hearers 23 
 
 , pernicious effects of in- 
 discriminate, note.... 125, 153 
 
 , affectionate manner of... 165 
 
 , angry and scolding, note. 155 
 
 , importance of systematic 165 
 
 , extempore and memoriter 
 
 compared .112—116,396,407 
 Reading, the art of, its importance 
 
 and how attained 409 
 
 Scripture, importance of a compre- 
 hensive and familiar ac- 
 quaintance with, to the 
 
 preacher 152 — 158 
 
 , on the allegorical inter- 
 pretation of. 177 
 
 , quaint and whimsical in- 
 terpretation of. 199—212 
 
 ■ ... fantastical application of 364 
 
 Page 
 
 Scripture, eloquence of. 147 — 151 
 
 Sermons, choice of subjects for 362 
 
 , general rules of.. ...219— 227 
 
 , topics of invention for.. ..278 
 
 —321, 371 
 
 , unity and simplicity of.. .364 
 
 , of the exordium 328-343,368 
 
 , of the proposition 370 
 
 , of the conclusion.. .345 — 349 
 
 373 
 , French, Gregory's opin- 
 ion of. 364 
 
 Socrates, his opinion of ancient ora- 
 tory 67 
 
 Style, perspicuity of. 375 
 
 , purity of 381 
 
 , ornament of. 387 
 
 — , simplicity of. 139, 184—191 
 
 , of the Scriptures. ..136, 147—151 
 
 , frigid and boyish, note 74 
 
 , bombastic 391 
 
 , feeble 391 
 
 , its effect upon modulation 99 
 
 Texts, choice of 37, 176, 215, 365 
 
 , connexion 227 
 
 , manner of treating, to be dis- 
 cussed by way of explica- 
 tion 242—268 
 
 , " " of obser- 
 vation 273—277 
 
 , " " of application. .323 
 
 , " " in propositions.. 324 
 
 , long and short 365 
 
 Terlullian 167 
 
 Virgil, character of his jEneid 58 
 
 Voice, how strengthened 408 
 
 , pitch of the, at the commence- 
 ment of a discourse 412 
 
 , monotony, how produced 408 
 
 , inflections of. 100, 393 
 
 JVit, not suited to the pulpit .....84 
 
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