No just treatment of eloquence in any of its phases can ignore the fad that its highest character and results can only be secured from the expression ofthe living lli.re musl he voice for the ear. action for i I ind a certain projection ofthe s.-ni ini. in -. the
Bympathii . and the emotions of an animated goul upon Is and hearts of others. Nor can it be denied thai the sympathy of numbers in an audience reacts upon a spi aki r and augments within him the power of moving those whom he addresses. Hence, whether elo- quence be considered subjectively as thai subtle power which enables an orator t < . influence men by uttered language, or objectively in the effects produced upon those to whom he speaks, il net ds to be heard and felt
in ..rder to be appreciated in its completeness. Never- theless, this fullest realization of eloquence has ii- limi- tation-. f,,r when once heard and hit it is in that sense ended. Ii can thenceforward only be remembered a- a thing ofthe past. It can neither be repeated nortrans- 1 ferred to other persons, times, or places. In view of this condition of eloquence in its highest realization, we can more fully appreciate the eloquence of written or printed language, which i> to some extent independent both of speakers and hearers, and which may, iu a partial but yet not wholly unsatisfactory degree, represent to per- sons distant, both in time and space, the utterances of eloquent men. To this end, writing and printing are conservative agencies "I I -- UtiaJ importance and of in- estimable value. By means of them the ..rations and sermons of one age are handed down to ages following, and, so far as reading is substituted for hearing, the au- diences of orators and preachers are multiplied without limit. It <s therefore t.. what is preserved in books thai any article upon the eloquence ofthe past must cliierly refer.
In order to rightly comprehend the character and relative importance of pulpit eloquence, reference must be made to preaching (q. v.) as a divinely appointed agency for the promotion ol Christianity in the world. When il was so appointed by the Lord .testis Christ (see Matt, xxviii. 19; Mark iii. II : xvi. 15), a new and pe- culiar field was opened for eloquence. Indeed, a new- dignity was conferred upon human speech in making it the chief agency for the spread of that truth which was designed to make men free from sin and to prepare them for the heavenly world. The very nature of this higb appointment indicates that the pulpit, as representing the public utterances of Christian ministers, affords un- rivalled opportunities for the production and employ- ment of eloquence in its best forms. 1. It demands capacity, convictions, and moral power on the part of preachers, which should go very far towards making them eloquent men. 2. It furnishes them with ever- recurring .and highly favorable occasions for addressing assemblies, for that object it .avails itself ofthe con- secrated time ofthe holy Sal. hath and ofthe sanctuary a> a hallowed place for the delivery of its message. '■'<■ The themes which it appropriately discusses are all of an elevating and inspiring character, having an intrin- sic importance superior to that of any earthly int. rot. being also invested with the authority of divinely re- vealed truth. It was in the light of such considerations that John Quincy Adams declared that "the pulpit is especially the throne of modern eloquence." Certainly, neither the hema ofthe Greeks nor the forum ofthe Ro- mans ever afforded such an agency of power over hu- man minds and hearts. Nor is this agency limited in its exercise to any narrow routine of forms or circum- stances. It is as much in place and as full of power in the catacombs as in a cathedral: on the shores of Galilee as in the synagogues of the. lews: in the sequestered glens where persecuted worshipper- gather as in church- es where kings and magistrates assemble. Indeed, iis greatest triumphs have often been in circumstances out- wardly the most untoward and in which any earthly record was impossible. Hence, while the function of preaching has been iii exercise for neatly ninetet n cen- turies by countless thousands of preachers, bin a v.ry Bra all proportion of the sermons thai have been deliv- ered have been, or could have been, preserved t.. the reading world: yet the combined literature of the an- cient ami modern pulpit is of immense extent.
Il i- by no mean- a— limed that all printed sermons
are eloquent in any superlative sense. Many, no doubt,
are far less so than thousands that have vanished wiih the breath thai uttered them, OI have only lived in the memory and lives ..f those who heard them. Never- theless, study and eriii. :ism arc limited to those prod- ucts Ofthe pulpil which have been preserved from the
oblivion ol the pa-i and made accessible i" persons liv- ing in subsequent periods. But of these there is an
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PULPIT ELOQUENCE
ever-increasing abundance, so that the task of the stu- dent is necessarily one of selection. A general or com- prehensive view of pulpit eloquence can only be obtained by the study of the subject in chronological order, begin- ning with the apostolic age and descending to the pres- ent period, with proper attention to the characteristics of successive periods. The limits of the present article only admit of a summary outline.