Action is the manifestation of the thoughts of the soul through the medium of the body. But the body often rebels and weighs down the soul; and in this, as well as in many other things, requires to be suppled, mortified, disciplined to obedience. However strong the soul may be, it rarely gets the mastery over the body at the outset, and does its part very inefficiently. It is the same with soldiers. When a young conscript first joins his regiment he is heavy and awkward, and his military arms seem a burden to him. Six months later all this is changed: he is quick and smart, and carries his arms with quite a French grace. The same transformation may be effected as regards public speaking. One who has had considerable experience in the direction of seminaries, has written the following; which I feel it a duty to transcribe entire:-- "It is incumbent on a preacher to possess oratorical action, and to practise himself therein until he has acquired it. Conscience, indeed, must tell him that he ought not to neglect a matter on which the success of his ministry depends; and that if, to the mischief of men's souls, theatrical actors spare no pains to attain perfection in action, the preacher should strive, with at least an equal zeal, to become proficient in that respect for the good of men's souls. What! shall the ministers of God weaken by vicious action the force of all they say, while the ministers of Satan, by consummate skill in action, redeem the vanity of their speeches, and impassion the souls of their audience! Surely, this would be a disgrace to the clergy, and an outrage on the word of God. {265} "If it be objected that in the case under consideration art is useless, because nature teaches what is needful, we reply, with Quintilian:--_Nihil licet esse perfcctum, nisi ubi natura curâ juvatur_. All talents are rude and unformed until the precepts of art refine and impart to them that polish which makes them valuable. Demosthenes had few natural gifts for public speaking; but exercise and experience gave what nature had denied him. "If it be objected, further, that the Apostles never learnt the rules of action, we reply that they received the power of miracles--a more than adequate compensation for human eloquence. That, moreover, they received the gifts of the Holy Spirit, which enabled them to proclaim the Gospel worthily. That, inspired by that Divine Spirit, they were eloquent in action as well as in speech; and that St. Paul would not have been listened to on the Areopagus unless he had been able to captivate the eloquent people whom he addressed, as well by external action as by the sublimity of his language.