Southern Branch 
 of the 
 
 University of California 
 
 Form L I 
 
 Los Angeles 
 
 tiOIl 
 
 LB 
 
 LIBRARY USE 
 ONLY
 
 is DT

 
 MENTAL DISCIPLINE, 
 
 WITH REFERENCE TO THE 
 
 ACQUISITION AND COMMUNICATION 
 
 KNOWLEDGE, 
 
 AND TO EDUCATION GENERALLY, 
 
 TO WHICH IS APPENDED 
 
 TOPICAL COURSE OF THEOLOGICAL STUDY 
 Bg Uct). Dams ID. Clark, 2.IH. 
 
 EIGHTH THOUSAND. 
 
 NEW YORK: 
 PHILLIPS & HUNT. 
 
 CINCINNATI : 
 WALDEN & STOWE.
 
 Entered, according to Act of Congress, in tne year 1847, by 
 LANE <fe TIPPETT, in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of 
 the Southern District of New-York.
 
 Stack 
 Annex 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 THE history of the little volume, here- 
 with presented to the public, is simply this. 
 While engaged some years since in aca- 
 demical study as principal of a seminary, 
 the subject of mental discipline often 
 passed in review ; and for the most part, 
 the principles imbodied in this treatise 
 were discussed and enforced by the author 
 in connection with the study of mental 
 philosophy. More recently the work of 
 H. F. Burder, on " Mental Discipline," has 
 fallen into his hands. That work, ~o far 
 as he knows, is riot in very extensive cir- 
 culation in this country; nor is it, in some 
 of its parts, precisely adapted to general 
 use among us, being " addressed particu- 
 larly to students in theology and young 
 preachers." among whom a course of men- 
 tal training and a style of preparation were
 
 4 PREFACE. 
 
 used, not altogether feasible among us. 
 This treatise has been constructed pretty 
 much on the same plan as that of Burder ; 
 and in the first and second parts, will bo 
 found most that was valuable in his work, 
 accredited to him simply by marks of quo- 
 tation. These, however, form but a small 
 part of the present volume. Some few of 
 the general precepts are also expressed in 
 his language. 
 
 In addition to this, the author has every- 
 where sought for "helps" and "authori- 
 ties " in the composition of this work. It 
 would have been less labor, and required 
 less time to write out an original work, 
 without stopping " to consult authorities ;" 
 but he believed his pages would be en- C 
 riched by the observations of the profound * 
 thinkers in the science of mind. 
 
 As to the manner in which the author , 
 has executed the task he has undertaken, 
 he leaves to those who may study his work 
 to judge. 
 
 THE AUTHOR.
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 OBJECT AND PLAN OF THE WORK. 
 
 THE author of this treatise has en- 
 tertained the idea that a few hints 
 on the subject of mental discipline 
 might be useful, and not unaccepta- 
 ble to many who are endeavoring 
 to make intellectual improvement. 
 He has not designed any philosophi- 
 cal analysis of the powers of the 
 mind, preparatory to an extended 
 and complete system of mental dis- 
 cipline, but simply to offer practical 
 hints, in the most concise and simple 
 form. This will account for the di- 
 dactic style which has been employ- 
 ed throughout the work, as being 
 best adapted to conciseness and
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 clearness, and also for what many 
 will deem the paucity of the illustra- 
 tions. With the same object in view, 
 the author has been obliged to dis- 
 miss in a summary manner some 
 topics that might have called forth 
 an extended discussion. He trusts, 
 however, that the style will be found 
 sufficiently terse for profit, and the 
 illustrations sufficiently copious to 
 render the work useful to every class 
 and grade of toilers for intellectual 
 wealth. 
 
 The work embraces mental dis- 
 cipline with reference to the two 
 great practical objects of all educa- 
 tion, namely, the acquisition and the 
 communication of knowledge. The 
 first is preparatory to the second, and 
 bhould by no means be considered 
 the less important of the two. Dr. 
 Barrow very justly remarks, "that 
 the communication of truth is only
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 half of the business of education, and 
 is not even the most important half." 
 On the other hand, Mr. Locke, Avith 
 equal explicitness, asserts, "The im- 
 provement of the understanding is 
 for two ends; first, our own increase 
 of knowledge ; secondly, to enable us 
 to deliver that knowledge to others. 
 The latter of these, if it be not the 
 chief end of study in a gentleman ; 
 yet it is at least equal to the other, 
 since the greatest part of his business 
 and usefulness in the world, is by the 
 influence of what he says, or writes* 
 to others." It is evident, then, that 
 every complete system of education 
 must comprehend these two objects, 
 and to one who desires to benefit his 
 fellow-men, in any public profession, 
 the latter is as important as the former. 
 The discipline of mind with refer- 
 ence to "the acquisition of know- 
 ledge," consists in the invigoration
 
 8 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 of our intellectual powers, and in the 
 formation of those mental habits that 
 will facilitate subsequent attainments 
 enabling the mind successfully to 
 grapple with and overcome difficul- 
 ties, to thread the intricacies of logic, 
 to discriminate between the real and 
 the sophistical in reasoning, and to 
 obtain clear, precise, and compre- 
 hensive notions. Its discipline with 
 reference to the " communication of 
 knowledge," implies such training of 
 our faculties, and the acquirement of 
 those mental aptitudes, which will 
 enable us to impart the knowledge 
 we have obtained, in a lucid, concise, 
 impressive, and effective manner. It 
 might appear, on first sight, to some, 
 that those attainments would neces- 
 sarily accompany each other, but ob- 
 servation clearly shows that such is 
 not the fact. \Large acquisitions of 
 knowledge, and great ability to ac-
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 quire, are not unfrequently found in 
 connection with feeble powers of 
 communication. yThere is not less 
 point and truth, than satire, in those 
 lines of Young : 
 
 "What numbers, sheath'd in erudition, lie 
 Plunged to the hilts in venerable tomes, 
 And rusted in, who might have borne an edge, ^ -, 
 And play'd a sprightly beam, if born to speech, 
 If born blest heirs of half their mother's tongue !" 
 
 The . first part of the following 
 treatise, namely, that with reference 
 to the acquisition of knowledge, is of 
 general application to all who are 
 desirous of cultivating their intellec- 
 tual powers whether with or with- 
 out reference to any of the learned 
 professions. And especially will it 
 be found useful to the student in the 
 earlier stages of his academic or col- 
 legiate course. An early attention to 
 some of these principles may not 
 only facilitate such in their studies, 
 but lead them to the acquisition of
 
 10 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 such habits as will beneficially affect 
 their whole mental character. 
 
 To the second part, or that which 
 has reference to the communication oj 
 knowkdge, it was necessary to give a 
 specific direction. It has be en, there- 
 fore, composed with reference to stu- 
 dents in the ministry, though most 
 of the suggestions are equally appli- 
 cable to all whose professional call- 
 ing imposes on them the exercise of 
 public speaking. The great design 
 of the author was to suggest those 
 mental habits that would give effici- 
 ency and power in public discourse. 
 
 Part third relates to the "diversi- 
 ties of mental character," and is de- 
 signed to show the importance of a 
 careful observation of our mental sus- 
 ceptibilities, and a well-directed and 
 energetic use of them in order to the 
 true development of the intellectual 
 character. The varieties of mental
 
 INTRODUCTION. 11 
 
 character, from whatever cause they 
 may result, often require different 
 modes of training and discipline. 
 Hence the importance, to him who 
 would have his powers properly bal- 
 anced and regulated, of carefully 
 discriminating the various grades of 
 intellectual character, and especially 
 of determining the class to which his 
 own mind belongs, that he may 
 choose an appropriate system of men- 
 tal discipline. It was the design of 
 the author, in this part of his treatise, 
 to present, not a systemized view, but 
 such aspects of the subject as should 
 show it worthy of important consi- 
 deration in reference to the discipline 
 of rnind. 
 
 To the work has been appended 
 a " Topical Course of Theological 
 Study," that is, a list of the leading 
 doctrines and principles in a com- 
 plete course of Christian theology
 
 12 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 lias been made out, and refeience 
 made under each topic to sources of 
 information upon that special sub- 
 ject. The list of authors referred to 
 has been restricted, so as to bring 
 the number of books it would re- 
 quire within narrow limits. This 
 course will be useful to the theo- 
 logical student, both by assisting to 
 systemize his studies, and by leading 
 him to valuable sources of informa- 
 tion on each topic of inquiry. 
 
 D. W. CLARK. 
 
 Nao-Ycrk, September, 1847.
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 INTRODUCTION. Design and plan of th work 
 stated Page 5 
 
 PART I. 
 
 Mental discipline with reference to the acquisition 
 of knowledge. 
 
 SECT. 1. Endeavor to impress upon your minds 
 the importance of mental discipline . . 21 
 
 SECT. 2. Endeavor to form a correct estimate of 
 your own powers 23 
 
 SECT. 3. Let not your estimate of the importance 
 of the various branches of study be formed mere- 
 ly from the consideration of their practical bear- 
 ings upon the business of life, but also upon their 
 tendency to promote the discipline and improve- 
 ment of the mind ..... 2(! 
 I/ \/ SECT. 4. Apply the mind with full vigor, and with 
 undivided attention, to every intellectual pursuit 
 in which you engage . . . . 30 
 
 SECT. 5. Endeavor to acquire clear and precise 
 ideas on every subject of investigation you under- 
 take 36
 
 14 CONTENTS. 
 
 SECT. 6. Be deterred from entering upon no neces- 
 sary branch of study, merely from the plea that 
 you have " no talent for it" . . Page 41 
 
 SKCT. 7. Accustom yourself to discriminate care- 
 fully between sound and sophistical reasoning, and 
 never indulge yourself in the use of the latter 43 
 
 SECT. 8. Never let the fancy and imagination pre- 
 dominate over the understanding, so as to impair 
 its energy and darken its perception . 46 
 
 SECT. 9. Cultivate the habit of strict and diligent 
 investigation 50 
 
 SECT. 10. Endeavor to have some special subject 
 of investigation constantly before you, to stimulate 
 your exertions . . . . . . 52 
 
 SECT. 11. Guard against the waste of time in fri- 
 volous and unimportant pursuits . . 54 
 
 SECT. 12. Guard against in indulging in vague 
 mental reveries 57 
 
 SECT. 13. Attend to but one thing at a time, and 
 be not easily diverted from any subject of study 
 you have undertaken . . . . C2 
 
 SECT. 14. Let your plan of study, including the 
 arrangement and distribution of your time, be 
 judiciously formed and prosecuted with the utmost 
 diligence and punctuality .... 65 
 
 SECT. 15. Avail yourself of external helps, only 
 when found absolutely necessary, after the trial of 
 your own powers 68 
 
 SECT. 16. Expect no high intellectual attainments 
 without great labor 69 
 
 SECT. 17. Be not only willing, but desirous, ta
 
 CONTENTS. 15 
 
 have every defect in your powers, attainments, or 
 productions, fully and explicitly pointed out 
 
 Page 73 
 
 SECT. 18. Guard against those mental habits which 
 may be eventually, though imperceptibly, preju- 
 dicial, by impairing the vigor of the mind or of the 
 body ....... 76 
 
 SECT. 19. Guard against those bodily habits which 
 may be prejudicial to the mind by impairing the 
 health and vigor of the physical frame . 88 
 
 SECT. 20. Let it be your aim to arrive at general 
 principles, on all the subjects to which your atten- 
 tion is directed ..... 98 
 
 SECT. 21. Be not satisfied with the knowledge you 
 have acquired on any subject of investigation, till 
 you can express the result of your inquiries and 
 reflections in your own words, either in conversa- 
 tion or in writing . . . . . 100 
 
 SECT. 22. Let the love of truth be your chief sti- 
 mulus to the pursuits of knowledge . . 102 
 
 SECT. 23. When your plans are finished in deliber- 
 ation, let action upon them be immediately com- 
 menced 104 
 
 SECT. 24. Remember that mental discipline ac- 
 quired, can be retained and improved only by 
 continued mental activity . . . 109 
 
 SECT. 25. Let your mind be impressed with the 
 much to be learned, compared with the little you 
 know 110
 
 16 CONTENTS. 
 
 PART H. 
 
 Afental discipline with reference to the communication 
 of knowledge. 
 
 SECT. 1. Remember that the communication of 
 knowledge to others, is one of tho great ends of 
 its acquisition, and especially, is one of the im- 
 portant objects of the ministerial profession 
 
 Page 113 
 
 SECT. 2. Impress upon your mind the fact, that a 
 high order of delivery is no less the result of effort 
 and acquisition, than is a high order of intellect- 
 ual attainment in any other respect . 119 
 
 SECT. 3. As a Christian minister, consider the 
 close connection between theological study and 
 pulpit eloquence . . . . . 125 
 
 SECT. 4. Let the dignity and importance of your 
 profession deeply impress your mind, and lead 
 you to set before yourself a high standard of min- 
 isterial attainment . . . . . 136 
 
 SECT. 5. Let the duties of your profession be the 
 absorbing objects of your study and interest 141 
 
 SECT. 6. Let the vigorous prosecution of study ac- 
 company the discharge of public official duties 145 
 
 SECT. 7. Consider the frequent and weighty de- 
 mands made upon your mental resources, and en- 
 deavor to meet them . . . . lf>9 
 
 SECT. 8. Consider the demands made by the diver- 
 sity of mental character in your congregations, 
 and endeavor to meet them . . . 162
 
 CONTENTS. 17 
 
 SECT. 9. Consider the demands made by the in- 
 crease of literary and scientific knowledge among 
 all classes of society, and endeavor to meet 
 them Page 164 
 
 SECT. 10. Connect mental improvement with your 
 preparation for the pulpit . . . 167 
 
 SECT. 11. Let not your direct preparation for tUe 
 pulpit be superficial, but let the subject be 
 thoroughly investigated and the thoughts metho- 
 dically arranged 172 
 
 SECT. 12. Do not attach too much importance to 
 artificial rules for the preparation of a ser- 
 mon 176 
 
 SECT. 13. Consult the best authors who have writ- 
 ten upon the subject you propose to discuss 1 79 
 
 SECT. 14. Let your own feelings be attuned to 
 harmony with the spirit and sentiments of your 
 subject 181 
 
 SECT. 15. Remember that the intellectual powers 
 are quickened by devotion and devotional feel- 
 ings 185 
 
 SECT. 16. In order to communicate knowledge 
 with effect, be impressed with the importance of 
 being able to express yourself with self-possession, 
 readiness, clearness, precision, and force 190 
 
 SECT. 17. Accustom yourself to extemporaneous 
 discourse . . . . . . 197 
 
 SECT. 18. Use only plain language . . 219 
 
 SECT. 19. Consider the importance of a good de- 
 livery ....... 225 
 
 2
 
 18 CONTENTS. 
 
 SECT. 20. Consider the importance of a good elo- 
 cution as contributing to a good delivery 
 
 Page 227 
 
 SFCT. 21. Consider the importance of manner as 
 contributing to a good delivery . . 234 
 
 SECT. 22. Study the best living models of de- 
 livery 241 
 
 SECT. 23. Do not attach too much importance to 
 artificial rules for deliver}' . . . 243 
 
 SECT. 24. Let your chief solicitude have reference 
 to the matter rather than the manner . 24-i 
 
 SECT. 25. Accustom yourself to the frequent exer- 
 cise of your powers, when it can be done with 
 suitable preparation . . . . 248 
 
 SECT. 26. Write out a discourse frequently, and 
 occasionally commit one to memory, that your 
 style may be improved and your memory invigor- 
 ated 250 
 
 SECT. 27. Keep steadily in view the great objects 
 and end of the Christian ministry . . 253 
 
 SECT 28. Ever preserve a moral uprightness and 
 independence of spirit and action . . 257 
 
 PART UI. 
 
 Diversities of menial character considered tcith refer- 
 ence to mental discipline and education generally. 
 
 SECT. 1. Diversities of intellectual character 255 
 
 SECT. 2. We should carefully note these diversities, 
 
 and ascertain the class of intellect to which we 
 
 belong 261
 
 CONTENTS. 19 
 
 SECT. 3. Classification of the varieties of intellectu- 
 al character among men . . Page 263 
 
 SECT. 4. The philosophical variety . . 261 
 
 SECT. 5. The " matter of fact," or circumstantial 
 mind 266 
 
 SECT. 6. The imaginative mind . . 270 
 
 SECT. 7. Illustrations of this subject from Dugald 
 Stewart 273 
 
 SECT. 8. These faculties co-operate together, and 
 mutually assist each other . . . 276 
 
 SECT. 9. Temperaments Their influence upon 
 the intellectual character Remarks of Rauch 
 
 281 
 
 SECT. 10. Non omnes omnia possumus . 285 
 
 SECT. 11. Application of the preceding principles 
 to the discipline of mind . . . . 287 
 
 SECT. 12. The characteristics of a well-disciplined 
 mind 293 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 A topical course of theological study, with refer- 
 ence to sources of information on each topic 801
 
 MENTAL DISCIPLINE. 
 
 PART I. 
 
 MENTAL DISCIPLINE WITH REFERENCE TO 
 THE ACQUISITION OF KNOWLEDGE. 
 
 SECTION I. Endeavor to impress upon your mind the im- 
 portance of mental discipline.. 
 
 MENTAL discipline is the primary object of the 
 education (educo) of the intellectual faculties. It is 
 not so much its object to fill up, as to draw out ; not so 
 much to store the mind with ideas, as to develop its 
 powers. Mr. Locke has somewhere remarked, " that 
 a great and paramount object of our present investi- 
 gations is, to prepare the mind for future investiga- 
 tions." And any system is not so much to be valued 
 for the number and variety of ideas it imparts, as for 
 the symmetrical development of our mental powers 
 which it produces. What Seneca says of the body, 
 has not an inapt application to the mind, Fastidi- 
 tntis stomachi multa degustare, quce ubi varia sunt et 
 diversa, viquinant, non alunt. A mind overloaded 
 with ideas, yet wanting in mental discipline, is not 
 unlike the stomach, whose digestive organs are im- 
 paired, but which is overloaded with nutricious 
 aliment
 
 22 MENTAL DISCIPLINE. 
 
 The attainment of a proper discipline of the intel- 
 lectual powers should be a direct object of pursuit 
 with the student* In laying his plans, and selecting 
 his course of study, this ought to be a preponderating 
 motive to influence him. As it is, the object is too 
 often the simple attainment of so much knowledge, 
 rather than so much power. It may be objected that 
 the two go hand in hand, and necessarily accompany 
 each other. Here, we may safely admit, that our 
 systems of liberal education have been so wisely ad- 
 justed, that while a specific amount of knowledge is 
 required as a condition of graduation to literary 
 honors, the development of the intellectual powers is 
 also sought as a paramount object. It is not distinctly 
 stated to the student, " You must have so much 
 mind ;" but it is presumed that the acquisition of so 
 much knowledge will give so much mental capacity 
 and strength. How often is this expectation dis- 
 appointed ! What multitudes go out from our 
 schools of learning, crammed, but not educated ; and 
 how many " wandering stars " in the firmament of 
 intellect discover to us that great acquisitions of 
 knowledge are not necessarily accompanied by a sym- 
 metrically developed and well-regulated intellect ! 
 
 Let him, then, who enters upon a course of men- 
 tal training, say within himself, " I must have men- 
 tal power, if I obtain nothing else." With this, 
 knowledge can be acquired for use ; without it, 
 knowledge acquired, cannot be used. With this ob- 
 
 * The author has here, and in other [ifts of this treatise 
 used this term in its widest sense.
 
 ACQUISITION OF KNOWLEDGE. 23 
 
 ject before him armed and stimulated by this deter- 
 mination, lie will tire over no study. No cui bono ? 
 will drop from his lips, as he pores over classic pages, 
 or threads the intricacies of metaphysical or mathe- 
 matical science. Instead of being led along hood- 
 winked to the acquisition of knowledge, of whose 
 practical use he can form no conception, the direct 
 aim and practical end of these studies will become 
 apparent, and stimulate him to renewed exertions to 
 reach the goal. , 
 
 SECTION II. Endeavor to farm a correct estimate of your 
 (~\ own powers. 
 
 Every individual, undoubtedly, forms some kind 
 of an opinion of his own mental powers and capaci- 
 ties. " His opinion may have been formed in very 
 early life, and may have been modified by frequent 
 comparisons between himself and his associates, as 
 well as by the commendations or animadversions of 
 his superiors. But, after all, this estimate may be 
 exceedingly incorrect. It may be by far too favor- 
 able ; or it may be by far too unfavorable. In eithei 
 case the influence will be prejudicial, 
 
 " If the estimate be too favorable, not a few evils 
 may be generated, of which the tendency will be to 
 obstruct, intellectual progress. It may be expected 
 to produce that pride and complacency, which will 
 conceal from the individual the defects of his capaci- 
 ties and attainments, enfeeble the stimulus to exer- 
 ion, and render him impatient, if not indignant, 
 hen deficiencies are exposed of which he was not
 
 24 MENTAL DISCIPLINE. 
 
 aware, and errors which he is not prepared to ac- 
 knowledge." It may also induce a person to enter 
 prematurely on a species of intellectual effort to 
 which his mental energy is inadequate. Mr. Locke, 
 after affirming that the faculties of the mind are im- 
 ^proved by exercise, says, "Yet they must not be 
 p at to a stress beyond their strength. Quid valeani 
 humeri, quid ferre recusent, must be made the mea- 
 sure of every one's understanding, who has a desire, 
 not only to perform well, but to keep up the vigor of 
 his faculties. The mind being engaged in a task 
 beyond its strength, like the body, strained by lifting 
 at a weight, too heavy, has often its force broken, and 
 thereby gets an unaptness or an aversion to any 
 vigorous attempt ever after. The understanding 
 should be brought to knotty and difficult parts of 
 knowledge that try the strength of thought, and a 
 full bent of mind, by insensible degrees." Ferret 
 taurum qui tulit vitulam. The ardent and self-con- 
 fident, presuming on energies they do not possess, 
 and impatient at the slow progress of disciplinary 
 improvement, rush forward into departments of sci- 
 ence for which they are unprepared. Here they are 
 baffled with unexpected difficulties; disappointment 
 succeeds to the ardor of self-confidence ; and in the 
 end they retire from the pursuits of knowledge in 
 disgust 
 
 If the estimate be too unfavorable, the effects are of 
 an opposite character, but equally injurious to intel- 
 lectual progress. Such an estimate may excite hu- 
 mility and modesty, and thus exert a beneficial moral
 
 ACQUISITION OF KNOWLEDGE. 25 
 
 nfluence ; but it unquestionably tends to depress the 
 mind, and deter the individual from engaging in 
 those intellectual enterprises that might be prose- 
 cuted with success. Those who have been most dis- 
 tinguished for intellectual power, as well as for the 
 success that has crowned their efforts in the various 
 departments of human learning, have possessed, ill 
 general, a characteristic modest appreciation of their 
 own powers. But, along with this characteristic mo- 
 desty, they have also possessed an invincible deter- 
 mination of spirit and an indomitable energy of ac- 
 tion, that stood appalled at no obstacle, and shrunk 
 from no labor. " Many pursuits appear, on a distant 
 and indistinct survey, to be environed by insur- 
 mountable obstacles ; whereas, on a nearer approach, 
 the difficulties become less formidable, and soon en- 
 tirely disappear. Many of the early attempts which 
 mental discipline prescribes are onerous and irk- 
 some to those who are only beginning to cultivate 
 habits of intellectual exertion ; and the minds of 
 some who are not deficient in ability, may be ready 
 to shrink from a task to which they imagine them- 
 selves unequal. Let them guard against such an es- 
 timate of their own powers as would discourage vig- 
 orous exertion, and impede the march of intellect, of 
 which it may be said with undoubting confidence 
 ' vires acquirit eundo.' " 
 
 We have here spoken of our settled judgments con- 
 cerning our powers ; and not of those hasty and va- 
 cillating notions of them, that are passing more or 
 less in the minds of all. A temporary success, es
 
 26 MENTAL DISCIPLINE. 
 
 pecially if it be unexpected, tas a tendency to exalt 
 our notions of our powers ; on the other hand, a tem- 
 porary want of success tends to depress them. 
 With most persons, the alternations of success and 
 disappointment in a measure counteract the effects 
 of each other ; but when either are long continued, 
 the notions they produce are apt to acquire the per- 
 manency of settled conviction. Hence it is, thatfa 
 few failures completely dishearten the timid ; and, on 
 the other hand, a few casual instances of success be- 
 get in the minds of the weak and vain the abiding 
 conviction that they " possess a genius." fit is diffi- 
 cult to determine whether the imbecility/of the one, 
 or the pedantic vanity of the other, should most ex- 
 cite our commiseration. 
 
 SECTION III. Let not your estimate of the importance of 
 the various branches of study be formed merely from the 
 consideration of their practical bearings upon the business 
 of life, but also from their tendency to promote ilie discipline 
 and improvement of the mind. 
 
 " Life is short, art is long," is a homely, but ex- 
 pressive adage. The departments of human learn- 
 ing are so numerous and comprehensive, the power? 
 of the mind are so limited, and the time to be de- 
 voted to literary and scientific pursuits is at longest 
 so short, that a selection is absolutely necessary. 
 When circumstances will admit of but a limited 
 course of study, this selection should be eminently 
 practical, and have a direct reference to the business 
 of life. It is folly for those to be dabbling in ancient
 
 ACQUISITION OF KNOWLEDGE. 27 
 
 languages, who have allotted to their studies hardly 
 sufficient time to acquire a knowledge of their mo- 
 ther tongue ; or to skim over the higher department? 
 of science, when they have hardly time- to become 
 well grounded in elemental English. But even 
 in this hurried, practical education, if education it 
 can be called, an ultimate reference should be had to 
 the invigoration of the mental powers. " All educa- 
 tion," says Dr. Labaree, " may be regarded as pi-ac- 
 tical ; it dims to qualify students for the various 
 duties of life ; and every branch of study is supposed 
 to have a bearing, more or less directly, upon this 
 point. Some studies, however, are intended mainly 
 for mental discipline, while the knowledge acquired 
 cannot be applied to the ordinary purposes of life. 
 The higher departments of mathematics, for instance, 
 would be of little practical service to the farmer, but 
 the common principles of arithmetic might be em- 
 ployed by him in the transactions of every-day busi- 
 ness. The study of the Latin and Greek languages 
 is happily adapted to the cultivation of the mental 
 faculties generally ; but these languages are not now 
 the medium for communicating thought, or of ac- 
 quiring useful information, and therefore a know- 
 ledge of them does not necessarily constitute a part 
 of practical education. Classical study, we believe, 
 is essential to finished scholarship ; but if a youth can 
 devote no mere than two, three, or four years, to 
 academical "-Indies, we are quite sure that the other 
 branches of learning have stronger claims upon his 
 attention. There are departments of science, whicll
 
 2? MENTAL DISCIPLINE. 
 
 will develop and discipline the intellectual faculties, 
 and, at the same time, furnish the vnind with gratify- 
 ing and useful information." 
 
 But when circumstances admit of an extended 
 course of study ; especially when the individual de- 
 signs to engage in the pursuits of literature, or to 
 enter one of the learned professions ; at least, in the 
 earlier stages of his course, the development of the 
 intellectual powers should be the primary object of 
 attention. In education the ends are continually 
 mistaken for the means ; and it is almost universally 
 forgotten that elementary education is far less in- 
 tended to qualify for any specific pursuit, than to 
 give development and energy to the mental powers. 
 " In a liberal education there is much that is pre- 
 liminary. No superstructure should be attempted 
 till the basis be rendered broad and firm. The first 
 object of solicitude should be to give vigor and ex- 
 pansion to the faculties of the mind ; and whatever 
 pursuits are best adapted to secure this end should 
 be selected by the instructor ; and by the learner 
 should be regarded with interest, and prosecuted 
 with ardor. Let him not imagine that they are of 
 inferior importance, because he cannot discern any 
 direct connection between them and the leading ob- 
 ject of his professional career. Let him rather in- 
 quire into their tendency to subject his mind to a 
 salutary discipline, and to form those habits of 
 thought and study by which his future progress miiy 
 be directed or facilitated. The student in theology, 
 for example, may perhaps entertain doubts with re-
 
 ACQUISITION OF KNOWLEDGE. 29 
 
 gard to the utility of studies in mathematics, or in tlt\ 
 philosophy of the human mind; yet it is not difficult to 
 exhibit the direct and powerful tendency of these 
 pursuits to generate habits of incalculable value to 
 those who, in the discharge of their professional en- 
 gagements, will find occasion for the exercise of ac- 
 curate discrimination, and the power ol conclusive 
 reasoning. Could it even be shown that the researches 
 of mathematical science and of mental philosophy 
 would impart but little information of real value, still 
 it might be contended, that the advantages accruing 
 from the very efforts of intellectual energy which 
 they call forth must secure to the student an ample 
 remuneration for his expenditure of time and labor." 
 The above views, expressed b^ Mr.Burder, are thus 
 confirmed by Dr. Thomas Brown : " In some former 
 severe discussions, like the present, I endeavored to 
 extract for you some little consolation from that 
 very fortitude of attention which the discussion re- 
 quired, pointing out to you the advantages of ques- 
 tions of this kind, in training the mind to those habits 
 cf serious thought and patient investigation, which, 
 considered in their primary relation to the intellec- 
 tual character, are of infinitely greater importance 
 than the instruction which the question itself may 
 afford. ' Generosos labor nutrit !' In the discipline 
 of reason, as in the training of the athlete, it is not 
 for a single victory which it may give to the youth- 
 ful champion that the combat is to be valued, but for 
 that knitting of the joints and hardening of the 
 mupcles, that quickening of the eyes and collected-
 
 O 
 
 30 MENTAL DISCIPLINE. 
 
 ness of effort, which is forming for the struggles of 
 more illustrious fields." 
 
 SECTION IV.- Endeavor to acquire the habit of applying 
 the mind, with full vigor and undivided attention, *o 
 every intellectual pursuit in which you engage. 
 
 Intellectual habits detrimental to any worthy ac- 
 quirement are often engendered by a cait'ess exer- 
 cise of attention. " If there can be anything," says 
 Dr. Reid, " in matters of mere judgment and reason- 
 ing, worthy the name of genius, it seems to consist 
 chiefly in being able to give that attention to the sub- 
 ject which keeps it steady in the mind till we can 
 survey it accurately on all sides." The vigor of in- 
 tellectual power, as well as the actual knowledge we 
 may obtain, must depend in a great measure upon 
 our habits of attention. Sitting with a book before 
 you, or dozing over one with dreamy indifference, is 
 not stwly. Neither are those oft intermitted efforts, 
 that are made by some, worthy of the name of study. 
 " Would you deserve to be called a student," says 
 one, " you must learn to abstract your mind from 
 everything else, and fasten it upon the subject be- 
 fore you. If it wander, bring it back, and chain it to 
 the subject again." Continue thus, till you have 
 fully formed the habit of applying the whole attention 
 to whatever subject of investigation you undertake, 
 with fixed and intense thour/ht. This one habit is of 
 more value to him who would extend his researches 
 and enlarge the dominion of his thought, than the 
 possession of a superficial knowledge of half-a-dozen
 
 ACQUISITION OF KNOWLEDGE. 31 
 
 languages without it. The mighty intellects of every 
 age have been distinguished for this power. It is 
 said of Seneca, that, in the midst of the bustle of {in> N/ 
 encampment, he fell into a profound meditation, and/ \ 
 stood, with the immobility of a statue, from one morn- 
 ing till the sun rose on the next. The celebrated 
 mathematician of Syracuse, Archimedes, was so 
 absorbed by his mathematical researches as not 
 to be disturbed by the invasion and capture of 
 the city by a hostile army. Cardan is also said to 
 have brought himself into such a state as to be in- 
 sensible to all impressions. When the servant that 
 attended upon Locke, some hours after the usual . 
 time for his taking his meal, had uncovered the dish, ^ 
 he would often find the food he had prepared un- / 
 touched. To the same point is the expressive decla- 
 ration of Sir Isaac Newton concerning himself, 4 
 " that whatever service he had done the public, w 
 not owing to any extraordinary sagacity, but solelj 
 to industry and patient thought." 
 
 This concentration of the intellectual power is not 
 to be confounded with that state of mind usually de- 
 nominated reverie. The latter results from an in- 
 ability to fix the attention strongly upon any out 
 subject, and is, in fact, composed of fugitive and dis 
 connected thoughts ; while the former, even when ex- 
 erted to such a degree as to produce absence of 
 mind, consists in the concentration of the whole in- 
 tellectual energy upon one point, to the exclusion 
 of every other subject. This will account for the 
 absent-mindedness which has often characterized
 
 32 MENTAL DISCIPLINE. 
 
 profound thinkers. " Indeed," says the author of 
 The Philosophy of Sleep, " all studies which require 
 deep thinking are apt to induce mental absence, in 
 consequence of the sensorial power being drained 
 from the general circumference of the mind, and di- 
 rected strongly to a certain point. This draining, 
 while it invigorates the organ of the particular fa- 
 culty toward which the sensorial energy is concen- 
 trated, leaves the others in an inanimate state, and 
 incapacitates them from performing their proper 
 functions ; hence, persons subject to abstraction are 
 apt to commit a thousand ludicrous errors." New- 
 ton, in a fit of absence, made a tobacco-stopper of a 
 lady's finger. The following well-dnnvn portraiture 
 is much to the point : " It is a case of one of the 
 most profound and clear-headed philosophical think- 
 ers, and one of the most amiable of men, becoming 
 so completely absorbed in his own reflections, as to 
 lose the. perception of external things, and almost 
 that of his own identity and existence. There are 
 few that have paid any attention to the finance of 
 the English nation, but must have heard of Dr. Ro- 
 bert Hamilton's ' Essay on the National Debt,' which 
 fell on both houses of parliament like a bomb-shell, 
 or, rather, which rose and illuminated their darkness 
 like an orient sun. There are also other writings 
 of his, in which one knows not which to admire 
 most the profound and accurate science, the beau- 
 tiful arrangement, or the clear expression. Yet, in 
 public, the man was a shadow ; pulled off" his hat to 
 hi? own wife in the streets, and apologized for not
 
 ACQUISITION OF KNOWLEDGE. 33 
 
 kaviug the pleasure of her acquaintance ; went to 
 his classes in the college, on the dark mornings, with 
 one of her white stockings on one leg, and one of his 
 black ones on the other; often spent the whole time 
 of the meeting in moving from the table the hats of 
 the students, which they as constantly replaced; 
 sometimes invited them to call upon him, and then 
 fined them for coming to insult him. He would run 
 against a cow in the road, turn round, beg her par- 
 don, ' madam,' and hope she was not hurt. At other 
 times he would run against posts, and chide them for 
 not getting out of his way ; and yet his conversation, 
 at the same time, if anybody happened to be with 
 him, was perfect logic and perfect music." ' 
 
 The above are extreme cases of mental abstrac- 
 tion, and the latter especially indicates an habitual 
 state of mind hardly to be coveted. But the .exer- 
 cise of intellectual power, with reference to one point 
 or subject, implies abstraction and concentration ; 
 and without these there can be no great exercise of 
 intellectual power. Dr. Macnish, after stating that 
 ''the Edinburgh phrenologists " contend that those 
 who have a large development of the organ of con- 
 r>entrativeness are peculiarly liable to fits of abstrac- 
 tion, says. "A good endowment of the power in 
 question (concentrativeness) adds very much to the 
 efficiency of the intellect, by enabling its possessor to 
 apply his mind continuously to a particular investiga- 
 tion, unannoyed by the intrusion of foreign and ir- 
 relevant ideas. It seems to have been very strong 
 in Sir Isaac Newton, whose liability to abstraction 
 3
 
 54 MENTAL DISCIPLINE. 
 
 has already been alluded to. ' During the two 
 years,' says Biot, ' which he spent in preparing and 
 developing his immortal work, Philosophce Natumlis 
 Principia Mathematica, he lived only to calculate and 
 tlink. Oftentimes, lost in the contemplation of these 
 grand objects, he acted unconsciously ; his thoughts 
 appearing to preserve no connection with the ordi- 
 nary affairs of life. It is said, that frequently, on 
 rising in the morning, he would sit down on his bed- 
 side, arrested by some new conception, and would 
 remain for hours together engaged in tracing it out, 
 without dressing himself!' " 
 
 This intense mental exertion, in which the mind 
 is applied with full vigor and undivided attention to 
 one definite subject, is labor ; and the undisciplined 
 mind will often shrink from it, nay, is often utterly 
 incompetent to it for any length of time. We are 
 no less inclined to intellectual than bodily laziness. 
 The formation of energetic business habits requires 
 firm determination and persevering action. Before 
 they are formed, the path of such a one will often 
 seem rugged and uncomfortable to himself; but, 
 when once formed, " they Avill constitute his life." 
 Just so in the formation of our intellectual habits. 
 The mind will at first shrink from the fatiguing 
 drudgery imposed upon it; but, by insensible de- 
 grees, its powers of action and of endurance will be- 
 come so strengthened, and its habits so confirmed, 
 that it will greatly delight in that which was at first 
 disagreeable and irksome. One great obstacle to 
 the formation of these habits by the student, is the
 
 ACQUISITION OF KNOWLEDGE. 35 
 
 fiuence of " wandering thoughts." These thoughts 
 ore constantly intruding themselves upon his studies; 
 they are suggested by surrounding objects, or by 
 circumstances deeply interesting to us, or by train? 
 of thought with which the mind has become familiar; 
 and, Avhen once repelled, they recur again, and ob- 
 sfinately intrude upon the attention. They have 
 perhaps a stronger hold upon the feelings or passions 
 than the subject of study prescribed ; they are per- 
 haps more pleasing to the imagination, and fancy 
 pleads for a little indulgence. Thus, a contest is 
 going on between the student and his "wandering 
 thoughts;" and, after awhile, he finds the mind fa- 
 tigued with its exertion, while, at the same time, lit- 
 tle or no advancement has been made in the subject 
 of study : " A bootless effort," he exclaims, while he 
 lays aside his book in disappointment and disgust. 
 Not so fast, my young friend; the encounter in 
 which you have been engaged is not so bootless as 
 you imagine ; the very exertion you have put forth 
 has but strengthened your powers for a second and 
 more successful conflict. Mr. Stewart thus explains 
 the ca ise of our dissatisfaction and weariness : " It 
 ia not an exclusive and steady attention that we give 
 to the object, but we are losing sight of it and re- 
 curring to it every instant ; and the painful efforts of 
 which we are conscious, are not (as we are apt t& 
 suppose them to be) efforts of uncommon attention, 
 Lnt unsuccessful attempts to keep the mind steady 
 to its object, and to exclude the extraneous .ideas 
 which are from time to time soliciting its no' ice ."
 
 36 MENTAL DISCIPLINE. 
 
 Every battle gained in this isjnflict aids to insure 
 the final triumph; every field surrendered, without 
 a vigorous defense, tends to bring about final defeat 
 "Let, then, the mind of the student be deeply 
 impressed with the conviction of the importance of 
 this habit, and of the practicability of making great 
 and indefinite progress in acquiring the power of 
 fixed attention. Let him resolve that he will daily 
 make the most vigorous efforts; that he will sum- 
 mon the full energy of his mind, whenever he is en- 
 gaged in study ; and that he will never tolerate in 
 himself a habit of languid and intermitting applica- 
 tion. Let him be assured that if he ever allows this, 
 he not only loses his time, and frustrates his imme- 
 diate object, but that he injures the tone and im- 
 pairs the vigor of his mind. ' AVhen you remit your 
 attention,' said Epictetus, ' do not fancy that you can 
 recover it when you please; but remember that by 
 the fault of to-day you will be in a worse state to- 
 morrow, and a habit of not attending is induced 
 Why should you not preserve a constant attention ': 
 there is no concern in life in which attention is not 
 required.' " 
 
 SECTION V. Endeavor uniformly to acrfiirre dear and 
 precise ideas on every subject of investigation you undir- 
 take. 
 
 Few mental habits are of more consequence in 
 the formation of the intellectual character, or exert 
 a more decisive influence upon the reputation and 
 standing of an individual in society, than t'.i's. It
 
 ACQUISITION OF KNOWLEDGE. 37 
 
 <s opposed to, and will be a preventive of, the habit 
 of superficial observation and reflection, into which 
 the great majority of men fall ; it will lead, even 
 when; few of the advantages of early culture have 
 been enjoyed, to the attainment of critical, exten- 
 sive, and valuable knowledge; and it will secure for 
 the individual the profound respect of his fellow- 
 men, and enable him to exert a wide influence over 
 them. In every community we shall find men whose 
 judgment is regarded with deference by their neigh- 
 bors ; they are not always to be found among those 
 who have enjoyed the greatest advantages of wealth 
 or education ; sometimes it is far otherwise. They 
 are the men who are sought in all matters of contro- 
 versy. If we carefully analyze the mental charac- 
 ter of this class of men, we shall find that, in addition 
 to moral integrity, one prominent feature of their 
 character will be the habit we have here enjoined. 
 Among the great luminaries of learning, especially 
 those who have struck out new paths and explored 
 new fields of knowledge, this has ever been a cha- 
 racteristic aquirement, not endowment, as too many 
 suppose. Newton counted nothing accomplished till 
 the truth sought " stood out in a clear and steady 
 light." To this power are to be attributed, in a 
 great measure, the clearness and simplicity which 
 characterize the theological writings of Dr. Dwight. 
 It is said of Dr. Emory, for some time a distinguished 
 member of the Baltimore Conference, and afterward 
 one of the bishops of the M. E. Church, that when a 
 subject, by the heat and confusion of debate, had
 
 38 MENTAL DISCIPLINE. 
 
 become so complicated that the members hardly 
 knew what to do with it, the doctor usually came to 
 their relief. Sometimes he attempted no new arg'i- 
 *nent, but simply disentangled and classified those 
 already offered; so that each one could see for 
 himself the bearing upon the precise point at is- 
 sue ; and, when he closed, the conference were 
 generally ready to " vote." 
 
 To the attainment of clear and precise ideas, 
 habits of careful analysis are necessary. A critical 
 examination of the parts is necessary to the compre- 
 hension of the whole. To accomplish this the parts 
 must be disentangled from the mass, and each par- 
 ticular examined by itself. Mr. Locke says, " The 
 greatest part of true knowledge lies in a distinct 
 perception of things in themselves distinct. And 
 some men give more clear light and knowledge by 
 the fair, distinct statement of a question, than others 
 by taking it in gross, whole hours together. In this 
 they who state a question do no more, but separate 
 and disentangle the parts of it from one another, 
 and lay them, when so disentangled, in their due 
 order. This often, without any more ado, resolves 
 the doubt, and shows the mind where the truth lies 
 In learning anything, as little should be proposed to 
 the mind at once as possible ; and that being under- 
 stood, and fully mastered, proceed to the next ad- 
 joining part, yet unknown, simple, un perplexed 
 proposition, belonging to the matter in hand, and 
 tending to the clearing what is principally designed.'' 
 The course here prescribed will not only tend ta
 
 ACQUISITION OF KNOWLEDGE. 39 
 
 clear and accurate knowledge, but will also produce 
 independence of thought. It will free the mind 
 froai a slavish thralldom to the opinions of others. 
 It will enable the individual to be, as the poet de- 
 scribes himself, " Nullius addictus jurare in verba 
 mar/istri." Alas, how many stem to be satisfied with 
 being servile plodders in the track of others mere 
 children in leading strings ! They are satisfied with 
 a knowledge of the books they read, rather than of 
 the subjects of which the books treat ; and ipse dixit 
 is their highest authority. The progress of the mind 
 that investigates thoroughly will, at the outset, be 
 slow ; and the individual may acquire the reputation 
 of dullness among his companions, and with indis- 
 criminating teachers ; but perseverance will insure 
 to him ultimate success. 
 
 Never be satisfied, then, with looking at the mere 
 surface of things; but push your inquiries to the ut- 
 most limit of your ability. Never allow confusion 
 or indistinctness of thought to remain in the mind, 
 when it is possible for you to acquire clear and pre- 
 cise ideas. One definite and clear idea is worth 
 more than a dozen half-formed notions floating in 
 
 *3 
 
 the head. " A disposition to rest satisfied with ob- 
 ocure and indefinite notions, on subjects within the 
 limits of our knowledge, is at once an indication of 
 the want of mental vigor, and a most formidable 
 barrier in the way of intellectual improvement. On 
 the other hand, a dissatisfaction with imperfect, half- 
 formed conceptions, is a most powerful stimulus to 
 further inquiry, and an effectual preventive from
 
 40 MENTAL DISCIPLINE. 
 
 the error of taking for granted, that we already 
 know that of which we are, in truth, only beginning 
 to perceive our ignorance." A disposition to rest 
 satisfied with half-formed notions is the precursor of 
 mental imbecility. Our mental, as well as our bo- 
 dily faculties, are " strengthened by use, and weak- 
 ened by disuse." The imbecile mind at length finds 
 the effort to acquire its superficial notions, vague 
 and indistinct though they be, like Ossian's ghosts, 
 " dun forms of uncircumscribed shade," as laborious, 
 and by far less satisfactory, than are the efforts put 
 forth by the mind accustomed to vigorous thought. 
 
 Precision of language is very closely connected 
 with precision of thought. " Whether our immedi- 
 ate object be to arrive at clear conceptions in our 
 own train of thought, or to convey our ideas with 
 clearness to others, it is of the greatest importance 
 to study precision in the use of language. It is by 
 the aid of language that we carry on our processes 
 of thought; and unless we accustom ourselves to 
 accurate definitions and distinctions, our notions 
 must be obscure, our reasonings perplexed, and our 
 conclusions frequently erroneous. We often impose 
 upon ourselves, by falsely imagining that we fully 
 understand a subject, because we are familiar with 
 many of the comprehensive terms in which that 
 subject is usually discussed ; whereas, to many of 
 those terms we may never have attached any pre- 
 cise or definite ideas."
 
 ACQUISITION OF KNOWLEDGE. 41 
 
 SECTION VI. Be deterred from entering upon no necessary 
 bianch of study merely from the plea that you "have no 
 talent for it." 
 
 This plea, when seriously regarded, is highly indi- 
 cative of pusilanimity and indecision of character. 
 It is unquestionably true that all minds are not 
 equally well adapted to every intellectual pursuit. 
 Some seem to have a genius for the languages, and 
 acquire them with great facility ; others seem to have 
 a peculiar aptitude for mathematics. Whether this 
 intellectual bent, or aptitude, result from habit or 
 native genius, it is indicative of the undue preponder- 
 ance of some one of our faculties, and is, in itself, a 
 substantial reason why the discarded study should 
 be made a special subject of mental application. 
 Labor omnia vlncit. If you have no taste for a par- 
 ticular and necessary branch of study, form one by 
 your own mental energy and determination ; if you 
 " have no talents" for such a branch, create them. 
 The energy of mind you will have called into ex- 
 ercise, and the intellectual power you will have en- 
 gendered in the conilict, will amply repay your ex- 
 ertion. Many of the most distinguished votaries of 
 science, discovered no original aptitude for the par- 
 ticular branch of study in which they afterward ex- 
 celled ; some, indeed, seemed to possess a positive in- 
 aptitude and disrelish for those very pursuits, which 
 they afterward prosecuted with so much honor to 
 themselves, and usefulness to the world. On the 
 other hand, we shall find that our " smart " children
 
 42 MENTAL DISCIPLINE. 
 
 and youth, who seem to comprehend a lesson almost 
 by intuition, rarely become proficients in science; in 
 fact, they rarely maintain a respectable mediocrity, 
 even, in those very branches in which the 'r precocity 
 was most observable. Let no one, then, be deterred 
 from any necessaiy study by this mischievous plea. 
 
 We have not here intended to C-ijoin that every 
 man, nor indeed that any man, should "intermeddle 
 with all knowledge ;" but have spoken only of the 
 branches of study " necessary" to the full and sym- 
 metrical development of the powers of the mind, or 
 such as maybe called in requisition by the duties of 
 our profession. This development is the inalienable 
 right of every immortal being. And all this may 
 be affirmed, without denying the propriety or utility 
 of special education for the particular callings of life. 
 The visionary notion, which some have entertained, 
 of converting the great mass of mankind into sage 
 philosophers, exhibits a lamentable misapprehension 
 of the objects and destiny of humanity. The exten- 
 sive pursuit of Belles Lettres, and a passion for the 
 study, might be of essential service to the orator; 
 but, at the same time, injurious to the farmer. The 
 study of the ancient classics, so essential in tl-e learned 
 professions, is not equally indispensable in the man- 
 ual occupations. Says a witty writer. " If a fanner 
 whose livelihood depends upon his bodily labor, 
 should spend that time in investigating the philosophy 
 of his plants, which he ought to spend in hoeing 
 them, he would merit ridicule, and be sure to meet 
 with poverty. A mechanic would quickly lose hii
 
 ACQUISITION OF KNOWLEDGE. 43 
 
 customers, should he brandish his learning in their 
 faces, and attempt to entertain them with <5cientific 
 harangues, instead of performing their work cvith dis- 
 patch and neatness. Nor would a mechanic thrive 
 in trade, who should neglect his legcr for the study 
 of Homer or Shakspeare ; or who should be courting 
 the muses, when he ought to be posting his books or 
 waiting upon his customers." "VT admit the force 
 and truthfulness of these remarks, but we doubt 
 whether they are of very extensive applicability. 
 Nor do they in the least justify the author's conclu- 
 sion, that " all learning that is entirely foreign to 
 one's business is very apt to be worse than useless to 
 him." It was an adage of the ancient Latins par 
 negotiis neque supra that " a man should be equal 
 to his business, not above it." And there are thou- 
 sands who seem more solicitous not to be above, than 
 they do to be equal to their business. To us it seems 
 a most obvious truth, that the capabilities and ac- 
 quirements of every man should so far surpass the 
 special demands of his business, as to enable him to 
 meet the claims of his social and intellectual destiny. 
 The accomplishment of this will require a mind of 
 cultivated feeling, of developed and refined powers, 
 and of varied and valuable knowledge. 
 
 SECTION VII. Accustom yourself carefully to discriminate 
 between sound and sophistical reasoning, and never indulyt 
 yourself in the use of the latter. 
 
 Owing to the imperfection of the human under* 
 standing, fallacious or unsound arguments often find
 
 44 MENTAL DISCIPLINE. 
 
 place in a train of reasoning, even when there was 
 no intention of using them on the part of the speaker. 
 They also often occur from design, in order to sus- 
 tain a bad cause, " to make the worse appear the 
 better reason ;" or more effectually to secure the tri- 
 umph of a cause, in itself good. The former implies 
 an intellectual defect ; the latter, moral obliquity. 
 
 One of the most delicate and important processes 
 connected with the exercise of the reasoning power, 
 is the critical discrimination of the nature and rela- 
 tions of the various propositions that are called up. 
 Mr. Upham considers " diversity in the suscepti- 
 bility of feeling relations," one of the grounds of the 
 differences in the power of reasoning among men. 
 This susceptibility is unquestionably capable of a 
 high degree of cultivation, and when its use becomes 
 habitual, the individual will rarely be betrayed into 
 the unintentional use of a fallacious argument, nor 
 be very likely to be deceived by one, when used by 
 another. 
 
 Those in whom memory or imagination predomi- 
 nates, are extremely liable to the unintentional use 
 of fallacious reasonings. The former presents a 
 hurdle of isolated facts, and then imagines that he 
 has produced an argument; the latter brings into 
 battle array, what Pope denominates, "a mob of 
 metaphors," and then exclaims, Jo triumplte ! The 
 multitude, bewildered equally by the volubility of the 
 man of memory, and by the variety and number of 
 his facts; or smitten by the brilliant flashes and 
 sparkling imagery of the man of imagination, are toe
 
 ACQUISITION OF KNOWLEDGE. 45 
 
 ften unable, at the moment, to fathom the shallow 
 depths of the reasoning. But it should not be for- 
 gotten, that this momentary victory is gained at the 
 expense of the future confidence and respect of those 
 over whom it is gained. It was palming off' upon 
 them worthless though glittering dust for gold. Its 
 effect will be to excite in their minds a suspicion as 
 to the talents of the reasoner, the soundness of his 
 judgment, and the accuracy of his opinions; or lead 
 them to the question his moral integrity. " Argu 
 monts are to be iceir/hed, not numbered." A sophis- 
 tical argument, when detected in company with those 
 that are sound, detracts from their weight and force, 
 just as negative quantities, in an algebraic formula, 
 cause a diminution of the value of the whole expres- 
 sion. When an individual is detected in using fal- 
 lacious arguments unintentionally, it will beget a dis- 
 trust of his intellectual capabilities; when, in using 
 them intentionally, it will beget a distrust of his i-?oral 
 integrity as a reasoner. And, in either ease, men 
 will hesitate to yield themselves any longer to his 
 guidance. On the other hand, nothing can be more 
 effective in securing confidence, than a sound, dis- 
 criminating judgment, and a manly determination 
 never to avail yourself of the temporary advantage 
 gained by the use of fallacious arguments. 
 
 A sound and discriminating judgment can be at- 
 tained only by cultivating habits of careful discri- 
 mination between error and truth, and a rigid ad- 
 herence to the latter. " In the conduct of life, and 
 certainly in every professional career, it is of stiU
 
 46 MENTAL DISCIPLINE. 
 
 greater importance to exercise a sound, discriminat- 
 ing judgment, than even to have at command ample 
 stores of literature and science. A lesson of no in- 
 considerable value should be learned from the ex- 
 ample of those writers (and they are not few in num- 
 bu) whose memory has been much more success- 
 fully cultivated than their judgment; who excite 
 admiration at the rich and varied treasures of their 
 knowledge, without inspiring respect for their opin- 
 ions, or confidence in their reasonings; who can, 
 with apparent facility, borrow illustrations and em- 
 bellishments from almost every department of science, 
 but employ them in aid of opinions formed with in- 
 cautious haste, supported with fallacious arguments, 
 and maintained with all the confidence of dogma- 
 tism." 
 
 SECTION VIII. Never permit the fancy and imagination 
 to predominate over the understanding, so as to impair its 
 energy or darken its perception. 
 
 The imagination is undoubtedly called into ex<^r- 
 cise in every process of reasoning, and contributes 
 essentially to the progress of an individual in the 
 icquisition of knowledge. Mr. Stewart, though, as 
 we think, he hardly gives just rank and importance 
 to the imagination among her sister faculties, makes 
 the following concessions upon this subject : " In 
 scientific researches, those habits of the mind which 
 lay the foundation of poetical genius may, undoubt- 
 edly, be of occasional use, by suggesting analogies as 
 interesting subjects of philosophical examination'
 
 ACQUISITION OF KNOWLEDGE. 47 
 
 "vhich analogies, though they often do no more than 
 furnish amusement to the fancy, may yet sometimes 
 lead to important discoveries. The power of in- 
 vention, besides, is necessarily connected with the 
 powers of imagination and fancy ; at least they con- 
 tribute their share largely in supplying the materials 
 on which invention is to operate. It is scarcely 
 necessary for me to add, of what advantage they arc 
 to the theorist, in supplying him with happy and 
 varied illustrations of his hypothesis ; an advantage 
 which, it must be owned, has, in the past history of 
 science, been more frequently employed in giving 
 plausibility to error, than in illustrating and es- 
 tablishing truth." The author also asserts, that it is 
 from the seducing influence of these powers that the 
 principal charm of Darwin's Zoonomia arises. And 
 that young and undisciplined understandings are apt 
 to be misled by philosophical romance. Mr. Upham 
 also asserts, that a vigorous and well-disciplined im- 
 agination may be made subservient to the intellectual 
 process of reasoning ; but at the same time gives the 
 caution that " the remark is made only on the sup- 
 position of the imagination being well disciplined, 
 which implies, that it is under suitable control, other- 
 wise it will rather encumber and perplex, than afford 
 aid." 
 
 Mr. Stewart, in his remarks upon the influence 
 of" poetic habits" on the intellectual faculties, further 
 asserts, that " by cherishing a proneness to analogical 
 combination, they have a tendency to impair that 
 severe and discriminating good sense, which alone
 
 18 MENTAL DISCIPLINE. 
 
 can guide us infallibly in the search of truth." 
 '' Xot," he further observes, " that I would venture, 
 with Mr. Diafoires. to assume as certain, the converge 
 of this proposition, and to conclude, that, in propor- 
 tion as imagination is weak, our other faculties must 
 necessarily be strong. ' I foresee,' said this fond 
 parent, ' from the heaviness of my son's imagination, 
 that he will have, in time, an excellent judgment.' 
 All that I would be understood to assert is. that a 
 more than ordinary liveliness and warmth of im- 
 agination will require, in a greater degree, the dis- 
 cipline of logical precepts and of philosophical habits 
 of thinking, to prevent the possessor from losing 
 his way in his scientific researches, than when this 
 faculty does not possess the ascendant in the intel- 
 lectual frame." After remarking upon the influence 
 of the imagination in cultivation of moral and in- 
 tellectual character, Mr. Abercrombie observes, 
 k ' There is certainly no power of the mind that re- 
 quires more cautious management and stern control, 
 and the proper regulation of it cannot be too strongly 
 impressed upon the mind." 
 
 When imagination and fancy predominate, there 
 is a constant tendency to withdraw the mind from 
 the careful observation of external realities, so es- 
 sential in critical investigation, and to send it out 
 upon visionary speculations. Foster, in one of his 
 essays, remarks, " There may be an intellect not pos- 
 itively feeble, yet practically reduced to debility by 
 a disproportionate imagination, which continually 
 invades its sphere, and takes everything out of its
 
 ACQUISITION OF KNOWLEDGE. 49 
 
 nands." " Imagination may be indulged, till it usurp 
 an entire ascendency over the mind, and then every 
 subject presented to that mind will excite imagina- 
 tion, instead of understanding, to work; imagination 
 will throw its colors, where the intellectual faculty 
 ought to draw its lines ; imagination will accumulate 
 metaphors, when reason ought to deduce arguments ; 
 images will take the place of thoughts, and scenes of 
 disquisitions. The whole mind may become, at 
 length, something like a hemisphere of cloud-sce- 
 nery, filled with an ever-moving train of changing, 
 melting forms, of every color, mingled with rain- 
 bows, meteors, and an occasional gleam of pure sun- 
 light, all vanishing away, the mental, like this na- 
 tural imagery, when its hour is up, without leaving 
 anything behind, but the wish to recover the vision. 
 And yet, the while, this series of visions maybe mis- 
 taken for operations of thought, and each cloudy 
 image be admitted in place of a proposition or a rea- 
 son ; or it may even be mistaken for something sub- 
 limer than thinking. The influence of this habit of 
 dwelling upon the beautiful, fallacious forms of im- 
 agination, will accompany the mind into the most 
 serious speculations, or rather musings, of the real 
 world, and what is to be done in it, and expected ; 
 as the image, which the eye acquires from looking 
 at -my dazzling object, still appears before it where- 
 ever it turns. The vulgar materials that constitute 
 the economy of the actual world will rise up to its 
 eight in fictitious forms, which it cannot disenchant 
 Into plain reality, nor will even suspect to be decep- 
 4
 
 50 MENTAL DISCIPLINE. 
 
 tive. It cannot go about with sober, rational inspec 
 tion, and ascertain the nature and value of thingr 
 around it. Indeed such a mind is not disposed to 
 examine, with any careful minuteness, the real con- 
 dition of things." This is that class of persons 
 which, the same author says in another place, " oc- 
 cupies a dubious frontier space between the rational 
 and the insane." Certain it is, that it is a class which 
 can never make distinguished progress in sound in- 
 tellectual attainments. 
 
