patience of the Judg and make him distast that which may be good in the rest They are ordinarily the young men that are most subject to this default they wander about because they want force of spirit to enter immediately into the matter We should render them a great service if we could make them resolve to leave that length and circuit of Discourse which is so much contrary to decorum and becomes odious and insupportable A Discourse spun out with these childish amplifications becomes languishing it only makes the Judges yawn and lulls them into a slumber §. 10. It is also the delight of young men to glister in all they say But true Eloquence seeks not after that vain splendour which is only proper to dazle the spirit We alwayes fall into errour when we study too much to please That Lawyer which relies more upon a passage of Seneca for defence of his Cause than upon good Reason very much deceives himself those glistering passages have not any force to perswade they serve only to waken the spirit of the Judge when it is weary §. 11. We seldome take any care of the exteriour part which relates to action which Cicero calls the Eloquence of the Body whose perfection consists in the gesture and pronunciation because we do not enough comprehend the necessity and importance thereof Quintilian only hath given us any precepts of it which Aristotle and Cicero have omitted possibly believing that it was a gift only of Nature which could not be reduced into Art or Method and have contented themselves only to note us the importance of it which they have done in several places of their works This right pronunciation is so important that we cannot neglect it without renouncing what is most powerful and perswasive in Eloquence It is that which rules most in Discourse and which irresistibly invades the soul and in which consists the greatest force and ornament The great Talent of Hortensius who equall'd Cicero in Reputation was the skilful mannagement of the action He was so admirable in an ardent manner of speaking that Roscius and Aesop the most famous Comedians of that time went alwayes to hear his Orations to learn from him their measure Having so little care to form our selves to this action we need not be astonished that we see so few tracts of that Eloquence which wrought so many wonders in the Times of Cicero and Demoit henes who alwayes endeavour'd to express in themselves by their ardour and vehemence those passions which they intended to excite in the Spirits of their Auditors It is true we have seen Orators some years past who gave weight to all their Reasons by the force wherewith they animated their Discourse but after all their ardency was so ill mannaged that what they said lost its grace by the desire they had to be too passionate for when once the fire mounted to their faces we could understand no more their pronunciation became so confus'd by their excessive transport Some others appear too cold they shew in their greatest affairs little of that emotion which is necessary to enflame the spirit of the Judges which are not at all touched in these great Subjects but by great movements We may say to these languishing Declamators that of Cicero against Calidius who spoke things very touching with an air of tranquility An ista si vera essent sic a te dicerentar All those which speak at the Barr are subject to add to the evil pronunciation which they learn'd at the Colledg One constant and disagreeable tone and an impression of the accent in the penultima syllables which occasions rather laughter than perswasion §. 12. The Subjects which furnish the present condition of the Bar having nothing of great or elevated cannot give to Eloquence those advantages which is found in the more important matters of the Antients Such were the deliberations of War and Peace the considerations of the good of the State and the publick interest the accusations and defenses of Princes and Kings which the great Orators discoursed with so much splendour The interests which are at this time the Subjects of the Barr are sometimes so little considerable that they are not capable to furnish matters of such worth to Eloquence as made it in those times to triumph over hearts His accedebat spl endot rerum magnitudo causarun quibus ipsa plurimum elo quentia praeslat Dialog de cous co eloq Crescit cum amplitudine rerum vis ingenij nee quisquam illustrem orationem facere potest nâ—si qui causam paremi invenit 16. This was one of the advantages that Messalla notes in the Dialogue of Quintilian the antient Orators had above those of his time in effect petty Subjects make petty Orators and the Spirit of him that speaks in publick is elevated by the merit and elevation of the Subject §. 