Chrift improved this opportunity to teach her his grace, without amufing himself with directly anfwering what fhe faid.-You may remark the ignorance of this woman in regard to the Lord Jefus; the faw him, fhe heard him: but she did not know him; from which you may observe, that this is the general condition of finners, who have God always before their eyes, yet never perceive him. -That from the woman's ignorance arofe her negligence and lofs of fuch a fair opportunity of being inftructed. Obferve alfo, the mercy of Jefus Chrift towards her; for he even promised to fave her. et pofteriora concilia prioribus fidei formulis aliquid per expofitionem adjecerint, concludit contra Græcos, nulla ratione interdictas effe hujufmodi additiones fyllabarum aut vocum, per quas fides non deftruitur, fed contra hærefes defenditur, et acrius propugnatur; nulloque modo probari poffe Latinam ecclefiam hac de caufa anathematis fententiam incurriffe. Labbei Concil. tom. xiii. pag. 1268. Proteftants have imitated this cruel practice, and the following canons were publifhed fo late as the reign of King James I. 1603. to the fhame of this enlightened country. Quicunque, &c. If any one fhall hereafter affirm, that the established church of England is not an orthodox and apoftolical church that the liturgy of the church of England is corrupt that any one of the thirty-nine articles of faith is in any part fuperftitious or erroneous, or that they may not be subscribed with a good confcience - - - that the ceremonies of the church are fuperftitious -- that the government of the church by archbishops, deans, &c. is contrary to fcripture --- that the form of ordaining bishops, &c. is contrary to fcripture - LET HIM BE EXCOMMUNI CATED. Can. 3,4,5,6,7,8. conftitut. fynod. Lond. 1603. The goodness and wholfomenefs of this doctrine, is fworn to by every perfen, who takes orders in the established church. See article 33, of excommunicated perfons, how they are to be AVOIDED. See allo the Rev. Dr. Wilton's admirable review of this article. How wholjome this doctrine of excommunicating and avoiding, forjaking and curfing people, may be to fome folks, I know not; I fear were I to take it, it would poison me. her. When he said, If thou wouldeft have asked of bim he would have given thee living water; it was as much as if he had offered to inftruct her.-Remark too, that Jefus Chrift went even fo far as to command her to ask him for living water; for when he faid, If thou wouldeft have asked him, he did as much as say, afk him now.-Obferve, finally, that he excited her to feek, and to know him, and removed her ignorance, the cause of all her miftakes, and miseries. (1) (1) Ingenious extra-ways produce good effects. Thefe extra-ways are fometimes agreeably effected, and as agreeably introduced by able preachers. Thus Mr. Saurin, on Jefus Chrift's laft difcourfe with his apoftles, one fermon on the xiv. xv. and xvith chapters of John, introduces his divifion. If it be allowable to mention fuch things in the pulpit, I will ingenuously confefs the particular circumftance, which determined my choice of this fubject. I was a few days ago witnefs of the violent pains of a worthy paftor, whom dea.h took away from a neighbouring church. God vifited him for feveral months with a trial (if I may be allowed to fay fo.) more than human: but he afforded more than human power to fupport it. I was aftonifhed at the greatnefs of his affliction, and more still at the greatnefs of his patience, and I asked him what part of religion had wrought this There miracle in him? Have you never attended, my dear brother, replied he, to the last difcourfes of Jefus Chrift with his apoftles? My God! cried he, what love! what tenderness! above all, what an inexhaustible fource of confolations in extreme afflictions! "I was ftruck with this difcourfe: I immediately thought of you, my dear brethren, and I faid to myself, My hearers had need be furnished with this powerful confolation against fufferings and death. To day I execute my defign. Concur with us in it, come and attend to the last, the loving language of a dying Saviour. Jefus Chrift would guard his difciples, 1. Aganft the fcandal of the cross. 2. Against the perfecutions, which would follow his doctrine. 3. Against forgetting his precepts. 