Q. What to shun?

A. All affectation.

MEANS OF IMPROVING IN ELOQUENCE.

Q. Is eloquence a common and easy attainment?

A. No. It is a great and rare exertion of the human powers.

Q. Which are most numerous, eminent Poets or Orators?

A. Eminent Poets.

Q. What advantage has the study of oratory above that of poetry?

A. In poetry, one must be eminent or he is not supportable; in oratory, a moderate station may be maintained with dignity.

Q. What first demands attention in Oratory? A. Personal character and disposition. He only can be an eloquent and persuasive speaker who is a virtuous man.

*

Q. What sentiments and dispositions should be cultivated?

A. The love of justice and truth; magnanimity of spirit; the love of liberty and country; zeal for great and noble designs; and a reverence for worthy and heroic characters.

Q. Next to moral qualifications, what is most necessary to an Orator?

"Non posse oratorem esse nisi virum bonum."

A. A fund of knowledge. Good sense and knowledge are the foundation of good speaking.

Q. With what should he be fully acquainted?

A. His own profession; whether it be law, divinity, or politics. He should also be conversant with the general circle of polite literature.

Q. Of what use will be the study of Poetry?

A. It will embellish his style, suggest lively images and agreeable allusions.

Q. Of what the study of history?

A. It will furnish him with the knowledge of eminent characters and of the course of human affairs.

Q. What other means of improvement are there?

A. A habit of application and industry; attention to the best models; frequent exercise both in composing and speaking.

Q. What style should the Orator cultivate? A. One easy, copious, less fettered by rule than the essay style;—there being a great difference between written and spoken language.

Q. What rules should be observed by students associated for improvement in eloquence?

A. They should choose subjects manly and useful; speak always with care; keep good sense and persuasion in view; and ever advocate that side of a question which they believe to be right.

Q. Who have been the most useful and instructive writers on the subject of Oratory? A. Aristotle, Cicero, and Quintilian.

COMPARATIVE MERIT OF THE ANCIENTS AND MODERNS.

Q. In what manner have distinguished writers and artists generally appeared?

A. In considerable numbers at a time. Some ages have been very barren; others, very prolific.

Q. What have been some of the moral causes of fertility?

A. Favourable circumstances of government and manners; encouragement from great men; emulation among men of genius.

Q. How many happy ages have learned men marked out?

A. Four. The Grecian Age, producing Herodotus, Thucidydes, Xenophon, Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Demosthenes ;-the Roman Age, producing Terence, Virgil, Horace, Ovid, Cæsar, Cicero, Livy ;-the Age of the restoration of learning, when flourished Ariosto, Tasso, Erasmus, Michael Angelo, Raphael; and the Age of Lewis XIV. when flourished in France, Bossuet, Fenelon, Bourdaloue. Pascall. Massillon; and in England, Dryden, Pope, Addison, Swift, Young, Tillotson, Boyle. Locke, Newton, Clarke.

Q. Who are the Ancients ?

A. Such as lived in the two first of these periods, and before them, as Homer.

Q. Who are the Moderns?

A. Such as lived in the two last of these ages, and other writers down to our own time. Q. Is it safe for a critic to decry the Ancient Classics?

A. No; for the world has decided against him. In matters of Taste, the common sentiment is the standard; and this, for ages, has been in their favour.

Q. But was not the world long in favour of a false philosophy?

A. In matters of reasoning the world may long be in an error, but not in matters of taste. The universal feeling of mankind is the natural feeling, and therefore the right feeling.

Q. Where have the Moderns a superiority over the Ancients ?

A. Generally, where the natural progress of knowledge has had room to produce any considerable effects;-as in natural philosophy, astronomy, chemistry, geography, commerce, government.

Q. What is the characteristical difference between the ancient poets, orators, and historians?

A. Among the ancients we find higher conceptions, greater simplicity, more original fancy; among the moderns, more art and correctness, but feebler exertions of genius. In Epic Poetry, Homer and Virgil are to this day un

rivalled. So are Cicero and Demosthenes in oratory Thucidydes and Tacitus in historical narration; Horace in Lyric Poetry; and Theocritus in Pastorals.

Q. To what is the superiority of the ancients over the moderns, in elegant composition, owing?

A. To the fact, that to excel is become a much less considerable object. Printing also has rendered all books common and easy to be had, which rather depresses than favours the exertions of natural genius.

Q. Should the Greek and Roman Classics be attentively studied?

A. Yes. Without a considerable acquaintance with them, no man can be reckoned a polite scholar.*

HISTORICAL WRITING.

Q. What is the office of an Historian? A. To record truth for the instruction of mankind.

Q What are the fundamental qualities of an historian?

A. Impartiality, fidelity, gravity, and accu

racy.

Q. How may historical compositions be divided?

*"Nocturna versate manu, versate diurna."