In this, as well as every thing else belonging to ftile, Demofthenes excels. For he is copious in words, but not fuper-abun were borrowed from the Greek. Even the name of Philofophy was taken from that language; and what is more extraordinary, the Romans had no name for his' own art, till they naturalized the word Rhetorica. (See Academic. lib. i. cap. 7.) And in his philofophical works, he very often ufes Greek terms for want of Latin And Lucretius, tho' he does not use the fame freedom, complains of the poverty of the language; Nec me animus fallit, Graiorum obfcura reperta Nor can I approve of manner he does, calling Neither can I believe, that the Romans in genius exceeded all other nations; which, however, icero affirms, without even excepting the Greeks. (Lib. i. De Oratore, Cap. 4.) his treating the Greeks in the them Graeculi (Ibid. cap. 11.) and Otiofi et loquaces, and only fortaffe docti et eruditi (Ibid. cap. 22.) For tho' it be true, that they had then a great deal of leifure, not being employed, as they were formerly, in arms and government, they were for that very reafon much more learned, not only in philofophy, but in every art, and among others in the art of speaking; dant. And here again, I cannot help differing from Cicero, who fays, that even Demofthenes did not fill his ears: For I say, his ears were vitiated by the practice of the schools of declamation, where, in order to draw the applaufe, of boys or any ignorant crowd, the fame things were faid over and over again, with much exaggeration and amplification. But Demofthenes had formed his tafte upon the practice of real bufinefs, not upon VOL. IV. Dd t which, as Cicero himself tells us, his countrymen learned chiefly from the Greeks: And the fact moft certainly is, that the Romans got all their learning from the Greeks, and had nothing they could call their own, except the fcience of government and arms, as their own poet Virgil has confeffed, who in oratory particularly, as well as in other arts, has given the preference to the Greeks in thefe famous lines. Excudent alii fpirantia mollius aera; (Credo equidem); vivos ducent de marmore voltus; Defcribent radio, et furgentia fidera dicent: Ancid, Lib. 6. v. 847. the mimicry of it in fictitious caufes. The author in Latin, who of all others has varied his expreffion the moft agreeably, is in my opinion Horace, who is rich and copious in words and phrafes, particularly in his odes, but without affectation or vain fhew. And tho' it be evident to every man who knows what fine writing is, that fuch a variety of choice words and phrafes muft have coft him a great deal of pains, yet they appear fo eafy and natural, that he well deferves the eulogium, Petronius bestows upon him, of Curiofa felicitas. The Rule in this matter feems to be, that the change ought not to be too frequent, fo as to appear to be merely for the fake of variety; and when it is made, the new word, fhould, if poffible, express the thing more fully and accurately, or with more force and emphasis. СНАР. IV. Of the compofition of words.-Of the variety, which the rhythms and accents of the Greek language gave to their pronunciation.-Thofe were a beauty of their profe, as well as of their verfe compofition.-No melody or rhythm in the pronunciation of English.-We have only what we call accents. These measure our verfe but not our profe.-The French have neither quantity nor accent.-The Italians have accents.--The modern Greeks have accents fuch as ours. We want one of the greatest beauties of antient compofition, variety of arrangement of words. Not eafy to fet bounds to that variety in the antient languages:-That arrangement not fo artificial in their conversation, and in their laws and decrees;—very artificial in their poetry.-Examples of this from Horace's odes.-Not fo much of it in his fatires and epiftles.-Virgil's verfification diftinguished in this way;-too much of it in him;-lefs of it in Homer, except in his fimilies.-Of the figure Hyperbaton, and of the difficulty of defining it. Of the fingularity of the Latin arrangement of words, concluding the fentence so often with the verb :-Difference in this refpect betwixt the Greek and Latin compofition.--The only way of varying the file of modern languages is by compofition in periods. Those who do not think periods beautiful, do not know what beauty is.--The disadvantages of compofing in fhort fentences-Weakens the comprebenfion of the bearers or readers:-Makes them unable to speak or read fuch compofition. The taste and the facility of compofing in that way, only to be acquired by the study of the antient authors, particularly Demofthenes. A great orator in England formed by reciting his orations. -- |