Nor am I unaware how
great an opposition I am raising against myself, especially when
it is no part of my design at present to compare him with Demos-
thenes; for it is not at all necessary, since I think that Demos-
thenes ought to be read above all other orators, or rather learned
by heart.
great an opposition I am raising against myself, especially when
it is no part of my design at present to compare him with Demos-
thenes; for it is not at all necessary, since I think that Demos-
thenes ought to be read above all other orators, or rather learned
by heart.
Warner - World's Best Literature - v20 - Phi to Qui
"
When the child has learned of his primary teachers to "read,
write, and cipher," and but little more, Quintilian would have him
placed in a rhetorical school at an earlier age than is usually thought
desirable. Here he would have him learn both music and geometry;
using the words in their comprehensive Greek sense, the former to
include the whole range of the liberal arts; the latter, every branch
of what then passed for physical science. Quintilian makes very light
of the fear that the powers of a growing lad will be too heavily
taxed by this extensive curriculum. Overstudy, in fairly vigorous
youth, seems to him almost an impossibility. At no period of life, he
truly says, is there so little suffering from fatigue; at none are
impressions received and facts and precepts acquired so easily.
## p. 11985 (#619) ##########################################
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But all this broad and varied culture is only preliminary to the
special training which will be needful for the finished orator. That
part of the 'Institutio' (Books iv. to ix. inclusive) which treats of the
subject-matter and proper arrangement of a speech, and of elocution,
gestures, and the outward graces of oratory, is excessively technical
and minute; and Quintilian, with habitual humility before his idol,
almost apologizes in his last book for having ventured so far beyond
the bound observed by Cicero in his more popular essay 'De Oratore. '
Of the maxims laid down in this main body of the work, some are
now entirely obsolete; while others perhaps only appear trivial be-
cause they have so long been accepted without question. Quintilian
writes always with the same good sense, good temper, and carefully
chosen language; in a style which is as like Cicero's as reverent
imitation can make it. But then Cicero has a dozen styles-ranging
all the way from the closest argumentation to the lightest chaff -
and Quintilian has only one. He abounds in figures and illustrations;
but these disappoint the reader a little by being taken so much more
from other authors than from daily life and personal experience,
whereby they shed little light upon Roman scenes and the manners
of the time. Vivid pictures caught in passing, like that of the patri-
cian baby upon its purple rug, and the "smooth-faced" dandy, with
"hair fresh from the curling-tongs, and an unnaturally brilliant com-
plexion," are extremely rare in Quintilian. Now and then, however,
he estimates a talent, or sums up a reputation, in a few strong and
very apt words: as where he says that if Julius Cæsar had chosen
to devote himself wholly to the forum he could have had no rival
except Cicero, and that he spoke with the same fire with which he
fought; and of Cicero's friend Cælius, that he had much ability and a
pleasant wit, and was "a man worthy to have had better thoughts
and a longer life. ”
After the series of literary appreciations (Book x. ), which the his-
torian Gibbon said he had read many times, and never without both
pleasure and profit, Quintilian returns, at the end of his treatise,
to the moral qualifications of the perfect orator; and argues with
much cogency and skill for the original proposition, that a great
speaker must needs be a good man. When he descends to particu-
lars under this head, it becomes evident that his standards were not
always those which are held in our own time to be the highest. He
thinks that one may sometimes tell a lie, or even excuse a vice, to
promote a virtuous object; and he quite approves of endeavoring
ingeniously to divert the attention of a judge from inconvenient
aspects of the truth. He is an impenitent utilitarian, yet a high-
minded one; and the sophisms which he gravely permits are mostly
of the kind which are more apt, even now, to be condemned in theory
than scrupulously avoided in forensic and parliamentary practice.
XX-750
## p. 11986 (#620) ##########################################
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The resurrection of the Institutes' at the Renaissance was due
to the ardent researches of the humanist, Gian Francesco Poggio
Bracciolini, in the convent library of St. Gall. He copied the whole
of the MS. with his own hand, and that copy is still preserved in the
Laurentian Library at Florence. The Editio Princeps of Quintilian
was printed in Rome in 1470; but he has been much less frequently
edited than most of the acknowledged Latin classics, and the only
complete and trustworthy English translation of his works is that
of the Rev. John Selby Watson, head-master of Stockwell Grammar
School (included in Bohn's Classical Library), from which the follow-
ing quotations have been made.
ON THE OBJECT AND SCOPE OF THE WORK
From the Institutes'
WⓇ
E ARE to form, then, the perfect orator, who cannot exist
unless as a good man; and we require in him, therefore,
not only consummate ability in speaking, but every excel-
lence of mind. For I cannot admit that the principles of moral
and honorable conduct are, as some have thought, to be left to
the philosophers; since the man who can duly sustain his charac-
ter as a citizen, who is qualified for the management of public
and private affairs, and who can govern communities by his
counsels, settle them by means of laws, and improve them by
judicial enactments, can certainly be nothing else but an orator.
Although I acknowledge, therefore, that I shall adopt some pre-
cepts which are contained in the writings of the philosophers,
yet I shall maintain, with justice and truth, that they belong to
my subject, and have a peculiar relation to the art of oratory.
If we have constantly occasion to discourse of justice, fortitude,
temperance, and other similar topics, so that a cause can scarce
be found in which some such discussion does not occur; and if
all such subjects are to be illustrated by invention and elocution,
can it be doubted that wherever power of intellect and copi-
ousness of language are required, the art of the orator is to
be there pre-eminently exerted? These two accomplishments, as
Cicero very plainly proves, were, as they are joined by nature, so
also united in practice, so that the same persons were thought
at once wise and eloquent. Subsequently the study divided it-
self, and through want of art it came to pass that the arts were
considered to be diverse: for as soon as the tongue became an
## p. 11987 (#621) ##########################################
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11987
instrument of gain, and it was made a practice to abuse the gifts
of eloquence, those who were esteemed as eloquent abandoned
the care of morals; which, when thus neglected, became as it
were the prize of the less robust intellects. Some, disliking the
toil of cultivating eloquence, afterwards returned to the discipline
of the mind and the establishment of rules of life, retaining to
themselves the better part, if it could be divided into two: but
assuming at the same time the most presumptuous of titles, so
as to be called the only cultivators of wisdom,- a distinction
which neither the most eminent commanders, nor men who were
engaged with the utmost distinction in the direction of the great-
est affairs and in the management of whole commonwealths, ever
ventured to claim for themselves; for they preferred rather to
practice excellence of conduct than to profess it. That many of
the ancient professors of wisdom, indeed, both delivered virtuous
precepts, and even lived as they directed others to live, I will
readily admit; but in our own times the greatest vices have been
hid under this name in many of the professors: for they did
not strive, by virtue and study, to be esteemed philosophers; but
adopted a peculiarity of look, austerity of demeanor, and a dress
different from that of other men, as cloaks for the vilest immor-
alities.
But those topics which are claimed as peculiar to philosophy,
we all everywhere discuss; for what person (if he be not an
utterly corrupt character) does not sometimes speak of justice,
equity, and goodness? who, even among rustics, does not make
some inquiries about the causes of the operations of nature? As
to the proper use and distinction of words, it ought to be com-
mon to all who make their language at all an object of care.
