while another of aquiW opposite character ia preferred bj ' those who are better qualified to give their judgnoeutl" " Ton I haveBtartoda very pertinent question," said I; "but, perhaps the public at lar^e wiM not approve my answer to it." "And what coBcera need that give you," replied Atticus, " if it meets the approbation of Brutus J" "Very true," eaidl; "for I had rather my lentimente on the quatificationa of an orator should please you and Brutus, than all the world besides; but as to mj eloquence, I should wish VUs to please every one. For he who speaks in such a manner as to please the people, must inevitably receive the approbation of the learned. As to the truth and propriety of what I hear, I am indeed to judge of this for rayaelf, as well aa I am able; but the general merit of an orator must and will be decided by the effects which his eloquence produces. For (in my opiniou at least) there are three things which an orator should be able to effect; viz. to inform his hearers, to please them, and to move their paiiioni. By what qualities in the speaker each of these effects may be produced, or by what deficiencies they are either lost, or but imperfectly performed, is an inquiiy which none but an artist can resolve; but whether an audience is really so affected by an orator as shall best answer his pur- poee, m\ist bo left to their own feelings, and the decisioa of the public. The learned therefore, and the people at large, have never disngreed about who was a good orator, and who was otherwise.
L. " For do you suppoae, that while the speakers Sibove- mentioned were in being, they bod not the same degree of reputation among the learned as among the populace! I f you had inquired of one of the latter, who mat the most eloquent man in the city, be might have hesitated whether to say ATiionim or Cnumt; or this man, perhaps, would have men' tioned the one, and that the other. But would any one have given the preference to PhUippus. though otherwise a smooth, ft sensible, and a facetious speaker? — that i^Aiiiji/iu:* whom we, who form our judgment upon these matters by rulee of ort, have decided to have been the next in merit { Nobody would, I am certain. For it ia the invariable prerogative of SJa accomplished omtor, to be reckoned such in the opinion of tl\o )M>ople. Though Antigenidas, therefore, the mnsicitu, might w\y to hie aoholar, who was but coldly received by V publio, rhf OR, to pltMe mm tMd dte Jlutei; I shall s ceived by thi^H iahaUsaft^ REiiiiiKa ON BMncEST OHAToss. i55 my friend BrutuSj when he mounts the roeti-a, as ha freqiiently does, Flat/ to me and the people; that those who hear him may be senxible of tho effect of hia eloquence, while I can likewise amuse myself with temarking the causes which pro- duce it. When a citizen heoi-s au able orator, he readily credits what is said; bo imaginea everytbiug to be ti-ue, he believes and relishes the force of it; and, in short, the per- suaaive laugu^e of the speaker wins his absolute, bis hearty assent. You, who are possessed of a critiCBl knowledge of the art, what more will you req^uire! The listening multitude ia charmed and captivated by the force of hia eloquence, and feels a pleasure which ia not to be reaieted. What here can you find to censure ) The whole audience ia either fluahed with joy, or overwhelmed with grief; it smiles or weepa, it loves or hates, it ecoms or envies, and, in short, is alternately seized with the Yarious emotions of pity, shame, remorse, leaentment, wonder, hope, and fear, according as it is influenced by tbe language, the aentimeata, and the action of the speaker. In this case, what necesaity is tbere to await the sanction of a critic J For hare, whatever ia approved by the feelings of the people, must be equally so by men of taste and erudition; and, in this insbtnce of public deoisiou, there ena be no disagreement between the opinion of the vulgar, and that of the learned. For though many good speakers have appeared in every species of oratory, which of them who was tboiigbt to excel the rest in the judgment of the populace, waa not approved as such by every man of learning! or which of our anoestora, when the choice of a pleader waa left to hia own option, did not immediately fix it either upon Craasus or Antoniua? There were certainly many others to be had; but though any person might have hesitated to which of the above two he should give the pre- ference, there was nobody, I believe, who would have made choice of a third. And in the time of my youth, when Cotta and Hortenaius were in such high reputation, who, that had liberty to choose for himself, wonl d have employed any other 1" LI. " But what occasion ia there," said Brutus, " to quote the esaniplo of other speakers to support your assertion ) have we not seen what has always been tbe wish of the de- fendant, and what the judgment of Hortensius, concerning yourself? for whenever the latter ehai'ed a cause with you, (and I was often present on those occasions,) the peroration.
