this passage, and in all of the letter that fol- lows, the subdued style is maintained, as the reader may easily satisfy himself.
46. St. Ambrose also, though dealing with a question of very great importance, the equal- ity of the Holy Spirit with the Father and the 1 Rom. viii. 28-39.
2 Gal. iv. 10-20.
Chap. XXI.]
ON CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE.
591 Son, employs the subdued style, because the object he has in view demands, not beauty of diction, nor the swaying of the mind by the stir of emotion, but facts and proofs. Ac- cordingly, in the introduction to his work, we find the following passage among others: " When Gideon was startled by the message he had heard from God, that, though thou- sands of the people failed, yet through one man God would deliver His people from their enemies, he brought forth a kid of the goats, and by direction of the angel laid it with un- leavened cakes upon a rock, and poured the broth over it; and as soon as the angel of God touched it with the end of the staff that was in his hand, there rose up fire out of the rock and consumed the offering.1 Now this sign seems to indicate that the rock was a type of the body of Christ, for it is written, ' They drank of that spiritual rock that followed them, and that rock was Christ;'2 this, of course, referring not to Christ's divine nature, but to His flesh, whose ever-flowing fountain of blood has ever satisfied the hearts of His thirsting people. And so it was at that time declared in a mystery that the Lord Jesus, when crucified, should abolish in His flesh the sins of the whole world, and not their guilty acts merely, but the evil lusts of their hearts. For the kid's flesh refers to the guilt of the outward act, the broth to the allurement of lust within, as it is written, ' And the mixed multitude that was among them fell a lusting; and the children of Israel also wept again and said, Who shall give us flesh to eat? ' 3 When the angel, then, stretched out his staff and touched the rock, and fire rose out of it, this was a sign that our Lord's flesh, filled with the Spirit of God, should burn up all the sins of the human race. Whence also the Lord says, ' I am come to send fire on the earth."4 And in the same style he pursues the subject, devoting himself chiefly to prov- ing and enforcing his point.5 47. An example of the temperate style is the celebrated encomium on virginity from Cy- prian: "Now our discourse addresses itself to the virgins, who, as they are the objects of higher honor, are also the objects of greater care. These are the flowers on the tree of the Church, the glory and ornament of spirit- ual grace, the joy of honor and praise, a work unbroken and unblemished, the image of God answering to the holiness of the Lord, the brighter portion of the flock of Christ. The glorious fruitfulness of their mother the Church rejoices in them, and in them flour- ishes more abundantly; and in proportion as 1 Judge, vi. 14-21. 4 Luke xii. 49.
5 De Spiritu Sancto, lib. i. Prol.
bright virginity adds to her numbers, in the same proportion does the mother's joy in- crease.6 And at another place in tue end of the epistle, 'As we have borne,' he says, ' the image of the earthly, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.' 7 Virginity bears this image, integrity bears it, holiness and truth bear it; they bear it who are mindful of the chastening of the Lord, who observe justice and piety, who are strong in faith, humble in fear, steadfast in the endurance of suffering, meek in the endurance of injury, ready to pity, of one mind and of one heart in brother- ly peace. And every one of these things ought ye, holy virgins, to observe, to cherish, and fulfill, who having hearts at leisure for God and for Christ, and having chosen the greater and better part, lead and point the way to the Lord, to whom you have pledged your vows. Ye who are advanced in age, exercise control over the younger. Ye who are younger, wait upon the elders, and en- courage your equals; stir up one another by mutual exhortations; provoke one another to glory by emulous examples of virtue; endure bravely, advance in spirituality, finish your course with joy; only be mindful of us when your virginity shall begin to reap its reward of honor." 8 48. Ambrose also uses the temperate and ornamented style when he is holding up be- fore virgins who have made their profession a model for their imitation, and says: "She was a virgin not in body only, but also in mind; not mingling the purity of her affection with any dross of hypocrisy; serious in speech; prudent in disposition; sparing of words; de- lighting in study; not placing her confidence in uncertain riches, but in the prayer of the poor; diligent in labor; reverent in word; ac- customed to look to God, not man, as the guide of her conscience; injuring no one, wishing well to all; dutiful to her elders, not envious of her equals; avoiding boastfulness, following reason, loving virtue. When did she wound her parents even by a look? When did she quarrel with her neighbors? When did she spurn the humble, laugh at the weak, or shun the indigent? She is accustomed to visit only those haunts of men that pity would not blush for, nor modesty pass by. There is nothing haughty in her eyes, nothing bold in her words, nothing wanton in her gestures: her bearing is not voluptuous, nor her gait too free, nor her voice petulant; so that her out- ward appearance is an image of her mind, and a picture of purity. For a good house ought to be known for such at the very thres- 6 De habit u Virginum, chap. vii. 7 1 Cor. xv. 49.