 SECTION IX. Cultivate the habit of strict and diligent In- 
 vestigation. 
 
 Such a habit will not only contribute largely to 
 mental growth and expansion ; but it will also tend 
 greatly to the increase of our stock of valuable 
 knowledge. " To investigate, in the original sen?e 
 of the word, is to search for an unknown object, by 
 discovering or following; out the traces which it has 
 left, in the path which leads to its unknown situation. 
 Thus, we find where a person is concealed by tracing 
 his footsteps from the place whence he set out In 
 the investigation of truth, we set out from a point 
 which is already ascertained, with a view to our ar- 
 rival to a point not yet ascertained. But this pro- 
 gress is not to be effected by plans arbitrary and 
 capricious. Our steps must be directed, and our 
 efforts guided, by certain principles of inquiry and 
 research. There is a certain process of thought ; an 
 unbroken series of causes and consequents, by which
 
 ACQUISITION OF KNOWLEDGE. 51 
 
 alone we can pass from that which is known to that 
 which is unknown. If any of the links of that chain 
 be disjoined, or rather, if they be not clearly dis- 
 covered, the interval may indeed be supplied by 
 conjecture, but the investigation is incomplete." 
 Sometimes the expenditure of much labor and time 
 is necessary in order to search out all the successive 
 links, and make them take their proper places in the 
 train of investigation or reasoning. Nothing short 
 of this, however, can secure vigor to our mental 
 power, and completeness to our knowledge. 
 
 The attainment of this habit will require vigorous 
 and determined effort. " The true spirit of investi 
 gation, and a facility in pursuing the requisite in- 
 quiries, are not of easy acquisition. They are the 
 result of frequent effort, and judicious discipline. 
 But the value of the attainment, is an ample com- 
 pensation for the labor which it demands. The habit 
 acquired is applicable to all the objects which are 
 placed within the grasp of the human faculties. It 
 is equally requisite, and equally beneficial in inves- 
 tigation of individual character, of historical facts, of 
 the phenomena of matter and of mind, and of the 
 still more momentous and interesting truths which 
 constitute the system of divine revelation. 
 
 " This habit of careful investigation will also exert 
 a salutary influence upon the intellectual chaiacter, 
 in producing a manly independence of mind. He 
 who has been accustomed to examine for himself will 
 not be disposed to rely implicitly on the opinion of 
 others, or to surrender his judgment to the demand
 
 52 MENTAL DISCIPLINE. 
 
 of opinionated dogmatism. While he will gratefully 
 receive, and acknowledge the aid of others, in cor- 
 recting his opinions and extending his views, he will 
 be in no danger of resembling those who resign their 
 judgment to the last man they hear or read ; who, 
 chamelion-like, take the color of that which is laid 
 before them, and as soon lose or resign it to the next 
 that happens to come in their way." 
 
 SECTION X. Endeavor to have some special subject of in- 
 vestigation constantly before you, to stimulate your exer- 
 tions. 
 
 " I would advise you," says the author of Letters 
 to a Student, " to form the habit of engaging often 
 in fixed and profound thought on some interesting 
 subject, with the object of acquiring greater skill in 
 the work of thorough investigation. It would be 
 well if you should make this a daily business. Select 
 some interesting subject : abstract your mind from 
 everything eke : fasten your thoughts on this : sur- 
 vey it in all its aspects : trace out all its relations : 
 analyze it thoroughly Be assured you can- 
 not too soon adopt correct principles, and enter on 
 a right course of action, on this subject. Let me 
 forewarn you, however, you will not succeed in put- 
 ting into practice what I have recommended with- 
 out much effort Every man is, in a greater or less 
 degree, naturally indolent Your mind will often 
 shrink from the intense thought which will be neces- 
 sary in the course I have marked out. But put it 
 to the task. And though the way may seem rough
 
 ACQUISITION OF KNOWLEDGE. 53 
 
 and forbidding at first, it will doubtless grow more 
 smooth and delightful at every step of your pro- 
 gress." 
 
 Two important advantages will result from pur- 
 suing the course here pointed out. The mind will 
 he making rapid improvement in the power of ac- 
 curate and profound investigation ; and will, at the 
 same time, acquire a more perfect and extensive 
 knowledge of many important subjects than it would 
 otherwise have attained. Nulla dies sine linea was 
 the motto of a great painter, and should be the motto 
 of every one that would excel. Similar to this was 
 the reply of Luther ; when asked how, in addition 
 to all his other labors, he had found time to translate 
 the whole Bible, he replied, that " he had done a 
 little every day." It is wonderful how much a man 
 may accomplish by faithfully acting upon this motto. 
 He may be neither " a fast worker" nor " a genius ;" 
 nay, he may be what is technically called " a hard 
 student," "a delver;" but, in the end, he will bo 
 found to have made more valuable acquisitions than 
 could ever have been made by the irregular salliea 
 of the brightest genius. 
 
 These are the efforts, and this is the mental dis- 
 cipline, that is to enable individuals to grasp the 
 emergencies of coming years, and bend them to 
 their own purpose. What will the occurrence of a 
 thousand emergencies, and a thousand openings of 
 Providence, accomplish for any one ; unless by 
 previous mental discipline and attainments he is 
 prepared to enter upon the theatre thrown open to
 
 54 MENTAL DISCIPLINE. 
 
 him? The imagination may picture a thousand 
 scenes in which the idler hopes to be the magna 
 oars quorum fui ; but, alas for his prospects ! he puts 
 forth no well-directed and continuous efforts to pre- 
 pare himself i'or them. The sighing imbecile lan- 
 guidly inquires, where is the use of his making pre- 
 sent exertions, when it is altogether uncertain what 
 may be the emergencies in which he may L^ called 
 to act, and whether there will be any openings of 
 Providence for him? Had they acted upon such 
 principles, the world had never known a Newton, 
 nor science acknowledged its indebtedness to a 
 Franklin. When the stadium is defined, the goal 
 placed in sight, and the crowd assembled to witness 
 the race and applaud the victor, it is no time for the 
 contender to begin his preparation for the race. 
 AVill he then betake himself to exercise, that he may 
 obtain suppleness of muscle, flexibility of joint, agility 
 of motion, and power of endurance ? Nay, unless 
 all these have been acquired by previous exercise, 
 he enters the lists only to suffer defeat and disgrace. 
 
 SECTION XI. Guard against the waste of tinie, in frivo- 
 lous and unimportant pursuits. 
 
 In close connection with the subject, of the pre- 
 ceding section stands the precept we have placed at 
 the head of this. Individuals of great mental power 
 and capacity sometimes fall into dissolute habits, 
 with regard to the occupation and improvement of 
 their time. They are diverted first by one object, 
 the.; by another, from the object they are conscious
 
 ACQUISITION OF KNOWLEDGE. 55 
 
 they ought to pursue, and, indeed, the course they 
 ore determined to pursue ; and, in the end, find, 
 without hardly knowing why, that nothing has been 
 accomplished. In this frivolous waste of time may 
 be included much that is spent in perusing thvJ light 
 literature of the day, in reading newspapers, and 
 not a small portion of that spent in social chit-chat. 
 Also in attending upon the little domestic duties re- 
 lating to the person or family of the professional 
 man, essential, indeed, but too often made a pretext 
 for dallying and frittering away a large portion of the 
 time that should be appropriated to study. To at- 
 tend to ordinary duties pertaining to the necessary 
 economy of life, to take sufficient time for social in- 
 tercourse, for sleep, for mental relaxation, and for 
 bodily exercise, is by no means a waste of time. All 
 these are necessary for the preservation of our intel 
 lectual balance and power ; but when they become 
 the occasion of diverting the mind from those sterner 
 pursuits, so essential to mental culture, their influ- 
 ence is most pernicious. Dissolute habits, with re- 
 ference to the use of time, will become strong: an 
 aversion to rigid mental application will be gene- 
 rated ; and mental imbecility will be the inevitable 
 result. These habits are the more dangerous, be- 
 cause they appear first in the form, perhaps, of inci- 
 dental duties, or of necessary relaxation. When 
 they are once formed, the victim of them can find 
 sufficient excuse for the occupation of his time other- 
 wise than in his study ; he may indeed be ever plan- 
 ning schemes of literary enterprise or courses of
 
 56 MENTAL DISCIPLINE. 
 
 study, but never the time to execute them. The 
 following distich of Ovid is not inappropriate : 
 
 Principiis obsta, scro medecina paratur 
 Cum niala per longas convaluere maras. 
 
 We shall find few, who have been distinguished 
 in any department of human learning, or who have 
 accomplished extensive good for their race, who 
 have not been jealous of the waste of time. The 
 celebrated John Wesley was never known to squan- 
 der a moment ; even while traveling the highway, 
 from one appointment to another, he was occupied 
 with some theme of meditation, or might be seen 
 with his pen or book in his hand. Few men have 
 traveled, and perhaps none preached, as much as he 
 did ; and yet, by this careful expenditure of time, 
 he produced an amount of matter for the press abso- 
 lutely incredible. According to Mr. Evans, " his 
 works, including abridgments and translations, 
 amounted to about two hundred volumes. They 
 comprise treatises on almost every subject, di- 
 vinity, poetry, music, history, natural, moral, meta- 
 physical, and political philosophy." How many, 
 even if they should live to his age, would never find 
 time to read as many volumes as he wrote ! It is 
 also said of Boyle, that during his continental tours, 
 when a young man, under the care of his tutor, he 
 would never lose a vacant moment While on the 
 road, though in a rough way, or walking down hill, 
 he would be reading all the time. When they came 
 to an inn, at night, he would study till supper, and
 
 ACQUISITION OF KNOWLEDGE. 0< 
 
 frequently propose such difficulties as he met with 
 to his governor. His works comprise six large 
 quarto volumes, on theology, oriental literature, na- 
 ) ural history, mathematics, and experimental physics, 
 including music, anatomy, chemistry, geography, &c., 
 &c. " The law of our nature," says Dr. Blair, " and 
 the condition under which we are placed from our 
 birth, is, that nothing good or great is to be acquired 
 without toil and industry. A price is appointed by- 
 Providence for everything; and the price of im- 
 provement is labor." " In all labor,'' says the wise 
 man, " there is profit ; but the soul of the sluggard 
 desireth, and hath nothing." 
 
 SECTION XII. Guard against vague mental reveries. 
 
 The minds of many are occupied, not a small por- 
 tion of their waking hours, in a kind of revery or 
 mental abstraction, in which they give loose reins 
 to the imagination, and suffer the mind to rove 
 wherever it may, without control or restraint. So 
 accustomed do such minds become to vague mental 
 reveries, that they seem to lose the power of self- 
 control, and to whatever subject of general inquiry 
 they may be directed, they become almost instantly 
 absorbed in some dreamy revery ever and anon 
 awaking to consciousness only to put forth another 
 short-lived intellectual effort, and then to relapse 
 into forge tf'ulness. This class of intellectual dream- 
 ers are not unlike those with whom sleep exists &a 
 $n idiopathic affection, and over whom Morpheus
 
 68 MENTAL DISCIPLINE. 
 
 lias established a universal and but feebly disputed 
 dominion. " Revery proceeds," says the author of 
 the Philosophy of Sleep, " from an -inusual quies- 
 cence of the brain, and inability of the mind to di 
 rect itself strongly to any one point ; it is often the 
 prelude of sleep. There is a defect in the attention, 
 which, instead of being fixed on one subject, wanders 
 over a thousand, and even on these is feebly and in- 
 effectively directed. We sometimes see this while 
 reading, or rather while attempting to read. We 
 get over page after page, but the ideas take no hold 
 upon us ; we are, in truth, ignorant of what we pe- 
 ruse, and the mind is either an absolute blank, or 
 vaguely addressed to something else." 
 
 It would be surprising to consider how large a 
 portion of our time is thus consumed without being 
 productive of any good. " Since the time that rea- 
 son began to exert her powers," says Blair, " thought, 
 during our waking hours, has been active in every 
 breast, without a moment's suspension or pause. 
 The current of ideas has been always flowing. The 
 wheels of the spiritual engine have circulated with 
 perpetual motion. Let me ask what has been the 
 fruit of this incessant activity with the greatest part 
 of mankind ? Of the innumerable hours that have 
 been employed in thought, how few are marked with 
 any permanent or useful effect ? How many have 
 either passed away in idle dreams, or have been 
 abandoned to anxious, discontented musings, to un- 
 social and malignant passions, or to irregular and 
 criminal desires ? Even when men imagine their
 
 ACQUISITION OF KNOWLEDGE. 59 
 
 /noughts to be innocently employed, they too com- 
 monly suffer them to run out into extravagant im- 
 aginations, and chimerical plans of what they would 
 wish to attain, or choose to be, if they could frame 
 the course of things according to theu desire." This 
 brief paragraph comprehends the outline of the in- 
 tellectual history of a great propoi cion of our race, 
 and covers not a small proportion of the time of each 
 individual. What a waste of intellect is here ! 
 What a misapplication of those powers that were 
 given us for exalted and worthy purposes ! 
 
 These mental reveries are widely distinct from the 
 profound abstraction to which the minds of close 
 thinkers are sometimes subject. In the case of 
 revery, the attention is fixed definitely on no one 
 thing, while the mind skims lightly over a thousand 
 fanciful ideas; in the case of mental abstraction, the 
 individual seems absent-minded, because his whole 
 soul has gone out, as it were, to grasp the object of 
 its contemplations. Some illustrations have been 
 given upon this point in a preceding section. " Ac- 
 cording to Mr. Combe, those who have a small de- 
 velopment of the organ of concentrativeness, are ex- 
 ceedingly prone to revery ; while those who ha\e a 
 large development of it, are peculiarly liable to fall 
 into a state of abstraction." The two states may 
 therefore be considered not only as distinct from 
 each other, but also, in a measure, as opposed to each 
 other. Their tendency is also widely distinct, the 
 one leading to absurdities in action, the other t 
 general mental imbecility.
 
 60 MENTAL DISCIPLINE. 
 
 The causes that lead to indulgence in this habit of 
 mental dissipation are various. Says Dr. Macnish, 
 " Revery has been known to arise from the mind 
 sustaining a temporary weakness, in consequence of 
 long and excessive application to one subject It is 
 also, I believe, induced by forcing young people to 
 learn what they dislike. In this case, the mind, find- 
 ing it impossible to direct itself to the hated task, 
 goes wandering off in another direction, and thus 
 acquires a habit of inattention, which, in extreme 
 cases, may terminate in imbecility. Sometimes reve- 
 ries arise from peculiarities of temperament, either 
 natural, or induced by mental or bodily weakness. 
 The best-regulated minds and strongest bodies may, 
 however, and in fact often have, occasional attacks ; 
 but when the feeling grows into a habit, and is too 
 much indulged in, it is apt to injure the usefulness 
 of the individual and impair the whole fabric of his 
 understanding." 
 
 The injury that indulgence in vague mental rev- 
 eries does to the intellectual economy is clearly 
 worthy of attention. It involves not only a waste 
 of time, but disqualifies the mind for sober thought 
 and close study, and, in the end, impairs the vigor of 
 the intellect itself. Says Dr. Blair, " It is the power 
 of attention which in a great measure distinguishes 
 the wise and the great from the vulgar and trifling 
 herd of men. The latter are accustomed to think, or 
 rather to dream, without knowing the subject of their 
 thoughts. In their unconnected rcvings they pursue 
 no end, they follow no track. Everything float!
 
 ACQUISITION OF KNOWLEDGE. G. 
 
 loose and disjointed on the surface of their mind, 
 like leaves scattered and blown about on the face of 
 the waters." The pernicious effects of this habit on 
 the mental powers generally are thus presented by 
 Professor Uphain : " When the mind is long left at 
 liberty to wander from object to object, without be- 
 ing called to an account and subjected to salutary 
 discipline, it entirely loses at last the ability to dwell 
 upon the subjects of its thoughts and to examine 
 them. And when this power is once lost, there is 
 but little ground to expect any solid attainments." 
 " The person who is capable of strictly fixing his at- 
 tention will have great advantage over others. Of 
 two persons, who seem naturally to have equal parts, 
 the one who possesses this characteristic will greatly 
 excel. So that it is hardly too much to say, that it 
 may become a sort of substitute for genius itself." 
 Dr. Good, to the same purpose declares, " It is upon 
 the faculty of attention that every other faculty is 
 dependent for its vigor and expansion ; without it the 
 perception exercises itself in vain, the memory can 
 lay up no store of ideas, the judgment draw forth no 
 comparisons, the imagination become blighted and 
 barren, and when there is no attention whatever, the 
 case must necessarily verge upon fatuity." Such 
 are some of the extreme results that may be pro- 
 duced by a neglect of the control of our thoughts. 
 
 How then shall the individual whose mind is sub- 
 ject to these vague mental reveries redeem it from 
 habits so detrimental to intellectual improvement, 
 fcnd so enfeebling to intellectual power ? This is
 
 (52 MENTAL DISCIPLINE* 
 
 not a question of easy solution. Mr. Locke seemed 
 to think, that "the person who should find out a 
 remedy for wandering thoughts, would do a great 
 service to the studious and contemplative pail of 
 mankind." The victim of this habit and how few 
 there are who are entirely free from it must be con- 
 vinced that decided effort and a determined will, are 
 absolutely indispensable to hisdisenthrallment. Let 
 him apply himself with indomitable energy to those 
 intellectual pursuits for which he has the greatest 
 relish, leaving those for which he has a dislike till 
 his pre-formed habits are in a measure corrected, or 
 have given place to new ones. Let him feed the 
 desire of knowledge that exists Avithin his breast, till 
 it has become a permanent and strong passion of his 
 nature. Let him give no place to the childish in- 
 ability to confine the mind to one object of contem- 
 plation, but resolutely make the effort; and, when 
 once defeated, repeat it again and again, till one 
 success inspires him with confidence in his powers, 
 aud stimulates him to the achievement of a complete 
 and final victory. 
 
 SECTION XIII. Attend to bid one thine/ at a time; and be 
 not easily diverted from any subject of study you nnd(r- 
 take. 
 
 A perfect command of the attention, and great 
 power of abstraction, are indispensable to a well cul- 
 tivated intellect. Neither of these powers can be 
 cultivated while the mind is distracted by its futile 
 efforts to grasp a variety of subjects At once, 01
 
 ACQUISITION OF KNOWLEDGE. 03 
 
 racillating in its attention between opposing influ- 
 ences. Nothing great has been achieved in science 
 without this unity of purpose and action. This 
 unity was highly characteristic of Newton. He at- 
 tended emphatically to one thing at a time; and 
 hence the consecutive order in which his splendid 
 discoveries were made. M. Biot says of him : " In 
 general, the intensity of thinking was so great, that 
 it entirely abstracted his attention from other mat- 
 ters, and confined him exclusively to one object. 
 Thus we see that he was never occupied at the same 
 time with two scientific investigations ;" and he him- 
 self, in reply to one that asked him by what means 
 he had arrived at his discoveries, said, " By always 
 thinking unto them I keep the subject be- 
 fore me, and wait till the first dawning opens slowly, 
 by little and little, into a clear and full light." 
 
 In the ordinary pursuits of life, we rarely expect 
 ultimate success to attend the man whose attention 
 is divided among various kinds of business, and who 
 is constantly diverted from one pursuit to another. 
 How much less can we hope for success iu the 
 higher walks of learning, or in the pursuits of pro- 
 fessional business, if we pursue a like course ! Car- 
 bon might have been a good blacksmith, and mended 
 his neighbors' ploughs, shod their horses, and lined 
 his own pockets with cash ; but he must needs let 
 the fires of his forge go out, that he might manufac- 
 ture machines to winnow his neighbors' grain ; then 
 he makes an astounding discovery, and gets a patent 
 for a bee-hive. Thus he was always busy ; but,
 
 64 MENTAL DISCIPLINE. 
 
 somehow, the unpointed ploughshares continued 
 to accumulate, till the season for ploughing was past, 
 the " last order" for bee-hives remained unanswered 
 till the season of " swarming " had past, and his 
 winnowing machines were not finished till after his 
 neighbors' grain had been ground and aten. Car- 
 bon is now old ; he is lank and long ; Lis clothes are 
 worn and threadbare ; the clapboards clatter upon 
 his dwelling ; his purse is empty, and debt presses 
 upon him. He is always busy : but it is of no use. 
 Yonder tyro of a blacksmith, toiling away at his 
 forge, from the gray of morning till the dead of 
 night, now mends his neighbors' ploughshares, and 
 shoes Kheir horses ; while that manufacturer in wood, 
 that has erected his shop just over the stream, mono- 
 polizes the manufactures demanded by the surround- 
 ing peasantry. The moral of the above is easily ap- 
 plied. 
 
 There are few men who can lay claim to universal 
 genius. Dugald Stewart somewhere remarks of 
 Dr. Thomas Brown, that he " would have been a 
 still better metaphysician if he had not been a poet ; 
 and a still better poet if he had not been a meta- 
 physician." And further intimates that Darwin and 
 Beattie might have won a still more distinguished 
 fame, had not their attention been divided between 
 metaphysics and poetry. Many, with capabilities 
 of accomplishing noble and worthy enterprises, place 
 so many objects of pursuit before themselves, that 
 their whole strength, their undivided energy, can be 
 bestowed upon none ; or they change too scon from
 
 ACQUISITION OF KNOWLEDGE. 65 
 
 one object to another, to accomplish anything noble 
 and worthy of themselves in any of them. Think 
 of Newton, who, in composing his great work, after 
 most of the materials had been already prepared, 
 lor two years " lived orily to think." 
 
 SF.CTION XIV. Let your plan of study, including the ar- 
 rangement and distribution of your time, be judiciously 
 formed, and prosecuted with the utmost diligence and jnmc- 
 tuality. 
 
 " The beneficial effect of order and regularity in 
 the discharge of engagements, especially when a va- 
 riety of subjects may demand attention, must be in 
 some degree apparent to every one. To the student 
 and the professional man, not less than to the man 
 of business, is regularity and method important in 
 the arrangement of his pursuits ; as it prevents loss 
 of time, by embarrassing suspense with regard to the 
 object which, at any given hour, claims immediate 
 attention. Even a plan of arrangement, in some 
 respects defective and objectionable, would secure to 
 a student a decided advantage over another indivi- 
 dual who should disregard order and method. In- 
 oalcuable, then, must be the benefit arising from 
 regulations which proceed on wise and enlightened 
 principles. 
 
 " A few suggestions on this point may be deserv 
 ing of notice. 
 
 " 1. Let not the plan laid down be so difficult of 
 observance as to incur the danger of frequent failure 
 or irregularity. It is wise for us to consider, not 
 5
 
 66 MENTAL D1SCIPLINK. 
 
 only what we would wish to accomplish, but also 
 what it is probable that, with our habits, and in our 
 circumstances, we shall be able to effect. By at- 
 tempting too much we often accomplish less than 
 we should have effected with' plans guided by prin- 
 ciples of greater moderation ; and one reason that 
 may be assigned for this is, that after having re- 
 peatedly fallen short of the line prescribed, our plans 
 cease to have authority in our own estimation, lose 
 their practical influence on the distribution of our 
 time, and having been thus virtually, they are at 
 length avowedly^ abandoned. 
 
 " 2. Let the proportion of time and attention de- 
 voted to every subject of study be regulated by a 
 regard, both to its reed and to its relative import- 
 ance. 
 
 " 3. Let the most important studies be assigned to 
 those hours in which we find, by experience, that we 
 can exert our intellectual energies Avith the greatest 
 facility and intensity." 
 
 Any one would be astonished, could he have 
 placed before him the aggregate of time that has 
 been squandered, during h ; s life, for want of some 
 systematic plan of study, rigidly adhered to. Many 
 a tipler has squandered a fortune in pennies ; and. 
 when it is all gone, he knows not where or how it 
 has disappeared. So do many squander the pre- 
 cious moments of life away. The close husbanding 
 and wise distribution of time is often the true secret 
 of the success of wise and good men. Dr. Todd 
 says of Jeremiah Evarts : " During years of close
 
 ACQUISITION OF KNOWLEDGE. 67 
 
 
 
 observation, in the bosom of his family, I never saw 
 a day pass without his accomplishing more than he 
 expected ; and so regular was he in all his habits, 
 that I knew to a moment when I should find him 
 with a pen, and when with his too^h-binish, in his 
 hand ; and so methodical and thorough, that though 
 his papers filled many shelves, when closely tied up, 
 there was not a paper among all his letters, corres- 
 pondence, editorial matter, and the like, which was 
 not labeled and in its place, and upon which he 
 could not lay his hand in a moment. I never knew 
 him search for a paper ; it was always in its place. 
 I have never yet met with the man whose industry 
 was so great, or who would Accomplish so much in a 
 given time." 
 
 Another great advantage of system, in the allot- 
 ment of time, will be, that the mind will not be 
 subject to impulses, but move with method and re- 
 gularity. It is said of Dr. Porter, that he could ac- 
 complish any task to which he applied with equal 
 facility at all times ; and never was he under the 
 necessity of waiting for " some happy hours of 
 thought," before he could proceed with the business 
 in hand. This is a characteristic of the well-dis- 
 ciplined mind. It is not merely the powei to make 
 a great effort on special and intermitted occasions 
 but to be able to make good efforts constantly.
 
 63 MENTAL DISCIPLINE. 
 
 / ' 
 
 SECTION XV. Acail yourself of external helps only when 
 absolutely necessary, and never resott to them till after your 
 own jiowers have been tasked to the utmost, without pro- 
 ducing the desired result. 
 
 Whatever maybe the natural endowments of an in- 
 dividual, whatever may be his external advantages 
 and helps, the education of his mind - the disciplin- 
 ing and invigorating its powers must be his own 
 work. Whoever has been educated, in school or 
 out of it, whoever has acquired intensity and power 
 of intellect, has acquired them by the intense and 
 vigorous use of his intellect. Artificial helps, with- 
 out this use, can never impart the requisite discipline 
 of mind. 
 
 Oral instruction from teachers or associates, .and 
 the perusal of authors, may often prove of essential 
 service, not only in removing the obstacles that had 
 impeded our progress, but also in extending the 
 boundaries of our knowledge. AVhen, however, 
 these are resorted to. to avoid intellectual exertion 
 on our part, such a practice will be exceedingly dt, 
 trimental to our intellectual growth. 
 
 " The question perpetually arising in the mino (\f 
 the student of remiss and indolent habits, is, How 
 shall I facilitate my labor by obtaining assistance 
 from others? The question equally familiar to the 
 mind of the student athirst for knowledge, and will- 
 ing to acquire it at the expense of strenuous excr- 
 tkn , is, How shall I accomplish my object with the 
 least assistance from others? It is not difficult to
 
 ACQUISITION OF KNOWLEDGE. 69 
 
 predict the tendency and result of either habit of 
 miiid. By the one the intellectual character is de- 
 graded and enfeebled, by the other it attains dignity 
 and elevation, energy and self-command. He who 
 always does his best will usually do well, and often 
 more than well, and if he fail occasionally to accom- 
 plish his object, his failure will neither be accom- 
 panied with self-reproach, nor followed by a relaxa- 
 tion of effort. The assistance within his reach he 
 will resolutely decline, till his best energies have 
 been put forth ; he has been initiated into the habit 
 of applying himself to grapple with a difficulty ; a 
 difficulty which appeared formidable when viewed 
 at a distance, with only a transient glance, has often 
 been conquered by the first encounter, and in a 
 better cause than that on which the exclamation was 
 first made, he has been prepared to say, Fern, vi'li, 
 vici. Or if a vigorous, patient, and persevering in- 
 vestigation was requisite, he has at length entered 
 into the recompense of him who expressed the de- 
 light of no ordinary mind, when he exclaimed, 
 ' evprjKa.'" 
 
 SUCTION XVI. Expect no high intellectual attainments 
 without great labor. 
 
 Labor is the price at which excellence may be at>- 
 tained. 
 
 " Pater ipse colendi 
 
 Haud facilem esse viam voluit, primusque per artem 
 Movit agros, curis acuens mortaiia cordis." 
 
 There is no more common error than that great men
 
 70 MENTAL DISCIPLINE. 
 
 are great by nature, or by chance, and not b/ labor. 
 And whoever listens to the beautiful eulogium pro- 
 nounced by Erskine upon one who was undoubtedly 
 one of the greatest philosophers that ever lived; 
 " Newton, whose mind burst forth from the fetters 
 cast by nature upon our finite conceptions ; Newton, 
 whose science was truth, and the foundation of whose 
 knowledge of it was philosophy ; who carried the 
 line and rule to the utmost barriers of creation, and 
 explored the principles by which, no doubt, all 
 created matter is held together and exists;" who- 
 ever listens to this, and imagines that he discovers 
 genius without effort bursting away from the shackles 
 that bind other minds, and soaring unimpeded to the 
 lofty summits of human science, Avill have his ima- 
 ginings corrected by the sober declaration of the 
 great philosopher himself, who modestly declares his 
 success to be the result of " patient thought." 
 
 The remarks of the gifted and lamented Wirt 
 are much to the point, and coming from such a 
 source possess a double value : " Take it for (/ranted 
 that there is no excellence without great labor. No 
 mere aspirations, however urdent, will do the busi- 
 ness. Wishing, and sighing, and imagining, and 
 dreaming of greatness, will never make you great. 
 If you would get to the mountain's top, on which the 
 temple of fame stands, it will not do to stand still, 
 looking and admiring, and wishing you were there. 
 You must gird up your loins, and go to work with all 
 the indomitable energy of a Hannibal scaling the 
 \lps. Laborious study, and diligent observation of
 
 ACQUISITION OF KNOWLEDGE. 71 
 
 the world, are both indispensable to the attainment 
 of eminence. By the former, you must make your- 
 self master of all that is known of science and letters' 
 by the latter, you must know man at large, and par- 
 ticularly the character and genius of your country- 
 mon. We cannot all be FUANKLINS, it is true ; but 
 by imitating his mental habits and unwearied indus- 
 try, we may reach an eminence we shall never 
 otherwise attain. Nor would he have been the 
 Franklin he was, if he had permitted himself to be 
 discouraged by the reflection that we cannot all be 
 Newtons. It is our business to make the most of our 
 own talents and opportunities, and, instead of dis- 
 couraging ourselves by comparisons and impossibili- 
 ties, to believe all things imaginary possible, as, in- 
 deed, all things are, to a spirit bravely and firmly 
 resolved. Franklin was a fine model of a practical 
 man, as contradistinguished from a visionary theorist, 
 as men of genius are very apt to be. He was great, 
 in the greatest of all good qualities sound, strong, 
 common sense. A mere bookworm is a miserable 
 driveler, and a man of genius a thing of gossamer, 
 fit only for the Avinds to sport with. Direct your 
 intellectual efforts principally to the cultivation of 
 the strong, masculine powers of the mind. Learn 
 (I repeat it) to think think deeply, comprehensively, 
 powerfully; and learn the simple, nervous language 
 which is appropriate to that kind of thinking. Read 
 the legal and political arguments of Chief Justice 
 Marshall, and those of Alexander Hamilton, which 
 are coming out. Read them study them, and ob-
 
 72 MENTAL DISCIPLINE. 
 
 serve with what an omnipotent sweep of thought 
 they range over the whole field of the subject they 
 take in hand, and that with a sythe so ample and 
 so keen, that not a straw is left standing behind 
 thorn. Brace yourselves up to these great efforts. 
 Strike for this giant character of mind, and leave 
 prettiness and frivolity to triflers. It is perfectly con- 
 sistent with these Herculean habits of thinking, to 
 be a laborious student, to know all that books can 
 teach. You must never be satisfied with the surface 
 of things, probe them to the bottom, and let nothing 
 go till you understand it as thoroughly as your 
 powers will enable you. Seize the moment of ex- 
 cited curiosity on any subject to solve your doubts; 
 for, if you let it pass, the desire may never re- 
 turn, and you may remain in ignorance. The habits 
 which I have been recommending, are not merely 
 for college, but for life. Franklin's habits of con- 
 stant and deep excogitation clung to him till his latest 
 hour. Form these habits now. Look at Brougham, 
 and see what a man can do, if well armed and well 
 resolved. With a load of professional duties that 
 would, of themselves, have been appalling to most of 
 our countrymen, he stood, nevertheless, at the h'iad 
 of his party in the House of Commons, and, at the 
 same time, set in motion and superintended various 
 primary schools, and various publications, the most 
 instructive and useful that have ever issued from the 
 British press, for which he furnished, with his own 
 pen, some of the most masterly contributions, and 
 yet found time, not only to keep pace with the pro-
 
 ACQUISITION OF KNOWLEDGE. 73 
 
 gress of the arts and sciences, but to keep at the 
 head of those whose peculiar and exclusive occupa- 
 tions these arts and sciences were. There is a mo- 
 del of industry and usefulness worthy of all your 
 emulation." 
 
 SECTION XVII. Be not only willing, but desirous, to have 
 every defect in your powers, attainments, or productions, 
 fully and explicitdy pointed out. 
 
 " Give me the friend," says one, " who will tell me 
 of my faults." We can have no higher evidence of 
 the sincerity of a professed friend's regard, than that, 
 on suitable occasions and in a proper spirit, he will 
 tell us of our faults, so that we may improve. But 
 this is a matter of great delicacy and of extreme 
 difficulty. The reproved are extremely liable to 
 mistake the motives of the reprover, so that the very 
 faithfulness of friends sometimes begets distrust and 
 ill-will. He, however, who is deeply solicitous as to 
 his moral and intellectual growth, will neither over- 
 look nor slight the intimations of his defects, whether 
 they spring from friendship or envy. " The dis- 
 closure may be unwelcome, it may be even unex- 
 pected, but it will be salutary. It may be conducive 
 to the interests as well of intellectual as moral cul- 
 ture. A capacity that appears contracted may be 
 further developed, may be greatly expanded ; attain- 
 ments which at present disappoint expectation may 
 be considerably augmented, and the productions, 
 which may justly be regarded as unfavorable spe- 
 cimens of intellectual effort, may supply materials
 
 74 MENTAL DISCIPLINE. 
 
 of comparison with future exercises, from which may 
 be derived the most cheering encouragement 
 
 "It is one of the many advantages arising from 
 association with other students in a public seminary, 
 that such defects are rendered apparent to the indi- 
 viduals by whom they are displayed. The cultiva- 
 tion of the understanding may doubtless be carried 
 on in the absence of living instructors, and without 
 associates in study. Books may supply, in part, the 
 want of tutors, and plodding diligence may amass 
 stores of knowledge in the deepest seclusion ; but 
 then the means are wanting, not only of abridging 
 unnecessary labor, and removing fomiidable obstruc- 
 tions, but also of detecting those defects of know- 
 ledge, and those prejudices of early education, those 
 mistaken notions, those injurious habits, those numer- 
 ous errors and blemishes of performance, which 
 might never have been apparent to the individuals 
 themselves. 
 
 " To receive with docility and with gratitude the 
 exposuVe of our own defects and mistakes, is an at- 
 tainment of no small value. It has a beneficial in- 
 fluence in restraining us from tliinking more highly 
 of our talents and productions than we ought to think, 
 and it renders even the detection of our detects an 
 excitement to intellectual progress, and a means of 
 moral improvement." I have never known a student 
 who was restless and impatient while the teacher 
 was pointing out the defects in his performance, un- 
 willing to be told of his faults or to acknowledge 
 them to be faults, rise to any degree of eminence
 
 ACQUISITION OF KNOWLEDGE. 75 
 
 in a professional career; or, indeed, make any pro- 
 found acquisitions of knowledge. 
 
 We should be the more willing^ to receive such 
 corrections from the indispensaiMeness of " self- 
 knowledge " to our success as students and profes- 
 sional men, and also from its extreme difficulty of 
 acquisition. " Know thyself" was one of the earliest 
 aid wisest maxims of heathen philosophy ; and even 
 now, few moral maxims are more comprehensive 
 and useful. Thales, to whom its authorship is as- 
 cribed, was accustomed to say, that " for a man to 
 know himself is the hardest thing in the world." 
 And in after time the precept, " Know thyself," ac- 
 quired the authority of a divine oracle, was ascribed 
 to Apollo, and written in golden capitals over the 
 door of his temple at Delphos. Cicero says it was 
 considered divine, " because it hath such a weight 
 of sense and wisdom in it, as appears too great to be 
 attributed to any man." And Plutarch also re- 
 marks, " If it was a thing obvious and easy for a 
 man to know himself, possibly that saying had noi 
 passed for a divine oracle." 
 
 But while we estimate the value of the criticism 
 of friends and associates in assisting us to a correct 
 knowledge of our powers and performances, we 
 must also have the ability to distinguish between 
 mere flatterers, and judicious, faithful advisers. To 
 seek correction and counsel, without discrimination, 
 of every one that happens to be thrown in our way, 
 and to be perpetually changing our habits and pur- 
 suits, or altering and unending our productions, at
 
 76 MENTAL DISCIPLINE. 
 
 the caprice or prepossessions of each, is a mark of 
 indecision of character that precludes the hope of 
 anything noble or worthy. 
 
 SECTION XVIII. Guard against those mental habits 
 which may be eventually, though imperceptibly, prejudicial, 
 by impairing the vigor of the mind or of the body. 
 
 The idea seems to be prevalent that a literary life 
 must necessarily be a short and sickly one. And so 
 in too many cases it is, but not necessarily. The 
 lamentable fact is, that inattention to the mental 
 and bodily habits, in their relation to health and 
 longevity, has carried down to a premature grave 
 hundreds of our most promising candidates for fame 
 and professional usefulness, and hundreds of others 
 live victims of a disease that disturbs the balance of 
 the mental powers, disqualifies them for the prose- 
 cution of any noble scheme of literary enterprise, and 
 imbitters their whole lives. The history of many 
 of the distinguished scholars of both the old and new 
 world demonstrates that the mens sana in sane cor- 
 pore is not a mere chimera, but that with due atten- 
 tion to the mental and bodily habits it may be pos- 
 sessed ; nay, that a sound and healthy tone of the 
 body, and even a protracted life, are perfectly con- 
 sistent with the most ardent devotion to science. 
 Tha German scholars subject themselves daily to 
 fifteen or sixteen hours confinement and application 
 to study, and yet as a class are distinguished for 
 their longevity. Heyne attained to the age of 
 eighty-six ; Kastner to that of eighty-one ; Michaelis
 
 ACQUISITION OF KNOWLEDGE. 77 
 
 to seventy-four ; Haller to seventy ; Kant to eighty ; 
 Jacobi to seventy-six ; Wieland to eighty-one ; and 
 Klopstock to seventy-nine. The average age of 
 twenty-three of the most eminent Italian scholars, as 
 stated in the American Quarterly Register, is seventy- 
 six ; of fifty-six of the most eminent French scholars, 
 is seventy-seven ; of twenty-five of the English, 
 is seventy-three. The following names are included 
 in the above, namely : Fontennelle, who died at the 
 age of one hundred ; Locke at seventy-three ; Roger 
 Bacon, seventy-eight ; Young, eighty ; Warburton, 
 eighty-one ; Newton, eighty-five ; and Halley, eighty- 
 six. The longevity of the Scotch philosophers is 
 equally remarkable. Dr. Reid reached the age of 
 eighty-seven ; Adam Smith, sixty-seven ; Dr. Camp- 
 bell, seventy-seven : Robertson, seventy-two ; Play- 
 fair, seventy ; and Stewart, seventy-five. These facts 
 certainly indicate that there is no necessary con- 
 nection between an early death and protracted and 
 ardent devotion to literary and scientific pursuits. 
 
 The same general fact may be inferred also from 
 the history of some of the most eminent scholars of . 
 our own country. It is said that Increase Mather, 
 one of the earliest and most celebrated scholars and 
 divines of our country, was accustomed to spend six- 
 teen hours daily in close application to study. He 
 wrote eighty-five works, on various subjects ; and 
 yet attained to the age of eighty-five, having preach- 
 ed sixty-seven years. Cotton Mather, his son of 
 whose laborious habits some idea may be formed 
 from the fact that " in one year he preached seventy-
 
 78 MENTAL DISCIPLINE. 
 
 two sermons, kept sixty fasts and twenty vigils, and 
 wrote fourteen books " lived to the age ot sixty-six, 
 and, at the time of his death, had published three 
 hundred and eighty-two works, " some of them of 
 huge dimensions." Dr. Styles died at the age of 
 sixty-eight, leaving behind him, as a part of the re- 
 sult of his laborious life, " manuscripts amounting 
 to more than forty volumes." Dr. Samuel Hopkins 
 was a most indefatigable student. " He frequently 
 devoted eighteen hours per day to study ; and 
 framed sermons and huge syntagmata without num- 
 ber;" and yet he lived to enter his eighty-fourth 
 year. The celebrated Dr. Bellamy, " the first New- 
 England divine honored with the doctorate from 
 Britain," attained to the age of seventy-two. Sher- 
 man and Witherspoon, Franklin and Jefferson, the 
 two Adams, were profound thinkers as well as 
 laborious students ; and yet they all passed far be- 
 yond the ordinary limits of human life.* 
 
 All constitutions, we admit, are not equally adapt- 
 ed to sedentary habits, or to endure the burden 
 which mental labor imposes upon even the bodily 
 system. To effect a classification among men, so 
 that those only whose constitutional tendencies were 
 favorable should devote themselves to study, would 
 be utterly impracticable ; this is not attained even 
 in the ordinary branches of manual labor. Some- 
 times, where there is a physical system and tem- 
 perament favorable, the disposition of mind is want- 
 ing ; and again, others will struggle on, ajnid pain 
 * See table at the end of this section.
 
 ACQUISITION OF KNOWLEDGE. 79 
 
 and bodily infirmity, sacrificing everything else to 
 mental acquisitions and mental pleasures. But, 
 aside from this want of constitutional adaptation to 
 the labors of the chosen pursuit and this is a cir- 
 cumstance common to every pursuit in life we are 
 disposed to attribute the premature fall of so many 
 promising candidates for literary fame and useful- 
 ness to improper and injurious mental or bodily 
 habits. 
 
 Of the injurious mental habits, above referred to, 
 some may be distinctly specified : 
 
 " 1. Undue continuance of studious exertion, and 
 mental excitement. 
 
 " The opinion has been publicly expressed, by a 
 professor of eminence in a modern university, that 
 no man can apply his mind to intense stwly during 
 more than six hours in a day, without injury to his 
 health. This opinion, be it remembered, refers to 
 the determined energy of mental application in se- 
 vere study ; and if to six hours of serious study be 
 added three or four hours of such reading as con- 
 veys instruction .without inducing any consciousness 
 of fatigue, the student will have made near ap- 
 proaches to that line, beyond which to trespass 
 is compatible with neither safety nor with 
 duty." 
 
 Sir Edward Coke, pre-eminent in legal know 
 ledge, and whose works have been denominated 
 " law classics," seems to have expressed the rule for 
 the division of his time, and the distribution of liis 
 labors, in the following couplet:
 
 80 MENTAL DISCIPLINE. 
 
 " Six hours to sleep ; in law's giave study six ; 
 Four spend in prayer ; the rest on nature fix." 
 
 Sir William Jones, justly celebrated for his learning, 
 and for the amiable virtues of hi? character, and 
 who died at the age of sixty-eight, after having, in 
 addition to immense judicial labor, mastered twenty- 
 eight languages, and written works, including poems, 
 translations, philological essays, digests of Hindoo 
 and Mohammedan laws, &c., forming, when collect- 
 ed, twelve volumes, thus paraphrased these lines of 
 Coke, and then adopted them as the rule for the 
 regulation of his time and studies : 
 
 " Six hours to law, to soothing slumber seven, 
 Ten to the world allot, and all to heaven." 
 
 " Let not the young and arduous adventurer in 
 the path of knowledge imagine that by the omission 
 of the hours due to sleep, and to bodily exercise, he 
 can be a gainer, on the whole. How many distress- 
 ing instances have there been in which it has too 
 plainly appeared, that undue exertion and excite- 
 ment have undermined even a vigorous constitu- 
 tion, and disqualified for the performance of those 
 duties for which a course of study is the intended 
 preparation ! And should these fearful evils not be 
 entailed, still it may be shown that undue applica- 
 tion defeats the object in view, and proceeds upon 
 principles of calculation altogether erroneous. In 
 all intellectual as well as mechanical labors the work 
 accomplished must be in proportion to the power 
 exerted. But the power which the mind can put
 
 ACQUISITION OF KNOWLEDGE. 81 
 
 forth in any study depends upon a variety of cir- 
 cumstances; among which are to be included its 
 freedom from exhaustion and depression, and from 
 those disabilities to which it will be subject if the 
 health and spirits be impaired. No hesitation can 
 there be in hazarding the assertion, that in the ex- 
 periment of a month, or a year, it will be found that 
 the student will accomplish more of intellectual la- 
 bor by eight hours of daily study, with two hours of 
 bodily exercise and recreation, than he could effect 
 in ten hours without such intermission. 
 
 " 2. An undue eagerness of desire to complete 
 any performance within a given time. 
 
 " The tranquil exercise of thought may be carried 
 on with energy for a considerable time, without in- 
 ducing mental weariness, or occasioning effects in- 
 jurious to health. Very different, however, are the 
 effects of study when pursued witb any degree 01 
 anxiety or perturbation, and especially when ac- 
 companied with a restless and impatient eagerness 
 to complete the performance, or to accomplish, in a 
 given time, a certain task which we have prescribed. 
 There are, indeed, minds habitually inclined to in- 
 dolence, or to procrastination, which derive benefit 
 from the stimulus arising from such requirement; 
 but when the stimulus arising from other considera- 
 tions is sufficiently powerful, that additional excite- 
 ment may become highly injurious. They who feel 
 the pressure of numerous engagements are fre- 
 quently too eager to complete the literarj labor in 
 which they are employed, before they proceed to 
 6
 
 82 MENTAL DISCIPLINE. 
 
 another pursuit, to which either the plan of study or 
 the call of duty may require their immediate atten- 
 tion ; and the hurried attempt will either, by undue 
 dispatch, be unfavorable to the performance itself, 
 or, by the disquieting anxiety induced, be injurious 
 to the corporeal frame. It is related of Mr. John 
 Wesley, that when a reference, on one occasion, 
 was made to his numerous avocations, he replied : 
 ' Though I am always in haste, I am never in a hur- 
 ry, because I never undertake more work than I 
 can go through with perfect calmness of spirit.' .... 
 
 " 3. An inability to transfer with ease the atten- 
 tion from one subject to another ; or, when it is de- 
 sirable, to unbend and recreate the mind. 
 
 " The love of variety, of novelty, and of relief 
 from continued efforts of thought, renders it easy for 
 the undisciplined mind to dismiss from its notice a 
 subject to which its attention has been directed. 
 But in proportion as habitg of fixed and persevering 
 attention are cultivated, and feelings of interest in 
 the pursuit of knowledge are awakened, it becomes 
 difficult to disengage the mind, at pleasure, from any 
 subject of consideration. Yet this want of control 
 over the thoughts and energies of the mind is at 
 once unfavorable to progress in knowledge, to the 
 enjoyment of the pleasures of social intercourse, and 
 to that entire recreation of mind by which it is pre- 
 pared to renew, with increased energy, its applica- 
 tion to severe study. It is most desirable, for rea- 
 sons sufficiently obvious, to cultivate variety and 
 cheerfulness of disposition ; and in order to this, it ia
 
 ACQUISITION OF KNOWLEDGE. 8J 
 
 of no small importance to be able to withdraw the 
 mind, at pleasure, from pursuits, which by their con- 
 tinuance occasion fatigue and abstraction, and yield 
 to the full impression of surrounding objects, or of 
 enlivening conversation." 
 
 NOTE. SEE PAGE 78. 
 
 The following table, which we have compiled with 
 some care, though it may not be free from error, will, in 
 itself, afford a useful and instructive lesson. 
 
 TABLE. 
 
 Name. Born. Died. *.ge. 
 
 B. C B. C. 
 
 Thales 640 548 92 
 
 Solon 630 561 69 
 
 Anaximander 611 547 64 
 
 Pythagoras 586 497 89 
 
 Siraonides 558 470 88 
 
 Confucius 550 477 73 
 
 Anaxagoras 500 428 72 
 
 Socrates 469 400 69 
 
 Xenophon 450 360 90 
 
 Plato 430 348 82 
 
 Aristotle 384 322 62 
 
 Thcophrastus 371 286 85 
 
 Archimedes 287 212 74 
 
 Cicero 106 43 63 
 
 A. D 
 
 Seneca 2 65 67 
 
 Josephus A. D. 37 95 58
 
 64 MENTAL DISCIPLINE. 
 
 Name. 
 
 Quintilian 
 Plutarch 
 
 Bom. 
 A. D, 
 42 
 50 
 
 Died 
 A. D. 
 122 
 120 
 
 Age. 
 
 80 
 70 
 
 Tacitus 
 
 56 
 
 135 
 
 79 
 
 Justin Martyr 
 Origcn 
 Augustine 
 
 89 
 185 
 354 
 
 165 
 253 
 430 
 
 76 
 68 
 76 
 
 Bede 
 
 673 
 
 735 
 
 62 
 
 Ahclard 
 
 1079 
 
 1142 
 
 63 
 
 Roger Bacon 
 
 1217 
 
 1294 
 
 77 
 
 Erasmus 
 
 1467 
 
 1536 
 
 69 
 
 Mac-hiavel 
 
 1469 
 
 1527 
 
 58 
 
 Hugh Latimer 
 Ariosto 
 
 1470 
 1474 
 
 1555 
 1533 
 
 85 
 59 
 
 Martin Luther 
 
 1484 
 
 1546 
 
 62 
 
 Julius Caesar Scaliger 
 Melancthon 
 
 1484 
 1497 
 
 1558 
 1560 
 
 74 
 63 
 
 John Knox 
 
 1505 
 
 1572 
 
 67 
 
 George Buchanan 
 John Calvin 
 
 1506 
 1509 
 
 1582 
 1564 
 
 76 
 55 
 
 Beza 
 
 1519 
 
 1605 
 
 86 
 
 Montaig-ne 
 Josepli Justus Scaliger 
 Pram-is Bacon 
 
 1533 
 1540 
 1561 
 
 1592 
 1609 
 1626 
 
 59 
 69 
 65 
 
 Shakspeare 
 Campanella 
 Ben Jonson 
 
 1564 
 1568 
 1574 
 
 1616 
 1642 
 1637 
 
 52 
 
 74 
 63 
 
 Grotiu* 
 
 1583 
 
 1645 
 
 62 
 
 Pocock 
 
 1604 
 
 1691 
 
 87 
 
 Matthew Hale 
 
 1609 
 
 . 1676 
 
 67 
 
 Jeremy Taylor 
 Lafontaine 
 
 1613 
 1621 
 
 1667 
 1695 
 
 54 
 74 
 
 Blaise Pascal 
 
 1623 
 
 1662 
 
 39
 
 ACQUISITION OF KNOWLEDGE. 85 
 
 Name. 
 
 JJorn. 
 
 Died. 
 
 Age. 
 
 
 A . D. 
 
 A. D. 
 
 
 R. Boyle 
 
 1626 
 
 1691 
 
 65 
 
 Isaac Barrrw 
 
 1630 
 
 1677 
 
 47 
 
 Archbishop Tillotson 
 
 1630 
 
 1694 
 
 64 
 
 John Locke 
 
 1632 
 
 1704 
 
 72 
 
 Puffendorf 
 
 1632 
 
 1694 
 
 62 
 
 Whitby 
 
 1638 
 
 1726 
 
 88 
 
 Increase Mather 
 
 1639 
 
 1723 
 
 84 
 
 Sir Isaac Newton 
 
 1642 
 
 1727 
 
 85 
 
 Leibnitz 
 
 1646 
 
 1716 
 
 70 
 
 Bayle 
 
 1647 
 
 1706 
 
 59 
 
 Prideaux 
 
 1648 
 
 1724 
 
 76 
 
 Rollin 
 
 1661 
 
 1741 
 
 80 
 
 R. Bentlcy 
 
 1662 
 
 1742 
 
 80 
 
 Cotton Mather 
 
 1663 
 
 1728 
 
 65 
 
 Lady llachel Russel 
 
 1667 
 
 1723 
 
 56 
 
 Dean Swift 
 
 1667 
 
 1745 
 
 78 
 
 Boerhaave 
 
 1668 
 
 1738 
 
 70 
 
 Steele 
 
 1671 
 
 1729 
 
 58 
 
 Addison 
 
 1672 
 
 1719 
 
 47 
 
 Samuel Clarke 
 
 1675 
 
 1729 
 
 54 
 
 Sherlock 
 
 1678 
 
 1761 
 
 83 
 
 Lardner 
 
 1684 
 
 1768 
 
 84 
 
 Berkeley 
 
 1684 
 
 1754 
 
 70 
 
 Montesquieu 
 
 1689 
 
 1755 
 
 66 
 
 Lady Montague 
 
 1690 
 
 1761 
 
 71 
 
 Bishop Butler 
 
 1692 
 
 1752 
 
 60 
 
 Archbishop Seeker 
 
 1693 
 
 1768 
 
 75 
 
 Warburton 
 
 1698 
 
 1779 
 
 81 
 
 Doddridge 
 
 1702 
 
 1756 
 
 54 
 
 Jonathan Edwards 
 
 1703 
 
 1758 
 
 55 
 
 John Wesley 
 
 1703 
 
 1791 
 
 88 
 
 Benjamin Franklin 
 
 1700 
 
 1790 
 
 84
 
 MENTAL DISCIPLINE. 
 
 Name. 
 
 Born. 
 
 Died 
 
 Age. 
 
 
 A. D. 
 
 A. D. 
 
 
 Baler 
 
 1707 
 
 1783 
 
 76 
 
 Buffon 
 
 1707 
 
 1788 
 
 81 
 
 Samuel Johnson 
 
 1709 
 
 1784 
 
 75 
 
 David Hume 
 
 1711 
 
 1776 
 
 65 
 
 Hugh Blair 
 
 1718 
 
 1800 
 
 82 
 
 Samuel Hopkins 
 
 1721 
 
 1803 
 
 82 
 
 Roger Sherman 
 
 1721 
 
 1793 
 
 72 
 
 James Macknight 
 
 1721 
 
 1800 
 
 79 
 
 Robertson 
 
 1721 
 
 1793 
 
 72 
 
 Smollct 
 
 1721 
 
 1771 
 
 50 
 
 Samuel Adams 
 
 1722 
 
 1803 
 
 81 
 
 Adam Smith 
 
 1723 
 
 1790 
 
 67 
 
 Blackstone 
 
 1723 
 
 1780 
 
 57 
 
 Immanuel Kant 
 
 1724 
 
 1804 
 
 80 
 
 Klopstock 
 
 1724 
 
 1803 
 
 79 
 
 Edmund Burke 
 
 1730 
 
 1797 
 
 67 
 
 Bishop Home 
 
 1730 
 
 1792 
 
 62 
 
 Bishop Porteus 
 
 1731 
 
 1808 
 
 77 
 
 Bishop Horsley 
 
 1733 
 
 1806 
 
 73 
 
 J. Priestley 
 
 1733 
 
 1804 
 
 71 
 
 Warren Hastings 
 
 1733 
 
 1818 
 
 85 
 
 Granville Sharp 
 
 1734 
 
 1813 
 
 79 
 
 James Beattie 
 
 1735 
 
 1803 
 
 68 
 
 John Adams 
 
 1735 
 
 1826 
 
 91 
 
 Home Tooke 
 
 1736 
 
 1812 
 
 76 
 
 St. Pierre 
 
 1737 
 
 1814 
 
 77 
 
 Sir William Herschel 
 
 1738 
 
 1822 
 
 84 
 
 Mrs. Barbauld 
 
 1743 
 
 1825 
 
 82 
 
 Archdeacon Paley 
 
 1743 
 
 1805 
 
 62 
 
 Stephen Mix Mitchell 
 
 1743 
 
 1835 
 
 92 
 
 Thomas Jefferson 
 
 1743 
 
 1826 
 
 83 
 
 Mackenzie 
 
 1745 
 
 1831 
 
 86
 
 ACQUISITION OK KNOWLEDGE. 87 
 
 Name. Born. Died. Ago. 
 
 A. D. A. D. 
 
 John Jay 1745 1829 84 
 
 Benjamin Kush 1745 1813 68 
 
 Lindley Murray 1745 1826 81 
 
 Sir William Jones 1746 1794 48 
 
 Jeremy Bentham 1747 1832 85 
 
 Thomas Scott 1747 1821 74 
 
 John Aiken 1747 1822 75 
 
 Bcrthellot 1748 1822 74 
 
 La Place 1749 1827 78 
 
 John Trtimbull 1750 1831 81 
 
 James Madison 1750 1836 86 
 
 Dugald Stewart 1753 1828 75 
 
 Count Rumford 1753 1814 61 
 
 John Marshall 1755 1835 80 
 
 Si-hiller 1757 1805 48 
 
 Kotzebue 1761 1819 58 
 
 William Carey 1761 1834 73 
 
 Samuel L. Mitchell 1763 1831 68 
 
 Sir James Mackintosh 1765 1832 67 
 
 Madam De Stael 1766 1817 51 
 
 S. T. Coleridge 1773 1834 61 
 
 Dr. Thomas Brown 1777 1820 43 
 
 Robert Morrison, D.D. 1782 1834 52
 
 88 MENTAL DISCIPLINE. 
 
 SECTION XIX. Guard a/jainst those bodily habits which 
 may be prejudicial to the mind by impairing the health and 
 vigor of the physical frame. 
 
 We have already endeavored to show that the metis 
 sana in sane corpore is not a mere chimera of the 
 imagination. That it is in ordinary cases attain- 
 able, is evident from the long life and good health 
 whict have been enjoyed by eminent scholars in 
 every age. In fact, " such is the sympathy between 
 the mind and the body, that when the one is 
 diseased the other must in a greater or less degree 
 suffer by it The highest possible degree of mental 
 vigor cannot be attained, without a healthful state of 
 the physical system." 
 