4. Against for row on account of his abfence, &c." Saur. fer. tom. v. fur les dern. difc. de Jefus Christ. Bishop Flechier, in his fu neral There are sometimes texts which imply many important truths without expreffing them, and yet it will be neceffary to mention and enlarge upon them, either because they are useful on fome important occafion, or because they are important of themselves. Then the text must be divided into two parts, one implied, and the other expreffed. I own, this way of divifion is bold, and neral oration for the Duke of Montaufier, on 1 Kings iii. 6. He walked before thee in truth, and in righteoufnefs, and in uprightness of heart; fays, "I confine myself to the words of my text, and intend to fhew you love for the truth, zcal for righteousness, and uprightnefs of heart, which conftitute the character of this great man, whom you, with me, regret and admire. If I do not in this difcourfe obferve the crder, and rules of art, believe, there is, I know not what, of irregularity in grief; muft that thefe great fubjects are a pain to thofe, who treat of them; and that this is rather an effufion of my heart than a premeditated work of my mind.” Flech. tom. ii. dern. oraison funeb. If a man perpetually work by line and rule, if he never allow himfelf to burft his bonds and go upright, will he not fubject himself to the buffoonery of fome wicked wit, who will turn his reafon into rhyme? like him who faid, For rhetoric, he could not ope Teach nothing but to name his tools. Rather let it be faid, HUDIERAS. With cloquence innate his foul was arm'd, Tho' harth the precept, yet the preacher charm'd, But fweetly temper'd awe, and foften'd all he spoke. DRYDEN. must neither be abused, nor too often used: but there are occafions, it is certain, on which it may be very juftly and agreeably taken. A certain preacher on a fast-day, having taken for his fubject thefe words of Ifaiah, Seek the Lord while he may be found, divided his text into two parts, one implied, the other expreffed. In the first he said, that there were three important truths, of which he was obliged to fpeak: 1. That God was far from us. 2. That we were far from him. And, 3. That there was a time, in which God would not be found, although we fought him. He spoke of these one after another. In the firft he enumerated the afflictions of the church, in a moft affecting manner; obferving that all these fad events did but too plainly prove the abfence of the favour of God. 2. He enumerated the fins of the church, and fhewed how diftant we were from God. And in the third place he reprefented that fad time, when God's patience was, as it were, wearied out, and added, that then he difplayed his heaviest judgments without speaking any more the language of mercy. At length, coming to the part expreffed, he explained what it was to feek the Lord, and, by a pathetic exhortation, stirred up his hearers to make that fearch. Finally, he explained what was the time, in which God would be found, and renewed his exhortations to repentance, mixing therewith hopes of pardon, and of the bleffing of God. His fermon was very much admired, particularly for its order. In texts of history, divifions are eafy: fometimes an action is related in all its circumftances, and then you may confider the action in itself first, and afterward the circumstances of the action. Sometimes it is neceffary to remark the occafion of an action, and to make one part of it. Sometimes VOL. I. M Sometimes there are actions and words, which must be confidered feparately. Sometimes it is not neceffary to make any divifion at all: but the order of the hiftory must be followed. In fhort, it depends on the ftate of each text in particular. (2) To render a divifion agreeable, and easy to be remembered by the hearer, endeavour to reduce it as often as poffible to fimple terms. By a fimple term I mean a fingle word, in the fame fenfe as in logic what they call terminus fimplex, is diftingufhed from what they call terminus complex. Indeed, when the parts of a discourse are expreffed in abundance of words, they are not only embarraffing, but also useless to the hearers, for they cannot retain them. Reduce them then as often as you can to a fingle term. (3) Obferve (2) Moft, if not all thefe, may be exemplified by Mr. Saurin's first volume on the hiftory of the passion of our Lord Jefus Christ. (3) Reduce the difcourfe to a few fimple leading thoughts, and fignify thefe by a few fimple terms, naturally connected with the whole fubject. This muft needs be a great help to an extempore preacher as well as to the hearers. One of our old divines fpeaks well on this article: The order and fumme of the facred and only method of preaching. "1. To read the text diftinely out of the canonical fcriptures. 2. To give the fenfe and understanding of it, being read, by the fcripture itself. "4. To apply (if he have the gift.) the doctrines rightly collected, to the life and manners of men, in a fimple and plain speech." Perkins's works, vol. ii. p. 673. edit. fol. 1631. Some orators call memory one part of rhetoric; most of them recommend artificial or "local memory, that is, affociating the different parts to be handled, with any objects before the fpeaker's eyes, fo that by looking about him he is reminded of what he has to fpeak." Chambers's diet. under the word memory. Such affociations are very useful in educating, and in catechining children, and are not improper for fome hearers of fermons, as well as for fome preachers. An ingenious fchoolmafter, who had good fuccefs in educating young |