SERMON. 



numerous and too minute, ferve to aid the compofer and the 

 hearer of a fermou. In order to render fermons more 

 ftriking, and conTcquently more ufeful, the fubjeft of them 

 Ihould be precife and particular. General fubjefts, though 

 often chofen by young preachers, becaufe they offer a more 

 ample fupply of matter, without much labour of thought, 

 and a wider fcope for the difplay of (howy talents, are by 

 no means the moil favourable for producing the high effedls 

 of preaching. Thefe fubjefts, often recurred to, admit of 

 little diverfuy and variety. The attention of the hearer is 

 more certainly engaged and fixed, by feizing fome particular 

 view of a great fubjeft, fome fingle intereiling topic, and 

 direfting to that point the whole force of argument and 

 eloquence. Here indeed the execution is more difficult, but 

 the merit and the effeft are higher. Moreover, the com- 

 pofer of a fermon fhould never Itudy to fay all that can be faid 

 upon a fubjeft : no error can be greater than this. On the other 

 hand, the preacher Ihould feleft the mod ufeful, ftriking, and 

 perfuafive topics which the text fuggefts ; and with this view 

 he (hould confider, that difcourfes for the pulpit are intended 

 lefs for information than perfuafion, and that nothing is more 

 oppofite to perfuafion than an unnecellary and tedious fulnefs. 

 Again, in ftudying a fermon, the preacher ought to place 

 himfelf in the fituation of a ferious hearer ; and derive his 

 principal materials from thofe views of a fubjeft, and thofe 

 arguments and refleftions which would operate moft favour- 

 ably and moft effeftually on his own mind. Above all things, 

 the preacher fliould lludy to render his inftruftions interefting 

 to the hearers. In this refpeft, much depends on the delivery 

 of a difcourfe, but much will alfo depend on the compofition 

 of it. Correft language and elegant defcription are but 

 the fecondary inftruments of preaching in an interefting 

 manner. The great fecret lies, in bringing home all that is 

 faid to the hearts of the hearers, fo that every man may be 

 led to tliink that the preacher is addreffing him in particular. 

 It is hardly necefi'ary to fubjoin a caution here, that perfona- 

 lity (hould be avoided. For the attainment of the end now 

 ftated, the preacher fhould avoid all intricate reafonings, 

 and exprefling himfelf in general fpeculative propofitions, or 

 laying down praftical truths in an abllraft metaphyfical 

 manner. As much as pofiible, the difcourfe ought to be 

 carried on in the Itrain of direft addrefs to the audience ; 

 not in the ftrain of one writing an ciiay, but of one fpeaking 

 to a multitude, and ftudying to mix what is called applica- 

 tion, or what has an immediate reference to praftice, 

 with the doftrinal and didaftic parts of the fermon. 

 In this conneftion we may add, that the preacher Ihould 

 adapt his difcourfes, with a view of making them in- 

 terefting, to the different ages, charafters, and conditions of 

 men, and that he ftiould avail himfelf of any pcrfonal or do- 

 meftic occurrence, for imparting either inftruftion or confo- 

 lation. Some of the moft imprefTive difcourfes are thofe 

 that delineate and exhibit examples founded on hiftorical 

 fafts, and drawn from real life. Manv of thefe may be 

 found in fcripturc, which, when they arc well chofen, command 

 a high degree of attention. Bilhop Butler's fermon on the 

 " charafter of Balaam," affords a fpecimen of this kind of 

 prcacliing. It is of importance to obforve, farther, that 

 the preacher ftiould be cautious not to take his model from 

 particular fafhions that chance to have the vogue. It is the 

 univcrfal tafte of mankind, which is fubjeft to no changing 

 modes, that alone is entitled to poftefs any authority : and 

 this will never give its fandtion to any ftrain of preaching 

 that is not founded in human nature, connefted with ufe- 

 fulnefs, adapted to the proper idea of a fermon, as a ferious 

 perfuafive oration, delivered to a multitude, in order to make 

 thcra better men. Let the preacher form himfelf upon this 



ftandard, and he will attain reputation and fuccefs much 

 more than by a fervile compliance with any popular tafte, or 

 tranfient humour of his hearers. 