 We shall offer two suggestions with reference to 
 the preservation of bodily health while engaged in 
 literary pursuits and studies. 
 
 1. BODILY EXERCISE. Some have supposed, 
 nay, it is a general impression upon the public mind, 
 that studious habits necessarily induce bodily decline 
 and infirmity. And the premature decline of so 
 many modern scholars seem to warrant such a con- 
 clusion. But we are not yet prepared to assent to 
 it. We look upon this decline as resulting from thij 
 abuse of literary occupation, and not as its natural 
 consequence. An intelligent writer on the " Health 
 of Literary Men," affirms that " literary occupa- 
 tion, prudently conducted, is conducive to health." 
 To this position we are more than inclined to yield 
 assent.
 
 ACQUISITION OF KNOWLEDGE. 89 
 
 Let us present the argument of the author just re- 
 ferred to. " There must be an equilibrium between 
 the various powers of the human system, or the sys- 
 tem cannot be completely sound ; and without the 
 exercise of these various powers, the requisite equili- 
 brium cannot be preserved. Mental exercise, there- 
 fore, is equally important with muscular, and from 
 the proper union of the two, results the perfect 
 health of the whole man. Look at the maniac ; 
 his mind, though shattered, is active, often to in- 
 tensity, and he possesses a firm, robust body. The 
 idiot, on the contrary, whose mind is torpid and 
 lead-bound, is a creature of weaker nerves and more 
 languid frame. Perhaps no class of men whatever 
 are plied with more harassing mental action than 
 our city merchants, but their necessary muscular 
 action, preserving the necessary equilibrium of the 
 system, gives them a vigor of health to which the 
 sedentary are strangers. We have read of a mer- 
 chant in one of the Swiss cantons, who enjoyed the 
 most perfect health while engaged in the most per- 
 plexing mercantile speculations ; but at the age of 
 forty transferring his mind from the pursuits of 
 commerce to the less harrowing, but more sedentary, 
 pursuits of science, he fell a victim to a disordered 
 brain. Cessation from study and medical prescrip- 
 tion restored his health, but a renewal of his mental, 
 unconnected with his former bodily exercise, again 
 destroyed the equilibrium between his brain and 
 other organs, and of course induced disease. We 
 adduce these instances to prove that study, however
 
 90 MENTAL DISCIPLINE. 
 
 fatal when disconnected, is, when connected with cot 
 poreal exercise, beneficial to health." In accord- 
 ance with the above conclusion is the fact often ob- 
 served by literary men, namely, that while living in 
 mental and bodily industry, the vigor of the body a> 
 well as of the intellect is greatly increased; but 
 while in a state of mental indolence, the physical 
 system also experiences a degree of lassitude, and 
 is wearied by the most trivial bodily exertion. We 
 have proof also to the same point in the fact that 
 when men retire from active business pursuits, or 
 mental occupation, enervation of body as well as 
 intellect soon succeeds to that mental indolence to 
 which they have surrendered themselves. 
 
 The position here assumed is, that study properly 
 conducted, or in other words, mental action, accom- 
 panied with suitable muscular action, is conducive to 
 health. The philosophy of this principle, and the 
 danger of disconnecting muscular with mental action, 
 is thus explained by the writer from whom we have 
 just quoted. " The exercise of any bodily organ is 
 attended with a determination of the blood to that 
 organ. Ubi usus, ibi affluxus. Hence the exercise 
 of the brain in thought (for the body is not only the 
 receptacle, but, the instrumeut of the mind) causes 
 a determination of the blood to the brain. When 
 confined within proper limits, and preserving the 
 just equilibrium, this determination of blood is salu- 
 tary. But when unduly protracted, it often results 
 in sudden death ; and with a more limited continu- 
 ance, in vertigo, epilepsy, and a nameless train of
 
 ACQUISITION OF KNOWLEDGE. 91 
 
 ierebral diseases. Accordingly we find that many 
 distinguished scholars have expired in the rmOst of 
 iheir severest efforts ; the professor in his lecture- 
 room, the divine in his pulpit, and the barrister 
 during his plea. For the same reason, Boerhaave, 
 after an intense application was deprived of his 
 sleep for six months, and Dugald Stewart was once 
 unable to attend, without mental aberration, even to 
 his own published speculations. The undue deter- 
 mination, then, of the blood to the brain, must be 
 prevented by the exercise of other organs ; by walk- 
 ing, or riding, especially on horseback, or the use of 
 the gymnasium, or mechanical tools. To attempt to 
 live without such exercise is preposterous ; how 
 much more so to attempt to study without it ! What 
 if some peculiar constitutions, inured by early habit 
 and remarkable abstemiousness to an unnatural 
 mode of life, have dispensed with all recreation from 
 study and yet retained health ? We are not to be 
 governed by exceptions, but by the general rule." 
 
 As it is less our object to prescribe rules for the 
 preservation of health than to show the necessity of 
 a sound state of the body in order to the vigorous 
 exercise of the mind, we shall content ourselves on 
 this point with the following pertinent extract: 
 " When our body has its full health and strength, 
 the mind is so far assisted thereby, that it can bear 
 a closer and longer application ; our apprehension is 
 readier ; our imagination is livelier ; we can better 
 enlarge our compass of thought; we can examine 
 our perceptions more strictly, and compare them
 
 92 MENTAL DISCIPLINE. 
 
 more exactly ; by which means we are enabled to 
 form a truer judgment of things ; to remove more 
 effectually the mistakes into which we have oeen 
 led by a wrong education, by passion, inattention, 
 custom, example ; to have a clearer vieAv of trhat is 
 best for us, of what is most for our interest, and 
 thence determine ourselves more readily to its pur- 
 suit, and persist therein with greater resolution and 
 steadiness." 
 
 2. DIET. Some degree of attention to diet is in- 
 dispensable to the preservation of a healthy and 
 vigorous tone of both the mental and physical sys- 
 tem. And no one can reasonably hope to make ex- 
 tensive acquisitions of knoAvledge, or to put forth the 
 vigorous exercise of intellectual power, unless he 
 possesses a moral dominion over his appetites and 
 passions. 
 
 The first and most important consideration in re- 
 lation to diet, is the quantity of food taken into the 
 system. It was the opinion of Dr. Franklin, that 
 " since the improvements of cookery mankind eat 
 about twice as much as nature requires." Nearly 
 all medical authorities confirm the same opinion. 
 That this overcharging of the digestive organs is de- 
 trimental to health is unquestionable. And thus it 
 is, that we find the most celebrated medical writers 
 attributing the greater portion of our bodily diseases, 
 especially chronical complaints and the infirmities 
 of old age, to " intemperance in diet." The principle 
 on which this overcharging of the digestive organs 
 becomes detrimental to the health, is thus clearly
 
 4CQUISITION OF KNOWLEDGE. 93 
 
 stated by Professor Hitchcock in his invaluable 
 treatise, " Dyspepsy Forestalled:" 
 
 " When food is taken into the stomach, it is con- 
 verted into a pulpy mass, called chyme. If the 
 quantity is too great, this process is of course but 
 imperfectly performed, as the gastric juice is not 
 sufficient for the whole work. The consequence is, 
 that imperfect chyme will produce imperfect chyle, 
 the second state into which the food passes, and im- 
 perfect chyle will produce imperfect blood, and im- 
 perfect blood will produce morbid secretions ; the 
 blood will be too much in quantity, and poor in 
 quality, and hence the system will be imperfectly 
 nourished. Nature must make a great effort to get 
 rid of the superabundance Avith which she is deluged. 
 Hence she will force through the pores of the skin 
 fetid sweats, and load the alimentary canal and 
 every part of the system with every kind of morbid 
 secretion. We see hence, why the men who gor- 
 mandize most are generally pale and emaciated; 
 though sometimes the excess of nourishment is con- 
 
 O 
 
 verted into fat, which seems generally to be a morbid 
 secretion." 
 
 The numerous facts produced by the professor 
 coincide with the conclusion to which his philosophi- 
 cal analysis leads, namely, that a rigid government 
 of the appetite is essential to life and health. Pytha- 
 goras was accustomed to restrict himself to vegetable 
 food, his dinner consisting of bread, honey, and 
 water, and yet he lived upward of eighty-four years. 
 The early Christians who retired from persecution
 
 94 MENTAL DISCIPLINE. 
 
 into the deserts of Arabia and Egypt, allowed them- 
 selves but twelve ounces of bread per day as their 
 solid food, and water alone for drink, and yet they 
 were characterized for bodily and mental vigor, and 
 lived to enjoy both, often to a great age. Thus, St 
 Anthony lived one hundred and five years ; Jame? 
 the Hermit, one hundred and four ; Jerome, one 
 hundred ; Simon Stilites, one hundred and nine ; 
 Epiphanius, one hundred and fifteen ; and Romaldus 
 and Arsenius, each one hundred and twenty. Ga- 
 len, one of the most distinguished of ancient physi- 
 cians, lived one hundred and forty years, and com- 
 posed between seven hundred and eight hundred 
 essays on medical and philosophical subjects, and he 
 was always, after the age of twenty-eight, extremely 
 sparing in the quantity of his food. The Cardinal 
 de Salis, archbishop of Seville, Avho lived one hun- 
 dred and ten years, was invariably sparing in his 
 diet. One Lawrence, an Englishman, lived one 
 hundred and forty years ; one Kentigern, called St. 
 Mangah, one hundred and eighty-five ; Henry Jen- 
 kins, of Yorkshire, one hundred and sixty-nine; 
 Thomas Parr, one hundred and fifty-three ; Henrj 
 Francisco, one hundred and forty ; all indebted 1o 
 their abstemiousness and exercise for their longe 
 vity. Mr. Galloway, in his work upon " The Ame 
 rican Rebellion," thus speaks of Samuel Adams: 
 " He eats little, drinks little, sleeps little, thinks 
 much, and is most indefatigable in the pursuit of 
 his object. It was this man, who, by his superior 
 application, managed at once the factions in Con-
 
 ACQUISITION OF KNOWLEDGE. 95 
 
 gress at Philadelphia, and the factions of New-Eng- 
 land !" 
 
 But health and longevity are not the only results 
 of abstemiousness in diet. " We are far," says the 
 writer in the Register, from -whom we have already 
 quoted, " we are far from limiting the influence of 
 abstemiousness to the body, its effect on the mind 
 is even more admirable. Julius Caesar, constitution- 
 ally a profligate, when bent on some great exploit, 
 was accustomed to diminish his diet to an extent 
 truly marvelous, and to this diminution he ascribed 
 the keen-sightedness and eagle views which so hap- 
 pily distinguished his mind in the battle hour. Simi- 
 lar, too, when extraordinary mental vigor was de- 
 sired, was the abstemiousness of Napoleon, and ot 
 the recent commander of the Russian army. To 
 his rarely equaled moderation of diet, Dr. Franklin 
 ascribed his ' clearness of ideas ' and ' quickness of 
 perception ;' and considered his progress in study 
 proportionate to the influence of his prudent temper- 
 ance. The Journal of Health informs us, that while 
 Sir Isaac Newton was composing his treatise on 
 Optics, he confined himself entirely to bread and a 
 little sack and water. Scarcely less rigid was the 
 abstinence of Leibnitz, when preparing some parts 
 of his Universal Language. We have just taken our 
 eyes from the identical silver bowl which President 
 Edwards purchased for the express purpose of mea- 
 suring his food. It is an interesting relic. It con- 
 tains about half a pint, and he conscientiously re- 
 ejxicted himself at supper to the chocolate and bread
 
 96 MENTAL DISCIPLINE. 
 
 which this would contain. Whoever had nad the 
 Memoir of President Edwards, cannot but have 
 noticed his frequent resolutions to curtail his allow- 
 ance of food, and his happy surprise at the mental 
 vigor which resulted from his increased frugality." 
 D'Aubigne relates of Luther, on the authority of 
 Melancthon, that " a little bread, a single herring, 
 were often his only food. Indeed, he was constitu- 
 tionally abstemious. Even after he had learned 
 that heaven was not to be purchased by abstinence, 
 he often contented himself with the poorest food, 
 and would go four days together without eating or 
 drinking." It is related also of President Dwight, 
 that he, during some portion of his life, was accus- 
 tomed to limit his meals to twelve mouthfuls. Dr. 
 Cheyne, a celebrated English physician, reduced 
 himself from the enormous weight of four hundred 
 and forty-eight pounds to one hundred and forty, by 
 confining himself to a limited quantity of vegetables,, 
 milk, and water, as his only food and drink. The 
 result was a restoration of health and of mental 
 vigor, and, amid professional and literary labors, 
 uninterrupted health and a protracted life. Jeffer- 
 son once made the remark, " that nobody ever re> 
 pented having eaten too little." 
 
 Having touched upon the great evil in relation to 
 diet, it is hardly necessary that we should enlarge 
 upon other points, such as the quality of our food, 
 the time and manner of eating; or to the other 
 branches of bodily regimen, such as clothing, sleep, 
 &c. There is, however, one caution, which we feel
 
 ACQUISITION OF KNOWLEDGE. 97 
 
 bound to give, because of its close connection with 
 a healthy and vigorous tone of the intellect. The 
 caution is against an unbending uniformity in our 
 diet. There is much practical philosophy in the say- 
 ing of Lord Bacon : " Let him who would enjoy 
 health, occasionally vary his course. Sometimes let 
 him feast and sometimes let him fast, sometimes over- 
 sleep and sometimes watch, sometimes walk and 
 sometimes run ; yet let him rather fast than feast, 
 rather than watch let him oversleep, and rather walk 
 than run." Both the body and mind must become 
 in some degree accustomed to change, that the indi- 
 vidual may become in some degree prepared for the 
 unavoidable vicissitudes of life. " When Cornaro 
 was in such a state, that the addition to his daily 
 food of two ounces of solid and two of liquid aliment 
 occasioned severe pains, and eventually a violent 
 fever of five weeks' continuance ; when the philan- 
 thropist, Howard, was in such a state that the least 
 deviation from his rules of living was a disease, 
 they were in a state far too artificial for this variable 
 world." While, then, on the one hand, attention to 
 dietetics and the various economies of health are in- 
 dispensable to bodily and mental vigor, and conse- 
 quently to the successful prosecution of knowledge, 
 a too scrupulous effort to " live by rule ' will be 
 found detrimental to both. 
 7
 
 98 MENTAL DISCIPLINE. 
 
 SECTION XX. Let it be your constant aim to arrive of 
 general principles, on all the subjects to which your attention 
 is directed. 
 
 1. " Without the guidance of general principles, the 
 human mind resembles a vessel at sea, without chart, 
 or compass, or pilot. It must fluctuate in doubt anil 
 uncertainty ; and, amidst the conflicting sentiments, 
 it must be at the mercy of almost every wind of 
 opinion, and unprepared to encounter thft rising 
 wave of opposition. In every department of human 
 knowledge, whether of literature or of science, 
 whether of reason or of revelation, there are certain 
 fixed principles certain general truths, from which 
 we must set out in our researches, and by which we 
 must be guided in our reasonings. To borrow the 
 language of Mr. Locke, ' There are fundamental 
 truths which lie at the bottom, the basis upon which 
 a great many others rest, and in which they have 
 their consistency. These are teeming truths, rich 
 in store, with which they furnish the mind, and, like 
 the light of heaven, are not only beautiful and enter- 
 taining in themselves, but give light and evidence to 
 other things, that without them could not be seen 
 or known. Such is that admirable discovery of 
 Newton, that all bodies gravitate to one centre, 
 which may be counted the basis of natural philoso- 
 phy. Our Saviour's great rule that ice should love 
 our neighbor as ourselves is also a fundamental truth 
 for the regulating of human society, that, I think, by 
 that alone, one might without difficulty determine all
 
 ACQUISITION OF KNOWLEDGE. 99 
 
 Ihe cases and doubts in social morality. These, and 
 euch as these, are the truths we should endeavor lo 
 find out and store our minds with.' ' We should 
 accustom ourselves, in any question proposed, to ex- 
 amine and find out upon what it bottoms. Most of 
 the difficulties that come in our way, when well con- 
 sidered and traced, lead us to some proposition 
 which, known to be true, clears the doubt, and gives 
 an easy solution to the question.' " 
 
 2. We should not only seek to arrive at general 
 principles in the pursuit of knowledge ; but also to 
 refer the knowledge we may have attained on any 
 special subject, as much as possible, to general prin- 
 ciples. That is, we should, as far as we can, classify 
 our knowledge, and no classification will prove so 
 beneficial as that founded upon the natural order 
 and relations of things. The immense advantage 
 derived from generalization and classification in the 
 pursuits of knowledge, whether scientific or moral, 
 cannot be too highly appreciated. What, for in- 
 stance, could be accomplished in botany or zoology 
 without analysis and classification ? When would 
 the botanist ever acquire a knowledge of the myriads 
 of vegetable productions, or the zoologist of the 
 myriads of the animal creation, without some com- 
 prehensive system of generalization ? 
 
 It is equally important, in order to the retention 
 and ready use of knowledge acquired, that it be re- 
 ferred to general principles. The following illus- 
 tration of Professor Upham is pertinent : " If a 
 lawyer or merchant were to throw all their papers
 
 lOO MENTAL DISCIPLINE. 
 
 together promiscuously, they could not calculate on 
 much readiness in finding what they might at any 
 time want. If a man of letters were to record in a 
 common-place book all the ideas and facts which 
 occurred to him, without any method, he would ex- 
 perience the greatest difficulty in applying them to 
 use. It is the same with a memory, when there is 
 no classification. Whoever fixes upon some general 
 principle, whether political, literary, or philosophical, 
 and collects facts in illustration of it, will find no 
 difficulty in remembering them, however numerous ; 
 when, without such general principles, the recollec- 
 tion of them would have become extremely burden- 
 some." 
 
 SECTION XXI. Be not satisfied with the knowledge you 
 have acquired on any subject of investigation, till you can 
 express the results of your inquiries and reflections in your 
 own words, either in conversation or in writing. 
 
 " The attempt to convey our ideas to others is the 
 most satisfactory test by which we may ascertain 
 their correctness or inaccuracy their completeness 
 or deficiency. Nothing is more common than for 
 those whose minds are undisciplined to flatter them- 
 selves that they have a competent acquaintance with 
 a subject, on which their ideas are still obscure and 
 confused, and on which they betray obscurity and 
 confusion as soon as they attempt the communica- 
 tion of their thoughts to others. It is therefore of 
 great importance in schools of education, that an 
 adequate test should be applied by the teacher
 
 ACQUISITION OF KNOWLEDGE. ll; . 
 
 throughout the whole course of study, both by insti- 
 tuting a strict examination on the course of reading 
 prescribed, and by requiring frequent exercises iu 
 composition on the subjects to which attention has 
 been directed. 
 
 " On the same principle, it would be found highly 
 beneficial were those who are associated in a studi- 
 ous career to bring each other to the test by mutual 
 examination, and by conversing freely on points of 
 importance and difficulty. It would be too much to 
 assert that in every instance where there is clear- 
 ness of conception there will be facility of expression, 
 since there may be causes of embarrassment in the 
 attempt to convey ideas which do not arise from the 
 obscurity of the ideas themselves ; but when no such 
 causes are in operation it may be presumed that 
 confusion of language has its origin in confusion of 
 thought, and that we ought not to give ourselves 
 credit for a competent acquaintance with any sub- 
 ject, till we can convey our ideas on that subject 
 with precision and perspicuity." 
 
 This ability to express the results of our reading 
 and reflections is to be distinguished from the faculty 
 of repeating memoriter the language of the authors 
 w, have read. " A boy of strong memory," says 
 Dr Watts, " may repeat a whole book of Euclid, 
 yet be no geometer ; for he may not perhaps be able 
 to demonstrate one single theorem. Memorino has 
 learned half the Bible by heart, and is become a 
 living concordance, and a speaking index to theolo- 
 gical folios, and yet he understands little of divinity
 
 102 MENTAL DISCIPLINE. 
 
 A well-furijshed library, and a capacious memory, 
 are indeed of singular use toward the improvement 
 of the mind. But if all your learning be nothing 
 else but a mere amassment of what others have 
 written, without a due penetration into their mean- 
 ing, and without a judicious choice and determina- 
 tion of your own sentiments, I do not see what title 
 your head has to true learning above your shelves." 
 
 SECTION XXII. Let the love of truth and knowledge be 
 the stimulus that shall incite you to the pursuits of know- 
 
 The motives and feelings that animate us in enter- 
 ing upon the pursuits of knowledge are not un- 
 worthy of our attention, even in a mere intellectual 
 point of view. They will have much to do with our 
 success, or want of success, in giving true develop- 
 ment to the mind. 
 
 Curiosity, or desire of knowledge, is an implanted 
 sentiment in the soul ; but it is susceptible of culti- 
 vation. It may be fostered or repressed. Hence 
 the regulation of it becomes a moral duty. When 
 properly cultivated, it constitutes a powerful stimu- 
 lus to intellectual exertion, and at the same time 
 imparts a pleasure to our intellectual toil. Among 
 students, rivalry, the ambition of attaining a high 
 grade, or bearing off the honors of the class, may do 
 much toward stimulating intellectual exertion. And 
 sometimes the mind may, when acting under the in- 
 fluence of such a stimulus, insensibly imbibe a love 
 for study ; but it cannot the less be considered a
 
 ACQUISITION OF KNOWLEDGE. 103 
 
 motive unworthy of science, and one too that is often 
 exceedingly detrimental to the true development of 
 mind. A student, who had effected the solution of a 
 difficult problem, said, on presenting his solution to 
 D'Alembert, " Sir, I have accomplished this in order 
 to gain a seat in the academy." " You will never 
 be worthy of one," replied the philosopher, " unless 
 you are actuated to the pursuits of learning from 
 higher motives." 
 
 A love of truth in the intellectual, is like the love 
 of goodness in the moral world, an all-pervading 
 and unceasing stimulus to its acquisition. If ostenta- 
 tion, show, ambitious rivalry only, incite you, you 
 will be very likely to slight those portions of know- 
 lodge that do not further these ends; and these, 
 perchance, may be the most important portions of 
 the furniture of a well-disciplined mind ; and when 
 these motives are not to be realized, the mind turns 
 aside from its task in discouragement, if not in dis- 
 gust But the love of truth is all-pervading and 
 ever-enduring. It will be ever present with us, 
 check our haltings, reprove our indecision, and pro- 
 duce a combined and happy activity of all our 
 powers. The mind will feel ample reward for its 
 toils in the rich accessions made to its knowledge, 
 
 O 
 
 and in the equal development of its powers. This 
 was the principle that inspired the great intellects 
 that now adorn the intellectual firmament of our 
 race. It was the moving principle that inspired a 
 Locke, a Newton, a La Place, in their profound in- 
 vestigations. What thought had they of the busy
 
 104 MENTAL DISCIPLINE. 
 
 tongues of men that should echo their fame, whilu 
 so absorbed in their communings with truth as to be 
 forgetful of themselves and of the world around 
 them ? High intellectual attainments can never be 
 reached, unless the mind be penetrated with a pro- 
 found and enduring thirst for knowledge. 
 
 SECT-ION XXIII. When your plans are finished in de- 
 liberation, let action upon them be immediately com- 
 menced. 
 
 If when we have formed a deliberate purpose of 
 action we lack the decision and energy to enter im- 
 mediately upon its execution, it is highly probable 
 that the plan will never be executed. Irresolution 
 will grow upon its victim. When the time which he 
 had fixed upon for the execution of his plans ar- 
 rives, he will find himself, in all probability, less in- 
 clined to action than at first; so that the subject 
 will pretty certainly receive a second, and eventu- 
 ally a final postponement. He who, after he has 
 deliberated and resolved, has not the energy of 
 character to apply himself to the subject, may de- 
 spair of its accomplishment. 
 
 Foster, in his essay on Decision of Character, has 
 some excellent hints and fine illustrations upon this 
 point. In making his inquiry into the constituents 
 of this commanding quality, he asserts that energy 
 of feeling is as necessary as confidence of opinion. 
 It is this energy of feeling which secures action. 
 " This display of systematic energy seems to indicate 
 constitution of mind in which the passions are com-
 
 ACQUISITION OF K* OWLEDGE. 105 
 
 mensurate with the intellectual part, and, at the 
 same time, hold an inseparable correspondence with 
 it, like the faithful sympathy of the tides with the 
 moon. There is such an equality and connection, 
 that subjects of the decisions of judgment become 
 proportionably, and of course, the subjects of pas- 
 sion. When the judgment decides with a very 
 strong preference, that same strength of preference, 
 actuating also the passions, devotes them with energy 
 to the object, so long as it is thus approved ; and this 
 will produce such a conduct as I have described. 
 When therefore a firm, self-confiding, and unalter- 
 ing judgment fails to make a decisive character, it is 
 evident that either the passions in the mind are too 
 languid to be capable of a strong and unremitting 
 excitement, which defect makes an indolent or irre- 
 solute man ; or that they perversely sometimes coin- 
 cide with judgment, and sometimes clash with it, 
 which makes an inconstant and versatile man. 
 
 " There is no man so irresolute as not to act with 
 determination in many single cases, where the motive 
 is powerful and simple, and where there is no need 
 of plan and perseverance ; but this gives no claim 
 to the term character, which expresses the habitual 
 tenor of man's active being. The character may be 
 displayed in the successive undertakings, which are 
 each of limited extent, and end with the attainment 
 of their particular objects. But it is seen to the 
 greatest advantage in those grand schemes of action, 
 which have no necessary point of conclusion, which 
 continue on through successive years, and extend
 
 106 JIEXTAL DISCIPLINE. 
 
 even to that dark period when the agent himself ia 
 withdrawn from human sight 
 
 " I have repeatedly remarked to you in conver- 
 sation, the effect of what has been called a ruling 
 passion. When its object is noble, and an enlight- 
 ened understanding directs its movements, it appears 
 to me a great felicity ; but whether its object be noble 
 or not, it infallibly creates, where it exists in great 
 force, that active, ardent constancy, which I describe 
 as a capital feature of the decisive character. The 
 subject of such a commanding passion wonders, if 
 indeed he were at leisure to wonder, at the persons 
 who pretend to attach importance to an object which 
 they make none but the most languid efforts to se- 
 cure. The utmost powers of the man are constrain- 
 ed into the service of the favorite cause, by this pas- 
 sion, which sweeps away, as it advances, all the 
 trivial objections and little opposing motives, and 
 seems almost to open a way through opposing im- 
 possibilities. The spirit comes on him in the morn- 
 ing as soon as he recovers his consciousness, and 
 commands and impels him through the day, with 
 a power from which he could not emancipate him- 
 self if he would, When the force of habit is added, 
 the determination becomes invincible, and seems to 
 assume rank with the great laws of nature, making 
 it nearly as certain that such a man will persist in 
 his course as that the morning sun will rise." 
 
 There is a nobleness in this decisive spirit, which 
 combines at once decision of judgment and of action, 
 that excites our wonder and admiration. Even when
 
 ACQUISITION OF KNOWLEDGE. 107 
 
 we cannot approve of the cause in which this deci- 
 sion and energy are enlisted, we shall feel ourselves 
 compelled to do homage to the nobler traits of cha- 
 racter ; but where the cause merits our approval, we 
 shall not fail to have excited the highest degree of 
 admiration. It was a sublime manifestation of this 
 spirit in the reply of Pompey when some of his 
 friends endeavored to dissuade him from hazarding 
 his life on a tempestuous sea, in order to be at Rome 
 on an important occasion. " It is necessary for me 
 to go ; it is not necessary for me to li ve." Luther, 
 when entreated by his friends not to risk an attend- 
 ance at the Diet of Worms, replied with a calm de- 
 cision, that forbade all further effort to prevent: "I 
 am called in the name of God to go, and I would go, 
 though I were certain to meet as many devils in 
 Worms as there are tiles on the roofs of its houses." 
 Says Foster, " In almost all plans of great enter- 
 prise, a man must systematically dismiss, at the en- 
 trance, every wish to stipulate for safety with his 
 destiny. Either they must allay this fire of enter- 
 prise, or they must hold themselves in readiness to 
 be exploded by it from the world." 
 
 The student would do well to study carefully the 
 following portraiture of the intellectual character of 
 Howard, as drawn by the same master hand : " The 
 energy of his determination was so great, that if, in- 
 stead of being habitual, it had been shown only for 
 a short time on particular occasions, it would have 
 appeared a vehement impetuosity ; but by being un- 
 intermitted, it had an equability of manner whicli
 
 JOS MENTAL DISCIPLINE. 
 
 scarcely appeared to exceed the tone of a calm con- 
 stancy, it was so totally the reverse of anything like 
 turbulence or agitation. The moment of finishing 
 his plans in deliberation, and commencing them in 
 action, was the same. I wonder what must ha\v 
 been the amount of that bribe, in emolument or 
 pleasure, that would have detained him a week in- 
 active after their final adjustment. The law which 
 carries water down a declivity, was not more uncon- 
 querable and invariable, than the determination of 
 his feelings toward the main object. The import- 
 ance of this object held his faculties in a state of ex- 
 citement which was too rigid to be affected by lighter 
 interests, and over which therefore the beauties of 
 nature and of art had no power. He had no leisure 
 feeling which he could spare to be diverted among the 
 innumerable varieties of the extensive scene which he 
 traversed ; all his subordinate feelings lost their sepa- 
 rate existence and operation, by falling into the 
 grand one. His exclusive devotion implied an in- 
 conceivable severity of conviction, that he had one 
 thing to do, and that he would do some great thing in 
 this short life, must apply himself to the work with 
 such a concentration of his forces, as, to idle specta- 
 tors who live only to amuse themselves, looks like 
 insanity." It is not too much to say, that the above 
 is characteristic of all who have made great attain- 
 ments in knowledge, and contributed largely to the 
 good of mankind.
 
 ACQUISITION OF KNOWLEDGE. 109 
 
 SECTION XXIV. Remember that mental discipline ac- 
 quired, can be retained and improved only by continued 
 mental activity. 
 
 Our mental, like our bodily powers, are enfeebled 
 by disuse. The ardent prosecution of our studies 
 and investigations is the only thing that can keep 
 alive the intellectual fire, and preserve, unimpaired, 
 the intellectual vigor. Those who have retained 
 longest their intellectual vigor, are those generally 
 who have prosecuted longest their literary and sci- 
 entific pursuits. Adam Clarke, at the age of three- 
 score and ten, had lost none of his intellectual fire. 
 It is said of Newton, that at the age of eighty-five, 
 he was not only improving previous productions, but 
 also prosecuting new enterprises ; and " Waller, at 
 eighty-two, is thought to have lost none of his poet- 
 ical fire." Some, late in life, have entered upon 
 departments of study or taken up languages entirely 
 new to them. In fact, most distinguished men who 
 have retained their faculties till late in life, have 
 " acted upon the principle of ever learning, and ever 
 coming unto the truth. 
 
 How many, after being decorated with college 
 honors, never exhibit a mental energy equal to the 
 expectation of their friends ! Nay, how many never 
 exhibit after their graduation strength and energy of 
 mind equal to that previously displayed, but soon 
 disappear from the theatre of intellectual activity! 
 How emphatic the rebuke of Rush, when hearing a 
 young man boast of having completed his education !
 
 110 MENTAL DISCIPLINE. 
 
 " Have you ?" says the veteran student ; " well. I am 
 sixty years old, and have not yet completed mine." 
 The point at which an individual feels that his educa- 
 tion is completed is probably, however immature he 
 may be, the point at which improvement will cease, 
 and decline commence. 
 
 SECTION XXV. Let your mind be impressed irith tht much 
 to be learned, compared with tfie little you know. 
 
 Nothing is more common than for persons of small 
 powers of mind, and limited knowledge, to imagine 
 themselves to be possessed of all, or nearly all, the 
 knowledge that is worth possessing. Whereas those 
 of more capacious and enlightened minds are struck 
 with astonishment and wonder at the vastness of the 
 unknown. The chemist, after the mor-t laborious 
 and prolonged research the astronomer, after ex 
 ploring the remotest regions of the starry heavens 
 revealed to man the mental philosopher, after ob- 
 serving with profound attention, and analyzing and 
 comparing the phenomena of mind the theologian, 
 after devout and protractr-d study into the sublime, 
 profound mysteries of natural and revealed religion, 
 feel that they have only just entered the outer vesti- 
 bule of knowledge. Such were the feelings of 
 Newton, when he exclaimed, " I do not know what I 
 may appear to the world ; but to myself, I seem to 
 have been only like a boy playing on the seashore, 
 and diverting myself in now and then finding a 
 smoother pebble, or a prettier shell than ordinary, 
 while the treat ocean of truth lay undiscovtred before
 
 ACQUISITION OF KNOWLEDGE. Ill 
 
 we." Cicero, the great Roman orator, was a man 
 of untiring labor. Every known science and every 
 branch of literature was made tributary to his stir- 
 ring eloquence. Was it not that something im- 
 mense and infinite aliquid immensum, mfinitumque 
 which seemed perpetually to haunt the mind of 
 Cicero? was it not this that stimulated him to his 
 incessant and immense labors in pursuit of know- 
 ledge ? In his oration for Archias, the poet, he 
 Iraws this, no doubt, true picture of himself: "As 
 much time as is given to other men for their own 
 business ; for the celebration of festival days and 
 other pleasures ; for the repose of body and mind ; 
 for gaming, ball, and nightly entertainments; so 
 much I appropriate to myself, and devote to these 
 studies." 
 
 A more serious obstacle in the way of intellectual 
 improvement can hardly be imagined than that 
 which exists in the narrow-minded, self-sufficient 
 soul, which can conceive of no valuable knowledge 
 without the sphere of its own attainments. Such a 
 person is not unlike the child who imagines creation 
 itself to be bounded by its own restricted horizon ; 
 but its chance for correction, and for obtaining a 
 proper understanding of the true boundaries of its 
 knowledge, is not half so great. 
 
 On the other hand, we can hardly imagine a 
 greater stimulus to intellectual exertion, than be- 
 holding this immense unknown gradually becoming 
 subject to our intellectual dominion. In ancient 
 literature, in science and art, in philosophy, in the
 
 ill MENTAL DISCIPLINE. 
 
 principles of morality and the rules that regulate 
 ordinary life, and especially in the sphere of reli- 
 gion, how immense are the fields of knowledge, as. 
 yet, not subject to our dominion ! Human science 
 seems to have illuminated an inviting, but limited 
 portion of this wide range of knowledge, while all 
 beyond and around this illuminated spot spreads 
 out one vast unexplored and unknown immense 
 boundless as the dominion of God himself.
 
 COMMUNICATION OF KNOWLEDGE. 113 
 
 PART II. 
 
 MENTAL DISCIPLINE WITH REFERENCE YO 
 THE COMMUNICATION OF KNOWLEDGE. 
 
 SECTION I. Remember that the communication of know- 
 ledge to others is one of the great ends of its acquisition, 
 and especially, is one of the important dyects of the 
 ministerial profession. 
 
 THE discipline of the mind with reference to the 
 " communication of knowledge," implies such a train- 
 ing of our faculties, and the acquirement of those 
 mental aptitudes, which will enable us to impart the 
 knowledge we have attained, in a lucid, concise, and 
 effective manner. " The improvement of the under- 
 standing," says Mr. Locke, " is for two ends : first, 
 for our own increase of knowledge ; secondly, to en- 
 able us to deliver that knowledge to others." There 
 are some kinds of soil that absorb thu dressing of the 
 cultivator, but yield no harvest to repay his toil. 
 Not like this should be the mind Enriched by 
 knowledge, it should bear fruit tht, foliage should 
 spring up to cover its barrenness, the flowers should 
 blossom to delight the eye, and fill the air with odor, 
 and fruit should mature to supply the wants and 
 gratify the taste. The intellectual miser is not less 
 false to his own interests, not less recreant to the 
 great ends of intellectual accumulation, than his pro* 
 8
 
 114 -MENTAL DISCIPLINE. 
 
 totype who delves to gather that which thencefor- 
 ward becomes useless whose coffers are a pool into 
 which the waters flow only to stagnate till drained 
 off by death. 
 
 That the great end of the actjuixition of know- 
 ledge, to a public speaker especially, may ^ attained, 
 he must be able to communicate. Especially is this 
 the case in the ministerial office, the main end and 
 design of which office is to communicate and enforce 
 truth. Xow, because a man possess knowledge, it 
 by no means follows, as a matter of course, that he 
 can effectively communicate it. The commu ica- 
 tion of knowledge calls into exercise other powers 
 of mind, and gives a different mode of exercise to its 
 powers in general, than does its acquisition. The 
 water may flow freely into the deep tank, while it 
 will require the power of the syphon or of the forcing- 
 pump to remove it. Professor Upham says, " Many 
 of the most respectable and valuable men in our 
 legislative assemblies are persons who are rarely 
 heard in debate While they are known to possess 
 reach of thought and correctness of judgment, they 
 exhibit in public discussion little more than confu- 
 sion and apparent inability." Mr. Jefferson, at the 
 time of the Continental Congress, was considered a/ 
 forcible and lucid writer, and had the reputation of 
 science and literature ; and even in Congress lent 
 great aid by his promptness and decision on com- 
 mittees. And yet he is declared, by one of his illus- 
 trious associates, to have been a silent member of 
 that body. Mr. Jefferson, himself, makes a similar
 
 COMMUNICATION OF KNOWLEDGE. 115 
 
 remark concerning Washington and Franklin. How 
 many professional divines, well read, profound in 
 thought, extensive in research, are unendurable and 
 almost unintelligible in delivery ! The legislator 
 may render great service to his country without 
 being an effective speaker ; but, by him whose voca- 
 tion is that of public speaking, no means should be 
 left untried to make himself proficient in true ora- 
 tory. 
 
 The communication of knowledge also reacts upon 
 the mind and aids in its acquisition. 
 
 " Thoughts shut up want air, 
 And spoil, like bales unopen'd to the sun. 
 Had thought been all, sweet speech had been denied , 
 Speech ! thought's canal ; speech ! thought's criterion too ; 
 Thought in mine, may come forth gold or dross 
 When coin'd in word, we know its real worth." 
 
 "Thought too, deliver'd, is the more progress'd ; 
 Teaching, we learn ; and giving, we retain 
 The births of intellect ; when dumb, forgot. 
 What numbers, sheatli'd in erudition, lie 
 Plunged to the hilts in venerable tomes, 
 And rusted in, who might have born an edge 
 And play'd a sprightly beam, if born to speecn. 
 If born blest heirs of half their mother's tongue ." 
 
 Knowledge is not half possessed unless it be accon - 
 panied with the power of effective communication. 
 It is said to be power, but, like money, it ceases to 
 be so when not in circulation. In no sphere of ac- 
 tion is the power to communicate more essential 
 than in -that of the Christian ministry. The mighty 
 theme which the profession contemplates as its sub- 
 ject is interwoven with all science and all knowledge.
 
 116 MENTAL DISCIPLINE. 
 
 The science of theology is emphatically the science 
 of sciences, encircling and comprehending the whole. 
 Jt carries us back to the antiquity of our race, and 
 requires of us a knowledge of ancient arts, manners, 
 customs, history, and religion. It encircles ancient 
 geography, poetry, and language. The fields of in- 
 tellectual and moral science the wonders of the 
 gky as developed in astronomy of the earth as de- 
 veloped in natural philosophy and its kindred sci- 
 ences of our own natures and powers as made 
 known in physiology all lie within its scope. In a 
 word, the science of theology takes in the whole 
 man, social, moral, and immortal ; it comprehends 
 his whole history, past, and future ; it raises the con- 
 ceptions to the throne of the Eternal, and bids us 
 study his attributes and laws ! Within this wide 
 range, how many subtil questions requiring the 
 close-t scrutiny and the clearest exposition ; how 
 many practical duties that require to be developed 
 and enforced ; how many old and time-worn truths 
 are t*> be reanimated and clothed with new and 
 living light; and what momentous interests are to be 
 asserted and vindicated ! But the subtilty and mag- 
 nitude of the truths are not the only obstacles in thrs 
 way of the Christian orator. He finds, if possible, a 
 more potent obstacle in the apathy, the ignorance, 
 and general mental imbecility, of those most deeply 
 interested in them. In order to dispel that igno- 
 rance, this apathy must be removed and these sltig- 
 giOi intellects be aroused to action. 
 
 The office of the Christian orator then is twofold,
 
 COMMUNICATION OF KNOWLEDGE. 117 
 
 , to make an impression, and to instruct. 
 " To make &n impression " simply is insufficient ; the 
 mind must be instructed or nothing permanent or 
 lasting will be effected. The reign of Louis XIV. 
 was signalized as an era in the eloquence of the 
 French pulpit. Bourdaloue, and Bossuet, and Mas- 
 sillon, and Fenelon, often excited the passions of 
 vheir courtly audiences to the highest pitch by the 
 bold strokes and affecting appeals of their eloquence. 
 But their oratory was that of the stage, only trans- 
 ferred into the pulpit. It was adapted to stage 
 effect ; the audience was impressed, the feelings ex- 
 cited, the passions aroused; but when the tide of 
 feeling had passed over no traces were left behind. 
 It is said that even Massillon composed and prac- 
 ticed every sentence which he uttered in his most 
 celebrated sermons, and not unfrequently were they 
 announced for repetition, like a theatrical perform 
 ance, and persons nocked to hear him, not as a gos 
 pel minister, but as a. pulpit actor, speculating upon 
 the manner in which he would pronounce certain 
 well-known passages. No wonder that under the 
 influence of such preaching, only stage effects wero 
 produced. " The monarch and the court continued 
 as corrupt as ever ; they were alarmed, or they wept 
 for a moment, and the next turned to their follies 
 again. The eloquence of the preacher was heard as 
 the music of one who had a pleasant voice, or could 
 play well upon an instrument; but no permanent 
 impression was made. We observe similar emotions 
 produced by very affecting narratives, magazine
 
 118 MENTAL DISCIPLINE. 
 
 novels, the tragic muse, nay, by music alone, with- 
 out a syllable of sense. A whole audience of any 
 kind may be animated, or be made to weep, without 
 being reformed." But when the appeal is made to 
 the understanding as well as the heart, we may rea- 
 sonably expect more permanent results, though per- 
 haps less powerful impressions may be made at the 
 moment of delivery. 
 
 Eminent critics have remarked this as the cha- 
 racteristic difference between the eloquence of the 
 French and English pulpits ; that the former seems 
 to be addressed more directly to the passions, while 
 the latter is more solid and plain powerfully appeal 
 ing to the understanding and the conscience. The 
 results are such as we might have expected. In 
 England, the pulpit is the centre of light and intelli- 
 gence to the nation ; in France, the professor's lec- 
 ture is the focus of light and knowledge, while the 
 pulpit, as a place where instruction is to be sought, 
 is almost entirely overlooked. In England, the pulpit 
 exerts a powerful influence upon the morals of the 
 people, forms their general character, gives direction 
 and tone to their tastes and pursuits ; in France, it is 
 almost a nullity. The legitimate object of the min- 
 isterial profession, then, is to instruct as well as to 
 impress, to impart Christian intelligence as well as 
 to awaken and excite the emotions. 
 
 The Christian minister is the religious instrui.lor 
 ot the community. The great body of men are 
 busily occupied about the concerns of worldly busi- 
 ness, and comparatively few have time to devote to
 
 COMMUNICATION OF KNOWLEDGE. 119 
 
 die extensive study of the truths and duties of re- 
 vealed religion. Few have the books and other ap- 
 pliances necessary to enable them to prosecute such 
 investigations with any tolerable success; or if they 
 have all these facilities, they are destitute of the 
 mental discipline that will enable them successfully 
 to use them. Comparatively few, in even the most 
 favored communities, have those hab : ts of diligent 
 investigation and patient thought that will enable 
 them to thread the mazes of verbal criticism, or hold 
 the mind in contact with abstract truth till its intri- 
 cate points are clearly perceived. This lack the 
 pulpit must supply. The Christian minister, then, 
 must impart intelligence as well as awaken emotion ; 
 and, in order to overcome the apathy and mental im- 
 becility of the great mass, the intelligence he would 
 communicate must be, first, thoroughly comprehend- 
 ed by himself, and then clothed with all the attrac- 
 tions and power of an able delivery. 
 
 SECTION II. Impress upon your mind the fact, ihat a 
 high order of delivery is no less the result of effort ind 
 cultivation, than is a high order of intellectual attainment in 
 any otlier respect. 
 
 We would not be understood that a high order ot 
 delivery can be attained by effort and cultivation, 
 when there are no natural gifts or endowments for 
 t. Our position is simply, that however lavish na- 
 ture may have been in our bodily or mental endow- 
 ments, the highest perfection of a good delivery 
 cannot be reached without cultivation. A barren
 
 120 MENTAL DISCIPLINE. 
 
 soil may be unproductive after the highest cultiva- 
 tion ; and a soil naturally rich, uncultivated, may 
 produce something ; but, cultivated, will yield more. 
 In order to attain the highest degree of eloquence, 
 natural parts and high cultivation must be combined 
 together. " One thing I must premise," says Quin- 
 tilian, in his treatise on delivery, " that, without the 
 assistance of natural capacity, rules and precepts 
 are of no efficacy. Therefore, this treatise is no 
 more intended for those who are entirely wanting 
 in capacity, than a treatise upon the improvement 
 of lands is applicable to barren grounds. Besides, 
 nature throws in other aids, voice, strength of lungs, 
 health, resolution, comeliness ; all of which are im- 
 provable by art, if nature contributes to them but a 
 little ; though they are sometimes so defective, that 
 they spoil even what is valuable in genius, and in 
 application." 
 
 The voice of antiquity is, that oral eloquence " is 
 unattainable but by art ; that it requires study, prac- 
 tice, and imitation." Quintilian declares that " the 
 longest life is short enough to acquire it." The his- 
 tory of the celebrated orators of antiquity fully con- 
 firms this opinion concerning eloquence. The his- 
 tory of Demosthenes is an exemplification of this 
 truth. We need not repeat the story of his diffi- 
 dence, of his stammering voice, or of his early 
 failures in the art of speaking. They sufficiently 
 indicate that Demosthenes, whose fame as an orator 
 towers above and overshadows that of all succeeding 
 orators, was not, born an orator. His retirement
 
 COMMUNICATION OF KNOWLEDGE. 121 
 
 from the world, his shorn head, his subterranean 
 cave, his declamations amid the deafening surges of 
 the sea, or in a state of breathless exhaustion, or with 
 his mouth filled with pebbles, his unceasing effort to 
 produce distinct articulation, the lessons of instruc- 
 tion received from masters in elocution, all indicate 
 to us how assiduous and persevering cultivation was 
 combined with natural endowment in the production 
 of the perfect orator. He had unquestionably, by 
 nature, those intellectual endowments necessary to 
 constitute an orator ; but, aside from these, his elo- 
 quence was the result of cultivation. 
 
 " It was much the same," says a writer in the 
 Methodist Quarterly, " with the great Roman orator. 
 He early studied elocution under Philo, the most 
 distinguished of the Romans for his eloquence. 
 When he came to the bar, however, he learned, 
 by experience, that even then his voice had not 
 been sufficiently trained ; it was ' harsh and un- 
 formed,' and, as he became excited in pleading, it 
 always rose to too high a pitch, so as to endanger 
 his health. He therefore laid aside the business 
 of his profession, and traveled into Asia, and visited 
 the Island of Rhodes, for the express purpose of 
 perfecting his vocal powers, and bringing his voice 
 to a pitch which his constitution would bear. At 
 Rhodes he studied under the rhetorician Apol- 
 lonius; and among the rhetoricians of Asia he 
 availed himself of the instructions of Xenoeles, 
 Dionysius, and Menippus. So intent was he OB 
 his purpose that, according to Plutarch, ' he suf
 
 "22 MENTAL DISCIPLINE. 
 
 fered not a day to pass without either declaiming 
 or attending the most celebrated orators.' As tc 
 natural grace, in gesture, the same biographer says. 
 ' that his turn for action was naturally as defective 
 as that of Demosthenes, and therefore he took all 
 the advantage he could from the instruction of Ros- 
 cius, who excelled in comedy, and of ^Esop, whose 
 talents lay in tragedy.' Thus Cicero labored to im- 
 prove and educate his natural powers." We may 
 well suppose that it was upon the authority of this 
 long and toilsome experience that he affirmed, " No 
 man is an orator who has not learned to be so." 
 
 " This science," says the same author above quoted, 
 '' has also been studied by many of England's most 
 eminent orators. Mr. Pitt learned elocution under 
 the tuition of his noble and eloquent father ; and it 
 was of one of his speeches that even Fox could say, 
 ' The orators of antiquity would have admired, pro- 
 bably would have envied it ;' and, after listening to 
 another, Mr. Windham says of himself, that 'he 
 walked home, lost in amazement at the compass, till 
 then unknown to him, of human eloquence.' The 
 cae of Sheridan is a more striking one still. To 
 adopt the language of Lord Brougham : ' With a 
 position by birth and profession little suited to com- 
 mand the respect of the most aristocratic country in 
 Europe the son of an actor, the manager himself 
 of a theatre he came into that parliament which 
 was enlightened by the vast and varied knowledge, 
 as well as fortified and adorned by the most choice 
 literary fame of a Burke, and which owned the con
 
 COMMUNICATION OF KNOWLEDGE. 123 
 
 suminate sway of orators like Fox and Pitt. But he 
 had studied the elocution of the stage ; his father hi I 
 oeen his teacher ; and although he nevei acquired 
 any great eminence as a statesman, yet Pitt himself, 
 at one time, writhed under his eloquence. And it 
 was at the close of his celebrated speech before the 
 House of Commons, upon the Begum charge, in the 
 proceedings against Hastings, that the practice of 
 cheering the speaker was first introduced; and it 
 was on this occasion that Mr. Pitt, then prime minis- 
 ter of England, besought the house to adjourn the 
 decision of the question, as being incapacitated from 
 forming a just judgment under the influence of such 
 powerful eloquence.' Several of our distinguished 
 American orators also, it is asserted, are ever ready 
 to acknowledge their indebtedness to the study of 
 the principles of that art which is procuring for 
 them so rich a reward of fame. And some of those 
 who have been most admired, are far from being 
 those for whom nature has done most." 
 
 What has here been predicated of secular elo- 
 quence also applies to sacred. Natural and spiritual 
 gifts may do much for the sacred orator ; but culti- 
 vation of his gifts only can elevate him to the highest 
 summit of eloquence. " That prodigy of the pulpit," 
 ears an essayist upon oratory, " the great and good 
 Wlutefield, was probably never suspected by his 
 hearers of observing the punctilios of delivery, 
 and subjecting himself to severe and systematic dis- 
 ciplining. Yet his late biographer assures us that 
 though he always appeared so rapt and so artless in
 
 124 MENTAL DISCIPLINE. 
 
 the desk, he was, nevertheless, a close student of 
 manner, and could not attain his highest power until 
 he had perfected the address of a sermon, by thirty 
 or forty repetitions, before his large and excitable 
 congregations." What is here asserted of Whitefield 
 may, in a greater or less degree, be predicated of 
 the most distinguished pulpit orators in every age. 
 
 Some have supposed that art employed in the 
 pulpit to heighten the graces and the effect of de- 
 livery must necessarily conflict with the character 
 and design of the ministerial office. Let the biogra- 
 pher of Whitefield, in his defense of that pre-emi- 
 nent pulpit orator, answer this objection : " Was that 
 spirit ever trammeled, cooled, or carnalized, by 
 Whitefield's attention to the graces of pulpit elo> 
 quence ? Did the study of oratoiy estrange him 
 from the closet ? or lessen his dependence upon the 
 Holy Spirit ? or divert him from living habitually 
 in the light of eternity and the divine presence ? 
 No man ever lived nearer to God, or approached 
 nearer to the perfection of oratory. He was too 
 devotional to be cooled by rules, and too natural to 
 be spoiled by art, and too much in earnest to win 
 souls to neglect system. He sought out acceptable 
 tones, and gestures, and looks, as well as ' accepta- 
 ble words.' Was Whitefield right? Then how 
 many, like myself, are far wrong ? Let the rising 
 ministry take warning ! Awkwardness in the pulpit 
 is a sin ; monotony, a sin ; dullness, a sin ; and all 
 of them sins against the welfare of immortal souls. 
 These have, be it ever remembered, too many ex-
 
 COMMUNICATION OF KNOWLEDGE. 125 
 
 cuses already for evading the claims of the gospel ; 
 do not therefore place yourself, STUDENT, among 
 their reasons for rejecting it. It is as easy to be 
 graceful in gesture, and natural in tone, as to be 
 grammatical. You would not dare to violate gram- 
 mar : dare not to be vulgar or vapid in manner. 
 Your spirituality of mind is too low, and your com- 
 munion with God too slight, and your love of truth 
 too cold, if they can be endangered by cultivating 
 an eloquence worthy of the pulpit." 
 
 SECTIOK III. As a Christian minister, consider the 
 close connection between theological study and pulpit do- . 
 quence. *~^ 
 
 A writer in the Theological Review has very justly 
 said, that " as the greatest masters of ancient elo- 
 quence laid its foundation in a thorough study of the 
 civil law, so must the foundation of pulpit eloquence 
 be laid in a thorough knowledge of the Bible. De- 
 mosthenes had never rendered his eloquence more 
 potent than the arms of Philip, had he not constantly 
 attended the lectures of Plato. The name of Cicero 
 had never been identified with that of eloquence it- 
 self, had it not been for the walks of the academy ; 
 nor can any one attain to great pulpit eloquence, 
 who is not capable of joining to the truths of inspired 
 writ the deepest results of unassisted reason ; when 
 enlarged and varied study has not endowed with an 
 affluence of ideas, and an elevation of sentiment, 
 equally with the ready command of appropriate dic- 
 tion." If we consider that the true office of the
 
 126 MENTAL DISCIPLINE. 
 
 sacred orator is to enlighten as well as to pcrsuadt to 
 impart the knowledge of the prc>undest and most 
 momentous truths as well as to aix/use the energies 
 of the soul to action, we shall rot fail to discover 
 thai a close and intimate relationship exists between 
 theological study and pulpit eloquence. 
 
 This subject is so fully and so clearly discussed in 
 .in essay by Professor Parke, that we cannot do 
 better than present a summary of his arguments. 
 He begins by showing the important service which 
 theology renders to other sciences and other arts, 
 and from these premises concludes, " it must be pre- 
 eminently serviceable to the science and the art of 
 pulpit eloquence ; and the preacher must feel that 
 his success in preaching depends not on his graces 
 of delivery, or his beauties of style, so much as on 
 his enlarged and familiar acquaintance with the 
 principles of religion. 
 
 " 1. Theological study conduces to the preacher's 
 eloquence, because it conduces to his greatest vigor 
 of mind and heart If the mind is strengthened by 
 exercise, it must be strengthened by exercise on 
 themes of theology as ranch as on other themes. If 
 it is invigorated by grappling with intricacies and 
 abstrusities, it certainly CUD fiirl no science so health- 
 ful, as that which must, from its very nature, tax and 
 task the whole soul. The mathematics will yield to 
 theology in their tendency to discipline the intellect. 
 A distinguished barrister of our day, who has but 
 little faith in evangelical doctrines, recommends to 
 his law-students the frequent perusal of the volume*
 
 COMMUNICATION OF KNOWLEDGE. 127 
 
 which discuss those doctrines ; because nowhore else 
 can be found such invigorating argument on such 
 elevating theories. Indeed, the very allusion to the 
 ideas of God, eternity, holiness, is sufficient to show 
 that whoever comes into contact with them must be 
 intellectually quickened and expanded. If intellect- 
 ually, still more so morally. Religious affections, 
 not less than any other, are strengthened by exer- 
 cise ; and these affections are exercised only upon 
 themes directly or indirectly theological. He who 
 communes with the truth of God, employs the means 
 of spiritual growth. This truth has a singular and 
 varied use ; it is the soul's sunshine and aliment, its 
 rain and dew, and also its shelter and resting-place. 
 Spiritual enlargement results from no study as it 
 does from the study of pulpit addresses, and it results 
 not from the rhetoric of these addresses, but from the 
 theology of them. 
 
 " The vigor of mind and heart which is gained 
 from doctrinal investigation, is the mainspring of 
 effective preaching. The eloquence of the pulpit is 
 the eloquence of thought. A feeble mind can no 
 more wield this thought than the stripling shepherd 
 could wield the armor of Saul. Warmth of emotion 
 in the pulpit will not diffuse itself through the pews, 
 unless the great object of that emotion be distinctly 
 and vividly exhibited, and the preacher cannot ex- 
 hibit what he does not fully possess. He cannot 
 write with interest and zeal, nor can he with earnest- 
 ness and energy deliver what he has written, unless 
 he understand and feel the great bearings of his
 
 128 MENTAL DISCIPLINE. 
 
 theme. He may goad up his animal susceptibilities 
 to an intense excitement, he may sew the air, and 
 distort his visage, and beat the pulpit cushion, and 
 stamp his foot, and thunder with his voice, but this 
 is not the animation which hearers wish or want 
 Nothing but deep study ran impart the true, sober 
 energy, the considerate, reasonable excitement, 
 which, wherever seen, is power. The speaker may 
 practice before his mirror, and learn to raise his hand 
 gracefully, and explode vowels forcibly, but without 
 intense thought on the matter of his discourses, all 
 the rules in the world will never make him eloquent, 
 and with this intense thought awakening emotion, he 
 will be eloquent without a single other rule. Other 
 rules are useful, they make the body. This rule is 
 essential, it makes the soul. The soul will live with- 
 out the body, the body is putrefaction without the 
 soul. 
 
 " 2. Theological study increases the eloquence of 
 the preacher, because it gives him proper confidence 
 in himself and his ministrations. 
 
 " There is something in the very nature of theolo- 
 gical truth which gives confidence to the preacher. 
 It opens, enlarges, and vivifies the mind. There i? 
 a clearness in truth, a directness, and a freshness in 
 it, which strangely disinthralls the spirit, and givos 
 free, full scope. Truth favors freedom, freedom of 
 thought, freedom of speech, freedom of act. Re- 
 vealed by the same God who made the soul and all 
 the laws of the soul, it harmonizes with these laws, 
 moves along with them easily and happily, and jars
 
 COMMUNICATION OF KNOWLEDGE. 129 
 
 with the mind only when the mind puts constraint 
 upon itself and jars with its own principles. 
 
