xt773n20cr9x https://exploreuk.uky.edu/dips/xt773n20cr9x/data/mets.xml Broadus, John Albert, 1827-1895. 1895  books b92-185-30607330 English A.C. Armstrong, : New York : Contact the Special Collections Research Center for information regarding rights and use of this collection. Preaching Sermons. Treatise on the preparation and delivery of sermons  / by John A. Broadus. text Treatise on the preparation and delivery of sermons  / by John A. Broadus. 1895 2002 true xt773n20cr9x section xt773n20cr9x 




            A TREATISE



                 ON THE



PREPARATION AND DELIVERY


                   OF



    SE RM O NS.





               BY

  JOHN A. BROADUS, D.D., LL.D.,
VROFESSOR IN THE SOUTHERN BAPTIST THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY
            LOUISVILLE. KY.



            NEW YORK:
A. C. ARMSTRONG AND SON,
   51 ElAST TE:NTII ST-FREET, NEAR BROADWVAY.
              13s95.

 




































  -            - ..........---....... ..... .... -.- .......a44S- o0zww -sZwe -fi-j; ,w-"0  
     Ntered   mcording to Act of c  ngrem, in the year -qO, by
                        JOHN A. BROADUB,
        in Be Office of the Librarian of Congress at Washington.
_ -   -  -- ------------------------------........ ...... ...............................  ..................... .... . ._.

 










                 PREFACE.



[ ITS work is designed, on the one band io be a text.
lbook fcr classes, and on the other to be read by such
ininisters, younger or older, as may wish to study the sub-
jects discussed.
  As a teacher of Homiletics for ten years, the author had
felt the need of a more complete text-book, since a course
made up from parts of several different works would still
omit certain important subjects, and furnish but a meagre
treatment of others, leaving the class to a great extent
dependent entirely upon the lectures. The desire thus
arose to prepare, whenever possible, a work which should
be full in its range of topics, and should also attempt to
combine the thorough discussion of principles with an
abun(lance of practical rules and suggestions. WYhen the
labor involved in teaching this and at the same time
another branch of Theology became excessive, and it was
necessary to relinquish Homiletics - though always a
favorite branch - the author determined, before the sub-
ject should fade from his mind, to undertake the work he
had contemplated.
  The treatise is therefore a result of practical instruction,
but it is not simply a printed course of lectures.  The
materials existing in the form of brief notes have been
everywhere rewrought, the literature of the subject care-
fully re-examined, and the place which had been occupied
by text-books, filled )y an independent discussion.
                                               vii

 


Viii                 PREFACE.

  Those wh) may think of employing the wurk as a text.
book are requested to note, that it is divided into indepen-
dent Parts, which, while arranged in the order indicated
by the nature of the subject, may be taken up in any other
5rder required by the exigencies of instruction.  Some
would prefer to begin with Arrangement, in order that stu-
dents may at once hav3 the benefit of this in preparing
sermons or sketches. Others might begin with Style, in
order to general exercises in composition ; and possibly
others with Delivery. The author would himself prefer
if using the book, to take, after tha Introduction, the first
three chapters of Part I, and then Part II and perhaps
other portions before completing Part I. The cross refer-
mnces from one part to another will be found somewhat
numerous. In the plan of the work, a few instances occur of
departure from a strict technical distribution of the topics,
for the sake of practical convenience. Thus the matters
embraced under Illustration, Expository Preaching, or
Imagination, would strictly belong to several different
parts of the work, but it is practically better to discuss all
at the same time.
  It may be necessary to explain the introduction of copi-
ous chapters on the Interpretation of a Text, and on Ar-
gument. The former subject is discussed in treatises on
Hermeneutics. But besides the fact that not a few of those
who use this book will not have previously studied Her-
meneutics, those who have done so may be interested and
profited by a discussion bearing more directly on the work
of preaching; and such students will be able to read the
ehapter rapidly. Much improvement has been made during
the past century in respect to pulpit interpretation, but it
is a point as to which our young ministers still need to be
very carefully guarded.   The subject of Argument is
thought by some to bh out of place in a treatise on Homi-
letics or on Rhetoric in general. But preaching and all

 


PREF ACE.