13. There is an Eloquence of pure Authority which is of very great use at the Bar and though it be not passionate and its manner of declaiming be cold and serious yet it has the dignity that is required to imprint respect and veneration we hearken to it as to an Oracle being preingaged in its favour This is the Eloquence of the Judges and those which make Orations to Princes and great Lords who ought to observe this calm and peaceful Eloquence who must speak without emotion to preserve their Character for it ought to have nothing in it but submissive and respective and ought to be regulated according to the rank and quality of those to whom it is addressed either more or less respectively according to their degree or merit REFLECTIONS UPON THE Eloquence OF THE PULPIT T Is a thing above wonder that in so great a number of Persons who apply themselves to Preaching we find so few who succeed seeing they have so many advantages infinitely above all others who speak in publick The Eloquence of the Barr cannot furnish its Orators with matters so important to treat with things so touching to speak nor with such great motives to perswade as this Eloquence of the Pulpit all those Engines which she imployes in moving the Passions are so powerful the Figures of Rhetorick which are as sanctifyed in the Mouth by the commerce it has with the holy Spirit so glorious and the mysteries that it unfolds are so transcendent and it speaks by the dignity of its Character with so much authority that if there be any Eloquence which is perfect Mistress of hearts by the power that it hath to move and by its natural independance it must be this from whence comes it then that we have so few good Preachers It is not the fault of the Auditors since Faith prepares their Spirits to a perfect submission to what they come to hear the sight of Altars inspires them with respect and they are already perswaded by the principles of their Religion of what they come to attend Finally since the Preacher speaks
grace to his gesture and an agreement to to his discourse such as he pleased and all these in such a degree as never had Orator an equal power to him to raise attention and as never any person was more Master of what he said nor of the manner wherein he spoke he could give to the Spirits of his audience what impressions he pleased The greatest places where he Preached was too little to hold the concourse of those that followed him Though this great facility he had in speaking betrayed him into a neglect of preparing himself yet by the mere power of his action in the most indifferent and neglected discourses he could impose upon the People by his manner of speaking the most common things that he said were listend to with the same applause and admiration as those which were the most extraordinary things the choisest Preachers could say He had certainly been the most accomplished Preacher that ever was had his judgment and his capacity answered to his other Talents and if he had not been so excessive in his action which was too significant and besides had not all the gravity that the sanctity of the place required §. 4. These natural Talents sometimes exert themselves in so much splendor that they rob if it be lawful so to speak the word of God of that esteem veneration which we ought to have for it they often procure themselves attention not for that it is on Gods account they speak Non in sapientia verbi ne vacuetur crux Christi 1 Cor. 3. but because they speak agreeably because they are Eloquent Preach novelties or bear some Character of dignity or advancement in the Church or for some other outâ—ard qualities like the People of Jerusalem who went to hear Ezekiel because he was Eloquent For this reason it was that Saint Austine went first to hear Saint Ambrose before he was converted The Preacher ought to shun as a thing too humane and too sensual the giving place in his discourse to the curiosity of the people which he may easily do in taking the resolution to profit rather than please He cannot faile too of success if he know how to speak of good things and to speak them with judgement and knowledge § 5. I do not intend that it is necessary for all those that are called to the ministry to have all those great qualities that I have numbred 't is good that in the Church there should be men of different capacities to be accommodated to those of their Auditors which are so various It suffices to a Preacher that preaches to the common People to know the principal duties of Christianity An indifferent Preacher is sufficiently qualified to entertain Religion and make it subsist in a Village maugre the ignorance and stupidity that reigns amongst us for that mediocrity of genius may always be in an estate to instruct especially if it have joyned with it any Talent inspeaking and though he want the Genius to raise deep concernments yet he may be numbred amongst those Preachers who have the power to make a great noise by an animated manner of speaking which oftentimes works the same effect upon the hearts of the People as the Drums and Trumpets do upon the Souldiers in a Battel The noise astonishes them and makes them run with precipitation upon the Enemy without any reflection whither they go It is not the impulse of Reason which moves the grosser Spirits and awakens them to their duty for they understand it not but it is the emotion and ardeur with which they speak and the loudness of their Exclamations which makes the impression it is not the things themselves that move but the manner of delivering them because the manner is sensible and the things are not It is also manifest that the People judge not so much by the reasons as hath been said as by the tone of the voice they beleive him that speaks most loud and with most confidence and it is to this boldness that they owe the success of their perswasions for the truth is the Soul is not ordinarily moved than by what first vigorously strikes the sense But after all this