Translation in Bohn's Library.
ON THE EARLY PRACTICE OF COMPOSITION
From the Institutes>
F
ROM boys perfection of style can neither be required nor
expected; but the fertile genius, fond of noble efforts, and
conceiving at times a more than reasonable degree of
ardor, is greatly to be preferred. Nor, if there be something of
exuberance in a pupil of that age, would it at all displease me.
## p. 11988 (#622) ##########################################
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QUINTILIAN
I would even have it an object with teachers themselves to
nourish minds that are still tender with more indulgence, and
to allow them to be satiated, as it were, with the milk of more
liberal studies. The body which mature age may afterwards
nerve, may for a time be somewhat plumper than seems desira-
ble,- hence there is hope of strength; while a child that has
the outline of all his limbs exact commonly portends weakness
in subsequent years. Let that age be daring; invent much, and
delight in what it invents, though it be often not sufficiently
severe and correct. The remedy for exuberance is easy: barren-
ness is incurable by any labor. That temper in boys will afford
me little hope, in which mental effort is prematurely restrained
by judgment. I like what is produced to be extremely copious,
profuse even beyond the limits of propriety. Years will greatly
reduce superfluity; judgment will smooth away much of it;
something will be worn off, as it were, by use, if there be but
metal from which something may be hewn and polished off,-
and such metal there will be if we do not make the plate too
thin at first, so that deep cutting may break it. That I hold
such opinions concerning this age, he will be less likely to won-
der who shall have read what Cicero says: "I wish fecundity in
a young man to give itself full scope. "
Above all, therefore, and especially for boys, a dry master is
to be avoided, not less than a dry soil, void of all moisture, for
plants that are still tender. Under the influence of such a tutor
they at once become dwarfish; looking, as it were, towards the
ground, and daring to aspire to nothing above every-day talk.
To them leanness is in place of health, and weakness instead
of judgment; and while they think it sufficient to be free from
fault, they fall into the fault of being free from all merit. Let
not even maturity itself, therefore, come too fast; let not the
must, while yet in the vat, become mellow; for so it will bear
years, and be improved by age.
――――――
Nor is it improper for me, moreover, to offer this admonition:
that the powers of boys sometimes sink under too great severity
in correction; for they despond, and grieve, and at last hate
their work, and what is most prejudicial, while they fear every-
thing they cease to attempt anything. There is a similar con-
viction in the minds of the cultivators of trees in the country,
who think that the knife must not be applied to tender shoots,
as they appear to shrink from the steel, and to be unable as yet
## p. 11989 (#623) ##########################################
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11989
to bear an incision. A teacher ought therefore to be as agree-
able as possible, that remedies which are rough in their own
nature may be rendered soothing by gentleness of hand: he
ought to praise some parts of his pupils' performances, to toler
ate some, and to alter others, giving his reasons why the alter-
ations are made; and also to make some passages clearer by
adding something of his own. It will be of service at times,
also, for the master to dictate whole subjects himself, which the
pupil may imitate and admire for the present as his own. But
if a boy's composition were so faulty as not to admit of correc-
tion, I have found him benefited whenever I told him to write
on the same subject again, after it had received fresh treatment
from me, observing that he could do still better"; since study
is cheered by nothing more than hope. Different ages, however,
are to be corrected in different ways; and work is to be required
and amended according to the degree of the pupil's abilities.
used to say to boys when they attempted anything extravagant
or verbose, that "I was satisfied with it for the present; but that
a time would come when I should not allow them to produce
compositions of such a character. " Thus they were satisfied with
their abilities, and yet not led to form a wrong judgment.
I
Translation in Bohn's Library.
ON NATURE AND ART IN ORATORY
From the Institutes'
I
AM aware that it is also a question whether nature or learning
contributes most to oratory. This inquiry, however, has
no concern with the subject of my work, for a perfect orator
can be formed only with the aid of both; but I think it of great
importance how far we consider that there is a question on the
point. If you suppose either to be independent of the other,
nature will be able to do much without learning, but learning
will be of no avail without the assistance of nature.
But if they
be united in equal parts, I shall be inclined to think that when
both are but moderate, the influence of nature is nevertheless the
greater; but finished orators, I consider, owe more to learning
than to nature. Thus the best husbandman cannot improve soil
of no fertility, while from fertile ground something good will be
## p. 11990 (#624) ##########################################
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QUINTILIAN
produced even without the aid of the husbandman; yet if the
husbandman bestows his labor on rich land, he will produce
more effect than the goodness of the soil of itself. Had Praxite-
les attempted to hew a statue out of a millstone, I should have
preferred to it an unhewn block of Parian marble; but if that
statuary had fashioned the marble, more value would have ac-
crued to it from his workmanship than was in the marble itself.
In a word, nature is the material for learning; the one forms
and the other is formed. Art can do nothing without material;
material has its value even independent of art: but perfection of
art is of more consequence than perfection of material.
Translation in Bohn's Library.
ON EMBELLISHMENTS OF STYLE
From the Institutes >
I
COME now to the subject of embellishment; in which doubtless,
more than in any other department of oratory, the speaker
is apt to give play to his fancy. For the praise of such as
speak merely with correctness and perspicuity is but small; since
they are thought rather to have avoided faults than to have at-
tained any great excellence. Invention of matter is often common
to the orator and to the illiterate alike; arrangement may be con-
sidered to require but moderate learning, and whatever high arts
are used, are generally concealed, or they would cease to deserve
the name of art: and all these qualities are directed to the sup-
port of causes alone. But by polish and embellishment of style,
the orator recommends himself to his auditors in his proper
character; in his other efforts he courts the approbation of the
learned, in this the applause of the multitude. Cicero, in plead-
ing the cause of Cornelius, fought with arms that were not
only stout, but dazzling; nor would he merely by instructing the
judge, or by speaking to the purpose and in pure Latin and with
perspicuity, have caused the Roman people to testify their admi-
ration of him not only by acclamations, but even tumults of
applause. It was the sublimity, magnificence, splendor, and dig-
nity of his eloquence, which drew forth that thunder of approba-
tion. No such extraordinary commendation would have attended
on the speaker if his speech had been of an every-day character,
## p. 11991 (#625) ##########################################
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11991
and similar to ordinary speeches. I even believe that his audi-
ence were insensible of what they were doing; and that they
gave their applause neither voluntarily nor with any exercise
of judgment, but that, being carried away by enthusiasm, and
unconscious of the place in which they stood, they burst forth
instinctively into such transports of delight.
But this grace of style may contribute in no small degree to
the success of a cause, for those who listen with pleasure are
both more attentive and more ready to believe: they are very
frequently captivated with pleasure, and sometimes hurried away
in admiration. Thus the glitter of a sword strikes something of
terror into the eyes; and thunder-storms themselves would not
alarm us so much as they do if it were their force only, and not
also their flame, that was dreaded. Cicero, accordingly, in one of
his letters to Brutus, makes with good reason the following re-
mark: "That eloquence which excites no admiration, I account as
nothing. " Aristotle also thinks that to excite admiration should
be one of our greatest objects.
