Original; which yet Men are little acquainted with, by reafon of the little Care they take to follow her Steps, and obferve her Conduct. 'Tis therefore of the utmost Neceffity, to endeavour after a right Understanding of this great Pattern, and to examine all its Springs and Motions, by a profound Study of Philofophy, and a long Obfervation of Natural Things. For if a Man once goes aftray from Nature, All is falfe and vain in Eloquence= Its warmeft Paffions have but a falfe Heat; its brightest Figures, but a falfe Luftre; its Force and Vehemence of Argument has nothing folid at the Bottom; it is but the Declamation of a Sophift, pure Fallacy and Delusion. Every one fhould be content to follow the eafie Methods of his own Genius, without introducing fo much of Subtlety and Refinement. For that Art which is too follicitous of hiding. it felf, is no lefs falfe, than that which too much labours to be feen. True Eloquence affects neither to appear, nor to lie conceal'd: It proceeds by its own Rules and Principles, without using fo much Form and Ceremony: And true Art is never concern'd, either how to disguise, or how to display, too much of

Art.

XVIII.

We find little or no Construction in the Difcourfes of most of our publick Speakers; thro' their want of Application to study the Grounds of their own Language. Those who' have a Genius for Oratory, find it difficult for them to stoop to thefe little Cares, which are no lefs neceffary than they ought to be exact: The natural Elevation of their Spirit,

um, &

will not be fubjected to thefe cautious Mea- Scribendi fures. And as for those who have not a Ge-rede fapenius, they are difpos'd to the Fault of Affectare eft & tion, in order to the making up with Words principiwhat they want in the Juftnefs and Propriety fons. Hor. of their Thoughts. At the fame time 'tis cer- Qui Elotain, that good Speakers are the only Men quentia that have a good Tafte; and 'tis no lefs cer- veræ dat tain, that thofe only who have a good Tafte operam, dat pru are capable of being good Judges.

Cic, in Brut.

dentia.

Dicere nemo bene poteft, nifi qui prudenter intelligit. Id. ibid.

XIX.

The common Source of all that feems vicious in the Expreffion, which is fo effential a Part of Eloquence, must be own'd to be the natural Fault of the Imagination. The Expreffion fwells into a fuperfluous and vain Tide of Words, when the Imagination is too warm and sprightly; into far-fetch'd Flowers and obfcure Conceits, when the Imagination is too wide and confus'd; and lastly, into Drynefs and Languor, when the Imagination is too cold and unactive. Those who make use of the Quickness of their Imagination, to recompense the Slowness of their Judgment, fpeak much, but fay little. I confefs, I love a Dif courfe that affords fome Exercise to the Thought, and imprints its Ideas fo deep, as not to be defaced, and I prefer that Eloquence which thinks well, and expreffes ill, to that which thinks ill, and expresses well.

XX.

Men are commonly defective in that just Temperament which ought to be used in mix

Ambi

ziofa reci det orna.

menta. Hor.

;

ing Reason with Authority, Comparison and
Similitude with Example and Induction. And
when they actually imploy thefe great Inftru-
ments of Perfwafion, they do not yet take
care to range their Proofs in fuch a Manner
as that their very Order shall give them a mu-
tual Strength and Support. For stronger Rea-
fons ought to fucceed weaker, and those
which are more folid to those which are lefs
that the Difcourfe may not only be able to
fuftain it felf, but may rise, as it were by de-
grees, to its laft Perfection. And this Point
is of fo great Confequence, that thro' the bare
neglect of it, Reafons of very fufficient
Strength and Solidity do yet often prove very
ineffectual; because indeed they may be quite
difabled for want of a due Proportion. And
this Proportion confifts in never speaking a
weak Thing after we have fpoken any Thing
that is stronger: For the Reafon which we
urge laft, is that which dwells longest upon the
Minds of the Hearers, and ought therefore to
be the most forcible and convincing. Besides
this Difpofition of Arguments, the Induction
of Particulars will likewife require a judicious
Management, to avoid the Indifcretion of
multiplying to no purpofe. So that an Ora-
tor will need that admirable Art which knows
how with a generous Severity to prune off the
Luxuriances, as well of Things as of Words;
and to fupprefs too thick and frequent Orna-
ments, without paying any Deference to the
Heat of Imagination, which would otherwife
fuffer it felf to be carried away with a falfe
Gaiety and Luftre, commonly void of all man-
ly Beauties. Eloquence cannot rightly open
her Stores, and fuccefsfully imploy the noble
Treasures of her Art, without these Precau
i.

