Quod fi è fortu folventibus, ii, qui jam in portum ex alto invehuntur, præcipere fummo ftudio folent & tempeftatum rationem, & prædonum, & locorum, quod natura affert ut eis faveamus, qui eadem pericula, quibus nos perfancti fumus, ingrediuntur : quo tandem me animo effe oportet, prope jam ex magna jactatione terram videntem, in eum, cui video maximas reipublicæ tempeftates effe fubeundas? Nothing can be fmoother than this period: but, were we to throw fome of the words out of the order in which they ftand, it would disguise the whole strangely. Y Omnes urbana res, omnia hæc noftra præclara fudia, & hæc forenfis laus & induftria, latent in tutela ac præfidio bellica virtutis. Simul atque increpuit fufpicio tumultus, artes illico noftræ conticefunt. This concluding cadence, which is a dichoreus, is extremely harmoni ous; and, for that very reafon; Cicero thinks it fhould not be too often used in orations; because affectation becomes vicious, even in the best things. z Animadverti, judices, omnem accufatoris orationem in duas divifam effe partes. According to the natural order it fhould be, in duas partes divifam effe. But what a difference! Rectum erat, fed durum & incomptum, fays Quintilian, in his obfervation on this difpofition of the words.. a Quam fpem cogitationum & confiliorum meorum, cum graves communium temporum, tum varii noftri cafus fefellerunt. Nam qui locus quietis & tranquillitatis pleniffimus føre videbatur, in eo maxime moleliarum & turbulentif ma tempeftates extiterunt. Is there any thing in music fweeter than these periods? b Hæc Centuripina navis erat incredibili celeritate velis.... Evolârat jam è confpectu fere fugiens quadriremis, cum etiam nunc cæteræ naves in fuo loco moliebanHere every thing is rapid; the choice of words as well as the difpofition of them; and the choice of tur. x Pro Mur. n. 4, .. a Lib. 1. de Orat. n. 2. b In Ver, 7. n. 87. the the very letters, most of which are liquid and fmooth, Incredibili celeritate velis. The cadence at the beginning, evolârat jam, &c. is as swift as the ship itself; whereas that at the end, which confifts wholly of one very long, heavy word, reprefents in a wonderful manner the efforts of an ill-equipped fleet, Moliebantur. Refpice celeritatem rapidiffimi temporis: cogita brevi tatem hujus fpatii, per quid citatiffimi currimus. It is plain that Seneca endeavoured in this place to describe the rapidity of time, by that of words and letters. Servius agitat rem militarem: infectatur totam hanc legationem affiduitatis, & operarum harum quotidianarum putat effe confulatum. One cannot doubt but Cicero purposely affected to employ three pretty long genitives plural, and the fame termination in this place (which would have a very ill effect in any other (the more to degrade the profeffion which his adverfary undertook to magnify. He feems to have copied this paffage from Terence: O faciem pulchram! Delea omnes debinc ex animo mulieres. Tædet quotidianarum barum formarum. The fame orator endeavouring to prove, that Milo did not leave Rome with an intention to attack Clodius; he gives the following description of his equipage: Cum hic infidiator, qui iter illud ad cædem facien. dam apparaffet, cum uxore weberetur in rheda, penulatus, vulgi magno impedimento, ac muliebri & delicato ancillarum puerorumque comitatu. What man, who has ever fo little ear, but is fenfible on the bare reading of this paffage, that the orator affected to employ, in this place, long words, confifting of many fyllables; and that he crouded them one upon another, the bet ter to express the multitude of men and women attendants, who were more likely to incumber than be of service in a combat? A fecond method of order or difpofition. The order I have hitherto been treating of, has no other end, properly speaking, but to please the ear, e Eunuch. act. 2. sc. 3. c Epift. 99. d Pro Mur, n. 21. an and to make the oration more harmonious. There is another kind, by which the orator is more intent upon giving ftrength than grace and beauty to his difcourfe. This confifts in difpofing certain expreffions in fuch a manner, that the oration may grow still more vigorous as it goes on; and that the laft may have always the most energy, and always add fomething to those which preceded them. Sometimes certain words are rejected in the conclufion which have a particular emphafis, and give the greatest strength to a thought or defcription; in order that, being feparated, as it were, from the rest, and set in a stronger light, they may ftrike forcibly on the mind. This kind of order is as remarkable as the former, and deferves the utmost attention of the mafter. I will give two or three examples of this kind extracted from Cicero, and add Quintilian's reflections, which alone would be fufficient to form our taste, and teach us to understand and explain authors. 