The meagre famine there, and, drunk with
blood,
[yore
Stern war; and the loath'd monster, whom of
The slimy Naiad of the Memphian flood
Engend'ring, to the bright-hair'd Phoebus bore,
Foul pestilence; that on the wide-stretch'd wings
Of commerce speeds from Cairo's swarthy bay
His westering flight; and through the sick air$ 301. Pulpit Eloquence, from the English
Spotted contagion; at his heels dismay
And desolation urge their fire-wheel'd yoke
Terrible; as long of old, when from the height
Of Paran came unwreath'd the mightiest, shook
Earth's firm-fixt base tott'ring; through the
black night
[abroad
Glanc'd the flash'd lightnings: heaven's rent
Thunder'd; and universal nature felt its God.
The good alone are fearless; they alone,
Firm and collected in their virtue, brave The wreck of worlds, and look unshrinking down
On the dread yawnings of the rav'nous
grave:
Thrice happy who, the blameless road along
Of honest praise, hath reach'd the vale
death!
Around him, like ministrant cherubs, throng
His better actions, to the parting breath
Singing their best requiems; he the while
Gently reposing on some friendly breast,
Breathes out his benisons; then with a smile
Of soft complacence lays him down to rest, Calm as the slumb'ring infant; from the goal Free and unbounded flies the disembodied soul.
THEN deem not (as my previous strains have
taught)
Religion, a cold metaphysic form,
Musing o'er moral problems, and confin'd
To wisdom's eyes alone-behold, she sits,
While faith unveils her to the vulgar gaze,
Streaming cherubic effluence o'er her heaven
Of spotless azure! To the dazzling light
Her everlasting robe, the asbestos floats
In vivid folds. Around her emerald throne
The passions tremble at her awful beck-
"Her ministers as flaming fire," to waft
Into the mortal bosom the pure spark
Æthereal, that refines our thought! Hence fly
The words that burn; while her impulsive power
Imparts an oratory only less
Than what inspir'd the apostles, when of old
They spake all tongues, and saw confusion's
reign,
The curse of jarring Shinar, disappear.
And lo! she hails her Albion as the spot
Auspicious to her orators, though, long,
Unfriended; whilst, in other climes, the pomp
Of tyranny and superstition frowns,
Ungenial inmates; and in sloth supine
Snores the dark priory, or proud conclaves vaunt
Their hierarchal honors! Here the mind
Shall rise unshackled, if too nice a sense
Fastidious intervene not, to retard
Its flights! Here pathos may exert its powers.
First therefore, to produce the pathos, fix
Upon the great emotions of the soul
The mental eye; and deem thy hearers mov'd
By similar sensations. Thus the case
Of others may be accurately drawn
From thine assenting heart that feels it true.
Thus intimately versant in the soul's Quick movements, thou wilt never harshly treat What should be gently turn'd to virtue's road; Removing each obstruction that may bar Persuasion, and preparing every mind By lenient measures, ere thy art unfold Whether some delegated charge below, [claim; Doctrines, whose aspect suits not worldly pride, Some much-lov'd friend its hovering care may | Or idle vanity, or sensual care.
Free to receive thy lessons, shall the heart
Attend them, unrevolting. Then affect,
And in repeated agitation keep,
By the displays of sacred truth, the race
Of passion; which, attemper'd into shapes
Resembling scarce their former guise, and held
In close engagement, rarely shall relapse,
Again imbruted, amid earthly things.
Meantime thy style familiar, that alludes
With pleasing retrospect to recent scenes,
Shall interest every bosom. With the voice
Of condescending gentleness, address
Thy kindred people. Shun the distant air,
The formal; shun the flippancy too smooth,
The lightness too theatrical; the starts
That waken for a while the listening car,
But waken to antipathy. Be warm,
Yet grave: unite an animated soul
With dignified demeanor; and, untouch'd
By the vain glory that on Herod beam'd
A momentary rapture, big with death,
Preach not thyself; but nurse an ardent zeal
As for thy offspring rang'd below! The fire
Of exhortation haply may diffuse
Thy piety, thy virtues; as they see
The emotions of a parent. But beware
Of overacted violence, that turns
To ridicule the best-imagin'd strain.