1 I BBOTUS; oa, which requires tlio greatest eiertioTi of the poncra of e qtienoe, was constantly left to you," " It was," said I; "a Hortonsiua (induced, I suppose, by the warmth of hia frien ship] EiliTayB resigned the post of honour to me. But, ns mjgclf, what rank I hold in the opinion of the people I ai unable to determine; as to others, however, I tnaj saH^ assert, that such of them as were reckoned most cloqoent fl the judgment of the vulgar, were equally high in the edf mation of the teamed. For even. Demosthenes himself cool not have said what is related of Antimachus, a poet of C who, when he was rehearsing to an audience, assembled fi tho purpose, that voluminous piece of his which you a acquainted with, and was deserted by all his hearers exc Plato, in the midst of his performance, cried out, / diall p eeed ttotmt/atandinff; far Plata alone w of n to me tfutfi many Ihoutand*. The remark was very just For an abstruse poem, such as hia, only requires the approbatiim of the judicious few; but a diecourse intended for the peo^ds should be perfectly suited to their tasta. If DemoGthei ' therefore, after being deserted by the rest of his audien had oven Plato left to hear him, and n^ answer for it, he could not have uttered another syllable. N<|B could you yourself, my Brutus, if the whole assembly v leave you, as it once did Curio )" " To open my whole n to you," replied he, " I must confess that even in such c aa liill under the cognisance of a few select judges, and not d the people at large, if I were to be deserted by the csaoi crowd who came to hear the trial, I should not be iibls % proceed." " The case, then, is plainly this," said I: ' jiute, which will not return its proper sound when it is applic to tho lips, would be laid aside by the musician as tis^eri. so, the ears of the people are the instrument upon which ■ orator is to play; and if these refuse to admit the breath a bestows upon them, or if the hearer, like a restive horse. i not obey the spur, the speaker must cease to eiert tin any further.
LII, " There is, however, this exception to be made; people sometimes give their approbation Xa an orator wh( does not deserve it. But even here they approve what t have had no opportunity of comparing with something better jl i, for instance, when they are pleased with an indifferent, otjjk 9, a bad speaker. His abilities satis^ their expectation |K BEMAItKS OK SMISKST ORATORB. 4^7 they have seen nothing preferahle; and, therefore, the merit of the day, whatever it may happen to he, meets thoir full applause. For even a middling orator, if he is possessed of any degree of eloquence, will always captivate the ear; and the order and beauty of a. good discourBe has an astonishing effect upon the human mind. Accordingly, what common hearer who waa present when Quintus Scajvola pleaded for JIucius Coponius, in the oauao above-mentioned, would have wished for, or indeed thought it possible to iind any- thing which was more correct, more elegant, or more com- plete i When he attempted to prove, that, as Muoius Curiua was left heir to the estate only in case of the death of bis futm-e ward before he came of age, he could not possibly be a legal heir, when the expected ward waa never bom; what did he leave unsaid of the scrupiilous regard which should he paid to the literal meaning of every testament? what of the accuracy sud preciseuess of the old and established forms of law 1 and how carefully did he specify the manner in which the will would have been expressed, if it had intended that Curins should be the heir in case of a total default of issue 1 in what a masterly manner did he represent the ill consequences to the public, if the letter of a will should be dis- regarded, its intention decided by arbitrary conjectures, ana the written bequests of plain illiterate men left to the artfu. interpretation of a pleader 1 how often did he urge the autho- rity of his father, who had always been an advoaite for a strict adherence to the letter of a testament 1 and with what emphasis did he enlarge upon the necessity of supporting the common forms of law? All which particulars he discussed not only with great art and ingenuity; but in such a ueat, such a close, aad, I may add, in so florid and so elegant a style, that there was not a single person among the common part of the audience, who could expect anything more com- plete, or even think it possible to exist.
LIII. " But when Crassus, who spoke ou the opposite ude, began with the story of a notable youth, who, having found an oar-niche of a boat as he was rambling along the shore, took it into his head that he would build a boat to it; and when he applied the tale to Scwvola, who, from the oar-nicke of an argument [which he had deduced from certaiu imagi- nary ill consequences to the public], represented the decision f a private will to bo a matter of such importance aa t I deserve the attention of tho Centumviri; when Crussu*, I gi ill the beginning of his discourse, hod thus taken off the o of the strongest plea of his anti^nist, he entertained 1 hearers with many other turns of a similar kind; and, in a short time, changed the serious apprehensions of all who were present into open mirth and good-humour; which is one of those three effeotB which I have just observed an orator should ht able to produce. Ho then proceeded to retnark that it was evidently the intention and the will of the testator, that in case, either by death, or default of issue, there should happen to bo no eon to fail to his charge, the inheritance should devolve to Curius; that most people iu a similar case would BipresB themselves iu the same manner, and that it would certainly stand good in law, and always had. By these, and many other obBervations of the same kind, he gained the assent of his hearers; which ia another of the three duties of tm orator. Lastly, he supported, at all events, the true mean- ing and spirit of a will, against the literal construction; justly observing, that there would be an endless cavilling about words, not only in wills, but in all other l^nl deeds, if the real intention of the party were to be disregarded; and hbting very smartly, that his friend SciBTola had assumed a most unwarrantable degree of importance, if no person must after- wards presume to indite a l^aoy, but in the musty form which ho himself might please to preacrihe. Aa he enlarged on each of these arguments with great force and propriety, supported them by a number of precedents, exhibited them in a variety of views, and enlivened them with many ocoa- aonal turns of wit and pleasantry, he gained so much applause, and gave such gener^ satisfaction, that it was scarcely remem- bered that anything had heen said on the contraiy side of tie questbn. This waa the third, and the most important duty we assigned to an orator. Here, if one of the people were to bo judge, the same person who had heard the first speaker with a. degree of admiration, would, on hearing the second, despise himself for liis former want of judgment; whereas a man of taste and erudition, on heai'iug Scffivolo, would have observed that he was really master of a rich and ornamental style; but if, on comparing the manner in which each of them concluded his cause, it was to be inquired which of ti» two WHS the best orator, tlie decision of the man would not have differed from that of the Tulgar.
