490 BHUTua; ob, in great numbere; though I inwBt frankly own, that I neither could imitate them, if I would, nor indeed rvmUd, if 1 coWd; like a man who would neither choose his wine'Bo new as to hftva been tunned off ia the preceding vintage, nor bo eio»- aiTely old as to date its age from the congnlahip of Opimiu or Anicius. ' The latter,' you will say, 'bears the highest price.' Veij probably; but when it haa too much age, it has lot that delicious flavour which pleasea the palate, aud, in mj opinion, ia scarcely tolerable. ' Would you. choose, then, when you have a mind to r^ale youiself, to apply to a fresh, Qnripened cask %' By no means; but stiU there ia a cemio age, when good wino arriveB at its utmost perfection. In the some manner, I would recommend ueitlier a raw, unmellowed style, which (if I may ao eipreaa myself) has been newly dmwD off from the vat; nor the rough and antiquated lan- guage of the grave and manly Thucydides, For even ht, if he had lived a few yeara later, would have acquired a mach softer and mellower tnm of expression.
" ' LgtJW; then^ imitate Demoathenea.' LXXXIV, Good Godal to what else'doT direct alTmy endeavours, and my wishes! But it is, perhaps, my misfortune not to sucoetd. These AUiciteri, however, acquire with ease the paltry cha- racter they aim at; not once recollecting that it is not only recorded in history, but must have been the natural coo- Bequence of his superior fame, that when Demoathenea was to speak in pubUc, all Greece flocked in crowda to hear him. But when our Attia orators venture to speak, they are sently deserted, not only by the little throng around t who have ao interest in the dispute, (which alone is a morti- \ fyiogproof of their insignificance,) but even by their a«80C and fellow-advocates. If to apeak, therefore, in a dry tad I lifeless manner, ia the true criterion of Atticism, they a heartily welcome to enjoy the credit of it; but if they wb to put their abilities to the trial, let them attend the Comitia, 1 or a judicial process of real importance. The open forom demands a fuller and more elevated tone; and he is tha orator for me, who ia so uuiversaliy admired, that when he is to plead an intereating caase, all the benchea are filled beforehand, the tribunal crowded, the clerks and notarial J busy in adjustmg their seats, the populace througing abont | the rostra, and the jndgo brisk and vi^ant; Ae, who has I «noh a commanding air, that when he rises up to speak, tha ' REMAKES ON SHDiEHT ORATOES.
^ole aiidiooco is huebed into a profound silence, which is soon interrupted by their repeated plaudits and acolamatioua, or by those successive bursts of laughter, orTiolent transports of passion, which he knows how to escite at his pleasure j so that even a distant observer, though unacquainted with the subject he is speaking upon, can easily discover that hia bearers are pleased with him, and that a Rosdui is perfoim- ing his part on the sb^o. Whoever has the happiness to ba thus followed and applauded, is, beyond dispute, au Attio Hpoaker; for such was Pericles, such wna Hyperides, and ^Bchiues, and such, in the most eminent degree, was the great Demosthenes! If, indeed, these connoisseurs, who have BO much dislike to everything bold and ornamental, only mean to say that an accurate, a judicious, and a neat and eompact, but nnembellished style, is really an Attic one, they are not mistakeu. For in an. art of such wonder^l extent and variety as that of speaking, even this subtile and confined chckracter jaaj claim a place; so that the conclusion will be, that it is very possible to speak in the Attic taste without deserving the name of an orator; hut that aU, in general, who are truly eloquent, are likewise Attic speakers.
