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“RELIGION’S FIRM-ROOTED TRUTHS:” RICHARD POLWHELE,
PULPIT ORATORY AND LOYALIST ROMANTICISM
IN THE ENGLISH PROVINCE
Da ydd Moo e
DOI: h ps://doi.o g/10.14712/2571452X.2024.68.7
Abs ac : This a icle explo es he ea gua d ac ion ough by he cle gyman and w i e
Richa d Polwhele agains wha he saw as he h ea o Anglican E angelicalism and
Me hodism in Co nwall du ing he F ench Re olu iona y pe iod, highligh ing he
connec ions be ween eligious expe ience, he o ical pe o mance and poli ics. Whe he
i be h ough his heo izing o pulpi o a o y, his ows wi h hose he conside ed
En husias s o his unde s anding o o dina ion oa hs, Polwhele main ained ha
eligious belie should be egula ed by he o ical dis ance. Explaining his s ance, he
a icle shows how Polwhele’s heological and ecclesiological opposi ion o he En husiasm
he ega ded as dange ously inhe en in E angelical P o es an ism also led him o
add ess sho comings wi hin he go e nance o he Chu ch o England i sel . This
dange was embodied in Polwhele’s eyes by he ailu e o oo much pulpi o a o y,
pa icula ly in he p o inces, o engage h ough i s language, con en and one wi h i s
popula audience. By ocusing on he neglec ed igu e o Polwhele, he a icle b ings
oge he and adds o cu en wo k on egional iden i y, Loyalism, Roman ic eligion and
he se mon as a pe o ma i e li e a y o m in he eigh een h cen u y.
Keywo ds: Roman icism, Loyalism, Anglicanism, En husiasm, Me hodism, se mon, poli ics
This a icle e-examines he na u e and me hods o Loyalism in he Roman ic
pe iod by conside ing wo neglec ed opics: he Co nish cle gyman-w i e Richa d
Polwhele (1760-1838) and he eigh een h-cen u y se mon. In hei day bo h
enjoyed a highe p o ile and g ea e es eem han is now gene ally ecognised.
Bo h, howe e , ha e allen by he wayside o a cul u al his o y o he pe iod ha
con inues o be b oadly de ined in e ms o p og essi e secula iza ion. The se mon
has su e ed a double neglec : i s , om an unde -app ecia ion ha i was
“pe haps he dominan li e a y o m in B i ain be ween 1689 and 1901” (by some
Da ydd Moo e
98
es ima es, eigh pages o se mon we e p in ed o e e y page o p ose ic ion in
eigh een h-cen u y B i ain);1 second, om insu icien a en ion o he se mon as
a ype o ex ha balances heological, he o ical and social conce ns.2 This neglec
is no coinciden al gi en ha he p in ed se mon dis u bs he na a i e o p in
cul u e as engine o he secula enligh enmen . As Mis y Ande son no es,
in e p e a ions o se mons o en u n “exp essions o eligious belie as such in o
a mis ecogni ion o o he social and ma e ial impulses, which a e he eal
his o ical con en o be explo ed in li e a y eading and w i ing.”3
Polwhele’s wo k has su e ed simila misin e p e a ion and neglec as a esul
o shi ing li e a y ashions. He was a poe , ansla o and an iqua ian o
conside able s a u e: his ansla ions o Theoc i us and Ty æus we e s anda d
well in o he nine een h cen u y; his na u e poe y, in pa icula The In luence o
Local A achmen (1796), was popula and in luen ial ea ly Roman ic a e; while his
His o y o Co nwall (7 olumes, 1816) is held in some qua e s o be a ounding ex
o mode n Co nish iden i y. A s aunchly Chu ch-and-King coun e - e olu iona y
and long- ime con ibu o o he An i-Jacobin Re iew and he B i ish C i ic, he is
oday known o li e a y schola s almos exclusi ely o his misogynis polemic
The Unsex’d Females (1798), ega ded as a pa adigm o he hos ili y aced by adical
women w i e s du ing he la e eigh een h cen u y.4 Howe e , he e was mo e o
Polwhele’s eac iona y poli ics han his: a mo e a - eaching and consis en
1 William Gibson, “The B i ish Se mon 1689-1901: Quan i ies, Pe o mance and Cul u e,”
in The Ox o d Handbook o he B i ish Se mon 1689-1901, ed. Kei h A. F ancis and William
Gibson (Ox o d: Ox o d Uni e si y P ess, 2014), 6.