 " Point to any man who, in his preaching, is fet- 
 tered with doubts, trammeled with consciousness of 
 impotency, moves with halting step, utters his doc- 
 trine in long periphrases, and explains about it and 
 about it, and, as well he might, bespeaks pity for it, 
 and never thrusts it home with energy and courage 
 upon the conscience and the heart ; and I strongly 
 suspect the man does not understand the gospel. 
 ' You shall know the truth,' says Jesus, ' and the 
 truth shall make you free ;' and ' where the Spirit of 
 the Lord is,' says Paul, 'there is liberty.' I love 
 to see the preacher deeply imbued with the im- 
 pression that lie is a moral being, and his hearers 
 are moral beings, and that he must aim at moral 
 effects by moral means, that he has something to 
 do, and his hearers have something to do, and that 
 they must do their duty immediately, and he must do 
 his duty fearlessly ; for this impression is in harmony 
 with actual fact, and he who makes this impression 
 a part of his soul ' shall be free indeed.' But no 
 minister will speak with that confidence which is 
 neither too great nor too small, but just right, unless 
 he have the mastery of his subject. 
 
 " 3. There is a third mode in which the minister 
 improves his eloquence, by extensive theological in- 
 vestigation ; he acquires by it the respect and confi- 
 dence of his people. A bishop, says Paul, 'must 
 have a good report of those who are without ;' and 
 an orator, says Cicero, must be confided in as a good 
 9
 
 130 MENTAL DISCIPLINE. 
 
 man, or his oration will exert but diminished influ- 
 ence. The preacher must make objective as well as 
 subjective preparations, for the most finished sermon 
 will fall upon an unprepared audience as Priam's 
 spear upon the buckler of Neoptolemus. It is a wise 
 remark of Hooker, ' Let Phidas have rude and ob- 
 stinate stuff to carve, though this art do that it 
 should, his work will lack that beauty which other- 
 wise in fitter matter it might have had. He that 
 striketh on an instrument with skill may cause, not- 
 withstanding, a very unpleasant sound, if the string 
 whereon he striketh chance to be incapable of har- 
 mony.' When an audience depreciate their minis- 
 ister's ability to instruct them, their very prejudice 
 will convert his eloquence into inanity ; and more- 
 over, he will find it beyond his power to attain such 
 eloquence before hearers who turn the cold shoulder 
 to the pulpit as before those who turn the eager eye 
 and open breast. 
 
 " If, therefore, the preacher aim at efficiency in the 
 pulpit, he must divert the power of popular prejudice 
 to his own favor, as the skillful pilot watches wind 
 and tide, so as to be wafted along by the same ele- 
 ments that would otherwise resist him. The preacher 
 must appear to be pious and intelligent ; and the 
 only way of appearing so, is to be so. The bare be- 
 lief that a preacher has no excellence but tb-'it of 
 elocution, and no grace but that of attitude, will 
 soon degrade his authority, while the bare belief thai 
 he is a consummate theologian will invest his te^ch 
 ings with commanding importance.
 
 COMMUNICATION OF KNOWLEDGE. 131 
 
 " 4. Theological study is important for the preach- 
 er's eloquence, because it secures to his ministrations 
 appropriateness and varietj. Appropriateness de- 
 pends upon variety ; for the wants of the soul are 
 varied, and sermons adjusted to these wants must 
 lie correspondently varied. Not only must divers 
 characters be diversely treated, but the same indi- 
 vidual must have different susceptibilities appealed to, 
 different emotions excited, so that the entire soul 
 may be edified. By various instruction he will be 
 trained not a Christian monster, but a Christian 
 man. Is it not a law of intellectual education to ex- 
 ercise all the faculties ? So it is the law of moral 
 education to exercise all the graces ; and they cannot 
 all be exercised by one style of preaching, more than 
 nil the mental faculties by one subject of study. 
 ' Dieteticians tell us that we must have variety in 
 our food, or lose vigor of body, and that those tribes 
 that confine their diet to a single article, however 
 nutritious it may be, are stunted and short-lived. 
 What must be the state then of the spiritual system 
 which is fed from some pulpits, sabbath after sab- 
 bath, year after year, by one and the same kind of 
 nutriment ? It will be thought so, but it will not be 
 extravagant to say, that there are ministers who dis- 
 co urse nearly fifty sabbaths of the year on only two 
 or three subjects. AVhatever their text, whatever 
 their introduction, whatever their purpose, they slide 
 into the same hackneyed strain. Their minds have 
 worn a channel and flow into it naturally and of 
 course. Not that they always use the same words,
 
 132 MENTAL DISCIPLINE. 
 
 or adopt the same plan, but the whole genius of their 
 sermons is the same, and losing the individual cha- 
 racteristic of every doctrine, they merge it into one 
 tiresome generality. A late president of a college 
 in New-England, said that he sat seventeen yearg 
 under a very pious preacher, yet heard from him 
 only four sermons, one thanksgiving sermon, one fast 
 sermon, one funeral sermon, and one general ser- 
 mon.' The force of the above argument will be 
 more fully seen, when it is remembered that the 
 preacher is subjected to regular hebdomadel drafts 
 upon his intellectual stores. To speak fluently, elo- 
 quently, effectively, upon some special occasion, and 
 on some set subject, requires not half so high an 
 order of talent, or half the fund of knowledge, as to 
 discourse eloquently and effectively at stated and 
 oft-repeated periods to the same congregation ; and 
 that too, on topics with whose general outline and 
 bearings most of the audience are familiar. 
 
 " 5. Theological study is essential to sacred elo- 
 quence, because it discloses the precise truths which 
 are fitted to renovate the heart. Tuith is God's: 
 the soul is God's. One being made for the other, is 
 adapted to it. as the tenon to the mortice. The sur- 
 geon may as well overlook the difference between a 
 scalpel and a forceps, as a preacher overlook the 
 distinction between doctrines, every one of which 
 is an instrument aptly and beautifully shaped for 
 a special purpose ; and if the surgeon should use 
 the saw when he ought to use the lance, he would 
 operate less harmfully than the preacher who apphV?
 
 COMMUNICATION OF KNOWLEDGE. 133 
 
 one doctrine when lie ought to apply another. If 
 God requires us to use the hammer, we should not 
 use the fire instead thereof ; and if he requires us to 
 minister the oil of consolation, we should not, in lieu 
 thereof, administer the wormwood of reproof. ' It is 
 the truth which the Spirit blesses the truth as it is ; 
 not half the truth, not the whole truth with some ad- 
 ditions, not maimed and distorted truth, not truth 
 which is involved in doubt and may after all per- 
 haps be proved a lie ; but clear, plain, prominent 
 truth. This it is which, because it harmonizes with 
 the commanding sentiments of our moral nature, is 
 harmonized with by the Spirit in renovating that 
 nature ; for the Spirit is a God of harmony, and em- 
 ploys no instruments which are not congenial with 
 the feelings of the operator, and the nature of the 
 agent operated upon. It is this truth, and only this, 
 which the minister is commissioned to unfold. If ho 
 w T ould unfold it, he must study it ; for, save in an 
 age of miracles, how knoweth any man letters, hav- 
 ing never learned ? If he do not study it, he may 
 speak with eloquence indeed, but can never preach 
 with sacred eloquence ; for to speak is not to preach; 
 and it is not mere eloquence, but sacred eloquence, 
 which is adapted to secure the great effect of preach- 
 ing on the heart of man. 
 
 " No other luminary than that which God has 
 made can enlighten the earth; no other doctrine 
 than that which God has revealed can meliorate the 
 heart. It is then almost a truism to say that lie who 
 would eloquently persuade men to godliness, must
 
 134 MENTAL DISCIPLINE. 
 
 make his eloquence a vivid presentation of the great 
 motives to godliness, and, as these motives are all 
 involved in divine truth, he may, without under- 
 standing that truth, write elegantly and speak grace- 
 fully, but what he writes will be no sermon, and his 
 speaking will be a declamatory profanation of the 
 pulpit, which is not the orator's, but ' the preachers 
 throne," and should exhibit nothing but the life and 
 life-giving spirit of evangelical doctrine. 
 
 " 6. I remark, in the last place, that sacred elo- 
 quence depends essentially on theological study, be- 
 cause this study discloses the essential truths which 
 glorify God. The preacher is commanded to declare 
 all the doctrines of the gospel, to declare them vari- 
 ously, explicitly, thoroughly ; and he who obeys this 
 command honors not only the government, but also 
 the character, of Jehovah. To represent the divine 
 excellences so that they may be apprehended is the 
 sacred eloquence of thought ; so that they shall be 
 loved is the sacred eloquence of feeling; for, if the 
 heathen's remark be true, that to know God is to 
 glorify him, then to make him known is to glorify 
 him more extensively ; and if to make him known 
 be glorious to him, to make him loved is still more 
 glorious. 
 
 " Whether an audience adore or despise the cha- 
 racter of Jehovah, their very apprehension of the 
 character will eventually honor it ; and their con- 
 tempt even will illustrate the boundlessness of his 
 mercy, or the purity of his justice. It is a thought 
 which may always add solemnity to the preacher's
 
 COMMUNICATION OF KNOWLEDGE. 135 
 
 emotion, and energy to his eloquence, that when he 
 portrays the divine attributes, his words, if they be 
 understood, shall not one of them be lost, but shall 
 for ever elicit new praise to Him who maketh even 
 sir the occasion of new and honorable developments. 
 It this thought be impressive, there is another still 
 more animating to the faithful preacher, that by his 
 vivid delineations of the Divinity, he may multiply 
 copies of that infinite perfection ; and by transfusing 
 the divine image, may call forth the glory which 
 comes not barely from the knowledge, but also from 
 the love and resemblance of God. 
 
 " A minister need not, in these days, be afraid of 
 study. He cannot know too much of truth. He 
 must remember that all sacred rhetoric is but a new 
 arrangement of the materials of theology, and in 
 proportion to the abundance of his materials may be 
 the felicity of his selection. In vain will he labor to 
 polish his discourses, unless he have given them the 
 firm, solid contexture, which is derived from sacred 
 science. Disintegrated sandstone cannot be polish- 
 ed. In vain will he hope to elevate the minds of his 
 hearers by fervent appeal, unless he himself be borne 
 aloft by his subject, his whole subject, and nothing 
 but his subject; unless, I say, his subject raise him, 
 and he be relieved from forcing his own progress 
 upward, like a bird of prey, dragging his subject 
 along with him. In vain will he decorate his style 
 with tropes, when his doctrine, like a poor, stray 
 child, is lost amid a forest of similes. A neat shroud 
 is very neat, and a white fillet is very white ; but a
 
 136 MENTAL DISCIPLINE. 
 
 carcass is still a carcass notwithstanding the shroud, 
 and the vacant face is still vacant notwithstanding 
 the fillet In vain will he strive to impart a be- 
 coming energy to his sermons, unless he have that 
 tmthusiasm which nothing but sacred study can in- 
 spire ; an enthusiasm which is nothing but another 
 name for fervent love of truth, and which is more 
 essential for a preacher than even secular enthusi- 
 asm for a secular orator. 
 
 " Sacred eloquence, then, which is the power of 
 speaking so as to glorify God, is the power of speak- 
 ing well on all the truths of God, and particularly 
 on those attributes which in themselves make up his 
 essential, and, in their exhibition, his declarative 
 glory. As the sacred is the top-stone of all elo- 
 quence, so it ultimately rests on the broadest of all 
 bases, a complete theological science." 
 
 SECTION IV. Let t/ie dignity and importance of your 
 profession deeply impress your mind, and lead you to set be- 
 Jore yourself a high standard of ministerial attainment. 
 
 No other profession contemplates the accomplish- 
 ment of a work so momentous ; no other affords so 
 wide a scope for the exercise of high intellectual en- 
 dowments ; no other presents such high and enduring 
 motives to exertion ; and no other contemplates, in 
 so wide and extended a sense, the well-being of man. 
 He whose mind is not deeply impressed with the 
 dignity and the importance of the work to which he 
 is called, is unworthy of it. And especially, when 
 we consider that ministerial qualifications are inti-
 
 COMMUNICATION OF KNOWLEDGE. 137 
 
 mately connected with ministerial usefulness, we 
 shall riot want for high and powerful motives to sti- 
 mulate us to their attainment " Study to show thy- 
 self approved unto God, a workman that needeth 
 not to be ashamed," was the direction of the vener- 
 able apostle to his son in the gospel. The same 
 apostle bids us " covet earnestly the best gift?." 
 There is also a necessity for a high order of talents, 
 that a man may fulfill the important duties of the 
 ministerial office. It is not merely to be able to 
 stand in the desk and wear away an hour in miscel- 
 laneous harangue, but to grapple with profound truth, 
 and throw upon it the sun-light radiance of deep 
 and thorough investigation ; it is to grapple with dif- 
 ficulties and not only overcome them ourselves, but 
 to assist others to do the same ; it is to thread the in- 
 tricacies of theological science, and open its store- 
 house, that starving minds may be fed with living 
 aliment. 
 
 There is something in the persevering efforts of 
 Demosthenes and Cicero, to reach that summit of 
 eloquence they had prescribed to themselves, which 
 challenges our admiration. But how much higher 
 must be that glow of admiration could we see equal 
 exertions put forth for the attainment of that divine 
 eloquence that should adorn the pulpit, and give effi- 
 ciency to its ministrations ? It will not be dero- 
 gating from the nature of their office, nor from the 
 efficient agency of the Holy Spirit in quickening 
 the truth, to say that not only Whitefield, but also 
 John Wesley, the distinguished founder of Metho-
 
 133 AIENTAL DISCIPLINE. 
 
 dism, were not a little indebted to their thorough 
 knowledge and careful observance of the principles 
 of sacred eloquence, for the astonishing effects of 
 their preaching. He that disregards means will fail 
 of results. It is as true in respect to the attainments 
 befitting the Christian ministry, as in regard to any 
 other pursuit, that " he who aims at the stars, though 
 he may not reach them, will shoot higher than he 
 who elevates not his aim at all." The sculptor con- 
 ceives his beau ideal, and then aims to equal it. The 
 real statue may not equal the ideal, but it wil/ pos- 
 sess a degree of perfection that would never have 
 been reached, had not the ideal existed. So would 
 we say to the student in the sacred office, " Set be- 
 fore you a high standard of ministerial attainment ;" 
 let effort to reach that standard be put forth, and, 
 even though you should fail to reach it, your labor 
 will not be lost I remember somewhere reading the 
 description of a picture representing a man at the 
 base of a huge mountain, with his hat and coat thrown 
 upon the ground, delving into the sides of the moun- 
 tain with a pick-ax, while just above him was the 
 motto, " Little by little." Let this be the device of 
 him who would excel as a minister of Jesus Christ. 
 Slowly and amidst many discouragements may the 
 fabric rise, but its fair proportions will at length 
 shine forth in the " workman that needeth not to be 
 ashamed." 
 
 This leads us to remark that mental improvement 
 is of slow acquisition, and that mind can mature 
 only by its own activity. However successful the
 
 COMMUNICATION OF KNOWLEDGE. 139 
 
 quack may be in imparting a knowledge of his science 
 or art in " twelve lessons," no twelve lesson system 
 can enlarge and discipline the powers of the. mind, 
 or store the understanding with varied, profound, 
 and useful knowledge. Mr. Rollin, in his Belles 
 Lettres, makes a quaint comparison between impart- 
 ing knowledge to the mind, and pouring water into 
 a narrow-necked bottle : " If we are in a hurry, we 
 shall spill the liquor and defeat our purpose, but if 
 we pour a constant and gentle stream, we shall per- 
 fectly succeed." " They must needs move slowly," 
 says Dr. Skinner, " who would move surely and suc- 
 cessfully up the hill of knowledge ; it cannot be 
 ascended in a day, or a month, or a year. Haste 
 does only harm; things must have their natural 
 course, and they who cannot wait, should cease all 
 expectation, and all hope, and betake themselves to 
 some other pursuit. I wish I could write upon every 
 student's heart that beautiful saying of ancient wis- 
 dom, ' Truth is the daughter of Time.' How many 
 hurry through books and systems, as if rapidity in 
 growth and mental discipline were the same thing ! 
 Not such as these become mighty in intellectual 
 power; this is the attainment of those sons of patience, 
 who pause a year, it may be, on a volume or a theory, 
 before they can exactly pronounce concerning it 
 They pause for reflection, and while they pause, life 
 springs up within them with new strength ; their 
 minds grow apace ; they extend their views ; they 
 see the wide and ever-enlarsjing relations of things, 
 and thus do they become more instructed by con-
 
 I 10 MENTAL DISCIPLINE. 
 
 firmed reflection on one book or page, than the othei 
 class of students by the reading of a lifetime. The 
 human mind does not otherwise advance than by the 
 exertion of its own living power. Things exterior 
 to itself may favor its growth, but cannot make it 
 grow. Converse with books, and lectures, and 
 schools, will not suffice. Knowledge cannot be read 
 into it, or lectured into it, or introduced into it, in 
 any other way, except as the mind itself draws it in 
 and digests it by its own patient thought and reflec- 
 tion." He that would excel, then, must be willing 
 to labor for excellence. Would he remove the 
 mountain obstacles before him, like Luther, he must 
 " do a little every day." Would he attain to com- 
 prehensive, varied, and profound wisdom, like Adam 
 Clarke, he must " intermeddle with all knowledge." 
 Would he acquire the highest standard of sacred 
 eloquence, like Whitefield, he must not tire over 
 even " thirty or forty repetitions " of his discourse. 
 And having secured all these attainments, would he 
 bend them to the great end of their endowment, like 
 Wesley, he must learn the art of being always in a 
 imrry but never hurried, or of so allotting and occu- 
 pying his time as " never to lose a moment." With 
 an ordinary share of natural endowments, unity of 
 purpose, combined with industry and perseverance, 
 will lead to the attainment of abilities and the accom- 
 plishment of objects of no ordinary character and 
 magnitude.
 
 COMMUNICATION OF KNOWLEDGE. 141 
 
 SECTION V. Let the duties of your profession be the ib- 
 sorbing topics of your study and interest. 
 
 Those who have been eminently successful in the 
 learned professions, or in the cultivation of science, 
 have felt a strength of attachment, and been led on 
 by an ardor of pursuit, that seemed almost exclusive. 
 This exclusive devotion is in many instances the 
 great secret of professional success. Dr. Brewster, 
 than whom few are more competent to judge, attri- 
 butes that extraordinary sagacity and success that 
 were characteristic of Newton, mainly to this cause. 
 " The flower of his youth and the vigor of his man- 
 hood were entirely devoted to science. No inju- 
 dicious guardian controlled his ruling passion, and 
 no ungenial studies or professional toils interrupted 
 the continuity of his pursuits. His discoveries were, 
 therefore, the fruits of persevering and unbroken 
 study, and he himself declared, that whatever ser- 
 vice he had done to the public, was not owing to 
 any extraordinary sagacity, but solely to industry 
 and patient thought." " No man," says Robert Hall, 
 " ever excelled in a profession to which he did not 
 feel an attachment bordering on enthusiasm, though 
 what in other professions is enthusiasm, is, in ours, 
 the dictate of sobriety and truth." 
 
 This oneness of purpose and pursuit keeps the 
 mind always alive to the subject, and always on the 
 alert for new acquisitions. Says Professor Ware, as 
 quoted by Mr. Sturtevant, " He that would become
 
 142 MENTAL DISCIPLINE. 
 
 eminent in any pursuit, must make it the primary 
 and almost exclusive object of his attention. It 
 must never be long absent from his thoughts, and he 
 must be contriving how to promote it in everything 
 he undertakes. It is thus that the miser accumu- 
 lates, by making the most trifling occurrences the 
 occasions of gain ; and thus the ambitious man is on 
 the alert to forward his purposes of advancement by 
 little events which another would pass unobserved." 
 Thus must he that would excel in the execution of 
 his divine commission, lay everything under contri- 
 bution to the one great object. Does the mind 
 wander forth in quest of other and varied know- 
 ledge ? it must be only to return and deposit its 
 treasures within the consecrated circle of his profes- 
 sion. All his attainments, whether in science, litera- 
 ture, or theology, must be made tributary to the one 
 grand and absorbing object of his life. 
 
 No one man can learn everything, and if any one 
 shall attempt it, he will not only fail, but will neglect 
 to learn many things that will be of special import- 
 ance to him. Hence a selection must be made, the 
 area of research must be denned and its boundaries 
 fixed. " It is not necessary," says Erasmus, " that a 
 future preacher should waste his energies, and spend 
 a life which is brief and fleeting, on every kind of 
 subjects ; even though he should attain to a good old 
 age, which is a blessing conceded to but few persons. 
 But let him first and principally learn those things 
 which are best adapted to the functions of a preach
 
 COMMUNICATION OF KNOWLEDGE. 143 
 
 er."* When we affirm, then, that the Christian 
 minister should be a man of one book homo unius 
 librivfe mean, not that he should not look into, nor 
 study any other book save the Bible, but that all his 
 studies shall be made to tend to the one object, and 
 terminate in the one direction. 
 
 We use the term in the same sense in -which Paul 
 exhorts Timothy, " Give thyself wholly to them." Mr. 
 Scott remarks upon this passage : " I remember that 
 Demosthenes somewhere uses the same or an entirely 
 similar expression concerning himself and his appli- 
 cation to public affairs; he was always the states- 
 man ; his time, his talents, his heart, his all, were 
 swallowed up, as it were, in this one object. And 
 in fact no man ever became very eminent in any 
 line when this was not his plan. It is noted by some 
 writer concerning Bonaparte, that he never went to 
 any town or city, or country new to him, but imme- 
 diately he was examining and considering where 
 would be the best place for a castle or a camp, for 
 an ambushment or an attack, for the means of de- 
 fense or annoyance. Pie thus, in his line, entered 
 into the spirit of the clause fa raroif la-d-i always the 
 general. Our Lord says of himself, My meat is to do 
 the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work, 
 and his whole time and soul were engaged in it. 
 
 * Non est necesse ut futurus ecclesiastes in quibuslibet consu- 
 mat operam, atque eetatem qus fugax est ac brevis, etiamsi con- 
 tingat senectus, quae non ita mnltis concessa est : sed ea primum 
 ac potissimum discat, quae ad docendi rnunus sunt accommodatii 
 tuna. I)e Arle Concionandi.
 
 144 MENTAL DISCIPLINE. 
 
 The apostles say, We will give ourselves continually 
 to prayer and to the ministry of the word" thus anti- 
 cipating and giving practical exemplification of the 
 injunction of Paul. In fact, the apostle himself 
 afforded probably the highest exemplification of his 
 own precept that the world has ever witnessed. All 
 the treasures of his knowledge, all the noble and 
 transcendent powers of his gifted mind, and all the 
 energies and the pathos of that divine eloquence 
 that glowed in his breast, \vere consecrated to the 
 mighty objects of his ministry. In the language of 
 Erskine, " Love to Christ set in motion all his springs 
 of action, and made him fly like a flaming seraph, 
 from pole to pole, to proclaim the ineffable glories 
 of the Son of God, and to offer his inestimable bene- 
 fits to the sons of men." The apostle, we may fairly 
 presume, did not exhort his disciples to " give atten- 
 tion to study " without studying himself, nor incite 
 others to " covet earnestly the best gifts," without 
 coveting them earnestly for himself, and endeavor- 
 ing to acquire them. So must do the Christian 
 minister, if he would succeed in his holy calling. 
 He must be thoroughly impregnated with the spirit 
 of his profession ; all his aims must centre in it and 
 its ends; all his acquisitions must be made ^ributary 
 to the one purpose. To inspire this ardor within 
 him, motives higher than ever nerved the soul of 
 Demosthenes, or sweetened the toil of Cicero, are 
 laid before him the salvation of men and the favoi 
 of God, They were incited by the desire of tem- 
 porary good and passing honors, while the pulpit
 
 COMMUNICATION OF KNOWLEDGE. 145 
 
 orator leaves the impress of his eloquence upon the 
 unfolding scroll of eternal ages, and gathers for himself 
 laurels to which new lustre shall be perpetually added. 
 
 SECTION VI. Let ilie. vigorous prosecution of study ac- 
 company the discharge of public official duties. 
 
 Nothing short of this will enable the Christian min- 
 ister to preach to the continued edification of his 
 hearers. He must continue to replenish his intel- 
 lectual storehouse, must fill up as well as draw oflF. 
 " If the cask be full," said the good old Dr. Bellamy, 
 " tap it when you will, and the liquid will run off 
 with a full and steady stream." But barrenness of 
 thought is not the only evil that will result from a 
 neglect of this duty. By a great law of our nature, 
 the intellect acquires sluggishness and imbecility from 
 inaction ; and thus becomes enfeebled in its strength, 
 as well as impoverished in its resources. 
 
 " The importance of unwearied assiduity in a 
 course of mental improvement, is evinced by the 
 contrast observable between different classes of min- 
 isters. From the observations and inquiries I have 
 made in reference to the plans pursued by young 
 ministers after terminating their carreer, I liavo 
 been disposed to regard them m. forming two dis- 
 tinct classes, the one class consisting of those who r 
 by a course of mental discipline, are making every 
 year progressive and obvious advances in their qua- 
 lifications for public usefulness ; the other class con- 
 sisting of those who, year after year, exhibit the same 
 unvarj ing complexion of intellectual character, with- 
 10
 
 146 MENTAL DISCIPLINE. 
 
 out any perceptible progress in comprehension of 
 mind, power of thought, or extension of knowledge. 
 Their resources appear to be exhausted, their ser- 
 mons, instead of presenting to their hearers ' things 
 new and old,' reiterate ideas, perfectly familiar, in 
 forms of expression which may be almost anticipated. 
 It is scarcely necessary to add, that under such min- 
 istrations but little interest is excited, but little im- 
 pression is produced. Indolence on the part of the 
 minister produces torpor on the part of the hearers ; 
 or if on their part stronger feelings are excited, they 
 are emotions of painful regret and growing dissatis- 
 faction. 
 
 " On the other hand, the diligent student, guided 
 by the noblest principles, and impelled by the 
 strongest motives, is constantly adding to his stores 
 of knowledge, and his facilities for the discharge of 
 his professional duties. If his direct preparation for 
 the pulpit, rendered easier by the power of habit 
 and the augmentation of his materials of thought, 
 demand a less proportion of his time, he by no means 
 contracts within narrower limits the efforts of his 
 mind, but delights in the opportunity afforded for 
 accumulation of the most important knowledge. By 
 diligently pursuing this course, he must be neces- 
 sarily increasing his ministerial qualifications, and 
 rising in the estimation of the people of his charge." 
 
 How extensive soever may have been your course 
 of study preparatory to your entering upon the min- 
 istry, and however diligently and faithfully you may 
 have prosecuted that course, you have by no mean
 
 COMMUNICATION OF KNOWLEDGE. 117 
 
 * finished your studies," if you would do justice to 
 yo irself and to your profession. " The foundation 
 only is laid the superstructure you have yet to 
 /ear. Only the elements of knowledge have you 
 at present attained. Let these first principles sti- 
 mulate, not satisfy, your desire of knowledge. Let 
 them guide, not limit, your researches. You have in 
 some degree acquired, but you have not yet matured, 
 tlie intellectual habits essential to the due discharge 
 of the office on which you now enter. You are now 
 arrived to a critical period in the history of your 
 mind. It is now to be determined, whether, in re- 
 spect to mental energy and attainments, you are to 
 remain stationary with self-reproach and merited 
 disgrace, or to prosecute with ardor a course of un- 
 remitted application and honorable proficiency." 
 The importance of this subject will justify me in a 
 
 DIGRESSION, 
 
 CONTAINING A FEW SUGGESTIONS ON THE COURSE 
 OF STUDY WHICH IT IS ESSENTIAL THAT THE 
 CHRISTIAN MINISTER SHOULD PURSUE WITH A 
 VIEW TO MENTAL IMPROVEMENT. 
 
 I The daily study of the Holy -Scriptures is a pri- 
 mary requisition upon the Christian student. Some 
 have had access to the original tongues in which the 
 Scriptures were written, but others have not enjoyed 
 this advantage. 
 
 1. Upon the former, I would enjoin the daily read- 
 ing of the Hebrew Bible and the Greek Testament.
 
 148 MENTAL DISCIPLINE. 
 
 Though it should be but a few verses in each that 
 you read, it will keep alive your knowledge of the 
 languages which has been acquired with so much 
 toil, and also extend your knowledge of the Sirip- 
 tures, and maintain and improve your habits of 
 critical investigation. Mr. Burder thus urges this 
 course upon his students : 
 
 " Whatever may be the limits within which multi- 
 plied engagements may require this to be contracted, 
 let it be a part of the business of every day. In your 
 academic efforts, it may be presumed, you have at 
 least conquered the most formidable difficulties in 
 the acquisition of these languages. How much to 
 be lamented would it be, should you suspend your 
 application just at the point at which you are about, 
 to receive the recompense of your toilsome initiation ! 
 If you make no further progress, your past laboi 
 will be productive of but little advantage, and if you 
 neglect the frequent and habitual reading of the 
 Scriptures in the original, you will lose much of that 
 which you have already acquired. Surely you ought 
 not to be satisfied without attaining a facility in read- 
 ing the Hebrew Bible and Greek Testament ; such 
 a facility as will remove all temptations to neglect 
 the study; as will render it easy to avail yourselves 
 o< the critical labors of others ; as will authorize you 
 to place some confidence in your own opinion on 
 points on which critics and commentators disagree ; 
 and will render the perusal of the Scriptures in the 
 original sufficiently easy to be adopted with advan- 
 tage for the purpose of devotional improvement"
 
 COMMUNICATION OF KNOWLEDGE. 1 19 
 
 2. Upon the latter, I would enjoin the daily road- 
 ing and critical examination of the Scriptures in 
 connection with some approved Commentary. In- 
 deed, I would not have you circumscribe your read- 
 ing to only one Commentary, however erudite, ex- 
 rensive, and orthodox, it maybe ; but when you have 
 completed the reading of the Bible in connection 
 with one, immediately resume it in connection with 
 another, and you will find frequent occasion to col- 
 late the notes of the different commentators, and 
 diligent pursual of this course will secure to you a 
 comprehensive and profound knowledge of the Bible. 
 None but a shallow mind too shallow to make good 
 use either of a Commentary or a Bible can object 
 to the use of Biblical Commentaries. As well might 
 the lawyer object to the study of Blackstone or of 
 Story. 
 
 Again, note carefully the difficult passages in the 
 Bible, acquaint yourselves with the views of the pro- 
 foundest commentators on them, and also devote to 
 them profound reflection and research. Beware, 
 however, of forming special theories for the sake f 
 accommodating these passages, or of producing a 
 novel exposition of them. Get all the light you can, 
 and never attempt to impart to your hearers moio 
 lighi than you possess. These passages are not nu- 
 merous, and a critical examination and familiar ac- 
 quaintance with them will very much facilitate in 
 the investigation of the other Scriptures. And, 
 further, it will afford great satisfaction to the many 
 anxious inquirers for light upon these passages, if
 
 150 MENTAL DISCIPLINE. 
 
 they can ascertain how much is known, and how far 
 they may expect to understand them. 
 
 H. " A second course of reading on which I would 
 lay stress, is one of which the leading object should 
 be the extension of those branches of knowledge, for 
 which a demand is chiefly made in the exercise ;>f 
 your official functions. 
 
 " If the senator should be well versed in the his- 
 tory of his country, its constitution, and the sources 
 of national prosperity ; if the lawyer should be inti- 
 mately acquainted with the system of jurisprudence, 
 and the. enactments of the legislature; if the physi- 
 cian should be well skilled in the knowledge of dis- 
 eases and the remedies they require ; surely a min- 
 ister of religion should be equally solicitous to attain 
 an extensive and accurate acquaintance with that 
 system of truth which it is the business of his life to 
 teach and to inculcate. On a great variety of sub- 
 jects his knowledge must, of necessity, be super- 
 ficial ; but on those in which he undertakes to appear 
 in the character of a public instructor, his knowledge 
 should be accurate, if not profound. With this view, 
 the energy of his mind should be directed to the 
 study of revelation ; nor can he be deemed excusable 
 unless he avail himself, to the full extent of his means 
 and opportunity, of those aids which are so abun- 
 dantly supplied, both by ancient and modern writers. 
 A specification of the writers who especially merit 
 attention falls not within the compass of my present 
 design Suffice it to say, that those which are of 
 principal importance may be included under the
 
 COMMUNICATION OF KNOWLEDGE. 151 
 
 heads of Biblical criticism ; theology, polemical and 
 practical ; Jewish antiquities ; ecclesiastical history ; 
 and works illustrative of oriental usages and Scrip- 
 ture allusions. To these, indeed, I may justly add, 
 the study of the human mind." 
 
 History, geography, and chronology, should be 
 added to the above list, also moral and political phi- 
 losophy, belles lettres, and the natural sciences. 
 These branches will furnish a wide circle of reading 
 and study, but the labor judiciously devoted to them 
 will be amply repaid. 
 
 III. " A third course of reading should be pur- 
 sued with a view to devotional excitement, and the 
 cultivation of personal religion. 
 
 " Let it ever be remembered, that the character 
 of the Christian is not to be merged in the official 
 avocations of the minister. A solicitous regard to 
 the interests of personal piety should every day of 
 life take the lead of all other concerns. Nor can it 
 be supposed that the mind can be duly qualified for 
 the spiritual and elevated duties of the Christian 
 ministry unless the religion of the heart be culti- 
 vated with watchful care. In addition to the devo- 
 tional study of the Holy Scriptures, great advantage 
 may be derived from the habit of allotting a certain 
 limited portion of time, every day, to a course of 
 reading, for the purpose of religious improvement. 
 Some of the writings of the old divines may be read 
 with this view, with incalcuable advantage; nor is 
 any species of reading more beneficial in promoting 
 devotional excitement and professional diligence than
 
 152 MENTAL DISCIPLINE. 
 
 the biography of distinguished Christi: us, and of 
 ministers eminent for piety and usefulness." 
 
 IV. The minister should also keep himself in- 
 formed as to the history and current literature of his 
 own times. 
 
 We do not mean that the minister should enter 
 into all the petty and universal details of current 
 history; but on these subjects he should keep him- 
 self informed, and his information will, in various 
 ways, become subservient to the general objects of 
 his profession. Such information will have a ten- 
 dency to draw him from the more abstract regions 
 of recondite learning, and make him practical. Nor 
 would I impose upon the minister the task of wading 
 through the oceans of literary trash in the form 
 of novels, magazines, poetry, &c. with which the 
 solid earth is literally inundated. But he must keep 
 an eye to this, its character and influence. 
 
 Still there is great danger of passing off dissolute 
 reading for study. On this subject Mr. Burder has 
 some appropriate remarks : " Shall I render myself 
 liable to the charge of indulging unfounded and 
 illiberal suspicions, with regard to any of my bre- 
 thren, if I venture to express a fear that some allow 
 too much of their valuable time to be frittered away 
 in the perusal of miscellaneous and periodical pub- 
 lications ? These, judiciously selected, may afford 
 interesting and advantageous occupation for hours 
 of leisure and intervals of relaxation from serious 
 study ; but on these the student should not think 
 himself authorized to enter till, by hours of applica-
 
 COMMUNICATION OF KNOWLEDGE. 153 
 
 don, he has entitled himself to moments of leisure. 
 Incalculable and irretrievable will be the loss he will 
 sustain if he allow his mornings and evenings to be 
 expended in the perusal of light and ephemeral pro- 
 diu'tions. By no means would I discourage an at- 
 tention, duly limited and regulated, to the various 
 departments of polite literature. From works of 
 taste and imagination, carefully selected, the mind 
 may reap not delight only, but improvement. Poetry, 
 eloquence, and criticism, have their claims as well as 
 their attractions ; but let the student yield to their 
 attractions only in proportion to their claims, and let 
 their claims be submitted to the decision of an en- 
 lightened judgment, and a conscience feelingly 
 alive." 
 
 V. With reference to the reading of the Latin 
 and Greek classics, I would commend the remark 
 of Mr. Burder to the attention of the classical stu- 
 dent, simply remarking that in the Latin and Greek 
 classics may be found some of the finest examples 
 for illustrations, as well as some of the most beautiful 
 rhetorical figures ; but the minister of Christ must 
 be wary of "classical allusions" in the pulpit. 
 
 " The avocations of a Christian minister may re- 
 luce within narrow limits the time which can be 
 devoted to this object; but surely, if the object be 
 of sufficient importance to justify the rank which 
 these studies hold in every course of liberal and pro- 
 fessional education, they are entitled, at least, to 
 some allotment of time in the subsequent studies of 
 the Christian ministry."
 
 154 MENTAL DISCIPLINE. 
 
 DIGRESSION II. 
 
 OJ. TUE MOST PROFITABLE MANNER OF READING. 
 " Give attention to reading." 
 
 A judicious writer has remarked that " a student 
 should be as careful what books he reads, as what 
 company he keeps." The influences they exert 
 over the mind are not unlike. 
 
 Every student should procure a collection of the 
 best and most approved books, which treat upon 
 those departments of learning included in the pro- 
 fession he has chosen ; or which treat upon special 
 subjects of study to which he wishes to give atten- 
 tion. His perusal of these select authors should be 
 close, attentive, and thorough. These works should 
 be read throuc/h, and not " turned over." After 
 these books have been re#d, other books, of less 
 weight, but treating upon the same subject, may be 
 turned over, and any additional valuable suggestions 
 they may be found to contain extracted. 
 
 An indiscriminate reading of authors is often pro- 
 ductive of immense evil to a student evil in refer- 
 ence not only to economy of time, but also to mental 
 discipline and correct taste. That restless curiosity 
 which prompts the student to read every new book 
 that comes out, because it is new, and not because it 
 is worth reading, is absurd and ridiculous, and should 
 be guarded against. " There is a wide difference," 
 says Dr. Mason, " between a man of reading and a 
 man of learning. One cannot read everything; and
 
 COMMUNICATION OF KNOWLEDGE. 165 
 
 if we could, we should be never the wiser. The bad 
 would spoil the good, fill our minds with a confused 
 medley of sentiments and desires, and the end of 
 reading would be quite defeated for want of time 
 and power to practice and improve." We should as 
 soon expect that much and indiscriminate eating, 
 without exercise and digestion, would make a strong 
 man, as that much and indiscriminate reading, with- 
 out careful meditation, would make a strong mind. 
 Such a course can never make a well-read man, but 
 
 " A boorish blockhead, ignorantly read, 
 With loads of learned lumber in his head." 
 
 If after an author has been selected, and the read- 
 ing of him commenced, he is found to be common- 
 place, insipid, or trifling, lay him aside. Time 
 enough has been wasted upon him. 
 
 Of that portion of time allotted to reading, devote 
 that in which the mind is usually most vigorous and 
 intent to the more solid reading, and that which re- 
 quires greater exercise of thought and memory. 
 Lighter reading can come in at odd intervals. let 
 such reading also be done in the retirement of your 
 study, where you will be free from interruption. 
 However well disciplined the mind may be, it can 
 never prosecute its studies to the best advantage in 
 the midst of noise and confusion ; and any pretej/ce 
 to this is mere affectation. Also, the mind must be 
 composed for study, and not broken off suddenly 
 from care or excitement, and applied to it. " Never 
 pretend to study while the mind is not recovered
 
 150 MENTAL DISCIPLINE. 
 
 from a hurry of cares, or the perturbations of pas- 
 sion. Such abrupt and violent transitions is a dis- 
 cipline to which it will not easily submit, especially 
 if it has not been well managed, and long iccustom- 
 ed to it. Aurora Musis arnica, necnon vt-spcra, be- 
 causo the mind is then commonly most free and 
 disengaged." 
 
 Observe the characteristic excellences of every 
 author you read. " Every good writer," says Dr. 
 Mason, " has his peculiar felicity, his distinguishing 
 excellence. Some excel in style ; entertain us with 
 easy, natural language ; or with an elegance and 
 propriety of expression ; or delight us with their 
 florid, smooth, and well-turned periods ! Some love 
 a figurative, diffuse, and flowing style. Others, 
 quite a plain, rational, discursive one. Each have 
 their excellence. But the most elegant is that which 
 is the most natural, proper, and expressive ; it can- 
 not then be too short and plain, both to delight 
 and instruct; the two great ends of language. A 
 style overloaded with studied ornaments grows pro- 
 lix ; and prolixity always weakens or obscures the 
 sentiment it would express. Others excel in senti- 
 ments. Those sentiments strike us with pleasure 
 that are strong, or clear, or soft, or sublime, pathetic, 
 ^nst, or uncommon. Whatever has the most weight 
 a d brevity finds the quickest way to the heart. 
 Others excel in method ; in a natural disposition of 
 the subject, and an easy, free, familiar way of com- 
 municating thought to the understanding. Nothing 
 is very striking. You approve and are well pleased
 
 COMMUNICATION OF KNOWLEDGE. 157 
 
 with your author, and you scarce know for what. 
 Tliis resembles the Je ne sais quoi, tout agreeable, in 
 the very humor, turn, and air of some people we 
 converse with. Others are very happy in their 
 manner and way of conveying clear, rational, solid 
 arguments and instructions to the mind, which arrest 
 your attention, command your approbation, and 
 force your assent at once. You see everything in 
 broad day, in a fair, and strong, and proper light. 
 A perfect writer has all these excellences of style, 
 sentiment, method, and manner, united." A close 
 observance of these peculiarities will contribute not 
 a little to the understanding of the author, and the 
 advantages that result from reading him. 
 
 " From all your authors choose one or two for 
 your model, by which to form your style and senti- 
 ments ; and let them be your Euchiridia, your 
 pocket companions. Consult and imitate them every 
 day, till you are not only master of their style and 
 sentiments, but imbibe their spirit. But be very 
 cautious both in your choice and imitation, lest with 
 their excellences you adopt their faults, to which an 
 excessive veneration for them may make you blind.* 
 
 " If your author have an established reputation, 
 and you do not relish him, suspect your own taste 
 and judgment. Perhaps something has biased your 
 mind against him : find it out, and compare it wrtb 
 those beauties which charm his other readers moi'e 
 
 * Certis irigeniis imraorari et innutrisi oportet, si veils aliquid 
 altiul-sre quod in anirno fideliter redeat probates itaque sempei 
 Jege, ot siquando ad alios divertere libuerit, ad priores redi. Sen 
 Kf i.
 
 ]58 MENTAL DISCIPLINE. 
 
 than all his blemishes offend them." "We should bo 
 lenient in our judgment, as Horace says be would 
 be to the slight offenses in a poem, otherwise excel- 
 lent* The more familiar you become with such an 
 author, the more highly will you prize his excel- 
 lences, and the less inclined to be censorious toward 
 his faults. There is reason and philosophy in the 
 decies repetita placebunt of Juvenal. 
 
 " Before you sit down to a book, taste it, that is, 
 examine the titlepage, preface, contents, and index ; 
 then turn to the place where some important article 
 is discussed, observe the writer's diction, argument, 
 method, and manner of treating it. If, after two or 
 three such trials, you find he is obscure, confused, 
 pedantic, shallow, or trifling, depend upon it he is 
 not worth your reading. 
 
 " Also make marks at the margin of your books 
 against those passages where the sentiment is well 
 conceived, or well expressed, and worth your re- 
 membering or retailing ; or transfer it into your 
 common-place book, under the head your author is 
 treating of; or at least a reference to it." If you 
 rely wholly on the memory for the retention of these 
 literary gems, many of them will be lost entirely, 
 and others only imperfectly remembered. A com- 
 mon-place book is almost indispensable to him who 
 would have at command a large fund of varied and 
 valuable knowledge. 
 
 * Vertim ubi plura nitent in carmine, non ego paucis 
 Offendar maculis, quas aut incuria fudit, 
 Aut humana Darum cavit natura. De Arts Poetic*.
 
 COMMUNICATION OF KNOWLEDGE. 159 
 
 SECTION VII. Consider the frequent and weighty demands 
 made upon your mental resources, and endeavor to meet 
 them. 
 
 A writer in the Edinburgh Review expresses sur- 
 prise that the instances are so rare of eminent elo- 
 quence in the pulpit, and that so few of the millions 
 of sermons preached annually survive the period of 
 their delivery. But this surprise will, in a measure, 
 be abated when we consider how frequent are the 
 demands that are made upon the resources of the 
 minister ; and that their frequent recurrence is in a 
 steady and uniform flow often while the minister is 
 so harassed with interruptions, with cares and du- 
 ties of another character, that leave him time greatly 
 inadequate to a thorough preparation of his matter; 
 much less for a thorough cultivation of his manner. 
 
 The subjoined remarks of Mr. Burder do not 
 place this subject in too strong a light: "In the 
 discharge of his stated duties on the sabbath, and of 
 the frequent engagements which arise out of the ex- 
 citement of benevolent activity, in the present day, 
 how heavy are the demands upon the time, and 
 talents, and attainments, of a Christian minister! 
 With a limited degree of opportunity for prepara- 
 tion, on what a variety of subjects he has to dis- 
 course what a versatility of thought he has to dis- 
 play ! How much he needs an ample store of 
 general principles, on almost all subjects interesting 
 to the heart of man ; well-digested views of the whole 
 system of revealed truth ; familiarity with the most
 
 160 MENTAL DISCIPLINE. 
 
 important points of Biblical criticism ; and materials 
 derived from almost all the sources of human know- 
 ledge, in order to present to his hearers, rich, and 
 diversified, and interesting materials of illustration, 
 to whatever subjects he invites their regard. Surely 
 qualifications for such engagements are not to be 
 expected without extensive reading and perpetual 
 application." 
 
 M. Bruyere has remarked that " it is easier to 
 preach than to plead ; but more difficult to preach 
 well than to plead well/' A careful analysis of the 
 eloquence of the bar and of the pulpit has con- 
 vinced us of the justness of this criticism. " It is 
 easier to preach than to plead," because the preach- 
 er, with but little preparation, and little effort, may 
 consume his hour in vague generalities, and in dis- 
 course upon almost every miscellaneous topic under 
 the sun, and his congregation will give him a respect- 
 ful hearing ; but the lawyer must plead to the case 
 in hand, and will not be permitted to wander over 
 the universe of thought, for the sake of making a 
 speech. But " to preach well is more difficult." 
 The programm of the case furnishes the lawyer with 
 his brief, imbodying the outlines of his plea ; whilo 
 the minister is necessitated " to dig" for the outline, 
 order, and arrangement, of his. The lawyer will not 
 lack variety, for it is already provided in the differ- 
 ent aspects the cause has assumed, and the variety 
 of facts furnished by the witnesses ; but the preacher 
 must attain variety, as the result of his own toil. 
 The lawyer feels no division of interest in the sclec-
 
 COMMUNICATION OF KNOWLEDGE. 161 
 
 tion of his topics, and consequent distraction of mind, 
 for the case that is brought before him furnishes the 
 theme of his discourse ; while the mind of the preacher 
 often divided between the conflicting claims of dif- 
 ferent subjects. 
 
 Another and a striking characteristic difference 
 between the eloquence of the bar and that of the 
 pulpit is, that the lawyer needs only to convince ; 
 while the preacher must not only convince, but per- 
 suadf. ; the lawyer needs only to elicit truth, so that 
 it may be known ; the preacher is often, nay, for the 
 most part, obliged to discourse upon truths perfectly 
 known, in order not so much to convince the under- 
 standing as to remove the indifference of the multi- 
 tude. Again, the minister must produce a perma- 
 nent effect ; to gain a temporary assent of the reason 
 of his hearers is insufficient; a permanent conviction 
 must be produced. Not so with the advocate. 
 Does he obtain the verdict of the jury in favor of 
 his client, his object is secured. It matters not what 
 may be their opinion in the case to-morrow ; he la- 
 bors only to obtain their verdict to-day. 
 
 The sphere of the minister is to " convince and to 
 persuade ;" to adapt a discourse to this double end, 
 and execute it with success, is no easy task, ar d re- 
 quires no mean exercise of intellectual power. " To 
 give to what is old the grace of novelty ; to invest 
 admitted truth with such colors as affect the imagina- 
 tion and the heart ; to confine description to abstract 
 qualities, and yet to influence practical life, is the 
 greatest trial of human skill." When we consider 
 11
 
 162 MENTAL DISCIPLINE. 
 
 the intrinsic difficulties of the undertaking, and then 
 reflect that these demands are hebdomadally made, 
 and that the talent of eloquence, at best, is rare, 
 " the matter of surprise should be, not that we hear 
 so few eloquent sermons, but so many good ones." 
 
 SECTION* VIII. Consider tlie demands made by the diver- 
 sity of mental character in your congregations, and en- 
 deavor to meet them. 
 
 Tjplt there should be a fitness between the discourse 
 ..and the auditory, in order to the production of the 
 highest results of eloquence, or indeed in order to 
 the production of the ordinary results of discourse, 
 is obvious. This fitness must regard the style of 
 thought and expression, also the sentiments incul- 
 cated and the emotions felt with reference to them. 
 Religious assemblies generally combine almost every 
 variety and shade of moral and intellectual charac- 
 ter, hence the exceeding difficulty of suiting the dis- 
 course to each. 
 
 It is a just remark of Dr. Campbell, in his Philo- 
 sophy of Rhetoric, " That the more mixed the audi- 
 tory is, the greater is the difficulty of speaking to 
 them with effect. The preacher, therefore, has a 
 more delicate part to perform than either the pleader 
 or the senator. The auditors, though rarely so ac- 
 complished as to require the same accuracy of com- 
 position, or acuteness in reasoning, as may be ex- 
 pected in the other two, are more various in age, 
 rank, taste, inclinations, sentiments, and prejudices." 
 Then, in addition to this variety in the character of
 
 COMMUNICATION OF KNOWLEDGE. 163 
 
 the audience, there is an almost equal variety to be 
 met in the time, place, and circumstances, of the 
 audience. To meet all these conditions is one of the 
 highest efforts of the art. 
 
 The adaptation of his discourses to the assemblies 
 he addresses, and to the different classes in those 
 assemblies, should be a matter of careful study on 
 the part of the pulpit orator. " To men of different 
 castes and complexions," says Mr. Hall, " it is obvi- 
 ous, a corresponding difference in the selection 
 topics and the methods of appeal is requisite. Some 
 are only capable of digesting the first principles 
 religion, on whom it is necessary to inculcate the 
 same lessons with the reiteration of parental solici- 
 tude ; there are others of a wider grasp of compre- 
 hension, who must be indulged with an ampler varie- 
 ty, and to whom views of religion less obvious, less 
 obtrusive, and demanding a more vigorous exercise 
 of the understanding are peculiarly adapted. Some 
 are accustomed to examine every subject in a light 
 so cool, so argumentative, that they are not easily 
 impressed with anything which is not presented in 
 the garb of reasoning, nor apt, though firm believers 
 in revelation, to be strongly moved by naked asser- 
 tion from even that quarter. There are others of a 
 softer temperament, who are easily won liy tender 
 strokes of pathos. Minds of an obdurate make, 
 which have been rendered callous by long hatits of 
 vice, must be compelled and subdued by the terrors 
 of the Lord, while others are capable of being drawn 
 by the cords and ivith the hands of a man. Sc me we 
 
 m- 
 
 * 
 
 >me ^^ 
 of V.
 
 i64 MENTAL DISCIPLINE. 
 
 must save icitlt fi-nr, plucking tltem out of tltefre, on 
 others we must have compassion, making a difference. 
 You will recollect that He who spake as never mau 
 spake, mild, gentle, insinuating in his address to the 
 multitude, reserved the thunder of his denunciations 
 for sanctimonious hypocrites. In this part of our 
 ministerial function we shall do well to imitate St. 
 Paul, who became ' all things to all men that he 
 might win some,' combining, in his efforts for the 
 salvation of souls, the utmost simplicity of intention, 
 with the utmost versatility of address." 
 
 The difficulties to which we have here adverted 
 are difficulties of no common magnitude, and to 
 overcome them will require a deep insight into hu- 
 man nature, combined with no small degree of studi- 
 ous preparation. He that overlooks the subject is 
 unmindful of one of the essential elements of min- 
 isterial success and usefulness. 
 
 SECTION IX. Consider the demands made ly the in 
 of literary and si.-itnt(fic knowledge among all classes in 
 society, and endeavor to meet tin in. 
 
 Nothing but superior intelligence, combined with 
 superior piety, can secure for the Christian minister 
 that profound respect from his hearers which will 
 contribute to the weight and influence of what he 
 may say. " It is naturally expected," says Mr. 
 Burder, "that a minister should Ire superior to his 
 hearers, not only in his knowledge of the Scriptures, 
 but also in mental culture and literary attainments. 
 To secure, by a wide interval, that superiority, was
 
 COMMUNICATION OF KNOWLEDGE. 165 
 
 formerly by no means difficult for those ministers 
 who had enjoyed the advantage of a liberal educa- 
 tion. In the present day this is not so easy a task. 
 In most congregations, there are not a few who have 
 been versed in the principles of literature and sci- 
 ence, and who are qualified to detect inaccuracies 
 of thought or expression, which might formerly have 
 passed without notice. It should be deeply impress- 
 ed on the mind of every minister, when he embarks 
 on his professional course, that as the standard of in- 
 formation among all classes is perpetually rising, the 
 standard of learning and of talent among the min- 
 isters of the gospel must be raised, at least in an 
 equal degree." 
 
 Says the Rev. Daniel Smith, in a contribution to 
 the Methodist Quarterly Review, " The same qua- 
 lifications which would have enabled a minister to 
 pass very well thirty years since, will not answer for 
 these times. Institutions of learning were not then 
 multiplied as at present, and those that did exist, 
 particularly the elementary schools, did not compare 
 with those now in operation. With the improve- 
 ments already made, and those projected and in 
 progress, no inconsiderable share of science is likely 
 to be brought to every man's door. History, the 
 philosophy of language, geometry, chemistry, natural 
 philosophy, the' elements of astronomy, physiology, 
 the elements of moral and intellectual science, and 
 composition, are already taught in some of our com- 
 mon schools, and likely soon to be quite generally 
 introduced. Books on all these subjects are multi-
 
 1G6 MENTAL DISCIPLINE. 
 
 plied, and cheap. Now, no proposition in mathe- 
 matics is more demonstrable than that the ministry, 
 the public teachers of religion, must keep in advance 
 of the general intelligence of society, or lose its influ- 
 ence over the public mind. The same acquirements 
 which will pass at present, will not do twenty years 
 hence. The progress of learning in the ministry 
 must be onward, and those whom it may concern, 
 will do well to look to it, that they do not introduce 
 mere ' novices ' in learning into the sacred office." 
 
 " The minister would be justly condemned," says 
 Richard Watson, " and especially in the present 
 day, who neglects the acquisition of knowledge, and 
 who does not, as St. Paul enjoins, ' give attention to 
 reading ;' who contents himself with half-formed and 
 ill-arranged generalities ; who has no intellectual 
 stores from which to make that skillful distribution, 
 and give that varied illustration of his subjects, 
 which the different characters, states, and tastes of 
 men require ; who, though professedly a teacher of 
 religion, neither defends it by well-chosen argu- 
 ments, nor holds in his mind a just arrangement of 
 its doctrines ; and who, while in every public ser- 
 vice, places himself before the people as an ex- 
 pounder of God's word, seems not aware of the dili 
 gent application to private study which that import- 
 ant office demands, nor avails himself of the labors 
 of those eminent men who have devoted their learn- 
 ing and their spiritual discernment to elucidate the 
 Holy Scriptures."
 
 COMMUNICATION OF KNOWLEDGE. 167 
 
 SECTJON X. Connect mental improvement with your pre- 
 parations for the pulpit. 
 
 " The young preacher should by no means think it 
 sufficient to make that preparation for his appear- 
 ance in the pulpit which he supposes will be deemed 
 adequate and respectable by those who attend on 
 his ministry. To satisfy himself should be with him 
 an object of much more difficult attainment, under 
 ordinary circumstances, than to satisfy his hearers ; 
 and he should not allow himself to be satisfied, unless 
 he has so conducted his preparation of discourses, as 
 to have made some addition to his stock of valuable 
 ideas, or at least to have made some progress in the 
 cultivation of useful habits of thought and expres- 
 sion. 
 
 " There are several plans by which this improve- 
 ment may be secured, some of which I will suggest : 
 
 " (1.) Pursue, when opportunity occurs, those in- 
 quiries which may incidentally arise out of the texts 
 or the subjects which you are studying, with a view 
 to public discourses. 
 
 " Let not a spirit of indolence restrict your in- 
 quiries on any important points, because you are 
 aware that no reference to such points is necessary 
 in the discourse you may be preparing. These 
 points may have an important bearing on a variety 
 of subjects, and the investigation may tend to enrich 
 your mind by the addition of important knowledge, 
 or, at least, to preserve you from injurious prejudices 
 and mistakes. Much, very much, I conceive, of the
 
 168 MENTAL DISCIPLINE. 
 
 knowledge by which superior minds are distinguish- 
 ed, has been accumulate! by the habit now recom- 
 mended. Scarcely has any subject, especially in 
 their earlier studies, employed their thoughts, with- 
 out prompting some inquiries on points on which 
 they were impatient to acquire more correct or more 
 extensive information. Had not these wishes ex- 
 cited them to embrace the earliest opportunities of 
 investigation, that knowledge would probably never 
 have been attained. With a view to the practica- 
 bility of tliis extended and liberal plan of studying 
 discourses for the pulpit, as well as for other reasons 
 afterward to be considered, it is of great importance 
 to allow for such preparations time sufficiently ample 
 to prevent the necessity of eager and inconsiderate 
 haste, with the entire omission and neglect of all in- 
 quiries not absolutely essential to the composition of 
 the proposed discourse. 
 
 " (2.) Consult the best authors to whose works 
 you have access, who have written on the subject 
 which you propose to discuss. 
 
 "It is indeed advisable, previously to your having 
 recourse to the wealth of other minds, to make a 
 vigorous demand on the stores of your own mind; 
 but, having done this, you may with great advantage 
 have recourse to the productions of men of superior 
 intellect and attainments. This method is by no 
 means to be adopted, with a view to suspend or di- 
 minish your own intellectual labor, but, on the con- 
 trary, to secure several important advantages which 
 I will specify:
 
 COMMUNICATION OF KNOWLEDGE. 169 
 
 " It will give excitement to the mind, and rouse it 
 Jo a state of higher energy and activity. It will pre- 
 sent ample materials for thought and reflection, and 
 should the mind fix with a vigorous grasp only on 
 some one interesting thought, that single idea may 
 be the first of a train which will give a character and 
 a value to the whole discourse. It will give further 
 amplitude, richness, and vividness, to many of the 
 illustrations which your own mind might have sug- 
 gested in part, but with much less power of ex- 
 citing interest and impression. It will also serve to 
 give additional confidence in the expression of your 
 own opinion. 
 
 " (3.) Be not satisfied with selecting detached 
 texts and miscellaneous subjects, but in addition to 
 those enter on a course of expository lectures and a 
 series of connected discourses. 
 