8 De habit u Virginum, chap, xviii.
592 ON CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE.
[Book IV.
hold, and show at the very entrance that there is no dark recess within, as the light of a lamp set inside sheds its radiance on the outside. Why need I detail her sparingness in food, her superabundance in duty, — the one falling beneath the demands of nature, the other ris- ing above its powers? The latter has no in- tervals of intermission, the former doubles the days by fasting; and when the desire for re- freshment does arise, it is satisfied with food such as will support life, but not minister to appetite." ' Now I have cited these latter pas- sages as examples of the temperate style, be- cause their purpose is not to induce those who have not yet devoted themselves to take the vows of virginity, but to show of what charac- ter those who have taken vows ought to be. To prevail on any one to take a step of such a nature and of so great importance, requires that the mind should be excited and set on fire by the majestic style. Cyprian the mar- tyr, however, did not write about the duty of taking up the profession of virginity, but about the dress and deportment of virgins. Yet that great bishop urges them to their duty even in these respects by the power of a majestic elo- quence.
49. But I shall select examples of the ma- jestic style from their treatment of a subject which both of them have touched. Both have denounced the women who color, or rather discolor, their faces with paint. And the first, in dealing with this topic, says: " Sup- pose a painter should depict in colors that rival nature.' s the features and form and complexion of some man, and that, when the portrait had been finished with consum- mate art, another painter should put his hand over it, as if to improve by his superior skill the painting already completed; surely the first artist would feel deeply insulted, and his indignation would be justly roused. Dost thou, then, think that thou wilt carry off with impunity so audacious an act of wickedness, such an insult to God the great artificer? For, granting that thou art not immodest in thy behavior towards men, and that thou art not polluted in mind by these meretricious deceits, yet, in corrupting and violating what is God's, thou provest thyself worse than an adulteress. The fact that thou considerest thyself adorned and beautified by such arts is an impeachment of God's handiwork, and a violation of truth. Listen to the warning voice of the apostle: ' Purge out the old leaven^ that ye may be a new lump, as ye are un- leavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us: therefore let us keep the 1 De Virginibus, lib. ii. chap. i.
feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.' 2 Now can sincerity and truth continue to exist when what is sincere is polluted, and what is true is changed by meretricious coloring and the deceptions of quackery into a lie? Thy Lord says, ' Thou canst not make one hair white or black;'3 and dost thou wish to have greater power so as to bring to nought the words of thy Lord? With rash and sacrile- gious hand thou would st fain change the color of thy hair: I would that, with a pro- phetic look to the future, thou shouldst dye it the color of flame." 4 It would be too long to quote all that follows.
50. Ambrose again, inveighing against such practices, says: " Hence arise these incentives to vice, that women, in their fear that they may not prove attractive to men, paint their faces with carefully-chosen colors, and then from stains on their features go on to stains on their chastity. What folly it is to change the features of nature into those of a painting, and from fear of incurring their husband's dis- approval, to proclaim openly that they have in- curred their own! For the woman who desires to alter her natural appearance pronounces condemnation on herself; and her eager en- deavors to please another prove that she has first been displeasing to herself. And what testimony to thine ugliness can we find, O woman, that is more unquestionable than thine own, when thou art afraid to show thy- self? If thou art comely why dost thou hide thy comeliness? If thou art plain, why dost thou lyingly pretend to be beautiful, when thou canst not enjoy the pleasure of the lie either in thine own consciousness or in that of another? For he loves another woman, thou desirest to please another man; and thou art angry if he love another, though he is taught adultery in thee. Thou art the evil promptress of thine own injury. For even the woman who has been the victim of a pander shrinks from acting the pander's part, and though she be vile, it is herself she sins against and not another. The crime of adultery is almost more tolerable than thine; for adultery tam- pers with modesty, but thou with nature."5 It is sufficiently clear, I think, that this elo- quence calls passionately upon women to avoid tampering with their appearance by deceitful arts, and to cultivate modesty and fear. Accordingly, we notice that the style is neither subdued nor temperate, but majestic throughout Now in these two authors whom 4 Cyprian, de habit u Virginum, chap. xii.
5 Ambrose, de Virginibus, lib. ii.
Chap. XXIV.]
ON CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE.
59.
I have selected as specimens of the rest, and in other ecclesiastical writers who both speak the truth and speak it well, — speak it, that is, judiciously, pointedly, and with beauty and power of expression, — many examples may be found of the three styles of speech, scat- tered through their various writings and dis- courses; and the diligent student may by assiduous reading, intermingled with practice on his own part, become thoroughly imbued with them all.