2 See Lau a Da ies and Emma Salga d Cuhna, “In oduc ion: W i ing Eigh een h-Cen u y
Religion,” Jou nal o Eigh een h-Cen u y S udies 41, no. 2 (2018): 155-62.
3 Mis y G. Ande son, Imagining Me hodism in Eigh een h-Cen u y B i ain: En husiasm, Belie
and he Bo de s o he Sel (Bal imo e, MD: The Johns Hopkins Uni e si y P ess, 2012), 27.
See also Isobel Ri e s, Reason, G ace and Sen imen : A S udy o he Language o Religion and
E hics in England, 1660-1780, Vol. 1 (Camb idge: Camb idge Uni e si y P ess, 1991) and
Phyllis Mack, Hea Religion in he B i ish Enligh enmen (Camb idge: Camb idge Uni e si y
P ess, 2008).
4 See Anne S o , “Hannah Mo e and he Blagdon Con o e sy, 1799-1802,” Jou nal o
Ecclesias ical His o y 51, no. 2 (2000): 330; Emily Lo aine De Mon luzin, The An i-Jacobins,
1798-1800: The Ea ly Con ibu o s o he An i-Jacobin Re iew (New Yo k: S Ma in’s P ess,
1988); S ephen C. Beh end , “New Roman icisms o Old: Displacing Ou Expec a ions
and Ou Models,” Midwes Qua e ly 41, no. 2 (2000): 145-58; Jane Todd, “The Polwhelean
T adi ion and Richa d Cobb,” S udies in Bu ke and His Time 16 (1974-75): 271-77; Judi h
Pascoe, “‘Unsex’d Females’: Ba bauld, Robinson, and Smi h,” in The Camb idge Companion
o English Li e a u e 1740-1830, ed. Tom Keyme and Jon Mee (Camb idge: Camb idge
Uni e si y P ess, 2004), 211-26.
“Religion’s i m- oo ed u hs”
99
conce n o his was he ise o E angelical Anglicanism and Me hodism and he
h ea hey posed in bo h heological and ecclesiological e ms o he Anglican
es ablishmen and he social o de i unde pinned.5
In b inging oge he he li e a y o m o he se mon and he case o Polwhele,
his a icle explo es he ela ionship be ween eligious expe ience, he o ical
pe o mance and poli ics in he Roman ic pe iod. I will a gue ha Polwhele saw
o a o y as key o commanding he empo al and spi i ual a en ions o he people
o he ex en ha he conside ed he ela ionship be ween ai h and exp ession o
be a li mus es o p ope eligious belie . Tha ela ionship was cen al o his
unde s anding o bo h he heological meaning o his o dina ion oa h and he
impo ance o he se mon, whose heological and ecclesiological signi icance
Polwhele saw in undamen ally he o ical e ms. This unde pinned his belie in
he media ing powe o he Chu ch o England and he need o comba h ea s o
i s powe , whe he hey be ex e nal denial o his need o media ion o in e nal
neglec o his communica i e du y.
Viewed in hese e ms, Polwhele’s ac i i ies demons a e he po ency o he
se mon as a social, he o ical and heological ins umen . To make his case, I
conside he a ious h ea s o he Anglican es ablishmen ep esen ed by
E angelical p eaching be o e mo ing on o a conside a ion o Polwhele’s ea ha
he Anglican es ablishmen was inad e en ly conspi ing wi h he o ces
condemning i o i ele ancy, and his campaign o ein igo a e i s he o ical
powe in he ace o he E angelical challenge. I conclude wi h some hough s
abou wha his means o ou unde s anding o Loyalis Roman icism.
