X. " I thought it uecessaiy to premise these particulars.
m litudc I jf my f I 343 DE o£a.tore; or, that if every remark o£ mine did not exactly ndapt itself to tke inclinations of you all, aud to that peculiar style of speak- ing which each of you most admired, you might be sensible that I described that character of eloquence of which I myaelf most approved.
" Those mattera, therefore, of which Antonius has treated HO eiplicitly, are to be endowed with action and elocution by the orator in some oertaia manner. What manner of elocu- tion can be better (for I will consider action by-and-by) than that of speaking in pure Latin, with perapicuitj', with grace- fiilcess, and with aptitude and congruity to the subject in question? Of the two which I mentioned first, purity and oleaniesa of language, I do not suppose that any account is expected from me; for we do not attempt to teach hira to be an orator who cannot speak; nor can we hope that be who cannot speak grammatical Latin will speak elegantly; nor that he who cannot speak what we can understand, will ever Bpeak anything for us to admire. Let us, therefore, omit these matters, which are easy of attainment, though neoesaary in practice; for the one is taught in Bcbool-learniDg and the mdiaienta of children; the other ^ is cultivated for this reason, that what every person says may bo understood, — a qualificar tion which wo perceive indeed to be necessary, yet that none can be held in less estimation.- But all elegance of lan- guage, though it receive a polish from the science of graramar, is yet augmented by the reading of orators and poete; for those ancients, who could not then adorn what they expressed, had almost all a kind of nobleness of diction; and those who are accustomed to their style cannot express themselves otherwise than in pure Latin, even though ihej desire to do so. Yet we must not make use of such of their woi-ds as our modern mode of speaking does not admit, imless sometimes for the sake of ornament, and but sparingly, i ' ' " plain; but be who is studious and mncb oonveisant n ancient writers, will make such use of common expressioi always to adopt the most eligible.
XI. " In order to speak pure Latin, we must take a only to use words with which nobody can justly find f ' Perspicuity, ' Thia BeomH to be pp^ikiiig rather t50 lightly of the t parBpiouitf, which Quintiiiiin prtmoucoau the oMef virtue of langB C. SI.] ON THE CHAKACTBB OF THE ORATOR. 3i3 and preserve tlie conatniotion by proper cases, (ind tenaeB, and genders, and numbers, bo that there may be nothing oon- foBed, or inoongruoua, or preposterous; bat also that the tongue, and the breath, and the tone of the voice oome under proper regulation. I would not have letters sounded with too much affectation, or uttered imperfectly through negli- gence; I would not have the words dropped out without eapression or spirit j I would not have them puffed and, as it were, panted forth, with a difficulty of breathing; for I do not as yet speak of those things relating to the voice which belong to oratorical delivery, but merely of that which seems to me to conoem pronunciation. For there are certain faults which every one is desirous to avoid, as a too delicate and effeminate tone of voice, or one that is extravagantly harsh and grating. There is also a fault which some industriously strive to attain; a rustic and rough pronunciation is agree- able to some, that their language, if it has that tone, may eeem to partake more of antiquity; as Lucius Cotta, an ac- • quaintance of yours, Catulus, appears to me to take a delight in the broadness of his speecli and the rough sound of his Toice, and thinks that what he says will savour of the antique if it certainly sayour of rusticity. But your harmony and sweetness delight me; I do not refer to the harmony of your words, which is a principal point, but one which method in- troduces, learning teaches, practice in reading and speaking confirms; bttt I mean the mere sweetness of pronunciation, which, as among the Greeks it was peouhar to the Athenians, so in the Latin tongue is chiefly remarkable in this city. At Athens, learning among the Athenians themselves has long been entirely neglected; there remains in that city only the seat of the studies which the citiEcna do not cultivate, but which foreigners enjoy, being captivated in a manner with the very name and authority of the place; yet any illiterate Athenian will easily surpaaa the most learned Asiatica,' not in his language, but in sweetneas of tone, not so much in speak- ing well ae in apeaking agreeably. Our citizens^ pay less attention to letters than the people of Latium, yet among all the people that you know in the city, who have the least ' The Asiatic Graelca.
' ThoBB who lire born at Rome apply theroHalvea to the Hber«t ■ soieooea leaa than the reat of the people of LatJuiQ, Proatl.
