The mode by which Durbin attained his great success is worthy of careful attention. In a communication to the compiler of these notices, he says:
... “I never wrote my sermons—not more than two or three in my life—and these not till after I had preached them. My plan has been to have a well-defined topic, and only such subdivisions as naturally arise out of the topic. I generally put them down separately on a small piece of paper, which I take into the pulpit, but scarcely ever use. This is commonly called a skeleton. I do not write out anything I propose to say, but carefully think over the main points; but never commit them to memory. I keep within living touch of my skeleton, but depend on the natural consecutiveness of thought to enable me to clothe it with muscle; and I depend on the inspiration of the occasion to give it life and color. The inspiration is partly human and partly divine; arising from the combined action of the divine and the human spirit, which combined action constitutes the power of a preached gospel.
“So far as human ability is concerned, I believe that this is the secret of any success I have had in preaching the Gospel.”
NEWMAN HALL.
The Evangelist gives Rev. Newman Hall’s account of how he learned extempore preaching, as follows:
“When I went to college, it seemed to me that I should never be able to say a word in public without writing. But I soon determined that if I was going to be a preacher, and particularly if I wanted to be anything like a successful preacher, I must form the habit of extemporaneous address. So I went into my room, locked the door, placed the Bible before me on a mantel, opened it at random, and then on whatever passage my eye chanced to rest, proceeded to deliver a discourse of ten minutes. This practice was kept up an entire twelve months. Every day, for a whole year, ten minutes were given to that kind of speaking, in my own room by myself. At first I found it very difficult to speak so long right to the point. But then if I couldn’t talk on the subject I would talk about it—making good remarks and moral reflections—being careful to keep up the flow, and say something to the end of the term allotted for the exercise. At the end of the twelve months, however, I found I could not only speak with a good degree of fluency, but that I could hold myself strictly to the subject in hand. You take this course. Don’t do your practising on an audience. That is outrageous.”
APPENDIX.
I.
THE CHAIRMAN’S GUIDE.
ORDER OF PROCEEDINGS IN VARIOUS MEETINGS.
When the business of an assembly is limited to hearing one man speak, there is little need of rules. But when there are several speeches, and various kinds of business are mingled with them, the subject of order becomes important. Many a fluent speaker may be embarrassed because he does not know just when he ought to speak, and how to introduce what he desires. A member of Congress, for instance, cannot be efficient, no matter what his talents, until he masters the rules of business. Even in smaller and less formal assemblies it is of great advantage to every one, especially if called upon to preside, as all may be in this land of discussions, to know just how to fulfil the duties imposed on him. In this short, and necessarily imperfect sketch, we will only aim to give those simple forms of parliamentary law that will often be needed by every man who essays to speak at all.
Every society has the right to form its own laws, and whenever it does positively determine any matter, the general rules of order are superseded to that extent. But it would be an endless task for any body to provide beforehand for every case that might occur, and the greater part of these are always left to be decided by general usage. This usage, which has been growing up for years, now covers almost every possible point. An eminent authority says: “It is much more material that there should be a rule to go by than what that rule is, for then the standard cannot be changed to suit the caprice or interest of the chairman, or more active members, and all are assured of justice.”