INSTRUCTION relative to the Composition of Sermons is of great importance, not only to Ministers, but, eventually, to the community at large. And it were much to be wished that more regard were paid to this in the education of those who are intended for the ministry. It has sometimes been recommended to the younger Clergy to transcribe printed Sermons for a season, till they shall have attained an ability to compose their own. And it is to be lamented, that this advice has been too strictly followed : for, when they have once formed this habit, they find it very difficult to relinquish it : the trans- ition from copying to composing of Sermons is so great, that they are too often discouraged in their first attempts, and induced, from the difficulty they experience in writing their own Sermons, to rest satisfied in preaching those of others. To remove, as far as possible, these difficulties from young beginners, is the intent of these Skeletons. The directions given in Mr. Claude's Essay on the Composition of a Sermon, which is annexed to these Skeletons, cannot fail of being helpful to every one who will study them with care : but there appears to be something further wanted ; something of an in- termediate kind, between a didactic Essay like Claude's, and a complete Sermon; something which may simplify the theory, and set it in a practical light.
The following Skeletons'"1 are not intended particularly to exemplify Mr. Claude's rules. There are indeed all his different kinds of discussion contained in the Skeletons. But instead of illustrating particular rules, they are all intended rather to
a For tins use of the word " Skeleton," see Johnson's Dictionary. VOL. I. b
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illustrate one gen era / rule; namely, to shew how texts may be treated in a natural manner. The author has invariably pro- posed to himself three things as indispensably necessary in every discourse; unity in the design, perspicuity in the arrangement, and simplicity in the diction.
It may perhaps l>e not unuseful to point out the manner in which these discourses are formed. As soon as the subject is chosen, the first inquiry is, What is the principal scope and men nine) of the texth1 Let us suppose, for instance, that the text of Jer. xxxi. 18 — 20, were the subject. Upon examina- tion, it appears to be a soliloquy of the Deity, expressing what He had seen to be the workings of Ephraim's mind, and declaring the emotions which the sight of his penitent child had occasioned within his own bosom. Having ascertained this, nothing is to be introduced into any part of the discourse, which does not, in some way or other, reflect light upon the main subject. The next inquiry is, Of what parts does the text consist, or into ivhat parts may it be most easily and natu- rally resolved? Here an obvious division occurs: it is evident that the text contains, 1st, The reflections of a true penitent; and, 2dly, The reflections of God over him. This division being made, the discussion of the two parts must be under- taken in their order. But how shall we elucidate the lirst head? Shall we say, that the penitent is roused from his lethargy, humbled for his transgressions, stimulated to prayer? &c. &c. Such a distribution would, doubtless, con- tain many useful truths ; but they are truths which may be spoken from a thousand other texts as well as this ; and after they had been spoken, the people would still be left without any precise knowledge of the portion of Scripture which should have been opened to them. If the text did not contain any important matter, it would then be proper, and even necessary, to enter in this general manner into the subject : but if the text itself afford ample means of elucidating the point that is under discussion, it is always best to adhere to that. In order then to enter fully into the subject, we examine more care- fully, what are the particular reflections which God noticed in