these popular Preachers must be let to understand that they become ridiculous when they strive to be numbred amongst the fine Spirits and endeavour rather to please than to edifie it suffices in Preaching to the People to propose simply to them the great verities of Religion and the sanctity of its morals without labouring so much for Forms and Ornaments which oftentimes serve only to burthen the Preacher as well as his Audience § 6. The most part of Preachers are rendred very ignorant by mingling themselvs too much in the commerce of the world neglecting to apply themselves with that diligence that is required to the work of the Ministry 't is this reduces them â—oa necessity to copy one from another to furnish themselves with matters for their Sermons They take not the pains to fetch it from the Sources nor indeed have they any knowledge of them this is the cause that they use such ill Reasons to perswade to vertue for they have not a capacity for good reasons nor the Art to make them understood when they have them They usually ruine themselves by this copying from other men and extinguish their own Genius by striving to assume that of others From hence I may say all those deformities which are so ordinary amongst them first receive their birth that which makes so many ill Preachers is the false method they choose they ought not to serve themselves with the designs nor the thoughts of others till they be able to transform them and make them proper to their own Spirits §. 7. This Eloquence only becomes solid in a great capacity nor can any hope to be fortunate in this Art who has not before replenished his mind with all the knowledges necessary to treat the word of God with dignity The most important is that of Divinity without which a Preacher cannot with that confidence and authority give clear resolutions in the subjects whereof he treats It is a great weakness in him that preaches when he cannot determine precisely what is of Faith and what is not or to hesitate when he should decide But we know that there is nothing more great necessary or agreeable in this Eloquence of the Pulpit than Divinity which is the Science of Religion and there is nothing more miserable and disgusting when it is not treated with that sufficiency and dignity with which it ought to be §. 8. A too frequent commerce with the Schoolmen brings a much greater prejudice than advantage to the Preacher when he knows not how to make use of it as he ought and wants Wisdome or a necessary precaution in the reading of them for there is nothing so contrary to Eloquence as the learning of the Schools and I am perswaded that the Lecture of Thomas Aquinas how solid and
Natural Qualities requir'd to succeed in this Art of Speech is extreamly rare there is required an extraordinary elevation of Spirit a great judgment formed by a natural solidity to which the usage of the world and a profound knowledge of Letters must give perfection There is also required a vast Memory and an extended Imagination an easie Comprehension a Voice clear and distinct a Visage that hath nothing of forbidding a Pronunciation fine and animated joyned with an Air of Authority and many other Qualities which being usually incompatible of themselves are very difficultly found all together assembled Cernimus vix singulis aetatibus binos Oratores laudabiles extitisse De Orat. 'T is this that gave cause to Cicero to complain in his time when Eloquence was so flourishing that he could not without great trouble find in that Age two Orators that merited esteem yet this is no reason but that they may be found no was well as at other times for Nature is as liberal of her gifts in these last times as she was in the first but ordinarily we have not so much light to know in our selves those qualities when they are there or sufficient care or application to cultivate them so that they are there as if they were not at all §. 4. Besides this natural disposition there is required to be eloquent a great capacity and a great application These were the three things which rendred the Eloquence of Brutus Erat in Bruto natura admirabilis exquisita doctrina industria singularis De clar Orat. which Cicero praised so much so very accomplish'd There must be a great Attachment to study and an extraordinary diligence at the Cabinet to replenish the Spirit with knowledges necessary to Eloquence It is good to draw from the Sources to study to the bottom the Ancients principally those which are original and in fine to make a Subject of our perpetual Meditation the Rhetorick of Aristotle who hath taken the care to expose so exactly all the particular motions of mans heart The Orator ought to make the chief end of his Study to move the Souls of his Auditors by the movement of his Affections which are the true resorts of this Machine which is so difficult to enflame when we bestow no time in the study of them Without this knowledge an Orator is in a condition to determine nothing nor to obtain the attention of an Oracle which he must ordinarily be esteemed nor can his spirit be capable of any reasonable production according to the opinion of the judicious Critick Neque concipere neque edere partum mens potest nisi ingenti flumine literarum undata By what means can he enlighten others if he himself be not enlightned or how can he perswade if himself be not perswaded And who is there now who can sustain the travel of a study so opiniastre and of a perseverance so great as must be that of the Orator who must be ignorant of nothing §. 