PART III.

ON THE METHOD OF COMPOSING.

LETTER XX.

ON THE CHOICE OF A SUBJECT.

THE most humorous of satirists has said, that

"All the rhetorician's rules

Teach nothing, but to name his tools."

Let us endeavour to avoid this imputation. Having in the foregoing letters named all the principal tools of rhetoric, let us now proceed to learn the use of them.

My present letter shall be devoted to giving you some hints on the choice of a subject.

You will do well to determine this point early in the week; and to get your sermon in hand, or at least in your head, as soon as possible. Probably after some practice you may be able to write a very fair sermon in two days, or less; but if you reserve only the last two days of the week, how can you be sure of sufficient time to finish it? Your time may be broken in upon by fifty different things;

you may be

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ON TIIE СHОІСЕ OF A SUBJECT.

[PART III. tormented by a headache, or interrupted by visitors; or some unexpected duty in your parish may arise; or you may not feel yourself in a humour or fit frame of mind for composing; for even the best authors are not equally prompt and alert at all times-Homer himself was liable to occasional drowsiness-and what is written "invitâ Minervâ" will have but little spirit or effect. Therefore, if you defer all thoughts about your sermon till Friday or Saturday, the chances are that you will produce a dull or slovenly composition, or be obliged to put off your congregation with an old one.1

1

["That which is recorded of Dr. Donne by his biographer, might no doubt be recorded of many other diligent and faithful clergymen. 'The latter part of his life may be said to be a continued study: for, as he usually preached once a week, if not oftener, so after his sermon he never gave his eyes rest till he had chosen out a new text, and that night cast his sermon into a form, and his text into divisions; and the next day betook himself to consult the Fathers, and so commit his meditations to his memory, which was excellent.' And much to the same effect is related of Dr. Hammond, that 'his method was, which likewise he recommended to his friends, after every sermon to resolve upon the ensuing subject;' for which he collected materials in the course of his study through the week. And the consequence was, that his preaching was not, at the ordinary rate of the times, an unpremeditated, undigested effusion of shallow and crude conceptions; but a rational and just discourse, that was to teach the priest, as well as the lay-hearer.'

"Such appears to be the conduct which becomes a zealous and diligent clergyman. On the contrary, to occupy the greater part of the week in unprofessional employments, and to thrust off the provision and preparation requisite for this important duty on the Lord's day till only the day or the two or three days immediately preceding, seems to betray a mind not properly alive to its professional obligations; not duly earnest in the cause of God and a desire to 'set forth his glory;' not sufficiently anxious to promote the instruction, and to 'set forward the salvation' of the people; who, in all probability, when the matter comes to the trial, will in fact be little instructed

"The subject of a sermon," says Archbishop Hort, "" ought to be some point of doctrine that is necessary for a Christian to know, or some duty that it is necessary for him to practise, in order to salvation." Now these are not precisely the points to which a young clergyman is most likely to have given his latest attention. The discourses which he has heard at the University have turned probably on some topic of learned controversy, or some important point of criticism. Or his head is full of the evidences of Christianity, or of the proofs and explanation of the Articles-subjects which he has been most properly engaged in mastering for his ordination. In short, the bias of his mind is more towards the argumentative and controversial, than the practical points of religion. It now becomes your business to change the tone of your thoughts, from what is speculative and theoretic to what is more practical and profitable. For your first ten or twelve sermons, I should say, that decidedly the best course, both for yourself and your flock, would be, to arrange your thoughts with the greatest care, and with diligent reference to Scripture, on some of those great subjects of religion on which every clergyman, in his intercourse with his parishioners, has occasion daily to speak. Such, I mean, as life, death, judgment, repentance, the fall, the atonement, the sacraments, sanctification, justification, faith, and charity. Every clergyman ought, for the sake of those whom he has to instruct, as well as for his own, to

and edified by such ill-considered and ill-prepared semblances of teaching.

"He who would offer to the Lord an acceptable sacrifice, must not treat his 'table as contemptible,' by offering ‘the blind, the lame, and the sick;' and 'the priest's lips' must acquire and keep knowledge,' if he would have the people seek the law' profitably and effectually at his mouth.'"]-Bishop Mant's Clergyman's Obligations, p. 255-7.

have these great subjects, not only in their doctrinal, but still more in their practical bearings, clearly and decidedly impressed on his mind; so that he may never be at a loss, whether in the sick room or the pulpit, the cottage or the school, to speak on them to his own satisfaction, and his hearers' profit. Here, then, are subjects prepared for you for the first two or three months.

*

We will now suppose you to have finished this course of primary subjects, and to have arrived at the routine duty of an established parochial pastor. It is a very good plan to have a number of sketches of sermons by you. Whenever, in the course of reading or meditation, a profitable subject presents itself, you should note it down in a common-place book, to which you may refer when at a loss for other topics. But I suppose you by this time to have become acquainted with the circumstances and wants of your flock; and it is to these that you must always look when selecting the subject of your discourse. Never choose at random, nor with reference to your own fancy or convenience; but think always on what will be most edifying to those committed to your charge. You should make yourself acquainted with their habits of thought, and consider well the time, place, and circumstances in which those whom you address are placed. The more pointed and particular your sermon is, provided it be not personal, the better. "It is an unpardonable piece of negligence for a preacher to omit noticing the particular subjects applicable to the great festivals of the church. The congregation come prepared for the occasion, and are justly disappointed if they hear a discourse entirely unconnected with it." Besides, the festivals afford an opportunity of fixing attention on the most important truths, which you should be careful to improve.

1 Paley.