I that, if every remark of mine did not eiactly adapt itself to tbe inclinations of you all, and to that peculiar style of speak- ing which each of you moat admired, you might be sensible that I described that character of eloquence of which I myself most approved.
" Those matters, therefore, of which Antonius has treated 80 explicitly, are to be endowed with action and elocution by the orator in some certain manner. What manner of elocu- tion can be better (for I will consider action l)y-and-by) than that of apeafcing in pure Latin, with perspicuity, with grace- fulness, and with aptitude and congruity to tbe subject in question? Of the two which I mentioned firat, purity and clearness of language, I do not suppose that any account is expected from me; for we do not attempt to teach him to be an orator who cannot speak; nor can wo hope that he who cannot speak grammatical Latin will speak elegantly; nor that he who cannot speak what we can tmderstand, will ever speak anything for us to admire. Let us, therefore, omit tjiese matters, which are eaay of attainment, though necessary in practice; for the one is taught in school-learning and the rudiments of children; the other ^ is cultivated for this reason, that what every person sayamay be understood, — a qualifiosr tion which we perceive indeed to be Eeoossary, yet that none can be held in less estimation.^ But all elegance of lan- guage, though it receive a polish from the science of grammar, is yet augmented by the reading of orators and poets; for those ancients, who could not then adorn what they expressed, bad almost all a kind of nobleness of diction; and those ■who are accustomed to their style cannot eicpress themselves otherwise than in pure Latin, even though they desire to do BO. Yet we must not make use of such of their words as our modem mode of speaking does not admit, unless sometimes for the sake of ornament, and but sparingly, as I shall e;i^. plain; but he who is studious and much conversant witi ancient writers, will make such use of common expressions a always to adopt the most eligible.
XI. " In order to speak pure Latin, we must take o only to use words with which nobody can justly fiud fault, ' PBrspicuity.
' This aeeme to bo p^^aUmg rather too Ughtly of the perBpiouity, which QuintUinn proaaunces the cluEf i;i fc: ( THE CBilUCTBK OF THE ORAIOB.
and preserve the construction by proper caaeH, and tenses, and genders, and numbers, ao tbat there may be nothing con- fused, or incongruous, or preposterous; but also that the tongue, and the breath, and the tone of the voice ceme under proper regulation. I would not have letters sounded with too much affectation, or uttered imperfectly through negli- gence; I would not have the words dropped out without eipression or spirit; I would not have them puffed and, as it were, panted forth, with a difficulty of breathing; for I do not as yet apeak of those things relating to the voice which belong to oratorical delivery, but merely of that which seems to me to concern pronunciation. For there are certain fault* which every one is desirous to avoid, as a too delicate and eCTeminate tone of voice, or one that is extravagantly harsh and grating. There is also a fault which some industriously strive to attain; a rustic attd rough pronunciation is agree- able to some, that their language, if it has that tone, may seem to pai-take more of antiquity; as Lucius Cotta, an ac- j quaintonce of yours, Catulus, appears to me to take a delight in the taroadneaa of his speech and the rough sound of bis Toiae, and thinks that what he says will savour of the antique if it certainly savour of rusticity. But your harmony and sweetness delight mo; I do not refer to the harmony of your words, which is a principal point, but cue which method in- troduces, learning teaches, practice in reading and speaking confirms; b«t I mean the mere sweetnese of pronunciation, which, as among the Greeks it was peculiar to the Athenians, so in the Latin tongue is chiefly remarkable in this city. At Athens, learning among the Athenians themselves has long been entirely neglected; there remains in that city only the seat of the studies which the citizens do not cultivate, but which foreigners enjoy, being captivated in a manner with the very name and authority of the place; yet any illiterate Athenian will easily surpass the most learned Asiatics,^ not in his language, but in sweetness of tone, not so much in speak- ing well as in speaking agreeably. Our citizens^ pay le«a attention to letters than the people of Latium, yet among all the people that you know in the city, who have the least ' The Asiatic QrockH.
' Tboxe who use bom at Home nppl; theiaHilTes to the liberal ' BcieDces lesa than the rest of the people of Latinm. Prouil.