I
As a i s s ep, i is wo h e lec ing on he poli ical and ecclesiological s a us o he
se mon, and why Polwhele migh ha e been so sensi i e o i s s a us being
unde mined in he con ex o his a emp s o sho e up suppo o Chu ch and
King in he Wes o Co nwall be ween 1790 and 1820. The ole o he Es ablished
Chu ch as a bulwa k o he S a e in he eigh een h cen u y is well unde s ood. As
Robe Ryan has i , “while i was ou inely asse ed ha he Chu ch o England
li ed unde he p o ec ion o he S a e, in p ac ice he e e se was ue.”6 W.M.
Jacob sugges s ha he Chu ch p o ided “a amewo k o loyal y and allegiance”
5 See Da ydd Moo e, Richa d Polwhele and Roman ic Cul u e: The Poli ics o Reac ion and he
Poe ics o Place (London: Rou ledge, 2020), esp. Chap e 4.
6 Robe M. Ryan, The Roman ic Re o ma ion: Religious Poli ics in English Li e a u e 1789-1824
(Camb idge: Camb idge Uni e si y P ess, 1997), 26.
Da ydd Moo e
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h ough in e cessional p aye s and a li u gical calenda o as days and poli ical
commemo a ions, while Emma Majo has highligh ed he ole o he se mon in
his consolida ion o powe : deli e ed (in heo y a leas ) wice a week in e e y
pa ish in he land, he se mon was cen al o p opaga ing “g oup iden i y on a
denomina ional, egional and na ional le el” du ing he cen u y.7 Robe Hole has
emphasized he o e ly poli ical na u e o his p ocess, pa icula ly du ing he
F ench Re olu iona y pe iod, while also eminding us ha he eigh een h-cen u y
Chu ch o England was heologically, geog aphically and poli ically insecu e in
ways ha belied i s “Es ablished” na u e.8 En husiasm – summa ized by Jon Mee
as “ he e o o inding God e e ywhe e and jus i ying one’s own impulses as his
Wo d” – posed a pa icula challenge o he media ing and consolida ing powe
o he Es ablished Chu ch, a challenge el wi h new u gency in he e a o he
F ench Re olu ion.9 In Mee’s accoun , he “ ea o he combus ible ma e wi hin
bo h he indi idual and body poli ic” led o he egula ion – and pa ial i uns able
ehabili a ion – o En husiasm as a is ic li e a y (usually poe ic) exp ession.10
Building on hese s udies, I make he case he e ha in o de o ein o ce he
powe o Chu ch and S a e, Polwhele sough o police En husiasm wi hin he
Anglican se mon, simul aneously denying he ecclesiology ep esen ed by
En husias s while ecognizing and egula ing he popula eelings, a i udes and
beha iou o which he En husias appealed. The no ion o policing o egula ing
is pa icula ly impo an o a mo e nuanced unde s anding o he conse a i e
mindse , since o egula e is no o e adica e, bu o acknowledge and seek o
con ol wi hin bounds. Polwhele ecognized he need o comba En husiasm on
i s own e ms, a guing o a di e en , socially engaged he o ic o he se mon.
Tha Polwhele saw himsel as igh ing a ide o non-con o mism is ha dly
coinciden al. While his wo k exhibi s a ai amoun o pa anoia, he had mo e han
a li le o eel pa anoid abou . In he a - lung pa ishes o Wes Co nwall o which
he minis e ed, he g ip o he Chu ch o England, and indeed he S a e, was
enuous a he bes o imes, and in he 1790s he h ea o insu ec ion and F ench
7 W.M. Jacob, The Cle ical P o ession in he Long Eigh een h Cen u y, 1680-1840 (Ox o d:
Ox o d Uni e si y P ess) 12; Emma Majo , “I hu iel’s Spea : Ba bauld, Se mons and
Ci izens, 1789-93,” Jou nal o Eigh een h-Cen u y S udies 41, no. 2 (2018): 259.
