The works of the Rev. William Thom, late minister ... - waughfamily.ca
The works of the Rev. William Thom, late minister ... - waughfamily.ca The works of the Rev. William Thom, late minister ... - waughfamily.ca
24SLETTERS, TRACTS, Iffc.Keafonable proportion. NoW) if wc lliould make ita church upon the eftablifliment, the minifter wouldrun away with 130I. from us, which would in Ibmefort defeat our end, and render our particular quotasmore fcrimp and pitiful. In that cafe, we wouldhave only 250 1. to divide amongft ourfelves.8. Nor are we juft fo totally intent upon profit,and on Chriftian liberty, as not to aim alfo at a reformin the matter and metliod of preaching ; ano*ther reafon for the chapel which I had almofl forgotten.I muft confefs, that our lc6lures on compofitionhave not produced all the effect that was expectedfrom them : Manywho have been taught by usare in truth, Sir, very lifelefs, clumfy, and heavyheadedpreachers. I lately heard one of them in acertain church, who, if he could not be faid to be theinventor of fleep, was at leaft a powerful promoter ofit. He gave copious and fuccefsful dofea of the truefoporific. I foon found myfelf becoming drowfy; I keptmine eyes open as long as I could ; I fupported myhead on my palm, with my elbow on the deik beforeine : Sleep however overpowered me ; but I was foonfet awake by a painful flroke which my chin receivedin falling, by the law of gravitation, on the front ofthe gallery : With difliculty I catched hold of mywig, which had half fallen down from my head. Iwas for fome time in confufign, rubbing my eyes, andknew net where I was: As foon as I recovered myfenfes, I heard all the mailers on my right and lefthand fnoring loud, and faw moil of our ftudents, andmany of the congregation, faft afleep j and was forrieftof all to fee cur own A!um?ius nodding in thepulpit, his eyes half-fliut, and "broken fentences andhalf words coming flowly from his mouth. When Ibecame more awake, and had crawled home, " Welland good, faid I to myfelf, truth is beft hit upon bychance; this hath been an inftru6tive fleep to me;1 have learned m.ore by it than ever I did by any
LETTERS, TRACTS, is'c.249•grammatical or philofophical invefligation." I rea-Ibned upon the matter, and was convinced, that lectureson compontion, witliout models both of con>pofitionand delivery, would not be effeftful. Butwhen in our chapel example Is fuperadded to precept; when- difcourfes are accurately compofed, accordingto the Ariftotelian, the Ciceronian, and Onintilianianrules, and efpecially by the energy of ourown rhetorical fyftems, delivered with a philofophicalfolcmnity, with fpirit and vivacity, and all thegraces of elocution*, when, preaching by turns, everyone of us is feen to exult in his own. peculiar excellence,and all of us foar, like Elijah, high above theheads of all ordinary public fpeakers, inftru6lion, likea cloak, will drop down from us ; our young Eiifhaswill receive a double portion of our fpirit, and prayand preach accordingly. Then a wonderful andmuch-needed improvement in the art of preachingwill quickly take place ; the fpirit of eloquence, likeajfafcetida^or any flrongly odoriferous body, will diffufeitfelf on all fides from our chapel. Firft it will'feize on the minifters of the town, then on thefe Inthe neighbourhood, and then gradually extend itsinfluenceto the moft rem^ote parts ; by which operation,our* chapel will have the fmgular gloryof improvingthe whole kingdom.And while we are reforming the art of preachingswe will at the fame time do our utmofl: to improveour church mufic, which hitherto confifts of little elfebut jarring and difcordant founds. It is pity we arenot abl6 to reflore the mufic of the ancients' whichproduced fo aflonifliing eiFc£ls. To fupply that want,one of our number is,in th? enfuing vacation, to vifitthe Highlands and Weilcrn liles of Scotland ; thefeats of our ancient heroes, our Connals, our Starnos,and our Fingals, celebrated in the fongs of our Offians,our Crunniochs, and our Pibrochs. This is atour unknown to the ancients^ and happily refervejd.
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24SLETTERS, TRACTS, Iffc.Keafonable proportion. NoW) if wc lliould make ita church upon <strong>the</strong> eftablifliment, <strong>the</strong> minifter wouldrun away with 130I. from us, which would in Ibmefort defeat our end, and render our particular quotasmore fcrimp and pitiful. In that <strong>ca</strong>fe, we wouldhave only 250 1. to divide amongft ourfelves.8. Nor are we juft fo totally intent upon pr<strong>of</strong>it,and on Chriftian liberty, as not to aim alfo at a reformin <strong>the</strong> matter and metliod <strong>of</strong> preaching ; ano*<strong>the</strong>r reafon for <strong>the</strong> chapel which I had alm<strong>of</strong>l forgotten.I muft confefs, that our lc6lures on comp<strong>of</strong>itionhave not produced all <strong>the</strong> effect that was expectedfrom <strong>the</strong>m : Manywho have been taught by usare in truth, Sir, very lifelefs, clumfy, and heavyheadedpreachers. I <strong>late</strong>ly heard one <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>m in acertain church, who, if he could not be faid to be <strong>the</strong>inventor <strong>of</strong> fleep, was at leaft a powerful promoter <strong>of</strong>it. He gave copious and fuccefsful d<strong>of</strong>ea <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> truefoporific. I foon found myfelf becoming drowfy; I keptmine eyes open as long as I could ; I fupported myhead on my palm, with my elbow on <strong>the</strong> deik beforeine : Sleep however overpowered me ; but I was foonfet awake by a painful flroke which my chin receivedin falling, by <strong>the</strong> law <strong>of</strong> gravitation, on <strong>the</strong> front <strong>of</strong><strong>the</strong> gallery : With difliculty I <strong>ca</strong>tched hold <strong>of</strong> mywig, which had half fallen down from my head. Iwas for fome time in confufign, rubbing my eyes, andknew net where I was: As foon as I recovered myfenfes, I heard all <strong>the</strong> mailers on my right and lefthand fnoring loud, and faw moil <strong>of</strong> our ftudents, andmany <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> congregation, faft afleep j and was forrieft<strong>of</strong> all to fee cur own A!um?ius nodding in <strong>the</strong>pulpit, his eyes half-fliut, and "broken fentences andhalf words coming flowly from his mouth. When Ibe<strong>ca</strong>me more awake, and had crawled home, " Welland good, faid I to myfelf, truth is beft hit upon bychance; this hath been an inftru6tive fleep to me;1 have learned m.ore by it than ever I did by any
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