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 should be to make himself clearly understood; every thing must contribute to this end the difpofition, the thoughts, the expreffion, and the utterance.

It is a vicious tafte in fome orators to imagine they are very profound, when much is required to comprehend them. They do not confider, that every difcourfe which wants an interpreter is a very bad one. The fupreme perfection of a preacher's ftyle fhould be to please the unlearned as well as the learnel, by exhibiting an abundance of beauties for the latter, and being very perfpicuous for the former.

But, in cafe thofe advantages cannot be united, St. Auftin would have us facrifice the first to the fecond, and neglect ornaments, and even purity of diction, if it will contribute to make us more intelligible; becaufe it is for that end we fpeak. 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, muft not,

however he carried fo far as to make the difcourfe low and grovelling, but only clearer and more intelligible.

St. Auftin wrote at first against the Manichees, in a florid and fublime ftyle; whence his writings were not intelligible to those who had but a moderate share of learning, at leaft 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 style, 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 thofe who are to inftruct others.

As obfcurity is the fault which the preacher should 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 understand him or not; and to repeat the fame thing by giving it different turns, till he perceives he is understood; an advantage which thofe cannot have who by a fervile dependence on their memories learn their fermon, by heart, and repeat them as fo many leffons.

That which generally occafions obfcurity in difcourfe is our endeavouring to explain ourselves always

Me benevolentiffimè monu- nec decoris ac per hoc debet maxerunt: 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.

• Ubi omnes tacent ut audiatur unus, & in eum intenta ura convertunt,ibi ut requirat quifque quod on intellexeris, nec moris eft,

imè tacenti fubvenire cura dicentis. Solet autem motu fuo fignificare utrum intellexerit cognof1 cendi avida multitudo; quod donec fignificet, verfandum eft quod agitur multimoda varietate dicendi : quod in poteftare non habent, qui præparata & ad verbum memoritcr retenta pronunciant, S. Aug. de doct. Chrift. 1. 4. n. 25.

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

ways with brevity and concifenefs. One had better fay too much than too little. A ftyle that is every where fprightly and concife, fuch as that of Salluft, or of Tertullian for inftance, may fuit works which are not intended to be spoken, 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 difcourfe 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 almoft in fpight of us. The fupreme effect of this quality does not confift in making ourselves underftood, 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 greateft evidence, with regard to the first 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 brighteft and moft laboured difcourfes. It is allowed that a catechift, who teaches children the first 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 ftrength, or rather to their weakness. We must fay but few things to them, exprefs them

fupereffe quàm deeffe... Vitanda illa Salluftiana (quanquam in ipfo virtutis locum obtinet) brevitas, & abruptum fermonis genus, quod otiofum fortaffe lectorem minùs fallit, audientem tranfvolat, nec dum repetatur exspectat. Quintil. 1. 4. c. 2.

ritatem apud fe ipfe difcutiat, & tenebris orationis inferat quoddam intelligentiæ fuæ lumen; fed multis eum frequenter cogitationibus avocari, nifi tam clara fuerint quæ dicemus, ut in animum ejus oratio, ut fol in oculos, etiamfi non intendatur, incurrat, Quare, non ut intelligere poffit, fed ne omnino poffit non intelligere, curandum. Quintil. 1.8. cap. 2. N 3

Idipfum in confilio eft habendum, non femper tam effe acrem auditoris) intentionem, ut obfcu

clearly,

W

clearly, and repeat them often; we must not speak 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 comparifons; fpeak little to them, and make them fpeak a great deal, which is one of the most effential duties of a catechist, and the least practised; 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 catechist muft proceed gradually from these plain fteps 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, becaufe they are not in a condition to raise themselves to him.

This tafk, which is one of the most important in the ecclefiaftical ministry, is not, generally fpeaking, esteemed or refpected enough. People feldom prepare themfelves 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, vouchfafes to propofe a plan of the beft method (in his opinion) for inftructing them in the principles of religion.

w Magiftri hoc opus eft, cùm adhuc rud a tractabit ingenia, non ftatim onerare infirmitatem difcentium, fed temperare vires feas, & ad intellectum audientis defcendere. Nam ut vafcula oris angufti fuperfufam humoris copiam

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

I think

I think it would be of great advantage to form a general feheme or plan for catechifing in parishes, to serve as a foundation for all the inftructions neceffary,. and regulate both the matter and difpofition; fo 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. Thefe catechifms may be divided into three claffes, the firft for beginners, the fecond for those who have already received fome inftruction, and the third for fuch as are more advanced, and are prepared for receiving the first 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 perfon who is at the head of the catechifts) alwaysfubjoining the catechifm of the diocefe. The matters should at first be treated briefly, and in general terms, because they are calculated for children. M. Fleury's catechism is excellent for beginners, and may be looked upon as the execution of the plan which St. Augustin gives us in his treatife. 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 light, and more efficacious truths. Would not religion be thus taught thoroughly? I have feen fome children, even among the poor, make furprisingly clear refponfes upon very difficult fubjects, which could be owing to nothing but the master's order and method of teaching, and which faews that young people are capable of every thing when they are well inftructed.

I own, that nothing is more tedious or diftasteful 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 must not others have had the fame patience with us, when they taught us the alphabet, orthography

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