public speaking ought to be largely composed of argunmentt
for even the most ignorant people constantly practice it
themselves, and always feel its force when properly pre-
sented; and yet in many pulpits the lolace of argument is
mainly filled by mere assertion and exhortation, and the
arguments employed are often carelessly stated, or even
gravely erroneous. Treatises on Logic teach the critical
inspection, rather than the construction of argumient, alld
so the latter must be discussed in works on Rhetoric, if
anywhere. The well-known chapters of Whately have
been here freely employed, but with very large additiois,
and with the attempt to correct some important errors
The examples of argument given are nearly all drau 1
from religious truth. With these explanations it is left ti
instructors to use or omit these portions of the work a;
their pleasure.
  But the great mass of young ministers, particularly in
some denominations, never study Homiletics under a
teacher, whether they have or have not enjoyed a Colle-
giate education. The attempt has been everywhere made
to adapt the present work to the wants of these students, as
well as the purposes of a text-book. They will choose for
themselves what portions to take up first, but such as have
had no College education may be urged not to abandon the
book without reading the discussion of Arrangement and
Style, as well as of Interpretation, Subjects of Preaclhint,
and Argument. For the sake of those who have enjoyed
few advantages, occasional explanations have been intro-
duced, which other readers would hardly need.
  Those who have had much experience in preaching often
find it interesting and useful to examine a treatise on tie
preparation and delivery of sermons. New topics and new
methods may be suggested, things forgotten or hitherto
neglected are recalled, ideas gradually formed in the eounse
of experience are made clearer and more definite, and



I N

 



PREFACE.



where the views advanced are not deemed just, renewed
reflection on some questions need not be unprofitable.
Moreover, the desire for high excellence in preaching may
receive a fresh stimulus. Such readers wvill remember that
many practical matters which to theor have now become
hbvious and commonplace, are precisely the points upon
svhich a beginner most needs counsel. And while there are
in the )resent treatise numerous divisions an(l subdivisiovs,
so marked as to meet the wants of students, the attempt
has been made to preserve the style from bcecoming blroken
and unreadable.
  The author's chief indebtedness for help) has been to
Aristotle, Cicero and Quintilian, and to Whately and
Vinet. The two last (together with Ripley) had been his
text-books,-and copious extracts are ma(le from them
on certain subjects. A good deal has been derived from
Alexander, Shedd, Day, and Hoppin, from Coquerel and
Palmer, and a great variety of other writers, as the Index
will show. Besides quotations, there are numerous ref er-
ences to works in which may be found some impressive
statement of similar opinions, or further considerations
bearing on the subject in hand.  Only such references
have been given as it was thought really worth while for
the student to consult. At the c lose of the Introduction, there
is a list of the principal works forming the Literature of
Homiletics, with brief notices of their character and value.
It is believed that to give in a treatise some account of
previous works on the subject, as judged from the author's
point of view, is a thing appropriate and calculated to be
useful. Such notices, in the case of contemporary writers,
ought not to be reckoned discourteous if they frankly
express disapprobation in some respects as well as praise
in others.  Were they somewhat more extended, these
critical appreciations would be more useful.  Besides
this general account of the literature, essays and treatisei

 


PREFACE.



upon particular branches of Rhetoric or Homiletics are
briefly characterized in foot-notes, upon the introduction of
the respective topics. Two important andl valuable works,
Mellvaine on Elocuti( n (New York, 1870), and Dabney's
Sacred Rhetoric (Richmond, 1870), were received after the
Introduction was stereotyped, but are noticed in Part IV,
chapter II, and were made useful ill that and the following
chapters. Two articles published by the author in the
Baptist Quarterly for January, 1869, and January, 1870,
have been incorporated into the work, with the necessary
rewriting ; and some articles forming other portions of
it have appeared in the Religious Herald, and the Cen-
tral Baptist. The author is grateful to his colleagues and
his pastor, for sympathy in his undertaking and for valua-
ble suggestions. The Index has been prepared by the Rev.
John C. Long, of Virginia.
  Special pains have been taken, at the proper points of
the treatise, to give practical suggestions for extempora-
neous speaking. Most works confine their instruction as
regards the preparation of sermons to the case of writing
out in full ; and many treat of (lelivery, as if it were in all
cases to be reading or recitation. The effort has here been
to keep the different methods in view, and to mention, in
connection with matters applicable to all alike, such as
apply to one or another method in particular.
  As to many of the practical questions connected with the
preparation and delivery of sermons, there is much differ-
ence of opinion; and an experienced preacher in reading
any treatise on the subject, must find points here and there
which he would prefer to see treated otherwise. He would
decide whether, notwithstanding, the work is likely to be
useful. In the present case, criticism, whether favorable
or adrerse, would be welcomed. Where the author is in
error, he would greatly prefer to know it.  Where thi