I I '^ 346 DE ORATOKE; OB, [l proceed to other matters which may prove still more UDsatis- &ctory." ' XIV. " You aee," said Antonius, " how inattentive we are, and bow unwillingly wo listen to you,^ nhen we might be in- duced (T judge from myself) to neglect all other concerns to SdUow you and give you our attention; so elegant are your remarlu upou unpleasiug, bo copioua upon barren, so new upon common flubjecta."
" Those two parts indeed, Antonius," continued Crassos, " which I have just run over, or rather have almost passed by, tiiat of speaking in pure Latin, and with perspicuity, were taaj to treat; those which remain are importsiut, intricate, diversified, weighty, on which depends all the admimtion bestowed upon ability and all the praise given to eloquence; for nobody ever admired aa orator for merely spcakiag good lAtinj if he speaks otherwise, Ihey ridicule him; and not only do not think lum an orator, but not even a man. Nor Las any one ever extolled a. speaker for merely spe&king in such a maimer that those who were present understood what he said; though every one has despised hitn who wag not able to do so. Whom then do men regard with awe? What Bpeaker do they behold with astonishment 1 At whom do tiiey utter exclamations! Whom do they consider aa a deity, if I may use the expression, amongst mortalsl Him who speaks distinctly, explicitly, copiously, and luminously, both aa to matter and wards; who produces in his language a sort of rhythm and harmooy; who speaks, as I caU it,^ace- fidljf. Those also who treat their subject as the importanoe of things and persons requires, are to be commended far that peculiar kind of merit, which I term aptitude and congrviity.
Antonius said that ho bad aeTer seen any who spoke in such a manner, and oliserved that to such only was to be attri- buted the distinguishing title of eloquence. On my authority, therefore, deride aud despise all those who imagine that irom the precepts of such as are now called rhetoricians they have gained all tfie powers of oratory, and have not yet been able to understand what character they hold, or what th«^ profess; for indeed, by an orator everything that relates to human life, since that is the field on which his abilities are displayed, and is the subject for his eloquence, should be ez- I ' Odiaiivra, AaditisrUiia odioiiom. Suhutc ' IroukaJlf.
ined, heard, read, diBcussed, handled, and consideredj s eloquence is one of the most emment virtues; and though all the Tirtuea are iu their nature equal nnd alike, yet one species ia more beautiful and noble than another; as is this power, which, oomprehendiDg a knowledge of things, espreBsea the tlioughtB and purposes of the mind in such a manner, that it can impel the audience whithersoever it isoUnes its force; and, the greater is its influence, the more necessary it ia that it should fae united with probity and eminent judgmont; for if we bestow the feculty of eloqueaeo upon persons destitute of these virtnes, we shall not make them orators, but give arms to madmen.
XV. " This faculty, I say, of thinking and speaking, this power of eloquence, the ancient Greeks donomiaated wisdom. Hence the Lycurgi, the Pittaci, the Solons; and, compared with them, our Coruncanii, Fabricii, Catos, and Scipios, were perhaps not so learned, but were certainly of a like foroe and inclination of mind. Others, of equal ability, but of dissimilar affection towards the pursuits of life, preferred ease and tetirement, as Pythagoras, Democritus, Anaxagoros, and transferred their attention entirely from ciyil polity to the contec^plation of nature; a mods of life which, on account of its tranquillity, and the pleasure derived from science, than which nothing is more delightful to mankind, attracted a greater number than was of adyautage to public concerns. Accordingly, as men of the most excellent natural talents gave themselves up to that study, in the enjoyment of the greatest abundance of free and unoccupied time, so men of the greatest learning, blessed with excess of leisure and fer- tility of thought, imagined it their duty to make more things than were really necessary the objects of their attention, investigation, and inquiry. That ancient leaniing, indeed, appeara to have been at the same time the preceptress of living rightly and of speaking well; nor were there separate masters for those subjects, but the same teachers formed the morals and the language; as Phosnix in Homer, who says that he was appointed a companion in war to the young Achilles by his lather Peleus, to make him an orator iu words, and a hero in deeds. But as meu accustomed to constant and daily employment, when they are hindered from their occupation by the weather, betake themselves to play at ball, or dice, or draughts, or even invent soms new game of their own to amuBe their leisure; bo thej, being either eicladed from public employiaents, as ft^>m biigiiiess, by the state of the times, or being idle from inclination, gave them- selves up nhollj, some to the poets, some to the geometer^ some to music; others eves, as the logicians, fbund out a new Etudf and exercise for themselvea, and consumed their whole time and lives in those arts which have been discovered to form the minds of youth to learning and to virtue.