But let the embellishment of our style (for I will repeat what
I said) be manly, noble, and chaste; let it not affect effeminate
delicacy, or a complexion counterfeited by paint, but let it glow
with genuine health and vigor. Such is the justice of this rule,
that though, in ornament, vices closely border on virtues, yet
those who adopt what is vicious disguise it with the name of
some virtue. Let no one of those, therefore, who indulge in a
vicious style, say that I am an enemy to those who speak with
good taste. I do not deny that judicious embellishment is an
excellence, but I do not allow that excellence to them. Should
I think a piece of land better cultivated, in which the owner
should show me lilies, and violets, and anemones, and fount-
ains playing, than one in which there is a plentiful harvest, or
vines laden with grapes? Should I prefer barren plane-trees,
or clipped myrtles, to elms embraced with vines, and fruitful
olive-trees? The rich may have such unproductive gratifications;
but what would they be if they had nothing else?
Shall not beauty, then, it may be asked, be regarded in the
planting of fruit-trees? Undoubtedly: I would arrange my trees
in a certain order, and observe regular intervals between them.
What is more beautiful than the well-known quincunx, which, in
whatever direction you view it, presents straight lines?
But a
regular arrangement of trees is of advantage to their growth, as
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QUINTILIAN
each of them then attracts an equal portion of the juices of the
soil. The tops of my olive, that rise too high, I shall lop off
with my knife; it will spread itself more gracefully in a round
form, and will at the same time produce fruit from more branches.
The horse that has thin flanks is thought handsomer than one of
a different shape, and is also more swift. The athlete, whose
muscles have been developed by exercise, is pleasing to the
sight, and is so much the better prepared for the combat. True
beauty is never separate from utility. But to perceive this
requires but a moderate portion of sagacity.
What is of more importance to be observed, is, that the grace-
ful dress of our thoughts is still more becoming when varied
with the nature of the subject. Recurring to our first division,
we may remark that the same kind of embellishment will not be
alike suitable for demonstrative, deliberative, and judicial topics.
The first of these three kinds, adapted only for display, has no
object but the pleasure of the audience; and it accordingly dis-
closes all the resources of art, and all the pomp of language: it
is not intended to steal into the mind, or to secure a victory, but
strives only to gain applause and honor. Whatever, therefore,
may be attractive in conception, elegant in expression, pleas-
ing in figures, rich in metaphor, or polished in composition, the
orator-like a dealer in eloquence, as it were-will lay before
his audience for them to inspect, and almost to handle; for his
success entirely concerns his reputation, and not his cause. But
when a serious affair is in question, and there is a contest in
real earnest, anxiety for mere applause should be an orator's
last concern. Indeed, no speaker should be very solicitous about
his words where important interests are involved. I do not
mean to say that no ornaments of dress should be bestowed
on such subjects, but that they should be as it were more close-
fitting and severe, and thus display themselves less; and they
should be, above all, well adapted to the subject. In delibera-
tions the Senate expects something more elevated, the people
something more spirited; and in judicial pleadings, public and
capital causes require a more exact style than ordinary: but as
for private causes, and disputes about small sums, which are of
frequent occurrence,- simple language, the very reverse of that
which is studied, will be far more suitable for them. Would
not a speaker be ashamed to seek the recovery of a petty loan
in elaborate periods? or to display violent feeling in speaking
## p. 11993 (#627) ##########################################
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of a gutter? Or to perspire over a suit about taking back a
slave
But let us pursue our subject; and as the embellishment, as
well as the perspicuity of language, depends either on the choice
of single words, or on the combination of several together, let
us consider what care they require separately, and what in con-
junction. Though it has been justly said that perspicuity is bet-
ter promoted by proper words, and embellishment by such as are
metaphorical, we should feel certain, at the same time, that what-
ever is improper cannot embellish. But as several words often
signify the same thing (and are called synonyms), some of those
words will be more becoming, or sublime, or elegant, or pleas-
ing, or of better sound, than others; for as syllables formed of
the better sounding letters are clearer, so words formed of such
syllables are more melodious; and the fuller the sound of a word,
the more agreeable it is to the ear; and what the junction of
syllables effects, the junction of words effects also, proving that
some words sound better in combination than others.
But words are to be variously used. To subjects of a repuls-
ive character, words that are harsh in sound are the more suita-
ble. In general, however, the best words, considered singly, are
such as have the fullest or most agreeable sound. Elegant,
too, are always to be preferred to coarse words; and for mean
ones there is no place in polished style. Such as are of a strik-
ing or elevated character are to be estimated according to their
suitableness to our subject. That which appears sublime on one
occasion, may seem tumid on another; and what appears mean
when applied to a lofty subject, may adapt itself excellently to
one of an inferior nature. In an elevated style a low word is
noticeable and indeed a blemish; and in like manner a grand
or splendid word is unsuited to a plain style, and is in bad taste,
as being like a tumor on a smooth surface.
Translation in Bohn's Library.
ON THE HANDLING OF WITNESSES IN COURT
From the Institutes>
ST
INCE, then, there are two sorts of witnesses, those who appear
voluntarily and those whom the judge summons according
to law, . . . let us distinguish the duty of the pleader who
produces witnesses from that of him who refutes their testimony.
## p. 11994 (#628) ##########################################
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QUINTILIAN
He that produces a voluntary witness may know what he
has to say, and consequently appears to have the easier task in.
examining him. But even this undertaking requires penetration
and watchfulness: and we must be cautious that the witness may
not appear timid, or inconsistent, or foolish; for witnesses may be
confused or caught in snares by the advocates on the opposite
side, and when they are once caught, they do more harm than
they would have done service if they had been firm and resolute.
They should therefore be well exercised before they are brought
into court, and tried with various interrogatories such as are
likely to be put by an advocate on the other side. By this
means they will either be consistent in their statements, or if
they stumble at all, will be set upon their feet again, as it were,
by some opportune question from him by whom they were
brought forward. But even in regard to those who are consist-
ent in their evidence, we must be on our guard against treachery;
for they are often thrown in our way by the opposite party, and
after promising everything favorable, give answers of a contrary
character, and have the more weight against us when they do
not refute what is to our prejudice, but confess the truth of it.
We must inquire, therefore, what motives they appear to have
for declaring against our adversary: nor is it sufficient to know
that they were his enemies,- we must ascertain whether they
have ceased to be so; whether they may not seek reconciliation
with him at our expense; whether they have been bribed; or
whether they may not have changed their purpose from peniten-
tial feelings, precautions not only necessary in regard to wit-
nesses who know that which they intend to say is true, but far
more necessary in respect to those who promise to say what is
false. For they are more likely to repent, and their promises are
more to be suspected; and even if they keep to their word, it is
much more easy to refute them.
