the sequel full and diffuse.^ For you must not spring at once into the patlietic portion of your speech, as it forms no part of the question, and men are first desirous to learn the very point that is to come under their judgment; nor, when you have entered upon that track, are you suddenly to diverge from it; for you are not to suppose that as an argument is understood as soon a^ it is stated, and a seopnd and a third are then desired, so you can with the same ease move compassion, or envy, or anger, as soon as you make the attempt.^ Beaaon itself confirms an argument which fixes itself in the mind as soon aa it is delivered; but that sort of eloquence does not aim at instructing the judge, but rather at agitating his mind by excessive emotion, which no one can produce unless by fulness and variety and even copiousness of language, and a proportionate energy of daiivery. Those, therefore, who speak either with brevity, or in a low submiaave strain, may indeed inform the judge, but can never move him, an effect on which success altogether depends.
XUaidi.
e deient.
' VehamentBii et longiaraa." Fronst, " Non abrupt;. Bed Iraiti,'* 'J * Biavl at^ut intuferM: Rem ac OS ted; ohabacteb of the orator.
" It is clear, that tlie ability of arguing on every subject on both sides of the question is drawn from the eame considerations. But we must resist the force of an argument, either by refuting those things which are assumed in support of it, or by showing that the conclusion which our opponente ■would draw cannot bo deduced from the premises, or possibly follow from them; or, if you cannot refute an nrgument in this manner, you must bring Hornething against it of greater or equal weight. But whatever is delivered with gentleness to conciliate fiivour, or with vehemence to excite emotion, ia to be obviated' by moving contrary feelings, so that benevolenoa may be eradicated by hatred, and oooipaBaion be dispelled by jealousy.
LIV. " A jocose manner, too, and strokes of wit, give pleasure to an audience, and are often of great advantage to the speaker; qualities which, even if everything else can be taught by art, are certainly peculiar gifts of nature, and require no aid from instruction. In that department you, CtBsar, in my opinion, fer eicel all other men; on which account you can better bear me testimony, either that there is no art in wit, or, if there be any, you will beat instruct us in it" "1 indeed," says Ciesar, " think that a man who is not destitute of polite learning can discourse upon any subject more wittOy than upon wit itselt Accordingly, when I met with some Greek books entitled 'OnJesU,' I conceived some hope that I might learn soroething from them, I found, it is true, many laughable and witty sayings of the Greeks; for those of Sicily excel in that way, as well as the Rhodians and Byzantines, but, above all, the people of Attica. But they who have attempted to deliver rules and principles on that subject, have shown tbemselveB so extremely foolish, that nothing else in them has excited laughter but their folly. This talent, therefore, appears to mo incapable of being communicated by teaching. As there are two kinds of wit, one running regularly through a whole, speech, the other pointed and concise; the ancients denominated the former humour,* the latter jesting. Each sort ' Orelliua's test has infereitda; mimy others, i^iirenda. Tliece have been Tarioua coajeoturea offered, aa iTtffrraawia, everUnda, tievtmda, infringenda. The reader may take hia ohoice. . ' OttvUlaiio. IionluJ ur satiricid humour seems to be meant.
I I DE obaiobb; OB, W\»& but a light name, and justly;' for it is altogether but ' R light thing to raise a laugh. However, as you observe, Antoniua, I havo seen advantngcous eSects produced in pleadings by the aid of wit and humour; but, aa in the former kind, I mean humour that runs through a epeeoh, no aid from art is required, (for Nature forms and produces men to be £icetiou3 mimics or atoiy-tellers; their look, and voice, and mode of eipreeaion assistiug their conceptions;) bo likewias in the other, that of oocaaioaal lacetiouanesa, what room is there for art, when the joke ought to be uttered, and fixed iu the mind of the hearer, before it appears possible to have been conceived^ For what assistance could vnj brother here receive from art, when, being asked by PhiUppua why he barked so, he replied. Because he saw a thief 1 Or what aid could CrasBua have received iu that whole speech which he delivered before the Centnmviri, in opposition to Scmvola, or when he pleaded for Cueius Plaucus against the accusation of Brutus 1 For that talent which you, Antonius, attribute to me, must he allowed to Crassus by the confession of all mankind; since hardly any person can be found besides him eminent in both these tiada of wit, that which runs through a contiuued discourse, and that which consists in smartness and occasional jokes. His whole defence in the cause of Cnrliis, iu oppositioa to Sctevola, was redundant with a certain pleasantry and humour; but of those sharp short jests it had none; for he was tender of the dignity of his opponent, and in that respect maintained his onn; though it is extremely difficult for men of wit and facetiouBness to preserve a regard to persons and times, and to suppress what occurs to them when it may be expressed with most pungent eftect. Accordingly, some jesters put a humorous interpretation upon the well-known words of Ennius; for he said, aa they observe. That a wite man can more easily keep in fiame while his mouth is an_fire, tJian wilkkold 'bona dicta,' good words; and they say that good words mean witty myingi; for sayings are caUed dicta by an appropriate term.