 " The method now recommended will be at once 
 instructive to the hearers, and highly conducive tc 
 the improvement of the preacher. It will prevent 
 the wearisome and fruitless expenditure of time in 
 searching after subjects of discourse ; it will supply 
 many interesting topics which might not otherwise 
 engage the attention ; it will habituate the mind of 
 the minister of truth to investigate with diligence the 
 exact meaning of every part of Scripture which h... 
 undertakes to interpret ; and it will stimulate most 
 powerfully to vigorous thought, extensive reading, 
 and Biblical researches. 
 
 " It is possible that some preachers may hesitate 
 to adopt the plans now recommended, from the fear
 
 170 MENTAL DISCIPLINE. 
 
 of their proving unpopular and failing to excite suf- 
 Acient interest. Let the inquiry then be made, 
 Have they tried the experiment ? Have they pur- 
 sued the plan with the spirit and the application it 
 requires? Have they adopted a judicious applica- 
 tion of subjects? In expounding the Scriptures 
 have they made choice of such books or such chapters 
 as were best adapted to their own mental resources, 
 and to the circumstances of their hearers? Have 
 they been sufficiently anxious to combine instruction 
 with impression ; and while they endeavored to con- 
 vey knowledge to the understanding, has 'it been 
 also their assiduous attempt to awaken the con- 
 science and affect the heart? If these objects are 
 kept in view in the conduct of expository lectures, 
 and the discussion of connected subjects, the interest 
 excited in the minds of the hearers, instead of being 
 diminished, will be most sensibly augmented. 
 
 " (4.) Let the subjects and the texts intended for 
 the discourses of the succeeding sabbath be selected 
 early in the week. 
 
 " I envy not the preacher who can allow day after 
 day in the early part of the week to glide away, 
 without any solicitude to determine on what subjects 
 he shall address his auditory on the coming sab- 
 bath. Can he secure at the end of the week all that 
 leisure that he calculates upon all that freedom 
 from intrusion and interruption requisite to tranquil 
 continuity of thought ? Is it certain that he will ex- 
 perience no perplexity or embarrassment in effect- 
 ing a choice, when a choice can no longer be de-
 
 COMMUNICATION OF KNOWLEDGE. 171 
 
 iayed ? Is he wise in deferring his effort to select a 
 subjec t till that part of the week, when all the time 
 that remains is scarcely sufficient for the requisite 
 inquiries and reflections, even were the choice al- 
 ready determined ? Is he consulting the approba- 
 tion of his own mind, or the approbation of Him in 
 whose service he is engaged, or the good of those 
 whose edification he is anxious to promote ? Is he 
 not negligently unmindful of the benefit he might 
 derive, during the course of the week, from those 
 thoughts and feelings which, even without any direct 
 exertion, might almost spontaneously occur to his 
 mind, and become intimately associated with the 
 subject on which he was to preach, were the selec- 
 tion of that subject to precede, by a due interval, 
 the period of due preparation ?" 
 
 To the above suggestions of Mr. Burder, we ap- 
 pend the following pertinent remarks of Professor 
 Park : " It is by no means sufficient that a man in- 
 vestigate barely those parts of his subject which he 
 wishes to discuss in his sermon. He must investigate 
 all parts before he can safely conclude which to dis- 
 cuss and which to exclude. He must be able to 
 take the whole subject into his hands as a ball of 
 ivory, and turn it over and over, and present all 
 sides of it. Even if he deem a particular branch of 
 it inappropriate to the pulpit, still it must be analyzed. 
 The analysis will give impulse and acumen to his 
 mind, suggest the most suitable and eloquent collo- 
 cation of his more popular thoughts, and often ini- 
 tiate him into new fields of practical reflection.
 
 172 MENTAL DISCIPLINE. 
 
 Every part of his doctrine has its collateral parts, 
 ts dependences, its intimations ; and if he explore 
 the circumjacent ground as well as the spot on which 
 he intends to build, he will often discover a fruitful 
 spot in the very darkest corners, under the most 
 tangled shrubbery. ' Even a Russian steppe has 
 tumuli and gold ornaments ; also many a scene that 
 looks desert and rock-bound from the distance, will 
 unfold itself, when visited, into rare valleys.' Our 
 clergymen commit an injurious error when they 
 neglect and repudiate all discussion which promises 
 no immediate practical bearing. They should reflect 
 that in a great building there are rough and un- 
 sightly foundation-stones, which are not to be wholly 
 dispensed with, because they are unsuitable for a 
 place in the parlor, on the sofa, or the piano. They 
 should reflect, that in a finished picture there are 
 some colorings which will disgust, if presented in bold 
 relief, but will leave the picture still more disgusting 
 if excluded ftoin the back-ground, where, perhaps, 
 only a connoisseur will be able to explain their effect. 
 A sermon is incomplete unless its arrangement, its 
 allusions, its whole spirit, betray the author's fami- 
 liarity with the fundamental and even suppressed 
 branches of his theme." 
 
 SECTION XI. Let not your direct preparation for the pulpit 
 be superficial, but let the subject be thoroughly investigated, 
 and the thought methodically arranged. 
 
 A fluent man may pour forth a torrent of words, but, 
 unless they give expression to just thought and valu-
 
 COMMUNICATION OF KNOWLEDGE. 173 
 
 able ideas, his auditory will remind one of the 
 description of Milton : 
 
 " The hungry sheep look up, and are not fed." 
 
 No fluency of speech will make amends for poverty 
 of thought. The efforts of him who shall attempt to 
 preach, without having his mind stored with theo- 
 logical knowledge, are not unjustly characterized as, 
 
 " Dropping buckets into empty wells ; 
 And growing old in drawing nothing up." 
 
 Where there is eloquence at all, there must be the 
 eloquence ofthouc/ht, A man may bluster, and foam, 
 and rave, and stamp, and gesticulate, and scream ; 
 but these can never supply the lack of thought. 
 "The foundation of all that can be called eloquent," 
 says Blair, " is good sense and solid thought. Let it 
 be the first study of public speakers, in addressing 
 any popular assembly, to be previously master of the 
 business on which they are to speak; to be well pro- 
 vided with matter and argument; and to rest upon 
 these the chief stress."* Mere ornament can never 
 become a substitute for these substantial elements of 
 discourse, but it may often be added to advantage. 
 The public speaker, however, should be wary of 
 using that which is merely ornamental, remembering 
 that that can add no intrinsic beauty to a discourse 
 which does not at the same time contribute to its 
 strength. 
 
 * The abbe Maury also insists that " the orator must join to the 
 instruction which he has derived from his preparatory studies, an 
 intimate knowledge of the subject which he proposes to jiscuM.* 
 Principles of Eloquence, sec. V
 
 174 MENTAL DISCIPLINE. 
 
 Sometimes the whole outline and plan oi' a dis- 
 course may be almost instantly suggested in conneo* 
 tion with the text or the topic upon which the dis- 
 course is to be made. AVhen this is the case, the 
 labor of preparation will be greatly lightened, and 
 will consist, mainly, in filling up the outline already 
 sketched and in improving the plan where it may be 
 done to good effect. This is a work, hoAvever, that 
 cannot be neglected with safety. If neglected till 
 the moment of delivery, the speaker will most likely 
 be compelled to rear his edifice without cement to 
 join the stones. 
 
 When, however, which is oftener the case, no such 
 plan is suggested, the speaker is compelled to medi- 
 tate, study, and read upon the subject. In this way 
 he slowly accumulates isolated facts and thoughts, 
 which cluster without order in his mind ; and thus 
 he collects Avhat Cicero terms " a forest of ideas and 
 subjects."* These ideas and subjects are now to be 
 reduced to system, and arranged in order ; so " that 
 truth may open to the hearer, as the landscape does 
 to the traveler." " It i< here," says the abbe Mnury, 
 " where art begins. It is time to fix your nlan. 
 This is generally the part which costs much labor, 
 and which very much influences the success ol the 
 discourse Is this plan ill-conceived, ob- 
 scure, and indeterminate ? There wiil be in the 
 proofs an inevitable confusion, the subjects will not 
 be clearly distinguished, and the arguments, instead 
 of affording each other a mutual suppti-t, will inter* 
 
 * Sylva rcrum ac sententiarum comparanda *>si. De Oryt
 
 COMMUNICATION OF KNOWLEDGE. 175 
 
 fere. The more you study your plan, the greater 
 enlargement you give to your subject. Statements 
 which, at first, seemed sufficiently copious to em- 
 brace the substance of a discourse in all its extent; 
 scarcely form a subdivision fertile enough when you 
 are acquainted with the method of expanding your 
 ideas." 
 
 " In all kinds of public speaking," says Mr. Blair, 
 " nothing is of greater consequence than a proper 
 and clear method. Though the method be not laid 
 down in form, no discourse of any length should be 
 without method ; that is, everything should be found 
 in its proper place. Every one who speaks will find 
 it of the greatest advantage to himself to have pre- 
 viously arranged his thoughts, and classed under 
 proper heads, in his own mind, what he is to deliver. 
 This will assist his memory, and carry him through 
 his discourse without that confusion to which one is 
 every moment subject who has fixed no distinct plan 
 of what he has to say. 
 
 " And, in respect to the hearers, order in discourse 
 is absolutely necessary for making any proper im- 
 pression. It adds both force and light to what is 
 said. It makes them accompany the speaker easily 
 and readily as he goes along ; and makes them feel 
 
 the full effect of every argument he employs 
 
 Too much pains, therefore, cannot be employed in 
 previously studying the plan and method. If there 
 be indistinctness and disorder we can have no suc- 
 cess in convincing." 
 
 Another advantage arising from the plan is found
 
 17G MENTAL DISCIPLINE. 
 
 in its progression. "It is always necessary," says 
 the abbe Maury, " to observe a specified progression 
 in the distribution of the plan, in order to impart an 
 increasing force to the points advanced, to give 
 weight to the argument, and energy to the rhetorical 
 movements. It is as rare as it is difficult to render 
 both parts of a sermon equally excellent, because 
 the same resources seldom present themselves to the 
 imagination of the orator. The latter, however, 
 ought to excel the former. Eloquence always de- 
 clines when it ceases to rise. It is therefore 1o the 
 second branch of the division that the most per- 
 suasive arguments and pathetic sentiments ought to 
 be reserved." These principles, suggested by Maury, 
 are clearly observable in the orations of Cicero, who 
 invariably adopted a method in his orations which 
 obliged him to be " surpassing himself continually 
 by fresh efforts." 
 
 SECTIOK XII. Do not attach too much imjiortance to artifi- 
 cial rides for the preparation of a sermon. 
 
 " I would not discourage the perusal of such produc- 
 tions as the celebrated essay of Claude on the com- 
 position of a sermon; but I will take the liberty of 
 saying, that I attach to such aids only a subordinate 
 degree of importance. An able translator of that 
 essay states, in his preface, that he was induced to 
 publish it ' for the use of those studious ministers in 
 our Protestant Dissenting Churches, who have not 
 enjoyed the advantages of a regular academical 
 education.' The remark obviously implies that, iu
 
 COMMUNICATION OF KNOWLEDGE. 177 
 
 his opinion, the rules and advices which that essay 
 contains are of much less importance to those who 
 have enjoyed such advantages ; and I cannot but be 
 of the opinion, that they whose minds have been 
 disciplined, by a course of liberal studies, will derive 
 far more assistance from the guidance of general 
 principles than from any specific or artificial rules. 
 
 " Almost all the exercises of intellect which a 
 judicious plan of education prescribes, have a ten- 
 dency to train the mind to those habits of thought 
 which dictate a natural, and therefore logical, method 
 of unfolding and arranging our ideas, so as to put 
 our hearers, by a method the most direct, into full 
 possession of our sentiments. Whatever, then, is 
 adapted to induce those important habits of thought 
 tends, by most beneficial influence, to supersede the 
 necessity of artificial aid, and, at the same time, to 
 secure the additional advantage of leaving the mind 
 free from those fetters and trammels which the rules 
 of art too frequently impose. 
 
 " In the composition of sermons the exercise of 
 discriminating judgment is requisite, not only in the 
 formation, but also in the exhibition of the plan of 
 arrangement. If the general outline be not explicitly 
 stated, the hearer remains without any ph dge for 
 the judicious selection or the orderly distribution 
 of the materials of thought which belong to the sub- 
 ject, and without that excitement to fixed attention, 
 and that aid in his efforts to recollect the train of 
 thought, which the preacher should not fail to afford 
 On the other hand, if the arrangement be too formal, 
 12
 
 178 MENTAL DISCIPLINE. 
 
 or the plan too fully disclosed, other evil? are in- 
 curred." 
 
 The evils to which Mr. Burder alludes are thus 
 exhibited by Robert Hall : " In the mode of con- 
 ducting our public ministrations we are, perhaps, too 
 formal, and too mechanical ; that in the matter of 
 our sermons we indulge too little variety; and, ex- 
 posing our plan in all its parts, abate the edge of 
 curiosity, by enabling the hearer to anticipate what 
 we intend to advance. Why should that force which 
 gives to every other emotion, derived from just and 
 affecting sentiments, be banished from the pulpit, 
 when it is found of such moment in every other kind 
 of public address ? I cannot but imagine the first 
 preachers of the gospel appeared before their audi- 
 ences with a more free and unfettered air than is 
 consistent with the narrow trammels to which, in 
 these later ages, discourses from the pulpit are con- 
 signed. The sublime emotions with which they 
 were fraught would have rendered them impatient 
 of such restrictions ; nor could they suffer the im- 
 petuous stream of argument, expostulation, and 
 pathos, to be weakened, by diverting it into the 
 artificial reservoirs prepared in the heads and par- 
 ti ?ulars of a modern sermon. 
 
 " Llethod, we are aware, is an essential ingredient 
 in even* discourse designed for the instruction of 
 mankind ; but it ought never to force itself on the 
 attention as an object apart ; never appear to be an 
 end instead of an instrument ; or beget a suspicion 
 of the sentiment being introduced for the sake of
 
 COMMUNICATION OF KNOWLEDGE. 179 
 
 the method, not the method for the sake of the senti- 
 ment. Let the experiment be traced to some of 
 the best speakers of ancient eloquence ; let an ora- 
 tion of Cicero or Demosthenes be stretched on a 
 Procrustes' bed of this sort, and, if I am not greatly 
 mistaken, the flame of enthusiasm, which has ex- 
 cited admiration in all ages, will instantly evaporate ; 
 yet no one perceives a want of method in these im- 
 mortal compositions, nor can anything be conceived 
 more remote from incoherent rhapsody." 
 
 SECTION XIII. Consult the best authors who have uwritten 
 upon the subject you propose to discuss. 
 
 A distinguished philosopher, treating upon the in- 
 ventive powers of the human mind, remarked that 
 we learn to invent by becoming acquainted with the. 
 inventions of others. And further intimates, that 
 even Byron found it necessary to quicken his powers 
 of invention by the perusal of works similar in cha- 
 racter to those in the production of which he was 
 then engaged. The human mind cannot think un- 
 less materials of thought are furnished ; these mate- 
 rials are furnished by reading. " A convincing 
 proof," says Mr. Sturtevant, "of the benefit of read- 
 ing the works of others is furnished in our judges 
 and leading counselors, who appear to have suc- 
 ceeded in the attainment of true eloquence above 
 any [other] order of men in the world ; and this 
 because they are the most penetrating and diligent 
 readers of the laws of nations, their ancient constitu- 
 tions, laws, customs of their country, and of the com-
 
 180 MENTAL DISCIPLINE. 
 
 mentaries and adjudged cases v,)iat have been pub- 
 lished upon laws." Originality of genius is never to 
 be reached by the neglect of reading ; nor can any 
 one, without extensive and varied reading, expect 
 to rise above respectable mediocrity. 
 
 Yet in consulting the opinions of others, and 
 availing ourselves of the materials collected by them, 
 just restrictions and limits are to be observed. 
 Gaussen tells us, " A man must not go first to com- 
 mentators till he has drawn his own well dry."* 
 Ostervald also judiciously remarks, " A minister 
 should do all he can for himself before he has re- 
 course to commentators. This method will develop 
 and improve your genius ; whereas, if you steal away 
 the books from those who are in the habit of plagi- 
 arism, they are confounded before their audience. 
 Arguments honestly drawn from your own mind 
 have an air of originality, which convinces and per- 
 suades much better than a multifarious collection 
 from other mens' works. Besides, it imboldens a 
 preacher ; a sermon purely his own makes a much 
 more happy impression both on his memory and 
 heart, than that which he has transcribed from 
 others. Make it therefore an invariable rule, to do 
 all you can for yourselves, and never follow those 
 who, before considering their subject, have imme- 
 diate recourse to commentators." 
 
 * Non prius commentatores adeat, <;iuam ipsi aqua hoereai. 
 De i.rie Cenciontmdi.
 
 COMMUNICATION OF KNOWLEDGE. 181 
 
 SECTION XIV. Let your men feelings be aUuned to har~ 
 many with the spirit of the subject. 
 
 To have the mind penetrated with the emotions we 
 would describe is essential to true eloquence, and in 
 this lies much of its force and efl'ect. A clergyman 
 who heard Mr. Whitefield, when he preached at 
 Norwich, on " the great white throne," relates, that 
 " after ' the books were opened,' and the prisonei 
 had been impeached, the Judge asked him, ' Prisoner 
 at the bar ! what hast thou to say in thy own de- 
 fense ? What exceptions canst thou take to the 
 witnesses ?' The prisoner was silent. ' What ! hast 
 thou nothing to say ?' The prisoner continued silent. 
 The preacher then cried out, ' Bring my cap i I 
 mean my condemning cap !' Upon this, Mr. White- 
 field burst into a flood of tears, and a general weep- 
 ing followed throughout all the congregation." This 
 divine unction, which constitutes the gist, and in a 
 great measure the power of eloquence, is even more 
 indispensable than reasoning itself; for the soundest 
 reasoning without it will fall powerless to the ground. 
 " If you wish me to weep, you should first show 
 yourself to be affected with grief,"* is an old and 
 expressive adage concerning eloquence. Erasmus 
 also declares, " Nothing is of greater potency to ex- 
 cite good affections in others, than to have the foun- 
 tain of such pious feelings within one's own breast. "| 
 
 * Si vis me flere, dolendum est primum ipsi tibi. 
 1 Nilii) potentius ad excitandos bonos affectos. quam priorun 
 aflVoluum f.-"item habere in pectore.
 
 182 MENTAL DISCIPLINE. 
 
 The best models of eloquence have practiced and 
 the best teachers of it have inculcated this as a pri- 
 mary element of true eloquence. Dr. Mason, in his 
 Student and Pastor, says, " The mind should be well 
 seasoned with the discourse before it be delivered. 
 It is not enough to be master of your notes, but you 
 must enter into the spirit of your subject. Call in 
 everything that is proper to improve it, and to raise 
 and animate your mind in the contemplation of it." 
 
 This harmony between the feelings of the public 
 speaker and his subject will conduce much to the 
 perfection of his language and diction. " If the sub- 
 ject be clearly conceived," says Mr. Ostervald, " and 
 deeply impressed upon the heart, you will certainly 
 express yourselves in appropriate language. Tlie 
 passions are all eloquent." Gaussen also presents 
 further considerations upon the same point, " For 
 this will be the effect : from the fullness of his heart 
 he will pour forth suitable expressions. And be- 
 cause these are furnished by the very nature of the 
 subject under discussion, and not by the industry 
 of the speaker, who suppi-esses all high-sounding 
 phraseology and attempts at hyperbole, they will be 
 as appropriate to the subjects of the discourse, as a 
 well-formed garment gracefully befits the person of 
 the wearer. His style will exhibit a manly strength 
 and words pregnant with sentiments, such words 
 being not the mere signs of things, but vivid repre- 
 sentations of them, and their express images."* 
 
 * Nam ita fiet ut ex plenitudine pectoris verba fundat, quae, 
 quiaipsa rerum natura, non diccntis industria, suppeditat, amot
 
 COMMUNICATION OF KNOWLEDGE. ]83 
 
 Another reason why the orator should Lave his 
 dAvri feelings imbued -with the spirit of his subject is, 
 that no mere art or imitation can supply the want 
 Heat can never be imparted to a painted flame, how- 
 ever exquisite the art of the painter. So it is im- 
 possible for the speaker to give utterance to emotions 
 that do not exist in his own soul. " Orators," says 
 Fenelon, in his Dialogues upon Eloquence, " are in 
 most cases, like poets, who write elegies or other 
 pathetic poems, they must feel the passion they de- 
 scribe, or else they can never paint it well. The 
 greatest art imaginable can never speak like true 
 passion and undisguised nature. Hence you will 
 always be an imperfect orator, if you be not tho- 
 roughly impressed with the sentiments you would 
 paint and communicate to others." 
 
 To the sacred orator this genuine sensibility of 
 soul is indispensable. Any affectation of it will not 
 be tolerated by a discriminating auditory even upon 
 the stage; how then can it be in the pulpit? But 
 to be entirely destitute of it, is to be unfitted for the 
 ministry. " Now our proposition is," says Dr. An- 
 drew Reed, " that deep emotion of the heart is not 
 only proper but indispensable to the work of the 
 ministry, so that should a person either from physi- 
 cal or spiritual causes have his affections in so dull 
 and obtuse a state as not to allow a corresponding 
 
 omni vcrborum tumore, sine ulla hyperbole, rebus non secus ac 
 vestis corpore aptissime adliaerebunt. Erit in illius stilo virilo 
 quoddam robur, ac plense sententiarurn voces, quaererum non tana 
 signa erunt, quam vividae qusedam et express* imagines. Dt 
 4rti Concionandi
 
 184 MENTAL DISCIPLINE. 
 
 feeling with the truth to be uttered, he is disqualified 
 for the high and important service. lie would foil 
 to produce a conviction of the truth of his message 
 in the minds of those who heard it ; he would fail to 
 produce even the conviction that he believed it himself." 
 
 The same author, in endeavoring to show that 
 u deep emotion " is one of the essential qualities of 
 " an efficient ministry," says, " By emotion I do not 
 mean a forced physical excitement. There are 
 many speakers who have inadequate views of the 
 important truths they utter, and whose affections 
 have little sympathy with them, who nevertheless 
 t<i.<k themselves to be animated and striking, that 
 they may be acceptable and popular, as though any 
 man were truly eloquent by trying to be so ! The 
 effect is, that they overstep ' the modesty of nature, 
 and do violence to taste and reason. In trying to be 
 forcible, they are extravagant ; in laboring to be 
 pathetic, they whine and whimper ; and in stririnr/ 
 to feel, they become turgid in the extreme. There 
 is a great deal of vociferation, and, beside it nothing. 
 Such services are of very questionable efficacy. 
 
 " Nor, by emotion, do I refer with commendation 
 to that softness of nature which disposes an individual 
 to undue sensibility, and even to tears, on slight oc- 
 casions and on trivial subjects. This is mere weak- 
 ness, and sensible weakness in a minister can never 
 give power to his ministrations. 
 
 " Finally, by emotion, I do not understand those 
 occasional and sudden gusts of real but animal feel- 
 ing into which some speakers work themselves, and
 
 COMMUNICATION OF KNOWLEDGE. 185 
 
 which spring from no sufficient cause, and defy all 
 'jontrol of judgment and reason. To command 
 others, we must command ourselves. It must be 
 felt that thought rises with passion, and that we are 
 never so truly natural as when we are deeply im- 
 passioned. 
 
 " By emotion, I refer to that deep earnestness of 
 the soul, which is created by the truth strongly per- 
 ceived and entirely believed, and the consequent 
 quick and holy sympathy of all the affections with the 
 word the minister has to deliver, and the circum- 
 stances in which he is placed. Such emotions evi- 
 dently would indicate neither weakness nor wild- 
 ness. It would be in keeping with the subject, and, 
 appearing only when it was demanded, its presence 
 would be life and power. It would suggest the just 
 action ; it would give the just intonation ; it would 
 create the just expression. Everything would speak? 
 and speak eloquently, and would carry to the con- 
 science of the hearer that conviction of sincerity and 
 power in the speaker which nothing else could sup- 
 ply." We may add, no one should ever undertake 
 a subject in the sacred desk, which he does not deem 
 of sufficient importance to awaken the sympathies of 
 his heart ; and when the heart is touched, the intel- 
 lect will be quickened and all its "energies inspired. 
 
 SECTION XV. Remember that the intellectual powers an 
 quickened by devotion and devotional feelings. 
 
 An example may be afforded to the Christian min- 
 ister in the practice of the ancient heathen, who were
 
 186 MENTAL DISCIPLINE. 
 
 accustomed to invoke the aid of the Deity when they 
 encaged in literary enterprises. We have an ex- 
 ample of this in Homer, who begins both his Iliad 
 and Odyssey with an invocation to Deity. So Mu- 
 seus begins his Song of Hero and Leander, Hesiod 
 his Works and Days, and Ovid his Metamorphoses 
 Hence the a Jove principium musce of the Latins. 
 On the same point might we cite many of our mo- 
 dern poets. And many of our wisest and best men 
 have thought it indispensable to connect the exercise 
 of devotion with the prosecution of study. Luther, 
 and after him the pious Dr. Watts, claimed that 
 " praying was the best study."* And Dr. Saunder- 
 son declared, " Study without prayer is atheism." 
 While St. James enjoins, " If any of you lack wis- 
 dom, let him ask of God." 
 
 " The duties of the Christian minister are spiritual 
 duties, and require, therefore, spiritual and devo- 
 tional habits of thought and feeling. If the state of 
 the mind correspond with the character of the sub- 
 ject on which intellectual energy is to be employed, 
 the employment becomes easy and delightful ; if 
 otherwise, it is difficult, if not irksome. The hours 
 expended in the preparation of discourses for the 
 pulpit, may, on these principles, be either among the 
 most happy or the'most distressing of a studious life. 
 Under the influence of devotional excitement, with 
 what clearness and with what beauty may an in- 
 teresting passage in the word of God unfold its 
 meaning to the eye of the mind ! It becomes at 
 * Bene orasse, est bene studuisse.
 
 COMMUNICATION OF KNOWLEDGE. 187 
 
 once a source of spiritual delight, and a theme for 
 pulpit discussion. The truths it inculcates or in- 
 volves present themselves in quick succession to the 
 meditating mind, and seem to arrange themselves, 
 without difficulty, in an order the most natural and 
 correct." To be an efficient minister of a spiritual 
 gospel, a man must possess a spiritual and powerful 
 perception of truth, which may be obtained only by 
 combining prayer with study. 
 
 Devotional feelings will not only inspire an ardor 
 in study, but especially clothe the Christian minister 
 with power in the delivery. "When the time for 
 the delivery of his discourse draws near," says 
 Erasmus, " let the preacher profoundly and earnestly 
 devote himself to importunate entreaty and suppli- 
 cation, and let him ask wisdom, utterance, and suc- 
 cess for his sermon, from Him who makes even the 
 tongues of infants eloquent. It would seem almost 
 incredible, were I to describe how great is the light, 
 the vigor, the strength, and the cheerfulness, which 
 from this pious exercise accrue, not only to a preach- 
 er, but also to every man who is about to engage in 
 the performance of difficult and important duties."* 
 
 " He," says Mr. Sutclifle, " who, like Moses, speaks 
 with God before he addresses the people, acquires a 
 
 * Sub horam concionis ecclesiastes det se profunde depreo 
 tioni ; et ab eo postulet sapientiam, linguam, et orationis eventum, 
 qui linguas infantium facit disertas. Incredibile dictu quantum 
 lucis, quantum vigoris, quantumque robons atque alacritatis hinc 
 arcedat ecclesiastse, imo cunctis hominibus ad quodvis unquam 
 negotium arduum suscipiendum et peragendum. De Arte Co 
 cionandi
 
 188 MENTAL DISCIPLINE. 
 
 gravity, and, if I may so speak, a moral glory of 
 aspect, which enables him to preach with fervor 
 from on high." Mr. Shuttleworth, in his Speculum 
 Sacrum, relates the following incident, which is worth 
 preserving in this connection : " Robert Bruce was 
 minister in Edinburgh, and much esteemed by our 
 James II. Having to preach on a solemn occasion, 
 he was late in coming to the congregation. Some 
 of the people beginning to be weary, and others 
 wondering at his stay, the bells having been rung 
 long, and the time far spent, the beadle was desired 
 to go and learn the reason ; who, coming to his house, 
 and finding his chamber door shut, and hearing a 
 sound, drew near ; and listening, overheard Mr. 
 Bruce often, with much seriousness, say, ' I protest, 
 I will not go except thou go with me.' Whereupon, 
 supposing some man was in company with him, with- 
 dreAv without knocking at the door, and reported to 
 the waiting congregation that some person was with 
 the minister, whom he was pressing to come witli 
 him, and declaring that he would not come without 
 him. Mr. Bruce soon after came, accompanied by 
 no man, but he came in the fullness of the blessing 
 of the gospel of Christ, and his speech and his prcach- 
 inw were in such evidence and demonstration of the 
 
 O 
 
 Spirit, that it was easy for his hearers to perceive be 
 had been in the mount with God." 
 
 "AVhen devotion, with its sacred torch," ?aya 
 Gaussen, "has inflamed the heart of the preacher, it 
 carries him out beyond himself, and scarcely permits 
 him to have the control of his powers. That person,
 
 COMMUNICATION OF KNOWLEDGE. 18U 
 
 therefore, seems to have answered with much truth 
 and wisdom, who, on being asked by his friend what 
 was the best method he could adopt for making a 
 rapid progress in Christian eloquence, said, ' Your 
 progress in that, will be in proportion to the interest 
 of your love of Christ.' "* 
 
 PRAYER OF THOMAS AQUINAS BEFORE STUDY- 
 ING OR PREACHING.f 
 
 [A free translation.] 
 
 Great Creator ; ineffable God ! who from the 
 treasures of thy wisdom hast created the different 
 orders of angels and placed them in marvelous rank 
 above the empyreal heavens, and hast most gloriouslj 
 arranged the various parts of the universe ; thou ! 1 
 beseech, who art the true fount of light and wisdom, 
 
 * Devotio curn ecclesiasten suis ussit facibus, eum rapit extra 
 se, nee sui satis compotem esse sinit: ut verre et scite respon- 
 disse videafur qui interrogatus ab ainico, qua via potissimurn 
 magnum eloquentia Christiana progressum faceret? Si, inquit, 
 maxime ames Christum. De Arte Concionandi. 
 
 t Creator, ineffabilis Deus ! qui de thesauris sapiential tune 
 novem ordines angelorum informasti, et eos miro ordine super 
 coelum empyreum collocasti, elegantissime partes nniversi dis- 
 posuisti ; tu '. inquam, qui verus fons lurninis ct sapientiae diceris, 
 atque superemineus principium, infundere dignaris super irtel- 
 lectui nostri tenebras tuae radium claritatis ; duplicem, in qua 
 nati sumus, removeas privationem, peccatum, S. et ignoratiam 
 Qui ! linguas infantium facis disertas, iinguam meam erudias, 
 atque id labiis meis gratiarti tuae henedictionis infundas Da mihj 
 intelligendi acumen, retinendi capacitatem, interspectandi sut> 
 tilitatem, addiscendi facultatem, loquendi gratiam copiosam : 
 pressum instruas, processam dirigas, et egressum compleas 
 Amen,
 
 190 MENTAL DISCIPLINE. 
 
 the Highest of the high spread over the dark- 
 ness of our understanding the radiance of thy light; 
 remove the twofold degradation in which we are 
 born sin and ignorance. Thou ! who makest elo- 
 quent the tongues of babes, make eloquent my tongue 
 and pour out upon my lips the favor of thy benedic- 
 tion. Grant unto me an acuteness of understanding, 
 a capacity of retaining, a depth of investigation, a 
 faculty of continually learning, and an overflowing 
 copiousness of speech : point out my path, direct 
 my progress, and complete my course. Amen. 
 
 SECTION XVI. In order to communicate knowledge with 
 effect, be impressed with tlie importance of being able to ex- 
 press yourself with self-possession^ readiness, clearness, pre 
 cision, and force. 
 
 To be able to speak effectively is to be eloquent. 
 Socrates defines eloquence to be the power of per- 
 suading ; Cicero defines it to be speaking in a per- 
 suasive manner: Quintilian, speaking well; and a 
 modern lecturer, gpeakmg out. But, differ as philo- 
 logists may about its definition, true eloquence is not 
 likely to be mistaken, nor undervalued. Some of 
 the elements of effective speaking we have imbodiecl 
 ir< the above precept 
 
 1. Self-po^sesfion. This collectedness ot mind, 
 and independence denoted by self-possession, arc 
 indispensable to the public speaker. Says a master 
 in the art, " The orator should keep up a self-com- 
 mand and a becoming presence of mind, and get 
 above a low, servile fear of man." A speaker who
 
 COMMUNICATION OP KNOWLEDGE. 1'Jl 
 
 is afraid of his auditory can never command them ; 
 nor can one who cannot command himself. This 
 fear cramps the genius of the speaker, restricts the 
 flow of his thought, renders his manner awkward 
 and stiff, if not peurile and foolish. Does he attempt 
 to draw out a sentence ? he stammers and falters. 
 Does he attempt to use a rhetorical figure ? he is 
 afraid to carry it out ; and so stops in the middle, or 
 flats out into such a tone and manner that the figure 
 loses its force, and often becomes ridiculous. Does 
 he attempt a gesture ? he is afraid to give boldness 
 and expression to it, and awkwardly catches back 
 his arm, or holds it in a ridiculous posture. The 
 timidity and fear he manifests, and his evident con- 
 straint and perplexity, affect the sympathies of his 
 auditors to such a degree that the discourse com- 
 pletely loses its effect, 
 
 " If perfectly at ease," says Professor Ware, " he 
 would have everything at command, and be able to 
 pour out his thoughts in lucid order, and with de- 
 sirable variety of manner and expression. But 
 when thrown from his self-possession he can do no- 
 thing better than to mechanically string together 
 words, while there is no soul in them, because his 
 mental powers are spell-bound and imbecile. He 
 stammers, hesitates, and stumbles, or, at best, talks 
 on, without object or aim, as mechanically and un- 
 consciously as an automaton. He has learned little 
 effectually until he has learned to be collected. 
 This, therefore, must be a leading object of attention. 
 It will not be attained by a man of delicacy and
 
 192 MENTAL DISCIPLINE. 
 
 sensibility, except by long and trying practice. It 
 will be the result of much rough experience, and 
 many mortifying failures. And, after all, occasion 
 may occur when the most experienced will be put 
 off their guard. Still, however, much may be done 
 by the control which a vigorous mind has over itself, 
 by resolute and persevering determination, by re- 
 fusing to shrink or give way, and by preferring 
 always the mortification of ill success to the weak- 
 ness that would grow out of retreating." 
 
 2. Readiness. Opposed to readiness is hesitation : 
 whether resulting from defective vocal organs, la- 
 bored effort to reclaim half-forgotten thoughts, habit, 
 unmanly diffidence, or any other cause. Such a 
 delivery is painful to the listener ; and, unless ex- 
 traneous or incidental circumstances give interest to 
 the discourse, it will fail to interest, and consequent- 
 ly, in a great measure, to profit, however replete it 
 may be in valuable matter, or however apposite to 
 the occasion and the assembly. By readiness, how- 
 ever, we would not be understood to mean that 
 peculiar flippancy with which shallow minds " show 
 off:" but ability to speak with suitable promptness 
 and decision. It is remarked that " shallow waters 
 are easily drained off," and unquestionably there is 
 a certain readiness of speech which is much admired 
 by some, but which springs from the very shallow- 
 ness of the thoughts ; while those who speak with 
 meditation are often slow and hesitating till they 
 become warmed with the subject. The prompt 
 command of language to express the thoughts we
 
 COMMUNICATION OF KNOWLEDGE. 193 
 
 have, is to be regarded not only as a mental excel- 
 lence in itself, but to a public speaker it is indispen- 
 sable. In a philosopher, like Locke or Newton, 
 hesitation may be tolerated ; but in one whose pro- 
 tession is public speaking it is inexcusable. 
 
 3. Clearness or perspicuity. By clearness is meant 
 a luminousness and perspicuity of thought and ex- 
 pression that convey the meaning of the author dis- 
 tinctly to the mind of the hearer. It is opposed to 
 that mistiness which seems to give an indistinct out- 
 line and color to everything. Perspicuity is one of 
 the highest principles of eloquence.* Professor 
 Ostervald says, " It is the soul of discourse. It con- 
 sist, in having simple and natural ideas of what we 
 say. Things must be clearly conceived in order to 
 make them understood by others. Abstract reason- 
 ings are not apprehended by the body of the peo- 
 ple." Perspicuity also depends upon the terms 
 employed. Though the ideas of the speaker may 
 be clear to himself, if he use scholastic words, meta- 
 phorical and figurative language, the thoughts will 
 be rendered obscure to the multitude, through their 
 not comprehending the definition of his words and 
 the meaning f>( his metaphors. 
 
 The public speaker must not only have a keen 
 perception of the relations of things truths as well 
 as principles but ability to give distinct expression 
 to them. 
 
 * Prima est eloquentiae virtus, perspicuitas ; et quo quisque in- 
 genio minus valet, hoc se magis attollere et dilatare conatur ; ut 
 statnra breves in digitos eriguntur, et plura infinni mirmitur 
 Quintilian 
 
 13
 
 194 MENTAL DISCIPLINE. 
 
 This distinct perception is essential to the forming 
 of his own judgment. " If," says Mr. Locke, "in 
 having our ideas in the memory ready at hand con- 
 sists quickness of parts ; in this of having them un- 
 confused, and being able to distinguish one thing 
 from another, where there is but the least difference, 
 consists, in a great measure, the exactness of judg- 
 ment and clearness of reason which are to be observed 
 in one man above another." From what we have 
 already observed it is evident that clearness of ex- 
 pression is not a necessary consequent upon clear- 
 ness of thought. " It is one thing," continues Mr. 
 Locke, " to think right, and another thing to know 
 the right way to lay our thoughts before others with 
 advantage and clearness." 
 
 " Thought in mine, may come forth gold or dross." 
 
 Many, who cannot be supposed to be deficient in 
 clearness of thought, are nevertheless dark, obscure, 
 and unintelligible in delivery. There is not an exact 
 correspondence between the mental process and the 
 verbal expression of it. Many of the little links that 
 were carefully secured in the mental process, jiml 
 that were essential to the perfection of the chain, are 
 omitted in the expression of the train of reasoning. 
 Oliver Cromwell is a striking illustration in point : 
 " All accounts," says Mr. Hume, " agree in ascribing 
 to Cromwell a tiresome, dark, and unintelligible elo- 
 cution, even where he had no intention to disguise 
 his meaning ; yet no man's actions were ever, in such 
 a variety of difficult cases, more decisive and judi-
 
 COMMUNICATION OF KNOWLEDGE. 195 
 
 v'ious." This will do for the military adventurer, 
 who is to be understood by his actions, and not by 
 his words; it will do for the business man, who has 
 occasion but seldom to explain the processes of his 
 reasoning; but not for the public speaker. His 
 thoughts should be like coins issued from the mint, 
 each the least as well as the greatest clear in its 
 imprint, and retaining all its original lustre. He 
 should speak so that the hearer not only " may be 
 able to understand, if he wish ; but that he may not 
 be able not to understand, whether he cares to or 
 not." 
 
 4. Precision. Precision is closely allied to perspi- 
 cuity. It consists in using such language as will 
 readily convey the exact ideas of the speaker to the 
 mind of the hearer. It implies not only freedom 
 from obscurity, but also from redundancy of expres- 
 sion and from meretricious ornament. Mr. Webster, 
 one of the most eloquent speakers, as well as one of 
 the profoundest thinkers of the age, is remarkable 
 for clearness and precision, and at the same time his 
 speeches are remarkably free from similes, meta- 
 phors, &c. They are an accumulation of massive 
 rcasoni"g, and he, when once questioned as 10 the 
 secret of his power, said that it arose from the fact 
 that he always clothed his ideas in plain old Saxon. 
 How different this, from the style of those who im- 
 agi'ie that truth cannot be eloquent unless burnished 
 \vi' , laboriously wrought ornament, and who are 
 ^ver storming the minds of their auditories with 
 what Mr. Pope calls " a mob of metaphor" 1"
 
 196 MENTAL DISCIPLINE. 
 
 Metaphors and similes are not, however, without 
 their use. They often render that apparent which 
 would otherwise be obscure to minds unaccustomed 
 to rigid thought, or of slow comprehension. They 
 also often give additional force to that which was 
 previously apprehended. Mr. Locke, unquestion- 
 ably, carries his aversion to them to an extreme, yet 
 there is much truth in the following reflections: 
 " They who in their discourse strike the fancy, and 
 take the hearer's conceptions along with them as 
 fast as their words flow, are the applauded talker?, 
 and go for the only men of clear thoughts. Nothing 
 contributes so much to this as similes. . . . Well-chosen 
 similes, metaphors, and allegories, with method and 
 order, do this the best of anything, because, being 
 taken from objects already known, and familiar to 
 the understanding, they are conceived as fast as 
 spoken, and the correspondence being concluded, 
 the thing they are brought to elucidate is thought to 
 be understood too. Thus fancy passes for know- 
 ledge, and what is prettily said is mistaken for solid." 
 
 5. Force. By force is meant a sort of spiritual im- 
 petus and power with which the thoughts are deliver- 
 ed. A speaker may be ready in his delivery, clear in 
 his conceptions, concise in expression, and yet be iu- 
 eipid and powerless. Force in oratory is that which 
 gives just expression to the sentiment. It originates in 
 an energy of soul that gives propulsion to thought It 
 is manifested in the intonations of the voice, the ex- 
 pressions of the countenance, the flashings of the eye, 
 the expressive gesticulation, and the very posture of
 
 COMMUNICATION CF KNOWLEDGE. 197 
 
 the body. All these, however, must be only the out- 
 beamings of a spirit stirring within. Imitation of it 
 at the bar is censurable, in the pulpit it is revolting. 
 When Demosthenes was interrogated as to the first 
 element of eloquence, he replied, action; when asked 
 the second, he repeated, action; and also, when asked 
 again, he responded, action. The school-boy will 
 not soon forget Webster's " Character of True Elo- 
 quence ;" nor yet his " action, noble, sublime, god- 
 like action." 
 
 SECTION XVII. Accustom yourself to extemporaneous 
 discourse. 
 
 In order to communicate truth, and especially reli- 
 gious truth, with the greatest force and effect, the 
 speaker must be brought into immediate contact 
 with the sympathies, the hearts of his hearers. Thia 
 can be done we will not say only, but best, in ex- 
 temporaneous discourse ; in which the thoughts pos- 
 sess a freshness and vivacity rarely attained in writ- 
 ten sermons, and in their delivery are accompanied 
 with a force of expression and a sympathy of feeling 
 seldom evinced in reading. Professor Ware, in his 
 Essay on Extemporaneous Preaching, here quoted 
 from the Preacher's Manual, presents the subject in 
 a very clear and convincing manner. 
 
 " That the advantages of extemporaneous dis- 
 course are real and substantial, may be safely infer- 
 red from the habit of public orators in other profes- 
 sions, and from the effects which they are known 
 to produce. There is more natural warmth in the
 
 ,.98 MENTAL DISCIPLINE. 
 
 declamation, more earnestness in the address, greater 
 animation in the manner, more of the lighting up of 
 the soul in the countenance and whole mien, moie 
 freedom and meaning in the gesture ; the eye speaks, 
 and the finger speaks, and when the orator is so ex- 
 cited as to forget everything but the matter on which 
 his mind and feelings are acting, the whole body is 
 affected and helps to propagate his emotions to the 
 hearer. Amid all the exaggerated coloring of Pat- 
 rick Henry's biographer, there is doubtless enough 
 that is true to prove a power in the spontaneous 
 energy of an excited speaker, superior in its effects 
 to anything that can be produced by writing. 
 
 " In deliberative assemblies, in senates and parlia- 
 ments, the larger portion of the speaking is neces- 
 sarily unpremeditated ; perhaps the most eloquent is 
 always so, for it is elicited by the growing of debate. 
 It is the spontaneous combustion of the mind in the 
 conflict of opinion. Chatham's speeches were not 
 written, nor those of Fox, nor that of Ames on the 
 British treaty. They were, so far as regards their 
 language and ornaments, the effusions of the mo- 
 ment, and derived from their freshness a power 
 which no study could impart. Among the orations 
 of Cicero which are said to have made the greatest 
 impression, and to have best accomplished the ora- 
 tor's design, are those delivered on unexpected 
 emergencies, which precluded the possibility of pre- 
 vious preparation. Such were his inve<. live against 
 Cataline, and the speech which stilled the disturb- 
 ances at the theatre. In all these cases, there can
 
 COMMUNICATION OF KNOWLEDGE. 199 
 
 be no question of the advantages which the orators 
 enjoyed in their ability to make use of the excite- 
 ment of the occasion, unchilled by the formality of 
 studied preparation. Although possibly guilty of 
 many rhetorical and logical faults, yet these would 
 be unobserved in the fervent and impassioned tor- 
 rent which bore away the minds of the delighted 
 auditors." " It may be doubted," says the contributor 
 of an able article in the Methodist Quarterly Re- 
 view, " whether the highest kind of eloquence can 
 be otherwise attained ; it is true, at least, that all 
 the great masters of art, Demosthenes and Cicero, 
 Mirabeau and Chatham, Grattan and Curran, Henry 
 and Webster, Whitefield and Hall, have been most- 
 ly ' extemporizers.' " 
 
 That to the generality of hearers the extempo- i 
 raneous mode of address is more attractive, no one 
 can question ; since any ordinary mixed assembly 
 will be more interested and longer entertained with 
 an addre.-s rf ordinary merit as to matter, than with 
 a superior discourse read. It was for this reason 
 that Cecil advised young preachers to " limit a writ- 
 ten sermon to half an hour." Another consideration 
 that is worthy of note, as it certainly possesses weight, 
 is, that the power of extemporaneous discourse is 
 held in high estimation among men, and this cannot 
 fail of itself to conduce to the influence of the public 
 speaker. Occ asions will also occur on which a man 
 unaccustomed to extemporaneous speaking will be 
 compelled to sit still and forego the opportunity for 
 usefulness, or hazard the interests of a good cause
 
 200 MENTAL DISCIPLINE. 
 
 1 y an awkward effort at that to which he is unac- 
 customed, and for which his habits have rendered 
 him incompetent Direct speaking is also the na- 
 tural mode of delivery, and hence the speaker will 
 express himself with greater animation and truer 
 emphasis than he who is under the necessity of di- 
 recting his eyes and his thoughts to his manuscript 
 instead of his subject. 
 
 " It is a further advantage, not to be forgotten 
 here, that the excitement of speaking in public strikes 
 out new views of a subject, new illustrations, and 
 new arguments, which, perhaps, never would have 
 presented themselves to the mind in retirement. 
 4 The warmth which animates him,' says Fenelon, 
 4 gives birth to expressions and figures which he 
 never could have prepared in his study.' He who 
 possesses suitable self-confidence as an extemporizer, 
 will readily seize upon these, and be astonished at 
 the new light which breaks in unon him as he goes 
 on, and flashes all around him." 
 
 As to the Scripture warrant for extempore preach- 
 ing, we may at least claim that it has the authority 
 of example, which is more than can be said of 
 reading. " The present mode of reading sermons," 
 says Suteliffe, " is neither supported by example nor 
 enjoined by precept in the Holy Scriptures. In the 
 synagogue at Nazareth, our Lord read a passage out 
 of the Book of Isaiah, then closed the book and gave 
 it to the minister. Philip, in teaching the noble 
 eunuch, began at the scripture he was reading, and 
 preached Jesus." Who can be so absurd as to im
 
 COMMUNICATION OF KNOWLEDGE. 201 
 
 *gine that our Saviour, in delivering his sermon on 
 the mount, read from a manuscript ? Who can sup- 
 pose that Peter used notes in the delivery of his im- 
 passioned sermon on the day of Pentecost ? or that 
 Paul, in preaching " righteousness, temperance, and 
 judgment," to Felix, or " Jesus and the resurrec- 
 tion " to the Greek critics and philosophers on Mars' 
 Hill, depended upon the grace and refinement of a 
 studied composition, rather than the spontaneous 
 gushing up of thought from the deep resources of 
 his own genius, transfused with glowing life by the 
 free communications of the Holy Spirit ? 
 
 The objections mainly urged against extempo- 
 raneous discourse have generally been " founded on 
 the idea that by extemporaneous is meant unpre- 
 meditated ; whereas, there is a plain and important 
 distinction between them, the latter word being ap- 
 plied to the thoughts, and the former to the language 
 only. To preach without premeditation is altogether 
 unjustifiable, although there is no doubt that a mau 
 of habitual readiness of mind may express himself to 
 great advantage with a subject on which he is fami- 
 liar, after very little meditation." 
 
 This subject is of so much moment in the com- 
 munication of knowledge, that we may be justified 
 in considering in detail the leading objections, which 
 some writers on pulpit eloquence, and even on ora- 
 tory in general, have made against extemporaneous 
 discourse. 
 
 " 1. The objection most urged is one that relates 
 to style. It is said, the expression will be poor, in
 
 202 MENTAL DISCIPLINE. 
 
 elegant, inaccurate, and offensive to hearers of taste. 
 " To those who urge this, it may be replied, thai 
 the reason why style is an important consideration 
 in the pulpit is, not that the taste of the hearers may 
 be gratified, for but a small part of any congregatioi? 
 is capable of taking cognizance of this matter, but 
 solely for the purpose of presenting the speaker's 
 thoughts, reasonings, and expostulations, distinctly 
 and forcibly to the minds of his hearers. If this be 
 effected, it is all that can reasonably be demanded. 
 And is it not notorious that an earnest and appro- 
 priate elocution will give this effect even to a poor 
 style ? and that poor speaking will take it away from 
 the most exact and emphatic style ? Is it not also 
 notorious that the peculiar earnestness of spontane- 
 ous speech is, above all others, suited to arrest the 
 attention and engage the feelings of an audience ? 
 and that the mere reading of a piece of fine compo- 
 sition, under the notion that careful thought and 
 finished diction are the only things needful, leaves 
 the majority uninterested in the discourse, and free 
 to think of anything they please ? ' It is a poor com- 
 pliment,' says Blair, ' that one is an accurate reasoner, 
 if he be not a persuasive speaker also.' It is a small 
 matter that the style is poor, so long as it answers 
 the great end of instructing and affecting men. 
 
 " Besides, if it were not so, the objection will be 
 found quite as strong against the writing of sermons. 
 For how large a proportion of sermon writers have 
 these same faults of style 1 What a great want of 
 force, neatness, compactness, is there in the compo-
 
 COMMUNICATION OF KNOWLEDGE. 203 
 
 of mo&t; preachers ! What weakness, inele- 
 giince, anti ineonclusiveness ! and how small im- 
 provement do tiiey make, even after the practice of 
 years ! Mow happens this ? It is because they do 
 not make it an object of attention and study ; and 
 some might be unable to attain it if they did. But. 
 that watchfulness and care which will secure a cor- 
 rect and neat style in writing would also secure it in 
 speaking. It does noc naturally belong to the one 
 more than to the other, and may be as certainly at- 
 tained in each by the p/oper pains. Indeed, so far 
 as my observation has txtended, I am not certain 
 that there is not as lar^t proportion of extempore 
 speakers whose diction is as exact and unexception- 
 able as of writers ; always Dicing into view their edu- 
 cation, which equally affecta the one and the oilier. 
 And it is a consideration tn' great weight that the 
 faults in question are far tew; offensive in spj;ik.ers 
 than in writers. 
 
 " 2. A want of order, a tumbling, uncon iected T 
 desultory manner, is objected. Hume styles it 'ex- 
 treme carelessness of method,' and this is s > often 
 observed as to be justly an object of dread. But this 
 is occasioned by that indolence and want of disci- 
 pline to which we have just alluded. It is not a ne- 
 cessary evil. If a man have never studied the art of 
 speaking, nor passed through a course of preparatory 
 discipline if he have so rash and unjustifiable con- 
 fidence in himself that he will undertake to speak 
 without having considered what he shall say, what 
 object he shall aim at, or by what steps he shall at-
 
 204 MENTAL DISCIPLINE. 
 
 tain it the inevitable consequence will be confu- 
 sion, inconclusiveness, and wandering. Who re- 
 commends such a course ? But he who has first 
 trained himself to the work, and whenever he would 
 speak, first becomes familiar with the points to be 
 dwelt upon and the course of reasoning and the 
 track of thought to be followed, will go on from one 
 step to another in an easy and natural order, and 
 give no occasion to the complaint of confusion or 
 disarrangement. 
 
 " ' Some preachers,' says Dinonart, ' have the folly 
 to think that they can make sermons impromptu 
 And what a piece of work they make ! They bolt 
 out everything which comes into their head. They 
 take for granted what ought to be proved, or perhaps 
 they state half the argument and forget the rest. 
 Their appearance corresponds to the state of their 
 mind, which is occupied in hunting after some way 
 of finishing the sentence they have begun. They 
 repeat themselves ; they wander off in digression. 
 They stand stiff, without moving ; or, if they are of a 
 livelier temperament, they are full of the most tur- 
 bulent action : their eyes and hands are flying about 
 in every direction, and their words choke in their 
 throats. They are like men swimming who have 
 got frightened, and throw about their hands and 
 feet at random to save themselves from drowning ' 
 There is doubtless great truth in this humorous de- 
 scription. But what is the legitimate inference ? 
 that extemporaneous speaking is altogether ridicu- 
 lous and mischievous ? or only that it is an art which
 
 COMMUNICATION OF KNOWLEDGE. 205 
 
 requires study and discipline, and wL.ch no man 
 should presume to practice until he has fitted him- 
 self for it? 
 
 " 3. In the same way I should dispose of the objec- 
 tion, that this habit leads to barrenness in preaching, 
 and the everlasting repetition of the same sentiments 
 and topics. If a man make his facility of speech an 
 excuse for the neglect of study, then doubtless this 
 will be the result. He who cannot resist his indolent 
 propensities had best avoid this occasion of tempta- 
 tion. He must be able to command himself to think, 
 and industriously prepare himself by meditation, if 
 he would be safe in this hazardous experiment. He 
 who does this, and continues to learn and reflect 
 while he preaches, will be no more empty and mono- 
 tonous than if he carefully wrote every word." In- 
 deed, we are not sure that this ' everlasting repeti- 
 tion of the same sentiments and topics" is not as 
 common to writing as extemporizing. 
 
 Whether the preacher writes or extemporizes, this 
 is the result of the neglect of theological study and 
 general mental improvement. This sameness and 
 monotony, so much and so reasonably objected to. 
 is not exclusively confined to " the extemporizers." 
 
 " 4. But this temptation to indolence in <he pre- 
 paration for the desk is urged as in itself a decisive 
 objection. A man finds that, after a little practice, 
 it is an exceedingly easy thing to fill up his half hour 
 with declamation which shall pass off very well, and 
 hence he grows negligent in previous meditation, 
 and insensibly degenerates into an empty exhorter
 
 206 MENTAL DISCIPLINE. 
 
 without choice of language or variety of ideas. This 
 is undoubtedly the great and alarming danger of this 
 practice. This must be triumphed over, or it is 
 ruinous. We see examples of it wherever we look 
 among those whose preaching is exclusively extem- 
 poi-e. In these cases, the evil rises to its magnitude 
 in consequence of their total neglect of the pen. 
 The habit of writing a certain proportion of the time 
 would, however, counteract this dangerous tendency. 
 " But it is still insisted that man's natural love of 
 ease is not to be trusted, that he will not long con- 
 tinue the drudgery of writing in part, that when he 
 has once gained confidence to speak without study 
 he will find it so flattering to his indolence that he 
 will voluntarily give himself up to it, and relinquish 
 the pen altogether ; and that, consequently, there is 
 no security, except in never beginning. To this it 
 may be replied, that those who have not principle 
 and self-government enough to keep them industri- 
 ous will not be kept so by being compelled to write 
 sermons. I think we have abundant proof that a 
 man may write with as little pains and thinking as 
 he can speak. It by no means follows that because 
 it is on paper it is therefore the result of study. 
 And, if it be not, it will be greatly inferior, in point 
 of effect, to an unpremeditated declamation ; for, in 
 the latter case, there will probably be at least a tem- 
 porary excitement of feeling, and consequent viva- 
 city of manner, while in the former the indolence 
 of the writer will be made doubly intolerable by liis 
 heaviness in re idiug.
 
 COMMUNICATION OF KNOWLEDGE. 207 
 
 " 5. Many suppose that there is a certain natural 
 talent essential to success in extempore speaking, no 
 less than in poetry, and that it is absurd to recom- 
 mend this art to those who have not this peculiar 
 talent, and vain for them to attempt its practice. 
 
 ' As regards merely the use of unpremeditated 
 language, it is far from being a difficult attainment. 
 A writer, whose opportunities of observation give 
 weight to his opinion, says, in speaking of the 
 style of the younger Pitt : ' This profuse and inter- 
 minable flow of words is not, in itself, either a rare 
 or remarkable endowment. It is wholly a thing of 
 habit, and is exercised by every village lawyer with 
 various degrees of power and grace.' If there be 
 circumstances that render the habit more difficult to 
 be acquired by the preacher, they are still such as 
 may be surmounted ; and the advantages which he 
 may thus insure to himself certainly offer the strong- 
 est inducement to him to make the attempt." Pre- 
 sident Madison was an able debater, combining 
 fluency of speech with close logical argumentation ; 
 and yet this was not with him a natural endowment, 
 but attained with toilsome diligence and care. 
 
 " But in regard to that ready flow of words which 
 seems to be the natural gift of some men, it is of 
 little consequence whether it be really such or be 
 owing to the education and habits of early life, and 
 vain self-confidence. It is certain that diffidence 
 and the want of habit are great hinderances to fluency 
 of speech ; and it is equally certain that this natural 
 fluency is -\ very questionable advantage to hu r t who
 
 208 MENTAL DISCIPLINE. 
 
 would be an impressive speaker. Those who at first 
 talk easiest do not always talk best. Their very fa- 
 cility is a snare to them ; it serves to keep them con- 
 tent ; they make no effort to improve, and are likely 
 to fall into slovenly habits of elocution. So that thia 
 unacquired fluency is so far from essential, that it is 
 not even a benefit, and it may be an injury. It 
 keeps from final eminence by the very greatness of 
 its early promise. On the other hand, he who pos- 
 sessed originally no remarkable command of language, 
 and whom an unfortunate bashfulness prevents from 
 using well what he has, is obliged to subject himseli 
 to severe discipline ; to submit to rules and tasks ; to 
 go through a tedious process of training ; to acquire, 
 by much labor, the needful sway over his thoughts 
 and words, so that they shall come at his bidding, 
 and not be driven away by his own diffidence, or by 
 the presence of other men. To do all this is a long 
 and disheartening labor. He is exposed to frequent 
 mortifications, and must endure many grievous fail- 
 ures before he attains that confidence which is indis- 
 pensable to success. But then in this discipline his 
 powers mental and moral, are strained up to the 
 highest intenseness of action ; after persevering prac- 
 tice they become habitually subject to his control, 
 and work with a precision, exactness, and energy, 
 which can never be the possession of him who has 
 depended upon his native, undisciplined gift. It is 
 probably this to which Newton referred when he 
 said, that he never spoke well until he felt that he 
 could not speak at all.
 