Of witnesses who are summoned to give evidence, some are
willing to hurt the accused party, and some unwilling; and the
accuser sometimes knows their inclination, and is sometimes
ignorant of it. Let us suppose for the moment that he knows
it; yet in either case, there is need of the greatest circumspection
on the part of him who examines them. If he find a witness
disposed to prejudice the accused, he ought to take the utmost
care that his disposition may not show itself; and he should not
question him at once on the point for decision, but proceed to it
circuitously, so that what the examiner chiefly wants him to say
## p. 11995 (#629) ##########################################
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11995
may appear to be wrung from him. Nor should he press him
with too many interrogatories, lest the witness, by replying freely
to everything, should invalidate his own credit; but he should
draw from him only so much as it may seem reasonable to elicit
from one witness. But in the case of one who will not speak the
truth unless against his will, the great happiness in an exam-
iner is, to extort from him what he does not wish to say; and
this cannot be done otherwise than by questions that seem wide
of the matter in hand: for to these he will give such answers
as he thinks will not hurt his party; and then, from various par-
ticulars which he may confess, he will be reduced to the inabil
ity of denying what he does not wish to acknowledge. For, as
in a set speech we commonly collect detached arguments, which
taken singly seem to bear but lightly on the accused, but by
the combination of which we succeed in proving the charge,—
so a witness of this kind must be questioned on many points.
regarding antecedent and subsequent circumstances, and concern-
ing places, times, persons, and other subjects: so that he may
be brought to give some answer; after which he must either
acknowledge what we wish, or contradict what he himself has
said. If we do not succeed in that object, it will be manifest
that he is unwilling to speak; and he must be led on to other
matters, that he may be caught tripping, if possible, on some
point, though it be unconnected with the cause. He may also be
detained an extraordinary time, that by saying everything, and
more than the case requires, in favor of the accused, he may
make himself suspected by the judge; and he will thus do no
less damage to the accused than if he had stated the truth
against him. But if (as we supposed in the second place) the
accuser be ignorant of the witness's disposition, he must sound
his inclination cautiously; interrogating him, as we say, step by
step, and leading him gradually to the answer which is necessary
to be elicited from him. But as there is sometimes such art in
witnesses, that they answer at first according to an examiner's
wish, in order to gain greater credit when they afterwards speak
in a different way, it is wise in an orator to dismiss a suspected
witness before he does any harm.
For advocates that appear on behalf of defendants, the exam-
ination of witnesses is in one respect more easy, and in another
more difficult, than for those who are on the side of the prosecu-
tor. It is more difficult on this account,—that they can seldom
or never know, before the trial, what the witness is going to say;
## p. 11996 (#630) ##########################################
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QUINTILIAN
and it is more easy, inasmuch as they know, when he comes to
be questioned, what he has said. Under the uncertainty, there-
fore, which there is in the matter, great caution and inquisition
is necessary to ascertain what sort of character he is that prose-
cutes the defendant; what feeling he entertains against him; and
from what motives: and all such matters are to be exposed and
set aside in our pleading, whether we would have the witnesses
appear to have been instigated by hatred, or by envy, or by desire
of favor, or by money. If the opposite party too produce but
few witnesses, we may reflect on their small number; if they are
extraordinarily numerous, we may insinuate that they are in con-
spiracy; if they are of humble rank, we may speak with contempt
of their meanness; if persons of consequence, we may deprecate
their influence. It will be of most effect, however, to expose
the motives on which the witnesses speak against the defend-
ant, which may be various, according to the nature of causes and
the parties engaged in them; for to such representations as I
have just mentioned, the opposite party can answer with common-
place arguments: as, when the witnesses are few and humble,
the prosecutor can boast of his simple honesty, in having sought.
for none but such as were acquainted with the case in hand;
while to commend a large number, or persons of consideration,
is a somewhat easier task. But occasionally, as we have to com-
mend witnesses, so we have to decry them.
As to what
we should say against the witnesses respectively, it can only be
drawn from their individual characters.
The manner of questioning witnesses remains to be consid-
ered. In this part of our duty, the principal point is to know
the witness well: for if he is timid, he may be frightened; if
foolish, misled; if irascible, provoked; if vain, flattered; if prolix,
drawn from the point. If, on the contrary, a witness is sensible
and self-possessed, he may be hastily dismissed as malicious and
obstinate; or he may be confuted, not with formal questioning,
but with a short address from the defendant's advocate; or he
may be put out of countenance, if opportunity offer, by a jest;
or if anything can be said against his moral character, his credit
may be overthrown by infamous charges. It has been advanta-
geous, on certain occasions, not to press too severely on men of
probity and modesty; for those who would have fought against
a determined assailant are softened by gentle treatment.
Translation in Bohn Library.
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11997
ON ANCIENT AUTHORS
HOMER
As
S ARATUS, then, thinks that "we ought to begin with Jupi-
ter," so I think that I shall very properly commence with
Homer; for, as he says that "the might of rivers and the
courses of springs take their rise from the ocean," so has he
himself given a model and an origin for every species of elo-
quence. No man has excelled him in sublimity on great subjects,
no man in propriety on small ones. He is at once copious and
concise, pleasing and forcible; admirable at one time for exuber-
ance, and at another for brevity; eminent not only for poetic, but
for oratorical excellence. To say nothing of his laudatory, exhort-
atory, and consolatory speeches, does not the ninth book of the
Iliad, in which the deputation sent to Achilles is comprised, or
the contention between the chiefs in the first book, or the opinions.
delivered in the second, display all the arts of legal pleadings and
of councils? As to the feelings, as well the gentle as the more
impetuous, there is no one so unlearned as not to acknowledge
that he had them wholly under his control. Has he not at the
commencement of both his works-I will not say observed, but
established, the laws of oratorical exordia? for he renders his
reader well affected towards him by an invocation of the goddesses
who have been supposed to preside over poets; he makes him
attentive by setting forth the grandeur of his subjects, and desir-
ous of information by giving a brief and comprehensive view of
them. Who can state facts more concisely than he who relates
the death of Patroclus, or more forcibly than he who describes
the combat of the Curetes and Etolians? As to similes, amplifi-
cations, illustrations, digressions, indications, and proofs of things,
and all other modes of establishment and refutation, examples of
them are so numerous in him that nearly all those who have
written on the rules of rhetoric produce from him illustrations of
their precepts. What peroration of a speech will ever be thought
equal to the entreaties of Priam beseeching Achilles for the body
of his son? Does he not indeed, in words, thoughts, figures, and
the arrangement of his whole work, exceed the ordinary bounds.
of human genius? So much indeed that it requires a great man
even to follow his excellences, not with rivalry (for rivalry is
impossible) but with a just conception of them.
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VIRGIL AND OTHER ROMAN POETS
Α
CCORDINGLY, as Homer among the Greeks, so Virgil among
our own countrymen, presents the most auspicious begin-
ning; an author who of all poets of that class, Greek
or Roman, doubtless approaches nearest to Homer. I will here
repeat the very words which when I was a young man I heard
from Domitius Afer, who, when I asked him what poet he
thought came nearest to Homer, replied, "Virgil is second to
him, but nearer the first than the third. Indeed, though we must
give place to the divine and immortal genius of Homer, yet in
Virgil there is more care and exactness, for the very reason that
he was obliged to take more pains; and for what we lose in the
higher qualities we perhaps compensate in equability of excel-
lence. "
-
All our other poets will follow at a great distance. Macer
and Lucretius should be read indeed, but not in order to form
such a style as constitutes the fabric of eloquence: each is an
elegant writer on his own subject, but the one is tame and the
other difficult. Varro Atacinus, in those writings in which he
has gained a name as the interpreter of another man's work,
is not indeed to be despised, but is not rich enough in diction
to increase the power of an orator. Ennius we may venerate, as
we venerate groves sacred from their antiquity; groves in which
gigantic and aged oaks affect us not so much by their beauty as
by the religious awe with which they inspire us.