1. Tu iflis faucibus, iftis lateribus, ifta gladiatoria totius corporis firmitate, tantum vini in Hippie nuptiis `exhauferas, ut tibi neceffe effet in populi Romani confpectu vomere poftridie. Quintilian weighs every word in this description. Quid fauces & latera, fays he, ad ebrietatem ? Minime funt etiofa. Nam refpicientes ad hæc poffumus æftimare quantum ille vini in Hippie nuptiis exhauferit, quod ferre & coquere non poffet illa gladiatoria corporis firmitate. We are fenfible enough of the effect which is produced by this difpofition of the words, faucibus, lateribus, gladiatoria totius corporis firmitate, which rife to the end. We should not perhaps have taken fo much notice of the reason which induced Cicero to repeat the word poftridie, in the end, if Quintilian had not made us attentive to it: Sæpe eft vehemens aliquis fenfus in verbo: quod fi in media parte fententia latet, tranfiri intentione, & obfcurari circumjacentibus folet, in claufula f Philip. 2. n. 63, g Quint. 1. 9. c. 4. pofitum pofitum affignatur auditori & infingitur, quale eft illud Ciceronis: Ut tibi neceffe effet in confpectu populi Romani vomere poftridie. Transfer hoc ultimum, minus valebit. Nam totius ductus hic eft quafi mucro, ut per fe fada vomendi neceffitati, jam nihil ulira expectantibus, hanc quoque adjiceret firmitatem, ut cibus teneri non poffet poftridie. But let us hear Cicero explain his own thought, and plainly point out to us the whole extent of it h: 0 rem non modo vifu fædam, fed etiam auditu! Si bec tibi inter cœnam, in tuis immanibus illis poculis accidiffet, quis non turpe duceret? In cœtu vero populi Romani, negotium publicum gerens, magifter equitum, cui rudars turte effet, is vomens fruflis efculentis, vinum redolentitibus, gremium fuum & totum tribunal implevit. It is obvious, that the laft expreffions ftill improve upon the preceding ones. Singula incrementum habent. Per fe deforme, vel non in cætu vomere: in cætu etiam non populi: populi etiam non Romani: vel fi nullum negotium ageret, vel fi non publicum, vel fi non magifler equitum. Sed alius divideret hæc, & circa fingulos gradus moraretur: hic in fublime etiam currit, & ad Jummum pervenit non nixu, fed impetu. This is a beau→ tiful model of explanation for mafters. i But how beautiful foever the Roman orator's description of Antony's vomiting may be, and whatever precaution he may take to advertise us firft of the effect it must produce: 0 rem non modo vifu fœdam, fed etiam auditu! I do not believe our language, which is fo nice and delicate with regard to decency, could bear this detail of circumftances which difgufts and fhocks the imagination, and would never bear these words, vomere, ructare, fruftis efculentis k. Here is an opportunity of making youth obferve the difference in the genius of languages, and the indifpu h Philip. 2. 1. 63. i Quint. 1. 8. c. 4. k Perhaps, the cuftom of retching voluntarily after meals (a practice very common in that age) made thefe expreffions not fo diftafteful." tal table advantage which ours has, in this refpect, over the Greek and Latin. 1 2. Stetit foleatus prætor populi Romani cum pallio tunicaque talari muliercula nixus in littore. These last words, in littore, placed in the clofe, add a prodigious ftrengto to Cicero's thought, which I will explain in another place, where I endeavour to point out the beauty of this defcription, and relate Quintilian's admirable expofition of the paffage. 3. Aderat janitor carceris, carnifex prætoris, mors terrorque fociorum & civium Romanorum, lictor Sextius. Whoever should put lictor Sextius in the beginning, would spoil all; the dreadful apparatus of this executioner muft go before him. Whoever should throw the members of this period into another order, would deftroy all its beauty", which, according to the rules of rhetoric and good fenfe, muft grow more emphatic as it proceeds. Nevertheless, this rule here complies with the delicacy of the ear, which would have been offended, had the words been placed thus, terror morfque fociorum, according to their natural order, death making a ftronger impreffion than terror. ARTICLE the FIFTH FIGURES of rhetoric are certain turns and modes of expreffion which differ a little from the common and plain way of fpeaking, and are used to give more grace and force to difcourfe. They confift either in the words or the thoughts. I comprife in the former what the rhetoricians call tropes, though there may be fome difference in them. 1 Ver. 7. n. 85. m Ibid. n. 177. a Crefcere folet oratio verbis om nibus altius atque altius infurgentibus. Quint. 1. 8, c. 4. |