This is the usual process:—A young man composes a sermon while at college, which is generally made up of odds and ends and quotations, and in putting them together he does his best not to be himself. With this stuff he mounts the pulpit, it may be of a town church or even of a cathedral; and behold him a full-fledged preacher! And then, forsooth, astonishment is expressed because the faithful are bored, and do not come to listen to us! The wonder is that so many attend our sermons.
But let us be just: all do not entertain this idea of sacred eloquence. By certain religious orders, the Jesuits for example, it is regarded in quite a different light. I crave pardon for revealing their family secrets; but it is for the good of souls.
A novice among the Jesuits, no matter what he may have been previously—whether a lawyer, author, preacher, canon, grand vicar, bishop, or even a cardinal—must attend a reading-class three or four times a week. There he is made to read like a child, is taught to articulate and accentuate, and every now and then is stopped while those present are called upon to point out the merits and defects in his reading. This training is persisted in until his pronunciation is perfect, and he is free from all disagreeable accent.
But that is not all: every Monday during his noviciate, or during the term of his studies, that is, for five, six, eight, or ten years, he has to undergo a training in the tones, which consists in his being made to recite what is called the formula of the general tones—a short discourse, comprising all the tones ordinarily used in oratorical compositions; such as the tone of persuasion, of menace, of kindness, of anger, of the mercy and justice of God, of prayer, and of authority. Thereby the young preacher is taught how to supple, to break in his own organism, and to adapt it to those different tones.
After these come the special tones. This consists of a short discourse, to be composed in two hours on a given text, and must contain certain specified strokes of oratory. Three or four of the younger novices are exercised in this way, exclusive of the sermons which are preached in the refectory.
But the most profitable part of the exercise is this, that after reciting his tones, the preacher must remain in the pulpit while the master of the novices asks some of the spectators what they think of its substance, form, expression, etc., the poor patient being present and obliged to hear all his faults detailed. This, however, is done in all charity; and moreover, his good qualities are pointed out in a similar way.
These are most interesting meetings. They comprise, besides young lawyers and ecclesiastics, men of general experience, logicians, poets, and preachers, who are all invited to express their opinion with the greatest freedom.
The youngest are interrogated first; for the young are naturally fastidious, and generally find much to blame. Time, however, will correct them of that fault. After these come the older novices, then the Jesuits well trained to preaching; and lastly, the master of the novices, who sums up the different opinions elicited, and then proceeds to expound the science. It sometimes happens, however, that the judgments passed are so well formulated and so well based, that, despite his desire to criticise or to applaud, the master is obliged to modify his own opinions.
When the young preacher leaves the pulpit, he retires to note down his defects and merits, which he is subsequently expected to read over from time to time.