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ARTICLE the FIRST.

Of the Reafoning and Proofs.

THIS is the moft neceffary and most indifpenfable part of the oratorial art, being, as it were, the foundation of it, and upon which all the reft may be faid to depend. For the expreffions, the thoughts, figures, and all the other ornaments we shall speak of hereafter, fupport the proofs, and are only used to improve and place them in a clearer light.

They are to an oration what the skin and flesh are to the body, which form its beauty and gracefulness, but not its ftrength and folidity: they likewife cover and adorn the bones and nerves; but then they fuppofe thefe, and cannot fupply their room. I don't deny but we muft ftudy to please, and, which is more, to move the paffions; but both will be effected with much more fuccefs, when the auditors are inftructed and convinced; which cannot be effected but by the ftrength of the reafoning and the proofs.

Youth then must be particularly attentive to the proofs and reafons, in examining a difcourfe, harangue, or any other work; and muft feparate them from all the outward fplendor with which they otherwife might fuffer themselves to be dazzled; let them weigh and confider them; let them examine if they are folid, fit for the fubject, and difpofed in their proper places. All the confequence and structure of the difcourfe must be truly reprefented to them; and, after it is explained to them, they fhould be able to give a reafon for the author's defign, and to declare upon a Cætera, quæ continuo orationis tractu magis decurrunt, in auxilium atque ornamentum argumentorum comparantur, nervifque illis, quibus caufa continetur, adjiciunt fuperinducti corporisfpeciem, Quint. 1.5. c. 8.

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b. Nec abnuerim effe aliquid in delectatione, multum vero in commovendis affectibus. Sed hæc ipfa plus valent, cum fe didiciffe judes putat: quod confequi nifi argumentatione, aliaque omni fide rerum, non poffumus. Ibid,

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every paffage, that here the author intended to prove fuch a thing, which he does by fuch allufions..

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Amongst the proofs, fome are ftrong and convincing, each of which fhould be dwelt upon and pointed out feparately, to avoid their being obfcured or confounded in the throng of other proofs. Others, on the contrary, are weaker, and must be affembled together, that they may mutually affift one another, and fupply the want of ftrength by their numbers. Quintilian gives us a very remarkable example of this, The queftion was concerning a man who was accufed of killing one of his relations, in order to inherit his eftate; and here follow the proofs which were advanced on that occafion: Hæreditatem fperabas, & magnam hæreditatem; pauper eras, & tum maxime a creditoribus appellabaris; & offenderas eum cujus hæres eras, & mutaturum tabulas fciebas.

Thefe proofs, confidered feparately, are flight and common; but, being joined together, they ftrikę us, not as the thunderbolt that ftrikes down every thing, but as hail which makes impreffions when its trokes are redoubled.

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We must avoid dwelling too much upon things that don't deserve it; for then our proofs, befides their being tedious, become alfo fufpicious, by the very care we take to accumulate too great a number of them, which feems to argue our own diffidence of them.

f 'Tis a question whether we fhould place our beft proofs in the beginning, in order to poflefs our felves of people's affections at once; or, at the end, to leave a ftronger impreffion in the minds of the auditors; or

e Firmiffimis argumentorum fingulis inftandum; infirmiora congreganda funt: quia illa per fe fortiora non oportet circumftantibus obfcurare, ut qualia funt appareant: hæc imbecilla natura, mutuo anxilio fuftinentur. Itaque fi non poffunt valere quia magna funt, valebunt quia multa funt, Quintil. J. 5. Ca 12..

d. Singula levia funt & commu nia; univerfa vero nocent, etiamtį non ut fulmine, tamen us grandine. Ibid.

e Nec tamen omnibus femper quæ invenerimus argumentis one→ randus eft judex: quia & tædium afferunt, & fidem detrahunt. Ib. f Quintil. 1. 5. c. 12.

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part in the beginning, and another at the end, according to the order which we find in Homer's battles; % or in a word, whether it is not beft to begin with the weakest proofs, that we may ftrengthen them continually in the progrefs of the oration. Cicero seems to be of opinion in fome paffages, that we muft begin and end with the most powerful and convincing proofs, and interfperfe the weakest between both: but, in his oratorial divifions, he acknowledges we cannot always range our proofs as we would; and that a fage and provident orator muft, in that refpect, confult the inclinations of his auditors, and regulate himself by their tafte. Quintilian alfo obferves, but without determining, that the arguments muft vary according to the exigency of the matters in queftion; but fo, as the oration muft never fink, or conclude with trifling or weak reasons, after we have employed ftrong ones in the beginning.