8 Robe Hole, Pulpi s, Poli ics and Public O de , 1760-1832 (Camb idge: Camb idge Uni e si y
P ess, 1989) and “English Se mons and T ac s and Media o Deba e,” in The F ench
Re olu ion and B i ish Popula Poli ics, ed. Ma k Philp (Camb idge: Camb idge Uni e si y
P ess, 1991), 18-37.
9 Jon Mee, Roman icism, En husiasm, and Regula ion: Poe ics and he Policing o Cul u e in he
Roman ic Pe iod (Ox o d: Ox o d Uni e si y P ess, 2005), 6.
10 Mee, Roman icism, En husiasm, and Regula ion, 5.
“Religion’s i m- oo ed u hs”
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in asion loomed la ge. The geog aphical dis ance o Co nwall om he Diocesan
sea in Exe e was exace ba ed by a lack o con idence in dealing wi h Co nwall
ha has been aced back o he a e ma h o he P aye Book Rebellion o 1549;
while he Co nish mano ial sys em led o a mo e dispe sed popula ion and he
absence o he in luen ial squi a chy ha we e ea u es o Pa ochial au ho i y in
o he a eas o u al England.11 One economic consequence o ha dispe sed
popula ion was a sho age o iable indi idual Li ings, meaning ha non-
esidence was common (Polwhele a ely held a single pa ish a any one ime).
While plu alism was he e o e o en d i en by economic eali y in Co nwall, non-
esidence ne e heless ed a pe cep ion o pe sonal and ins i u ional de elic ion.
I also made coun e ing he in luence o i ine an p eache s mo e challenging.
Equally, he socio-poli ical and economic eali ies o a coun y cha ac e ized as
exis ing in a s a e o “ eudal ana chy” could be jus as inauspicious o he
empo al au ho i y o he S a e.12 Polwhele himsel could be suspicious o he
mo i es o some o hose in es ed in he no ion o Co nish lawlessness, seeing i
as p opaganda designed o p omo e he amelio a ing in luence o Me hodism in
con as o he ailings o he Es ablished Chu ch. As he was i onically mo ed o
pu i on he subjec o in mine s:
Be o e Wesley, hese inne s we e hu le s and obbe s, mu de e s and
smuggle s; he child en o he de il. Since Wesley, hese inne s a e nei he
hu le s, no obbe s, no mu de e s, no smuggle s, bu he elec o God.13
Howe e , like many cle gy o his s a ion, he was also a magis a e and, as a commi ed
i somewha epe i i e memoi is , he does himsel pain a i id pic u e o li e on
he ins i u ional edge, acing down suspec ed F ench spies, smuggle s, and hose
in mine s, who seemed always assumed o be on he e ge o io ing.14
Polwhele ough his Loyalis ea gua d ac ion ene ge ically and in mul iple
ways. In e ms o publica ions hese included his poe ic handbook on he o ic
11 Philip Pay on, The Making o Mode n Co nwall: His o ical Expe ience and he Resis ance o
“Di e ence” (Red u h: Dyllans ow T u an, 1992), 65.
12 Philip Pay on, Co nwall: A His o y (Fowey: Co nwall Edi ions, 2004), 170.
13 Richa d Polwhele, ed. and in o., The En husiasm o Me hodis s and Papis s Conside ed: by
Bishop La ing on (London: A.J. Valpy, 1820), cxxi . This commen is in esponse o Joseph
Benson’s Vindica ion o he People Called Me hodis s (London: G. S o y, 1800).
14 See Richa d Polwhele, T adi ions and Recollec ions: Cle ical, Li e a y and Domes ic, 2 ols.
(London: John Nichols and Son, 1826) and Reminiscences in P ose and Ve se, 3 ols. (London:
J.B. Nichols and Son, 1836).