H i

 



PREFACE.



views presented are just, they may become more useful
through discussion.
  No one could prepare a work on this subject without
feeling, and sometimes deeply feeling, the responsibility he
incurred. It is a solemn thing to preach the gospel, and
therefore a very solemn thing to attempt instruction or
even suggestion as to the means of preaching well.
     July, 1870.

  NOTE. - There are several classeE of persons besides ministers,
to whom portions of this work may perhaps prove acceptable and
useful.
  The treatises on Rhetoric now studied, in schools and College,
are nearly all designed to prepare the student for writing, rather
than distinctively for speaking; and speakers upon whatsoever sub-
ject, may really find more of what they need in a book on preaching.
The ablest lawyers and statesmen have often studied sermons, as
specimens of eloquence; why not learn something from treatises
on the preparation and delivery of sermons The portions which
might be recommended to this class are after the Introduction,
Part I, chapters 4-8; Part II, chapters 1 and 2; Part III; and
Part IV; and these may be taken in any order.
  Lay preachers, and persons desirous of speaking in public on
religious subjects, might be not a little helped by the first three
chapters of Part I, by Part V, and by such other portions of the
work as they may find time to read.
  To Sunday-School teachers are recommended Part I, chapters
2, 7, and 8, with the close of chapter 3; and Part V.
  Intelligent Christians, of both sexes, must be often grieved at the
false estimate of preaching, the wrong notions of what it is, and
what it ought to ke, which are so prevalent. By reading something
practical on the subject, they would be better prepared to sustain
those who preaph properly, and to improve the tone of social con-
versation in regard to this matter. They might also become more
sympathizing and appreciative hearers; and good listeners are, in
proportion, quite as rare as good preachers. To these are recom-
mended the Introduction; Part I, chapters 1-4, 7 and 8; Part II
Chapter 3; Part IV; and Part V.



Xi.


 












CONTENTS.



INTRODUCTION.



1. Importaneo o" Preaching ..
    D)ificulty . preachingg
      well ...........................
2. Nature of Elo:quelce.......
: 3. 1etlnisites  to  e   fee t i v e
      preacbing,     viz., piety,
      natural g i ft s,    tnowl-
      edge, skill...................



17 2/ 4. Origin of the Roles of
        l1hetoric....................
19    5  Dangers of Rhetorical
21)       studies.....
   i f. Relation of Hlomuiletics    to
          Rhetoric.....................
22   z . Literature of Ioulliletics....



                          PART I.

              MATERIALS OF PREACHING.

                        CHAPTER1 1.
                   TllEF TEXT- SELECTION.
1 1. Meaning of the term Text. 38 I  3. Rules (eight) for the selec-
2. Advaniltages of having a          tion of Texts................
     Text..                 3 9

                       CHAPTER      II.
                THlE TEXT-INTERPRErATION.



1 1. Obign tion to interpret care-
      fllly and strictly.........
2. Clhiei sourees of error in
      t il e interpretation o f
      texts. .....    ..
    Misludlerstandin g     t It e
      text Itself...................



        Disregarding the connec-
51        tion of the text.
        Improper spiritualizing...
   1 3. Examples (n i n e t ee s) of
53        texts often tiisappliel..
   I. Rules (six) for interpreting
53        a text.



    CHAPTER IIL.
SUTBJECTS - CLASSIFIED.



1 l. Dectrinal sulh-cts ............. , SS
    Ev ilenees o t lri-tianity. 9:1
    Coitiro v'rsv with other
      p1ro)tfsSce4 Cln(istwis .s....  95
 2. Suhjects of niur:! st.      9 1
     Poiitic.al      r       991
     Tenmperana ctnsu. cments, 104 



25

26

301
31



41



till
65

70

78



33. Historical subjects ............ 105
4. Experimental subjects ....... 119
a. O(eeasioual sermons ............ II
    Ftneral sermnons .......... _ Ill
    Aeadenic sermons .......... 11:;
    Seurmons to childrien ........11 " 4



..ii

 





CONTENTS.