5. The true Eloquence being so difficult to acquire we think at least to recompense it by the appearances of a false Eloquence which had its first course amongst the Greeks and Latines in the declinings of their Republicks which never had any subsistence or entertainment than in the servitude of these Nations The Sophists whose Lives Philostratus and Eunapius have describ'd establish'd in their publick places this false eloquence which gives all to the exteriour part by aiery and wandring Discourse and hath no other tendency than to amuse the people but as this Eloquence has nothing of natural the Figures themselves and the Ornaments serve only to render it more weak All its Movements are false it touches not at all the heart nor enters in any manner into the Spirit all that it gives is a pleasure superficial and is no more than a simple pastime for the foolish and idle But as it is easie to mistake universally the false for the true for the former quickly offers it self to the Spirit but the latter is not found than with study and with care the first is immense by the multiplicity of its appearances which serve to disguise it whereas the other has none and consists in some kind in a point indivisible We ought not to be astonished if we take Appearance for Truth in Eloquence as in other things but when we arrive to true discernment we find that there is little of true Eloquence or perfect Oratory and that the most part of those which speak in publick are no other than pure Declamators §. 6. We exercise not our selves to obtain this Eloquence in the way that is most ordinary and sure to succeed in the pursuit that is frequent exercise in composition Nulla res ad dicendum proficit quantum scriptio Cic. fu Brut. to which we must apply our selves with no little assiduity to acquire a habitude for nothing is equal to the advantage we receive by it It was by this way that Demosthenes and Cicero are come to that degree of perfection which every one knows and without speaking of the first who spent so many years in that acquest Caput est quod minime facimus est enim magni laboris quod fugimus quam plurimum scribere De Orat. no person is ignorant that the latter employ'd all his leisure which his Affairs allow'd him to exercise himself to speak well by this frequent use of Composition §. 7. We study not to speak things correctly nor to make our Images and Portraicts equal we speak usually too much or too little the Mean that we must hold is known to very few persons for that it is almost imperceptible to attain which Knowledge we have but very few Rules And as a skilful Painter knows how to distinguish Passions in different Subjects wherein he is to express them he does not make the joy of a Prince like that of a Valet nor the fiercness of a common Souldier equal to that of his General There are also in the motions of the Soul different degrees which the Orator ought to distinguish to avoid the confusion of Images Which are not well comprehended or understood but by those who are perfect Masters of the Art The Ignorance of this Principle so little practised occasions the making so many false pictures of Eloquence In omnibus rebus videndum quatenus etsi enim suus cuique modus est tamen majus offen dit nimium quam parum De clar Or at It is important in the multitude of Idea's which present themselves to the Fancy to make a just choice and to avoid taking the false for the true this demands an exact discernment a great experience and an exquisite understanding we ought above all to make a reflection that the extremity and heat of our Fancy may not transport us and the too much shocks more than the too little This is that which the Roman Orator reproves so many times in his books of Rhetorick
and to be excellent in this Art they attribute to themselves the glory and success of their perswasions when they have done no more than what is effected by the impression of the voice and the exterior part of speech upon the heart Our Religion teaches us that it is the holy Spirit alone which does the rest §. 19. Another cause of the ill success in preaching is the Preachers being too much abandon'd to himself without ever thinking to implore the assistance and succours of heaven whereby he is driven to mix his own imaginations and weaknesses with the grandeur and sanctity of our Mysteries like that impertinent Preacher who preach't one day very miserably before a reverend Bishop making this complement after Sermon that he was forced to abandon himself to the holy Spirit because he had been allowed but a little time for preparation Adding that hereafter he hoped to acquit himself better There is something so great and elevated which I know not how to name in our Mysteries that it suffices to expose them simply and without Art to the people to merit all the glory that can be hoped from Eloquence were it honest to preach for Reputation §. 