 COMMUNICATION OF KNOWLEDGE. 209 
 
 " Let no one, therefore, feel it an oostacle in big 
 way that he has no readiness of words. If he have 
 good sense, and no deficiency of talent, and is willing 
 to labor for this as all great attainments must be la~ 
 bored for, he needs not fear but that in time he will 
 attain it. Any man with powers which fit him for 
 tlie ministry at all unless there be a few extraordi- 
 nary exceptions is capable of learning to express 
 himself clearly, correctly, and with method; and 
 this is expressly what is wanted, and no more than 
 this. I do not say eloquently ; for, as it is not 
 thought indispensable that every writer of sermons 
 should be eloquent, it cannot be thought essential 
 that every speaker should be so. But the same 
 powers which have enabled him to write, will, with 
 sufficient discipline, enable him to speak, with every 
 probability that when he comes to speak with the 
 same ease and collectedness, he will do it with a 
 nearer approach to eloquence. Without such dis- 
 cipline he has no right to hope for success ; let him 
 not say that success is impossible until he has sub- 
 mitted to it. Let this art be made an object of atten- 
 tion, and if any of competent talents and tolerable 
 science be found, at last, incapable of expressing 
 themselves in continued and connected discourse, 
 so as to answer the ends of the Christian ministry, 
 then, and not till then, let it be said that a peculiar 
 talent or natural aptitude is requisite, the want of 
 which must render effort vain then, and not 
 till then, let us acquiesce in this indolent and 
 timorous notion, which contradicts the whole testi- 
 14
 
 210 MENTAL DISCIPLINE. 
 
 mony of antiquity, and all the experience of the 
 world. 
 
 " Doubtless, after the most that can be done, there 
 will be found the greatest variety of attainment ; 
 ' men will differ,' as Burnet remarks, ' quite as much 
 in their written compositions,' and some will do but 
 poorly what others will do excellently. But this is 
 likewise true of every other art in which men en- 
 gage, and not least so of writing sermons, concern- 
 ing which no one will say, that as poor are not writ- 
 ten as it would be possible for any one to speak. In 
 truth, men of small talent and great sluggishness, 
 of a feeble sense of duty and no zeal, will of course 
 make poor sermons, by whatever process they may 
 do it, let them write or let them speak. It is doubt- 
 ful concerning some whether they would even steal 
 good ones." 
 
 We cannot dismiss this subject without first giving 
 a few hints upon the mode and amount of prepara- 
 tion essential to success in extemporaneous discourse. 
 
 1. In the first place, the subject must be thorough- 
 ly studied. The practiced extemporizer may some- 
 times be unusually happy and successful without 
 premeditation ; but this will not answer for a gene- 
 i al rule. In order to be safe, to speak to good pur- 
 pose, the whole subject, with the order and connec- 
 tion of its parts, must be thoroughly investigated and 
 understood. " There must be no uncertainty, when 
 he rises to speak, as to what he is going to say, no 
 mist of darkness over the land he is about to travel. 
 
 2. Having weighed the whole subject, its parts
 
 COMMUNICATION OF KNOWLEDGE. 211 
 
 must be distributed, according to their relations, into 
 the divisions and sub-divisions of the discourse. This 
 careful distribution of parts is essential to perspicuity 
 : n the discourse. " The text is the staple, the divi- 
 sions aie the swivel, and the subordinate thoughts 
 are the links of the chain the series should be un- 
 broken if the artisan would be sure. We do not 
 mean that the whole discourse should be prepared ; 
 but that the different propositions should be con- 
 nected by leading and well-selected thoughts. An 
 extemporaneous speaker should not go into the pul- 
 pit (except in emergencies) without such a clew." 
 Professor Ware recommends " a careful and minute 
 division of the 'subject. The division should not only 
 be logical and clear, but into parts as numerous as 
 possible. The great advantage here is, that, the 
 partitions being many, the speaker is compelled to 
 return frequently to his minutes. He is thus kept 
 in the track, and prevented from wandering far in 
 needless digressions that besetting infirmity of un- 
 restrained extemporizers." 
 
 3. Having prescribed a thorough investigation of 
 the subject and a careful distribution of parts, 1 
 would next say, Make a skeleton of the whole. A 
 person accustomed to extempore preaching may, 
 perhaps, be able to retain for the time being all the 
 outlines of his discourse, but in general, unleso they 
 have been sketched down and made a direct subject 
 of memory, he will be liable to forget some of them, 
 and thus wander ; and certain it is, preparations not 
 sketched down are rarely retained for future use.
 
 212 MENTAL DISCIPLINE. 
 
 A sKcleton should contain the distinct statement 
 of the propositions to be discussed, or the divisions 
 and subdivisions of the discourse. Also a few 
 " trailing thoughts " linking these parts together. 
 It will never be safe to depend altogether upon the 
 inspiration of the moment for " the filling up " of a 
 discourse. The intermediate train of thought should 
 also be studied, and a consecutive train of thought 
 between the propositions sketched down ; not written 
 out, but indicated, just as the surveyor indicates the 
 course he has taken, not by a highway, but by monu- 
 ments left iu his path. In addition to this, " it is de- 
 sirable that some specially good thought 1 ?, some apt 
 or striking illustrations, adapted to throw a strong 
 light upon the subject, and to arrest the attention of 
 the audience, should be noted some illustrative quo- 
 tations of Scripture or apposite passages of poetry 
 some ' flowerets from the dusty hedge-row ' - which 
 will strike the mind as appropriate and even beau- 
 tiful, provided it be not irrelevant beauty." These 
 apposite Scripture passages or scraps of poetry must, 
 of course, be committed to memory, and also such 
 illustrations as the speaker may borrow. Many dis- 
 tinguished extemporaneous speakers are said to write 
 out with care, and repeat from memory, the more 
 brilliant strokes in their discourse. " This may un- 
 doubtedly be done to advantage by one who has that 
 command of himself that will enable him to pass 
 from memory to invention without tripping." 
 
 4. After the skeleton has been thus prepared, it 
 must be thoroughly memorized. We should insist
 
 COMMUNICATION OF KNOWLEDGE. 215 
 
 npon this, even when it is taken into the desk with 
 ihe speaker. A constant reference to a sketch or 
 hrief cannot but interrupt the flow of thought and 
 feeling, as well as detract from the power of expres- 
 sion. The great advantage resulting will abundant- 
 ly repay the labor of committing ; and, indeed, when 
 a discourse has been thoroughly studied, and the 
 skeleton carefully prepared, it will require but a 
 trifling effort to commit the latter to memory. 
 
 5. With regard to the language to be employed, 
 aside from the exceptions already indicated, "the 
 best rule is that no preparation be made. There is 
 no convenient and profitable medium between speak- 
 ing from memory and from immediate suggestion. 
 To mix the two is no aid, but a great hinderance, 
 because it perplexes the mind between the very dif- 
 ferent operations of memory and invention." 
 
 The extempore preacher, then, should make no 
 preparation of language. " Language is the last 
 thing he should be anxious about. If he have ideas, 
 and be awake, it will come of itself, unbidden and 
 unsought The best language flashes upon the 
 speaker as unexpectedly as on the hearer. It is the 
 spontaneous gift of the mind, not the extorted boon 
 of a special search. No man who has thoughts, and 
 is interested in them, is at a loss for words not the 
 most uneducated man ; and the words he uses will 
 be according to his education and habits, not accord- 
 ing to the labor of the moment. If he feel truly, 
 and wish to communicate his feelings to those around 
 him, the last thing that will fail him will be language -,
 
 214 MENTAL DISCIPLINE. 
 
 the less he thinks of it and cares for it, the more 
 copiously and richly will it flow from him ; and when 
 he has forgotten everything but his desire to give 
 vent to his emotions and do good, then will the un- 
 conscious torrent pour, as it does at no other season. 
 The entire surrender to the spirit which stirs within 
 is indeed the real secret of all eloquence. ' True 
 eloquence,' says Milton, ' I find to be none but the 
 serious and hearty love of truth; and that whose 
 mind soever is fully possessed with a fervent desire 
 to know good things, and with the dearest charity to 
 infuse them into the rninds of others when such a 
 man would speak, his words, like so many nimble 
 and airy servitors, trip about at command, and in 
 well-ordered files, as he would wish, fall aptly into 
 their own places.' " 
 
 / 6. " In order to the best success, extemporaneous 
 / efforts should be made in an excited state of mind, 
 / when the thoughts are burning and glowing, and 
 
 V. long to find vent. There are some topics which do 
 
 not admit of this excitement ; when such are taken 
 up, they may be treated by the pen. When the 
 preacher would speak extemporaneously, he should 
 choose topics on which his own mind is kindled \vith 
 a feeling which he is earnest to communicate, and 
 the higher the degree to which he has elevated his 
 feelings, (provided he retain his self-command,) the 
 more readily, happily, and powerfully, will he pour 
 forth whatever the occasion may demand. There is 
 no style suited to the pulpit which he will not more 
 effectually command in this state of mind. He will
 
 COMMUNICATION OF KNOWLEDGE. 215 
 
 reason more directly, pointedly, and convincingly; 
 he will describe more vividly from the living con- 
 ceptions of the moment ; he will be more earnest in 
 persuasion, more animated in declamation, more 
 urgent in appeals, more terrible in denunciation 
 Everything will vanish before him but the subject 
 of his attention, and upon this his powers will be 
 concentrated in keen and vigorous action. 
 
 " If a man would do his best, it must be upon topics 
 which are at the moment interesting to him. We 
 see it in conversation, when every one is elegant 
 upon his favorite subjects. We see it in deliberative 
 assemblies, where it is those grand questions which 
 excite an intense interest, and absorb and agitate the 
 mind, that call forth those bursts of eloquence by 
 which men are remembered as powerful orators, and 
 that give a voice to men who can speak on no other 
 occasions. Cicero tells us of himself, that the in- 
 stances in which he was most successful, were those 
 in which he most entirely abandoned himself to the 
 impulses of feeling. Every speaker's experience 
 will bear testimony to the same thing, and thus the > 
 saying of Goldsmith proves true, that ' to feel one's 
 subject thoroughly, and to speak without fear, are j 
 the only rules of eloquence.' Let him who woula 
 preach successfully remember this. In the choice 
 of subjects for extemporaneous efforts, let him have 
 regard to it, and never encumber himself nor dis- 
 Iress his hearers with the attempt to interest them 
 in a subject which at the moment excites only a 
 feeble inU rest in his own mind. Let him also use
 
 MENTAL DISCIPLINE. 
 
 every means by careful meditation ; by calling up 
 the strong motives of his office ; by realizing the 
 nature and responsibility of his undertaking, and by 
 earnestly invoking the blessing of God to attain the 
 frame of devout engagedness which Avill dispose him 
 to speak zealously and fearlessly. 
 
 " After all, therefore, which can be said, the great 
 essential requisite to effective preaching in this 
 method, (or indeed in any method,) is a devoted 
 heart. A strong religious sentiment, leading to fer- 
 vent zeal for the good of other men, is better than 
 all rules of art ; it will give him courage Avhich no 
 science or practice can impart, and open his lips 
 boldly when the fear of man would keep them closed. 
 Art may fail him, and all his treasures of knowledge 
 desert him, but if his heart be warm with love, he 
 will ' speak right on,' aiming at the heart and reaching 
 the heart, and satisfied to accomplish the great pur- 
 pose, whether he be thought to do it tastefully or not. 
 
 " This is the true spirit of his office, to be cherished 
 and cultivated above all things else, and capable of 
 rendering all his labors comparatively easy. It re- 
 minds him that his purpose is not to make profound 
 discussion of theological doctrines, or disquisitions 
 on moral and metaphysical science, but to present 
 such views of the great and acknowledged truths of 
 revelation, with such applications of them to the 
 understanding and conscience, as may affect and 
 reform his hearers. Now, it is not study on y in 
 divinity or in rhetoric which will enable him to do 
 this. He may reason ingeniously but not convinc-
 
 COMMUNICATION Or KNOWLEDGE. 217 
 
 ingly he may declaim eloquently, but not persua- 
 siveiy There is an immense though indescribable' 
 difference between the same arguments and truths, 
 as presented by him who earnestly feels and desires 
 to persuade, and by him who designs only a display 
 of intellectual strength or an exercise of rhetorical 
 skill. In the latter case the declamation may be' 
 splendid, but it will be cold and without expression, 
 lulling the ear and diverting the fancy, but leaving 
 the feelings untouched. In the other there is an 
 air of reality which words cannot describe, but which 
 the heart feels, that finds its way to the recesses of 
 the soul, and overcomes it by a powerful sympathy. 
 This is a difference which all perceive and all can 
 account for. The truths of religion are not matters 
 of philosophical speculation, but of experience. The 
 heart and all the spiritual man, and all the interests 
 and feeling of the immortal being, have an intimate 
 concern in them. It is perceived at once whether 
 they are stated by one who has felt them himself, ia 
 personally acquainted with their power, is subject to 
 their influence, and speaks fronivactual experience; 
 or whether they come from one who knows them 
 only in speculation, has gathered them from books, 
 and thought them out by his own reason, but with- 
 out any sense of their spiritual operation. 
 
 '' But who does not know how much easier it is to 
 declare what has come to our knowledge from our 
 own experience, than what we have gathered coldly 
 at second-hand from that of others ; how much 
 easier it is tQ describe feelings we ourselves have
 
 218 MENTAL DISCIPLINE. 
 
 had, and pleasures we have ourselves enjoyed, than 
 to fashion a description of what others have told us 
 how much more freely and convincingly we car 
 speak of happiness we have known, than of that to 
 which we are strangers? We see, then, how much 
 is lost to the speaker by coldness or ignorance in the 
 exercise of personal religion. How can he effectu- 
 ally represent the joys of a religious mind who has 
 never known what it is to feel them ? How can he 
 effectually aid the contrite, the desponding, the dis- 
 trustful, the tempted, who has never himself passed 
 through the same fears and sorrows ? or how can he 
 paint, in warm colors of truth, religious exercises 
 and spiritual desires, who is personally a stranger to 
 them ? Alas ! he cannot at all come in contact 
 with those souls which stand most in need of his sym- 
 pathy and aid. But if he have cherished in himself, 
 fondly and habitually, the affections he would excite 
 in others if he have combated temptation, and 
 practiced self-denial, and been instant in prayer, 
 and tasted the joy and peace of a tried faith and 
 hope then he may communicate directly with the 
 hearts of his fellow-men, and win them over to that 
 which he so feelingly describes. If his spirit be al- 
 ways warm and stirring with those kind and pure 
 emotions, and anxious to impart the means of his 
 own felicity to others, how easily and freely will he 
 pour himself forth ! and how little will he think of 
 the embarrassments of mortal man, while he is con- 
 scious only of laboring for the glory of the evei- 
 present God '"
 
 COMMUNICATION OF KNOWLEDGE. 219 
 
 SECTIOX XVIII. Use only plain language. 
 
 U T e have already showed that perspicuousness in 
 delivery is essential, as well as clearness of thought, 
 to an effective speaker. One mode of attaining this 
 perspieuousness of delivery namely, the use of plain 
 language we wish to consider more definitely. 
 
 Fonelon, in his Dialogues upon Eloquence, ob- 
 serves, that " the whole art of good oratory consists 
 in observing what nature does when unconstrained. 
 You ought not to imitate those haranguers who 
 choose always to declaim, but never to talk with 
 their hearers. On the contrary, you should address 
 an audience in such a modest, respectful, engaging 
 manner, that each shall imagine that you are speak- 
 ing peculiarly to him." This cannot be done with- 
 out the use of plain and familiar language. " Sim- 
 plicity," says Ostervald, " refuses admission into our 
 sermons to everything which is too abstruse, too 
 learned, and too sublime. It rejects all subtil and 
 metaphysical argumentation. It should equally ap- 
 pear in the style, the delivery, and the gesture. Il 
 should be the predominant character of every dis- 
 course. " Truth must open to the hearer," says Mr. 
 Sutclifie, " as the landscape to the traveler. Every 
 sentence must be luminous, and every member open 
 with a new idea, directed to the object as the strokes 
 of a workman felling a tree." Plainness is charac- 
 leristic of the language of the Bible. Mr. Black- 
 wall, in his Sacred Classics, pays the following com- 
 pliment to the Bible : " The Old Testament is the
 
 ,220 MENTAL DISCIPLINE. 
 
 richest treasury of all the sublimity of thought, moving 
 tenderness of passion, and vigorous strength of ex- 
 pressiDn, which is to be found in all the language by 
 which mortals convey their thoughts." " The stock 
 of words provided in the Scriptures," says Mr. 
 Sturtevant, " will enable the preacher to speak 
 classically, elegantly, and eloquently ; and though 
 deprived of foreign stock, he will still retain his ut- 
 most skill of giving advantage to conceptions by 
 perspicuity of arrangement, happy construction of 
 sentences, a j udicious choice of words, and agreeable 
 and harmonious periods. He will still be at liberty 
 to give all the grace of delivery. Thus, while he 
 delights his audience, he will use only such words as 
 common people understand. 
 
 " As plain language admits of beauty, so it is also 
 capable of strength ; for the old English is capable 
 of expressing the most violent feelings of the mind, 
 or the most pathetic. Nay, it is capable of sublimity 
 also; for sublimity does not consist in pompous 
 words, but in the thought itself; pompous words do 
 but delight the ear, but they do not produce such a 
 true elevation of soul as short words, mostly mono- 
 syllables, (and of such the old language mainly con- 
 sists ;) while foreign words, compounded and doubly 
 compounded, impede the current of thought, and rob 
 the subject of its proper energy. The least atten- 
 tion to Scripture language, and that of nature, will 
 supply all the evidence that is necessary to the proof 
 of this point. Even our poets and orators of sensi- 
 bility and feeling have always been aware of this
 
 COMMUNICATION OF KNOWLEDGE. 221 
 
 Mid, though the common strain of their language 
 maj have been refined, yet, if they had an affair of 
 the heart to treat of respecting these points, they 
 turned for the occasion to the wording of pure na- 
 ture; and here they pay deference to what I re- 
 commend." 
 
 As illustrative of the above suggestions, Mr. Stur- 
 tevant quotes the following incident, from Gregory's 
 Life of Robert Hall : " In one of our interviews 
 with Mr. Hall, I used the -word felicity three or four 
 times. He asked, ' Why do you say felicity f happi- 
 ness is a better word, more musical, and common 
 English, coming from the Saxon.' ' Not more musi- 
 cal, I think, sir.' ' Yes, more musical, and so are all 
 words derived from the Saxon generally. Listen, 
 sir : My heart is smitten, and withered like grass. 
 There is plaintive music for you. Listen again, sir : 
 Under the shadow of thy wings will I rejoice. There 
 is cheerful music.' ' Yes, but rejoice is French.' 
 ' True ; but all the rest is Saxon, and rejoice is almost 
 out of tune with the rest. Listen, again, sir: Thou 
 hast delivered my eyes from tears, my soul from death, 
 and my feet from falling: all Saxon, except de- 
 livered. I could think of the word tear, sir, till I 
 wept. Then, for another noble specimen of the 
 good old Saxon English ! Surely goodness and mercy 
 shall follow me all the days of my life, and I will 
 dioell in /he house of the Lord for ever.' " It must be 
 admitted that Robert Hall, much as he admired plain 
 language, was not always particular as to its use. 
 
 The use of plain language is also sanctioned by
 
 222 MENTAL DISCIPLINE. 
 
 Ihe authority and practice of many distinguished fci 
 learning and eloquence. Dr. Mason sa/s : " It is z. 
 nauseous affectation to be fond of hard words, or to 
 introduce terms of art and learning into a discourse 
 addressed to a mixed assembly of plain, illiterate, 
 Christian men. They who don't understand you, 
 will dislike you ; and they who do, will see the 
 affectation, and despise you." Archbishop Usher, 
 no mean authority, gives the following precept to 
 his preachers : " Avoid all exotic phrases, scholastic 
 terms, and forced rhetorical figures ; since it is not 
 difficult to make easy things appear hard; but to 
 render hard things easy is the hardest part of a good 
 orator as well as preacher." Doddridge, in recom- 
 mending plainness and simplicity of speech, re- 
 marks : " The most celebrated speakers, in judicial 
 courts and in senates, have, in all nations and ages, 
 pursued the method I now recommend ; and the 
 most successful preachers have successfully attempt- 
 ed it." This constitutes that brevity of speech which 
 Cicero tells us is characteristic of the most able 
 teachers.* The idea of imparting strength to dis- 
 course by the use of words extracted from foreign 
 or ancient languages, and compounded and re-com- 
 pounded till they have acquired a length almost in- 
 terminable, is perfectly absurd, and contrary to all 
 the principles of true oratory. Acquire strength 
 and directness of thought, and the good old Saxon 
 English will be amply sufficient to give it full ex* 
 pression. 
 
 * Qui breviter dicunt, docere possunt.
 
 COMMUNICATION OF KNOWLEDGE. 223 
 
 A great critic observed of Dean Swift, that " he 
 never used a derived or foreign word when an equiva- 
 lent English one could be found." Does any one doubt 
 the compass and power of plain English to give ex- 
 pression ? let him look into the Pilgrim's Progress. ' 
 In that work Bunyan has " brought vast conceptions, 
 noble thoughts, and ingenious similitudes, into the 
 plainest words that the dictionary can give us." 
 " Bishop Beveridge's Sermons are admirably plain." 
 Dr. South, " a giant in language," relies almost ex- 
 clusively upon the clear, bold Saxon. Dr. Adam 
 Clarke was an advocate of plain language, which he 
 also employed. Dr. Watts clothes the purest and 
 sublimest thoughts, both in prose and poetry, in the 
 chastest and simplest language. Mr. John Wesley, 
 in the preface to his Sermons, remarks : " I labor to 
 avoid all words which are not easy to be understood, 
 all which are not used in common life ; and, in par- 
 ticular, those technical terms that so often occur in 
 bodies of divinity ; those modes of speaking which 
 men of reading are well acquainted with, but which 
 to common people are an unknown tongue. Yet, I 
 am not assured that I do not slide into them una- 
 wares ; it is so extremely natural to imagine that a 
 word Avhich is familiar to ourselves is so to all the 
 world." 
 
 One part of eloquence, and by no means the least 
 important end of it, is to impart knowledge ; and to 
 this end the use of plain language is indispensable to 
 nine-tenths of our mixed assemblies. They cannot 
 comprehend the meaning, much less appreciate thfl
 
 024 MENTAL DISCIPLINE. 
 
 beauty, (if indeed there bt, any beauty in them,) of 
 uncommon words, coined from foreign tongues, whe- 
 ther Greek, Latin, or French. And certainly, if 
 example teach us anything, the use of such words ia 
 'not essential to real eloquence. The eloquent states- 
 men and divines of our own country seek no assist- 
 ance from them ; and if it be said that some of our 
 divines, reputed to be eloquent speakers, are ex- 
 ceedingly prone to their use, we would reply, that 
 if eloquent at all, they are eloquent in spite of such 
 use, and not in consequence of it. But we seriously 
 doubt whether the speaking of such men ever reaches 
 to the character of time eloquence. We would coun- 
 sel, with all the ardor of earnest conviction, the young 
 preacher to choose the oratory of the apostle Paul 
 for his model, rather than the turgid verbosity of 
 those whose forte lies rather in coining words than 
 thought. Who can doubt whether the apostle were 
 an eloquent man, when we have on record so many 
 specimens of his eloquence, and so many instances 
 of its power ? And yet hear him declare : " I had 
 rather speak five words with my understanding, tha'. 
 by my voice I might teach others also, than ten 
 thousand words in an unknown tongue :" " And my 
 speech and my preaching was not with enticing 
 words of man's wisdom; but in demonstration of the 
 Spirit and of power." It is this "demonstration 
 of the Spirit and of power," clothed in language 
 plain and intelligible, breathing thoughts and 
 words of fire, that conveys the gospel to the 
 ignorant and the poor. Nay, it is not mere as-
 
 COMMUNICATION OF KNOWLEDGE. 225 
 
 sumption that this constitutes the gist of all true 
 eloquence. 
 
 SECTION XIX. Consider the importance of a goni delivery. 
 
 The finest composition, badly delivered, will lose its 
 effect ; while, on the other hand, an indifferent dis^ 
 rourse, well delivered, will not fail to interest. An 
 ancient rhetorician affirms that an indifferent dis- 
 course, assisted by a good delivery, will have greater 
 efficacy than the finest harangue which wants that 
 advantage. So great was the power of Cicero's de- 
 livery, that when declaiming in Greek before Apol- 
 lonius, the rhetorician exclaimed, " As for you, 
 Cicero, I praise and admire you, but I am concerned 
 for the fate of Greece. She had nothing left her 
 but the glory of eloquence and erudition, and you 
 are carrying that too to Rome." Philip of Macedon 
 pays the following compliment to the vehement de- 
 clamation of Demosthenes : " For I myself, had I 
 been present, and heard that vehement orator de- 
 claim, should have been the first to conclude that it 
 was indispensably necessary to declare war against 
 me." 
 
 Sheridan never attained any high eminence as a 
 statesman, and yet the power of his eloquence was 
 irresistible. The impressive delivery of a White- 
 field rendered matter that was absolutely puerile 
 when afterward published, overwhelming to his audi- 
 tories. Summerfield too who has not heard of the 
 transcendent power of his oratory ! and yet what 
 judicious friend has not regretted that his fair fame 
 15
 
 226 MENTAL DISCIPLINE. 
 
 should be darkened by the publication of discourses 
 which were destined only to disappoint the expecta- 
 tions which the living fire and genius of his oratory 
 had excited ? 
 
 Rhetoricians have always given a high place to 
 delivery among the qualifications of the orator. 
 ' After a sermon has been composed," says the. abbe 
 Maury, " and even committed to memory, much still 
 remains for the orator to execute ; for the success 
 of the composition depends upon the manner of de- 
 livery. This concluding particular (that is, in the 
 preparation of a discourse) ought to be the subject 
 of a separate work. The ancients regarded delivery 
 as a very considerable branch of the art of oratory ? 
 and have carried this talent to a degree of perfection 
 of which we have no idea. 
 
 " For such as are merely desirous to avoid the 
 common faults in delivery, the following are the 
 principal precautions which ought to be adopted. 
 
 " They should indulge a favorable hope of the 
 success of their performance, at the very moment of 
 delivery, that they may speak without reluctance or 
 uneasiness. They should be deeply penetrated with 
 their subject, and recall what passed in their mind 
 while engaged in composition. They should diffuse, 
 throughout every part of the discourse, the ardor 
 with which they are animated. They should speak 
 authoritatively, in order to arrest the attention of 
 the hearers. They should avoid the declamation of 
 an actor, and be cautious of introducing theatrical 
 pantomime in the pulpit, which will never succeed.
 
 COMMUNICATION OF KNOWLEDGE. 227 
 
 They should begin with pitching their voice at * 
 proper medium, so that the tone may be capable of 
 rising without producing discord, and of being low- 
 ered without becoming inaudible. They may be 
 assured that the effect is lo?t when they attempt to 
 strain their voice to the highest pitch ; that bawling 
 repels attention instead of assisting it, and that the 
 lower they sink their voice a in pathetic passages the 
 better they are heard. They should not allow them- 
 selves to make use of a multiplicity of gestures ; and 
 they should especially guard against laying an undue 
 stress on a particular word in the general movement 
 of a period. They should avoid all corporeal agita- 
 tion, and never strike the pulpit cither with the feet 
 or hands. They should vary the inflections of their 
 voice with each rhetorical figure, and their intona- 
 tions with every paragraph. Let them imitate the 
 simple and impressive accents of nature in delivery 
 as well as in composition. In a word, with rapidity 
 of utterance they should blend pauses, which are 
 always striking w.ien but seldom used and properly 
 timed." 
 
 The above suggestions will not supersede the con- 
 sideration of elocution, and manner or gesture, in 
 their relation to delivery. 
 
 SECTION XX. Consider the importance of a good elocution 
 as contributing to a good delivery. 
 
 1. One of the first objects of attention, in order 
 to secure a good elocution, is the proper control and 
 management of the voice. This can rarely be ao-
 
 228 MENTAL DISCIPLINE. 
 
 quired without the aid of the living teacher, and 
 thorough attention and discipline. In this perfect 
 mastery of the voice lies the secret of many an ora- 
 tor's strength. It is said that Whitefield could give 
 utterance to the single word Mesopotamia with such 
 a power of utterance and force of expression as to 
 make an auditor tremble. This effect was produced 
 by the intonations of the voice, let it be remembered, 
 unassisted by any communication of thought. How 
 powerful, then, must such intonations become when 
 employed in the delivery of sublime, glowing thought ! 
 The time spent in the study of some well-digested 
 system of elocution, and in receiving the instructions 
 of some competent teacher, will not be lost to the 
 Christian minister. Let him not fear that art and 
 science will make him stiff and mechanical ; for, 
 should they have this effect, he will suffer no harm ; 
 it will only prove that he was Avanting in some of the 
 necessary constitutional elements of the pulpit oia- 
 tor. The hints imbodied in this section will not 
 supersede the necessity of the instructions of the 
 elocutionist. 
 
 2. Another thing essential to a good elocution, is 
 distinctness of articulation. 
 
 Dr. Blair, in his Lectures, remarks : " Distinctness 
 of articulation contributes more, perhaps, to being 
 well heard and clearly understood than mere loud- 
 ness of sound. The quantity ofeound necessary to 
 fill even a large space is smaller than is commonly 
 imagined ; and, with a distinct articulation, a man 
 with a weak voice will make it reach further than
 
 COMMUNICATION OF KNOWLEDGE. 229 
 
 toe strongest voice ca'n reach without it To this, 
 therefore, every public speaker ought to pay great 
 attention. He must give every sound which he 
 utters its due proportion, and let every syllable, and 
 even every letter in the word which he pronounces, 
 be distinctly heard, without slurring, whispering, or 
 suppressing any of the proper sounds." Cicero says 
 that the Catuli, on account of their distinct articula- 
 tion, were considered the best speakers of the Latin 
 language.* 
 
 Dr. Porter tells us, that a friend of his, a respecta- 
 ble lawyer, informed him, " that, in a court which he 
 usually attended, there was often much difficulty in 
 hearing what was spoken at the bar, and from the 
 bench. One of the judges, however, a man of slen- 
 der health, and somewhat advanced in age, was 
 heard with perfect ease in every part of the court- 
 room, whenever he spoke. So observable was the 
 difference between him and others, that the fact was 
 mentioned to him, as a subject of curiosity. The 
 judge explained it by saying, that his vocal powers, 
 which were originally quite imperfect, had acquired 
 clearness and strength by the long-continued habit 
 of reading aloud, for about .half an hour, every day ' 
 The common errors in articulation are pointed out 
 in our works on elocution. Every public speaker, 
 however, can do much toward the attainment of a 
 good articulation, by having some friend point out 
 its defects, from time to time, and then exercising 
 himself with special reference to their correction. 
 * De Officiis.
 
 230 MENTAL DISCIPLINE. 
 
 3. Attention must also be paid to accentuation. 
 Every word in the English language has one or 
 more accented syllables ; the perfect use of that Ian' 
 guage cannot be attained without a thorough mastery 
 of accentuation. It may be true, as Professor Cald- 
 well observes, that it " plays but a subordinate part 
 in speech ; but yet it is a great source of variety,' 1 
 and is often necessary in oral discourse to determine 
 the signification of a word, as many words having 
 different meanings must have the accent determined 
 by the particular signification with which it is used. 
 Thus, des'ert, a wilderness ; desert', merit or demerit . 
 con 'duct, behavior; conduct', to lead or manage. 
 
 4. Attention must also be paid to emphasis. It is 
 said that the reading of the Scriptures by John Ma- 
 son was a commentary on them ; and that the read- 
 ing of the hymns by Mr. Nettleton was often a 
 sermon to the assembly. This resulted from their 
 perfect accent and emphasis, combined with appiv/- 
 priate intonations of the voice. " Emphasis," says 
 Mr. Sturtevant, " either establishes the true sense 
 of a sentence or perverts it." 
 
 The following two examples, taken from the same 
 author, will suffice to illustrate this point: 
 
 (1.) "Take, for example, the words of our Sa- 
 viour, John vi, 67 :' Will ye also go away ?' Here 
 the emphasis is certainly required upon the word 
 ye. ' The crowd is gone, the crowd is offended, and 
 will ye go after them ?' The reply of St. Peter, in 
 the name of his fellow-disciples, proves this point 
 Now, although I have fixed upon the emphasis, yet
 
 COMMUNICATION OF KNOWLEDGE. 231 
 
 there is very strong meaning in the sentence, on 
 whichever word the emphasis is placed. Upon the 
 word ye it is very strong : ' Ye, my disciples, whom 
 I have taken under my wing, whom I have taught 
 and ins! ructed ; consider the profession you have 
 made, the obligations you are under, the expecta- 
 tions you have from me.' If we place the emphasi? 
 upon also, then it refers to those who have departed ; 
 if on the words go away, fresh matter immediately 
 appears : ' Will you leave your Master ? are you 
 willing to relinquish all claim to my care, love, ten- 
 derness, protection, and salvation ? What wrong 
 have you found in me V have I ever disappointed 
 jour just and reasonable hopes? have I ever been 
 a I irren wilderness to you ? Can you find a better 
 Master? will your adversary, the devil, will the 
 world, or sin, promise or perform what I make over 
 to you in the New Testament? What can earth, 
 what can heaven, do for you ? If you draw back, 
 my soul shall have no pleasure in you ; and can you 
 bear my departure from you ?' " 
 
 (2.) Dr. Blair points out several shades of differ- 
 enre in the point and meaning that may attach to 
 the appeal Christ made to Judas, according as the 
 emphasis is placed: "Judas, betrayest thou the Son 
 o^ man with a kiss !" Emphasizing the word be- 
 irayest, makes the reproach turn on the infamy of 
 treachery. Betrayest thou ! makes it rest on Judas'8 
 connection with his Master. Betrayest thou the 
 Son of man ! rests it on Christ's character as Re- 
 deemer. Place the emphasis on the word kiss, and
 
 232 MFNTAL DISCIPLINE. 
 
 it turns upon prostituting the signal ot peace to the 
 purpose of destruction. Now, I submit that the em- 
 phasis ought to lie on the word thou, which marks 
 Judas's connection with his Master, because it agrees 
 with the prophetic language of Psalm xli, 9 : " Yea, 
 uiy own familiar friend," &c. 
 
 With reference to the use of emphasis, Mr. Stur- 
 tevant suggests the following caution : " It is better 
 to emphasize too little than too much. Extrava- 
 gance is always disgusting, and an attempt to make 
 almost every other word emphatic is quite contrary 
 to a just manner." 
 
 5. Attention must be paid to a proper variation 
 of the voice. The Ars varianda of Quintilian has not 
 escaped the attention of rhetoricians. The orator 
 must study variety in his speaking. The richest 
 thought, expressed in the chastest and most forcible 
 language, cannot redeem a speaker from the impu- 
 tation of tiresome dullness when he is characterized 
 by a monotonous delivery. 
 
 Neither will a mere mechanical change regulated 
 by no just appreciation of the sentiment expressed 
 answer to this requisite variety. It is difficult to tell 
 whether monotony is more tiresome, or mere me- 
 chanical variety more disgusting. 
 
 6. Of pause in elocution. " Notice must also be 
 taken of the rest or pause" says Mr. Sturtevant, 
 " that is, we are sometimes to suspend discourse. 
 Race-horses must not stop till they pass the post ; but 
 not so with the preacher or reader ; he is allowed to 
 take breath freely at suitable places in his discourse."
 
 COMMUNICATION OF KNOWLEDGE. 233 
 
 We, however, refer here more particularly to the 
 pause that is made for rhetorical effect or to give just 
 expression to the sentiment a pause that speaks 
 while the orator's voice is suspended. " There are 
 some occasions," says Cambray, in his Dialogues on 
 Eloquence, " when an orator might best express hi3 
 thoughts by silence ; for if, being full of some great 
 sentiment, he continue immovable for a moment, 
 the surprising pause will keep the minds of the au- 
 dience in suspense, and express an emotion too big 
 for words to utter." 
 
 This pause is sometimes necessary, in order to 
 convey the sense of the text. Mr. Sturtevant illus- 
 trates this by a reference to Matt, xi, 7 : " What 
 went ye out into the wilderness to see ? a reed 
 shaken with the wind ?" If these words be read as 
 a question and answer, which is evidently oppo- 
 site to our Lord's meaning, it is as much as though 
 our Redeemer meant to say that John was unworthy 
 of attention, that he was a fickle, unstable, incon- 
 stant preacher, carried about with every wind of 
 doctrine. Whereas, if we consider the passage as 
 two questions, (as it really is,) the sense clearly ap- 
 pears to be a strong assertion to the contrary, that 
 John was a person of quite a different character, 
 and that he stood firm and immovable as an " iron 
 pillar," or a brazen Wall ; that the doctrines ho 
 preached were not yea and nay, but yea and amen. 
 Therefore to mark the above passage properly, a 
 pause must be used after the first question, to give 
 silent eloquence to the passage, and the same after
 
 234 MENTAL DISCIPLINE. 
 
 the second question; then our Lord's meaning ap- 
 pears to advantage. 
 
 SECTION XXI. Consider tJie importance of manner at 
 contributing to a good delivery. 
 
 " Action is eloquence, and the eyes of tlie ignorar.t 
 More learned than their ears." 
 
 " Such, in my view," says Mr. Sturtevant, " is the 
 importance attaching to the manner in which any- 
 thing is done that it may be called a distinct study, 
 and one that is well worthy the student's attention. 
 When we consider the commanding influence the 
 mere manner of a thing obtains among men, how 
 much the best actions may suffer from the manner 
 in which they are performed, and how often the 
 manner will carry a point with very slender means, 
 must we not admit that it ought to receive our best 
 attention in everything we execute, in everything 
 we say, and in everything in which our fellow-men 
 are to be our observers and critics ? The manner 
 u: which an army is arranged and a battle fought is 
 commonly of great consequence, and often contri- 
 butes more to the victory than valor or numerical 
 strength. Often has the manner of the orator been 
 found so to strike the eye and ear, that thunders of 
 applause have followed a well-delivered sentence, a 
 just emphasis, or a graceful cadence, though Iha 
 sentence itself would have passed unnoticed, but 
 for such an appendage. We have popular preach- 
 ers who owe almost everything to their manner; 
 and many others who ought to be popular, and
 
 COMMUNICATION OF KNOWLEDGE. 235 
 
 certainly would be so, if an attention to manner oc- 
 cupied one-tenth of the time and pains occupied on 
 their compositions." 
 
 Dr. Blair, in one of his lectures, employs the fol- 
 lowing forcible argument on the subject of manner 
 ir delivery : " When we address ourselves to others 
 by words, our intention certainly is to make some 
 impression on those to whom we speak ; it is to con- 
 vey to them our ideas or emotions. Now, the tone 
 of our voice, our looks and gestures, interpret our 
 ideas and emotions no less than words do ; nay, the 
 impression they make on others is frequently much 
 stronger than any that words can make. We often 
 see that an expressive look, or a passionate cry, un- 
 accompanied by words, conveys to others more for- 
 cible ideas, and rouses within them stronger passions, 
 than can be communicated by the most eloquent 
 discourse. The signification of our sentiments made, 
 by tones and gestures, has this advantage over that 
 made by words, that it is the language of nature. It 
 is that method of interpreting our mind which nature 
 has dictated to all, and which is understood by all ; 
 whereas, words are arbitrary conventional symbols 
 of our ideas, and by consequence, must make a more 
 feeble impression. So true is this, that to render 
 words fully significant, they in almost every case 
 receive some aid from the manner of pronunciation 
 and delivery ; and he who, in speaking, should em- 
 ploy bare words, without enforcing them by proper 
 tones and accent, would leave us with a faint and 
 indistinct impression, often with a doubtful and am-
 
 236 MENTAL DISCIPLINE. 
 
 biguous conception of what he had delivered. Nay, 
 so close is the connection between certain senti- 
 ments and the proper manner of pronouncing them, 
 that he who does not pronounce them after that 
 manner, can never persuade us that he 'jelieves or 
 feels the sentiments themselves." 
 
 " Pleads he in earnest ? Look upon his face ; 
 His eyes do drop no tears, his prayers are jest ; 
 His words come from his mouth, ours from our breast , 
 He prays but faintly and would be denied ; 
 We pray with heart and soul." 
 
 It is astonishing what force and effect manner will 
 add to the most finished discourse. "It is a matter 
 of history," says Mr. Sturtevant, " that Roscius, a 
 celebrated Roman actor, and Cicero, had an amiable 
 contest with each other which could represent the 
 same thought in the greatest number of ways, the 
 former by gesture and the latter by words ; and it ia 
 stated, though we can hardly believe it, that neither 
 party could be pronounced victorious. This contest 
 is mentioned by Cicero himself, in one of his letters. 
 It is spoken of by Macrobius as one of habitual oc- 
 currence in the intercourse between these two dis- 
 tinguished Romans."* 
 
 " The art of pantomime affords a specimen of the 
 precision and force with which gesture is capable of 
 
 Satis constat contendere eum (Ciceronem)eum ipso histrione 
 (Roscio) solitum.utrum ille ssepius eandem sententiam variis ges- 
 tilms efltceret, an ipse, per eloquentiae copiam, sermorie diversa 
 pronunciaret. Quse res ad hanc artis suse fiduciam Roscium ab 
 strnxit, ut librum conscriberet quo eloquentiatn cum histrionii 
 comperaret. Macrobius, Saturn, ii, 10
 
 COMMUNICATION OF KNOWLEDGE. 237 
 
 /mparting ideas without the aid of oral language." 
 The pantomimic exhibitions are recorded to have 
 produced a powerful effect upon Greek and Roman 
 assemblies. Lucian relates, that " a celebrated pan- 
 tomimic actor, of the time of Nero, prevailed upon 
 the cynic philosopher, Demetrius, who was always 
 ridiculing pantomimes and inveighing against the 
 folly of the people in being so much entertained by 
 them, to be present at his performance on a certain 
 occasion. Demetrius was so delighted that he could 
 not contain himself, but shouted out, ' Man ! I not 
 only see, but hear you, for your very hands speak !' " 
 The above will almost lead us to credit an inci- 
 dent recorded of one of our own orators, and which 
 is here related from memory. It was at one of the 
 vast political gatherings at the south, where William 
 C. Preston was making one of his most impassioned 
 speeches, that a spectator says, " I observed an indi- 
 vidual by my side who joined in the acclamations of 
 the multitude as the speaker turned off one period 
 after another. And just as he poured out one of 
 those massive, overwhelming torrents of eloquence, 
 for which he is so distinguished, the individual, 
 whose strange motions had attracted our attention, 
 responded with a shout that was heard above the 
 acclamations of the multitude, and immediately 
 turning to me, bawled in my ear, ' Who is that 
 speaking ?' ' William C. Preston,' I responded. 
 4 Who ?' said he, louder than before. ' William C. 
 Preston,' I responded again, at the top of my voice. 
 'Split me, if I can hear a word I'm deaf but don't
 
 238 MENTAL DISCIPLINE. 
 
 he do the MOTIONS splendid?' And to my astonish 
 mcnt I found he was perfectly deaf unable to hear 
 a word." 
 
 Lucian also relates, that " a prince of Pontus, on 
 co.ning to Rome to do homage to the emperor, 
 visited the theatre, and was beyond measure de- 
 lighted with the performances. When about to 
 leave Rome for his own dominion, Nero desired him 
 to request some present as a mark of his regard. 
 The prince begged his principal pantomimic actor. 
 Being asked the reason of this request, he replied, 
 that there were different barbarous nations around 
 him, speaking different languages, and it was difficult 
 for him to procure suitable interpreters in his inter- 
 course with them, but this actor would just serve his 
 purpose." Adair, in his History of the American 
 Indians, makes the statement, here quoted, second- 
 hand, from memory, that " two far distant Indian na- 
 tions, who understood not a word of each other's 
 language, will intelligibly converse together and con- 
 tract engagements without any interpreters, in such 
 a surprising manner as is scarcely credible." Such 
 statements might have seemed incredible had they 
 not been more than confirmed by the familiarity 
 with which the deaf and dumb are now able to hold 
 intercourse through the medium of natural and arti 
 licial signs. A few years since, an assistant teache. 
 ir. the Hartford Asylum, himself deaf and dumb, held 
 a long conversation with a Chinese youth, gathering 
 from him much information concerning himse?f and 
 bis country.
 
 COMMUNICATION OF KNOWLEDGE. 239 
 
 From the above facts we learn that action is a 
 means of conveying ideas and also of exciting eino- 
 lion. The perfect orator must be no less skilled in 
 action than in the use of language, and both must 
 be employed as vehicles of thought and emotion. 
 How much may their perfect command contribute 
 to the success of the Christian orator ? These are 
 accomplishments, however, that are to be acquired, 
 and they must be acquired and made habitual out of 
 the pulpit. 
 
 We will append the following paragraph, quoted 
 from Longman's Essay on Public Speaking by S. 
 T. Sturtevant: 
 
 " Tranquillity appears by the composure of the 
 countenance and of all parts of the body. Joy and 
 delight, in proportion to their degree, open the 
 countenance and elevate the voice. Love brightens 
 the countenance into a smile, and turns the eyes as 
 toward the object ; the tone of the voice is tender 
 and persuasive. Gratitude gently elevates the voice 
 and the eyes, and lays the right hand on the heart. 
 Admiration joins with these an air of astonishment 
 and respect. Veneration is more grave and serious, 
 with less surprise. Shame changes the countenance 
 and declines the head ; the speaker faulters in his 
 utterance, or is silent. Remorse, or a painful sense 
 of guilt, is further expressed by the right hand 
 striking the breast, the eyes weeping, the body 
 trembling ; and in true penitence the eyes are some- 
 times raised with humble hope. Fear opens wide 
 the eves and mouth, gives to the countenance an air
 
 240 MENTAL DISCIPLINE. 
 
 of wildness, covers it -with paleness, projects the 
 hand, draws back the trembling body ; the voice is 
 weak, the sentences are short, confused, incoherent 
 Pity, which is a mixture of love and grief, looka 
 down upon distress with uplifted hands and tender 
 eyes ; the accent is plaintive, often accompanied with 
 tears. Grief, if sudden and violent, expresses itself 
 by beating the breast, weeping, and by other atti 
 tudes approaching to distraction. Courage opens 
 the countenance, gives the whole form an erect and 
 graceful air ; the voice is firm, even, and articulate. 
 Anger expresses itself with rapidity, harshness, noise, 
 and a threatening attitude. Aversion or hatred draws 
 back the body, turns the face on one side, as from 
 the object, and throws out the hands on the opposite 
 side. Commendation is expressed by an open, plea 
 sant, and respectful countenance, a mild tone of 
 voice, and the arms gently extended as toward the 
 person we approve. Reproof puts on a stern coun- 
 tenance and a solemn voice, sometimes with a mix- 
 ture of tenderness and affection. Invitation has a 
 moderate degree of expression of love and respect, 
 with the hand beckoning the person toward us. 
 Soliciting or requesting, adds humility to reverei ce. 
 Dismissing with approbation, is done with a kind 
 aspect and tone of voice, the right hand open, and 
 gently waved toward the person." 
 
 N. B. He that thinks these positions, of them- 
 selves, will produce their respective emotions, greatly 
 mistakes. The emotion must be felt at the moment 
 of assuming the position, or giving expression to it.
 
 COMMUNICATION OF KNOWLEDGE. 241 
 
 SECTION XXII. Study tlie best living models of delivery. 
 
 Oratory is an art, and it is unquestionable that ex 
 ample is a more effective teacher of art than precept. 
 The thousand little arts by which the orator gives 
 effect to his delivery, it would be utterly impossible 
 to enumerate in description, and equally so to enforce 
 them by precept ; but they may be readily observed 
 in delivery, and their effect upon the audience as 
 well as upon ourselves carefully noted. In this way 
 may we learn from the living model that which no 
 instructor could teach, and which no precept could 
 produce. 
 
 Professor Ostervald instructs his pupils, that " at- 
 tendance on good speakers and able ministers, is an 
 important advantage, and the shortest way to suc- 
 ceed. ... It is a singular privilege to be favored 
 with models of eloquence. From living models we 
 may learn the graces of elocution." Mr. Sturtevant 
 also enjoins upon young preachers, " as far as you 
 have opportunity, take the benefit of the best living 
 examples the best public preachers, the best plead- 
 ers, the most eloquent of our senators." The efforts 
 of Cioero to hear, and to make himself thoroughly 
 acquainted with the oratory of all the masters of 
 eloquence in his day, are well known. For this pur- 
 pose he traveled abroad, and frequented not only the 
 halls of the rhetoricians but also the places of public 
 harangue. It may indeed be questioned whether 
 the highest development of power can be attained 
 1G
 
 242 MENTAL DISCIPLINE. 
 
 without the careful study of the living models of elo 
 quence. 
 
 This study is as indispensable in the cultivation of 
 sacred as of secular eloquence. Erasmus says, " It 
 will therefore be useful for young men who are de- 
 signed for the Christian ministry, frequently to re- 
 sort to the discourses of truly eloquent men, and by 
 degrees to be habituated to them, that they may re- 
 member and respect what they have heard."* Too 
 close an imitation of any model, however excellent, 
 is inadmissible. The object of studying such models 
 is to store the mind with the principles of eloquence, 
 not to make of ourselves mere imitators. For imi- 
 tation can rarely consist with naturalness, and that 
 which is not natural cannot be eloquent. 
 
 The following caution of Ostervald is worthy of 
 attention : " Those who are desirous of forming 
 themselves on living models, should be cautious not 
 to imitate the faults of their favorite preachers. If 
 they imitate them too closely, they will become ridi- 
 culous. We should never imitate others but in 
 things which agree with our character, and corre- 
 spond with our talents. To know this every man 
 must examine his own gifts. If a man of mild ad- 
 dress affect to speak like one who has a powerful 
 eloquence, he will not succeed." 
 
 * Profuerit igitur adolesrentes concioni destinatos frequenter i-d 
 eloquentium hominum condones additeere ac paulatim con-suefa- 
 cere.ut meminerint ac leddant qiae audierint. De Arle Conci- 
 cnandi.
 
 COMMUNICATION OF KNOWLEDGE. 243 
 
 SECIION XXIII. Do not attach too much impoilaruA to 
 artificial rules for delivery. 
 
 AVh ther the orator is dependent more upon nature 
 than upon art, it is useless to inquire. But it is cer- 
 tain that he cannot be made by rule. Art may assist. 
 But he who is incessantly trammeled by rules and 
 formulas, so as to impede the spontaneous gushings 
 of thought and emotion, can never be eloquent. He 
 may be exact, critical, minute ; his thoughts may be 
 just, apposite, comprehensive even ; but, after all, 
 he cannot attain to the character of true eloquence. 
 In this all rules are forgotten, as well as observed ; 
 thought answers to emotion, and emotion gives ex- 
 pression to gesture and action, so that, while no 
 sound rule is violated, the speaker obtains an eleva- 
 tion above all rule. You may as well attempt to 
 regulate by rule the intonations of the mother's 
 voice as she bewails the untimely death of her only 
 child pouring out the bitter anguish of her heart 
 in cries that penetrate and subdue the soul, as to 
 impose rules and formulas upon the impassioned tor- 
 rent of true eloquence. Art is, indeed, to be em- 
 ployed ; but it must be employed at home ; it must 
 also bo left at home, and nature only appear in tho 
 pulpit. 
 
 We wish the idea to be impressed deeply upon 
 the minds of all who would study oratory, that there 
 is a wide difference between observing the rules of 
 eloquence and being eloquent. All your words and
 
 244 MENTAL DISCIPLINE. 
 
 gestures may be as ruleaUe as systematic and uni- 
 form as the rain-drops descending at the moment of 
 my writing, and yet imbody no more real eloquence 
 than is expressed in their pattering against the case- 
 ment of my window. A mechanical, strained, forced 
 delivery, will blunt the edge of even truth itself, and 
 take off the force of the most momentous and im- 
 pressive thought. A man cannot be in a more di- 
 rect way of exposing himself to ridicule, than to act 
 upon the supposition, that the mechanical stringing 
 together of sentences, and uttering them with mea- 
 sured intonation and gesture, as uniformly recur- 
 ring as the bars in music, constitute the elements 
 of good delivery. 
 
 SECTION XXIV. Let your chief solicitude have reference 
 to the matter rather than the manner. 
 
 " It is of great importance that the language we em- 
 ploy should be the adequate and appropriate vehicle 
 of thought, but the primary object of anxiety should 
 be that we may have ideas worthy of conveyance. 
 No labored embellishments of style can compensate 
 for poverty of thought, nor will the act of communi- 
 cation be usually difficult, if the ideas possess an in- 
 trinsic value. But if we introduce to the attention 
 of the hearer no sentiment- or thought < worthy of 
 his regard, or adapted to keep alive a feeling of in- 
 terest in his mind, he will inevitably become weary 
 and listless. If we present to him no materials for 
 the operation of thinking to which he attaches any 
 value, we shall appear to him to have forfeited all
 
 COMMUNICATION OF KNOWLEDGE. 245 
 
 claim upoi his attention. He will complain that 
 we ' afford neither exercise for his reason, nor enter- 
 tainment to his fancy.' 
 
 " Now, in order to give real value to a discourse, 
 and a fitness to accomplish the object proposed, we 
 should be anxious to secure three points : There 
 should be a clear elucidation or enforcement of some 
 Scriptural truth there should be in every part of 
 the discourse continuity of thought and there 
 should be in the structure of the whole, an adapta- 
 tion to produce impression and effect." 
 
 Also at the moment of delivery the mind must be 
 most occupied with the matter, as it is from the 
 ideas, as they rise in order, that the mind is to re- 
 ceive impulse, and emotion is to be excited. It is 
 the thought that constitutes the substratum, the foun- 
 dation, of all eloquence. When the subject is clearly 
 perceived, and appropriately felt, expression will 
 most likely be effective and graceful. In fact, all 
 action at the time of delivery, that does not have at 
 least the appearance of being unstudied, will always 
 be intolerable ; and in no place more so than in the 
 pulpit. Indeed, we will go further, and insist upon 
 the practical rule of Dr. Whately upon this point ; 
 which is, " not only to pay no studied attention to 
 the voice, but studiously to withdraw the thoughts 
 from it, and to dwell as intently as possible on the 
 sense, trusting to nature to suggest spontaneously 
 the proper emphases and tones." This rule we con- 
 sider perfectly consistent with the most careful pre- 
 vious training of the individual with reference to the
 
 246 MENTAL DISCIPLINE. 
 
 management of the voice and the use of gesture. 
 The training of the voice and the gesture should be 
 general rather than with reference to a specific dis- 
 course or occasion, and generally upon se'e t pieces 
 from other authors rather than upon our own prepared 
 sermons which we are expecting soon to deliver. If 
 the extemporaneous preacher, exercising himself Sa- 
 turday night upon the sermon he is to preach on the 
 next day, enter into all the minutiae of gesture, " the 
 study of attitudes " saying, " Here I must start as 
 with affright, and there weep with emotion ; here I 
 must hold up my forefinger with a significant motion, 
 and there give to my right hand a graceful wave ; 
 here I must vociferate with the energy of a Boaner- 
 ges, and there melt with the lute-like tones of love ;" 
 such preaching, (or acting,) I tell him, will be too 
 affected for the pulpit ; it will disgust his hearers ; it 
 can do their souls no good ; it can never win souls to 
 Christ. 
 
 Another reason why the matter of the discourse, 
 rather than the manner in which it is to be delivered; 
 should occupy the attention, is, that all true emotioi- 
 must arise from the contemplation of the subject. 
 And when this emotion is excited, the countenance, 
 like a faithful mirror, reflects it, and all the gestures, 
 prompted as they are by the genuine emotions, har- 
 monize in the general effect. The real power of de- 
 livery depends not upon any histrionic artifices of 
 tone and gesture, but upon the harmonious blending 
 together of sentiment, feeling, and expression. This 
 is the "caput artis" of all, but especially of pulpit,
 
 COJOIUINCATION OF KNOWLEDGE. 247 
 
 oratory. This at once commands the reason and 
 sways the feelings of the auditory. 
 
 In a few, if any, have these grand elements of true 
 oratory been so harmoniously blended, and so strong- 
 ly exhibited, as in Robert Hall, and the immediate 
 impression upon his congregation was such as might 
 have been expected. "From the commencement 
 of his discourse," says Dr. Gregory, " an almost 
 breathless anxiety prevailed, deeply impressive and 
 solemnizing from its singular intenseness; not a 
 sound was heard but that of the preacher's voice ; 
 scarcely an eye but was fixed upon him ; not a 
 countenance that he did not watch, and read, and 
 interpret, as he surveyed them again and again with 
 his ever excursive glance. As he advanced and in- 
 creased in animation, five or six of his auditors would 
 be seen to rise and lean forward over the front of 
 their pews, still keeping their eyes fixed upon him. 
 Some new or striking sentiment or expression would, 
 in a few moments, cause others to rise in like man- 
 ner ; and shortly afterward still more ; and so on, 
 until long before the close of the sermon it often 
 happened that a considerable portion of the congre- 
 gation was seen standing ; every eye directed to the 
 preacher, yet, now and then for a moment glancing 
 from one to another, thus transmitting and reci- 
 procating thought and feeling. Mr. Hall, lamself, 
 though manifestly absorbed in his subject, conscious 
 of the whole, receiving new animation from what he 
 thus witnessed, reflecting it back upon those who 
 were already alive to the inspiration, until all tha*
 
 248 MENTAL DlSCIPLIXK. 
 
 was susceptible of thought and emotion seemed 
 wound up to the utmost elevation of thought upon 
 earth, when he woulu close, and they reluctantly and 
 slowly resume their seats." 
 
 SECTION XXV. Accustom yourself to the frequent exer- 
 cise of your powers, when it can be done with suitable pre- 
 paration. 
 
