I. DUTY OF A PREACHER.

To inftruct, and for that end to speak clearly.

Since the preacher fpeaks in order to inftruct, and has equal obligations to all, to the ignorant and the poor, as much and perhaps more than to the learned and the rich; his chief care fhould be to make himfelf clearly understood: every thing muft contribute to this end: the difpofition, the thoughts, the expreffion, and the utterance.

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'Tis a vicious tafte in fome orators, to imagine they are very profound, when much is required to comprehend them. They don't confider, that every difcourfe which wants an interpreter, is a very bad one. The fupreme perfection of a preacher's ftile fhould be to please the unlearned as well as the learned, by exhibiting an abundance of beauties for the latter, and being very perfpicuous for the former. But in cafe thofe advantages cannot be united, P St. Auftin would have us facrifice the first to the second, and neglect ornaments, and even purity of diction, if it will contribute to make us more intelligible; because it is for that end we speak. This fort of neglect, which requires, fome genius and art, as he obferves after Cicero, and which proceeds from our being more attentive to things than to words, must not,

however, be carried fo far as to make the discourse low and groveling, but only clearer and more intelligible.

St. Auftin wrote at first against the Manichees, in a florid and fublime ftile; whence his writings were not intelligible to those who had but a moderate share of learning, at least not without great difficulty, Upon this he was told, that if he defired to have his works more generally useful, he muft write in the plain and common ftile, which has this advantage over the other, that it is equally intelligible to the learned and the unlearned. The holy father received this advice with his ufual humility, and made proper use of it in the books he afterwards wrote against the heretics, and in his fermons. His example ought to be a rule to all those who are to inftruct others.

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As obfcurity is the fault which the preacher fhould chiefly avoid, and that his auditors are not allowed to interrupt him, when they meet with any thing obfcure; St. Auftin advises him to read in the eyes and countenances of his auditors, whether they underftand him or not; and to repeat the fame thing by giving it different turns, till he perceives he is underftood; an advantage which those cannot have, who by a fervile dependance on their memories learn their fermons by heart, and repeat them as fo many leffons.

That which generally occafions obfcurity in difcourse, is our endeavouring to explain ourselves al..ways

Me benevolentiffimè monuerunt: ut communem loquendi confuetudinem non defererem, fi errores illos tam perniciofos ab animis etiam imperitorum expellere cogitarem. Hunc enim fermonem ufitatum & fimplicem etiam docti intelligunt, illum autem indocti non intelligunt. De Gen, contra Manich. 1. 1. c. I.

f Ubi omnes tacent ut audiatur unus, & in eum intenta ora convertunt, ibi ut requirat quifque quod intellexerit, nec moris eft,

nec decoris: ac per hoc debet maximè tacenti fubvenire cura dicentis. Solet autem motu fuo fignificare utrum intellexerit cognofcendi avida multitudo: quod donec fignificet, verfandum eft quod agitur multimoda varietate dicendi: quod in poteftate non habent, qui præparata & ad verbum memoriter retenta pronunciant. S. Aug. de doct. chrif. 1. 4. n.25.

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Cavenda, quæ nimium corripientes omnia fequitur, obfcuritas; fatiufque eft aliquid (rationi) fupereffe,

ways with brevity and concifenefs. One had better fay too much than too little. A ftile that is every where fprightly and concise, such as that of Saluft, or of Tertullian for inftance, may fuit works which are not intended to be fpoken, and give the reader time and liberty to read them over and over again; but it is not proper for a fermon, the rapidity of which might efcape the most attentive auditor. u It muft not even be fuppofed, that he is always fo; and confequently the discourse ought to be fo clear, as to reach even the moft unattentive, in like manner as the fun ftrikes our eyes, without our thinking of it, and almost in fpight of us. The fupreme effect of this quality does not confift in making ourselves understood, but in fpeaking, in fuch a manner that we cannot be misunderstood.

The neceffity of perfpicuity in Catechifts.

