It will be as a preacher of righteousness that President Taylor will be best remembered by the generation who heard him. His published sermons would make several large volumes if collected; but those published are insignificant in comparison with the number he delivered. The Saints who listened to him for half a century will remember as long as they live his commanding presence, his personal magnetism, the vigor and power of his discourses and the grand principles of which they treated. He spoke extemporaneously as indeed do all the Elders of Israel. The formal, set discourse, so common in the world, has never been favorably received in the Church of Jesus Christ. It may be said that in that Church a new school of oratory, quite distinct from the strictly scholastic oratory of the world, is being formed; a manner of speech which depends for its success rather upon the presence and operations of the Holy Spirit than upon the cunning or ability of the speaker. When the Lord sent the first Elders out to preach the gospel He gave them these instructions:
"Neither take ye thought beforehand what ye shall say, but treasure up in your minds continually the words of life, and it shall be given you in the very hour that portion that shall be meted unto every man."
"Verily I say unto you, lift up your voices unto this people, speak the thoughts that I shall put into your hearts, and you shall not be confounded before men; for it shall be given you in the very hour, yea, in the very moment, what ye shall say. But a commandment I give unto you, that ye shall declare whatsoever things ye declare in my name in solemnity of heart, in the spirit of meekness, in all things. And I give unto you this promise, that inasmuch as ye do this, the Holy Ghost shall be shed forth in bearing record unto all things whatsoever ye shall say.
"This is an example unto all those who are ordained unto this priesthood, whose mission is appointed to go forth [to preach the gospel]. They shall speak as they are moved upon by the Holy Ghost, and whatsoever they shall speak when moved upon by the Holy Ghost, shall be scripture, shall be the will of the Lord, shall be the word of the Lord, shall be the voice of the Lord, and the power of God unto salvation; behold this is the promise of the Lord unto you, O ye my servants."
This makes the kind of oratory which obtains in the Church of Christ today resemble closely that which existed in the Church among the first Christians. The reader will doubtless remember that the great apostle of the Gentiles said:
"And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the spirit and of power."
In the primitive as in the modern Church the reason for instituting this manner of discourse, is the same: That the faith of believers should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.
These instructions from the Almighty, President Taylor carried out as implicitly as any man engaged in the ministry; and while his discourses may lack the polish, the faultless rhetoric, the studied climax to be found in the set speeches of the learned orators of the world, they are full of great thoughts and the inspiration of God—an excellence which more than repays for the want of smoothness and the fine finish that a carping criticism demands.
It was not his manner to deal with nice distinctions of words, their derivations or the various shades of their meanings. His was not the skill to
"Distinguish and divide
A hair 'twixt South and South-west side."