" It is tirae, however, to return to Hortensiua." LXSXT "Indeed, I think so," cried Brutus; "though I most acknow- ledge that this long digression of yours has entertained me TSry agreeably." " But I made some remarks," said Atticns^ " which I was several times inclined to mention; only I was loth to interrupt you. As your discourse, however, seems to be drawing towards an end, I think I may venture to state them." " By all means," replied I. " I readily grant, then," said he, " that there is something very humorous and elegant in that continued irony, which Socrates employs to so much advantage in the dialogues of Plato, Xenophon, and jEschines. For when a dispute commences on the nature of wisdom, he professes, with a great deal of humour and ingenuity, to have no pretensions to it himself; while, with a kind of concealed raillery, ho ascribes the highest degree of it to those who had the arrt^ance to lay an open claim to it. Thus, in Plato, he extols Protagoras, Hippias, Prodicus, Gorgiaa and several others, to the skies; but represents himself as qnite ignorant. This in him, was pecuharly becoming; nor can I agree with Epicunis, who thinks it censurable. But in a professed history, {fbr such, in feet, is the account you have been giving OH of the Eomaa orators,) I Bhall leave yoa to judge, whetha' an application of the irony ia not equally reprehensible, ai it would bo in giving judicial evidence." " Pray, wLat m you driving at)" said I; "for 1 cannot comprehend yoa." " I mean," replied he, " in the Srst place, that the commoi- dations which you have bestowed upon some of our oratora, have a teadeocy to mialead the opinion of those who an unacquainted with their true characters. There were like- wise several parts of your account, at which I could scarcelj forbear laughing; as, for instance, when you compared old Cato to Lysiaa. He was, indeed, a great, and a very eita- ordiuary man. Nobody, I believe, will say to the contraty. But shall we call him an orator T Shall we pronounce bim the rival of Lysiaa. who was tho most finished character of tbe kind! If we meau to jest, this comparison of youra would form a pretty irony; but if we are talking in real oamat, we should pay the same Borupulous regard to truth, as if m were giving evidence upon oath, As a citizen, a senator, a general, and, in short, a man who was distinguished by hia prudence, his activity, and every other virtue, your fitvourite Cato has my highest approbation. I can likewise applaud Ills speeches, considering the time he lived in. They eihibit the outhnea of a great genius; but euoh, however, as are evidently rude and imperfect. In the same maaner, when you represented his ArUiquitie* as replete with all the gnoea of oratory, and compared Cato with Philistus and Thucydide^ did you really imagine, that yon could persuade Brutus and me to believe you ) or would you seriously degrade those, whom none of the Greeks themselves have been able to equal, into a comparison with astiff country gentleman, who scarcely suspected that there was any such thing in being as a copious dad ornamental style? ' LXXXVI. " You have likewise said much in commenda- tion of Galba; — if as the best speaker of his ago, I can so &r agree with you, for such was the character ho bore; — ^but if you meant to recommend him as an orator, produce his orations (for they are still estant), and then tell mo honestly, whether you would wish your friond Brutus here to speak as Tte did 1 Lopidus, too, was the author of several speeches, which have received your approbation; in which I can partly join "'"* y°"' '^ 3""" coasider them only as speoimenB of our anoioat eloquence. Tho same might be aoid of Afri- BBUAIIKS ON BHIHBHT OIUTOBfl.
canua and Lisliua, than wbosc laaguage (you tell us) nothing in the world can bo sweeter; nay, you have mentioned it ■with a kind of Tenoration, and endeavoured to dazdo our judgment hy the great character they bore, and the uncorn- mon elegance of their mannera. Diveat it of these adven- titious graces, and this sweet language of theirs will appear so homely, as to be scarcely worth noticing. Carbo, too, was mentioned as one of our capital orators; and for this only reason, — that in speaking, as in all other professions, ■whatever is tlie best of its kind, for the time being, how deficient soever in reality, is always admired aud applauded. What I have said of Corbo, is equally true of the Gracchi; though, in some particulars, the character yon have given them was no more than they deserved. But to say nothing of the rest of your orators, let us proceed to Antonius and Cmssus, your two paragons of eloquence, whom I have heard myself, and who were certainly very able speakers. To the eitraordinaiy commendation you have bestowed upon them, I can readily give my assent; but not, however, in such an unlimited manner as to persuade myself that you have received as much improvemeut from the speech in support of the Servilian law, as Lysippus said be had done by studying the famous statue^ of Polycletus. What you have said on (Ats occasion I consider as absolute ironi/; but I shnll not inform you why I think so, lest you should ima^ne I design to flatter you. I shall therefore pass over the many fine encomiums you have bestowed upon these; and what you have said of Cotta and Snlpioins, and hut very lately of your pupil CajJius. I acknowledge, however, tliat we may call them orators; but as to the nature and extent of their merit, let your own judgment decide. It is scarcely worth observing, that you have had the additional good-nature to crowd so many daubers into your list, that there ai'e some, I belioTe, who will bo ready to wish they had died long ago, that you might have had an opportunity to insert fhcir names among the rest." LXXXVII. "Tou have opened a wide field of in- quiry," said I, " and started a subject which deserves a separata discussion; but we must defer it to a more convenient time/ For, to settle it, a great variety of authors must be examined, and especially Cato; which could not feil to convince you, that nothing was wanting to complete his pieces, but those rich ' Doryphomt. A spennaaa.