There are other poets nearer to our own times, and better
suited to promote the object of which we are speaking. Ovid
allows his imagination to wanton, even in his heroic verse, and is
too much a lover of his own conceits; but deserves praise in
certain passages.
Cornelius Severus, though a better versifier
than poet, yet if he had finished his 'Sicilian War,' as has been
observed, in the manner of his first book, would justly have
claimed the second place in epic poetry. But an immature death
prevented his powers from being brought to perfection; yet his
youthful compositions display very great ability, and a devotion.
to a judicious mode of writing which was wonderful, especially
at such an age.
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I 1999
HISTORIANS AND ORATORS
IN
N HISTORY, however, I cannot allow superiority to the Greeks:
I should neither fear to match Sallust against Thucydides,
nor should Herodotus feel indignant if Livy is thought equal
to him, an author of wonderful agreeableness and remarkable
perspicuity in his narrative, and eloquent beyond expression in
his speeches, so admirably is all that is said in his pages adapted
to particular circumstances and characters; and as to the feel-
ings (especially those of the softer kind), no historian, to speak
but with mere justice, has succeeded better in describing them.
Hence, by his varied excellences, he has equaled in merit the
immortal rapidity of Sallust: for Servilius Nonianus seems to me
to have remarked with great happiness that they were rather
equal than like,—a writer to whom I have listened while he was
reading his own histories; he was a man of great ability, and
wrote in a sententious style, but with less conciseness than the
dignity of history demands. That dignity Bassus Aufidius, who
had rather the precedence of him in time, supported with admir-
able effect, at least in his books on the German war; in his own
style of composition he is everywhere deserving of praise, but
falls in some parts below his own powers.
But our orators may, above all, set the Latin eloquence on an
equality with that of Greece; for I would confidently match Cicero
against any one of the Greek orators.
Nor am I unaware how
great an opposition I am raising against myself, especially when
it is no part of my design at present to compare him with Demos-
thenes; for it is not at all necessary, since I think that Demos-
thenes ought to be read above all other orators, or rather learned
by heart. Of their great excellences I consider that most are sim-
ilar; their method, their order of partition, their manner of pre-
paring the minds of their audience, their mode of proof, and in a
word, everything that depends on invention. In their style of
speaking there is some difference: Demosthenes is more compact,
Cicero more verbose; Demosthenes argues more closely, Cicero
with a wider sweep; Demosthenes always attacks with a sharp-
pointed weapon, Cicero often with a weapon both sharp and
weighty; from Demosthenes nothing can be taken away, to Cicero
nothing can be added; in the one there is more study, in the other
more nature. In wit and pathos, certainly, two stimulants of
the mind which have great influence in oratory, we have the
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advantage.
Perhaps the custom of his country did not allow
Demosthenes pathetic perorations; but on the other hand, the
different genius of the Latin tongue did not grant to us those
beauties which the Attics so much admire. In the epistolary
style, indeed, though there are letters written by both, and in
that of dialogue in which Demosthenes wrote nothing, there is
no comparison. We must yield the superiority, however, on one
point: that Demosthenes lived before Cicero, and made him in a
great measure the able orator that he was; for Cicero appears
to me, after he devoted himself wholly to imitate the Greeks, to
have embodied in his style the energy of Demosthenes, the copi-
ousness of Plato, and the sweetness of Isocrates. Nor did he by
zealous effort attain only what was excellent in each of these, but
drew most or rather all excellences from himself, by the felici-
tous exuberance of his immortal genius. He does not, as Pindar
says, "collect rainwater, but overflows from a living fountain;"
having been so endowed at his birth, by the special kindness of
Providence, that in him eloquence might make trial of her whole
strength. For who can instruct a judge with more exactness,
or excite him with more vehemence? What orator had ever so
pleasing a manner? The very points which he wrests from you
by force, you would think that he gained from you by entreaty;
and when he carries away the judge by his impetuosity, he yet
does not seem to be hurried along, but imagines that he is fol-
lowing of his own accord. In all that he says, indeed, there is
so much authority that we are ashamed to dissent from him; he
does not bring to a cause the mere zeal of an advocate, but the
support of a witness or a judge: and at the same time, all these
excellences, a single one of which any other man could scarcely
attain with the utmost exertion, flow from him without effort;
and that stream of language, than which nothing is more pleas
ing to the ear, carries with it the appearance of the happiest
facility. It was not without justice, therefore, that he was said
by his contemporaries "to reign supreme in the courts"; and
he has gained such esteem among his posterity, that Cicero is
now less the name of a man than that of eloquence itself. To
him, therefore, let us look; let him be kept in view as our
great example; and let that student know that he has made some
progress, to whom Cicero has become an object of admiration.
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When the child has learned of his primary teachers to "read,
write, and cipher," and but little more, Quintilian would have him
placed in a rhetorical school at an earlier age than is usually thought
desirable. Here he would have him learn both music and geometry;
using the words in their comprehensive Greek sense, the former to
include the whole range of the liberal arts; the latter, every branch
of what then passed for physical science. Quintilian makes very light
of the fear that the powers of a growing lad will be too heavily
taxed by this extensive curriculum. Overstudy, in fairly vigorous
youth, seems to him almost an impossibility. At no period of life, he
truly says, is there so little suffering from fatigue; at none are
impressions received and facts and precepts acquired so easily.
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But all this broad and varied culture is only preliminary to the
special training which will be needful for the finished orator. That
part of the 'Institutio' (Books iv. to ix. inclusive) which treats of the
subject-matter and proper arrangement of a speech, and of elocution,
gestures, and the outward graces of oratory, is excessively technical
and minute; and Quintilian, with habitual humility before his idol,
almost apologizes in his last book for having ventured so far beyond
the bound observed by Cicero in his more popular essay 'De Oratore. '
Of the maxims laid down in this main body of the work, some are
now entirely obsolete; while others perhaps only appear trivial be-
cause they have so long been accepted without question. Quintilian
writes always with the same good sense, good temper, and carefully
chosen language; in a style which is as like Cicero's as reverent
imitation can make it. But then Cicero has a dozen styles-ranging
all the way from the closest argumentation to the lightest chaff -
and Quintilian has only one. He abounds in figures and illustrations;
but these disappoint the reader a little by being taken so much more
from other authors than from daily life and personal experience,
whereby they shed little light upon Roman scenes and the manners
of the time. Vivid pictures caught in passing, like that of the patri-
cian baby upon its purple rug, and the "smooth-faced" dandy, with
"hair fresh from the curling-tongs, and an unnaturally brilliant com-
plexion," are extremely rare in Quintilian. Now and then, however,
he estimates a talent, or sums up a reputation, in a few strong and
very apt words: as where he says that if Julius Cæsar had chosen
to devote himself wholly to the forum he could have had no rival
except Cicero, and that he spoke with the same fire with which he
fought; and of Cicero's friend Cælius, that he had much ability and a
pleasant wit, and was "a man worthy to have had better thoughts
and a longer life. ”
After the series of literary appreciations (Book x. ), which the his-
torian Gibbon said he had read many times, and never without both
pleasure and profit, Quintilian returns, at the end of his treatise,
to the moral qualifications of the perfect orator; and argues with
much cogency and skill for the original proposition, that a great
speaker must needs be a good man. When he descends to particu-
lars under this head, it becomes evident that his standards were not
always those which are held in our own time to be the highest. He
thinks that one may sometimes tell a lie, or even excuse a vice, to
promote a virtuous object; and he quite approves of endeavoring
ingeniously to divert the attention of a judge from inconvenient
aspects of the truth. He is an impenitent utilitarian, yet a high-
minded one; and the sophisms which he gravely permits are mostly
of the kind which are more apt, even now, to be condemned in theory
than scrupulously avoided in forensic and parliamentary practice.