The neceffity of the principle I have now laid down appears in its greatest evidence, with regard to the firft inftructions given to young people, which I look upon as a primary kind of preaching, more difficult than is generally imagined, and oftentimes more useful than the brightest and moft laboured difcourfes. 'Tis allowed that a catechift who teaches children the firft elements of religion, cannot be too clear and intelligible. No thought or expreffion fhould fall from him above their capacities. Every thing ought to be adapted to their strength, or rather to their weakness. We must say but few things to them, exprefs them

clearly, and repeat them often; we muft not fpeak haftily, or with rapidity, but pronounce every fyllable articulately; give them fhort and clear definitions, and always in the fame words; make the feveral truths evident to them by known examples, and familiar com parifons; fpeak little to them, and make them fpeak a great deal, which is one of the most effential duties of a catechist, and the leaft practifed; and above all, muft call to mind the happy faying of Quintilian,

that a child's mind is like a veffel with a narrow neck, in which no water will enter, if poured abundantly into it; whereas it fills infenfibly, if the liquid be poured gently, or even by drops. The catechift muft proceed gradually from these plain steps to fomething ftronger and more elevated, according to the proficiency he obferves in the children; but he muft always take care to adapt himself to their capacity, and their weakness; and to defcend to them, because they are not in a condition to raise themfelves to him.

This task, which is one of the most important in the ecclefiaftical miniftry, is not, generally fpeaking, efteemed or refpected enough. People feldom prepare themselves for it with the care it deferves; and as the difficulty and importance of it are little known, we too often neglect the means which might facilitate its fuccefs. Whoever takes this charge upon himself, ought to perufe, with great attention, St. Auftin's admirable treatife upon the method of inftructing catechumens, in which that great man, after laying down excellent rules upon this point, vouchsafes to propose a plan of the beft method (in his opinion) for inftructing them in the principles of religion.

w Magiftri hoc opus eft, cùm adhuc rudia tractabit ingenia, non ftatim onerare infirmitatem difcentium, fed temperare vires fuas, & ad intellectum audientis defcenNam ut vafcula oris angufti fuperfufam humoris copiam

dere.

refpuant, fenfim autem influentibus, vel etiam inftillatis, complentur; fic animi puerorum quantum accipere poffint videndum eft. Nam majora intellectu velut parum aptos ad percipiendum animos non fubibunt. Quintil. 1. 1. cap. 3.

I think

I think it would be of great advantage to form a general scheme or plan for catechizing in parishes, to ferve as a foundation for all the inftructions neceffary, and regulate both the matter and difpofition; so that all the catechifms might contain the fame inftructions, but treated in a more or lefs extenfive manner, as the children fhould be more or lefs improved. These catechifms may be divided into three claffes, the first for beginners, the second for those who have already received fome inftruction, and the third for fuch as are more advanced, and are prepared for receiving the firft communion, or have lately received it. I fuppofe children to continue in each clafs about two years; in which time, the plan I have now mentioned, be it what it will, is to be explained to them (for it is highly reasonable to leave it to the choice and prudence of the person who is at the head of the catechifts) always fubjoining the catechifm of the diocefe. The matters fhould at firft be treated briefly, and in general terms, because they are calculated for children. M. Fleury's catechifm is excellent for beginners, and may be looked upon as the execution of the plan which St. Auguftin gives us in his treatise. The fame matters are repeated in the fecond and third claffes; but in a new method, which is always an improvement of that which preceded, by adding to it new lights, and more efficacious truths. Would not religion be thus taught thoroughly? I have seen some children, even among the poor, make furprizingly clear refponfes upon very difficult fubjects, which could be owing to nothing but the master's order and method of teaching, and which fhews that young people are capable of every thing when they are well inftructed.

I own, that nothing is more tedious or distasteful to a man of genius, who often has a great deal of vivacity, than thus to teach the first principles of religion to children, who very often want either capacity or attention. But muft not others have had the fame patience with us, when they taught us the alphabet,

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