LECTURE III.

THE POWER OF SPOKEN THOUGHT.

MANY

years ago, the streets of London were filled with people, wending their way to Kensington Common. The gathering multitudes were composed of a motley throng from every class in that crowded city. The rich and the poor, the philosopher and the sweating mechanic, the poet and the street singer, proud lords and gay ladies, peers of the realm and ministers of state, all eager and anxious, were there. The trees and fences, and stages built for the purpose, and chariot wheels, and the backs of gaily caparisoned horses, were crowded with the living throng. The eager countenances of these waiting thousands betokened some great occasion. The pride of dress and the beauty of countenance added gayety to the scene. Yet there was no sound of martial music or rolling drum. There were no soldiers with gay plumes and epaulets, and red coats and glistening bayonets. There were no 'white-winged" tents; no amphitheater as at ancient Rome, where the wretched captive chiefs were bru

Preaching of Whitefield.

Effect of his eloquence.

tally murdered in gladiatorial contests for the sport of a Roman holiday. This throng were attracted by no motives like these. They had come to hear a plain man preach. They had come to hear Whitefield preach.

Patiently they stand in the open field, in God's first temple, whose only canopy is the blue vault above, whose inlaid floor is the bright green earth, and encounter the press and the crowd, to hear the accents from the lips of him who was thought unworthy of gorgeous churches, where the worshipers recline upon velvet cushions, and where the mellow light streams through richly stained windows. They had come to hear a very common subject, but from the lips of no ordinary man. The words from his tongue reach every ear, touch every heart. heart. What is in his countenance is reflected in theirs. Now indignation burns on every lip. Anon their streaming eyes attest the violence of their emotions. And now hope smiles through their tears. Thus he sways that vast assembly to and fro upon the stormy waves of his eloquence. It is not alone the tender-hearted girl that weeps, but the stout heart shares unrestrained the feeling which moves prince and peasant alike. That emotion that comes unbidden, that susceptibility which nature has given all her children, responds to the touch of that master spirit. And

Speech reported.

Carefully written article.

Tables of stone.

the voice of an eternal Providence, which for a time infidelity may be deaf to, and which debauchery and crime may drown, must still be heard.

The power of Mr. Whitefield's preaching was very great. It is unusual that we meet with an exhibition of the force and attractions of eloquence, and of its despotic power over every class of mind and character, such as was displayed by this wonderful man. It illustrates the influence which spoken thought is capable of effecting. In general, it is far superior to written thought. If a speech of unusual interest has been delivered on some public occasion, the report of that speech, when published in the journals of the day, will attract attention, when an article of equal interest, and penned with the greatest care, is passed by without notice.

The reason of this preference is obvious. We are fond of identifying the thoughts with the speaker who uttered them, and the occasion which called them forth. Abstract thought, unaccompanied with the incidents of its origin and promulgation, has few attractions except for those who are fond of pure intellections. The laws of Gcd, when written upon tables of stone, were dead and powerless. nations soon fell back into idolatry; they became oblivious to every element of religious feeling, and worshiped and served the creature more than the

The

Remark of Macaulay.

The sublime.

Definition of Longinus.

Creator. But when God in the personation of Jesus Christ came upon earth, and in the likeness of man, "spake as never man spake," and went about doing good, then the will of our Maker became a living power, before which the pride of philosophy and the blindness of superstition yielded, and gave place to religion pure and undefiled. "It was," says Macaulay, "before Deity embodied in human form, walking among men, partaking of their infirmities, leaning on their bosoms, weeping over their graves, slumbering in their mangers, bleeding on the cross, that the prejudices of the Academy, and the pride of the Portico, and the fasces of the lictor and the swords of thirty legions were humbled in the dust."

The feeling which inspires the orator, is the most exalted of any that sways the bosom of man. In the moment of sublime conception and overwhelming emotion, he feels, in common with his hearers, more than words can express. At such a moment words become powerless, and feeling, rising above such poor exponents of thought, reigns supreme. This is the sublime. For "the sublime," says Longinus, "not only persuades, but even throws an audience into transports. In most cases it is wholly in our own power to resist or to yield to persuasion. But the sublime, endued with strength irresistible, strikes down and triumphs over every hearer. The sublime

Eloquence defined.

Dr. Campbell.

Of a critic.

when seasonably addressed, with the rapid force of lightning has borne down all before it, and shown at one stroke the compacted might of genius."

The faculties which eloquence calls into exercise are the most exalted of which a human soul is possessed. Reason, imagination, taste,-those powers that are last developed, and which are the crowning graces of the mind, are the agencies of the orator. But even these, without the inspiration of a spirit burning with an ardent purpose, are powerless. These faculties must arouse corresponding ones in the minds of those who are addressed. The thoughts which are in the spirit of one man, must be transferred to the bosoms of other men. The electric chords which vibrate so musically in the breast of the speaker must telegraph to those addressed. The flashing eye, the burning lip, the beating heart, between speaker and hearer must be reciprocal.

Rhetoricians have attempted to define eloquence. But the most truthful and refined definition can have little relevancy to him who has not felt it. Dr. Campbell defines it as "that art by which the discourse is adapted to its end; and that all the ends of speaking are reducible to four; every speech being intended to enlighten the understanding, to please the imagination, to move the passions, or to influence the will." This is the definition of a critic, rather