The pulpit-speakers that arose to fame, Ere Britain from asperities had clear'd Her language, opening to thee ample stores For eloquence, may cool the intemperate warmth Of passion; but the pulpit might in vain Adopt their manner. Idly might a South His witty turns, his quaintnesses display, Except to waken laughter. Barrow's style, Redundant and involv'd, would soon oppress Thy auditors: even Tillotson's were cold, Though thick with oratorial beauties sown; And Clarke's exactness, rigorous and precise, Might vainly torture the protracted thought. No-to thy observation-to thy heart Recur; nor ever slight them; and, now vers'd In nature and religion, fix thy choice Upon the topics that may best enforce The moral sense, instil into the soul
The young around thee with the feeling tones That speak the guardian father and the friend.
Or, on the duties of maturer years Descanting, rove not with digressive wing.
But still to thy selected topic true,
Trace the hoar lineaments of tremulous age
Dropping into the grave. Trite is the tale
Of mortal frailness; but the gloomy truth
Yet interests and affects; and what affects
Will influence. For, though oft the passions,
rous'd
By vivid strokes of the pathetic, glow
With but a momentary flush, and faint
Full fast away; still something at the heart
Lingers in feeble pulses inextinct,
That quick recurs to conscience, at the hour
Of meditated evil: the weak sense
By oratorial energies renew'd,
Acquires an active vigor to repel
The power of vice. The pictur'd frown of death
Hath even awak'd from lethargies of sin
The sluggard soul; and bade it trembling fly
The horrors that inwrap the yawning gulph.
Nor seldom, stealing with familiar strain
Into his business and his bosom, paint
The poor man's lot; whilst in the house of God
The virtuous peasant shall beside the peer
Stand forth, embolden'd. Tell him, if the
Of floating purple shade o'erweening pride,
His is the better livery that infolds
The limbs of want: and tell him, though his
Of still devotional repose are few,
If pious meditation shall await
His steps into the field, the humble vow,
Breath'd from amidst his labors, may ascend
The purest incense that embalms the skies.
Thus it behoves thee to inspect with care Life's shifting circumstance. The social ties, The duties that reciprocally bind
The human race, shall in strong light appear Link'd with peculiar stations. Though alike "The tender charities of father, son, "And brother," interest all our mortal race;
The Christian spirit meek, and mend the heart. Lovelier shall they attract the poor, if drawn
If to the moral system we restrain Our search, select such topics as are sure To suit thy various audience. To one point That turns on age, or station, or the modes Of character, thy apt discussions guide Unvarying. Many a preacher wanders wild O'er human life; exhibiting his draughts Confus'd and transitory-to distract
The attentive eye, that with vain gaze pursues.
Is youth thy subject?-Fix'd within the pale
Of youth, delineate its peculiar bent-
Its failings, its affections; in full strength
Show its appropriate duties; and address
Beneath the straw-roof'd dwelling; or the rich, If shadow'd in the splendor of the dome.
And human character with no vain force May arm thy eloquence. Its simple forms Shall strike the rude spectator, and excite The conscious feelings. But the draught refin'd Rarely the vulgar apprehension meets, Though well thy pencil's mimic powers it prove.
Here may the historic instance give effect To moral portraits. From the sacred fount Bring forth the forcible example. Show The grey Barzillai's honorable age
Placid, though to the minstrel's warbled voice
To the sweet meltings of luxurious lutes
No more awake! Show Hezekiah frail
In human weakness, and still asking life!
Show saintly Timothy, though young,
tach'd
The weak apostle's unbelief; his doubts Quick into faith resolving; the despair Of tortur'd Judas, who in bitter shame, de-In the black writhing of remorse exclaim'd, I have betray'd the blood of innocence"These are the potent instances sublime That best become thy subject and thyself; The bold examples that command belief; The judgement and the passions at a stroke Convince and move; repel with wondrous force
From sensual joys. Exhibit Lazarus poor-
Arimathean Joseph rich, yet proud
To bear the Christian banner! And describe
The trembling Felix! Such as these beseem
Thy pulpit oratory, opening tracts
Recent in various beauties; where the heart
Throbs with the keen emotions of delight
Or fear; and (as the obedient memory stores
The striking incident) beats every pulse
In corresponding tones to nature's sense;
Till, sudden, by an unexpected stroke
At once discover'd to itself, it sees
Its every winding avenue; shrinks back
From its detected vices (never view'd
Before, but with a transitory glance);
And shudders at the brood it fosters there.