                       CHAPTER IV.
GENERAL MATERIALS OF PREACHING, - ORIGINALITY AND
                         PLAGIARISM.



1. Materials possessed before-
      han d ..
    The Scriptures a preach-
      er's chief study...........
    Systeinatic Theology.......
    Other reading ................
2 2. M1aterials provided at time.
3. Original materials............
    Absolute and relative
      originality..................



11s

121 l 4.
122
123
126
127

127



Why originality is so de-
   sirable ...................... 30
 Obstacles to originality ... I132
Bo.Iro wed  materials  and
   Plagiarisul .................  135
 Proper use of id:as de-
   rived from others .........13 .,6
 Proper acknowle(lglent
   of having borrowed..... 141



           CHAPTER V.
SPECIAL MATERIALS- EXPLANATION.



Frequent need of explanation
      in preaching ............... 144
j 1. Explanation of Texts ........ 146
     Pulpit Exegesis ............. 146
     Narration ..................... 147



    Description ................... 150
P 2. Explanation of subjects ..... 153
    I)efinition ..................... 1 53
    Division, ExemrplificatiOn,
      Comparison ................ 155



CHAPTER VI.
  ARG UMENT.



Importanee of a r g u m e n t in
      preaching ..................
 1. Preliminaries to argument.
    B u r d e n of proof-dis-
      cussion of Whately's
      theory........................
4 2. Principal varieties of argu-
      inent................ ..
    A. Arguments a priori....
    B. From testimony.........



         C. Induction .................. 186
139      D. From Analogy ........... 189
162      E. Deduction from estab-
           lished truth .191  
         F. Certain forns of argu-
163        ment.19........... 59l
      .3. Refutation.             198
173 y4. Orderof A rgumnents   .  206
173 2 5. General suggestions as to
180        Aruntent .210



CHAPTER VII.
ILLUSTRATION.



 l. Varioususesof Illustration. 213
 2. Sources of Illustration ...... 217
    Ob)servation of nature..... 217
    Of human life ................ 21 8  
    Our Lord's illustrations ... 219
    Pure invention ............... 220



     Science ...................    221
     Ilistory, news, anecdotes. 223
     Literature and art ........... 225
     Scripture ....................... 228
 3. Cautions as to the emiploy-
      nient of Illustration..... 228



                      CHAPTER VIII.
                         APPLICATION.
[mportance of the A p p I i C a-  i Persuasion, and three classes
  tio .230 1 of motives .232
                                 I ,citing emotion ..............,.234



xiv

 





CONT E N TS.



            PART II.
ARRANGEJIEN' OF A SERMON.

           CHAPTER I.
  IMIPORTANCE OF ARRANGEMENT.
           CHAPTER II.
THE SEVEERAL PARTS OF A SERPION.



xv



241



l. The Introlild ion ........... 248  Ordler of the divisions ..... 271
    Sources of intro luction ... 250  Statemnent of divisionrs 272
    Qtmlitii]t  of a goodl intro-     Shall they be in noneed,
      ductio................254       beforehand    ..       . 2,73
2. PlVn atnI Division. ........... 257  Transitions.          27 4
    N o discoueso Ivithout a .  3. ConelusiAn..            277
      pIdt       . -....... 257     Shuotldl lie acelintlly pre-
    Al ra v: s eck the )e t4 plan. 258  pared ......................27,S
    Th Ii'rpositill ........... 260   Recapitulatiol i.279
    Divisios......,..2.             Aipplicatiion, of lifferent
    Are llivisions ecessrv ..2kinds.2...........       . 2 79
    Noirier of divisions.    2t6       Concluding exhortation... 284
    Cha racter of the division.)s. 268  Preparation. of cnelusion. 286
                       CHAPTER III.
              DIFFEREN.\T SPECIES OF SE..MuNS.
Three svep t -i- istingiiished. 283   Advantages., disadvantfges. 300
 I  lj vet -srinoris .......  29 SIIggcstioiis as to coInzistilue-
2'.iXte  lil        .      23             1   a..................h 1 1               2lllll enelt. 2
Y 3. Exlpository scrnl.lli.s. ..295   List of good specimens..... 316



                        PART III.
                           ST YL E.