XVI. " But, beoauao there were some, and those not a few, who either were eminent in public affaira, through their two- fold excellence ta acting and speaking, escellences which are indeed inseparable, as Themistoclea, Pericles, Theramenes; or who, though they were not employed themselves in public afiaira, were teachers of others in that science, as Gorgias, Thrasymachua, Isoerates; there appeared others who, being themselves men of abundant learning and ingenuity, but averse to political business and employments, derided and despised the exercise of oratory; at the head of which party was Socrates. He, who, by the testimony of all the learned, and the judgment of all Greece, was the first of ail men as well in wisdom and penetration, grace and refinement, as in elo- quence, variety, and copiousness of language on nhatever subject he took in hand, deprived of their common name those who handled, treated, and gave instruction iii those matters which are the objects of our present inquiry, when they were previously comprised under one appellation; as aQ Icnowledge ia the best arts and sciences, and all exercise in them, was denominated philosopki/; and he separated in, his discasaions the ability of thinking wisely, and speaking grace- fully, though they are naturally united; Socrates, I eay, whose great genius and varied conversation Plato has in his Dialogues con^gned to immortality, he himself having left us nothing in writing. Hence arose that divorce as it ■were of the tongue from the heart, a division certiunly absurd, useless, and reprehensible, that one class of persons should teach us to think, and another to speak, rightly: for, as many reasoners had their origin almost from Socrates, and as they caught up some one thing, some another, from his disputations, which were various, diversified, and difftisTB I i^n £ll subjects, many sects as it were became propagate'^ r XVII.] ON THE CHARACTER OF THE ORATOR.
diBsentiDg oue from another, and much divided and very dis- similar in opiniouB, though all the philosophera wished to be called, and thought that they were, Sooratica.
XVII. " First from Plato himself came Aristotle and Xenocrates; the one of whom founded the Peripatetic sect; the otbor the Academy; and from Antisthenes, who was chiefly delighted with the patience and endurance recom- mended in the discourses of Socrates, sprung first the Cynics, afterwards the Stoics, Nest, from Aristippus, for whom the dissertations on pleasure had greater charms, emanated the Cyrenaic philosophy, which he and his followers maintained in its simplicity; those who in our days measure all things by t^ standard of pleasure, while they act more modestly ia thia^iarticiilar, neither satisfy that dignity which they are far from rejecting, nor adhere to that pleasure which they are inclined to embrace. There were also other sects of phi- losophers, who almost all in general called theniselves the followers of Socrates; as those of the Eretrians, Herilhans, Megarians, aud Pyrrhonians; but tbese have long since been, overthrown and extinguished by the superior arguments of the others. Of those which remain, that philosophy which has undertaken the patronage of pleasure, however true it may appear to some, is very nnauitahle for that personage of whom we are forming a conception, aud whom we would have to be of authority in public councils, a leader in the administration of government, a consummate master of thought and eloquence, as well in the sena.te, aa in popular assemblies, and in public causes. Yet no injury shall be done to that phi- losophy by us; for it shall not he repelled from the mark at which it wishes to aim, but shall repose quietly in its gardens, where it wishes, and where, reclining st^ly and delicately, it calls ua away from the rostra, from the courts of justice, and from the senate, aud perhaps wisely, especially in such times of' tbo republic as tbese. But my present inquiry is not which philosophy is the nearest to truth, but which is the beat suited to the orator. Let us therefore dismiss those of this sect without any contumely; for they are well-meaning, and, as they seem so to themselves, happy; let us only admonish them to keep that maxim of theirs, though it be eminently true, secret however as a mystery, I mean their denial that it is the part of a wise man to concern himself with publio affairs; for if-they sliould convince lis, and every man of eminent ability, of the truth of that maxiia, tbey will be unablo to remain, as they especially desire, in tranquillity, XVin. "The Stoics, too, whom I byuo meauB disapprove, I notwithstanding dismiaa; nor am I afraid