tions;

tions; which appear to be of the last Importance, in that they reduce Things to their natural Condition. And the only Reason why fo necessary Rules are feldom practised, is, because they are little understood.

XXI.

armis,

Eloquence that amufes the Head, without Phalereus, affecting the Heart, does not deferve its Name. non tàm Such was that of the Grecian Orator, men- inftitutus tion'd by Tully in his Brutus, who always tickled and pleas'd, but never mov'd or inflam'd. This tra, dele. quàm paleis a mere Leffon, and a Trial of Skill, the Ufe dabar maof which fhould be confin'd to the Schools. It gis Athé is then that Eloquence exerts its Empire, when nienfes it appears in its native Majefty. Instead of Hammabat. filling the Eye with ufelefs Wonders, it de- Cic. in rives a fecret Ray into the Soul: It does not Brut. amaze with Prodigies, but it perfuades by Reafons; and, infinuating it felf by fome imperceptible Conveyance into the Minds of the Hearers, it works upon them with so strong an Impreffion, that they feem to act, not fo much by Judgment and Counsel, as by fudden Emotion and Impulfe. Thus whatever Beauties recommend themselves to the Understanding, without making their Way to the Affetions, are not true Beauties. For the Affetions always yield to the Understanding,when they are once content to admit and hearken. to its Reasons; and, therefore, they do not hearken to its Reafons, when they refufe to pay their Compliance. That great and noble Air, which Longinus teaches in his Treatife of the Sublimity of Style, is, by his own Confeflion, more proper to dazle and confound, than to engage and to convince: Because it

D

does

Cura ver

dem, &

does not force a Paffage into the Thoughts and Judgments of those whom it addreffes. All great Expreffions without great Thoughts to fuftain them, may be refembled to Ships that ride without their lading: They float upon the Surface, and cannot poise themselves to a steddy Course.

XXII.

In General, that kind of Eloquence which borum de- is fo fcrupulous in the ranging of Words, and rogat affe- fo nice in all that outward Varnish which fets Etibus fia Glofs on the Expreffion, is fcarce ever ubicunque known to fucceed. We are apt to entertain a ars often- Prejudice against whatever is thus ftrain'd and tatur, ve- artificial. The great Orator, Ifocrates, who ritas abeffeems to have propos'd no other Aim in his Quint. Writings but to Charm and Please, was really Non ad ju- unfit for Bufinefs, and could never have apdiciorum pear'd with Advantage at the Bar, because his certamen, Manner was too refin'd. The fame Manner fed ad vo- was follow'd by thofe Sophifts, whom Socrates aurium rallies fo very pleasantly in Plato's Phedrus. fcripferat And Longinus blames the too great Artifice of Ifocrates. Hyperides, in filling his Difcourfes with crowdCic.Orat. ed Ornaments and lavish Beauties. 'Tis a great

luptatem

Perfection to know how to husband and ma

nage thefe Ornaments, and to dispose them in their proper Place, when Neceffity obliges us Contextus to use them. All the Art and Power of Elovivilis fit, quence turns against it self, if it be too bright nec circa and glaring: It prefently becomes fufpicious, • flofculos and Men look upon it as a fine Snare laid to occupatus. Senec. deceive them: Not to fay, that whatever Quaq; pa ftrikes the Mind, or the Senfes, with too much tent retia vehemence, foon wearies and offends. In a Ovid. Word, the Matter it felf must be poffefs'd of a large

vitat avis.