LV. " But aa Crassus forbore from such jests in his speech against Scajvola, and sported throughout that cause and discussioa with that other species of humour in which there are _' Qaippe; Itve mtm, &c. Qaippe U equlralent to tlie Greek ticilrti I in that against Brutus, whom ho hated, and thought deserving of insult, ho fought with both kinds of wit. How many eeyere things did he aay about the baths which Brutus had lately sold) how many on the loss of his paternal estate 1 And they were concise; as when Brutus, speaking of himself sftid that he saeaUd leithout cavse. '^a vionder that you sweat,' said Crassus, 'for you are Jttst titmed out of the haths.' There were innumerable things of this kind in the speech, but his continuous vein of pleasantry was not less amusing; for when Brutus had called up two readers, and had given to one the speech of Crassua upon the colony of Harbonne, to the other that on the Serviiian law, to read, and had compared togetlier the contradictory sections on puhlic affairs contained in each, our friend very looetiously gave the threo books of Bnitus'a father, written on the civil law, to three different persons to read. Out of the first book was read this sentence, ' It happened by chance that we were on my estate at Privemiim.' On ■which clause Crassus made this observation, 'Brutus, yourfaiher testifas that he left yim, an estate at Frivernum.' Again, out of the second book, ' My son Marcus and I were at my Albaa villa;' when Cnusus remarked, ' Thit uiise man, who wot justly ranked among the wisest in our city, had evidently seme foreknowledge of this ipendtkrift's character, and leas afraid, that when he came to have nothing, it might be imagined that Ttothing was k/l Aim.'
Afterwards out of the third book, with which the author concluded his work, (for that number of hooks, na I have heard ScSBTola say, are the genuine compositions of Brutus,) ' It chanced that my son Marcus and myself were sitting in my villa near Tihur;' when Ciassus exclaimed, 'Whtre are those ettaies now, Brutus, that your father left you, as recorded in kit public eommentariex I But if he had not seen yott arrived at the age ofpubefty, he mould have eoraposed a fourth booi, and left 4t in writing that he talked with Ma son in his own baths' Who does not acknowledge, now, that Brutus was not less confuted by this humour, these comio jests, than by that tragic tone which the same orator adopted, when by accident, during the hearing of the same cause, the funeral procession of the old lady Junia passed by 1 Ye immortal gods I what force and energy was that with which he spoke 1 how unexpected! how sudden! when, casting his eyes that way, with hia whole gesture djrecteil towtirde Brutus, with the utmoEt gravity and rapidity of expression, he exclaimed, 'BrtUus, why do you tU alUll What would you have thai old lady commwitcaU to your father i WhaitoallllioieuAoKstaiueiyouseecctrriti hyl What to your other ancestors I Whal la Lud/m Brvim,idui /reed tkU people from regal tyranny 9 What ihall Ae toy &at you are doing I What budneni, what glory, ii/kai virtue shallikt say that you are purtuing I T/tat you are engaged in increarnng your patrimony 1 Bvt that ie no clutracterittio of nobUUy. Yk mppoK it were; you have none left to inereaae; your extrmagance has squandered tlte whole of it. That you are studying Ch« civil law f That was your father's purmii; ivt die will rdate that when you eold your Jiovte, 'you did not even among the nMveablea^ reserve the chair from which your father answered hit clients. That you are applying to the Military art f You who have never seen a camp. Or to eloquence} But no portion of eloquence dwells in you; aTid eueh power of voice and tongve as you have, you have devoted to the infamous trade of a cothmon mformer. Dare you even be/told the