CHAP. 22. THE NECESSITY OF VARIETY IN STYLE.
51. But we are not to suppose that it is against rule to mingle these various styles: on the contrary, every variety of style should be introduced so far as is consistent with good taste. For when we keep monotonously to one style, we fail to retain the hearer's atten- tion; but when we pass from one style to another, the discourse goes off more grace- fully, even though it extend to greater length. Each separate style, again, has varieties of its own which prevent the hearer's attention from cooling or becoming languid. We can bear the subdued style, however, longer without variety than the majestic style. For the men- tal emotion which it is necessary to stir up in order to carry the hearer's feelings with us, when once it has been sufficiently excited, the higher the pitch to which it is raised, can be maintained the shorter time. And therefore we must be on our guard, lest, in striving to carry to a higher point the emotion we have excited, we rather lose what we have already gained. But after the interposition of matter that we have to treat in a quieter style, we can return with good effect to that which must be treated forcibly, thus making the tide of elo- quence to ebb and flow like the sea. It follows from this, that the majestic style, if it is to be long continued, ought not to be unvaried, but should alternate at intervals with the other styles; the speech or writing as a whole, how- ever, being referred to that style which is the prevailing one.
CHAP. 23. — HOW THE VARIOUS STYLES SHOULD BE MINGLED.
52. Now it is a matter of importance to de- termine what style should be alternated with what other, and the places where it is neces- sary that any particular style should be used. In the majestic style, for instance, it is al- ways, or almost always, desirable that the in- troduction should be temperate. And the speaker has it in his discretion to use the sub- dued style even where the majestic would be 38 allowable, in order that the majestic when it is used may be the more majestic by compari- son, and may as it were shine out with greater brilliance from the dark background. Again, whatever may be the style of the speech or writing, when knotty questions turn up for solution, accuracy of distinction is required, and this naturally demands the subdued style. And accordingly this style must be used in al- ternation with the other two styles whenever questions of that sort turn up; just as we must use the temperate style, no matter what may be the general tone of the discourse, whenever praise or blame is to be given with- out any ulterior reference to the condemna- tion or acquittal of any one, or to obtaining the concurrence of any one in a course of action. In the majestic style, then, and in the quiet likewise, both the other two styles occasionally find place. The temperate style, on the other hand, not indeed always, but oc- casionally, needs the quiet style; for example, when, as I have said, a knotty question comes up to be settled, or when some points that are susceptible of ornament are left unadorned and expressed in the quiet style, in order to give greater effect to certain exuberances (as they may be called) of ornament. But the temperate style never needs the aid of the majes- tic; for its object is to gratify, never to excite, the mind.
CHAP. 24. THE EFFECTS PRODUCED BY THE MAJESTIC STYLE.
53. If frequent and vehement applause fol- lows a speaker, we are not to suppose on that account that he is speaking in the majestic style; for this effect is often produced both by the accurate distinctions of the quiet style, and by the beauties of the temperate. The majestic style, on the other hand, frequently silences the audience by its impressiveness, but calls forth their tears. For example, when at Csesarea in Mauritania I was dissuading the people from that civil, or worse than civil, war which they called Caterva (for it was not fellow-citizens merely, but neighbors, brothers, fathers and sons even, who, divided into two factions and armed with stones, fought annually at a certain season of the year for several days continuously, every one kill- ing whomsoever he could), I strove with all the vehemence of speech that I could com- mand to root out and drive from their hearts and lives an evil so cruel and inveterate; it was not, however, when I heard their applause, but when I saw their tears, that I thought I had produced an effect. For the applause showed that they were instructed and de- 594 ON CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE.
[Book IV.
lighted, but the tears that they were subdued. And when I saw their tears I was confident, even before the event proved it, that this hor- rible and barbarous custom (which had been handed down to them from their fathers and their ancestors of generations long gone by and which like an enemy was besieging their hearts, or rather had complete possession of them) was overthrown; and immediately that my ser- mon was finished I called upon them with heart and voice to give praise and thanks to God. And, lo, with the blessing of Christ, it i-s now eight years or more since anything of the sort was attempted there. In many other cases besides I have observed that men show the effect made on them by the powerful elo- quence of a wise man, not by clamorous ap- plause so much as by groans, sometimes even by tears, finally by change of life.