^r Bud gloinng coloura which had not tfaeu been mvented. ii to the above oration of Crassue, he himself, pei^ps, conld have written better, if bo had been williug to take titt trouble; but uobody else, I believe, ooiild have mended it You have no reason, therefore, to think I spoke inmicaUg, when I mentioned it fu^ the guide and tutoress of tay eloqueuM j for though you eeem to have a higher opinion of my oapadty, in its present state, yon must remember that, in our you^ we could find nothing better to imitate among the Komaii& And OS to my admitting bo tnany iato mj list of oratco^ I only did it (as I have already observed) to show how tew have succeeded ia a prefessiou, in which all were desirous to eiceL I therefore iuBJat upon it that you do uot condder « in the present case as a praduer of irony; though W8 are ift- formed byCaius Fanniua, in his hiatory, that^/HcomUKua very excaUent one." "As you please about iAot," cried Attiov; " though, by the bye, I did not imagine it would have beai any disgrace to you, to be what Atricanus and SooratcB hive been before you." " We may settle thit another time," in- terrupted Brutus; " but will you be bo obliging," nid he, (addresBing himself to me,) " as to give ua a critical malyai of some of the old speeches you have mentioned V " Verj wiUingly," replied I; " but it must be at Cuma, or Tuacnlui^ when opportunity offers: for we are near neighbours, yott know, in both places. LXXXVIII. At present, let ai return to Itortemiut, from whom we have digressed a aeeond " Hortensius, then, who began to speak in public whoi h> was very young, was soon employed even in causes of ttfl great«Bt moment; and though he first appeared in the timeof Cotta and Sulpicius, (who were only ten years older,) and wboi Crasaiia and AntoniuB, and afterwards Philippia and Julius were in the height of their reputation, he was thought worthy to be compared with either of them in point of eloqiiraice> He had such an excellent memoiy a^ I never kaew io Hiy person; so that what he had composed in private, ha m able to repeat, without notes, in the very same words be had made use of at first. Ho employed this natural advantigt with so much readiness, that he not only reeoUectod whateWT he had written or premeditated himself, but rememband sverythiug that had been said by his opponents, without the help of a prompter. He was likewise inflamed with socb BEMARKB ON EMINENT OBATOBS.
II passioQuto fbudnesa for the profesBion, that I never e one who took more pains to improve himself; for hu would not suffer a day to elftpse without either speaking forum, or composing aomething at home; and very often lie did both in the same day. He had, besides, a turn of eiprea- Bion which was very far from being low and mielevatedj and possessed two other aocomplishnienta, in which no one could equal him, — an unoommou cle&mess and accuracy in stating the points he was to discuss; and a neat and easy manner c^ collecting the substance of what had been said by his antar gonist, and by himself. He had likewise an elegant choice of words, aa agreeable flow in his periods, and ft copious elocution, for which he was partly indebted to a fine natural capacity, and which was partly acquired by the most laborioua rhetorical eiercisea. In short, he had a most retentive view of his subject, and always divided and distributed it into distinct parts with the greatest eiaotnees; and he very seldom over- looked anything which the case" could surest, that was proper either to support his own. allegations, or to refute those of hie opponent Lastly, he had a sweet and sonorous voice; but his gesture had rather more art in it, and was managed with more precision than is requisite in an orator.