lighlt Or look this assembly in the facet Dare you present yourself in thcforunt, in tli£ city, in the pvblic ax^ily of the dtizetu? Do you net fear even that dead corpse, ajid those very images of your n^H cestore, you who have not only left yourself no roojo. far l^^k imitation of their virtues, but none in which you can place d^^| statues I' ^1 LVI. " This ifl in a tragic aad sublima strain of langnaga; but you all recollect inatanoes without number of facetiousness aad polite humour in one speech; for never wn^ there a more vehement dispute on any occasion, or an oration of greater power delivered before the people, than that of CioBsuB lately in his ceneoTBhip, in opposition to his colleague, nor one better seasoaed with wit and humour. I ^ree with you, therefore, Antonius, in both points, that jesting is often of great advantage in speaking, and that it c&nnot be taught by any rules of art. But I am astonished that you should attribute so much power to me in that way, and not asHgn to Crassus the palm of pre-eminence in this as ^ ffe in mtii ^aidem et etesit. Aula were auuh tUingii aa could be removed from liouBes and other premisea wittout pulling down or '^"""E'"C ''If portioa of them; casa, w Proust remark, refbra tt "" ~ onttiug down ot trees.
u r TUB CHARACTER OF THE ORATOR.
in other departmeuta of eloquence." " I Bhould have done so," said ADtouius, " if I bad uot Bometimes envied CraGaus a little in this respect; for to bo ever so fiicetioua and witty is not of iteelf an extraordinary subject of envy; but, when you are the moat graceful and polite of apealters, to be, and to be thought, at the same time, the moat grave and dignified of men, a distinction which has been granted to Crafisua alone, seems to me almost unendurable." Cittssus Laving smiled at this, Antonius aaid, " But, Julius, while you denied that art had anything to do with iacetirnianess, you brought to our notice something that seemed itorthy of precept; for you said that regard ought to be paid to persons, times, and circumstances, that jesting might not detract from, dignity; a rule which is particularly observed by Crassus.
But this rule only directs that jokes should be suppressed when there is no loir occasion for them.; what we desire to Imow is, how wo may use them when there is occasion; as against an adversaiy, especially if his folly be open to attack, or against a foolish, covetous, trifling witness, if the. audience seem disposed to listen patiently. Those sayings are mora likely to be approved which we utter on provocation, than those wJiich we utter when we begin an attack; for the quickness of wit, which is shown in ajiswerin^ is more remarkable, and to reply is thought allowable, as being natural to the human temper; since it is presumed that wo should have remained quiet if we hod not been attacked; as in that very speech to which you alluded scarcely anything was said by our friend Crassus here, anything at least that was atall humorous, which he did not utter in reply, and on provocation. For there was so much gravity and authority iu Domitius,^ that the objections which came &om him seemed more likely to bo enfeebled by jests than broken by arguments," LVII. Sulpicius soon after said, " Shall we, then, suffer CsBsai', who, though he allows wit to Crassus, is yet himself &i more intent on acquiring a character for it, to esempt ' Cneina Domitiua Ahenobarbus, in his tribncesbip, A.O.C. 651, was hogtile ta the pontifcea, becauae they had not chosen him in the place »f laa Sathar, aad propoBed a law that tboee who wece chosen by the pontificca into their body should not be appointed till their choice was Banctioned by the people, TelL Pat. ii ISj Suet, Ner, 2; Cic. RulL iL 7, Ho had some ability in speaking but was not numbered tunong eminent orators, Cic Erut. 45. Eatrkhsen.
I I W^ DE oratohe; OB, himself from esplaining to as the whole subjoot of faumoui ■what is the nature of it, and from whence derived; eapB^" ciali; as he owns that there is so much efficaej and advanti^ in wit and jeatingi" "What if I agree with Antonius," rejoined CEesar, "in thinking that art has no oonoem with wit)" As Sulpicins made no remark, " Aa if," aaid Crossus, "art could at all assiat ia acg^utring those tftlonts of which Antonius haa been BO long Bpeoking. There is a certain observation to be paid, as he remarked, to those particulars which are most effective in oratory; but if such observation could make men eloquent, who would not be bo! For who could, tu)t learn these particulars, if uot with ease, at least in some Way) But I think that of such precepts, the use and odvontoge ia, not that we may be directed by art to find out what we are to say, but that we may either feel certain as to what ■we attain by natural parts, by study, or by exercise, that it ia right, or understand that it is wrong, having been instracted to what rule the several particulars are to be referred.
I, therefore, also join in the petition to you, Ccesar, that you would, if it is agreeable to you, tell us what you thiuk 6n joooBsnesa in general, lest, by accident, any part of elotiuence, ancQ that is your object, should appear to have been passed over ia so learned an assembly, and such a studied conversation." "Well, then, CrasHUS," replied Csesar, "since you require payment irom a guest, I will, by refusing it, furnish you with a pretest for refusing to entertain us agnm; though I am often astonished at the impudence of those who aot upon the st^e while Koscius is a spectator of their attitudes; for who can make the least motion without RosaiuS seeing his imperfections! So I shall now have to speak first on wit in the hearing of Crasaus, and to teach like a swine,* as they say, that orator of whom Catulua said, when ha heard him lately, ¥hat other speakers ought to be fed upon hay."' "Ah!" said CraasuB, "Cotulus was joking, especially as he Bpeoks himBelf in such a manner that he seems tb deserve to be fed on ambrosia. But let us hear you, Ctesar, that we may afterwards return to the remainder of the discourse of Antoaiua." " There is little remaining for me ' An nlluBion to the proverh Jitt Mi-aei-eara. ' He aignifiad that other pleaders ware mere h parison with Craaaus, iVud therefore to bo fed uijod animals in csm; to eny," replied Antoniiis: "but^as I am wearied with the labour and the length of what I have said, I shall repose during the diaeourse of Cieear as in aome opportune place of entertainment." LVIII. "But," said Cwsar, "you will not pronounce my entertainment very liberal; for as soon aa you hoye tasted a little I shall thrust you out, and turn you into the road again. However, not to detain you any longer, I will deliver my sentimenta very briefly on this department of eloquence in general.
" Coneemiag laughter, there are five things which are Bubjeota of consideration: one, 'What it is;' another, 'Whence it originates;' a third, 'Whether it becomes the orator to wiah to excite laughter; ' a fourth, ' To what degree;' a fifth, '"What are the several kinds of the ridiculous i' Ab to the first, 'What laughter itself ia,' by what means it is excited, where it lies, how it arises, and bursts forth so suddenly that we are unable, though we desire, to restrain it, and how it affecta at once the sides, the iace, the veins, the countenance, the eyes, let Democritus consider; for all this has nothing to do with my remarks, and if it had to do with them, 1 should not be ashamed to say that I am. ignorant of that which not even they understand who pmfesa to explain it But the seat and as it were province of what is laughed) at, (for that is the next point of inquiry,) hes in a certain offensiveness and deformity; for those sayings are laughed at solely or chiefly which point out aad designate something offensive in an inoffensive manner. But, to come to the third point, it cerlainlybeoomes the orator to excite laughter; either because mirth itself attracts favour to him by whom it is raised; or because all admire wit, which is often comprised in a single ■word, especially in him who replies, and sometimes in him who attacks; or because it overthrows the adverBOry, or hampers him, or makes light of him, or disooui'agea, or refutes him; or because it proves the orator himself to be a man of taste, or learning, or pohsh; but chiefly because it mitigates ■and rolases gravity and severity, and often, by a joke or a laugh, breaks the force of offensive remarks, which cannot easily be overthrown by arguments. But to what degree the laughable should he carried by the orator requires very diligent consideration; a point which we placed as the fourth aubject of inquiry; for neither great vice, such as is united DE oEiTJBE; on, with crime, nor great misery, is a subject for ridicule and laughter; einco people will Lave tboae guilty of enormous orimea attacked, with more forcible weapons thao ridicnle; >ud do not like the miserable to be derided, unless perhaps when they are insoleiit; and you must be conaderate, too. of the feelings of maokiud, lost you rashly speak against those who are. personally beloved.
LIX. "Such istLe caution that must be priaci pally observed in jokiiig. Those subjects nooordiugly are most readily jested upon which are ueither provocative of violent aversion, nor of extreme compaBsion. All matter for ridicule is therefore found to lie in such defects as are to be observed in the characters of men not in uuiversal esteem, nor in calamitous circumstances, and who do not appear deserving to be dragged to punishment for their crimes; snch topics nicely maioged create laughter. In deformity, also, and bodily defects, is found fair enough matter for ridictJe; but we have to ask the same question here ns is asked on other points, ' How far the ridicule may be carried I' la this respect it is not only directed that the orator should gay nothing impeitinentlj, but also that, even if he can say anything very ridiculously, lie should avoid both errors, leat his jokes become either b foonery or mimicry; qualities of which we shall better ui Stand the nature when wa come to consider the <J"" species of tlie ridieuloue.
"There are two sorts of jokes, one of which is excited b_ things, the other by words. By things, whenever any matter 13 toid in the way of a stoiy; as you. Crassus, formerly stated in a speech against Mommius,^ That ke had eaten a piece of Largiue'» arm, because he had jiad a quarrel with him at Tarracina about a courteaau; it was a witty story, but wholly of your own invention. Ton added this particular, that throughout TaiTacina these letters were inscribed on every wall, MM, LLL; and liat when j'ou inquired what they meant, an old man of the town replied, Mordaciovt Memmiiit Lacerates Largiu^g Limb.- You perceive clearly bow face- 1 The Bome that a mentJaned bf Sdlust, na luviag itccused CaJpuniiiiH BeHtia.
' Laeerat inwrrfum Znrjl Mordaic Mfmivt, The writer of the Kticio " MummiuB " in Dr. Bmith's Biog. Diet, thinke thatMemmiua bad se the nickDame of Mordax. The siorj of hia haviiij' _ ON THE CH4RACTEH OF THE ORATOli. 291 tiouB this mode of joking may be, how elegant, how suitable to aa oi'fltor; whether jou have any true stoiy to tell, (which however muBt be inteiGpened with fiutitiouB circumstances,) or whether you merely icvenL The excellence of eiicli jesting is, that you can describe things as occurring in such a way, that the manners, (he language, and every looli of the person of whom you apeak, may bo represented, so that the ooenrrence may seem to the audience to pass and take place at the ■very time when you address theni. Another kind of jest = taken from things, is that which Ib derived irom a depraved sort of imitation, ca* mimicry; ns whea Crassns abo exclaimed. By t/our nobilitff, by your famUj/, what else was iiiere at which the asBembly could laugh but that mimicry of look and tonel Jbit when he said, by ymir statuei. and added something of gesture by extending his arm. we all laughed immoderately.' Of this epociea is iioscius's imitation of on old m^n; when Lq says.
For j-Du, my Antiplio, I plant tlieea trees,' it is old age itaelf that seems to speak while I listen to him. But all thifi department of ridicule is of such a nature that it must be attempted with the greatest caution. For if the imitation is too eitrayagiuit, it becomes, like indecency, the part of players in paotomime and force; the orator should ba moderate m imitation, that the audience may conceive more than they caa see represented by him; he ought also to give proof of ingenuousness and modesty, by avoiding evaything ofienaive or unbecoming in word or act LX. " These, therefore, are the two kinds of the ridiculous which is drawn from thhigs; and they suit well with continuous pieces of humour, in which the manners of mankuid are so desorihed and e^reesed, that, either by means of soma narrative, their character is exactly underetood, or, by throwing in a little mimicry, thoy loay be convicted of some impropriety remarkable enough for ridicule. But in leords, the ridiculous is that niiich is excited by the point of a pareaten or bitten LargiuB'a arm, nppeara, from what Cicero says, to have bean a, mere inveaUoii of Crasaua. We do cot half uaderataiid the joke.