                        CHAPTER 1.
            GENERAL OBSERVATIONS ON STYLE.
P 1. Nature and ilnpo)rtance of         Study of literature .........3 29
      style .................   319    Practice, in writing and
P 2. Mean. of ilnllmroving style.. 324    speakdin .................... 334
    Study of language ......... 5 2
                       CHAPTER IT.
                   PERSPIC'UITY  OF STYLE.
Importance of perspicuity ....... 339 Tht construction of sentences
Perasieuiti av (Is  lenldiilg on      and paragraph..s............. 347
  teri.lls. ................. 343 General brevity and diffuseness. 352
                       CHAPTER III.
                     ENERGY OF sTrYLE.
Nature of energy, anti requisite!  I Energy in construetion ............ 363
  thereto ...........      357 i Concisncness in order to energy. 369
Energy in terms ...........    359 Figures which promote energy. 372

 




xvi



CONTENTS.



                      CHAPTER IV.
                    ELEGANCE OF STYLE.
Elegance in different species of  Elegance in use of flgures ........ 391
        composition ......... 380 Simpllicity conducive to ele-
   "   in  use of terms .............3.  gance .............. ..... 391
      inarrangementof words. 387    g

                      CHAPTER V.
      IMAGINATION IN ITS RELATION TO ELOOUTENCE.
1. Uses of imagination to the   f 2. Mlfeans of cultivating tho
     orator.              ,5 l     imagination................. 400


                       PART IV.

               DELIVERY OF SEIRMONS.

                       CHAPTER I.
  THE THREE METHODS OF P'REPARATION AND DELIVERY.
General remarks on Delivery... 406  - 4. Brief 11istory of the three
1 ]. Reading sermons.      40S8       methods.            436
2. Recitation -to write and      5. General and special prepa-
      repeat from memory...., 420       ration for extcl)poJrane-
    Free speaking.........423        ous preaching.      439
 3. Extemporaneous speaking 425

                      CHAPTER II.
             ON DELIVERY AS REGARDS VOICE.
1. General remarks on De-        P 4. Management of voice when
      livery..        ......4. i44   actually preaching.  458
2. Thevoice,-distinctpowers, 150      Note on Minister's Sore
3. General improvement of           Throat.46
      voice .4 452

                      CHAPTER      III.
            ON DELIVERY AS REGARDS ACTION.
Action as expressing thought 4f4 Gesture-use of hands .        471
Expression of countenance.   467 Rules with regard to action . 475
Posture in speaking  .     468


                        PART V.

           CONDUCT OF PUBLIC WORSHIP.
Worship properoften neglected. 476 l 4. Length of Services ............ 499
1. Reading Scripture ............ 478 1 .5. Pulpit Decorum ............... 502
2 2. Reading Hymns .............. 484  6 6. Concluding Remarks . 504
 3. Public Prayer ......... ... 492


 









THE



PREPARATION AND DELIVERY


                 OF SERMONS.




               INTRODUCTION.

1. IMPORTANCE OF PREACHING AND DIFFICULTY OF PREACHING
  WELL. Q 2. NATURE OF ELOQUENCE. i .3. REQUISITES TO EF-
  FECTIVE PREWCIIING. Q 4. ORIGIN OF TiE RULES OF RHETORIC.
  i 5. DA4NGFRS OF RHETORICAL STUDIES. Q 6. RELATION OF HOM-
  ILETICS TO RETORIC.  7. LITERATURE OF HOMILETICS.

P REACHING is characteristic of Christianity. No
1 false religion has ever provided for the regular and
frequent assembling of the masses of men, to hear religious
instruction and exhortation.  Judaism had something
like it in the prophets, and afterwards in the readers and
speakers of the synagogue; hut Judaism was a true religion,
designed to be dcvelope(I into Christianity.
  The great appointed means of spreading the good tidings
of salvation through Christ is preaching-words spoken
whether to the individual, or to the assembly. And this,
nothing can supersede. Printing has become a mighty
agency for good and for evil; and Christians should employ
it, with the utmcct diligence and in every possible way,

                  Comp. Vinet, p. 21.