that they will be angry, aa they are proof againgt anger; and I feel grateful to them on this account, ttiixt they alone, of all the pbiloso- phera. have declared eloquence to be virtue and wiBdom, But there are two peculiaritiea in their doctrine, which are quite unauitable to that orator whom we arc forming; one, that t^ey pronounce all who are not wise, to be slaves, robbers, encmiea, and madmen, and yet do not admit that any person is wise; (bnt it would be very abBurd to tru^the interests of an assembly of the people, or of the senaff, ot any other body of men, to one to whom none of those present would appear to be in their senseB, none to be citizens, none to bo freemen;) the other, that they have a manner of speaking which is perhaps Eubtle, and certainly acute, but for an orator, dry, strange, uusuited to the ear of the popu- lace, obBoure, barren, jejune, and altc^ether of that species which a speaker cannot use to a multitude. Other citizen^ or rather all other people, have veiy different notions of good and evil from the Stoics; then- estimation of honour and ignominy, rewards and punishments, it entirely different; whether justly or otherwisa, is notiiing to the present occa- Hon; but if we should adopt their notions, we ahould never be able to expedite any business by speaking. The remaining sects are the Peripatetic and the Academic; though of the Academics, notwithstanding there is but one name, there are two distinct' systems of opinion; for Spendppus, Plato's Bister's son, and Xenocrates, who had been a hearer of Plato, and Polemo, who had been a hearer of Xenocratos, and Crantor, differed in no great degree from Aristotle, who had also been a hearer of Plato; in copiousness and variety of diction, however, they were perhaps unequal to him. Aice- mlas, who had been a hearer of Polemo, was the first who eagerly embmced the doctrine drawn from the various writings of Plato and the discourses of Socrates, that ' there is nothing certain to be known, either by the senses or the nnderatanding;' he is reported to have adopted an eminently graoefiil maimer of speaking, to have rejected all judgment' ■ UCTEB OS THE ORATOK.
of the mind and the senses, and to have eBtablished first tha practice (though it was indeed greatly adopted by Socrates) of not declaring what he himself thought, but of disputing against whatever any other person said that he thought. Hence the Netv Academy deriTed its origin, in which Car- neades distiu^ahed himself by a quickness of wit, that was in a manner divine, and n peculiar force of. eloquence. I knew many at Athens who had been hearers of this philo- sopher, but I can refer for his ciiaracter to two persons of undoubted authority, my father-in-law Scfevola, who heard him when a youth at Rome, and Quintus Metellus, the son of Lucius, my intimate friend, a man of high dignity, who Informed me that in the early part of his life at Athens, he attended for many'days the lectures of this celebrated phi- losopher, then almost broken with age.^ XIX. " But the streams of learning have flowed from the common Bummit of science,^ Uke rivera from the Apennines, in difierent directions, so that the philoeophers have passed, OS it were, into the Upper or Ionian sea, a Greek sea, abound- ing with harbours, but the orators have &,llen into the Lower or Tuscan, a barbarian bbb, infested with rocks and dasgerG, in which even Ulysses himself had mistaken his course. If, therefore, wc are content with such a degree of eloquence, and such an orator as has the common discretion to know that yon ought either to deny the charge which is brought against you, or, if you cannot do that, to show that what he who w accused has committed, was cither done juatiflably, or through the fault or wrong of some other person, or that it is agreeable to law, or at least not contraiy to any law, or that it was done without design, or from necessity; or that it does not merit the term given it in the accusation; or that the pleading is not conducted as it ought to have been of might have been; and if you think it sufficient to have learned the rules which the writers on rhetoric have delivered, which however Antonius has set forth with much more grace and fiilneas than they are treated by them; if, I say, you ore ' QiH ilhtnt a K adoleKente AthenU jam affectnm seneclitte muflos diet aaditwn eue dicebal. " Who said that he hiid been beard by him when a yoang man for many daj» at Athens (where ha was) now affected with old ago," ■ £1 commiiJii aapieaiiamjaga. I road sapienlite with Ellecdt. It ia, a eompariaon, as be obaerveB, of Socca.tes to a hill.
I DB obatorb; OB, [b.iii.