Extempore Preaching
The following is part of the account by Dr.Hanna, his biographer, of the attempt to get Chalmers to preach without his usual copious notes.
MEMOIRS OF DR. CHALMERS.
1813.
It was only in one respect that Mr. Fuller's desires and
anticipations were to remain unfulfilled. Under the very strong conviction that
his use of the manuscript in the pulpit impaired the power of his Sabbath
addresses, Mr. Fuller (Andrew Fuller) strenuously urged upon his friend the
practice of extempore preaching, or preaching from notes. "If that man," said
be to his cornpanion, Mr. Anderson, after they had taken leave of Kilrnany
manse - " if that man would but throw away his papers in the pulpit, he might
be king of Scotland."
Mr. Chalmers was perfectly willing to make the
experiment, and he gave full time and all diligence to the attempt; but it
failed. He read, reflected, jotted down the outlines of a discourse, and then
went to the pulpit trusting to the suggestion of the moment for the phraseology
he should employ; but he found that the ampler his materials were, the more
difficult was the utterance, his experience in this respect he used to compare
to the familiar phenomenon of a bottle with water in it turned suddenly upside
down: the nearly empty bottle discharges itself fluently and at once; ths
nearly full one labours in the effort, and lets out its contents with jerks and
large explosions and sudden stops, as if choked by its own fulness. So it was
with Mr.. Chalmers in his first efforts at extempore preaching. A twofold
impediment lay in the way of his success. It was not easy to light at once upon
words or phrases which could give anything like adequate conveyance to
convictions so intense as his were; and he could not be satisfied, and with no
comfort could he proceed, while an interval so wide remained between the truth
as it was felt and the truth as his words had represented it.
Over and
over again was the effort made to find powerful enough and expressive enough
phraseology. But even had this difficulty not existed - even though he had been
content with the first suggested words, he never could be satisfied till he had
exhausted every possible way of setting forth tile truth, so as to force or to
win for it an entrance into the minds of his hearers. So very eager was he at
this period of his ministry to communicate the impressions which glowed so
fervidly within his own heart, that even when he had a written sermon to
deliver, he often, as if dissatisfied with all that he had said, would try at
the close to put the matter in simpler words, or present it in other lights, or
urge it in more direct and affectionate address. But when the restraints of a
written composition were thrown away, when not at the close only, but from the
very beginning of his address, this powerful impulse operated, he often found
that, instead of getting over the ground marked down in his study to be
traversed, the whole allotted time was consumed while yet he was labouring away
with the first or second preliminary idea. After a succession of efforts, the
attempt at extempore preaching was relinquished; but he carried into the study
that insatiable desire to effect a secure an effective lodgement of the truth
in the minds of others, which had so much to do with the origin of all that
amplification and reiteration with which his writings abound. In preparing for
the pulpit, he scarcely ever sat down to write without the idea of other minds,
whom it was his object to impress being either more distinctly or more latently
present to his thoughts; and he seldom rose from writing without the feeing
that still other modes of influential representation remained untried.
"Sunday, .August 8th. - Began to extemporize this day, and carried
it to the extent of my two lectures and part of my sermon; "Sunday, August
l5th. - Threw off a sketch of a sermon this morning, and seldom addressed a
more cultivated audience, - a number of gentry, and Professor Hill and his
wife. Felt discouraged, and did not acquit myself to my satisfaction. This want
of freedom prevented even a complete and edifying view of the subject. - O God,
save me from all vanity. Was it right to apologize to Mr. Hill for my
exhibition? No. Let me henceforth carry a prepared sermon with me, but let me
persevere a little more in my extempore efforts. At all events, let me
extemporize my lectures. There is a rapidity and impatience in all my processes
which prevents that complete and connected view of my subject which is
favourable to extemporizing. - O God, give me to be more calm and
judicious."
Memoirs Vol.1
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