B



1T

 



INTRO DUCTION.



for the spread cf truth. But printing can never take the
place of the living word. Whei a man who is apt in
teaching, whose soul is on fire with the truth which he
trusts has saved him and hopes will save others, speaks to
his fellow-men, face to face, eye to eye, and electric sympa-
thies flash to and fro between him and his hearers, till they
lift each other up, higher and higher, into the intensest
thought, and the most impassioned ernotion -higher and
yet higher, till they are borne as on chariots of fire above
the world,- there is a power to move men, to influence char-
acter, life, destiny, such as no printed page can ever possess.
Pasloral work is of immense iml)ortance, and all preachers
should be diligent in performing it. But it cannot take the
place of preaching, nor fully compensate for lack of power
in the pulpit. Tie twvo help each other, and neither of them
is able, unless supported by the other, to achieve the largest
an(l most blessed results. When he who preaches is the
sympathizing pastor, the trusted counsellor, the kindly and
honored friend of' young and old, of rich and poor, then
truths divine conic men(le( from his lips," and the dooi
to men's hearts, by the magical power of sympathy, will
fly open at his word. But on the other hand, when he who
visits is the preacher, whose thorough knowledge of Scrip-
ture and elevated views of life, whose able and impassioned
discourses have carried conviction and commanded adms-
ration, and melted into one the hearts of the multitude,
who is accustomed to stand before them as the ambassador
of God, and is associated in their ininds with the authority
and the sacredness of God's Word, - when hle comes to
speak with the suffering, the sorrowing, the tempted, his
visit has a meaning and a power of which otherwise it must
be destitute. If a minister feels himself specially drawn
towards either of these departments of effort, let him also
constrain himself to (diigence in the other.
  Religious eeremonies may be instructive and impressive,



18

 



INTRODUCTION.



The older dispensation made much use of these, as we
employ pictures in teaching children. Even Christianity,
which has the minimium of ceremony, illustrates its funda-
mental facts, and often makes deep religious impressions,
by its two simple lbut expressive ordinances. But these
are mnerely pictures to illustrate, merely helps to that great
work of teaching and convincing, of winning and holding
mien, whiChI preachliIIg, made mighty by God's Spirit, has
to )erfOrlil.
  It follows that preaching must always be a necessity,
and goo(l p)reachin]g a mighty power.  In every age of
(Chlristianity, since John the Baptist drew crowds into the
desert, there has hbeen no great religious movement., no
restoration of Scripture truth, and reanimation of genuine
piety, without new power in preaching, both as cause and
as efifct.
  But alas ! how difficult we find it to preach well. How
small a proportion of the sermons heard weekly throughout
the world are really good. The dilettanti men of letters
who every nowv aned then fill the periodicals with sneers at
preachling, no (loul)t judge most unkindly and unjustly,
for tile) 1)urpos)ly compare ordinary examples of preach-
ing with the finest specimens of literature, and they forget
their own titter lack, in the one case, of that sympathetic
appreciation without which all literary and artistic judg-
ment is necessarily at fault; but we who love preaching
and who try to preach are better aware than they are, of
the deficiencies which mar our efforts, and the difficulties
which atten(i our work. A venerable and eminently useful
mininister once remarked, as he rose from the couch on which
he had been resting, " Well, I must get ready to preach to-
night. But I can't preacli-I never did preach-O, I
never leard anybody preach."
  Andl Aet lin this work of ours, so awful and so attractive,
w diffihult and solemnly responsible and yet so bleswed, we



19

 



IN TR O DUCTION.