54. The quiet style, too, has made a change in many; but it was to teach them what they were ignorant of, or to persuade them of what they thought incredible, not to make them do what they knew they ought to do but were un- willing to do. To break down hardness of this sort, speech needs to be vehement. Praise and censure, too, when they are eloquently expressed, even in the temperate style, pro- duce such an effect on some, that they are not only pleased with the eloquence of the encomiums and censures, but are led to live so as themselves to deserve praise, and to avoid living so as to incur blame. But no one would say that all who are thus delighted change their habits in consequence, whereas all who are moved by the majestic style act accordingly, and all who are taught by the quiet style know or believe a truth which they were previously ignorant of.
CHAP. 25. HOW THE TEMPERATE STYLE IS TO BE USED.
55. From all this we may conclude, that the end arrived at by the two styles last men- tioned is the one which it is most essential for those who aspire to speak with wisdom and eloquence to secure. On the other hand, what the temperate style properly aims at, viz., to please by beauty of expression, is not in itself an adequate end; but when what we have to say is good and useful, and when the hearers are both acquainted with it and favorably dis- posed towards it, so that it is not necessary either to instruct or persuade them, beauty of style may have its influence in securing their prompter compliance, or in making them ad- here to it more tenaciously. For as the func- tion of all eloquence, whichever of these three forms it may assume, is to speak persuasively, and its object is to persuade, an eloquent man will speak persuasively, what- ever style he may adopt; but unless he suc- ceeds in persuading, his eloquence has not secured its object. Now in the subdued style, he persuades his hearers that what he says is true; in the majestic style, he persuades them to do what they are aware they ought to do, but do not; in the temperate style, he per- suades them that his speech is elegant and ornate. But what use is there in attaining such an object as this last? They may de- sire it who are vain of their eloquence and make a boast of panegyrics, and such-like per- formances, where the object is not to instruct the hearer, or to persuade him to any course of action, but merely to give him pleasure. We, however, ought to make that end subor- dinate to another, viz., the effecting by this style of eloquence what we aim at effecting when we use the majestic style. For we may by the use of this style persuade men to cul- tivate good habits and give up evil ones, if they are not so hardened as to need the vehement style; or if they have already begun a good course, we may induce them to pursue it more zealously, and to persevere in it with constancy. Accordingly, even in the.temperate style we must use beauty of expres- sion not for ostentation, but for wise ends; not contenting ourselves merely with pleasing the hearer, but rather seeking to aid him in the pursuit of the good end which we hold out before him.
CHAP. 26. IN EVERY STYLE THE ORATOR SHOULD AIM AT PERSPICUITY, BEAUTY, AND PERSUASIVENESS.
56. Now in regard to the three conditions I laid down a little while ago J as necessary to be fulfilled by any one who wishes to speak with wisdom and eloquence, viz. perspicuity, beauty of style, and persuasive power, we are not to understand that these three qualities attach themselves respectively to the three several styles of speech, one to each, so that' perspicuity is a merit peculiar to the subdued style, beauty to the temperate, and persuasive power to the majestic. On the contrary, all speech, whatever its style, ought constantly to I aim at, and as far as possible to display, all' these three merits. For we do not like even what we say in the subdued style to pall upon the hearer; and therefore we would be listened to, not with intelligence merely, but with pleas- ure as well. Again, why do we enforce what we teach by divine testimony, except that we wish tc carry the hearer with us, that is, to com- 1 Chaps, xv. and xvii.
Chap. XXVII.]
ON CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE.
595 pel his assent by calling in the assistance of Him of whom it is said, " Thy testimonies are very sure "? r And when any one nar- rates a story, even in the subdued style, what does he wish but to be believed? But who will listen to him if he do not arrest attention by some beauty of style? And if he be not intelligible, is it not plain that he can neither give pleasure nor enforce conviction? The subdued style, again, in its own naked sim- plicity, when it unravels questions of very great difficulty, and throws an unexpected light upon them; when it worms out and brings to light some very acute observations from a quarter whence nothing was expected; when it seizes upon and exposes the falsity of an opposing opinion, which seemed at its first statement to be unassailable; especially when all this is ac- companied by a natural, unsought grace of expression, and by a rhythm and balance of style which is not ostentatiously obtruded, but seems rather to be called forth by the nature of the subject: this style, so used, frequently calls forth applause so great that one can hardly believe it to be the subdued style. For the fact that it comes forth without either ornament or defence, and offers battle in its own naked simplicity, does not hinder it from crushing its adversary by weight of nerve and muscle, and overwhelming and de- stroying the falsehood that opposes it by the mere strength of its own right arm. How ex- plain the frequent and vehement applause that waits upon men who speak thus, except by the pleasure that truth so irresistibly estab- lished, and so victoriously defended, natu- rally affords? Wherefore the Christian teacher and speaker ought, when he uses the subdued style, to endeavor not only to be clear and in- telligible, but to give pleasure and to bring home conviction to the hearer.