Alabama state intelligencer., 1831-02-02
FOR THE JNTELLJGFNcFp

gle dollar of money, or foot of the public dCman9 t..a..
 FOR THE INTELLIGENcER.
 MEssRs EDIToRs-Belicving as do, that an es- say upon pulpit speaking would be acceptable. and not without it's use, shall submit, through the me- dlum of your valuable paper, the following brief re- marks to the candid perusa of all young divines in Alabama. l hope that God may bless and sanctify the remarks both to the mental and spiritual advan- tage of all who may favour them with reading.
 .dn EsSay on Hie comhosition Of q Sermon.
 There are in general five parts cf a Sermc n, the Excrtlium, the Connexiq n, the Division. the Discussion, and the Application but, as Cennexion and Divisicn are parts which ought to be txtremely shtrt, we can properly reck- on only Mrte parts, Exordium, Discussion, and Application. However, we will just take mo- tice ct Connexicn and Division, after we have spoken little cn the choice of texts, and a few general rules of discussing them.
 lst Never choose such texts as Have net a complete sense; for, cnly impertinent and foolish people will attempt to preach from only enc or two words, which sign fy n thing.
 2d. Not cnly words which have a complete sense of themselves must be taken, but they must also include the complete sense If the writer, whose words they are for it is his language, and they arc his sentiments, which ycu explain.
 For example, should you take these words, of Cor. i. 5, "Blessed be God, the Father of cur Lcrd Jesus Christ, the Father If mer- cles, and the God of all comfort" and st D here, yeu would include a complete sense ]; but it would not be the Apestl, $ sense. - Should yea go farther, and add, "whc com- frteth us in all cur tribulaticn," it W uld nc then be the complete sense of St. Paul, ncr would his meaning be taken in, unless yru went to the end cf the fcurth verse; When the complete sense tf the sacred writer is ta- ken, ytu may stop; for there are few texts n Scripture which do not afford matter suffi- cent for sermon. And it is equally incon- venient to take too much text as too little : both extremes must be avoided.
 General rules of .sermons.- A sermon should clearly and purely explain text ; make the sense easily to be comprehcnded ; and place tn ngs btfore the peoples eye, SO that they may be understood without difficult ty. This rule condemns embarrassment and obscurity, the most disagreeable thing in a Gospel pulpit. It ought to be remembered, that the greatest part of the hearers are illi- sNi6tSt "HCoC DItD nOWCNST, InuSt DC dlnG(l et in preaching but it is imp, ssible to cd fy them unless ycu be very clear. Where a d ftrent curse is pursued. and the speakc,. brides in the schoiar, mtre than in ed fying, tEe great end fir which the Gospel was or daincd is l, st.
 2d. A sermrn must give the entire sense of the whole text, to do which it must be consi- dered in every view. This rule condemns dry and barren applications, wherein the preacher discovers neither study nor inven- tlcn, and leaves unsaid many beautiful and prolific sentences with which his text would have furnished him. On matters ofreligion and p.ety, not to edify much is to destroy much ; and one of these dry and would- biological sermons does more mischief in an hour, than hundred rich sermcns can do good.
 Sd. The preacher must be wise, in oppo- siticn to those impertinent people, who utter jests, comical comparisons, qurks, and cx- travagances sober, in opposition to these Fash spirits, whoz would penetrate all, and curiously dive into mysteries beyond the b. unds of mcdesty ; chaste, in opposition to these bold and simpudent geniuses, who arc not ashamed of saying many things which are unprductive eff good, though not of evil.
 4th. Aipreacher must be plain and grave l: plain, speaking,in sound mind, without me- taphysical speculation grave, to the avoid ing of unprcftable jests, proverbal sayings, quotations from the ungodly, 8cc. The pull pit is the seat of good natural sense, and the good sense of good men. q5.o s9St,
 5th. The understanding must be informed but in a manner, however, which affects the heart either to comfort the hearers, or to excite them to acts of piety, repentance, CT holiness. -fl-5
 9th. One of the most important precepts fer the discussion of d text, and the ccmpt si- tion of a sermon, is, above all things, to avoid excess. ssjlf
 lst. There must not be tco much genius. mean, not too many brilliant, sparkling, and striking things; for they would produce very bad effects. The auditory will never fail to say, "The man breaches himself, aims to display his genus, and is net animated bv the Spirit of Gad, but by that If the warid. ,,
 2d. A sermon must not be made to groan with doctrine, because the hearers memories cannot retain 1t all and by striving to keep aH, they lose aH: but be governed in this by what ydu may conceive to be the general capacity tf your auditory.
 Sd. Care must be taken never to strain any particular point, either in attempting to ex- haust it, CT to penetrate too far into it. Ere quently in attempting it, you will distil the subject till it evaporates.
 4tli. Figures must not be oyerstraned.- This is d. ne by stretching metaphor into ale gcry, or by carrying d parallel tee f.r A metaphor IS changed int an allegcry, when il number .fthngsar heaped up winch agre. to the subj ct, Ill kcep-ng close tathc meta phor. Allegories may sometimes be used