ought to aspire after the highest excelleLce. If in other
varieties of public speaking, then most of all in this, may
we adopt Cicero's words with reference to the young orator,
"I will not only exhort, but will even beseech him, to
labor." 
             2. NATURE OF ELOQUENCE.
  What is good preaching Or, more generally, what is
elcqu6.Ice This is not a merely speculative inquiry, for
our fundamental views on the subject will influence, to a
greater extent than we may be aware, our practical efforts.
Without reviewing the copious discussions of the question,
the following statement may be offered: Eloquence is so
speaking as not merely to convince the judgment, kindle
the imagination, and move the feelings, but to give a pow-
erful impulse to the will. All of these are necessary ele-
ments of eloquence, but that which is most characteristic is
the last. There may be instruction and conviction without
eloquence. The fancy may be charmed, as by a poem or
novel, when you would not think of calling it eloquence.
The feelings may be deeply stirred, by a pathetic tale or a
harrowing description, but no corresponding action being
proposed, we do not speak of it as eloquence. On the other
hand, it is not strictly correct to say that " eloquance is so
speaking as to carry your point;" for there may be an
invincible prejudice, or other insuperable obstacle, as, for
example, a preacher may be truly eloquent, without actu-
ally inducing his hearers to repent. There must be a pow-
erful inmpulse upon the will ; the hearers must feel smitten,
stirred, moved to, or at least moved towards, some action
or determination to act. Words that by carrying convic-
tion, kii iling imagination, and arousing emotion, produce
such an effect as this upon the will, are rightly called dlo.
quent words. Augustine says, Veritas paeat, veritas plaz

                   Cic. de Or. 11, J 86.

 



INT RODUCTION.



ceat, verr'a8 nmoveat, " Make the truth  plain, make it
pleasing, make it moving."
  Eloquence, then, is a practical thing. Unless it aims
at real and practical results, it is spurious. Mere holiday
eloquence does not deserve the name. And the preacher
who kindles the fancy of his hearers merely for their (lelec.
tation, who stirs their passions merely to give them the
luxury of emotion, is not eloquent. There is too much
preaching of just this sort. Besides vain pretenders who
care only to please, there are good men, who, if they can
say very handsome things, and can make the people feel,
imagine that they are preaching well, without inquiring
why the people feel, and to what truly religious ends the
feeling is directed.  It is a shame to see what vapid and
worthless stuff is often called eloquence, in newspaper puffs,
and in the talk of half-educated younglings, returning fromn
church.
  Eloquence is a serious thing. You cannot say that a
discourse, or a paragraph, is very amusing and very elh-
quent. The speaker who is to deserve this high name.
must have moral earnestness.  He may sometimes indulge.
where it is appropriate, in the light play of delicate humor,
or give forth sparks of wit, but these must be entirely iv
cidental, and subordinate to a thorough seriousness and
earnestness. Theremin, in his useful little treatise, " Elo
quence a Virtue," insists that eloquence belongs to the
ethical sciences, the character and spirit of the speaker
being the main thing. The theory is an exaggeration, but
coitain- an important element of truth, as Quintihian
already had partly observed.
  "What is the true ground of eloquence," says Vinet, " if

   Quint. Int. XII, 1, " An orator is a good man, skilled in speak-
ing." This, he says, was Cato's definition.  Prof. Shedd's lntrsr
duction to Thtremin gives some very good thoughts on the nature
of eloquence.

 



INTRODUCTION.



it is not commonplace When eloquence is combined
with high philosophical considerations, as ill many mo-
dern examples, we are at first tempted to attribute to
philosophy the impression we receive from it; but elo-
quence is something more popular; it is the power of
making the primitive chords of the soul (its purely
human elements) vibrate within us-it is in this, and
nothing else, that we acknowledge the orator."      It
is impossible to be eloquent on any subject, save by
associating it with such ideas as that of mother, child,
friends, home, country, heaven, and the like; all of them
familiar, and, in themselves, commonplace. The speaker's
task is, by his grouping, illustration, c., and by his own
contagious emotion, to invest these familiar ideas with fresh
interest, so that they may reassert their power over the
hearts of his hearers. He who runs after material of dis-
course that shall be absolutely new, may get credit for
)rigiialitv, and be amply admired, but lie will not exert
the living power which belongs to eloquence. Thepreacher
can be really eloquent only when he speaks of those vital
gospel truths which have necessarily become familiar. A
just rhetoric, if there were no higher consideration, would
require that a preacher shall preach the gospel -shall hold
on to the old truths, and labor to clothe them with new
interest and power.

     3. REQUISITES TO EFFEGTIVE PREACHING.
  They may be stated as four, viz. piety, natural gifts,
knowledge, skill.
  (1.) Piety. Men sometimes do good by preaching who
turn out to have been destitute of piety. It is one of the
-any wonderful ways in which God brings good out of
evil. But such cases are exceptional, and as a rule, the

                 Vinet, Hoom. p. 176, note.



22

 



INTRODUCTION.



prime requisite to efficiency in preaching is earnest piety
This inspires the