132 PSYCHOLOGY AND PREACHING
in a measure be changed. To force a radical change, were it practicable, would most probably result in a strained artificiality of style which would be very unpleasant. He can, however, develop these qualities of style, which he can not fundamentally change ; can so cultivate himself that the peculiar rhythm of style which naturally flows from his emotional organization may find its purest and most ade quate expression. By the general culture of his inner life, i.e., by developing his capacity of feeling until he acquires the power to realize with proper intensity a wider range of the feelings normal to man, he may doubtless modify to a considerable extent the fundamental emotional trends of his nature, and in this way largely influence his style, so that it will be more responsive to various emotional rhythms.
Important also is the structure of the sentence, as simple or involved, periodic or loose and straggling. 1 Each, of course, has his own penchant for involution or simplicity in the construction of sentences ; but this, it would appear, is less deeply rooted in his psychological constitution, is more a matter of intellectual habit and can, therefore, be more easily modified by practice than his tendency to use sentences of a certain length, containing a certain number of predica tions, or than his tendency to use a certain proportion of long and short sentences. One can by mechanically work ing over his sentences relieve them of obscurity and invo lution; and by constant attention, correct this fault in his spoken language until he becomes master of a clear and simple style. But if he tries in this way to effect a funda mental change in the peculiarities of his style mentioned above, he will either fail altogether or end by deforming his own characteristic mode of expression without acquiring facility in another.
3. Now, in conclusion, it is apparent that there should be
1 Reference here may be made to any standard work on Rhetoric. See a good discussion of the structure of sentences in Broadus "Preparation and Delivery of Sermons," pp. 375-6, 386-8. A good discussion of this matter from the psychological point of view may be found in Scott s " Psychology of Public Speaking," Chap. VIII.
�� �
