frame perfected as it were by art, not by chance. XLYI. How is it with regard to trees, of which neither the trunlt, nor the boughs, nor even the leaves, are formed otherwise than to maiutfti" and preserve their own nature, yet in which there is no part that is not beautiful! Or let ua turn from natural object^ and cast our eyes on those of art; what is so neceasaiy y a ship as the sides, the hold,' the prow, the stem, the y " ' NiHk. Comp»re Cia De Nat, Dear, iu 39. EUendt thi by nutue is meuit Boraethmg BiioUar to onr centripetal force.
' SramtUt mjnum. The tropic of CBprioom. Da Nat Deor. iiL It" ^ Cavemte, Some editianB h&ve cariTUe, BJid LombinuB reads carwi. If we retWD cara-na, it is not easy to ia.y einctlj in what gense it ebould be takeu. Seirias, on Virgil, ^i. ii. 19, obBervea that tho fatta ctarvi •aaxiwn, gutiu* estriinecia fabatce afffunliir, were called cavemiE,- bnt In this BCDBe, as Ellendt ob^ervea, it is much the >>ame wiih li iiLl*™ Ji the sails, the masts 1 which yet have so cQuch heauty in their appearaiice, that they aeem to have heen invented not for safety only, but also for the delight afforded by the spectacle. Pillara support temples and porticoes, and yet have not more of utility than of dignity. It was not regard to beauty, but necessity, that contrived the cupola of the Capitol, and other buildings; for when a plan was contemplated by which the water might run off from each aide of the roo^ the dignity of the cupola waa added to the utility of the temple; but in such a manner, that should the Capitol be built in heaven, where no rain can fall, it would appear to have no dignity without the cupola. It happens likewise in all parts of language, that a certain agreeahleness and graco are attendant on utility, and, I may say, on necessity; for the stoppage of the breath, and the confined play of the lungs, introduced periods and the pointing of words. This invention gives such gratification, that, if unlimited powers of breath were graated to a person, yet we could not wish him to speak without stopping; for the invention of stops is pleasing to the ears of mankind, and not only tolerable, but easy, to the lungs.
XLVII. "The Ini^eat compass of a period, then, is that which can be rounded forth in one breath. This is tha bound set by nature; art has other limits; for as there is a great variety of numbers, your favourite Aristotle, Catulus, inclines to banish from oratorical language tha frequent use of the iambus and the trochee; which, however, fall of themselves naturally into our common discourse and conversation; but the strokes of time^ in those numbers are remarkable, and the feet short. Ho therefore principally invites us to the heroic measure, [of the dactyl, the anapcest, and the spondee;]^ in which we may proceed with impunity two which precedes. Ellendt himself, therefore, iuoUnes to take it In tbs Benae of eavilaa atvei, " hold " or " keel," wbioh, aa it is divided into parts, ma;, he thinks, be eipresBed in the plural nomher.
' Pereitmovei. The Uiua mttrici; so called, bacause the musicuui. In beating time, ttruch the ground with his foot.!□ a senarius he ■truck the ground three times, oqob far every two feet; whenoe thoro were said to be in such a verse three I'cftw or peretmitmei. But on pronouncing those syllables, at which the musician atruclt the ground, tha actor raised his voice; and henaa pemaiio was in Grerft Spjis, and the taised or accented syllables were said to be it Kpo-w, the otbera being eaid to be in «(r«. Sea Beutley de Metr. Terentian. init, Ernetli.
' Madvig and Ellendt juatlj regard tha words in brackets as spu- I feet only, or a litUe more, lest we plainly fall into vevae, ot the reaembknce of verse; AllB I jiinJ jjltn^nie juffiils These tiiree heroic feet Eill in gracefully enough with the beginnings of coutinuationa of words. Sut the pneon is most of all approved by AriBtotle; it is of two kinds;^ for it either begins with a loDg syUoible which three short syUables follovr, as in these words, dshniie, iruApUe, comprimUS; or ■with a succession of three short syllables, the last being produced and made long, as in these words, ifdmtierant, sdjU/pedes; aod tt is agreeable to the aotions of that philosopher to commi with, the former pceon, and to conclude with the latter; this latter ptcon is almost equal, not iodeed in the uim of the syllables, but by the measure of the ear, which, ic a more acute and eertaiu method of judgment, to the cretic, which consists of a long, a short, aud a long syllable j aa in this verse, "With which, kind of foot Fannins " began, St, Quttiiei, HHus. This Aristotle thinks better adapted to conciuafoiffl of periods, which he wishes to be terminated generally by syllable that is long.
XLVIII. " But these numbers in oratory do not require snch sharp-sighted care and diligence as that which must be Hsed by poets, whom nacassity compels, as do the very numbers and menaurcB, so to include the words in versification, aa that no part may he, even by the least bi-eath,* shorter or longer than the metre absolutely demands. Prose has a more free scope, and is plainly, ns it is called, aoh ' unconfined, yet not so that it may fly off or wandfer riouB. I follow tboBe ciiticB alan in reading A Ita xmt gamiruB juihi^' tboucli, aa EUendt obBervea, Altra ongbt Tarj liiely to ba Ara. AUa^ wliich is in moMt; editiana, iniLde the pasHoge utterly inexplicabJe, thougli Emeati, StcebsuB, and ctkors did what they could to pat Boma meaning into it.
' The first and fourth only are meant.
' C. 26; where Feorce obaervsa that thoy ore the wotda d£ Andromacha in Eoniua, aocordlog to Bentley on Tuac. Diap. iii.!9.
^ Coins Foimiua Strabo, who was cddsuI a.h.o. 622, He left ono ■peeoh ogainat Cains QraoohnH; Cic Brut c 36. _ ' A'e spii'itu qaidcm, niinimo.
tter; S^H a numl^l which, is le cretic, iduafomrl "i'bya ■eath,* Prose.
itfaflvH ] OS THE CHaRACTEH OF THE OEATOR, 387 control, but may regulate itaelf witiioat being absolutely in fetters; for I agree in this partieular with Theophraatus, who thinks that style, at least such as is to a certain degree polished and well conattucted,' ought to be natQerous, yet not as in confinement, hut at ease. For, as he suspects, firom those feet of which the common hexameter verse is formed, grew forth afterwards the anapmstio, a longer kind of measure; thence flowed the stiU more free and rich dithyramb, the members and feet of which, as the same writer observes, are difFused through all style, that ia enriched with the distinguiehing ornaments of eloquence. And if that is numerous in all sounds and words, which gives certain strokes as it were, and which we can measure by equal intervale, this harmony of numbers, if it be free fi^m Mmcneafl, will be justly considered a merit in the oratorical style. SIdIbi^ if perpetual and ever-flowing loquacity, without any pauses, ia to be thought rude and unpolished, what other reason is there why it should be disliked, except that Nature herself modulates the voice for the human earl and this coidd not be tlie case unless numbers were inherent in the human voice. But in aa uninterrupted coBtinuation of sound there are no numbers; distinction, and strokes at equal or often varied intervals, constitute numbers; which we may remark in' the falling of drops of water, because they are distinguished by intervals, but which we cannot observe in the rolling stream of a river. But as this unrestrained composition of words ^ is more eligible and harmonious, if it be distinguished into ports and members, than if it be carried on without intermission, those members ought to be measured by a, certain rule of proportion; for if tiiose at the end are shorter, the compass aa it were of the words is made irregular; the compass,' I say, for so the Greeks denominate these rounded divisions of style; the subsequent clauaea in a sentence, therefore, ought to he equal to the antecedent, the last to the first; or, which has a better and more pleasing efiect, of a greater length.
XLIX. " These precepts are given by those philosophers ^ Facta. That ie,cnief ally Ubcmred. See Brut. c. 8. Elbrndt. ' CoKlinitalio verbamm aotuia. See above, near the begisaing of this dupter, ortUJo — veri loluta. fi Ambitas, The Greek word is wtpfeSor. See Orat, c CI.
BE ORaTOHE; OB, to whom you, CatuluB, have the greatest aftoohment; a remark which I the oftener make, that by referring to my authors, I may avoid the charge of impertinence." " Of what sort of impertinence 1" said Catulua; "or what could be brought before us more elegant than this discussion of yours, or expressed more judiciously!" "But still I am afraid," said Crassua, " lest tliese matters should either appear to these youths'^ too difficult for study, or lest, as they are not given io the common rules of instruction, I should appear to have an inclination that they should seem of more importance and difficulty than they really are." Catulus replied, "You are mistaken, Crassus, if you imagina that either I or any of the company eipeoted from yott those ordinary or vu^ar precepts; what you say is what we wished to be said; and not so much indeed to be said, as to be said in the very manner in which you have said it; nor do I answer for myself only, "but for all the rest, without the least hesitation." "And I," said Antonius, "have at length discovered such a one as, in the book which I wrote, I said that I had never found, a person of elogxience; but I never interrupted yon, not even to pay you a compliment, for this reason, that no part of the short time allotted for your discourse might be diminished by a single word of mine." "To this standard, then," proceeded Crassua, "ia style to be formed, as well by the practice of speaking, i by writing, which contributes a grace and refinement to oths{ excellences, but to this in a more peculiar manner. Nor fl this a matter of so much labour as it appears to be j nor a our phrases to bo governed by the rigid laws of the cul tivatcrs of numbers and musicj and the only object for o endeavours is, that our sentences may not be loose or r bUag, that they neither stop within too narrow a com| nor run out too £)r; that they be distinguished into clause^S and have well-rounded periods. Nor are you to use perpetually this fulness and as it were roundness of language, but a sentence is often to bo interrupted by minuter clauses^ which very clauses are still to be modulated by numbers. Nor let the pteon or heroic foot give you any alarm; t" will naturally come into your phrases; they will, I say, < themselves, and will answer without being called; only let iti ' Cotta uid SulpioLue.
OH THE CHABACTER OP THE ORATOIt.
he yoiir care and practice, both iu writing and speaking, that your Bentences be concluded with verbs, and that the junction of those verbs with, other words proceed with niunbera that are long and free, especially the heroic feet, the first pEeon, or the eretic; but let the cadence be varied and diversified; for it is in the conclusion that sameness is chiefly remarked. Acd^ if these measures arc observed at the "beginning and at the conclusioa of senteuces, the iQtermediate numbers may be disregarded; only let the compass of your sentence not be shorter than the ear expects, nor longer than your strength and breath will allow.
L. " But I think that the coQclnaiona of periods ought to be studied more carefully than the former parts; because it is chiefly from these that the finish of style is judged; for in a verse, the commencement of it, the middle, and the extremity are equally regarded; and in whatever part it fails, it loses its force; but in a speech., few notice the beginnings, ■but almost all the closes, of the perioda, which, as they areobservable and best understood, should be varied, lest they b& disapproved, either by the judgment of the underatanding or by the satiety of the ear. For the two or three feet towardB the conclusion are to ba marked and noted, if the preceding members of the sentence were not extremely short and concise; and these last feet ought either to be trochees, or heroic feet, or those feet used alternately, or to consist of the latter pason, of which Aristotle approves, or, what is equal to it, the eretic. An interchange of such feet will have tiiese good effects, that the audience will not bo tired by an offeneive sameness, and that we shall not appear to make similar endings on purpose. But if the famous Antipater of Sidon,^ whom you, Catulus, very well remember, used to pour forUi extempore hesameter and other verses, in various numbers and 'measures, and if practice had so much power in a man of great ability and memory, that whenever he turned his thoughts and inclinations upon verse, the words followed of course, how much more easily shall we attain this facility in.
oratory, when application and eierciso are used!
"Nor. let any one wonder how the illiterate port of an audience observe these things when they listen to a speech; eeaa in tha Greek Anthology.
since, in all otliei: tilings, as well aa lu tiiis, tlie force of nature is great and eitraordinary; foi' all men, by a kind of tacit sttase, without a.ay art or reasoning, can form a judgment of what is right and wrong in art and reasoning; and aa they do this with regard to pictures, etatuea, and other works, for understaading which they have less assistance fcoax nature, Bo they display this faculty lauch more ia criticising word^ numbers, and sounds of language, becauee theae powers are iulicrent iu our common senses, uor has nature intended tLal any person should he utterly destitute of judgment in these particulars. All people are accordingly moved, not only by words artfully arranged, but also by numbers and the sounds of the voice. How few are those that understand the scienoe of numbers and measures! yet if in these the smaUest offenca be given by au actor, so that any sound ia made too short by oDutroctiou, or too long by extenmon, whole theatres bimt into eiiclamationa. Does not the same thing also happen with regard to musiciil notes, that not only whole sets and barads of musicians are turned out by the multitude and the populua for varying one from another, but evcu dnglo pcrformois Sx playing out of tune 1 LI. " It ia wonderful, wheQ there is a wide intraral tjnction betwiit the learned and illiterate in acting, bow difference there is in jud^ng;' for art, being derived nature, appears to have effected nothing at all if it does move and delight nature. And there is nothing which so naturally affects our minds aa numbers and the harmoi^ of sounds, by which we are excited, and inflamed, and soothed, and thrown into a state of languor, and often moved to eiieerfnlnesa or sorrow; tbe moat esquisite power of whidi is bee£ suited to poetry and music, and was not, as it seems to ma, undervalued by our most learned monarch Numa and our ancestors, (as the stringed and wind instruments at the BacFsd banquets and the verses of the Solii sufficiently indicate,) bat was most cultivated in ancient Greece; [concaming whkii subjects, and siinilar ones, 1 could wish that you had choaen, to discourse, rather than about these puerile verbal nietft> phocs!]^ But as the common people notice where " ■ See Cic. Brut, t 49.
' The wurda in brackets nre caudomiied na Bpuriuua b; all editors.
ire there i^^l H.] ON THE CHAHACTEK OF THE OKATOIl- 391 anything &ulty in a verse, so they are sensible of any lameness in our language; but they grant the poet no pardon; to us they show Home indulgence; but all tacitly discern that wbat we have tittered has not its peculiar prc/priety and finish. The speakers of old, therefore, as we seo some do at tbe present day. when they were nnable to complete a circuit and, as it were, roundnesa of period, (for that is wbat we hare receutly begun, indeed, either to effect or attemjrt,) spok* in clauaes consisting of three, or two words, or sometimes uttered only a single word at a time; and yet in that infency of our tongue they understood tbe natural grntification wbieh the human caiH required, and even studied that what they spoke should be expressed in correspondent phrases, and that they should take breath at equal intcrruls.
LII. " I Lave now shown, as far as I could, what I deemed most conducive to the embelUahnient of language; for I have spoken of the merits of single words; I have spoken of them in composition; I have spoken of the bai-mony of numbers and structure. But if you wisb me to speak also of the form and, as it were, complosion of eloquence, there is one sort which has a fulness, but is free from tumour; one which JB piain, but not without nerve and vigonr; and one which, participating of both these kinds, is oommenfled for a certain middle quality. In each of these three forms there ought to be a peculiar oompleiion of beauty, not produced by the daubing of paint, but diSased throughout the system by the blood. Then, finally,^ this orator of ours is so to be finished as to his style and thoughts in general, that, os those who stndy fencing and polite eserdseB, not only think it nee^sary to acquire a skiU in parrying and striking, bat also grace and deganco of motion, so he may use such words ss are suited to elegant and graceful composition, and such thonghta as contribute to the impressiveness of language. Words and thoughts are formed in almost innumerable ways; as is, I am sure, well known to you; but betwiit the formation of words and that of thoughts there is this difference, that that of the ' Turn dfniqae. Mleodt indaisB l>am in hraclceta, and tliinka iliaC much of the langiiiige of the rest of the chapter is confuBed and inoorrect. The words uf ii, qui in Drnioi-uin Iraclaiionc TcriaTilar, wiiioh Oasur a little below, and which are geQerallj coodenmad, are not tnmslated.
I I I than DE ORiTOBE; OH, words is deetrojed if you chaugo them, that of the thougl remains, whatever worda you think proper to use. But _ think that you ought to be reminded (although, indeed, joal act agreeably to vhat I Bay) that you should not imagina there ia auythiag ehe to be done by the orator, at least anything else to produce a striking and admirable eSeet, than to observe these three rules with regard to single words; use frequently meUtpkorkal ones, sometimes Tiew ones, rarely very old ones.
" But with r^^rd to continuous composition, wben have acquired that smoothness of junction and harmony mimbera which I have eiplained, our whole style of oratoiy is to be distinguished and frequently interspersed with brilliant lights, as it were, of thoughts and of words. LIII. For the dwelling on a single circurostance has often a considerable effect; and a clear illuslraii-on and exhihithn oi matters to the eye of the audience, almost aa if they were transacted before them. This has wonderiiil influence in giving a representation of any a^r, both to illustrate what is represented, and to amplify it, so that the point which we amplify may appear to the audience to be really as great as the powers of our language can represent it. Opposed to this ia rapid tramilion over a -thing, which may often be practised. There ia also stgnijication. that mora is to be undeistood than you have expressed; diatinot and aanavesi brevity; naA extenuabi/m, and, wtot borders upon this, ridicule, not very different froi that which waa the object of Csesar's instructions; and ^ ffreaion from the subject, and when gratification has th( been afforded, the return to the subject ought to be ha] and elegant; propoeition ai ■what joa are about to say, tra: tion irom what has been said, and retrogression; thera rep^ition; apt conclusion of reasoning; exaggeration, or passing of the truth, for the sake of amplification or dim tion; interrogation, aad, akin to this, as it were, eimmluaiaa or seeniing inquiry, followed by the delivery of yoiu" owii opinion; and dlssimulaikm, the humour of saying one thing and signifying another, which steals into the minds of men in a peculiar mauner, and which is extremely pleaung when it is well managed, not in a vehement strain of language, but in a coQversational style; also doubt; and distribution; and eorreetutn of yourself, either before or after jou have.
3, UV.] ON THE CHABACTEE OP THE ORATOB.
jlf; there ^M going to H r person; M a thing, or mhea you repel anything from your 18 also jireniuaitioii, with regard to what you ai _ _ proire; there is the transference tif blame to another person; there is eommienkation, or coasultation, as it were, with the audience before whom you ai-e speaking; imUation of manners and character, either with names of perBona or without, which is a great ornament to a speech, and adapted to conciliate the feehngs even in the utmost degree, and often also to rouse them; the introductio7i offietUious eharactert, the most heightened 6gure of exaggeration; there is dacriplion; falling into a vfUful mistake; excitement of the audienee to cheerfainese; artticipaiion; eompca-ima and example, two figures which have a very great efiect; diviiioii.; interruption; contention;'^ suppreseion; ixntvmendation; a certain /reedom and even unconlrollednesg of lamgwage, for the purpose of eia^eration; avger; reproach; promtee; deprecation; beseeching; alight dfiKtotion from your intended course, but not like digression, which I mentioned before; expurgation; condliatioit; attack; miking; execration. Such arc the figures with which thoughts give lustre to a speech.
LI v. " Of words themselvea, as of ai-ms, there ia a sort of threatening and attack for use, and also a management for grace. For the reiteration of words has sometimes a peculiar force, and sometimes elegance; as welt as the variation cr deflexion of a word from its common signification; and the frequent repetitimt of the same word ia the b^;inning, and Temrreiice to it at the end, of a period; forcihle emphasis on the same words; aonjunction;'^ adjunotionf^ progression;* o. sort of distinction as to some word often used; the recal of a word; the use of words, also, which end similarly, or have similar cadences, or which balance ona another, or which correspond ' Cantentio. THa ia doubtlesa aome species of campuieOQ; there ia no allurioQ to it in the Orator. See lid Herenn. It. 45. Etieiuii.
' Qmewiio. The nriter ad Hereon.lT. 11, calJa this figure fnuJucCioy the QreekB <rvnir?iai{fi. ElUndl.
' Ad,fmiclio. It appeitrs to be that which Quintilian (ix. 3) calls mriCtayiUriii; where severSil words ore connected with the Bame verb. £Htndl.
* What yrojTMsio ia, no criHo haa been able to inform iis, nor is there any notioo of it in any other writer on rhetoric. I aee no mode of explaining the paaaago, nnlesa we take adjwnclio and progreaaio together, and aupposo them to aij^nify that the apeecb proceeds with lereial words in eonjimction, Ellmdt.
I I DE OBATOBE; OB, [b. in.
to OTIC another. There ie also a certain ffradation, a (wnwsioii,' an elegant exag^ation of the sense of irords; there ii ant^keiis, atyndeton, dedinaHan," reprehenaon^ extiamalioit, daninvtion,; the ubb of the tame word in different caaet; the referriwj of what is derived from many partiealars to toA jtartiiviar tingly; reatofanff aabBerrient to your pnyiogiiwn, and reaamivg suited to the order of dittrSn^ion; conceaum; and again another kind of dmtbt^ the introduction of eome' thing imwcpeciflrf; enwmeralion; enathsr eorreetion;^ dimgkm; covtin'oatKm.; intemtption; vmagery; antw^ng yawrown. goo-Ham; immvtation,^ digjuTiction; order; rflatum; dittresmmi' and iiirca.m»cnption. These are the figures, and others lite these, or there may even be more, which adorn language hy peculiarities in thought or structure of style."
LV, " These remarke, Craaeus," said Cotta, " I perceive that you have pourod forth to us without any definitions or examples, because you imagined us aoquaiutcd with them." " I did not, indeed," said Crassus, " suppose that auy of the things which I previously mentioned were new to you, but acted merely in obedience to the inclinationa of the whda company. But in these purticuTare the Bun yonder admonished me to use brevity, which, hastening to set, oonipeUed me also to throw out these observations almost too hnstily. But eiplanatioira, and even rules on this head, are common, though the application of them is most important, and the most difficult of anything in the whole study of eloqiteaoe.
' An sntltbatic portion of worda, as ciic oC viciu, nan vimere ul tdoL EUendt.
• Dcdinatio, Called iTyifTn^DAf) by Qiimtilian, he S. 85.
' How this kuid of doubl diffeTa from thnt wMoh ia mentioned in tlio preoeding ducpter, among tlia fignras of thonght, it is not easy to my. £llendi.
• Correctio verbi. Different from that wHcli la rasntioned above, in the middle of e. S3. EUendt.
' BigresiioB hna been twice mEationed before. Strebieas BUppoaeR it to be similnr to /uTiBaais or d-nainpaip'q, 1 have ao doubt tbat tba word ought to be qected. Oimtnamptimt QuinUlian himself could not underatiaid, and baa cxdndBd it from bii catalogue of tigons {ix. 3. ei). EUendt. Host of the figores enumBFated in tbia cbapter iiro illiiEtratod by flie writer ad Herenniuin, b, iy, and by Quinf^'- — U e.LVI.] ON IHE CHiKAOTEE OF TK! OllATOH.
" Since, then, all the pohits which relate to all the oma^ mentn! parts of oratory are, if not illustrated, at least pointed out, let us now consider what ia meant by propriety, that is, what is most becoming, in oratory. It is, however, clear that I no single kind of style can be adapted to every caiise, or erery audience, or every peiwm, or e^ery occasion. For capital I causes require one style of speaking, private and inferior I causes another; deliberations require one kind of oratory, panegyric another, judicial proceedings another, common con-I Tersation another, consolation another, reproof another, aisputation another, historical narrative another. It is of eonsequence also to consider who form the audience, whether the senate, or the people, or the judges; whether it is a large or a small aBsembly, or a single person, and of what character; it ought to be taken into account, too, who the speakers themselves are, of what age, rank, and authority; and the time also, whether it be one of peace or war, of hurry or leisure. On this head, therefore, no direction seems possible to be givea but this, that we adopt a character of style, fiJler, plainer, or middling,^ suited to the anhject on which we are to speak; the same omtiments we may use aimost constantly, but sometimes in a higher, sometimes iu a lower strain; and it is the jiart of art and uatm'e to be ahle to do what is becoming on every occasion; to know what is becoming, and when, is an afiair of judgment.
LVI. " But -all these parta of oratory succeed according as they are delivered. Delivery, I say, has the sole and supreme v power in oratory; without it, a speaker of the highest mental i capacity can be held in no esteem; while one of moderate abilities, with this qiialification, may surpass even those of the highest taieut. To this Demosthenes is said to have assigned the first place, when he was asked what was the chief requisite in eloquence; to this the second, and to this the third. For this reason, I am wont the more to admire what was said by jEschines, who, when he had retired from Athens, on account of the disgrace of having lost his cause, and betaken himself to Bhodes, is reported to have read, at the entreaty of the Rhodians, that excellent oration which he had ^okea a^nst Cteaiphou, in opposition to Demosthenes; and i i» had concluded it, he was a^ed to read, next day, ' Compure o.
k re ouatore; or,