The union and harmony to be obferved in the proofs is not an indifferent circumstance; these contribute very much to the perfpicuity and ornament of the difcourfe. They depend upon the juftnefs and delicacy of the transitions, which are a kind of ties, by which the parts and propofitions are united, that often feem to have no relation, but to be independent and foreign, as it were, to each other; and which, without this union, would clash, and never quadrate together. The orator's art therefore confifts in knowing how by certain turns and thoughts, applied with art, to unite thefe different proofs fo naturally, that they may feem defigned for each other and the

g Iliad. 1. 4. v, 297

Cic. 1. 2, de orat. n. 314, &c. in orat. 350.

i Semperne ordinem collocandi, quem volumus, tenere poffumus? Non fane. Nam auditorum aures moderantur oratori prudenti & provido, & quod refpuunt immutandum eft, In Partition. Orat. 15.

k Ita res diverfæ diftantibus ex: locis, quafi invicem ignotæ, non collidentur, fed aliqua fecietate cum prioribus ac fequentibus fe copulaque tenebunt...... Ita ut cor pus fit, non membra,,... Ac videbitur non folum compofita oratio. fed etiam continua, Quintil. 1. 7.

c. ult.

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whole

whole not form feparate members and detached pieces, but an intire and complete body.

M. Flecher had begun the elogium of M. de Turenne, with that of the ancient and illuftrious houfe of la Tour D'Auvergne, whofe blood is mingled with that of Kings and Emperors; has given Princes to Aquitaine, Princeffes to all the courts of Europe, and Queens even to France itself.

He fpeaks afterwards of that Prince's misfortune to be born in herefy. In order to join this part with the former, he uses a figure, called by the rhetoricians correction, which fupplies him with a very natural tranfition. "But what do I fay? We must not "applaud him here on that score; we muft rather "lament him. How glorious foever the ftock might "be from which he fprung, the herefy of the latter "times has infected it."

There is another obfervation ftill more important. It does not fuffice to find folid proofs, to range them in proper order, and to unite them well; we muft know the method of difplaying, and giving them a juft extent, in order to make the auditors fenfible of their weight and efficacy, and to deduce all poffible advantages from them. This is generally called amplification, in which the force of eloquence and the orator's art chiefly confift, and wherein Cicero principally excelled. I will confine myself to one exam ple on this head, taken from his defence of Milo.

To the many proofs by which Cicero had fhewn, that Milo was far from premeditating the defign of killing Clodius, he adds a reflection taken from the circumftance of time; and he asks if it is probable, that Milo, who was making intereft for the confulfhip, fhould be fo imprudent as to be guilty of a base and cowardly affaffination, whereby he would lofe the hearts of all the Roman people, and that almost at the time they were to affemble, in order to dispose

3 Quædam argumenta ponere fatis non eft: adjuvanda funt. Quintil. A. 5. c. 12.

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of the public employments, Præfertim, judices, cum honoris compliffimi contentio & dies comitiorum fubeffet. This is a very just reflection; but if the orator had done nothing more than barely reprefent it, with out fupporting it with the arts of eloquence, it would not have very much affected the judges. But he improved and fet off that cireumftance of time in a furprifing manner, by demonftrating, that at such a juncture men are extremely circumfpect and attentive, in order to conciliate the favour and voices of the people. "I know, fays Cicero, how great are the "caution and referve of those who make interest "for employments, and what care and uneafinefs at"tend fuch as fue for the confulfhip. On thefe oc

cafions, we are not only afraid of what may be "openly objected to us, but of what people may "imagine within themselves. The leaft report, the "idleft and worst-grounded story alarms and difor "ders us. We anxiously confult the eyes, the looks, " and words of every body; for nothing is fo delicate, "fo frail, uncertain, and variable, as the inclinationą "of citizens with regard to all thofe who are candidates "for public employments. They are not only of"fended at the lighteft mifcarriages, but are fome"times fo capricious, as to take an unreasonable diflike " even to the most laudable actions." Qua quidem tempore (fcio enim quam timida fit ambitio, quantaque &quam folicita cupiditas confulatus) omnia, non modo qua reprehendi palam, fed etiam quæ obfcure cogitari poffunt, timemus: rumorem, fabulam fiactm, falfam perborrefcimus: ora omnium atque oculos intuemur. Nihil enim eft tam molle, tam tenerum, tam aut fragile aut flexibile, quam voluntas erga nos fenfufque civium, qui non modo improbitate irafcuntur condidatorum, fed etiam in recte factis fæpe faftidiunt. Is it poffible to give a more lively idea of the whimfical levity of the people

For Milo, n. 42, 43.

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