If in the Christian system, we behold
The radiant Sun of righteousness arise
With healing in its wings-to stream forth light
Upon the sterner virtues, to relume
By pure effulgence mild the moral world;
Tis here pathetic eloquence shall greet
Prospects at which e'en paradise might fade,
Though all its bowers hung blooming to the
breath
Of innocence !-'Twas Eden's happy pair
Announc'd creation's blessings. But here burst
Ineffably benign, redemption's rays,
Whilst in a mute amaze archangels hail
Th' infinitude of mediatorial love!
Here shall thy glowing oratory charm With an unwonted lustre, as it meets The meekness of the Christian-his calm eye Wet with the tear of gratitude! To prove Religion's firmly-rooted truths, by long Elaborate deduction, were to freeze That feeling tear! The unfathomable strain The vulgar may admire; but not with breath More idly eloquent, the sainted sage Gather'd around him on the rocky shore The scaly race that cleave the hoary deep.
Insist not, therefore, with a tedious length, On proofs external. The strong leading facts, Concisely representing, quickly bring The internal evidence to light, that strikes Conviction while it sinks into the heart.
Faith is, perhaps, thy topic. Ah beware
Of mazy ambiguities too dark
For letter'd minds. Attempt not to premise
The jarring tenets of innumerous sects;
But in perspicuous enarration touch
The important theme. Clear argument may
In short succession: yet the historic draught Shall occupy attention's stedfast soul.
The sceptic's rebel reason; and inform
The meanest intellect with instant light.
And should repentance be thy plainer theme,
Discourse not in too general terms that fix
But feebly on the memory. Show its powers
As instanc'd by the roving son, who fled
With sorrow, from the harlot's treacherous
smile,
To his glad father's bosom. If thy speech
The stronger passions shall address, behold
The everlasting Gospel brings to view,
Amid the horrors of the spreading gloom
Miraculous, a dying Saviour nail'd
Upon the cross, while in the midst is rent
The temple's veil; and the pale vaults resign
Their dead! Behold, the Gospel blazons forth
The dissolution of a world in flames;
Pictures the bloody sun; the rushing spheres,
The elements that melt with fervent heat ;
Portrays the throne of judgement, and the
crowds
That meet their doom eternal-some ingulph'd
In fiery depths sulphureous; others high
Among the saints, and crown'd with starry light.
These be thy topics-thy sententious phrase,
With each variety of figures fraught,
That heighten the pathetic; while exclaim
The affections in apostrophes; suspend
Attention by the well-tim'd pause; contrast
The bold-drawn imag'ry; or break away,
In all the abruptness of transition, wild."
Thus, whilst thy pulpit-oratory lives
In nature, Scripture echoes to its strain;
Whether the cheerful or serene shall flow,
Or the devout in feeling beauty breath'd,
The sorrowful, the joyous, the sublime.
And lo! the oration modell'd by the rules
Of Beautiful arrangement, shall despise
The studied air-the mechanism that marks
A chain of subdivision. Every part
Shall coalesce with ease; nor passion wait
Invariably, the peroration's call.
Such is the manner only, that becomes
The pulpit. And it strikes with double force,
While dignified demeanor, and a sense
Of duty in the unerring conduct shown,
And fatherly affection never damp'd
By low pursuits of lucre, o'er thee spread
The sunshine of sincerity. Can they,
Whose inconsistent lives not rarely seem
A very contrast to the truths they preach,
Reform the general morals?-When the light,
The volatile, the modish churchman mounts
The hallow'd rostrum with an airy step
That rivals ev'n a Vestris' case, and casts
His careless glances on the pews below,
What are his bosom-feelings? Sure, one pause,
One little pause the vanities resign
To serious thought; as to his distant home
Retiring from Augusta, he yet deigns
To visit, for a while, his vagrant charge.