" While he was in the hei^t of his glory, Crasana died, Cotta was banished, our public trials were intermitted by the Marsio war, and I myself made my first appearance in the fonim. LXSXIX. Hortensiua joined the army, and served the first campaign as a volunteer, and the second aaamilitary tribune; Sulpioius was made a lieutenant-general; and An- toniuB was absent on a similar account. The only trial we had, was that u^on the Varian law; the rest, as I have just observed, having been intermitted by the war. We had ECaroely anybody left at Iho bar but Lucius Memmius and Quintua Pompeina, who spoke mostly ou their own affairs; and, though far from being orators of the first distinction, were yet tolerable ones, (if we may credit Philippus, who was himself a man of some eloquence,) and, in supporting evidence, displayed all the poignanoy of a prosecutor, with a moderate freedom of elocution. The rest, who were esteemed OUT capital speakers, were then in the magistracy, and 1 had the benefit of hearing their harangues almost every day. Cains Curio was chosen a tribune of the people though ho left off speaking after being once deserted by hia w^oto 1 V muTca; ok, Audience. To him I ina; udd Quintus Metollus Celer, who, though certainly no orator, was iar from being destitute of utterance; but Quintua Vai'ius, Caius Carbo, and Cdkiis Pomponiua, were meu of real elocution, and might almost be Goid to have lived iipou the rostra. Coiua Jtilius too, who iras then a curule aidile, was daily employed in Daaking epeetdies to the people, which were composed with great nealmesa and accuracy. But while I attended the forum with this eager curiosity, my first disappointment was the banishment of Cotta; after which I continued to hear the rest with the , same assiduity oa before; aud though I daily spent the re- mainder of my time iu reading, writing, and private deda- I mation, I camiot say that I much relished my conliuement ta I these preparatory exercises. The next year Quiatus VarinG was condemned, and iiauiahed by his own law; and I, thai. I might acquire a competent knowledge of the principles of jurisprudence, then attached myself to Quintua ScaaTola, the eon of PuLlius, who, though he did not choose to undertake the charge of a pupil, yet, by freely giving his advice to thcee who consulted him, answered every purpose of instruction to sucli as took the troubta to apply to him. In the succeeding year, iu which SylJa and Pompey were consuls, u Sulpioius, who was elected a tribune of the people, had oocasiou to epcak in public almost every day, I had oppcf< tuuity to acquaint myself thoroughly with his manner t£ speaking. At this time Philo, a philosopher of the first name in the Academy, with many of the principal AtbenioiB, having deserted their native home, aiid £ed to Bome, from the fury of Mithridates, I immediately became his Boholu*, and was exceedingly taken with his philosophyj and, besides tlie pleosuvQ I received from the great variety and sublimity of hui matter, I was stiJl more inclined to confiuo my atten- tion to that study; because there was reaaou to apprehend that oar laws and judicial proceedings would be wholly over- turned by the continuance of the public disorders. In the same year Sulpicius lost his life; and Quintus Catulus, Marcus Antonius, and Caius Julius, three omtors who wera partly contemporary with each other, were most inhumanly put to death. Then also I attended the lectures of Mob tlie Khodian, who was newly come to Homo, and was both an eicellant pleader, and an able tL'aclier of the nrf.
XC, "I hitve mentioned thuoM i-mkuhu--'. which, perha ON EMINENT 0KAT0B3.
may appear foreign to our purpose, that you, my Brutii^ (for Atticua is already acquainted with them,} may bo able to mark my progress, aad observe how closely I trod upon tho heels of Hortonsius. The three following years the city was free from the tumult of anna; but either by the deatli, the voluntary retirement, or the flight of our ablest orators, (for oven Marcus Crassua, aud the two Lentuli, who were then iu the bloom of youth, had all left ua,) Hortensius, of course, was the first speaker io the forum. Antistius, too, was daily rising into reputation; Piso pleaded pretty often; Pomponiua, not BO frequently; Carbo, very eeldom; and Philippua, only once or twice. In the meanwhile I pursued my studies of every kind, day and night, with unremitting application. 1 lodged and boarded at my own house (where be lately died) DiodotuB the Stoic; whom 1 employed as nay preceptor iu various other parts of learning, but particularly in logic, which may be con- sidered as a close and contracted species of eloquence; and without which, you yourself have declared it impoBsible to acquire that fuU and perfect eloquence, which they suppose to be an open and dilated kind of logic. Yet with all my atten- tion fa Diodotus, and the various arts he was master o^ I never suffered even a single day to escape me, without some exercise of the oratorical kind. I constantly declaimed in private with Marcus Piso, Quintus Pompeius, or some other of my acquaintance; pretty often in Latin, but much oftener in Greek; because the Greek fiiraiahes a greater variety of ornaments, and an opportunity of imitating and introducing them into the Latin; and because the Greek masters, who were far the best, could not correct and improve us, unless we declaimed in that language. This time was distinguished by a violent struggle to restore the liberty of the republic; the barbarous slaughter of the three orators, Scievola, Carbo, and Antistius; the return of Cotta, Curio, Crassus, Pompey, and the Lentuli; the re-establishment of the laws and courts of judicature, and the entire restoration of the commouweaitli; but we lost Pomponius, Cenaorinus, and Murena, from the roll of orators. 