SECTION LIV.

OF PATHOS.

It is by this persuasive pathos,* it is by the language of the heart, that we discover a writer who makes it his practice to read those various works of piety; for it is this happy talent of affecting which doubtless constitutes the principal object of Christian eloquence.

All men have not sufficient ability to lay hold of an ingenious idea, but all have souls capable of being affected with a weighty sentiment; and never are the hearers more universally attentive than when the preacher becomes pathetic.t

impossible, and, indeed, needless, as every reader will consult his own taste.

* Pathos, in the French l'onction. Dr. BLAIR gives us the idea connected with this term when he says: "The chief characteristics of pulpit eloquence are gravity and warmth. The serious nature of the subject requires gravity; their importance to mankind requires warmth. The union of these two must be studied by all preachers as of the utmost consequence, both in the composition of their discourses and in their manner of delivery. This is what the French call onction; the affecting, penetrating, interesting manner, flowing from a strong sensibility of heart in the preacher to the importance of those truths which he delivers, and an earnest desire that they may make full impression on the hearts of his hearers."BLAIR'S Lectures, vol. ii., p. 105.

On this point let us regard two able judges and elo

I

Guard, however, against that affected sensibility which betrays itself by the accents of the voice, without penetrating to the very bottom of the soul, and which is ready to die away in the ear of the auditor, when it derives no internal animation from the composition.

"I require not," says Cicero, "a feigned compassion, nor incentives to sorrow, but that which is real, flowing from the sighs of a wounded heart.”*

quent writers. The first is Pope GANGANELLI, who says: "As to the style of sermons, it offends against all rules if it be not pathetic, nervous, and sublime. If a preacher only instruct, he does no more than prepare the mind; if he only affect the passions, he leaves but a slight impression; but if he scatter the ointment of grace, while he diffuses the light of truth, he has fulfilled his duty.”—GANGANELLI'S Letters, vol. iii., p. 82.

Dr. BLAIR says: "The only effectual method to become pathetic is to be moved yourselves. There are a thousand interesting circumstances suggested by real passion which no art can imitate and no refinement can supply. is obviously a contagion among the passions.

'Ut ridentibus arrident, sic flentibus adflent,

Humani vultus.'

There

The internal emotion of the speaker adds a pathos to his words, his looks, his gestures, and his whole manner, which exerts a power almost irresistible over those who hear him. Afficiamur antequam afficere conemur, says Quintilian."-BLAIR's Lectures, vol. ii., p. 193.

* Non simulacra neque incitamenta doloris, sed luctus verus atque lamenta vera et spirantia.—Orat., lib. ii.

Ꮓ

After a terrifying passage which has distressed me, I wish the orator to approach me again with affection; to revive my almost extinguished hopes, and, after having threatened me with an avenging God, to show me a God who pardoneth.

SECTION LV.

OF THE PATHOS OF FENELON.

THAT is a charming and flowing eloquence which, far from exciting violent agitations, gently insinuates itself into the soul, and there awakes the tenderest affections; which is a succession of natural and moving sentiments, copiously diffusing themselves, so that, when experienced, the orator who inspires them is forgotten, and we suppose that we are conversing with ourselves. Each word increases the emotion, and produces a certain sympathy which affects and expands every heart.

Such is the eloquence of Fenelon. The first part of his discourse "On the Consecration of the Elector of Cologne" is written with the energy and sublimity of Bossuet; the second denotes a sensibility which is peculiar to Fenelon. I shall only mention one example.

"O pastors! far from you let the contracted heart be banished. Enlarge, enlarge your bowels of affection. Ye know nothing if ye are only acquainted with the voice of authority, reproof, correction, and with pointing out the letter of the law. Be fa

thers; this is not sufficient: be mothers; travail in birth again till Jesus Christ be formed in the heart."*

* M. Maury elsewhere speaks of this amiable author by the appellation of the "immortal Fenelon," and declares that his discourse upon the Consecration of the Elector of Cologne is one of the chief works of modern eloquence.— Reflexions sur les Sermons de M. Bossuet, p. 328.

The character and method of Fenelon have been thus described: "He visited his diocese very diligently, and preached in all the churches of it. In his public instructions he suited his discourses to every capacity; speaking to the weak in an easy and familiar manner, while he raised his style for those who had a more elevated genius. His sermons flowed from his heart; he did not write them down, and hardly meditated on them beforehand. He only shut himself up in his closet to obtain by his prayers the knowledge he wanted. His only view was to be like a good father, to comfort, to relieve, and to instruct his flock. He was a man of extensive learning, great genius, and of an exquisite taste and irreproachable morals." Was born 1651, died 1715.—General Dictionary, in loc.

ness.

In the eulogium delivered by M. MAURY on Archbishop Fenelon before the French Academy in 1771, he gives us the following among many other traits of this great and good man: "The Eulogium of the Archbishop of Cambray is none other than his history, written with faithfulHere there is no occasion to exaggerate or dissemble. Instead of attempting to exceed that public admiration which he possesses, we should be glad if we can but keep pace with it, while speaking of a man who was the orator of the people, and pleaded the cause of humanity before kings; of a man illustrious by the renown of his

SECTION LVI.

OF OTHER PATHETIC ORATORS: BOURDALOUE, FLAVIAN, LAS CASAS, CHEMINAIS, KEN, GROSVENOR, STERNE, &c.

To require of a preacher discourses written entirely in the pathetic style would be to adopt very mistaken ideas of Christian eloquence. It is dangerous to enlarge too much in affecting passages. "Commiseration,” says Cicero, “ ought to be of short duration, for nothing dries up sooner than a tear."* The effect is weakened when the auditor is suffered to remain too long in the same state, and when no relief to sensibility is admitted, nor any suspension to eloquence.

Labour may render the style correct, forcible, harmonious, but industry never produces a true pathos; for the more it costs the orator to be animated and pathetic, the more is his discourse cold and languishing. Besides, are all subjects susceptible of tender sentiments? Our great masters, on some occasions,

name, the eminence of his virtues, the superiority of his talents, the importance of his functions, the character even of his errors; of a man whose mind was entirely engrossed in consulting the happiness of the human race; all whose peculiarities originated in his genius and his virtue, and who, if he failed in being happy, did so only because he had not an ordinary capacity."-Eloge de Fenelon, p. 354, 355.

* Commiserationem brevem esse oportet, nihil enim lachrymâ citiùs arescit.-Ad. HERENIUM, lib. ii., 31.