' rhifl JDBt is from a epeech of Cniame against Domitiua. Tbe gt«» Doniitia. n family nf great nobility, bad produoed many patridaai xumtriEBblB, as well for ether vices, as for vuiity. EUatdL ' Thi«e wcrd^ iire from some play now lost ^Bafi2 DE 03WT0BE; OR, ticular eipression or thought: but aa, in the former kind, both in turratioD. and imitation, aU resemblance to the plajem of pantoimme ehould be avoided, so, in this, all Bcurriloua buffoonery is to be studioualy shunned by thft' orator. How, then, shall we distinguish from Craaaus, & '" Catulus, and from others, jour acquaintance Graniua, or friend Vargulat Ko proper distinction really occurs to me; for they are both witty; no man has more of verbal wittieiam than Granius. The first point to be observed, however, is, I think, that we ahould not fancy ourselves obliged to utter a jest whenever onB may be uttered. A very little witness was produced. Mot/ I question him? says Pbilippus.
The judge who preBided,^ being in a hurry, replied. Yes, if he is short. You shall have no fault to find, said Philippua, for I shall question him very short. This was ridiculoua enough; but Lucius Aurifbz was aitting as judge in the cause, who was sborter than the witness himself; so that all the laughter was turned upon the judge, and hence the joke appeared scurrilous. Those good things, therefore, which hit those whom you do not mean to hit, however witty they are, are yet in their nature acurrilous; as when Appius, who would be thought witty, — and indeed is so, but sometimes slides into this fault "of aourrihtyj — said to Caius Sestios, an acquaintance of mine, who is blind of aa eye, / will sup vrUk you to-night, for I see that there is a vacancy for one. This was a acurrilous joke, both because he attacked Sextiua without provocation, and said what was equally applicable to all one-eyed persons. Such jokes, as they are thought premeditated, excite less laughter; but the reply of Sextiua was eicelleat and extempore; Woih your Imnds^^ said he,, and come to supper. A regard, therefore, to proper times, ■ moderation and forbearance in jesting, and a hmitation in the number of jokes, will diatinguish the orator from the buffoon; and the cireumatance, besides, that we joke with an object, not that we may appear to be jesters, but that we may gain some advantage, while they joke all day without any ' Quaiitor. The mBgistrate who preeided at a qmcatia capiCitlit, whether ths prajtor or any other. Sea Cie. Verr. L 10; Vatiu. 1*; Sail Jug. 40. HeaTklaea.
' Whether the jol:e was directed n^inat h'm as being unalean, or aa ■ ' ig diBhonest, is uaoartftin, EUcitdl, ( THE CHABACTEn OP THE ORATOII.
purpose whatever. For what did Vargula gain by Baying, when AuluB Semprunius, then a candidate for office, aud his brother llarcus, saluted him, Boy, drive away tkejliea? His aim was to raise a laugh, which is, in my opinion, a very poor effect of wit. The proper seaaoa, then, for jesting, we muat determine by our own pi'adonoe and judgment; in the exercise of which I wish that we had some body of rules to direct ub; but nature is the sovereign guide.
LXI. " Let us now consider briefly the sorts of jesta that chiefly excite laughter. Let this, then, be oui firat division, that whatever is eipresaed wittily, conaiBte sometimes ia a thought, sometimes in the mere language, but that men are most delighted with a joke when the laugh ia raised by the thought aud the language in conjunction. But remember this, that whatever topics I shall touch npon, from which ridicvde may he drawn, froiQ ahuoEt the same topics Eeriotis thoughts luay be derived: there is only this difference, that seriousness is used on dignified subjecta with gravity, joking on Buch as are in some degi-ee unbecoming, and as it were ^ grotesque; for instance, we may with the very same words commend a thrifty servant, and jest upon one that is extravagant That old saying of Nero ^ about a thieving servant is humorous enough, That he was the only one from whom, nothing in the liouse tixM iealed or locked up; a thing which is not only said of a good servant, hut in the very same words. From the same sources spring all kinds of sayings. What his mother said to Spuriua Carvilius, who halted grievously from a wound received in the public service, and wna on that account ashamed to go out of doors, Go, my Spurius, thai as often as you take a step you nuzff be reminded of your inerils, was a noblo and serious thought; but what Olaucia said to Colvinus, when he limped. Where is the old proverb — JDoes lie elaudicate } im; but he elodicales,- ia ridiculous; and ' Probably taken tram the apophthegms of Cato, and probably, al^o, a Baying of Coiua Claudius Nero, who was cooaul with Mbtcub Liviua, A.u.a M7, and defeatea Hannibal at Sena. Liv. uvil 34. Etiendt.