XX-750
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The resurrection of the Institutes' at the Renaissance was due
to the ardent researches of the humanist, Gian Francesco Poggio
Bracciolini, in the convent library of St. Gall. He copied the whole
of the MS. with his own hand, and that copy is still preserved in the
Laurentian Library at Florence. The Editio Princeps of Quintilian
was printed in Rome in 1470; but he has been much less frequently
edited than most of the acknowledged Latin classics, and the only
complete and trustworthy English translation of his works is that
of the Rev. John Selby Watson, head-master of Stockwell Grammar
School (included in Bohn's Classical Library), from which the follow-
ing quotations have been made.
ON THE OBJECT AND SCOPE OF THE WORK
From the Institutes'
WⓇ
E ARE to form, then, the perfect orator, who cannot exist
unless as a good man; and we require in him, therefore,
not only consummate ability in speaking, but every excel-
lence of mind. For I cannot admit that the principles of moral
and honorable conduct are, as some have thought, to be left to
the philosophers; since the man who can duly sustain his charac-
ter as a citizen, who is qualified for the management of public
and private affairs, and who can govern communities by his
counsels, settle them by means of laws, and improve them by
judicial enactments, can certainly be nothing else but an orator.
Although I acknowledge, therefore, that I shall adopt some pre-
cepts which are contained in the writings of the philosophers,
yet I shall maintain, with justice and truth, that they belong to
my subject, and have a peculiar relation to the art of oratory.
If we have constantly occasion to discourse of justice, fortitude,
temperance, and other similar topics, so that a cause can scarce
be found in which some such discussion does not occur; and if
all such subjects are to be illustrated by invention and elocution,
can it be doubted that wherever power of intellect and copi-
ousness of language are required, the art of the orator is to
be there pre-eminently exerted? These two accomplishments, as
Cicero very plainly proves, were, as they are joined by nature, so
also united in practice, so that the same persons were thought
at once wise and eloquent. Subsequently the study divided it-
self, and through want of art it came to pass that the arts were
considered to be diverse: for as soon as the tongue became an
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11987
instrument of gain, and it was made a practice to abuse the gifts
of eloquence, those who were esteemed as eloquent abandoned
the care of morals; which, when thus neglected, became as it
were the prize of the less robust intellects. Some, disliking the
toil of cultivating eloquence, afterwards returned to the discipline
of the mind and the establishment of rules of life, retaining to
themselves the better part, if it could be divided into two: but
assuming at the same time the most presumptuous of titles, so
as to be called the only cultivators of wisdom,- a distinction
which neither the most eminent commanders, nor men who were
engaged with the utmost distinction in the direction of the great-
est affairs and in the management of whole commonwealths, ever
ventured to claim for themselves; for they preferred rather to
practice excellence of conduct than to profess it. That many of
the ancient professors of wisdom, indeed, both delivered virtuous
precepts, and even lived as they directed others to live, I will
readily admit; but in our own times the greatest vices have been
hid under this name in many of the professors: for they did
not strive, by virtue and study, to be esteemed philosophers; but
adopted a peculiarity of look, austerity of demeanor, and a dress
different from that of other men, as cloaks for the vilest immor-
alities.
But those topics which are claimed as peculiar to philosophy,
we all everywhere discuss; for what person (if he be not an
utterly corrupt character) does not sometimes speak of justice,
equity, and goodness? who, even among rustics, does not make
some inquiries about the causes of the operations of nature? As
to the proper use and distinction of words, it ought to be com-
mon to all who make their language at all an object of care.
Translation in Bohn's Library.
ON THE EARLY PRACTICE OF COMPOSITION
From the Institutes>
F
ROM boys perfection of style can neither be required nor
expected; but the fertile genius, fond of noble efforts, and
conceiving at times a more than reasonable degree of
ardor, is greatly to be preferred. Nor, if there be something of
exuberance in a pupil of that age, would it at all displease me.
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I would even have it an object with teachers themselves to
nourish minds that are still tender with more indulgence, and
to allow them to be satiated, as it were, with the milk of more
liberal studies. The body which mature age may afterwards
nerve, may for a time be somewhat plumper than seems desira-
ble,- hence there is hope of strength; while a child that has
the outline of all his limbs exact commonly portends weakness
in subsequent years. Let that age be daring; invent much, and
delight in what it invents, though it be often not sufficiently
severe and correct. The remedy for exuberance is easy: barren-
ness is incurable by any labor. That temper in boys will afford
me little hope, in which mental effort is prematurely restrained
by judgment. I like what is produced to be extremely copious,
profuse even beyond the limits of propriety. Years will greatly
reduce superfluity; judgment will smooth away much of it;
something will be worn off, as it were, by use, if there be but
metal from which something may be hewn and polished off,-
and such metal there will be if we do not make the plate too
thin at first, so that deep cutting may break it. That I hold
such opinions concerning this age, he will be less likely to won-
der who shall have read what Cicero says: "I wish fecundity in
a young man to give itself full scope. "
Above all, therefore, and especially for boys, a dry master is
to be avoided, not less than a dry soil, void of all moisture, for
plants that are still tender. Under the influence of such a tutor
they at once become dwarfish; looking, as it were, towards the
ground, and daring to aspire to nothing above every-day talk.
To them leanness is in place of health, and weakness instead
of judgment; and while they think it sufficient to be free from
fault, they fall into the fault of being free from all merit. Let
not even maturity itself, therefore, come too fast; let not the
must, while yet in the vat, become mellow; for so it will bear
years, and be improved by age.
――――――
Nor is it improper for me, moreover, to offer this admonition:
that the powers of boys sometimes sink under too great severity
in correction; for they despond, and grieve, and at last hate
their work, and what is most prejudicial, while they fear every-
thing they cease to attempt anything. There is a similar con-
viction in the minds of the cultivators of trees in the country,
who think that the knife must not be applied to tender shoots,
as they appear to shrink from the steel, and to be unable as yet
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11989
to bear an incision. A teacher ought therefore to be as agree-
able as possible, that remedies which are rough in their own
nature may be rendered soothing by gentleness of hand: he
ought to praise some parts of his pupils' performances, to toler
ate some, and to alter others, giving his reasons why the alter-
ations are made; and also to make some passages clearer by
adding something of his own. It will be of service at times,
also, for the master to dictate whole subjects himself, which the
pupil may imitate and admire for the present as his own. But
if a boy's composition were so faulty as not to admit of correc-
tion, I have found him benefited whenever I told him to write
on the same subject again, after it had received fresh treatment
from me, observing that he could do still better"; since study
is cheered by nothing more than hope. Different ages, however,
are to be corrected in different ways; and work is to be required
and amended according to the degree of the pupil's abilities.
used to say to boys when they attempted anything extravagant
or verbose, that "I was satisfied with it for the present; but that
a time would come when I should not allow them to produce
compositions of such a character. " Thus they were satisfied with
their abilities, and yet not led to form a wrong judgment.