Da ydd Moo e
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en i led The English O a o (1785-1791),15 con aining o e a housand lines de o ed
o pulpi eloquence; his pamphle dispu e collec ed as Th ee Le e s o he Re .
Robe Hawke (2nd edi ion, 1800), which was occasioned by he cha isma ic
Hawke ’s p eaching ou o Co nwall; he mock-he oic sa i ical poem and
cau iona y ale Si Aa on; o Fligh s o Fana icism (1800); and he deeply pa anoid
and unin en ionally hila ious Anecdo es o Me hodism, wi h a Se mon (1800). Long
a e he gene ali y o he Chu ch o England had calmed down abou Me hodis s
as a i h column, Polwhele was s ill highly suspicious, as shown in his published
se mon The Chu chman and Me hodis Con as ed (1812). As la e as 1820 he p oduced
an edi ion, wi h a long in oduc ion by Polwhele himsel , o Geo ge La ing on’s
classic an i-Me hodis polemic The En husiasm o Papis s and Me hodis s Conside ed
(1749). This a icle will ouch b ie ly on se e al aspec s o hese publica ions while
emphasizing he cen ali y o he se mon o Polwhele’s e o . Se mons we e i al
as a means o p omo ing he Es ablished Chu ch’s posi ion, which is why i ma e ed
wha hey said, how hey we e deli e ed and by whom.
II
Unsu p isingly gi en his commi men o he se en y-yea -old iews o La ing on,
Polwhele’s commen a y on En husiasm (he a ely dis inguishes Me hodis s and
E angelical Anglicans o he han o conside he la e o be mo e despicable)
ollows he s anda d pa e n o complain s and accusa ions es ablished om he
mid-cen u y onwa ds. The En husias , p eaching a gospel o emo ionally
embodied immediacy leading o a momen o con e sion, posed bo h heological
and ecclesiological challenges o he Chu ch o England. The immediacy and
accessibili y o his expe ience, wi hou he necessi y o media ion be ween God
and humankind, also h ea ened he empo al au ho i y o he Chu ch, which
made his a poli ical ma e as well. E en mo e disas ously, he emphasis on
con e sion and sal a ion wi hou epen ance challenged a cen al, i some imes
wobbly, plank o o hodox Anglican heology: he comp omise, on he ques ion o
sanc i ica ion, be ween jus i ica ion by ai h and jus i ica ion by wo ks. As Polwhele
pu i , he “dep ecia ion o mo al conduc and he exal a ion o En husiasm o an
imagina y con e sion” ep esen ed by sal a ion wi hou epen ance is “an appeal
o he p o liga e and co up and a ap o he weak.”16
15 The publica ion his o y o his poem is in ol ed. The i s book was published alone
(wi h an ad e isemen ailing all 4 books) in 1785 as The A o Eloquence: A Didac ic
Poem. Book he Fi s . By he 2nd edi ion o 1786 i had acqui ed all i s books and a new i le,
and he 3 d edi ion o 1788 was also hea ily e ised; his e sion was ep in ed in
Polwhele’s Poems o 1791.
16 Polwhele, The En husiasm o Me hodis s, ccix.
“Religion’s i m- oo ed u hs”
103
In his way, he ela ionship be ween powe ul speech, emo ion and belie is
cen al o bo h he heological and ecclesiological challenge o Me hodism. The e
is no hing o iginal abou his obse a ion: he image o he ield p eache mo ing
his audience wi h he powe o his wo ds is amilia . Mo e in e es ing is
Polwhele’s con en ion ha he emo ional immediacy o he Me hodis p eache
ep esen s a ailu e o he o ic as an aes he ic as well as mo al exe cise. As such,
his a gumen wi h he En husias s was less a he o ical compe i ion han a compe i ion
o e he meaning and pu pose o he o ic i sel . The el immediacy o Me hodis
and E angelical Bible p eaching and, by ex ension, hough , collapsed he di e ence
be ween public u e ance and absolu e con ic ion. O , o pu i ano he way,
En husias s belie ed wha hey said. Fo Polwhele he p imi i e li e alness o his
e sion o Ch is iani y was no only unsophis ica ed bu oolish and dange ous.