LIV. " What advantage, then, it will be said, has the skilful critic over tha illiterate hearer? A great aud very important advantage; if it is indeed a matter of any conse- quence, to be able to discover by what means that which is the true and real end of speaking, is either obtained or lost. He has likewise this additional Buperiority, that when two or more orators, as has frequently happened, have shared the applauses of the public, he can judge, on a careful observation erf the principal merits of each, what is the moat perfect cha- racter of eloquence; since whatever does not meet the appro- bation of the people, must be equally condemned by a more intelligent hearer. For as it is easily understood by the Bound of a harp, whether the strings are skilfully touched; so it may likewise bo discovered from the manner in which the passions of an audience are affected, how far the speaker is able to command them. A man, therefore, who is a real connoissem" in the art, can sometiaies by a. single glance, as he passes through the fonim, Bjnd without stopping to listen attentively to what is said, form a tolerahle judgment of the ability of the speaker. When he observes any of the bench either yawning, or speaking to the person who is nest to him, or looking carelessly about him, or sending to inquire the time of day, or teazing the quaisitor to dismiss the court; he concludes very naturally that the cause upon trial is not pleaded by an orator who understands how to apply tha powers of language to the passions of the judges, as a skilful musician applies his fingers to the harp. On the other hand, if, as he passes by, he beholds the judges looking attentiTely before them, as if they were either receiving some material information, or visibly approved ivhat they had already heard; if he sees them listening to the voice of the pleader with a kind of ecstasy, like a fond bird to some melodious tune; and, above all, if he discovers in their looks any strong indi- eations of pity, abhorrence, or any other emotion of the mind; though he should not he near enough to hear a single word, he immediately discovers that the cause is managed by a real orator, who is either performing, or has already played his part to good purpose."
LV. After I had concluded these digressive remark^ my two friends were kind enough to signify their approbation, and I resumed my subject. " As this digression," said I, " took its rise from Cotta and Sulpicins, whom I mentioned as the I DauTus; on, two most approved orators of the age they lived ii first return to i/iem. and aftertrards notice the rest i proper order, according to the plan we begau upon. I hav9 ulretidy observed that there are two clasEcs of good oratora (for we have no concern with any otherB), of which the former are distinguished by the simple neatneaii and brevity of their language, and the latter by their copious dignity and eleva- tion; but although the preference must always be given to that which is great and striking; yet, in speakers of real merit, whatever is most perfect of the kind, is justly entitled to our commendation. It must, however, be observed, that the close and simple orator should be careful not to sink into a dryness and poverty of eipresaion; while, oa the other hand, the copious and more stately speaker should be equally on his guard against a swelling and empty parade of words. To begin with Cotta, he had a ready, quick invention, and spoke correctly and freely; and aa he very prudently avoided every forcible exertion of his voice, on account of the weak- ness of his lungs, so his language was equally adapted to the delicacy of his constitution. There was nothing in his style hut what wns neat, compact, and healthy; and (what may justly be considered as his greatest excellence) though he was scarcely able, and therefore never attempted to force the paBsions of the judges by a strong and spirited elocution, yet ho managed them so artfully, that the gentle emotions he luised in them, answered exactly the same purpose, and {ad- duced the same effect, as the violent ones which were excited liy Sulpicius. For Sulpicius was really the most striking, and, if I may be allowed the expression, the most tragical orator I ever hoard: his voice was strong and sonorous, and yet sweet and flowing; his gesture and his deportment were gtncefol and oruamental, but in such a style as to appear to have been formed for the forum, and not for the stage; and his language though rapid and voluble, wns neither loose nor exuberant He was a professed imitator of Crassus, while Cotta chose Antonius for his model; but the latter wanted the force of AntoniuB, and the former the agreeable humour of Craasus.". " How extremely difficult, then," said Brutus, " must % tbe ai't of speaking, when such consummate orators o were each of them destitute of one of its principal beautiesfl liVI. "We may likewise observe," said I, "in tbe pre instance, that two oratots may have the highest degree e OH BHENSHT ORATOBS.