20. He treats unworthily the Word of God who debases himself to the childish amplifications of petty subjects and to meer trifles amongst the great number of important matters which furnish our Religion following the example of those trifling Preachers who spend their Zeal against Paintings Garnitures Dresses and other vanities of Women A good man begins by throwing a terror into our Souls by a remembrance of the Judgments of God and making us tremble by proclaiming the dreadful consequences of our Sins this is the most powerful means to extirpate Luxury and the most capable to introduce Modesty in our Habits and Behaviour He does but trifle that thinks to effect it any other way And in truth in so great and rich abundance of great matters which the Gospel affords he must have a very low spirit who can stay and busie himself about such trivial subjects I know not by what unhappiness our Preachers become so nugatory in the great subjects they have to treat when the antient Pagans were even great and elevated in the least things that they had to say I am ashamed when I read the Oration of Eschines against Ctesiphon where that Orator makes shine with so much Art the power of a Pagan Eloquence in these Trifles We says he are come to the Feast of Corbeils the Victims are upon the Altars the Sacrifice is ready and you are all prepared to beg of the Gods what is necessary for the State But consider before with what voice with what spirit and with what assurance you can present your Vows if you leave the Impiety of those who have violated their Mysteries unpunish'd See how much spirit and how much greatness there is in solittle a subject in comparison of that languor and weakness of most part of our Preachers who instead of being elevated by the Majesty and Greatness of our Mysteries amuse themselves in little things because they have not that force of spirit to fasten upon the greater The grave and serious kind is the character most essential to the Pulpit which admits of nothing that is low cold trivial or childish to obtain this he must imitate the Apostle who in lieu of busying himself in the search of prophane Ornaments made all his Art and all his Eloquence out of the continual meditation of the greatness of Jesus Christ Non doctas fabulas seculi notam fecimus nobis Jesu Christi virtutem speculatores facti illius magnitudinis §. 21. The most refined and sublime matters are not the most proper for preaching but on the contrary those that are the most edifying and simple For these reasons we ought to blame that extravagancy of wit which reigns in this age and labours after curious designs and ingenious distributions and division of discourse which gains so much approbation from the Ladies Such was that division of the Preacher who preaching on the suffering of our Saviour thought he had acquitted himself very dexterously when he had shown in two parts of his discourse The pleasures in sufferings and the sufferings in pleasures This affectation in discourse appears so childish smells so much of the Scholler and Declamator and so little of the gravity of the Pulpit that it is pittied by every one who has the least use of their reason for in those studied oppositions there is seldom any thing that is solid though sometime possibly they may be witty yet the parts are oftentimes comprehended the one in the other when they are exactly discuss'd And this contains but one and the same thing in effect though they are two in appearance Beside they often weaken the Subject by this too curious care to give it an agreeable variety which would be more strong if it were more natural It is for the most part the younger Preachers who seek after this fineness in the division of their discourses It was not the manner of St. Chrysostome nor those great men of the Church they found the most common distributions as being most natural alwayes the best they had a noble contempt of the reputation of being witty in these kind of things which only can succeed by being natural by their simplicity and by the strength of the reasons that recommend them §. 22. Nothing so much contributed to the great success the Apostles had in preaching the Gospel than their own practise of it their example was the best instruction and their preachings were rendred more powerful by their humility by their mortification and by their poverty than by their reasonings or Discourse And indeed the most effectual way of perswasion to Christianity is by the Life and Manners of those that preach It was the Eloquence of Jesus Christ first to practise himself what he taught He that preaches a severe morality with a cheerful and vermilion countenance will not easily perswade to what he exhorts for he gives cause to believe that he practiceth not what he teacheth and his visage destroyes his Reasons All the world hath seen the little success of some who could not by all the emotion of their zeal make the least impression because the rigour of their morality had diminished nothing from their thriving Carkases for the Auditors oftentimes regard more his Countenance than his Reasons The Countenance of the Preacher gives not a little consolation to those who cannot accommodate themselves to that severity which these sanguine Complexions dispence with so much zeal I do not say but that the people whose understandings are dull may be imposed upon but the exteriour part cannot do it for they judge according to appearance and though the Preacher may speak never so great a truth if his Manners be suspected his Reasons will be so also It is somtimes necessary to speak little to perswade much for all appears false