 Nearly all eminent public speakers have been ac- 
 customed to the daily exercise of their vocal organs 
 either in reading or declamation. Many have studi- 
 ously practiced gesture before a mirror. These fre- 
 quent exercises they found essential to the retention 
 of improvements already made, as well as for the at- 
 tainment of others within their power. So in public 
 speaking, the frequent exercise of it, when it can be 
 done with suitable preparation and interest, will be 
 greatly beneficial. It has been observed that some 
 of our most eloquent preachers, when they had been 
 disused to public discourse for a time, or preached 
 only at intervals widely separated, became dry, 
 constrained, and tiresome, in their delivery, and did 
 not recover from these impediments to effective 
 speaking, till after they had been engaged again for 
 some time in the active duties of the ministry. 
 
 AVe would not, however, recommend the practice 
 of those ministers who are always haranguing, with 
 but little reference to time, or place, or preparation. 
 It cannot be that they have any just views of the 
 dignity and importance of the sacred office, or any 
 just conception of the amount of labor absolute^
 
 COMMUNICATION OF KNOWLEDGE. L 49 
 
 necessary, even by the most gifted minds, for the 
 production of an able sermon. Such persons, by the 
 looseness of their logic, the feebleness of their rea- 
 soning, the empty inflation of their delivery, and the 
 barrenness of their thought, prejudice the cause 
 of truth, and degrade the dignity of the ministerial 
 profession. The supply must be inexhaustible that 
 will admit of a steady stream without the cistern 
 being emptied. It matters not how often you draw, 
 provided you keep the supply good, but this con- 
 tinual drawing without ever replenishing must pro- 
 duce emptiness and disgusting inanity. 
 
 A writer, in a denomination where ministers are 
 generally settled for a longer or shorter time, accord- 
 ing to the disposition of the parties, affirms, " that 
 those ministers who had been settled longest in the 
 same charge, and had longest retained their hold 
 upon the affections of their people, and their influ- 
 ence over the public mind, were generally those who 
 had been most sparing in the number of their public 
 discourses ;" and (probably the writer might have 
 added) most studious in the preparation of those 
 they did deliver. The amount of a man's usefulness, 
 or even of his labor, is not to be measured by 
 the number of sermons he preaches, but by their in- 
 fluence and effect. He who is always haranguing, 
 and never preparing, either places a high estimate 
 upon his own powers, or a low one upon the truths 
 he is called to deliver and the intelligence of the 
 people who are invited to listen.
 
 50 MENIAL DISCIPLINE. 
 
 SECTION* XXVI. Write out a discourse frequently, and 
 occasionally commit jne to memory, that your style may be 
 improved, and your memory invitjorated. 
 
 It was the saying of Cicero, than whom, perhaps, no 
 mortal, either of past ages or of the present, knew 
 better how eloquence was to be acquired, or how to 
 use it when acquired, " The pen is the niothei of 
 eloquence." A man who is not accustomed to the 
 discipline of writing, on some great and momentous 
 occasion, when great interests were at sUike, and 
 strong passions aroused, under the excitement and 
 inspiration of the occasion, might be successful, as 
 was Patrick Henry, in a few bold strokes of elo- 
 quence. But it is exceedingly doubtful whether a 
 public speaker can maintain a uniform character of 
 eloquence without the constant use of the pen. By 
 this the power of thought and the style of expression 
 are both improved. When our thoughts are retained 
 till they can be sketched on paper, the mind be- 
 comes accustomed to take hold of them with a tena- 
 cious grasp, and to turn them over and over without 
 ever losing its hold, and thus it not. only discovers 
 and retrenches their superfluities and deformities, 
 but acquires a mastery over them that can be ac- 
 quired in no other way. 
 
 Mr. Burder says that composition " is desirable, 
 not only with a view to improvement in style, but 
 also to improvement in the power of thought. Such 
 a connection exists between thinking and expressing 
 thought, that to attempt the latter is one of the most
 
 COMMUNICATION OF KNOWLEDGE. ZO.l 
 
 effectual methods to excel in the former. Frequent 
 composition has a powerful tendency to secure clear- 
 ness in our conceptions, as well as precision in our 
 language, and at once to promote fullness of illustra- 
 tion and compression of style. It will be the most 
 effective preservative from that loose and tedious 
 style of expression, by which some speakers employ 
 a profusion of words to convey very few thoughts, 
 and exhaust the patience of their hearers by a dull 
 prolixity which excludes all point, vivacity, and con- 
 densation. 
 
 "If, however, composition for the pulpit be at- 
 tempted, it should be the result of energetic thought 
 and the strenuous application of the mind to the sub- 
 ject. Let it not be imagined that because a sermon 
 is written it must therefore be superior to other dis- 
 courses, by the same preacher, which have not been 
 reduced to writing. A careless, hurried composition, 
 will, in all probability, be vapid, dull, and spiritless, 
 and decidedly inferior, both in thought and language, 
 to a sermon of which the outline only was written, 
 but of which the materials for illustration were se- 
 iCCted with care, though not committed to writing. 
 The latter method of studying for the pulpit may 
 indeed be practiced, with great advantage, conjointly 
 with the plan of careful composition. And while 
 this combination of plans of study might with pro- 
 priety be recommended as eligible, it is in fact the 
 plan to which ministers must often have recourse, 
 from necessity, if a demand be made upon them by 
 theii congregations of several discourses every week
 
 252 MENTAL DISCIPLINE. 
 
 By carrying on both methods, and by writing out Jt 
 least one sermon with care every week, the young 
 preacher may be making progress in the excellences 
 of a style best adapted for the pulpit; while, in con- 
 junctioi with this effect, he may be acquiring addi- 
 tional fajilities in expressing his thoughts with fluen- 
 cy, and unpremeditated language." 
 
 The extemporaneous preacher should not fail to 
 write out skeletons of his discourses weekly ; and he 
 will often find it greatly to his advantage to write 
 out in full some of the paragraphs that occur to him, 
 containing choice gems of thought, or apposite illus- 
 trations and reasonings. But, in addition to all this, 
 he should frequently say once a month write out 
 a sermon in full, with due reference to style and ex- 
 pression. These sermons should be upon his choice 
 themes, and imbody his choice thoughts. 
 
 That committed sermons may be delivered with 
 all the pathos and effect of spontaneous thought, the 
 French pulpit some of the great masters of which 
 uniformly wrote, committed, and studied the delivery 
 of their sermons will bear witness ; nay, the stage, 
 where the freshness and vigor of original life are 
 given to committed thoughts and words, gives abun- 
 dant proof. Inability thus to commit a written dis- 
 course, and to enter into the spirit of the subject, at 
 the moment of delivery, indicates a want of menthl 
 discipline that can be acquired in no other way than 
 by a close application to the subject, and a rigij 
 practice of what is here recommended. 
 
 Nor will the advantages resulting from the prac-
 
 COMMUNICATION OF KNOWLEDGE. 253 
 
 kice recommended in this section terminate with the 
 mere exercise ; it will re-act upon the whole intel- 
 lectual character ; it will contribute wonderfully to 
 the mental energy, sharpen the acumen, give refine- 
 ment to the taste, and stir up the whole intellectual 
 man to renewed activity ; it will enlarge the views 
 of the wide field of pulpit excellence, give intensity 
 to the desire for improvement, and confidence in 
 effort for its acquisition. 
 
 SECTION XXVII. Keep steadily in view the great objects 
 and end of the Christian ministry. 
 
 We have seen that unity of purpose is essential to 
 success in any department of human excellence, 
 lint with reference to no subject is this more strictly 
 true than with reference to the Christian ministry. 
 " The true end of the ministry is edification and 
 holiness;" and he who keeps this end steadily in 
 view, and concentrates all his powers upon its attain- 
 ment, will not only serve his God better, but will 
 find that the direct tendency of this concentration 
 of his energies is to enlarge and perfect his powers 
 as a pulpit orator. 
 
 No man can be penetrated with sublime emotions, 
 giving rise to eloquent thoughts, unless there be a 
 forgetfulness of self. " Oblivion of self," says a mo- 
 dern professor, " is one of the most important quali- 
 fications for success in the sacred office. The man 
 \\ho is always consulting his own claims to public 
 favor, or balancing the probabilities of loss or gain 
 to his OAvn reputation, allows too many considerations
 
 254 MENTAL DISCIPhlXK. 
 
 to intervene between himself and the end proposed, 
 and is too irresolute and divided in his purposes to 
 turn even the powers he has to the best account. 
 Unity of purpose, simplicity of aim, purity of inten- 
 tion, and earnestness of spirit, are far more favorable 
 to the production of able preaching than those multi- 
 form considerations which arise from any views of 
 self-advantage. These attributes give concentration 
 to his efforts. Setting before him the object to be 
 attained, he marches directly up to it." 
 
 This unity of aim can exist only in connection 
 with a sound piety, which is the basis of all evangeli- 
 cal preaching, and the grand source of the true 
 eloquence of the pulpit. " He who desires, accord- 
 ing to St. Paul," says Erasmus, " to be <Jt<5orrcof j 
 that is, a properly qualified teacher of the doctrine 
 of God, must take heed that he be first 6cu<h6(iKro, 
 taught of God himself." He who keeps the objects 
 and end of the ministry steadily in view, will feel the 
 necessity of this divine teaching, and seek to pos- 
 sess it. 
 
 A Christian minister justly inspired with the great 
 objects and end of his vocation, will have no occa- 
 sion to seek for any extraneous stimulus for the full 
 employment of his powers. " Ah ! what more can 
 be necessary," exclaims the pious abbe Maury, " in 
 order to quicken our ardor? Is there a virtuous 
 and feeling mind that can despise such a delightful 
 reward ? 
 
 " We shall have fulfilled the end of our vocation 
 when we render ourselves useful to men ; in their
 
 COMMUNICATION OF KNOWLEDGE. 255 
 
 we shall receive an indemnification for all 
 our sacrifices; the pleasing remembrance of our 
 youthful labors will serve to delight the solitude 
 and to console the inactivity of our advanced years; 
 and when death shall lay his heavy hand upon our 
 eyelids, we shall each be able to say to the great 
 God, whose laws we have published, ' O my Father ! 
 thou hast given me thy children to instruct. I re- 
 store them to thee better. Remember all the bless- 
 ings which thou hast poured upon thy people through 
 the instrumentality of thy ministering servant Let 
 the tears which I have dried up, the tears which I 
 have excited when pleading in thy name, plead with 
 ihee on my behalf. I have been the instrument of 
 thy. clemency, make me hereafter the object of thy 
 tender mercy.' " 
 
 Worldly and professional considerations are not 
 wanting to excite the Christian minister to the at- 
 tainment of superior excellence ; but to the pious 
 mind, looking forward to the results and end of his 
 course, all other considerations shrink into insignifi- 
 cance when compared with the final approbation and 
 favor of his God. " Let us look," says Benson, " only 
 to that awful world, where, as the strong eloquence 
 of Chillingworth has uttered the thought, if we shine 
 not beautifully as the stars of God's glory, ice shall 
 glare fearfully as the firebrands of his ivrathfor ever" 
 
 " I had a vision," said the venerable Chrysostom ; 
 "1 thought I saw the communion rails crowded 
 with angels listening to the sermon. When a man 
 speaks as if in the sight of God, with an open hea-
 
 56 MENTAL DISCIPLINE. 
 
 ven, with Christ and angels before him, he catches 
 the true prophetic fire ; he preaches a present salva- 
 tion from a present Saviour; the Spirit of glory and 
 grace descends, and the flame communicates to his 
 auditory, and accompanies them to their homes." 
 
 SECTION XXVIII. Ever preserve a moral upightness 
 and independence of spirit and action. 
 
 The ancient rhetoricians uniformly claimed virtue 
 as an essential ingredient in the character of the 
 orator. Quintilian spends the first chapter of his 
 twelfth book in proving the necessity of the orator's 
 being a good man. If this be necessary at the bar, 
 in the forum, and before popular assemblies, how 
 much more necessary to the production of genuine 
 oratory in the pulpit ! Mr. Robinson well remarks, 
 that the conclusion of Quintilian " is enough to make 
 the Christian minister blush." "Men had better be 
 born dumb, and even destitute of reason, than per- 
 vert those gifts of Providence to pernicious pur- 
 poses."* 
 
 This moral uprightness is indispensable for two 
 considerations. First, without it a man cannot ex- 
 pect to receive mental illumination through the 
 Holy Ghost. Secondly, without it, his discourses, 
 however logical in argument, just and true in senti- 
 ment, wanting that weight and force that a pure life 
 would give, would fall powerless to the ground. 
 
 ' Multos enim nasci, ct egere omni ratione satius fuisset, quain 
 Providentiae munere in mutuam pemiciem convertere. Jui- 
 Mian, b. xii, c. 1.
 
 COMMUNICATION OF KNOWLEDGE. 257 
 
 The minister of Jesus Christ will often have occa- 
 sion to bring into exercise all the moral independ 
 enoe he may possess. Error is to be boldly attack- 
 ed, vice rebuked, and the self-denials of religion to 
 be enforced upon all classes. This moral virtue and 
 independence will not only give the minister favor 
 in the eyes of the people, but will re-act upon his 
 intellectual character, and endow him with a bold- 
 ness, a power of speech, that could not otherwise be 
 obtained. 
 
 In order to the full possession of these qualities, 
 he must have a full conviction of the truth and living 
 efficacy of that gospel he preaches. He is called to 
 defend and propagate, not a mere hypothesis not 
 a mere speculative notion, but absolute truth truth 
 that has the sanction of Omnipotence truth, whose 
 Jiving efficacy has been attested by unnumbered 
 thousands truth, that is for ever susceptible of ex- 
 perimental demonstration truth, that is identified 
 with human weal on earth and truth, that involves 
 the everlasting destinies of all our race. This truth 
 must have laid its' foundations deep in the convic- 
 tions of his own understanding. The gospel, to him 
 that would successfully minister at its holy altars, must 
 not be a mere matter of speculation, a creature 
 of the imagination, a baseless sentimentalism. But 
 it must be a living principle in the soul. Its vital 
 energy must, be diffused through the whole intellect- 
 ual and moral frame claiming the full assent of the 
 reason, swaying all the passions of the heart im- 
 pregnating and purifying all the moral emotions, so 
 17
 
 253 MENTAL DISCIPLINE. 
 
 that he may preach " Christ Jesus not with enticing 
 words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the 
 Spirit and with power." He must be able to say, 
 That which was from the beginning, which we have 
 heard, which ice have seen with our eyes, which we 
 have looked upon, and our hands have handled of the 
 word of life, that declare we unto you. Without this 
 divine ardor of conviction, and the accompanying 
 influence of the Holy Ghost, the most eloquent pulpit 
 performance is but " as sounding brass or a tinkling 
 cymbal."
 
 DIVERSITIES OF MENTAL CHARACTER. 2i 9 
 
 PART III. 
 
 DIVERSITIES OF MENTAL CHARACTER CON 
 SfDERED WITH REFERENCE TO MENTAL 
 DISCIPLINE AND EDUCATION GENERALLY. 
 
 SECTION I. Diversities of intellectual character. 
 
 DIVERSITIES. of intellectual character are every- 
 where observable among men, and the varieties 
 seem to be almost endless. Whether there be any 
 original disparities of intellect, or whether the 
 existing diversities have resulted -wholly from in- 
 cidental circumstances and habit, is a question that 
 has been long and much discussed. A definite 
 conclusion upon it is perhaps not attainable, and 
 this may, in part, account for the unsatisfactory 
 results of the discussions that have been had. It 
 may however be received as an unquestionable 
 principle, that not a small portion of the existing 
 diversity may be referred to the different circum- 
 stances and accidents by which the characters of in- 
 dividuals receive special tendencies in earlier life, 
 and are ever afterward more or less affected. 
 
 On the other hand, it is also unquestionable that 
 facts, as well as the analogy of things, would indicate 
 that there may be natural disparities more or less 
 marked in the mental character of men. " What 
 are the original disparities in their capacities," says 
 Dugald Stewart, " it is impossible for us to ascertain ;
 
 2GO MENTAL DISCIPLINE. 
 
 but from the analogy of the body, it is presumable 
 that such disparities exist That the different situ- 
 ations into which men are thrown by the accidents 
 of life would produce great diversities in their 
 talents, even on the supposition that their original 
 capacities were the same, is undoubtedly true ; but 
 it is surely pushing the conclusion too far to affirm, 
 that no original inequalities exist, when no proof of 
 the fact can be produced of such an assertion, and 
 when so strong an analogy as that of natural dispari- 
 ties among men, in point of bodily advantages, leads 
 to an opposite opinion. At the same time it must be 
 acknowledged, that, supposing the minds to be equal 
 in all respects, the most trifling external circum- 
 stances may create between them the most important 
 differences in the result." The circumstances that 
 may thus affect and give variety to mental character 
 are absolutely innumerable. Even the bodily form 
 often affects the character and style of our thoughts) 
 and eventually the whole mental character. Cicero 
 says, Ipsi animi, magni refert, quali in corpore locati 
 sint : Multa enim e corpore existunt, quo? acuant men- 
 tern: multa, qu<E obtundent. Personal beauty some- 
 times turns the heads of men as well as women ; and 
 bodily infirmity is often a spur to mental activity. 
 " Whosoever hath anything fixed in his person," says 
 Lord Bacon, " that doth induce contempt, hath also 
 a perpetual spur in himself, to rescue and deliver 
 himself from scorn." The effect of stature upon 
 menial character led an accurate and profound ob- 
 server to remark, that "little men are commonly
 
 DIVERSITIES OF MENTAL CHARACTER. 2G1 
 
 decisive and oracular in their opinions ;" and Dugald 
 Stewart asserts, that he lias little doubt of the " re- 
 ality of the fact" 
 
 But our present object does not require of us, 
 either an examination of the original disparities of 
 men, or an investigation of the causes of the existing 
 differences of character. A\ r e shall therefore avoid 
 a field so measureless ; and direct our inquiries to 
 these differences, as they exist. 
 
 SECTION II. We should carefully note these diversities, and 
 ascertain the class of intellect to which we belong. 
 
 The varieties of mental character, from whatever 
 causes they may result, often require different 
 modes of training and discipline. Hence the im- 
 portance to him who would have his powers proper- 
 ly balanced and regulated, of carefully discrimina- 
 ting the various grades of intellectual character, and 
 especially of determining the class to which his own 
 mind belongs, that he may choose and pursue an 
 appropriate system of mental discipline. " There 
 is no stand or impediment," says Lord Bacon, " in 
 the wit, but may be wrought out by fit studies, and, 
 like as diseases of the body, may have appropriate 
 exercises: bowling is good for the stone and reins; 
 shooting for the lungs and breast ; gentle walking 
 f(..-r the stomach ; riding for the head and the like ; 
 so if a man's wit be wandering, let him study the 
 mat hematics, for in demonstrations, if his wit be 
 -jailed away never so little, he must begin again ; if 
 ais wit be not apt to distinguish or find differences,
 
 262 ME> 7 TAL DISCIPLINE. 
 
 let him study the schoolmen ; if he be not apt to 
 beat over matters, and to call upon one thing to 
 prove and illustrate another, let him study the law- 
 yer's cases : so every defect of the mind may have a 
 special receipt." 
 
 It is unquestionably the case that important dif- 
 ferences are discernible in the minds of children, 
 even in very early infancy. And not unfrequently 
 strong intellectual tendencies exist long before the 
 period at which, it is generally supposed, intellectual 
 education commences. Sometimes also a certain 
 cast of intellectual character may seem hereditary. 
 " One race, for a succession of generations, is dis- 
 tinguished by a genius for the abstract sciences, while 
 it is deficient in vivacity, in imagination, and in 
 taste : another is no less distinguished for wit, and 
 gayety, and fancy, while it appears incapable of pa- 
 tient attention, or of profound research." Dugald 
 Stewart contends, that " the system of education 
 which is proper to be adopted in particular cases, 
 ought to have some reference to these circumstances, 
 and to be calculated, as much as possible, to develop 
 and to cherish those intellectual and active princi- 
 ples in which a natural deficiency is most to be ap- 
 prehended." He further asserts, that " there is a 
 foundation in philosophy and good sense for accom- 
 modating, at a very early period of life, the educa- 
 tion of individuals to those particular turns of mind, 
 to which, from hereditary propensities, or from rnor il 
 situation, it may be presumed they have a natural 
 tendency." Now this is an important feature in
 
 DIVERSITIES OF MENTAL CHARACTER. 263 
 
 which the systems of education in vogue in the 
 present age are remarkably deficient. Parents on 
 whom this work necessarily devolves, are, for the 
 most part, from their own defective education, or 
 from want of habits of close attention and discri- 
 minating observation, incompetent to its execution. 
 Hence in the intellectual education of children and 
 youth, they are almost universally subjected to a 
 general intellectual regimen, without the slightest 
 reference to their natural aptitudes and tendencies. 
 This defect, every one, who is emulous of intel- 
 lectual excellence, must remedy as best he may, 
 after he has become capable of observation and re- 
 flection upon himself. But no one who wishes his 
 plans for the attainment of excellence or eminence 
 to be securely laid, can excuse himself from the 
 most determined effort for the admeasurement of 
 his powers and the discovery of his natural aptitudes 
 and predilections. 
 
 SECTION III. Classification of the varieties of intellectual 
 character among men. 
 
 It might seem to the casual observer, that the varie- 
 ties of mental character were so numerous and so 
 complicated, that any philosophical classification of 
 them would be impracticable. And perhaps the 
 only method by which such classification is attain- 
 able, is by noting the prevailing character of our in- 
 tellections, and the manner in which our thoughts 
 are associated together. 
 
 Viewed in this light, all the varieties of intellectual
 
 264 MENTAL DISCIPLINE. 
 
 character may be comprehended in three general 
 classes, namely, the philosophical, the " matter of 
 fact " or circumstantial, and the imaginative. In the 
 fiist, rejection predominates ; in the second, obser- 
 vation ; and in the third, the imagination. The 
 same course of mental discipline would, evidently, 
 not be best adapted to each of these separate and 
 distinct classes of intellect. 
 
 These three classes are to be found in ever}' state 
 of society ; as clearly defined and as strongly marked, 
 perhaps, in rude and savage nations, as among the 
 civilized and refined. 
 
 SECTION IV. T Ite philosophical mind. 
 
 Minds of this class delight in tracing out the analo- 
 gies, causes, and effects of things, and the knowledge 
 they acquire is a knowledge of principles rather 
 than things. Of isolated facts, such as dates, names, 
 and persons, they retain but faint recollections, while 
 the associating principles of their memory are con- 
 trast and resemblance, cause and effect. But while 
 the memory is sluggish in its movement, and uncon- 
 nected facts easily escape from it. and while exter- 
 nal objects slightly impress the imagination, the 
 ideas actually retained are comprehensive and or 
 great value. Such a mind will thread the most ob- 
 scure analogies, and is capable of mature and sound 
 judgment, but it lacks vivacity. It can analyze, but 
 not describe. It can develop principles and syste- 
 mize the general formulas of a science, but is in
 
 DIVERSITIES OF MENTAL CHARACTER. 265 
 
 expert in their application. In a word, it is adapted 
 to th our/he rather than action. 
 
 Habits of attention, and great powers of abstrac- 
 tion, are strongly marked in such an intellectual 
 character. Its almost irresistible propension is to 
 retirement and meditation, and it often predomi- 
 nates to such an extent as to almost unfit its subject 
 for the ordinary duties of life. Hence it is often 
 seen, that persons of more mind, and also of more 
 just and comprehensive views, are less successful in 
 the affairs of life, and move with less effect through 
 the world, than their more active rivals. Such, it is 
 true, is the class of mind out of which philosophers 
 are made ; but then, comparatively few can become 
 philosophers by profession. Its mental discipline 
 should be such, as would give practical activity to 
 the current of its abstract speculation. 
 
 But the question very naturally arises in this con- 
 nection, whether, when an individual discovers in 
 early life some strong intellectual bias, he should 
 not follow the direction of such bias ? We will not 
 say, that, when such tendency seems to denote great 
 aptitude for any particular calling or profession, the 
 person should not follow such calling. But it is to 
 be observed that these extraordinary gifts or pro- 
 pensions of mind, are almost always accompanied by 
 a correspondent deficiency in some other of the in- 
 tellectual faculties. A well-disciplined mind implies 
 the proportionate development and discipline of all 
 i.he faculties. Hence, to give a proportionate de- 
 velopment to those that are weak, not only must
 
 2GG MENTAL DISCIPLINE. 
 
 they be nurtured, but the strong must often be re* 
 pressed. A sound and well-regulated understand- 
 ing can be formed in no other way, and without 
 fuch an understanding to control them, the most de- 
 sirable characteristics may degenerate into mere ex- 
 crescences upon the intellectual character. The for- 
 mation of this understanding is attended with so 
 much difficulty and doubt in few other cases, as in 
 those who are said, in ordinary parlance, to " have a 
 genius." Says Dugald Stewart : " I have long been 
 disposed to consider any violent and exclusive bias 
 of this sort, when manifested in very early life, as a 
 most unfavorable omen of the future vigor and com- 
 prehension of the understanding," and this remark 
 is fully verified in the history of Zerah Colburn and 
 other cases of a similar description. 
 
 SECTION V. The " matter of fact" or circumstantial 
 mind 
 
 This class of mind is widely distinct from the former. 
 It is conversant mainly with matters of fact, and its 
 associating principle, or the method by wliich its 
 ideas and trains of thought, as well as events and 
 objects, are connected together in its mind, is by 
 iheir accidental nearness in time or place to some 
 other object or event. Thus, such a person in do- 
 scribing an event that happened to themselves or 
 family, will often tell you that it was the year after 
 such an eclipse, or famine, or war. Touching matters 
 of fact, its memory is remarkably quick and decisive.
 
 DIVERSITIES OF MENTAL CHARACTER. 267 
 
 But for the investigation of remote analogies and the 
 intricate relations of cause and effect, it has but little 
 taste, and as little adaptation. It is minute and cri- 
 tical in narration, detailing incidental particulars 
 unconnected with the case, only as they happened 
 to be associated by some contiguity of time or place. 
 Shakspeare affords a fine illustration of this in the 
 character of Mrs. Quickly. In reminding Falstafi 
 of his marriage engagement with her, she specifies a 
 great variety of circumstances incidental to the en- 
 gagement only by nearness of time and place. 
 Thus : 
 
 " Falstajf. What is the gross sum that I owe 
 thee ? 
 
 " Hostess.- blurry, if thou wert an honest man, 
 thyself, and thy money too. Thou didst swear to 
 me on a parcel-gilt goblet, sitting in my dolphin- 
 thamber, at the round table, by a sea-coal fire, on 
 Wednesday in Whit-sun week, when the prince 
 broke thy head for likening him to a singing man of 
 Windsor, thou didst swear to me then, as I was 
 washing thy wound, to marry me, and to make me 
 my lady, thy wife. Canst thou deny it ? Did not 
 Goodwife Kuch, the butcher's wife, come in then, 
 and call me Gossip Quickly ? coming in to borrow a 
 mess of vinegar ; telling us she had a good dish of 
 prawns ; whereby thou didst desire to eat some ; 
 whereby I told thee they were ill for a green wound. 
 And didst not thou, when she was gone down stairs, 
 desire me to be no more so familiar with such poor
 
 268 MENTAL DISCIPLINE. 
 
 people, saying, that ere long they should call me, 
 madam ? And didst thou not kiss me, and bid me 
 fetch the thirty shillings? I put thee now to thy 
 book oath, deny it, if thou canst." See ShaJcspearc's 
 Henry IV. 
 
 Lord Ramos, in connection with the above illus- 
 tration, remarks, " In the minds of some persons, 
 thoughts and circumstances crowd upon each other 
 by the slightest connections. I ascribe this to a 
 bluntness in the discerning faculty ; for a person who 
 cannot accurately distinguish between a slight con- 
 nection and one that is more intimate, is equally 
 affected by each ; such a person must necessarily 
 have a great flow of ideas, because they are intro- 
 duced by any relation indifferently ; and the slighter 
 relations being without number, furnish ideas with- 
 out end. On the other hand, a man of accurate 
 judgment cannot have a great flow of ideas ; because 
 the slighter relations making no figure in his mind, 
 have no power to introduce ideas. And hence it is, 
 that accurate judgment is not friendly to declama- 
 tion or copious eloquence. This reasoning is con- 
 firmed by experience ; for it is a noted observation, 
 that a great or comprehensive memory is seldom 
 connected with a good judgment." 
 
 Mr. Upham speaks of this peculiarity as being the 
 characteristic of the " uneducated." This, however, 
 is by no means the case. Many who are " educated," 
 so far as the schools of learning and a pursuit of the 
 courses of study comprised in a liberal education, 
 tould educate them, retain this characteristic still ;
 
 DIVERSITIES OF MENTAL CHARACTER. 2G9 
 
 while, on the other hand, men " uneducated" in the 
 scnools, possess every characteristic of the philosophic 
 mind. This of itself is proof that education is often 
 so conducted as to nurture, instead of rectifying, the 
 peculiarities of mind. In this class, evidently, the 
 reflective powers are disproportioned in strength 
 and development to the active powers. This dis- 
 proportion may be maintained, or even increased, 
 through the most extended course of education. 
 The proper discipline of such a mind, then, should 
 have a direct reference to the development of the 
 reflective powers, and for that purpose, it should be 
 applied early to such studies as will require the ex- 
 ercise of reason and reflection, till its habits are well 
 formed. 
 
 The mental traits characteristic of this class of 
 mind are often undervalued, and especially by stu- 
 dents and those devoted to scientific pursuits. The 
 general impression seems to be, that while the 
 " matter-of-fact " we use the term for want of a 
 better mind is adapted to the ordinary manual oc- 
 cupations of life, the " philosophic " only is becoming 
 the man of letters. Under this impression, many, 
 after spending years in the vigorous cultivation of 
 their intellectual powers, have departed from the 
 schools of learning, as little adapted to the active 
 duties of their profession as the infant child. They 
 are for ever quarrying their marble, but the edifice 
 an active and useful life never goes up. The 
 true development of mind that which should be 
 most desired, and that which every sound system
 
 270 MENTAL DISCIPLINE. 
 
 of mental discipline seeks to produce embraces 
 both the philosophic and the circumstantial, and that 
 mental capacity which combines the tAvo in suitable 
 proportions is most to be coveted and sought after. 
 
 SECTION VI. The imaginative mind. 
 
 We have chosen this term to designate that class of 
 mind in which the imagination predominates. Mr. 
 Stewart designates it by the term " poet," intending, 
 as he says, to " comprehend all those who devote 
 themselves to the culture of the arts which are ad- 
 dressed to the imagination ; and in whose minds, it 
 may be presumed, imagination has acquired a more 
 than ordinary sway over the other powers of the un- 
 derstanding." But this, by no means, includes all 
 who properly belong to this class. There are thou- 
 sands, who are constantly engaged in the practical 
 callings of life, whose most striking mental charac- 
 teristic is the predominancy of their imagination. 
 They are neither poets, painters, nor sculptors they 
 know the fine arts, as they are technically called, 
 hardly by name ; but yet their imagination gilds, 
 with colorings of its own, all their observations, and 
 also overtops reason and reflection. 
 
 The intellectual character, in which imagination 
 predominates, is so strikingly distinct from the phi- 
 losophical and the " matter-of-fact " mind, that it re- 
 quires no special delineation. " The culture of the 
 imagination," says Stewart, " does not diminish our 
 interest in human life, but is extremely apt to in- 
 spire the mind with false conceptions of it." It has
 
 DIVERSITIES OF MENTAL CHARACTER. 271 
 
 a tendency to unduly exalt our expectations, and 
 produce enthusiastic hope, while it is really stirring 
 up, for the future, disappointment and disgust. 
 Hence, perhaps, results that thoughtlessness and im- 
 providence with respect to the future, and that 
 general imprudence in the conduct of life, which are 
 so characteristic of poets. Horace, in his Epistle 
 to Augustus, represents them as too much engrossed 
 with their favorite pursuits to think of anything else. 
 
 " Vatis avarus 
 
 Non temere est animus ; versus amat ; hoc studet unum ; 
 Detrirnenta, fugas servorum, incendia ridet." 
 
 The observations made by the imaginative mind 
 are extremely liable to be inaccurate and fallacious. 
 Such persons dwell in an ideal, rather than real, 
 world. Hence their judgment, in reference to what 
 have been termed the " actualities of life," is not to 
 be depended upon, being formed more with refer- 
 ence to the ideal creations of the imagination, than 
 to the real nature of existing facts. Mr. Stewart 
 very happily illustrates this point : " When a man, 
 under the habitual influence of a warm imagination, 
 is obliged to mingle occasionally in the scenes of real 
 business, he is perpetually in danger of being misled 
 by his own enthusiasm. External circumstances 
 only serve as hints to excite his own thoughts, and 
 the conduct he pursues, has, in general, far less re- 
 ference to his real situation, than to some imagi- 
 nary one, in which he conceives himself to be 
 placed : in consequence of which, while he appears 
 to himself to be acting with the most perfect wisdom
 
 272 MENTAL DISCIPLINE. 
 
 and consistency, he may frequently exhibit to otheis 
 all the appearance of folly." This seems to have 
 been the intellectual peculiarity in the character of 
 Konsseau, as drawn in the " Reflections " of Madame 
 de Stael : " His faculties were slow in their opera- 
 tion, but his heart was ardent : it was in conse- 
 quence of his own meditations that he became im- 
 passioned : he discovered no sudden emotions, but 
 all his feelings grew upon reflection. Sometimes 
 he would part with you with all his former affection : 
 but if an expression had escaped you, which might 
 bear an unfavorable construction, he would recollect 
 it, examine it, exaggerate it, perhaps dwell upon it 
 for a month, and conclude by a total breach with 
 you. A word or gesture furnished him with matter 
 of profound meditation : he connected the most tri- 
 fling circumstances like so many mathematical pro- 
 positions, and conceived his conclusions to be sup- 
 ported by the evidence of demonstration. I believe 
 that imagination wa? the strongest of his faculties, and 
 tliat it had almost absorbed all the rest. He dreamed 
 rather than existed, and the events of his life might 
 be said, more properly, to have passed in his mind, 
 than without him : a mode of being, one should have 
 thought, that ought to have secured him from dis- 
 trust, as il prevented him from observation ; but the 
 truth was, it did not hinder him from attempting to 
 observe ; it only rendered his observations errcne- 
 ous." Who can doubt but that a proper mental dis- 
 cipline might have given a truer and better develop- 
 ment to such a mind !
 
 DIVERSITIES OF MENTAL CHARACTER. 273 
 
 SECTION VII. Illustrations of this suliject from Due/old 
 Stewart. 
 
 To the preceding remarks, we subjoin the following 
 illustrations from Dugald. Stewart, as they forcibly 
 express some of the distinctions we have attempted 
 to delineate, and withal afford many practical and 
 useful suggestions : " A man destitute of genius 
 may, with a little effort, treasure up in his memory 
 a number of particulars in chemistry, or natural 
 history, which he refers to no principle, and from 
 which he deduces no conclusion ; and from his faci- 
 lity in acquiring this stock of information, may flat- 
 ter himself with the belief that he possesses a natu- 
 ral taste for these branches of knowledge. But they 
 whe are really destined to extend the boundaries 
 of science, when they first enter on new pursuits, 
 feel their attention distracted, and their memory 
 overloaded with facts among which they can trace no 
 relation, and are sometimes apt to despair entirely of 
 their future progress. In due time, however, their 
 superiority appears, and arises in part from that very 
 dissatisfaction which they at first experienced, and 
 which does notecase to stimulate their inquiries, till 
 they are enabled to trace, amid a chaos of appa- 
 rently unconnected materials, that simplicity and 
 beauty which always characterize the operations of 
 nature. 
 
 " There are, besides, other circumstances which 
 retard the progress of a man of genius, when he en- 
 ters on a new pursuit, and which sometimes render 
 JL8
 
 274 MENTAL DISCIPLINE. 
 
 him apparently inferior to those who are possessed 
 of ordinary capacity. A want of curiosity (that is, 
 about truth. Dr. Butler says, ' There are many men 
 Avho have a strong curiosity to know what is said, 
 who have little or no curiosity to know what i 
 true ') and of invention facilitates greatly the ac- 
 quisition of knowledge. It renders the mind pas- 
 sive in receiving the ideas of others, and saves all 
 the time which might be employed in examining their 
 foundation, or in tracing their consequences. They 
 who are possessed of much acuteness and originality 
 enter with difficulty into the views of others ; not 
 from any defect in their power of apprehension, but 
 because they cannot adopt opinions Avhich they have 
 not examined ; and because their attention is often 
 seduced by their own speculations. 
 
 " It is not merely in the acquisition of knowledge 
 that a man of genius is likely to find himself sur- 
 passed by others. He has commonly his information 
 much less at command, than those who are possessed 
 of an inferior degree of originality ; and, what is 
 somewhat remarkable, he has it least of all at com- 
 mand on those subjects on which he has found his 
 invention most fertile. Sir Isaac Newton was often 
 at a loss, when the conversation turned upon his own 
 discoveries. It is probable that they made but a 
 slight impression on his mind, and that a conscious- 
 ness of his inventive powers prevented him from 
 taking such pains to treasure them up in his me- 
 mory. Men of little ingenuity seldom forget the 
 ideas they acquire ; because they know that when
 
 DIVERSITIES OF MENTAL CHARACTER. 275 
 
 in occasion occurs for their applying their know- 
 ledge to use, they must trust to their memory, and 
 not to invention. 
 
 " In general, I believe, it may be laid down as u 
 rule, that those who carry about with them a greit 
 degree of acquired information, which they have al- 
 ways at command, or who have rendered their own 
 discoveries so familiar to them as always to be in a 
 condition to explain them, without recollection, are 
 very seldom possessed of much invention, or even 
 of much quickness of apprehension. A man of ori- 
 ginal genius, who is fond of exercising his reasoning 
 powers anew, on every point as it occurs to him, 
 and who cannot submit to rehearse the ideas of 
 others, or to repeat by rote the conclusions he has 
 deduced from previous reflections, often appears, to 
 superficial observers, to fall below the level of ordi- 
 nary understandings ; while another, destitute both 
 of quickness and invention, is admired for that 
 promptitude in his decisions which arises from the 
 inferiority of his intellectual abilities. 
 
 " It must indeed be acknowledged in favor of the 
 last set of men, that they form the most agreeable 
 and perhaps the most instructive companions. The 
 conversation of men of genius is sometimes ex- 
 tremely limited ; and is interesting to the few alone, 
 who knoAV the value, and who can distinguish the 
 marks of originality." Abridged from Stewart's 
 Elements of the Philosophy of the Mind. See vol. i, 
 h. 6, 8.
 
 276 MENTAL DISCIPLINE. 
 
 SECTION VIII. Tlie.se faculties co-operate together and 
 mutually assist each other. 
 
 It will not, we presume, be questioned but that the 
 ability to treasure up in the mind and also to make 
 a ready use of such particulars, such " matters of 
 fact" as the circumstantial mind is conversant with, 
 would be of essential use even in philosophic pur- 
 suits. If we have need of proof, the constant com- 
 plaint of men of speculative minds of their deficiency 
 in this respect would be abundant evidence. The 
 mathematician, the natural philosopher, the meta- 
 physician, and the moralist, have all felt them- 
 selves obstructed in the prosecution of their re- 
 spective studies, and have given utterance to their 
 complaints. Montaigne, the philosophic and curi- 
 ous author of various speculative essays, while 
 making complaint of this mental defect, questions 
 whether, if he lived long, he " should be able to re- 
 collect his own name." A vivid and ready recollec- 
 tion, which is ever associated with close observation, 
 is of incalculable importance to him who would 
 reason effective} a . Such a rpcollection is not only 
 indispensable in marshaling the details of argu- 
 ment, but an exhaustless magazine from which il 
 lustrations and arguments are drawn. 
 
 Dr. Beasley, in his Search of Truth, offers the fol- 
 lowing suggestions upon the co-operation of even 
 mechanical memory with the reason, and the per- 
 fect compatibility of these two powers with each 
 other: " The reason, therefore, why these powers
 
 DIVERSITIES OF MENTAL CHARACTER. 277 
 
 of reason anil memory are seldom found In theit 
 highest perfection united in the same person, is, that 
 men are prone to exert them separately and dis- 
 tinctly from each other, and in undue proportions 
 By this means, the one is apt to be cultivated to the 
 total exclusion, or but partial exercise, of the other. 
 I do not mean to assert, indeed, that there may not, 
 in our original structure, be communicated to us 
 one of these faculties in great vigor, while we are 
 left entirely destitute, or but in a slight degree pos- 
 sessed, of the other. But a great deal, also, depends 
 upon the proper culture of the mind, whether the 
 one shall gain the pre-eminence, or all shall be alike- 
 nurtured and invigorated. Nothing can be more 
 false than that sentiment, so frequently recurred to 
 in society, that deep erudition, and the study of the 
 most finished models, are calculated to repress ge- 
 nius, and shackle the inventive powers. Little 
 minds only are encumbered with the weight of 
 learning, but to really good ones it becomes their 
 sus'entation. 
 
 " Science and learning furnish the literary artifi- 
 cer with more copious materials, out of which to form 
 his structures, and his skill will be displayed in the 
 selection of his materials, and the execution of his 
 work. Can it ever be of disadvantage to any one 
 to have a large stock of precious materials on hand, 
 save to those who have not address and ingenuity 
 enough to apply them to practical purposes, and on 
 (his account allow them to rot and perish in theil 
 possession ? To the man of true genius, every
 
 278 MENTAL DISCIPLINE. 
 
 scrap of information he obtains is of real service, ana 
 the largest accumulations remain entirely at his dis- 
 posal. 
 
 " The great art in education, as I conceive, con- 
 sists in the contemporaneous cultivation of all the 
 powers of the mind, and that, too, in a just propor- 
 tion to their importance and dignity. As reason is, 
 indisputably, the noblest prerogative of our nature, 
 the earliest and most solicitous attention should be 
 devoted to its improvement. Afterward, in due or* 
 der, should be cultivated the memory and imagina- 
 tion, which may be regarded as the hand-maids of 
 reason. The one supplies it with the lessons of past 
 experience and observation, and the other gives its 
 embellishments to the structures it has reared." Mr. 
 Ranch also, in his Psychology, urges that " the me- 
 chanical memory ought to be much exercised ; for by 
 it the judgment will gain materials for its reason- 
 ing ; judgmen' and memory the spontaneous and 
 receptive activ/ties ought, therefore, to be exercised 
 in an equal degree ; and neither at the expense of 
 the other." 
 
 " The prominent marks of a good memory." says 
 Professor Upham, "are two, namely: (1) Tenacity 
 in retaining ideas ; (2) Readiness in bringing them 
 forward on necessary occasions." The same author 
 intimates that in respect to this second mark, men 
 of philosophic minds are more likely to be deficient, 
 as " they pay no attention to particular facts, ex- 
 cept for the purpose of deducing from them general 
 principles." But he also affirms, " that when this c
 
 DIVERSITIES OF MENTAL CHARACTER. 279 
 
 want of readiness is such as to cause a considerable 
 degree of perplexity, it must be regarded as a great 
 menial defect." How different is this from the idea 
 that the high road to mental excellence is the exclu- 
 sive cultivation of the speculative powers ; and that 
 that mind has attained the highest summit of mental 
 discipline whose treasury is richest in general ab- 
 stractions, and freest from particular or isolated 
 facts ! A greater error can hardly be imagined ; 
 and yet it is an error with which those who are just 
 entering upon the studies of a liberal education are 
 exceedingly liable to be captivated. Dr. Beasley, 
 after referring to the statement of Locke, that " the 
 celebrated Pascal, until the decay of his health had 
 impaired his memory, forgot nothing of what he had 
 done, read, or thought, in any part of his rational 
 age," exclaims : " Such a memory, as far as it is to 
 be acquired, is worthy of our most assiduous exertions 
 to acquire it. By means of this it is, that the philoso- 
 pher treasures up those maxims of science that lead 
 him on from investigation to investigation, and from 
 one discovery to another ; that the poet retains 
 for the delight of mankind." 
 
 With regard to the imagination, we are too 
 apt to consider it as merely a source of pleasure, 
 and not of utility. Mr. Stewart says : " This 
 faculty is the great spring of human activity, and 
 the principal source of human improvement. . . . 
 Destroy this faculty, and the condition of man will 
 become as stationary as that of the brutes." But 
 this is not all. As an intellectual faculty, the ima-
 
 280 MENTAL DISCIPLINE. 
 
 gination co-operates with our other faculties in en- 
 larging the sphere of human knowledge. To what 
 are we indebted for the origin and use of language, 
 that wonderful vehicle and instrument of thought, 
 but to the imagination ? In fact, there is not a single 
 process of thought that may not be quickened by its 
 impulse : perception is stimulated ; and even scien- 
 tific research is whet to a keener edge by it. The 
 field of poesy and of the fine arts by no means sets 
 limits to the utility of the imagination. D'Alembert 
 has intimated that the imagination is called into use 
 even in the study of mathematics, and lends essen- 
 tial aid even in the processes of geometry. It is an 
 indispensable auxiliary to the reasoning power ; it 
 stimulates the other intellectual powers employed ; 
 it quickens the associating principle, so that thoughts 
 and trains of thoughts are placed Avithin its control 
 that would not otherwise have been reached. A few 
 remarks from Professor Upham must satisfy us upon 
 this point: " There is one important point of view, 
 in which the utility of the imagination is capable of 
 being considered : that of the relation of the imagi- 
 nation to the other intellectual powers. And, 
 amonoj other things, there is obviously ground for 
 the remark, that a vigorous and well-disciplined 
 imagination may be made subservient to prompt- 
 ness, and clearness, and success, in reasoning. . . . 
 We may go further, and even venture to assert, that 
 there is no form of literature whatever which does 
 not require the aid of the imagination It is an er- 
 roneous notion, that would limit its exercise to the
 
 DIVERSITIES OP MENTAL CHARACTER. 281 
 
 fine arts; it is essential to the reasoner and orator; 
 and, we may add, it is essential to the historian also * 
 
 SECTION IX. Temperaments Their influence upon intel 
 factual character Remarks cf Rauch. 
 
 The term temperament is used to express a perma- 
 nent predisposition to some particular passion, or 
 kind of sentimental excitement, which may com- 
 monly be discovered in every individual. Dr. Rauch 
 supposes the temperament to result from " the pecu- 
 liar connection of soul and body in an individual. 
 This connection," continues he, " becomes peculiar 
 by the prevailing fluids of the body, their lymphatic, 
 sanguine, choleric, and bilious nature ; by the pre- 
 vailing elements, as water, air, fire, or earth ; by the 
 nature of the blood, which is either cold or warm, 
 light or heavy ; by that of the fibres, which are 
 either lax or firm, soft or hard. All these must affect 
 our feeling, this our thinking, and this again our 
 will." 
 
 " We haveybur different temperaments : the san- 
 guine stands connected with the system of sensibility ; 
 the melancholic with that of reproductiveness ; while 
 the system of irritability, by its twofold relation to 
 the arterial and venous blood, produces the choleric 
 temperament when the arterial, and the phlegmatic 
 when the venous, blood prevails. The temperaments 
 do not directly originate in the individual ; but in 
 circumstances preceding its existence, in climate, 
 locality, in the season of its birth, &c. Hence many 
 feel inclined to consider them as accidental. Every
 
 282 MENTAL DISCIPLINE. 
 
 man, say they, must have a temperament, but which 
 of the four seems to be wholly accidental. So every 
 man must have eyes, but whether they are blue or 
 black is accidental. Though it maj be accidental, 
 whether a man is born with the choleric or melan- 
 cholic temperament, he will retain it through life ; 
 and though the phlegmatic may modify his tempera- 
 ment by change of climate, by food, and drink, he 
 cannot change it into the sanguine. Yet, while 
 none can change his temperament, he may subdue 
 it, and exercise it as he pleases. 
 
 " The sanguine temperament is the temperament 
 of enjoyment and pleasure. It partakes of the nature 
 of the air, which, by its great elasticity, yields to 
 every pressure, and directly afterward regains its 
 former state. Persons who possess it- incline strongly 
 to Belles Lettres, but prefer the brilliant, the plea- 
 sant, and the copious, to the more solid, the truly 
 beautiful and simple. The choleric may be called 
 the temperament of action. Its bent is to practical 
 pursuits ; it is quick of understanding, acute in judg- 
 ment, clear and precise in its expressions, and its 
 productions in the arts are manifold and expressive. 
 The melancholic temperament is characterized by a 
 constant longing and desire, and an inclination to re- 
 tire or withdraw itself. It delights to live in the 
 regions of truth, of beauty, of the sublime, and of the 
 romantic. In science it is deep, and inclined to 
 skeptical researches; in art, it aims at expression. 
 In the phlegmatic temperament, yelf-posae.^icn pre- 
 vails, which does not suffer itself to be carried a\vaj
 
 DIVERSITIES OF MENTAL CHARACTER. 28S 
 
 by external impressions, nor does it permit any of 
 the one-sided characteristics of the previous tempera* 
 ment to reign, but retains its full dominion over all 
 the influences exerted upon it, and over all its re- 
 actions. 
 
 " The phlegmatic temperament has frequently 
 been wronged, and looked on as inferior to the 
 others, because its features are not so striking ; and 
 yet this alone renders it easy to man to preserve to 
 himself his liberty, and to move, without prejudice 
 and predetermination, in whatever direction of 
 science or art he chooses. Its seeming inactivity and 
 rest is not without activity and deep interest; but. 
 like the lake, the waters of which seem motionless 
 on the surface, while rivulets and fresh waters are 
 constantly flowing in, and, though unseen, keep up 
 a gentle but lively and healthy activity, so this is 
 always devoted to some action, without much dis- 
 play. Its talents are highly respectable, its ideas 
 deep and clear, its style rather dry, but profound 
 and accurate. 
 
 " Aristotle asserted that the melancholy tempera- 
 ment was most favorable to science and art. He 
 quotes, among the rest, Socrates, of whom Plato 
 says, that in the midst of the noise of an encamp- 
 ment, he fell into a deep meditation, and stood im- 
 movable in one place, from one morning to another, 
 until the rising sun aroused him, to offer his prayer. 
 Empedoeles, Plato, Homer, Phidias, Dante, Raphael, 
 Handel, and other distinguished scholars, had the 
 same temperament. Yet it is the will that reigns in
 
 'J84 MENTAL DISCIPLINE. 
 
 man, and not the temperament; the foi mer, and not 
 the latter, forms the character: nor does talent and 
 genius depend on it. Moses and Paul were choleric, 
 Oberlin was sanguine, and the celebrated Rem- 
 brandt phlegmatic. One temperament will make it 
 more easy than another to lead a life according to 
 determined principles, or to enter on some scientific 
 or practical pursuit. The choleric, for instance, is 
 favorable to practical business, for it is the tempera- 
 ment of action ; the sanguine to Belles Lettres, for 
 it is that of enjoyment; the melancholy to deep 
 speculations, for it is that of desire ; and the phleg- 
 matic to thorough and universal learning, for it is 
 that of self-possession and patience." 
 
 The above observations will suggest to him who is 
 ambitious of mental excellence that the careful study 
 of his own temperament, and its natural tendency, 
 will not be without its practical use. And, at the 
 same time, if the views here submitted be sound, 
 they assure us that temperaments, contrary to what 
 many have supposed, furnish no gaug* for the ad- 
 measurement of the intellectual capacity, and indeed 
 set no bound to limit the acquisitions of mind. De- 
 termination in the will, will overcome the impedi- 
 ments thrown in our way by the most unfavorable 
 temperament ; and, without this, the richest endow- 
 ments which the temperament can bestow can never 
 produce the well-disciplined mind, essential to the 
 ripe scholar, the profound philosopher, the sagacious 
 statesman, the accomplished orator, or even the 
 energetic and successful man of business
 
 DIVERSITIES OF MENTAL CHARACTER. 285 
 
 SECTION X. Nbm omnes omnia possumus. 
 
 We are not all able to accomplish all things." 
 Few men possess the character of universal genius. 
 And perhaps the number is equally small that might 
 not excel in some one sphere of action. Clavius, 
 when a boy, was noted for nothing but his stupidity. 
 His teachers could do nothing with him, till at length 
 one of them tried him in geometry ; this kindled 
 the latent spark, awoke his sleeping genius, and the 
 almost hopelessly stupid by became one of the most 
 distinguished mathematicians of the age. The cele- 
 brated Boyle, after giving credit to his tutor for his 
 instructions in the Roman tongue, confesses that 
 during his travels, through neglect, he forgot much 
 that he had acquired, and never afterward could 
 find time to redeem his losses. From this we infer 
 that the natural bent of his mind was not strongly 
 inclined to classical studies, else he who found time 
 to achieve all he attempted would have found time 
 for this also. 
 
 Where there is a constitutional unfitness for any 
 sphere of action, it were worse than useless for the 
 individual to enter upon it. He. may strive to over- 
 come his impediment, to rise in his profession, to 
 develop the requisite energy, but even the earnest- 
 ness and perseverance of his exertion cannot save 
 him from failure and disappointment. When the 
 viscount of Dundee, the famous Claverhouse of Old 
 Mortality, whose name Scott has rendered immortal, 
 comman Jed the Scotch insurgents, the son of one of
 
 286 MENTAL DISCIPLINE. 
 
 his intimate friends joined them. A skirmish shortly 
 after ensued, and the new recrnit fled. Dundee 
 saved him from disgrace by pretending that lie had 
 sent him with orders into the rear. He then told 
 him in private that he had entered a service for 
 which it was his misfortune to be constitutionally 
 unfit. He advised him to leave the army, offering 
 to furnish an honorable excuse for so doing. The 
 young man, with a sense of the deepest shame, 
 threw himself at the feet of the general, and pro- 
 tested that his failure in duty was only the effect of 
 a momentary weakness, the recollection of which 
 should be effaced by his future good conduct, and 
 entreated Dundee, by the love he bore his father, to 
 give him a chance at least of regaining his reputa- 
 tion. The general still endeavored to dissuade him 
 from remaining with the army ; but as he continued 
 urgent to be admitted to a second trial, he reluc- 
 tantly gave way to his request. " But remember," 
 said the old general, " if your heart fail you a second 
 time, you must die. The cause I am engaged in is 
 a desperate one, and I can expect no man to serve 
 under me who is not prepared to fight it out to the 
 last. Aly own life, and all those who serve under 
 me, are unsparingly devoted to the cause of King 
 James; and death must be his lot who shows an ex- 
 ample of cowardice." The young man embraced 
 the stern proposal with eagerness. But in the very 
 next skirmish in which he was engaged, his constitu- 
 tional timidity overcame him ; he turned his horse 
 to fly, when Dundee, coming up to him, only said.
 
 DIVERSITIES OF MENTAL CHARACTER. 28', 
 
 * The son of your father is too good a man to be 
 consigned to the provost-marshall," and, without an- 
 other word, shot him through the head with his 
 pistol, with a sternness and inflexibility resembling 
 the stoicism of "the old Romans. 
 
 No system of education or of training can supply 
 the want of constitutional ability or adaptation. 
 Quintilian was accustomed to say, that " the remedy 
 for luxuriance was easy ; but barren soils are over- 
 come by no labor."* Even the best system of edu- 
 cation, when employed upon such persons, will only 
 serve to render their natural deficiency more ap- 
 parent. Art can never supply nature's lack ; much 
 less can it be successful when employed in opposition 
 to nature. An ancient fable teaches a significant 
 moral : " A mole, having consulted many oculists 
 for the benefit of his sight, was at last provided with 
 a good pair of spectacles ; but, upon his endeavoring 
 to make use of them, his mother told him, that though 
 they might help the eye of a man, they could be of 
 no use to a mole." Innumerable cases occur thai 
 cannot fail to remind us of the mole with hif 
 spectacles. 
 
 SECTION XI. Application of preceding principles to tfn 
 discipline of mind. 
 
 The above principles, we think, fully demonstrate 
 the importance of a careful discrimination of OUT 
 mental susceptibilities, and a well-directed, energetic 
 training of them, in order to the full development of 
 
 Facile remedium est ubertatls , sterilia ruillo labors vhicuntur.
 
 288 MENTAL DISCIPLINE. 
 
 our intellectual character. They show that man 
 must be educated, in the legitimate sense of that word, 
 or the full development of his powers will no* be 
 realized. 
 
 The sphere of instinct is uniform and invariable , 
 its development is spontaneous and perfect, so far as 
 we can observe. Hence the animal creation require 
 no tutelage ; whatever powers of instinct are possess- 
 ed by any individual of a species, are possessed by 
 every individual of that species, and in nearly equal 
 degrees. This power requires no cultivation to 
 bring it to maturity, nor will any cultivation carry 
 it, in anything essential, to any higher state of per- 
 fection. The crocodile, true to the mysteriously im- 
 planted instincts of his nature, seeks the water as 
 soon as he bursts from his shell ; " the new-born liz- 
 ard, or worm, or fly, is presently invested with the 
 ancient habits of his race;" the birds of passage, 
 without instruction, commence at the appointed time 
 their migratory flight ; the " military tactics of the 
 baboon," so surprisingly well adapted and so Avonder- 
 fully exact, are nature's untutored impulses, nor 
 would the prospect of either life or death tempt him 
 to deviate in the least from the beaten track ; the 
 beo, born to-day, is just as skillful an architect and 
 just as profound a geometrician as he will be after 
 the longest possible age and experience, nor are the 
 present generation of his race wiser than were those 
 of a thousand generations preceding. All these re- 
 quire no training, because the instinct that leads 
 them along is susceptible of no improvement
 
 DIVERSITIES OP MENTAL CHARACTER. 289 
 
 Widely different from this is mind, as contra-dis- 
 tinguished from instinct. It is developed only by 
 cultivation, and multitudinous are the degrees of its 
 development in different individuals, as well as the 
 peculiarities of its manifestation. Every bee is an 
 architect, but few men can acquire architectural 
 skill ; every insect possesses the philosophy of in- 
 stinct, but comparatively few men the philosophy of 
 reason. Providence has, indeed, ordained a primary 
 training for the children of men. We see this in the 
 development of the powers of sensation and percep- 
 tion almost necessarily resulting from our relations 
 to the material world, and with comparatively little 
 voluntary exertion on our part. 
 