As he a gues abou he momen in he Anglican o dina ion ow when he
candida e decla es ha he is “inwa dly mo ed by he Holy Ghos ,” he e is no
con adic ion be ween his oa h and inding “ he sensible expe ience o an inwa d
mo ion idiculous” ( he co ne s one o En husiasm’s con e sion na a i e):
Well do I emembe , ha , when I o e ed mysel o o de s, […] my answe
was: “I come, wi h he since e mo i e o eligion, he Holy Spi i , I us ,
assis ing me, o ake upon me he o ice,” &c. &c. – ha , his Lo dship old
me, I had answe ed igh – and, ha he ouched upon he absu di y o hose
en husias s, who p e end o ecei e, li e ally, a call om he Holy Ghos .17
The En husias is appa en ly unable o unde s and he li u gy and o dinances o
he Chu ch o England as me apho ical he o ical ac s, a he han being li e ally
ue. And Polwhele main ains ha he esul o an o e ly li e al-minded eading
is heologically isky in e nal con adic ion. As he pu s i o Robe Hawke :
Le me ask you, hen, wha you hink o a passage in ou Chu ch-
Ca echism, “ he body and Blood o Ch is , which a e e ily and indeed
aken” – I you unde s and his passage li e ally, you a e, e iden ly a
ansubs an ialis . Bu as, I p esume you a e no a ansubs an ialis , you
canno unde s and his passage li e ally.18
The emphasis on el eligious expe ience, on being mo ed by he Spi i wi hou
he medi a ing p esence o he Chu ch, “de ined,” as Ande son pu s i , “ he dange s
17 Richa d Polwhele, A Second Le e o he Re e end D Hawke (Hels on: T. Flindell, 1799), 22.
18 Polwhele, A Second Le e , 27n.
Da ydd Moo e
104
o mis eading, pa icula ly o e ly li e al eading, agains he ci ic and psychological
es ain implici in he aes he ic p o ocol o li e a y eading.”19 Fo Polwhele and
(a leas by Polwhele’s accoun ) Bishop Ross o Exe e , Hawke and his Me hodis
allies a e, in Ande son’s wo ds, “ ailed Mode ns” who ail o b ing “c i ical
dis ance, judgemen , and as e” o hei heology.20 In he e ms o he p esen
a icle, En husias s ail o ecognise he p ope ela ionship be ween heology and
he o ic and he e o e o e look he di e ence be ween a he o ical ac (in his
ins ance he oa hs o o dina ion) dealing in me apho and a ho oughly wo ked-
h ough heological posi ion. On he o he hand, o he E angelical o Me hodis ,
he dis inc ions Polwhele seeks o impose be ween wha is said in a s a emen o
belie and wha is mean by ha s a emen in a wide con ex we e o be expec ed
om, in Isobel Ri e s’s ph ase, he “luke-wa m ime se e s” o a la e eigh een h-
cen u y La i udina ian es ablishmen esponsible o “cobbling oge he he emnan s
o Anglicanism.”21
Ye , howe e much Polwhele migh ha e hough i missed he poin o
Anglican belie , he En husias ic p eache ’s abili y o o ge an emo ional
connec ion wi h his audience and e ec he momen o emo ional ap u e and
con e sion emained a h ea o s able chu ch go e nance. This h ea was
ende ed e en mo e po en by he palpable ailu e o he Chu ch o England o
ise o he challenge:
Sca cely one who does no oppose himsel o he pa ish p ies as an enemy,
h owing ou , incessan ly, aspi a ions on his dull mo ali y, and unedi ying
doc ines, and denouncing damna ion agains Chu ch people wi hou
ce emony o ese e. Ou sobe se mons!! Wha a e hey when compa ed
wi h he u ious ha angues – he laming o a o y o he gospel minis e .22
As we shall see in he nex sec ion, o p ese e he Chu ch o England’s au ho i y
Polwhele he e o e ad oca ed he need o his colleagues o pay a g ea e ca e o
hose “sobe se mons” ull o “dull mo ali y, and unedi ying doc ines.” In doing
so he demons a ed an unexpec edly c i ical pe spec i e on hose he sees as
unwi ingly conni ing a he collapse o ha au ho i y.