As to the ftyle of fermons, it Ihould in the firft place be 

 very perfpicuous. Plainnefs and fimplicity ftiould prevail ; 

 and of courfe all unufual, fwoln, or high-founding words 

 fhould be avoided ; and efpecially thofe that are merely poe- 

 tical, or merely philofophical. Dignity of expreftion is in- 

 deed indifpenfible ; but this dignity is perfeftly confiftent 

 with fimplicity, and alfo with a lively and animated ftyle, 

 diftated by the earneftnef; which a preacher ought really to 

 feel, and not merely to affeft, andjuftihed by the grandeur 

 and importance of his fubjefts. He not only may employ 

 metaphors and comparifons, but, on proper occafions, may 

 apoftrophife the faint or the finner, may perfonify inanimate 

 objefts, break out into bold exclamations, and, in general, 

 command the moft paffionate figures of fpeech. 



The language of fcripture, properly employed, is a great 

 ornament to fermons ; and it may be employed either in the 

 way of quotation or aliufioii. But the allufions which the 

 preacher ufes ftiould be natural andeafy, forif they feem forced, 

 they approach to the nature of conceits. In a fermon, no 

 points or conceits ftiould appear, no affefted fmartnefs and 

 quaintnefs of expreffton ; which derogate much from the 

 dignity of the pulpit. It is a ftrong exprclfive ftyle, rather 

 than a fparkling one, that ought to be ftudied. Epithets 

 have often great beauty and force, but it is a great error to 

 imagine, tliat we render ftyle ftrong and expreflive, by a 

 conftant and multiphed ufe of epithets. 



As to the queftion, whether it be moft proper to write 

 fermons fully, and commit them accurately to memory, or 

 to ftudy only the matter and thoughts, and truft the ex- 

 preftion, in part at leall, to the dehvery. Dr. Blair is of 

 opinion that no univerfal rule can be given. Preachers muft 

 adopt either of thefe methods, according to their different ge- 

 nius, and we m,iy add according to the fituation where they are 

 fettled, and the rank or charaAer of the affembly which they 

 addrefs. It is proper, however, to begin, at leail, the praftice 

 of preaching, with writing as accurately as pofiible. Hethinkj 

 it alfo proper to continue, as long as the habits of induftry 

 laft, in the praftice both of writing and committing to me- 

 mory. The praftice of reading fermons is, as our author 

 fays, one of the greateft obftacles to the eloquence of the 

 pulpit in Great Britain, where alone this praftice prevails. 

 No diicourfe which is defigned to be perfuafive can have the 

 fame force when read as when fpoken. We arc of opinion, 

 however, that fermons from memory have little advantage, 

 in point of effeft, above thofe that are read. An extempo- 

 rary fern-on has this advantage in an eminent degree ; but 

 few excel, and many difcourfes of this kind are fuch as 

 would difgull ajudicious, though candid, hearer. 



The French and Englifli writers of fermons proceed upon 

 very different ideas of the eloquence of the pulpit. A 

 French fermon is, for the moft part, a warm animated ex- 

 hortation ; an Englilh one, a piece of cool inftruftivc rea- 

 foning. The French preachers addrefs themfelves chiefly to 

 the imagination and the pafTions : the Englilh, almoft folely 

 to the underftanding. The union nf thefe two kinds 

 of compofition, of the French carneftnefs and warmth 

 with the Englilh accuracy and rcafoning, would form, 

 in Dr. Blair's judgment, the model of a perfcft fer- 

 mon. The cenfure which, in faft, the French critics 

 pafs on tlie Englifh preachers is, that they arc philofo- 

 phers and logicians, but not orators. Among the French 

 Protcftant divines, Saurin is the moft diftinguiftied ; and tlie 

 late Mr. Robinfon of Cambridge^ has done a public lervicc by 

 tranflating many of his difcourfes into the Englifti language. 

 P p 2 Saurin 