1 now began, for the Jirit time, to under- take the mant^ement of causes, both private and public; not, as moat did, with a view to leam my profession, but to make a trial of the abilities which I had taken so muoii pains to acquire. I had then a second opportunity of attending the instructions of Molo, who came to Eome whila Sylla was K K dictator, to solicit thff payment of what waa due to h countrymen for their servicea in the Mithridatic war. My defence of Septus Rosoi us, which was the first cause 1 pleaded, met with 8uoh a favourable reception, that, Ijom that motnent, I wss looked upon as an advocate of the first class, and equal to the greatest and most important causes; and after lliis I pleaded many othere, which I precomposed with all the care and accuracy 1 was master o-E XOI. " But Hs you Beem desirous not so much to be ac- quainted with any iBcidental marks of my character, or • the first sallies of my youth, as to know me thoroughly, I shall mention some particulars, which otherwise might have seemed unnecessary. At this time my body was ei- oeedingly weak and emaciated; my neck long and slender; a shape and hahit which I thought to be liable to great rvk of Lfe, if engaged in any violent fatigue, or labour of As lungs. And it gave the greater alarm to those who hod a regard for me, that I used to speak without any renuBraoo or variation, with the utm.oat stretch of my voice, and ■ total agitation of my body. When my friends, therefore, and physicians, a(iviEed me to meddjo no more with forenuc causes, I resolved to run any hazard rather than quit the hopes of glory which I had proposed to myself from plead- ing; but when I considered, that by managing my voice, and changing my way of speakmg, I might both avoid all future danger of that kind and speak with greater ease, I took a resolution of travelling into Asia, merely for an op- portunity to correct my manner of speaking; bo that after I had been two years at the bar, and acquired some reputa- tion in the forum, I left Borne, When I came to Athens, I apent six months with Antioehua, the principal aud meet judicious philosopher of the old Academy; and under this aUe master, I renewed those philoGophical studies which I hod laboriously cultivated and improved from my earliest youth. At the same time, however, I continued my rhetorical exer- cites under Demetrius the Syrian, an experienced and re- putable master r)f the art of speaking. After leaving Athene I traversed every part of Asia, where I wna voluntarily at- tended by the principal oratorsof the country, with whom I re- newed my rhetorical exercises. The chief of them was Menippus of Stratonica, the most eloquent of ail the Asiatics; and if to be neither tedious nor impertinent is the choraotcdstii] REMAEKa ON EMINENT OEATORB. 499 of on Attic 01-ator, he may he justly ranked ia that class. Dioiiyaiuaalsoof Magueaia,^schylu8of Cuidos, and Xenodes of Adramyttium, who were eateemod the iii-st rhetoridans of Asia, were continually with me. Not conteuted with these, I went to KhodcB, aud applied myself again to Moio, whom I had beard before at Home; and who was both an expe- rienced pleader and a fine writer, and particularly judicious in remarking the faults of his Bcholars, as well as in his method of teaching and iotiproYing them. Hia principal trouble with me was to reatrain the lusuriancy of a juvemle imagination, always ready to overflow its banks, within its due and proper channel. Thus, after an excursion of two years, 1 returaed to Italy, not only much improved, but almost changed into a new man. The vehemence of my voice and action was considerably abated; the excessive ardour of my language was correoted; my lungs were strengthened j and my whole constitution confirmed aud aettled.
XCII. " Two orators then reigned in the forum {I mean ' Cotta and Hortensiua), whose glory fired my emulation. Cotta's way of speaking was calm and easy, and distinguished by the flowing elegance and propriety of his language. The other was splendid, wann, and animated; not such as you, my BrutuB, have seen him, ■when he had shed the blossom of his eloquence, but far more lively and pathetic both in his style and action. As Hortensius, therefore, was nearer to me in age, and his manner mora agreeable to the natural ardour of my temper, I considered him as the proper object of my competition. For I observed that when they were both engaged in the same cause, (as, for instance, when they defended Marcus Canuleius, and Oneius Dolabella, a man of consular dignity,) though Cotta was generally employed to open the defence, the most important parts of it were left to the management of Hortensius. For a crowded audience and a clamorous forum require an orator who is lively, ani- mated, full of action, and able to exert his voice to the highest pitch. The first year, therefore, after my return firom Asia, I undertook several capital causes; and in the interim 1 put up as a candidate for the quaastorsbip, Cotta for the consulate, and Hortensius for the cedfleship. After