' Tha original is, Nmm claudicai t at kic chdicat, " What, is ha iBmB t No; but he favonra Clodius." The reader eaaily asea that tha force of the pun, which ia bad enough at the Erst hand, ia anliraly lost bj a liUral trajialation. I have been forced to coin two Eneliah words from ths Latin to convey aome idea of it. Had Clodiua lived in this country, nnd his name been Grerille, I had teen as happy as GlavLiia", TX OIU.T0BE; OB, yet both ara derived from what may be observed with regard tu lameness. What it m^rt ir/n^ve Ikan thit 2f(Bviui f said Scipio with severity; but Philippus, with some haciMHir, to one who had a sticog smell, / perceive that I am eircuTrnvnted iy you;^ jet it is the resemblance of words, with the ohnnge only of B. tetter, that constitutes both jokes.
'' ThoBe smart sayings which spring from some ambiguity are thought extremely ingenious; but they are not always employed to espress jests, but often even grave thoughts. What Publiua Licinua Varus said to Africanus the elder, when he was endeavouring to fit a chaplet to his head at an entertainment, and it brok.e several times, So not wonder if it dan not fit you, for you have a great head, was a fine and noble thought; but He is bald enough, for he aai/s htU litcle,^ is of the aaioo sort. Not to bo tedious, there is no subject for jest from which serious and grave reflections may not bo drawn. It is also to be observed that everything which ia ridiculous is not witty; for what can be so ridiculous as a buffoon t* But it is by bis face, his appearance, hb look, his mimicry, his voice, and, in fine, by his *hole figure, that he for then I could have nid, " Wlisra is the old proverb, '^liat, U he CivtlUd! So; but he in Greaitied. R Ifua, claudical U thought StrebiEua to hare been a commoD question with regard to a man suspected of mmt of judgment or honeaty.
' Quid hoe Ncaia iffnarita t It ie thought to have been a Joke of Publios Afritnuiu Major, who, according to some, was aoeuBEd by the Petiiii, trLUuuea oE the people, or, according to othera, by a caitiun TrfiLroiis Ntevius. 5ee Liv. xxxviil 50, 56; YaL Max. iii. T » A. OelL iv. 13.' But it might have be«n aaid by A&icanUB the younger in reference to some other man. BUeitdl, ' Fides me H le cinmnieiitn. Toup, in hia Appendix to Theocritus, auraests that we ahould read Video me it te vtm circum, ttd hiFomvtatri, referring to a similar joke of Aristophanes, Acham. 850.
" Calmu saiU at, quod dicil jiarttn. The meaning is by no meuu dear, and no change in tbe pnnctoation elucidatea it...Pearce snppoaea that it ia said of a. bad orator: " If he were to say more, ho would give leiB BatiafactioEi; what be has said ia ao far aatiifactary, as it ia brief."...Henrichaen thinlo Chat eatna might be used metitplion' callv, as calra oratio for j^-iaia,- mA that the joke is on tJie ambiguity of the word. To me the passage seeitu ineiplicatile. Etlaidt, ^Vhethe^ calmt in the teit be a proper name or not, ia a matter of uncertainty; Tnmebu> tUnke it is not.
* Sanitio. The tmmifnii were ao called from tamia, s grimsci^ and personated ridiculous cbunctna, tike the Arkstkau or Pvkmtlli at tfat Italianii, Ellaidt.
.RiOTEa OP THE OKAIOR.
cscitea laughter. 1 might, indeed, ca!l him vjittv, but not in Huch a way that I would have an orator, but an actor iu pantomiaie, to he witty.