 Let us refer to intelligent sight, as an instance of 
 this primary training to which man is subjected by 
 the benign Providence which watches over us. How 
 unmindful are many of the fact, that the power of 
 intelligent sight, that is, of being able to judge of the 
 dimensions, form, distances, &c., of objects, is an ac- 
 quired faculty, the result of education, and not an 
 original power ! It is said that Casper Hauser, when 
 first delivered from the dark dungeon in which he 
 had been immured from earliest childhood, had the 
 most confused and indistinct notions of objects of 
 sight. The beautiful prospect seen from his window, 
 to his untutored sense, seemed only paint daub- 
 ings upon the window. Experience, however, soon 
 discovered to him the true relations of things. So 
 does every one, by insensible degrees, acquire the 
 power of intelligent sight The same is true of our 
 19
 
 290 MENTAL DISCIPLINE. 
 
 other senses. How wonderful those allotments, so 
 well calculated, in their every aspect, to bring about 
 the incipient development of our intellectual no less 
 than our physical nature ! 
 
 But we have had more special reference to that 
 I igher or more advanced intellectual training, which 
 is almost exclusively voluntary, that is, premeditated, 
 determined, and prosecuted, not so much from any 
 necessity of our nature or the constitution of things 
 in the natural and moral world, as from the deter- 
 mination of the reason and judgment. It is here in 
 the more intellectual parts of our education or dis- 
 cipline that our selection of subjects of contempla- 
 tion and study is more entirely voluntary. Hence 
 the diversity of select subjects, each giving peculi- 
 arity to the development of intellect; or rather, 
 perhaps, we should say, each selected from some pe- 
 culiarity of inclination, adaptation, or power, and in 
 its turn tending to render that particularity more 
 particular. 
 
 We are far from asserting, however, that all mind 
 is susceptible of the same degree and kind of de- 
 velopment ; or even that such a result would be de- 
 sirable if it lay within the range of possibility 
 We should as soon think of reducing the face of na- 
 ture to one dull and tiresome uniformity; of meting 
 out the ocean with the same measure ; of graduating 
 the mountains to the same height and slope; of 
 making the floweret bloom with uniform beauty and 
 fragrance, and the forest stand with uniform growth. 
 We should as soon think of bringing all men to the
 
 DIVERSITIES OF MENTAL CHARACTER. 291 
 
 same bodily stature, the same craniological confor- 
 mation, the same development of parts, equal per- 
 fection of limb, flexibility of joint, suppleness of 
 muscle, or strength and agility of frame. We should 
 as soon think of obtaining uniform development of 
 th3 organs of sense, as of the powers of intellect 
 Diversity, no less than uniformity, comes within the 
 scope of nature's plan of operations. We cannot 
 avoid it, if we would, in the development of mind 
 any more than in anything else ; nor would it be de 
 sirable to avoid it, if we could. 
 
 Has God bestowed upon an individual some par- 
 ticular genius ? it is one of the plainest dictates of 
 reason that that genius should have special cultiva- 
 tion. To thwart that bent of genius is to oppose 
 both providence and nature. To give to it sole at- 
 tention would be equally injurious ; for He who has 
 given natural taste and genius, has also ordained ap- 
 propriate checks by which they are to be restrained 
 within due bounds. Quintilian remarks : " It is de- 
 servedly considered meritorious in a preceptor, to 
 mark the differences of genius, in those whom he 
 nas undertaken to educate, and to ascertain in what 
 direction nature would carry each of them. For in 
 this respect there is an incredible variety, the forms 
 of minds being almost as multifarious as those of 
 bodies."* We will add, that it is equally important 
 
 * Virtus prseceptoris liaberi solet, nee immerito, dilligenter in iis 
 quos erudiendos susceperit, notare discrimina ingeniorum, el quo 
 quemque natura maxirne ferat, scire. Nam est in hoc incredibi- 
 lis qusdam varietas, nee panciores animorum pene, quam coi 
 porurn forms. Quint, de Instil. Orat. Proesm., lib. ii, 8.
 
 292 MENTAL DISCIPLINE. 
 
 that the checks to undue or disproportioned de- 
 velopment should also be observed, and their inti 
 mations sacredly regarded. 
 
 All our faculties are designed to be exerted in 
 harmony with each other ; hence no one of them can 
 receive its full and most perfect development, with- 
 out the coincident development of the rest. The 
 whole man must be educated. The perceptive facul- 
 ties must be developed and actively employed ; 
 habits of attention the art of " being a whole ma n to 
 one thing at a time" must be formed; the power 
 of memory, not only in its relation to general prin- 
 ciples, but also in its relation to particular facts, is 
 to be assiduously cultivated ; reflection, embracing 
 the exercise of the reasoning faculty, so indispensa- 
 ble to original judgment, must be exercised till its 
 exercise becomes habitual and pleasing ; and the im- 
 agination, including fancy and wit, which sheds over 
 every object of perception or thought an ideal radi- 
 ance, is not to be left uncultivated. Where all these 
 faculties are developed developed in their due pro- 
 portion, and exercised harmoniously and with pro- 
 per subordination you have the disciplined mind ; 
 the mind, it may be, that is not calculated to soar 
 and shine in any one department of thought or ac- 
 tion, but able to employ its powers usefully and hon- 
 orably in any appropriate sphere. 
 
 These characteristics, however, we will present 
 more fully in another section.
 
 DIVERSITIES OF MENTAL CHARACTEK. 295 
 
 SECTION XII. CJuzracteristics of the disciplined irdnd. 
 
 Our treatise would be incomplete, did we not point 
 out some of the characteristics of the well-disciplined 
 mind. In attempting this, we have used freely the 
 " review of those qualities which constitute a well- 
 regulated mind," appended to Abercrombie's Philo- 
 sophy of the Mind. 
 
 This recapitulation embraces the following par 
 ticulars : 
 
 1. The well-disciplined mind will possess a com 
 mand over the attention. 
 
 This is necessary for the exercise of every other 
 mental process. Careful observation, consecutive 
 thinking, and correct judging and reasoning, are not 
 to be had without it ; and nothing more clearly indi- 
 cates the ascendency of the higher over the lower 
 principles of our nature. Hence the power of atten- 
 tion, while it is also a result of mental training and 
 discipline, lies at the foundation of all improvement 
 of character, both intellectual and moral. There is, 
 Indeed, every reason to believe that the diversities 
 m the power of judging, in different individuals, are 
 much less than we are apt to imagine ; and that the 
 remarkable differences observed in the a^.t of judg- 
 ir.g are rather to be ascribed to the manner in which 
 the mind is previously directed to the facts on which 
 the judgment is afterward to be exercised. The 
 command of the attention, then, is a first and indis- 
 pensable requisite to a well -disciplined mind. The 
 command of attention implies also that endurance
 
 294 MENTAL DISCIPLINE. 
 
 of intellectual effort which is so essential in the in- 
 vestigation of knotty and difficult subjects, as well 
 as to the establishment of enlightened and correct 
 judgments. 
 
 2. The well-disciplined mind will have power it 
 regulate and control the succession of its thought*. 
 
 This power is very much the result of cultivation, 
 and with it is closely connected the habit of regular 
 and consecutive thinking. It is primarily a volun- 
 tary act, and the act, often repeated, becomes ha- 
 bitual ; then the habit gains strength with exercise, 
 till the individual's control over the succession of 
 his thoughts becomes firmly established. Few habits 
 have greater influence than this in giving tone and 
 consistency to the whole character. Where the 
 thoughts are permitted to wander at large, and to 
 take any direction that fancy or external circum- 
 stances may dictate, they will generally be devoted 
 to frivolous and transient objects, and be occupied, 
 not a small portion of the time, with vague and 
 dreamy reveries. The control which an individual 
 may exercise over the succession of his thoughts will 
 affect his position in the scale of moral as well as 
 intellectual excellence. And when this control \3 
 thinly established, one of the great ends of mental 
 discipline is secured. 
 
 3. The disciplined mind mil possess the habit of 
 correct association. 
 
 By correct association, we mean that facts and 
 principles will be associated in the mind according 
 to their true and most important relations. Our
 
 DIVERSITIES OF MENTAL CHARACTER. 295 
 
 association of thoughts if not only affected by our 
 circumstances, situations, and occupations, but also 
 by the discipline of mind we may have acquired. 
 This habit is essential to a good memory, especially to 
 that kind of memory which is characteristic of a culti- 
 vated mind ; namely, that which is founded not upon 
 incidental connections, but on true and important 
 relations! It is also nearly allied to the useful exer- 
 cise of reflection, especially when employed in evolv- 
 ing the general principles or conclusions that are 
 reached through a careful observation of the rela- 
 tions of particular facts. It is thus that the well-dis- 
 ciplined mind often traces remarkable relations and 
 deduces important conclusions from facts which, to 
 the common understanding, appeared to have no 
 connection, or only a remote and incidental one. 
 
 4. The well-disciplined mind will possess a proper 
 control over the imagination. 
 
 This control of the imagination implies that it be 
 restrained from wandering at large in the airy re- 
 gions of fancy ; but that its range be restricted to 
 objects which harmonize with truth, objects thai 
 possess a real interest and importance. The utility 
 of the imagination, and its general influence upoi 
 the whole intellectual character, we have alread 
 seen. It is an impulsive faculty, that may be turnea 
 to purposes of the greatest moment, both in intellec- 
 tual pursuits and in the cultivation of benevolence 
 and yirtue. But, on the other hand, it may be so 
 employed as to debase both the intellectual and 
 moral character.
 
 296 MENTAL DISCIPLINE. 
 
 5. A well-disciplined mind implies habits of careful 
 observation. 
 
 The improv ability of the power of observation is 
 liifficiently seen in those remarkable habits rf sensa- 
 tion and perception which have ever attracted the 
 attention of philosophers, as well as in our daily ob- 
 servation upon different individuals. The well- 
 known tale " Eyes and no Eyes, or the Art of 
 Seeing" which represents two lads as taking the 
 same walk in succession, the one seeing nothing, and 
 having a " dull and tiresome walk," the other per- 
 fectly enraptured with the pleasing objects seen in 
 his walk, as well as with its varied incidents sketched 
 as it is so true to life and reality, presents a striking 
 illustration of the advantage of 'an observing eye, 
 and of the blank occasioned by its absence. This 
 habit of observation is a fruitful source of know- 
 ledge ; it enables us to glean wisdom from every 
 passing event, and from every object of sense. 
 
 6. The well-disciplined mind will possess a memory 
 at once comprehensive and tenacious. 
 
 We admit that the recollection of things is more 
 important than the recollection of words ; and that 
 memory that comprehends principles more important 
 than that which is limited to facts ; but the perfec- 
 tion of memory, as we have already seen, is to com- 
 bine the two. This may not always be done in 
 equal degrees of perfection by different individuals ; 
 it is clearly evident that much depends on cultiva- 
 tion habit and discipline. 
 
 The following narration is in point: "I once
 
 DIVERSITIES OF MENTAL CHARACTER. 297 
 
 knew an aged prelate, remarkable for a lively and 
 unclouded mind, whose stores of literature appeared 
 to be always at his command. With the utmost 
 facility, as occasion required it, and yet without any 
 appearance of pedantry, did he quote his favorite 
 passages from Sophocles or Pindar, from Horace or 
 Tacitus, from the best English poets, from Milton's 
 prose works, or even from such authors as Erasmus 
 and Grotius. It was easy, and perhaps not unfair, 
 to ascribe to this individual a structure of brain pe- 
 culiarly fitted for memory; yet his friends were 
 instructed by knowing that he owed the treasures 
 of his age mainly to the habits of his youth. When 
 he was a boy at Winchester school, he undertook to 
 commit to memory, within no very long period of 
 time, twelve books of Homer's Iliad, six books of 
 Virgil's ^Eneid, and several of Cicero's philosophi- 
 cal treatises. So completely did he succeed in the 
 attempt, that, at the expiration of the appointed 
 time, no dodr/inr/ could puzzle him. On the repeti- 
 tion of any one line or sentence in any of these 
 writings, he could immediately repeat the next 
 Who can doubt that he triumphed over his prodi- 
 gious task by the resolute and habitual application 
 of his undivided powers ?" 
 
 7. A well-disciplined mind implies also tftf power 
 of calm and correct judgment. 
 
 Some of the prerequisites to the formation of a 
 sound j udgment we have already noticed. It im- 
 plies that close attention which will enable the indi- 
 vidual to examine the subject in all its parts not
 
 2i'8 MENTAL DISCTPLIXK. 
 
 only in its general outlines, but in its minute details, 
 embracing all those minute particular.*, and then 
 relations, which are essential to a correct judgment. 
 It implies, also, an elevation of the intellect alovc 
 the influence of passion and prejudice. " The gmi? 
 enemies to a sound judgment," says a careful ob- 
 server, " are prejudice and passion ; and until we 
 are rid of these foes, our intellect Avill never bear 
 upon the objects of its attention with its proper ef- 
 fect" To digest the ideas that may have found 
 a vcss to the mind through the various avenues of 
 knowledge, so as to retain and classify that which (3 
 really valuable, and make it thus our own, is essen- 
 tial to the full development of the intellectual man. 
 This constitutes the difference between knowledge 
 and wisdom; which, so "far from being one," as the 
 poet tells us, 
 
 " Have ofttimes no connection. Knowledge dwells 
 In heads replete with thoughts of other men ; 
 Wisdom in minds attentive to their own." 
 
 When Sir James Mackintosh was visiting the 
 school for the deaf and dumb at Paris, then under 
 the care of Abbe Sicard, he is said to have addressed 
 this question in writing to one of his pupils, " Doth 
 God reason ?" The pupil, for a short time, appeared 
 to be distressed and confused, but soon recovered 
 himself, and wrote on a slate an answer worthy of 
 the profoundest philosopher : " To reason is to hesi- 
 tate, to doubt, to inquire it is the highest attribute 
 of a limited intelligence. God sees all things, fore- 
 sees all things, knows all things : therefore God doth
 
 DIVERSITIES OF MENTAL CHARACTER. 299 
 
 not reason." To reach his proper place in the scale 
 of intelligence, truth must not only be taken upon 
 trust, but man must hesitate, doubt, and inquire. 
 
 8. A well-disciplined mind implies also tltat the in- 
 tellectual powers have been trained to activity. 
 
 It is not sufficient that intellectual power has bcrn 
 generated ; that power must be actively employed. 
 The vis inertue of our nature must be overcome. 
 " A foreigner, who had traveled extensively through 
 many portions of the globe, was asked whether he 
 observed that any one quality, more than another, 
 could be regarded as a common or universal charac- 
 teristic of our species. He answered, in broken 
 English, ' Me tink dat all men love lazy.' " A 
 steady activity of mind honest perseverance in 
 mental application has always effected more than 
 brilliant talents alone ; but when the two are united 
 when the force of industry is joined to superior 
 abilities what wonders may be achieved ! 
 
 9. A well-disciplined mind also implies a sound 
 condition of the moral feelings. 
 
 In order to the fullest development of mind, there 
 must be a harmonious development and action of all 
 its powers. The moral feelings hold an important 
 relation to this general harmony of the mental func- 
 tions. Along, then, with the cultivation of the 
 intellectual powers, there must be a cultivation of 
 the benevolent affections and moral feelings; the 
 passions, emotions, and desires must all receive due 
 regulation ; and the supreme authority of conscience 
 over the whole intellectual and moral system must
 
 300 MENTAL DISCIPLINE. 
 
 be fully acknowledged. No system of intellectual 
 education, even, can be otherwise than defective, 
 unless it comprehend in its wide scope the due regu- 
 lation of the moral feelings. And never does intel- 
 lect become so clear in its perceptions, so pene- 
 trating in its research, and so wide in its range, as 
 when allied with a pure and holy heart. The cor- 
 ruption of the heart reaches up to the intellect, 
 mars its symmetry, clouds its horizon, and distracts 
 its action. Purity and truth the heart and the 
 intellect have been united by God, and man may 
 not put them asunder. The highest state of intel- 
 lectual greatness is attainable only in connection 
 with the highest state of moral excellence. The 
 mind is not disciplined as it should be, unless it be 
 disciplined to purity as well as to truth.
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 TOPICAL COURSE OF THEOLOGICAL STUDY, 
 
 THE following Course of Theological Study 
 embraces most of the topics in a complete body of 
 divinity. The list of books referred to has been 
 limited to the lowest practicable number. Refer- 
 ence has, in some instances, been made to authors 
 of opposite sentiments. A complete system of divi- 
 nity is yet a desideratum in the Methodist E. Church. 
 
 I. 
 INTRODUCTORY VIEW OF THEOLOGY. 
 
 I. Preliminary Observations; including definitions 
 of theology, its sources, objects, divisions, and 
 study. 
 
 Dick's Theology, vol. i, lee. 1; Wilson's Evidences 
 of Christianity, vol. i, lee. 1, 2. 
 
 II. Natural Theology ; its use, extent, and limitation, 
 
 Watson's Theological Institutes, part i, chap. 11 
 Dick's Theol., vol. i, lee. 2 ; Watson's Expts., 
 pp. 468, 482. 
 
 III. Supernatural or Revealed Theology; its possibi- 
 lity, desirableness, necessity, and probable character. 
 
 Dick's Theol., vol. i, lee. 3 ; Watson's Theol. Insts., 
 part i, chap. 1-8 ; Wilson's Evidences of Christianity, 
 vol. i, lee. 3.
 
 302 APPENDIX. 
 
 II 
 
 EVIDENCES OF DIVINE REVELATION. 
 J. Genuineness of the Holy Scriptures. 
 
 Watson's Thcol. lusts., part i, chap. 12, 13 ; Dick'n 
 Theol., vol. i, lee. 4, 5, 6 ; Sandford's Help to F;iith, 
 part i, chap. 1, 2, 3 ; Wilson's Ev., v >1. i, lee. 4, 
 Keith's Dem. of Cnr. ; Clarke's Ch. Theol., 
 chap, i ; Genuineness of the Word of God, by Ed 
 Bagster's Comprehensive Bible, ch. i, pp. 21-23, 
 47-65. 
 
 II. Authenticity of the Holy Scriptures. 
 
 Paley's Evidences, part ii, chap. 9 ; Watson's Theol. 
 Insts., pirt i, chap. 9, 10 ; Wilson's Ev., vol. i 
 lee. 4, 5; Dick's Theol., vol. i, lee 7; Handford's 
 Help ; Keith ; Authenticity of the Word of God, by 
 Ed. Bag. Comp. Bib., chap, iii, pp. 24-31, 69-166.' 
 
 III. Historical Evidence of Christianity generally 
 
 considered. 
 
 Paley's Ev., part i ; Tovvnley's Bib. Lit. ; Sandford's 
 Help, part i, chap. 1, 2, 3 , Wilson's Ev., vol. i, lee. 6. 
 
 IV. Proof from Miracles generally considered. 
 
 Paley's Ev., prop, ii, chap. 2 ; Watson's Theol. Insts., 
 part i, chap. 15, 16; Dick's Theol., vol. i, lee. 7; 
 Sandford's Help, part ii, ch. 2; Wilson's Ev., vol. i, 1.7. 
 
 V. Proof from Prophecy generally considered. 
 
 Paley's Ev part ii, ch. 1 ; Watson's Theol. Insts., 
 part i, ch. 17, 18 ; Dick's Theol., vol. i, lee. 8 ; Sand- 
 ford's Help, p. ii, ch. 4-9 ; Wilson's Ev., vol i ; 
 lee. 8, 9 ; Keith on Prophecies. 
 
 VI. Languages in which the original Scriptures were 
 
 written. 
 
 VII. State of the Sacred Text. 
 
 Dick's Theol., vol. i, lee. 12 ; Townley's Bib. Lit , 
 Gen. &c. of the Word of God, ch. ii, pp. 23, 24, 68, 69
 
 APPENDIX. 303 
 
 VIII Internal Evidence of the Holy Scriptures. 
 
 1. The subject generally considered. 
 
 Watson's Theol. Insts., part i, chap. 19, 20; 
 Dick's Theol., vol. i, lee. 9 ; Sandford's Help to 
 Faith, part i, chap. 4. 
 
 2. Character of the sacred writers generally. 
 Watson's Theol. Insts., part i, chap. 14 ; Wilson's 
 Evidences, vol. i, lee. 6. 
 
 3. Character of Christ and his apostles. 
 
 Paley's Evidences, part ii, chap. 3-6 ; Wilson/a 
 Evidences, vol. ii. lee. 17. 
 
 4. Character and influence of Christianity. 
 Paley's Evidences, part ii, chap. 2 ; Methodist 
 Episcopal Pulpit, ser. 17 ; Wilson's Evidences, 
 vol. i, lee. 10, 11 ; ib., vol. ii, lee. 18 ; Methodist 
 Qr. Rev., vol. xxiii, No. i, art. 3. 
 
 5. Coincidence between the Old and New Testaments. 
 
 6. Coincidences between the Acts and the Epistles. 
 Paley's Horaj Paulinae. 
 
 7. Propagation of Christianity. 
 
 Paley's Evidences, part ii, chap. 9 ; Dick's Theol , 
 vol. i, lee. 9 ; Wilson's Evidences, vol. i, lee. 10. 
 
 IX. Objections considered. 
 
 Paley's Evidences, part iii ; Dick's Theol., vol. i, 
 lee. 10 ; Wilson's Evidences, vol. ii, lee. 21. 
 
 X. Inspiration of the Sacred Scriptures. 
 Inspiration of the Word of God, by Ed. Bag. Comp 
 Bib., ch. iv, pp. 31-46, 166-337; M. E. Pulpit, ser. ii , 
 Dick's Theol., vol. i, lee. 11 ; Paley's Ev., part ir, 
 ch. 1 ; Wilson's Ev.. vol. i, lee. 12, 13 ; Watson's Ex , 
 pp. 193, 464, 486. 
 
 XI. The Sacred Scriptures our Divine Rule of Faith, 
 
 and Practice. 
 
 Peck's Rule of Faith. The subject is here fully and 
 ably discussed. 
 
 XII. Of the Study and Inter pr elation of the Scriptures. 
 Dick's Theol., vol. i, lee. 13 ; Wilson's Evidences,
 
 304 APPEND ;X. 
 
 vol. i, lee. 1, 2; ib., vol. ii, lee. 23, 24; Watson's 
 Expos., pp. 112, 186, 211, 272; Ernesti on Inter- 
 pretation. 
 
 SUT. TJie two Dispensations. 
 
 Methodist Qr. Rev., vol. xxix, No. i, art. 7 ; Dick'i 
 Theol., vol. i, lee. 14, 15. 
 
 III. 
 THE EXISTENCE OF GOD. 
 
 L Direct Proofs. 
 
 Paley's Natural Theology, chap, i-xxii ; Watson's 
 Theol. Insts., part ii, chap. 1 ; Dwight's Theology, 
 vol. i, ser. 1; Dick's Theol., vol. i, lee. 16, 17; 
 Clarke's Christian Theol., chap, ii, (subject gene- 
 rally.) 
 
 Q. Hypotheses and Arguments of Atheists considered, 
 Dw/ght's Theol. vol. i, ser. 2 ; Godwin on Atheism, 
 lee. 1-4. 
 
 III. Comparative Influence of Atheism and Chris- 
 tianity. 
 
 Dwight's Theol., vol. i, ser. 3 ; Godwin on Atheism, 
 lee. 6. 
 
 IV. 
 THE ATTRIBUTES OF GOD. 
 
 I. Personality and Unity of God. 
 
 Paley's Nat. Theol., vol. ii, chap. 23, 25 ; Watson > 
 Theol. Insts., part ii, chap. 2 ; Dwight's Theol., 
 vol. i, ser. 4 ; Dick's Theol., vol. i, lee. 18 ; Wes- 
 ley's Sermons, vol. ii, ser. 119 ; Wesleyana, chap, iii, 
 (attributes generally ;) Clarke's Christian Theology, 
 chap. 3, (subject generally.) 
 
 IL Eternity and Spirituality of God. 
 
 Watson's Theol. Insts., part ii, chap, 2, 3 ; Paley'g
 
 APPENDIX. 305 
 
 Nat. Thcol., vol. ii, chap. 24; Dwight's Theol., vol. t, 
 ser. 5; Dick's Theol., vol. i, lee. 17. 
 
 III. Omnipresence or Immensity of God. 
 
 Watson's Theol. lasts., part ii, chap. 3 ; Paley's Nat 
 Theol., vol. ii, chap. 24 ; Dwight's Theol., vol. i, 
 ser. 6 ; Dick's Theol., vol. i, lee. 19 ; Wesley's 
 Sermons, vol. ii, ser. 116. 
 
 ] V. Omniscience or Knowledge of God. 
 
 Watson's Theol. Insts., part ii, chap. 4; Paley's 
 Nat. Theol., vol. ii, chap. 24 ; Dwight's Theol., 
 vol. i, ser. 6 ; Dick's Theol., vol. i, lee. 21. 
 
 V. Wisdom of God. 
 
 Watson's Theol. Insts., part ii, chap. 5 ; Dwight's 
 Theol., vol. i, ser. 13 ; Dick's Theol., vol. i, lee. 22. 
 
 VI. Omnipotence of God. 
 
 Watson's Theol. Insts., part ii, chap. 3 ; Paley's 
 Nat. Theol., vol. ii, chap. 24 ; Dwight's Theol., 
 vol. i, ser. 7 ; Dick's Theol., vol. i, lee. 23. 
 
 "VTL Immutability of God, 
 
 Watson's Theol. Insts., part ii, chap. 5 ; Dwight's 
 Theol., ser. 5 ; Dick's Theol., vol. i, lee. 20. 
 
 VIII Justice of God. 
 
 Watson's Theol. Insts., part ii, chap. 7 ; Dwight'a 
 Theol., vol. i, ser. 10 ; Dick's Theol., vol. i, lee. 26. 
 
 IX. Truth or Veracity of God. 
 
 Dwight's Theol., vol. i, ser. 11; Dick's Theol, 
 vol. i, lee. 26. 
 
 X Goodness or Benevolence, of God. 
 
 Watson's Theol. Insts., part ii, chap. 6 ; Paley's 
 Nat. Theol., vol. ii, chap. 26 ; Dwight's Theol 
 vol. i, ser. 8, 9, 12 ; Dick's Theol., vol. i, lee. 24. 
 
 20
 
 306 APPENDIX. 
 
 XL Holiness of God. 
 
 Watson's Theol. Insts., part ii, chap. 7; Dick's 
 Thcol., vol. i, lee. 27. 
 
 XII. Incomprehensibleness of God. 
 V. 
 
 THE TRINITY IN THE GODHEAD. 
 
 L The Doctrine of the Trinity. 
 
 1. The doctrine explained. 2. Testimony of the 
 Scriptures. 3. Collateral proof from the Scriptures. 
 4. Testimony of ancient Jews and heathen 5. Tes- 
 timony of the early Christian church. 6. Objections 
 to the doctrine considered inconceivable inconsist- 
 ent with the divine unity few texts to support it. 
 Watson's Theol. Insts.. part ii, chap. 8, 9 ; Dwight's 
 Theol., vol. ii,.ser. 71 ; 'Dick's Theol., vol. i, lee. 28, 
 29 ; Wesley's Sermons, vol. ii, ser. 60 ; Fletcher's 
 Works, vol. iii, part 6-8 ; Clarke's Christian Theol., 
 chap, iv, (subject generally.) 
 
 H, Divinity of Christ ; or, Christ the true and 
 perfect God. 
 
 1. Pre-existence of Christ. 
 
 Watson's Theol. Insts., part ii, chap. 10 ; Dick's 
 Theol., vol. i, lee. 30 ; Fletcher's Worics, vol. ii, 
 part vii, sec. 2, 3. 
 
 2. Incarnation of Christ. 
 
 Watson's Theol. Insts., part ii, chap. 16 ; Dwight's 
 
 Theol., vol. ii, ser. 42 ; Watson's Sermons, vol. i, 
 
 eer. 22 ; Fletcher's Works, vol iii, part vi, 
 
 chap. 12. 
 
 3 Direct Scripture testimony to tfie divinity of 
 Christ. 
 
 Fletcher's Works, vol. iii, part vi, chap. 3, 4, 5 ; 
 
 ib., part viii ; Wesleyana, chap. 4, (subject gf :.e- 
 
 rally.) 
 4. Christ the Jehovah of the Old Testaraent. 
 
 Watson's Theol. Insts., part ii, chap. 11; :
 
 APPENDIX. 307 
 
 Theol., vol. i, lee. 31 ; Fletckr's Works, Mil. Hi, 
 part vi, chap. 6. 
 
 6 Titles applied to Christ expressive of his divinity. 
 Fletcher's Works, vol. iii, part vi, chap. 7 ; Wat- 
 son's Theol. Insts., part ii, chap. 12 ; Dwight's 
 Theol., vol. i, ser. 35 ; Dick's Theol., vol. i, 
 lee. 30. 
 
 6. Attributes of Deity ascribed to Christ. 
 Watson's Theol. Insts., part ii, chap. 13 ; Dwight's 
 Theol., vol. i, ser. 36 ; Dick's Theol., vol. i, 
 lee. 31. 
 
 7. Works of Christ proof of his divinity : (1.) Cre- 
 
 ation ; (2.) Providence ; (3.) Miracles ; (4.) Sal- 
 vation. 
 
 Watson's Theol. Insts., part ii, chap. 14 ; Dwight's 
 Theol., vol. i, ser. 36; Dick's Theol., vol. i, 
 lee. 31 ; Fletcher's Works, vol. iii, part vi, 
 chap. 8, 9, 10. 
 
 8. Worship to be paid to Christ. 
 
 Watson's Theol. Insts., part ii, chap. 15 ; Dwight's 
 Theol., vol. i, ser. 37; Dick's Theol., vol. i, 
 lee. 32 ; Fletcher's Works, vol. iii, part vi, chap. 11. 
 
 9. Practical importance of the doctrine of Christ's 
 
 divinity. 
 
 Dwight's Theol., vol. i, ser. 38 ; Dick's Theol., 
 vol. i, lee. 30; ib., lee. 32; Fletcher's Works, 
 vol. iii, part vi, chap. 14. 
 
 10. Objections to the divinity of Christ considered. 
 Fletcher's Works, vol. iii, part vi, chap. 2, 13 ; 
 Dwight's Theol., vol. ii, ser. 39 ; Dick's Theoi., 
 vol. i, lee. 32. 
 
 11. Objections to the Unitarian doctrine of Christ. 
 Dwight's Theol., vol. ii, ser. 40, 41 ; Dick's Theol., 
 vol. i, lee. 30. 
 
 12. Sonship of Christ. 
 
 Watson's Insts., part ii, chap. 12, 16; Treffry oa 
 the Eternal Sonship. 
 
 111. The Divinity of the Holy Spirit. 
 1. Personality of the Holy Spirit. 
 
 Watson's Theol. Insts., part ii, chap. 17; Dwight'a
 
 308 APPENDIX. 
 
 Theol., vol. iii, ser. 70; Dick's Theol., vol. i, 
 lee. 33. 
 
 2. Deity of the Holy Spirit. 
 
 Watson's Theol. Insts.,part ii, chap. 17; Dwight'i 
 Theol., vol. iii, ser. 71 ; Dick's Theol., vol. i, 
 lee. 33 ; Wesley's Sermons, vol. ii, ser. 138. 
 
 3. Intelligibleness and practical uses of the doctrine 
 
 of the divinity of the Holy Spir ; t. 
 
 VI. 
 DOCTRINE OF MAN'S APOSTASY. 
 
 I. Character and State of Man lefore the Fall. 
 
 Watson's Theol. Insts., part ii, chap. 18 ; Dwight's 
 Theol., vol. i, ser. 26 ; Dick's Theol., vol. i, lee. 40; 
 Methodist Episcopal Pulpit, ser. 3 ; Wesleyana, 
 chap. 7, (subject generally ) 
 
 n. Scripture Doctrine of the Fall. 
 
 Watson's Theol. Insts., part ii, chap 18 ; Dwight's 
 Theol., vol. i, ser. 27 ; Dick's Theol., vol. i, lee. 34, 
 35, 36 ; Wesley's Sermons, vol. ii, ser. 62 ; Fletch- 
 er's Works, vol. iii, part 5. 
 
 TIL Of the Sentence pronounced upon Man. 
 
 Watson's Theol. Insts., part ii, chap. 18 ; Dwight's 
 Theol., vol. i, ser. 28. 
 
 IV. TJie Doctrine of Human Depravity proved. 
 
 Watson's Theol. Insts., part ii, chap. 18; Dwight'e 
 Theol., vol. i, ser. 29, 30. 
 
 V. The Extent and Degree of Human Depravity. 
 Watson's Theol. Insts., part ii, chap. 18 ; Dwight'a 
 Theol., vol. i, ser. 31. 
 
 "VI. The Derivation of Depravity from Adam. 
 
 Watson's Theol. Insts., part i, chap. 18 ; Dwight's 
 Theol., vol. i, ser. 32 ; Dick's Theol., vol. i, lee. 47. 
 
 VII. Objections to the Doctrine consider^. 
 
 1. Supposed inconsistency with the goodness ?f
 
 APPENDIX. 309 
 
 God; 2, with the moral agency of man; 3, with 
 the divine commands and invitations ; 4, with cer- 
 tain texts which are supposed to indicate that un- 
 renewed man has some degree of holiness. 
 Watson's Theol. Insts., part ii, chap. 18 ; 
 
 VT1I. Practical Uses and Importance of the Doctrine 
 
 of Depravity. 
 Theol., vol. i, ser. 33 ; ib., ser. 34. 
 
 VII. 
 THE REMEDIAL DISPENSATION. 
 
 I. Redemption, or the Doctrine of Atonement. 
 
 1. Subject discussed generally. 
 
 Watson's Theol. Insts., part ii, chap. 19-22 , 
 Dwight's Theol., vol. ii, ser. 50-58 ; Dick's Theol., 
 vol. ii, lee. 56-58 ; Watson's Sermons, vol. i, 
 ser. 37. 
 
 2. Necessity of the atonement. 
 
 Dwight's Theol., vol. ii, ser. 55 ; Watson's Ex- 
 position, pp. 281, 493; Methodist Qr. Rev., 
 vol. xxii, No. ii, art. 2. 
 
 3. Nature of the atonement. 
 
 Dwight's Theol., vol. ii, ser. 55, 56 ; Watson's 
 Exposition, pp. 213, 214. 
 
 4. Universali'y of the atonement. 
 
 Watson's Theol. Insts., part ii, chap. 25-28. 
 
 5. Unconditional benefits of the atonement. 
 Watson's Theol. Insts., part ii, chap. 23 ; Dwight'a 
 Theol., vol. ii, ser. 58. 
 
 6. Salvation of those who die in infancy. 
 Watson's Theol. Insts., part ii, chap. 18 ; Wat- 
 son's Expos., pp. 191, 199. 
 
 7. Objections to the doctrine of atonement con- 
 
 sidered. 
 
 Dwight's Theol., vol. ii, ser. 57 ; Wa'son's Fxpo- 
 sition, p. 493. 
 
 8. Theories respecting the atonement. 
 
 Watson's Theol. Insts., part ii, chap. 23 ; Metho-
 
 310 APPENDIX. 
 
 dist Qt. Rev., vol. xxviii, No. iii, art. 4; vi. 
 vol. xxix, No. iii, arts. 4 and 6. 
 
 II. Justification, Nature and Condition of. 
 
 Watson's Theol. Insts., part ii, cnap. 23 ; Dwight's 
 Theol., vol. ii, scr. 64, 69 ; Dick's Theol., vol. ii, 
 lee. 69-72 ; Wesley's Sermons, vol. i, ser. 5 ; Wat- 
 son's Exposition, pp. 466, 467 ; Methodist Qr. Rev., 
 vol. xxvi, No. i, art. 1 ; ib., vol. xxvii, No. i, art. 1 ; 
 Wesleyana, chap. 10 ; Clarke's Christian Theol., 
 chap. 9. 
 
 HE. Regeneration. 
 
 1. Necessity of regeneration. 
 
 Dwight's Theol., vol. ii, ser. 73 ; Dick's> Theol., 
 vol. ii, lee. 66 ; Watson's Exposition, p. 186 ; 
 Clarke's Christian Theol., chap. 10. 
 
 2. Nature of regeneration generally considered. 
 Watson's Theol. Insts., part ii, chap. 24 ; Dwight's 
 Theol., ser. 74 ; Wesley's Sermons, vol. i, ser. 45 ; 
 Watson's Sermons, vol. ii, ser. 113; Watson's 
 Exposition, pp. 144, 186, 204 ; Wesleyana, 
 chap. 11. 
 
 3. Means by which effected (1.) Indirect ; (2.) Di- 
 rect. 
 
 Dwight's Theol., vol. ii, ser. 72 ; Wesley's Ser- 
 mons, vol. i, ser. 1. 
 
 4. General evidences of the renewed state. 
 Dwight's Theol., vol. ii, scr. 75-81 ; ib., ser. 88, 
 89, 90 ; Wesley's Sermons, vol. i, ser. 18 ; Wes- 
 leyana, chap. 11. 
 
 5. Fruits of the Spirit as evidenced in the regenerate. 
 Dwight's Theol., vol. ii, ser. 79-81 ; ib., 84-36 ; 
 Wesley's Sermons, vol. i, ser. 8. 
 
 V. Adoption of the Believer. 
 
 Watson's Theol. Insts., part ii. chap. 24 ; Dwight's 
 Theol., vol. ii, ser. 82 ; Dick's Theol., vol. ii, lee. 73 ; 
 Wesley's Sermons, vol. i, ser. 9 ; Watson's Sermons, 
 vol. ii, scr. 104 ; Walton's Witness of the Spirit, 
 chap. 2.
 
 APPENDIX. 311 
 
 V. Witness of the Spirit. (1 .) Direct, or witness 
 of God's Spirit. (2.) Indirect, or witness of our 
 own spirit. 
 
 Watson's Theol. Insts , part ii, chap 24; Wesley's 
 Sermons, vol. i, ser. 10, 11, 12; Walton's Treatise 
 on the Witness of the Spirit ; Clarke's Christian 
 Theol., chap. 12. 
 
 VI. Holiness, including Sanctification and Chris- 
 
 tian Perfection. 
 
 Dr. Peck's Scripture Doctrine of Christian Perfec- 
 tion ; Watson's Theol. Insts., part ii, chap. 29 ; 
 Dwight's Theol., vol. ii, ser. 83, 86 ; Dick's Theol., 
 vol. ii, lee. 74, 75 ; Wesley's Sermons^ vol. i, ser. 40 ; 
 Wesley's Plain Account ; Methodist Episcopal Pul- 
 pit, ser. 9; Watson's Expos., pp. 186, 227,417; 
 Methodist Qr. Rev., vol. xxiii, No. i, art. 6 ; ib., 
 No. ii, art. 7 ; Wesleyana, chap. 12. 
 
 VII. Possibility of Falling from Grace. 
 
 Doctrinal Tracts ; Fletcher's Works, vol. ii, part m ; 
 ib., part vii ; Dwight's Theol., vol iii, ser. 87. 
 
 Vni. The Law and the Gospel. 
 
 Watson's Theol. Insts., part iii, chap. 1 ; Dwight's 
 Theol., vol. iii, ser. 91 ; Wesley's Sermons, vol. i, 
 ser. 34-36 ; Methodist Qr. Rev., vol. xxix, No. i, 
 art. 7; Fletcher's Works, vol. i, ii, part i; Wesley- 
 ana, chap. 6 ; Clarke's Christian Theol., chap. 13. 
 
 VIII. 
 
 SYSTEM OF CHRISTIAN DUTIES. 
 
 I. Ground of Moral Obligation. 
 
 Watson's Theol. Insts., part iii, chap. 1 ; Methodist 
 Episcopal Pulpit, ser. 5. 
 
 II. Repentance. 
 
 1. Repentance considered generally. 
 Clarke's Christian Theol., chap. 7 ; Wesley's Ser- 
 mons, vol. i, ser. 7 ; Wesleyana, chap. 8.
 
 312 APPENDIX. 
 
 2. Repentance of the unrenewed. 
 Wesley's Sermons, vol. i, ser. 7. 
 
 3. Repentance of believers. 
 Wesley's Sermons, vol. i, ser. 13, 14. 
 
 III. Faith in God. 
 
 Watson's Exposition, pp. 183, 220, 359, -161 ; 
 Dwight's Thcol., vol. ii, ser. 65, 66 ; Dick's Theol,, 
 vol. ii, lee. 68 ; Wesley's Sermons, vol. i, ser. 6 ; 
 vol. ii, ser. Ill, 115, 118, 126 ; Wesleyana, chap. 9; 
 Clarke's Christian Theol., chap. 8. 
 
 IV. Love to God. 
 
 W r atson's Theol. Insts., part iii, chap. 2 ; Dwight's 
 Theol., vol. iii, ser. 92; Watson's Expos., pp. 201. 
 233, 241, 360, 423, 436. 
 
 V. Christian Virtues. 
 
 1. Reverence of God. 
 
 Dwight's Theol., vol. iii, ser. 93. 
 
 2. Submission to God. 
 
 Watson's Theol. Insts., part iii, chap. 2 ; Metho- 
 dist Episcopal Pulpit, ser. 7. 
 
 3. Trust in God. 
 
 Watson's Theol. Insts., part iii, chap. 2. 
 
 4. Fear of God. 
 
 Watson's Theol. Insts., part iii, chap. 2. 
 
 5. Humility. 
 
 Dwight's Theol., vol. iii, ser. 94 ; Watson's Ex- 
 pos., pp. 186, 191, 237-239. 
 
 6. Resignation. 
 
 Dwight's Theol., vol. iii, ser. 95. 
 
 7. Patience. 
 
 Wesley's Sermons, vol. ii, ser. 88. 
 
 8. Self-denial. 
 
 Wesley's Sermons, voi. i, ser. 48 ; Watson's Ei- 
 
 pos., pp. 175, 202, 206. 
 9 Contentment. 
 
 Dwight's Theol., vol. iii, ser. 129. 
 \ T J. Religious Meditation. 
 
 Watson's Sermons, vol. i, ser. 11 ; Dwight's Theol., 
 vol. iv, ser. 146.
 
 APPENDIX. 313 
 
 VII. Obedience to the Law of Christ. 
 
 Wilson's Evidences, vol. ii, lee. 25 ; Methodist E[ i- 
 copal Pulpit, ser. 14; Watson's Expos., p. 61. 
 
 Vm Prayer. 
 
 1 General subject, .ts nature, obligation, efftacy, &c. 
 Watson's Theol. Insts., part iii, chap. 2 ; Dwight's 
 Theol., vol. iv, ser. 139, 142; Dick's Nat. Thcol., 
 vol. ii, lee. 93 ; Methodist Episcopal Pulpit, ser. 1 1 ; 
 Watson's Expos., pp. 74, 85, 463 ; Clarke's Chris- 
 tian Theol., chap. 15. 
 
 2. Private Prayer. 
 
 Watson's Theol. Insts., part iii, chap. 2 ; Dwight's 
 Theol., vol. iv, ser. 140 ; Dick's Theol., vol. ii, 
 lee. 94 ; Watson's Sermons, vol. ii, ser. 73 ; Wat- 
 son's Expos., p. 72. 
 
 3. Family Prayer. 
 
 Watson's Theol. Insts., part iii, chap. 2 ; Dwight's 
 Theol., vol. iv, ser. 141 ; Dick's Theol., vol ii, 
 lee. 94. 
 
 4. Public Prayer. 
 
 Watson's Theol. Insts., part iii, chap. 2 ; Dwight's 
 Theol., vol. iv, ser. 147 ; Dick's Theol. vol. ii, 
 lee. 94. 
 
 5. Liturgies vs. Extemporaneous Prayer. 
 Watson's Theol. Insts., part iii, chap. 2 ; Dwight'a 
 Theol., vol. iv, ser. 145; Dick's Theol., vol. ii, 
 lee. 95. 
 
 6. Objections to prayer considered. 
 
 Dwight's Theol., vol. iv, ser. 143; Dick's TheoL- 
 vol. ii, lee. 93 ; Watson's Expos., pp. 74, 440. 
 
 IX. Confession of sin. 
 Watson's Expos., p. 38. 
 
 X. Fasting. 
 
 Watson's Expos., pp. 102, 103. 
 
 XI. Watchfulness. 
 
 Watson's Expos., pp. 252, 262, 279, 288, 453. 
 
 XII. Reading of the Scriptures.
 
 314 APPENDIX. 
 
 XLH. Attendance upon Public Worship. 
 
 Watson's Expos., p. 406 ; Clarke's Christian Theol , 
 chap. 14 ; Dwight's Theol., vol. iii, ser. 138. 
 
 XIV. Observance of the Ordinances of Religion. 
 Wesley's Sermons, vol. i, ser. 16. 
 
 XV. Relative Christian Duties. 
 
 1. Love to our neighbor. 
 
 Wesley's Sermons, vol. ii, ser. 99 ; Dwigiit'a 
 Theol., vol. iii, ser. 96-99 ; Watson's Sermons, 
 vol. ii, ser. 111. 
 
 2. Duty of parents to children. 
 
 Wesley's Sermons, vol. ii, ser. 99, 100 ; D wight's 
 Theol., vol. iii, ser. Ill, 112; ib., ser. 147, 148. 
 
 3. Duty of children to parents. 
 
 Wesley's Sermons, vol. ii, ser. 101 ; Dwight's 
 Theol., vol. iii, ser. 110. 
 
 4. Duty of civil rulers. 
 
 Dwight's Theol., vol. iii, ser. 113. 
 
 5 Duty of subjects of civil government. 
 
 Dwight's Theol., vol. iii, ser. 114. 
 
 6. Chastity. 
 
 Dvvight's Theol., vol. iii, ser. 119-121. 
 
 7. Temperance. 
 
 Dwight's Theol., vol. iii, ser. 118. 
 
 8. Truthfulness or integrity. 
 Dwight's Theol., vol. iii, ser. 125. 
 
 9. IndusTy. 
 
 Dwight's Theol., vol. iii, ser. 122. 
 
 10. Charity to the poor, or benevolence. 
 Wesley's Sermons, vol. ii, ser. 136 ; Dwight's 
 Theol., vol. iii, ser. 130 ; Watson's Expos., 
 pp. 68, 436 ; Methodist Episcopal Pulpit, ser. 20. 
 
 XVI. Improvement of Time. 
 
 Wesley's Sermons, vol. ii, ser. 98 ; Watson's Ser- 
 mons, vol. ii, ser. 98. 
 
 XVIL Avoiding the Appearance of Evil. 
 Methodist Episcopal Pulpit, ser. 31.
 
 APPENDIX. 315 
 
 7CVHI. Tlie Decalogue. 
 
 Dwight's Theol., vol. ii, ser. 100-132; Dick'i 
 Theol., vol. ii, lee. 102-105. 
 
 DOCTRINES OF RELIGION. 
 
 I. Immortality of the Soul. 
 
 Watson's Expos., pp. 116, 157, 181, 232, 450. 
 
 II. The Free Agency and Responsibility of Man. 
 Watson's Theol. Insts., part i, chap. 1; Methodist 
 Qr. Rev., vol. xxvii, No. iv, art. 6. 
 
 HI. Of Creation. 
 
 Dwi<rht's Theol., vol. i, ser. 21 ; Dick's Theol., vol. i, 
 lee. 37. 
 
 IV. Of Angels Iwly and fallen. 
 
 Clarke's Christian Tlieol., chap. 26; Dwight's Theol., 
 vol. i, ser. 18-20 ; Dick's Theol., vol. i, lee. 38, 39 ; 
 Wesley's Sermons, vol. ii, ser. 76, 77 ; Watson's 
 Exposition, pp. 76, 148, 150, 189, 450. 
 
 Y. Of Heaven the Three-fold Heaven. 
 
 Dwicrht's Theol., vol. i, ser. 17 ; Watson's Expos., 
 pp. 43, 94, 231, 433, 434. 
 
 "VI. Of the Nature of Man. 
 
 Dwight's Theol., vol. i, ser. 22-24 ; Wesley's Ser- 
 mons, vol. ii, ser. 108, 114; Methodist Episcopal 
 Pulpit, ser. 3. 
 
 VII. Intercession of Christ. 
 
 Dwight's Theol., vol. ii, ser. 58; Dick's Theol., 
 vol. ii, lee. 59. 
 
 Ylll. Divine Providence. 
 
 Methodist Episcopal Pulpit, ser. 13 ; Dick's Theol., 
 vol. i, lee. 41-43 ; Wesley's Sermons, vol. ii, ser. 72 ; 
 Watson's Expos., pp. 80^ 81, 83, 117,447; Clarke's 
 Christian Theol. chap. 29.
 
 316 APPENDIX. 
 
 [X Kingdom of Christ. 
 
 Watson's Expos., pp. 35, 53, 82, 177 ; Dick's Theo\., 
 vol. i, lee. 64. 
 
 X General Spread of the Gospel. 
 
 Wesley's Sermons, vol. ii, ser. 68 ; Watson's Ser- 
 mons, vol. ii, ser. 95. 
 
 XL Doctrines of Unconditional Election and Repro~ 
 bation specially considered. 
 
 Fletcher's Works, vol. ii, part iv-vi ; Doctrinal 
 Tracts. 
 
 X. 
 
 THE FUTURE STATE. 
 
 I. Death Temporal as a Result of Sin. 
 
 Watson's Theol. Insts., part ii, chap. 18 ; Methodist 
 Episcopal Pulpit, S er. 4 ; Dwight's Theol., vol. iv, 
 ser. 163; Clarke's Christian Theol., chap. 31. 
 
 II. 77<e Intermediate State of the Dead. 
 
 Watson's Theol. Insts., part ii, chap. 29 ; Dwight's 
 Theol., vol. iv, ser. 164; Dick's Theol., vol. ii, 
 lee. 80, 81 ; Watson's Expos., pp. 116, 181. 
 
 III. The Resurrection of the Body. 
 
 Wesley's Sermons, vol. ii, ser. 134; Dwight's 
 Theol., vol. iv, ser. 165 ; Kingsley on the Resurrec- 
 tion ; Dick's Theol., vol. ii, lee. 82 ; Watson's Ser- 
 mons, vol. i, ser. 19 ; Watson's Expos., pp. 181, 231, 
 232, 448; Methodist Episcopal Pulpit, ser. 30. 
 IV TJie Final Judgment. 
 
 Wesley's Sermons, vol. i, ser. 15 ; Dwight's Theol., 
 vol. iv, ser. 166 ; Dick's Theol., vol. ii, lee. 63 ; 
 Watson's Expos., pp. 89, 90, 176, 254, 255, 204, 
 267 ; Clarke's Christian Theol., chap. 32. 
 
 V. The Future Blessedness of the Righteous. 
 
 Wesley's Sermons, vol. ii, ser. 140 ; Dwight's Theol., 
 vol. iv, ser. 169-171 ; Dick's Theol., voL ii, lee. F3 ; 
 Clarke's Christian Theol., chap. 34.
 
 APPENDIX. 317 
 
 VL The Future Punishment of the Wicked. 
 
 Merritt and Fisk's Discussion on Universal S;ilva- 
 tion ; Dwight's Theol., vol. iv, ser. 167, 168 ; Metho- 
 dist Episcopal Pulpit, ser. 23 ; Universalism Exam- 
 ined, Renounced, &c. ; Watson's Ex., pp. 42, 117, 
 151, 269, 352, 479 ; Clarke's Ch. Theol.. chap 33. 
 
 XI. 
 INSTITUTIONS OF RELIGION. 
 
 I. The Christian Church. 
 
 Watson's Theol. Insts., part iv, chap. 1 ; Dwight's 
 Theol., vol. iv, ser. 149 ; Clarke's Christian Theol., 
 chap. 17. 
 
 II. The Ministry. 
 
 Wesley's Sermons, vol. ii, sef. 139 ; Dwight's Theol., 
 vol. iv, ser. 150-154; Dick's Theol., vol. ii, lee. 84, 
 85 ; Watson's Sermons, vol. i, ser. 35, 37 ; Method- 
 ist Episcopal Pulpit, ser. 24 ; Clarke's Christian 
 Theol., chap. 25. 
 
 III. The Christian Sabbath. 
 
 Watson's Th"ol. Insts., part iii, chap. 3 ; Dwight's 
 Theol., vol. iii, ser. 105-109. 
 
 IV. Of the Sacraments in General. 
 
 Watson's Theol. Insts., part iv, chap. 2 ; Dick's 
 Theol., vol. ii, lee. 86, 87. 
 
 V. The Lord's Supper. 
 
 Watson's Theol. Insts., part iv, chap. 4 ; Dwight's 
 Theol., vol. iv, ser. 160, 161; Dick's Theol., vol. ii, 
 lee. 90-92 ; Dr. Clarke's Sermon on ; Watson'* 
 Expos., pp. 274, 278-283, 447 ; Clarke's Christian 
 Theol., chap. 19. 
 
 VI. Baptism. 
 
 1 . On what the obligation to its observance rests. 
 Hibbard on Baptism, chap. 9 ; Dick's Theol., 
 vol. ii, lee. 88.
 
 SIS APPENDIX. 
 
 2. Nature of ttie sacrament. 
 
 Watson's Theol. Insts., part iv, chap. 3 ; Dwight's 
 Theol., vol. iv, ser. 156 ; Dick's Theol., vol. i, 
 lee. 88, 89; Hibbard on Baptism, chap. 10; Wat- 
 son's Expos., p. 318. 
 
 3. The mode of its administration. 
 
 Watson's Theol. Insts., part iv, chap. 3 ; Methud- 
 ist Episcopal Pulpit, ser. 28, 29 ; Hibbard on 
 Baptism ; Dwight's Theol., vol. iv, ser. lf9 ; 
 Dick's Theol., vol. ii, lee. 88 ; Methodist Qr. Rev., 
 vol. xxvi, No.iii, art. 1. 
 
 4. The time or order of baptism. 
 
 Hibbard on Baptism, chap. 11 ; Clarke's Christi~n 
 Theol., chap. 18, (general subject.) 
 
 5. Subjects of baptism. 
 
 Watson's Theol. Insts., part iv, chap. 3 ; Dwight's 
 Theol., vol. iv, ser. 157, 158; Dick's Theol. 
 vol. ii, lee. 88 ; Hibbard's Treatise on Infant Bap 
 tism ; Watson's Expos., pp. 199, 200. 
 
 XII. 
 
 MISCELLANEOUS SUBJECTS. 
 
 L Cliurch Polity. 
 
 Methodist Discipline ; Hedding on Discipline ; De- 
 fense of our Fathers ; Ecclesiastical Polity, by A. N. 
 Fillmore ; Essay on Church Polity, by A. Stevens ; 
 Powell on the Apostolical Succession ; Original 
 Church of Christ, by Dr. Bangs. 
 
 II. Church History. 
 
 Mosheim's Eccl. History ; Eusebius's Eccl. History ; 
 Bangs's Hist. M. E. Ch. ; D' Aubigne's Hist. Ref. ; 
 Milman's Hist. Christianity ; Waddington's Church 
 History. 
 
 III. Bible History. 
 
 Turner's Sacred History of the Bible; Gloig's Hist, 
 of the Bible ; Hunter's Sacred Biography ; Robinson'i 
 Christian Characters.
 
 APPENDIX 319 
 
 IV. Biblical Literature. 
 
 Essays on Bib. Lit., 1 vol. 8vo. ; Hurder's Hebrew 
 Poetry ; Townley's Illustrations of Bib. Lit. ; Jahn's 
 Bib. Archeology ; Lowth's Lectures on Hebrew 
 Poetry. 
 
 V. Philosophy of Language Rhetoric. 
 
 Blair's Rhetoric ; Whateley's Rhetoric ; Boyd's 
 Elements of Rhetoric and Literary Criticism ; 
 Johnson's Treatise on Language ; Mill's Rhetoric. 
 
 VI. Logic. 
 
 Hedge's Logic ; Mill's do. ; Whateley's do. 
 
 VII. Sacred Rhetoric, or Pulpit Eloquence. 
 
 Maury on Eloquence ; Porter's Lectures ; Blair's 
 Lectures ; Campbell's Lectures ; Russell's Pulpit 
 Elocution ; Caldwell's Manual of Elocution. 
 
 Vm. Philosophy of the Mind. 
 
 Upham's Mental Philosophy ; Abercrombie's do. ; 
 Reid's do. ; Stewart's do. ; Brown's do. ; Locke's 
 Conduct of the Understanding. 
 
 IX. The Will. 
 
 Reid on the Will ; Tappan do. ; Upham do. 
 
 X. Moral Philosophy. 
 
 Wayland's Moral Science ; Dymond's Essays ; Pa- 
 ley's Moral Philosophy ; Abercrombie's do. 
 
 XI. General History. 
 
 Tytler's Universal History ; . Alison's Hist. 01 
 Europe ; Hallam's Middle Ages ; Bancroft's Hist, 
 of the United States. 
 
 XII. General Literature. 
 
 Montgomery's Lee. on Lit., Poetry, &c. ; Hallam's 
 Int. to the Lit. of Europe ; Alison's Essays ; Cham- 
 ber's Cyclopedia of Ensf. Lit. ; Sismondi's Lit. of 
 South Europe ; Anthon's Classical Diet. ; Griswold'f 
 American Literature.
 
 320 APPENDIX. 
 
 Xlir. History of Philosophy. 
 
 Henry's Epitome of Hist. Phil. ; Stewart's Disser- 
 tations on the Progress of Metaphysical Science. 
 
 XIV. History of the Arts. 
 
 Brande's Cyclopedia of Science and Art ; Lossing'i 
 Hist, of the Fine Arts ; Hazen's Popular Tecft- 
 nology ; Bigelow on the Useful Arts. 
 
 XV. Natural Science. 
 
 Physical Condition of the Earth, (Harper's, 1845;) 
 Mudie's Guide to the Observation of Na'ure, (ib. :) 
 Sacred Philosophy of the Seasons ; Brougham's 
 Pleasures and Advantages of Science ; Potter's 
 Science applied to the Domes'ic Arts, &c. ; Gris- 
 coin's Animal Mechanism and Physiology ; Architec- 
 ture, &c., of Birds ; Natural Hist, of Insects ; 
 Philosophy of Nat. Hist., Smellie. 
 
 XVI. General Education. 
 
 American Education ; Dick on Improvement of So- 
 cie'y ; Pursuit of Knowledge under Difficulties ; 
 Potter and Emerson's School and Schoolmaster. 
 
 XVTI. Medical Science Mental and Religious 
 
 Bearings. 
 
 Ticknor's Philosophy of Living ; Upham's Disordered 
 Mental Action ; Paley's Natural Theology. 
 
 XVHI. Political Economy. 
 
 Potter's Political Economy ; Wayland's Pol. Econ. ; 
 Bayard's Constitution of the United States. 
 
 XIX. Statistical, frc. 
 
 M' Culloch's Universal Gazetteer , Encyclopedia of 
 Religious Knowledge ; Biographical Dictionary 
 Rupp's Hist, of Relig. Denominations in U. S. 
 
 THE END.
 
 A 000978010 7 
 
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