19 Ande son, Imagining Me hodism, 61.
20 Ande son, Imagining Me hodism, 61.
21 Ri e s, Reason, G ace and Sen imen , 87.
22 Polwhele, En husiasm o Me hodis s, cl i.
“Religion’s i m- oo ed u hs”
105
III
A subs an ial pa o Polwhele’s a ack on he cha ac e o Me hodis p eache s is
a ehea sal o wha by he end o he cen u y we e s anda d slu s as o he
imp op ie y, including he sexual imp op ie y, o Me hodis ca yings-on. Bu he
also acknowledges he impo ance o he in imacy be ween minis e and
cong ega ion and ecognizes ha Me hodis p eaching is e ec i e because i is
“so well adap ed o he cha ac e o he ulga .” He is wa m in his p aise o
Me hodis chu ch music, admi ing ha he music o he Chu ch o England is no
always “congenial” and, wo se, equen ly badly pe o med (psalms, lined ou as
me ical ballads, passed o hymn-singing in he eigh een h-cen u y Chu ch o
England). Fo all Polwhele’s wa nings abou he di e consequences (spi i ual and
empo al) o he “lo e eas s” o Me hodis s, he is pain ully awa e o how li le
o hodox Anglicanism o e s in e u n (and i is wo h bea ing in mind ha he
Anglican li u gy as Polwhele knew i had ye o unde go he T ac a ian e o ms
ha gi e i i s p esen o m).23 The Me hodis h ea ga e an u gency o Polwhele’s
longs anding in e es in he p ope and e ec i e ole o he u al cle gy, a he co e
o which is he ension be ween he uni e si y-educa ed cle ic and he u al
communi ies he se es, especially when he gen lemen-cle gy migh ha e hei
eye mo e on sel -ad ancemen o hei own c ea u e com o s han on he li es o
hose hey should be guiding. Se mon o a o y was a he hea o his, bo h as an
ins umen and a symbol o his conce n.
W.G. Jacob’s a he apologis accoun o he eigh een h-cen u y cle gy
sugges s ha , as “ he only na ional ins i u ion wi h educa ed and li e a e agen s
p esen a leas weekly in almos e e y communi y in he land,” he Chu ch o
England p o ided an “impo an link be ween he egions and London” and
“media ed be ween he cen e and locali ies.”24 Gi en ha pi o al impo ance,
i was i al ha he message was compelling, bo h in manne and heology,
ein o cing he s a us quo ia an appeal o he i ues o s abili y and mode a ion.
Ye , as Nigel Ash on has poin ed ou , in p ac ice “ empe a e, mode a e se mons
could eadily sound ponde ous and li eless in he w ong hands.”25 Book 4 o
Polwhele’s The English O a o conce ns i sel wi h exac ly his dilemma abou how
o communica e om he pulpi wi h wha i calls “ he Mul i ude’s ough Mass”
23 I am g a e ul o D Simon Dickie o he Uni e si y o To on o o insigh in o he
s angeness o he eigh een h-cen u y Anglican chu ch se ice o mode n eyes and ea s.
24 Jacob, The Cle ical P o ession, 12, 304.
25 Nigel Ash on, “Ra ionalism, he Enligh enmen and Se mons,” in The Ox o d Handbook
o he B i ish Se mon 1689-1901, ed. Kei h A. F ancis and William Gibson (Ox o d: Ox o d
Uni e si y P ess, 2014), 403.
Da ydd Moo e
112
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