William Pittenger

“ The child that is burnt needs no instruction to find the right tone to express its pain, so that every one who hears it knows that it is suffering. It strikes the key-note of joy and every other emotion with equal certainty. Let nature but have her way, untrammeled by art, and every feeling that arises will mold the voice to its will, and every heart will recognize and respond to the sound. We may in this way miss the so-called “brilliancy” of theatric clap-trap, but our voices will have that “touch of nature that makes the whole world kin.” ”

“ A man of profound genius once arose to preach before a great assemblage, and every breath was hushed to listen. He spoke with power, and some of his passages were full of thrilling eloquence. He poured forth beautiful images and deep solemn thoughts, with the utmost profusion. Yet when he took his seat a sense of utter disappointment filled the hearts of all present. The sermon was confused. No subject could be traced that bound it together, and made a point of union to which the memory might cling. Had he not read his text no one could have guessed it. ”

“ Men who are physically brave often tremble in this emergency. The shame of failure appears worse than death itself, and as the soldier feels more of cold and shrinking terror while listening for the peal of the first gun, than when the conflict deepens into blood around him, so the speaker suffers more in this moment of expectancy than in any that comes after. He sees the danger in its full magnitude without the inspiration that attends it. Yet he must remain calm and collected, for unless he is master of himself, he cannot expect to rule the multitude before him. ”

“ To him who has a mind to conceive, a body with strength to execute, language to coin the mass of thoughts into words, courage to bear the scrutiny of a thousand eyes, and firmness that will endure the toil of preparation—to him the upward pathway is clear. He may not win great fame, but he will be able to present the truth in its native beauty, and make his words fall with weight and power on the hearts of men. ”

“ The melody and pathos of Summerfield she compared to the mild zephyr, and thought this was necessarily inferior to the earth-shaking storm. But the world has not agreed with her. Bascom held assembled thousands for hours beneath the charm of his voice, weeping, smiling, or shouting, at his will. Yet when all had passed, and the spell had been dissolved, the only impression that remained was one of simple wonder. The man and his own eloquence had risen so far above the subject he was to enunciate that the latter faded from the mind. ”

“ The most essential qualification for a religious teacher is a deep personal religious experience. One who has never passed through the mystic, mingled sorrow and joy of penitence and the agony of remorse—has never watched with straining eyes for the dawning light of salvation, and at last been enabled to say, “Abba, Father!” such a one cannot preach the gospel with power and success. His speech may glitter with all the flowers of rhetoric and the form of words be complete, but the vast power of the earnest soul sympathizing with all the lips utter, will be absent. ”

“ We will consider a few of the elements that make a man ready in communicating his ideas.
Imagination is often thought to be unnecessary to the sacred orator; but if he resign to the poet and novelist that faculty that deals with beauty in all its forms, the lovers of beauty will be apt to desert the churches and seek gratification where it can be found. Imagination, in its legitimate sphere, is as necessary as the power of reasoning, or the sentiment of devotion. It deals with truth as well as fiction, and gives to its possessor the creative, life-breathing spirit of poetry. ”

“ When this danger is safely passed, he is in the open sea, and the triumphs of eloquence are before him.
There is great pleasure in speaking well. An assembly hanging on the words, and thinking the thoughts of a single man, gives to him the most subtile kind of flattery, and he needs to beware how he yields to its influence, or his fall will be speedy and disastrous. The triumphs of oratory are very fascinating. The ability to sway our fellow men at will—to bind them with the strong chain of our thought, and make them willing captives—produces a delirious and intoxicating sense of power. ”

“ Is it wonderful that when we come before an audience with an address made as nearly perfect as we can construct it in every line, and the whole clearly written, or firmly engraved on the memory, and then repeat it, with a full appreciation of each beauty as we pass along, that we consider it to be of far higher merit than the impassioned torrent poured forth on another occasion, when we scarcely knew that we were using words at all? ”

“ Clay’s voice has prodigious power, compass, and richness; all its variations are captivating, but some of its base tones thrill through one’s whole fame. To those who have never heard the living melody, no verbal description can convey an adequate idea of the diversified effects of those intonations which, in one strain of sentiment, fall in whispering gentleness like the first words of love upon a maiden’s lips, and anon in sterner utterances ring with the maddening music of the main. ”

“ It produces a tide of emotion that can never sleep until the judgment day. It connects the Cross and the divine Sufferer with cords of living sympathy that always thrill to the very centre of our being. Conversion invariably deepens and intensifies the emotions of our nature; and if the speaker has passed through a strongly marked change he will have the power of imparting his impressions to others, and of giving to his descriptions the inimitable charm of reality. If his religious experience accords with the Bible, he can speak from his own heart with almost irresistible force. ”