Alas! he scarcely knows (nor strives
know)
By mimic ignorance. What though Horne
His thoughts in beauteous metaphor; he knows
To discipline his fancy-to command
The heart; and by familiar accents move
The Christian soul! Say, what though Porteus
strike
By copious sentiment, condens'd and strong;
Or graceful Hurd may reason in a style
Of elegant deduction, as a voice
More musical than Atterbury's, holds
The still attention; pathos best accords
With common hearers; nor is misapplied
to E'en to the more refin'd. The statelier pomp
Of high cathedral dignities may frown
Upon the impassion'd period; and the pride
Of science too pedantic may propose
The closer method of the deep discourse,
As the sole imitable mode: yet say,
Doth not the fane effuse its holy gloom
O'er various minds, the polish'd or unform'd
In each gradation-o'er the gentle breast
Whence unaffected sentiment aspires;
Whence pure devotion's flame? Is there a
His blunt unfashion'd people; but to all
Bowing with graceful condescension, pays
An undistinguishing regard; then flies
(Delighted that his tedious task is o'er)
Back to the scenes, while, hailing his ap-
proach,
Soft pleasure strews the rosy couch, and clasps,
Familiar, the fond vot'ry to her arms!
Here, pupil, might we rest-the genuine Feels not the address from Blair; though
Of pulpit eloquence already trac'd-
But let us mark occasions that may ask
More argument or elegance than suits
The multitude; and, touching on the modes
That in discriminated features show
Thy art, propose the models which may claim
Thy just regard.-A learned audience loves,
As Granta's, or a Rhedycina's sons,
Ev'n the polemic question. Not but there
The champions of the theologic war
Misplace their oratory. For, behold,
Those hearers that await the preacher's nod
In academic bowers, are, chief, the young,
With fancy gay and vigorous. Doth the dry,
The strict methodic dissertation suit
Their airy spirits?-Rather note the sting
Of secret vice, exhort to study, point
The prize of honor, and distinctly draw
Virtue's fair outline.
O'er thy reasoning throw
The robe of rhetorick. Not that ornament
Should, here, invest thy topics with a glare
Of superficial richness. Rather verge
To Sherlock's plain compactness, that admits
No decorating figures, than o'erload
Thy lessons with the metaphor's crude mass.
These, on a gen'ral survey, are the modes
Of pulpit-oratory, which agree.
With no unletter'd audience. But in these
(Where judgement or the lively fancy reigns
Predominant o'er passion) genius bids
The different mannerists attract the eye
Of fame. Hence, by an easy process, slides
The species into country-fanes-transcrib'd
Impassion'd, and yet temperate; though refin'd,
Yet rarely florid? Who but owns the charm
As Stonehouse gives to sentiment new soul,
From every fine inflexion of a voice
Distinct and sweet? 'Tis thus thy art hath
drawn
Persuasion's genuine excellence and force
From nature and the Scriptures! These are
thine,
These are already open to thy view
In fair display! I see, auspicious youth,
Thy bosom kindle, as thy sacred guides
Pass in array before thee! I behold
Thine ardors mark a Saviour on the mount
That mocks the rigor of the Stoic porch,
And his pathetic look on Peter cast,
And his heart-breathing accents in the path
To Emmaus, at dim eve! I see thee hail
The martyr's angel-features, all illum'd
By inspiration's lustre, while he bids
Sublimest truths inform the unhallow'd ear!-
I see thee turn to Lystra's prostrate tribes
That fell astonish'd at the feet of Paul,
And, as the god of eloquence, ador'd
The saint! I see thee trace him, at the
throne
Of the half-Christian king; or midst the
shrines
Of Athens! And thine own exalted mind
I see with transport glowing, as the powers
Of Blair and Stonehouse meet-combin'd in
thee!
Thus, then, (thy glorious mission duly view'd
As of eternal moment) be it thine,
Whilst other speakers, less rever'd, pursue
Their own appropriate task, as erst my verse
Instructed; whether at the learned bar
Strict reasoning gain conviction; or the dome
Of senates echo to the embellish'd phrase
(Man's temporal welfare their inferior end);
Be thine the nobler office to persuade
By exhortation, fix in every soul
Its fervor for the immortal scene, and point The path-though here thou walk, yet lent to earth,
Thy heart establish'd in the bliss of heaven!
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