I
Translation in Bohn's Library.
ON NATURE AND ART IN ORATORY
From the Institutes'
I
AM aware that it is also a question whether nature or learning
contributes most to oratory. This inquiry, however, has
no concern with the subject of my work, for a perfect orator
can be formed only with the aid of both; but I think it of great
importance how far we consider that there is a question on the
point. If you suppose either to be independent of the other,
nature will be able to do much without learning, but learning
will be of no avail without the assistance of nature.
But if they
be united in equal parts, I shall be inclined to think that when
both are but moderate, the influence of nature is nevertheless the
greater; but finished orators, I consider, owe more to learning
than to nature. Thus the best husbandman cannot improve soil
of no fertility, while from fertile ground something good will be
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produced even without the aid of the husbandman; yet if the
husbandman bestows his labor on rich land, he will produce
more effect than the goodness of the soil of itself. Had Praxite-
les attempted to hew a statue out of a millstone, I should have
preferred to it an unhewn block of Parian marble; but if that
statuary had fashioned the marble, more value would have ac-
crued to it from his workmanship than was in the marble itself.
In a word, nature is the material for learning; the one forms
and the other is formed. Art can do nothing without material;
material has its value even independent of art: but perfection of
art is of more consequence than perfection of material.
Translation in Bohn's Library.
ON EMBELLISHMENTS OF STYLE
From the Institutes >
I
COME now to the subject of embellishment; in which doubtless,
more than in any other department of oratory, the speaker
is apt to give play to his fancy. For the praise of such as
speak merely with correctness and perspicuity is but small; since
they are thought rather to have avoided faults than to have at-
tained any great excellence. Invention of matter is often common
to the orator and to the illiterate alike; arrangement may be con-
sidered to require but moderate learning, and whatever high arts
are used, are generally concealed, or they would cease to deserve
the name of art: and all these qualities are directed to the sup-
port of causes alone. But by polish and embellishment of style,
the orator recommends himself to his auditors in his proper
character; in his other efforts he courts the approbation of the
learned, in this the applause of the multitude. Cicero, in plead-
ing the cause of Cornelius, fought with arms that were not
only stout, but dazzling; nor would he merely by instructing the
judge, or by speaking to the purpose and in pure Latin and with
perspicuity, have caused the Roman people to testify their admi-
ration of him not only by acclamations, but even tumults of
applause. It was the sublimity, magnificence, splendor, and dig-
nity of his eloquence, which drew forth that thunder of approba-
tion. No such extraordinary commendation would have attended
on the speaker if his speech had been of an every-day character,
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11991
and similar to ordinary speeches. I even believe that his audi-
ence were insensible of what they were doing; and that they
gave their applause neither voluntarily nor with any exercise
of judgment, but that, being carried away by enthusiasm, and
unconscious of the place in which they stood, they burst forth
instinctively into such transports of delight.
But this grace of style may contribute in no small degree to
the success of a cause, for those who listen with pleasure are
both more attentive and more ready to believe: they are very
frequently captivated with pleasure, and sometimes hurried away
in admiration. Thus the glitter of a sword strikes something of
terror into the eyes; and thunder-storms themselves would not
alarm us so much as they do if it were their force only, and not
also their flame, that was dreaded. Cicero, accordingly, in one of
his letters to Brutus, makes with good reason the following re-
mark: "That eloquence which excites no admiration, I account as
nothing. " Aristotle also thinks that to excite admiration should
be one of our greatest objects.
But let the embellishment of our style (for I will repeat what
I said) be manly, noble, and chaste; let it not affect effeminate
delicacy, or a complexion counterfeited by paint, but let it glow
with genuine health and vigor. Such is the justice of this rule,
that though, in ornament, vices closely border on virtues, yet
those who adopt what is vicious disguise it with the name of
some virtue. Let no one of those, therefore, who indulge in a
vicious style, say that I am an enemy to those who speak with
good taste. I do not deny that judicious embellishment is an
excellence, but I do not allow that excellence to them. Should
I think a piece of land better cultivated, in which the owner
should show me lilies, and violets, and anemones, and fount-
ains playing, than one in which there is a plentiful harvest, or
vines laden with grapes? Should I prefer barren plane-trees,
or clipped myrtles, to elms embraced with vines, and fruitful
olive-trees? The rich may have such unproductive gratifications;
but what would they be if they had nothing else?
Shall not beauty, then, it may be asked, be regarded in the
planting of fruit-trees? Undoubtedly: I would arrange my trees
in a certain order, and observe regular intervals between them.
What is more beautiful than the well-known quincunx, which, in
whatever direction you view it, presents straight lines?
But a
regular arrangement of trees is of advantage to their growth, as
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each of them then attracts an equal portion of the juices of the
soil. The tops of my olive, that rise too high, I shall lop off
with my knife; it will spread itself more gracefully in a round
form, and will at the same time produce fruit from more branches.
The horse that has thin flanks is thought handsomer than one of
a different shape, and is also more swift. The athlete, whose
muscles have been developed by exercise, is pleasing to the
sight, and is so much the better prepared for the combat. True
beauty is never separate from utility. But to perceive this
requires but a moderate portion of sagacity.
What is of more importance to be observed, is, that the grace-
ful dress of our thoughts is still more becoming when varied
with the nature of the subject. Recurring to our first division,
we may remark that the same kind of embellishment will not be
alike suitable for demonstrative, deliberative, and judicial topics.
The first of these three kinds, adapted only for display, has no
object but the pleasure of the audience; and it accordingly dis-
closes all the resources of art, and all the pomp of language: it
is not intended to steal into the mind, or to secure a victory, but
strives only to gain applause and honor. Whatever, therefore,
may be attractive in conception, elegant in expression, pleas-
ing in figures, rich in metaphor, or polished in composition, the
orator-like a dealer in eloquence, as it were-will lay before
his audience for them to inspect, and almost to handle; for his
success entirely concerns his reputation, and not his cause. But
when a serious affair is in question, and there is a contest in
real earnest, anxiety for mere applause should be an orator's
last concern. Indeed, no speaker should be very solicitous about
his words where important interests are involved. I do not
mean to say that no ornaments of dress should be bestowed
on such subjects, but that they should be as it were more close-
fitting and severe, and thus display themselves less; and they
should be, above all, well adapted to the subject. In delibera-
tions the Senate expects something more elevated, the people
something more spirited; and in judicial pleadings, public and
capital causes require a more exact style than ordinary: but as
for private causes, and disputes about small sums, which are of
frequent occurrence,- simple language, the very reverse of that
which is studied, will be far more suitable for them. Would
not a speaker be ashamed to seek the recovery of a petty loan
in elaborate periods? or to display violent feeling in speaking
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11993
of a gutter? Or to perspire over a suit about taking back a
slave
But let us pursue our subject; and as the embellishment, as
well as the perspicuity of language, depends either on the choice
of single words, or on the combination of several together, let
us consider what care they require separately, and what in con-
junction. Though it has been justly said that perspicuity is bet-
ter promoted by proper words, and embellishment by such as are
metaphorical, we should feel certain, at the same time, that what-
ever is improper cannot embellish. But as several words often
signify the same thing (and are called synonyms), some of those
words will be more becoming, or sublime, or elegant, or pleas-
ing, or of better sound, than others; for as syllables formed of
the better sounding letters are clearer, so words formed of such
syllables are more melodious; and the fuller the sound of a word,
the more agreeable it is to the ear; and what the junction of
syllables effects, the junction of words effects also, proving that
some words sound better in combination than others.