merit, who are totally unlike each other; for none could be more bo than Cotta and Sulpiciua, and yet both of them were far Buperior to any of their contemporaries. It is therefore the business of every intelligent master to notice what is the natural bent of his pupil's capacity; and taking that for his guide, to imitate the conduct of Isocrates with his two scho- lars Theopompus and Ephorus, who, after remarking the lively genius of the former, and the mild and timid boshfulness of the latter, is reported to have said, that he applied a spur to the one, and a curb to the other. The orations now extant, which bear the name of Sulpioiiift, are supposed to have been written after his decease by my contemporary Publius Ca- nutius, a man indeed of inferior rank, but who, in my mind, hod a great command of language. But we have not a single speech of Sulpiciua that was really his own; for I have often heard him say, that he neither had, nor ever could commit anything of the kind to writing. And as to Cotta's speech in defence of himself, called a vindication of the Varian law, it was composed, at his own request, by Lucius jEHub. This iEliua was a man of merit, and a very worthy Eoman knight, who was thoroughly veraed in -Greek and Roman literature.
He had likewise a critical knowledge of the antiquities of his country, both aa to the date aud particulars of every new improvement, and every memorable transaction, and was perfectly well read in the ancient writers; a branch of learning in which he was succeeded by our friend Varro, a man of genius, and of the most eitensive erudition, who after- wards enlarged the plan by many valuable collections of his own, and gave a much ftiller and more elegant system of it to the public. For ^lius himself chose to assume the character of a Stoic, and neither aimed to be, nor ever was an orator; but he composed several orations for other people to pro- nounce; as, for Quintus MeteUus, Fabius Qnintus Ctepio, and Quintus Pompeius Rufns; though the latter composed those speeches himself which he spoke in his own defence, but not without tlie assistance of jEUub. For I myself was present at the writing of them, in the younger part of my life, when I used to attend jElius for the benefit of his instructions. But I am surprised that Cotta, who was really an excellent orator, imdfiman of good le&ming, should be willing that the trifling Bpeechea of jClius should he published to the world as hu. LVII. " To the two above-mentionedj no third person of e age vas esteemed an equal; PompotiiaB, howevaq «sE a speaker much to my taste; or, at least, I imve « little tsLult to find with him. But there was no employmeiit* fot any in capital causes, eiceptiog for those I have alreai^ mentioned; because Antonias, vho was always courted on these occasions, was Teiy ready to give his service - and CntsBOB, though not so compilable, gcneraUy consented, on any pressing soUcitation, to give hit. Those who had not interest enough to engage either of these, commonly applied to Phiiippus or Casar; but when Cotta and Sulpiciua were st liberty, they generally had the preference; so that all the causes in which any honour was to be acquired, were pleaded by these six orators. We may add, that trials were not so frequent then as they are at present; neither did people employ, as they do now, several pleaders on the same ude of the question; a practice which is attended with many dis- advantages. For hereby we are often obliged to speak in reply to those whom we had not an opportunity of liearingj in which case, what has been allegeil on the opposite side, is often represented to us either falsely or imperfectly; and besides, it is a very material circunastance, that I myadf should be present to eoo with what countenance my antagonist Euppoi-Ls bis allegations, and, still more so, to observe the effect of every part of bis diHCourse upon the aodience; And as every defence shoidd be conducted upon one uniform plan, nothing can be more improperly contrived, than to recommence it by assigning the peroration, or patbetical part of it, to a second advocate. For eveiy cause can have bnt one natural introduction and conclusion; and all the othra parts of it, like the members of an animal body, will best retain their proper strength and beauty, when they are regu- larly disposed and connected. We may add, that, as it is very difficult in a single oration of any length, to avoid saying something which does not comport with the rest of it so well as it ought to do, how much more difScult must it be to COU' trive that nothing shall be said, which does not tally exactly with the speech of another person who has spoken before yoal> But as it certainly requires more labour to plead a who' cause, than only a part of it, and as many advantageous co neaions are formed by assisting in a suit in which BeTeR_^ persons are interested, the custom, however preposterous iM itself, bos been readily adopted.
KEitABES OK BUIKENT ORATORS, 463