“ Language is only available as a medium, so far as hearer and speaker understand it in common. If we use a term the congregation have seldom heard, even if they can arrive at its meaning, it will lose all its force whilst they are striving to understand it. But one of the homely Saxon words that dwell on the lips of the people, will unlade its meaning in the heart as soon as its sound strikes the ear. For while uncommon words erect a barrier around thought, familiar ones are perhaps not noticed at all, leaving the feeling to strike directly to its mark. ”

“ If the most conquering eloquence for the English people be that of the man who is all but mastered by his excitement, but who, at the very point of being mastered, masters himself—apparently cool, while he is at white heat—so as to make the audience glow with fire, and at the same time respect the self-possessed power of the orator—the man being always felt as greater than the man’s feelings—if that be the eloquence that most tells upon the English nation, he had that eloquence. ”

“ Theology is a vast science, embracing all others—an infinite field where man may exert all his powers, and never cease for want of new realms to explore.
The preacher labors in the field of humanity, and aims to better the present and future condition of mankind. He needs to understand his ground, as well as the instruments of his labor. It is through him that divine truth reaches the hearts of the multitude. Unless he can cause the people to think new thoughts, and be ruled by new motives, wisdom and learning and brilliancy are all in vain. ”

“ It conceals ideas as perfectly as ever Talleyrand did; for surely no idea, even of living light, could penetrate through such a veil. Men who thus neutralize their talents and contribute to render religion distasteful, will surely have to answer for it at the great day of account. Let our style in the pulpit be simple, earnest and manly. Let each emotion clothe itself in its own language and tones, and then we will be above all rules, and all censure too, for we will be under the infallible guidance of nature and the Spirit of God. ”

“ M. Bautain, whose experience was very extensive, says that he has sometimes felt so confident of his preparation, as to fall asleep while waiting to be summoned to the pulpit!
But those who misimprove the last moments by too much thought, form the smallest class. Many, through mere indolence, permit the finer lines of the future discourse, that have been traced with so much care, to fade out. This not unfrequently happens to those who preach a second or third time on the same subject. Because they have succeeded once, they imagine that the same success is always at command. ”

“ Bingham, in speaking, is calm, clear and pointed. His manner indicates confidence, and his words flow freely. Imagination is allowed full play, and the spirit of poetry breathes everywhere. He abounds in lofty and beautiful imagery, that places the truth in the clearest light. While the subject is never lost sight of, a thousand graces and beauties cluster around it from every hand. From the elevation and certainty of his language, many casual hearers have been led to imagine that his speeches were written and committed. ”

“ No matter if the speech be not clothed in ornate sentences with studied terms, it is the virtue of the judge to consider whether the speech is right, as to speak truly is the virtue of the advocate.
It is only, it seems to me, when men speak wisely, truly and naturally, that the full significance of Quintillian’s words can be realized: “May I perish, if the all-powerful Creator of nature and the Architect of this world has impressed man with any character which so eminently distinguishes him as the faculty of speech.” ”

“ A man of courage derives new lessons from his failures, and makes them the introduction to future triumphs. Especially in the field of oratory is there no possibility of success, if this indomitable, persevering spirit be wanting. Many persons of excellent talents have been condemned to perpetual silence, because they would not endure the perils of speech. Men who have instructed the world by their pens, and in the privacy of the social circle have charmed their friends by the magic of their conversation, have never spoken in public because they shrunk from the inevitable hazard. ”

“ What an advantage it must be to the extempore speaker, with whom everything depends on feeling, to have all the cardinal facts he proclaims surrounded by fountains of holy emotion, continually supplied from the spring of meditation, and ready to flow copiously at the slightest touch! Such trains of thought may be carried on in moments too often given to idleness, and thus, not only will a mighty power be added to our pulpit ministrations, but our whole life ennobled and enriched. ”

“ WENDELL PHILLIPS. There can scarcely be a doubt that Wendell Phillips is the greatest professional lecturer of the present day. He is always radical, and on the extremest verge of every question, although in many things the people have followed hard on his footsteps. As a speaker, he has great power, combined with unsurpassed elegance. His manner is calm, his voice of silvery sweetness, yet every rounded sentence is full of living flame, and no man is so unsparing in his denunciations. ”

“ Thus armed, the preacher will come as the messenger of God, rather than the caterer to men’s fancies. And from the mere operation of natural causes, he will speak with a boldness and earnestness that will draw the hearts of men as the magnet does the steel.
But prayer is far more than the means of cultivating emotion. There is a direct influence that comes from God to man. The power of the Holy Spirit is no fable. A heavenly anointing is sent down—an unction that gives sweetness and power even to the most commonplace words. ”

“ There is an utter absence of the pretension we sometimes find about those who are conscious of the possession of great powers. His arrangement of every sermon is plain, simple, and easily remembered. His command of words is complete, and he always finds just the one he wants without hesitation. The tones of his voice are affectionate and pleasing, though when not called into animation by some subject worthy of his powers, a little monotonous, yet so strong that when he seems to be only talking at the pitch of common conversation, every word can be heard to the extremity of the largest church. ”