But words are to be variously used. To subjects of a repuls-
ive character, words that are harsh in sound are the more suita-
ble. In general, however, the best words, considered singly, are
such as have the fullest or most agreeable sound. Elegant,
too, are always to be preferred to coarse words; and for mean
ones there is no place in polished style. Such as are of a strik-
ing or elevated character are to be estimated according to their
suitableness to our subject. That which appears sublime on one
occasion, may seem tumid on another; and what appears mean
when applied to a lofty subject, may adapt itself excellently to
one of an inferior nature. In an elevated style a low word is
noticeable and indeed a blemish; and in like manner a grand
or splendid word is unsuited to a plain style, and is in bad taste,
as being like a tumor on a smooth surface.
Translation in Bohn's Library.
ON THE HANDLING OF WITNESSES IN COURT
From the Institutes>
ST
INCE, then, there are two sorts of witnesses, those who appear
voluntarily and those whom the judge summons according
to law, . . . let us distinguish the duty of the pleader who
produces witnesses from that of him who refutes their testimony.
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He that produces a voluntary witness may know what he
has to say, and consequently appears to have the easier task in.
examining him. But even this undertaking requires penetration
and watchfulness: and we must be cautious that the witness may
not appear timid, or inconsistent, or foolish; for witnesses may be
confused or caught in snares by the advocates on the opposite
side, and when they are once caught, they do more harm than
they would have done service if they had been firm and resolute.
They should therefore be well exercised before they are brought
into court, and tried with various interrogatories such as are
likely to be put by an advocate on the other side. By this
means they will either be consistent in their statements, or if
they stumble at all, will be set upon their feet again, as it were,
by some opportune question from him by whom they were
brought forward. But even in regard to those who are consist-
ent in their evidence, we must be on our guard against treachery;
for they are often thrown in our way by the opposite party, and
after promising everything favorable, give answers of a contrary
character, and have the more weight against us when they do
not refute what is to our prejudice, but confess the truth of it.
We must inquire, therefore, what motives they appear to have
for declaring against our adversary: nor is it sufficient to know
that they were his enemies,- we must ascertain whether they
have ceased to be so; whether they may not seek reconciliation
with him at our expense; whether they have been bribed; or
whether they may not have changed their purpose from peniten-
tial feelings, precautions not only necessary in regard to wit-
nesses who know that which they intend to say is true, but far
more necessary in respect to those who promise to say what is
false. For they are more likely to repent, and their promises are
more to be suspected; and even if they keep to their word, it is
much more easy to refute them.
Of witnesses who are summoned to give evidence, some are
willing to hurt the accused party, and some unwilling; and the
accuser sometimes knows their inclination, and is sometimes
ignorant of it. Let us suppose for the moment that he knows
it; yet in either case, there is need of the greatest circumspection
on the part of him who examines them. If he find a witness
disposed to prejudice the accused, he ought to take the utmost
care that his disposition may not show itself; and he should not
question him at once on the point for decision, but proceed to it
circuitously, so that what the examiner chiefly wants him to say
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may appear to be wrung from him. Nor should he press him
with too many interrogatories, lest the witness, by replying freely
to everything, should invalidate his own credit; but he should
draw from him only so much as it may seem reasonable to elicit
from one witness. But in the case of one who will not speak the
truth unless against his will, the great happiness in an exam-
iner is, to extort from him what he does not wish to say; and
this cannot be done otherwise than by questions that seem wide
of the matter in hand: for to these he will give such answers
as he thinks will not hurt his party; and then, from various par-
ticulars which he may confess, he will be reduced to the inabil
ity of denying what he does not wish to acknowledge. For, as
in a set speech we commonly collect detached arguments, which
taken singly seem to bear but lightly on the accused, but by
the combination of which we succeed in proving the charge,—
so a witness of this kind must be questioned on many points.
regarding antecedent and subsequent circumstances, and concern-
ing places, times, persons, and other subjects: so that he may
be brought to give some answer; after which he must either
acknowledge what we wish, or contradict what he himself has
said. If we do not succeed in that object, it will be manifest
that he is unwilling to speak; and he must be led on to other
matters, that he may be caught tripping, if possible, on some
point, though it be unconnected with the cause. He may also be
detained an extraordinary time, that by saying everything, and
more than the case requires, in favor of the accused, he may
make himself suspected by the judge; and he will thus do no
less damage to the accused than if he had stated the truth
against him. But if (as we supposed in the second place) the
accuser be ignorant of the witness's disposition, he must sound
his inclination cautiously; interrogating him, as we say, step by
step, and leading him gradually to the answer which is necessary
to be elicited from him. But as there is sometimes such art in
witnesses, that they answer at first according to an examiner's
wish, in order to gain greater credit when they afterwards speak
in a different way, it is wise in an orator to dismiss a suspected
witness before he does any harm.
For advocates that appear on behalf of defendants, the exam-
ination of witnesses is in one respect more easy, and in another
more difficult, than for those who are on the side of the prosecu-
tor. It is more difficult on this account,—that they can seldom
or never know, before the trial, what the witness is going to say;
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and it is more easy, inasmuch as they know, when he comes to
be questioned, what he has said. Under the uncertainty, there-
fore, which there is in the matter, great caution and inquisition
is necessary to ascertain what sort of character he is that prose-
cutes the defendant; what feeling he entertains against him; and
from what motives: and all such matters are to be exposed and
set aside in our pleading, whether we would have the witnesses
appear to have been instigated by hatred, or by envy, or by desire
of favor, or by money. If the opposite party too produce but
few witnesses, we may reflect on their small number; if they are
extraordinarily numerous, we may insinuate that they are in con-
spiracy; if they are of humble rank, we may speak with contempt
of their meanness; if persons of consequence, we may deprecate
their influence. It will be of most effect, however, to expose
the motives on which the witnesses speak against the defend-
ant, which may be various, according to the nature of causes and
the parties engaged in them; for to such representations as I
have just mentioned, the opposite party can answer with common-
place arguments: as, when the witnesses are few and humble,
the prosecutor can boast of his simple honesty, in having sought.
for none but such as were acquainted with the case in hand;
while to commend a large number, or persons of consideration,
is a somewhat easier task. But occasionally, as we have to com-
mend witnesses, so we have to decry them.
As to what
we should say against the witnesses respectively, it can only be
drawn from their individual characters.
The manner of questioning witnesses remains to be consid-
ered. In this part of our duty, the principal point is to know
the witness well: for if he is timid, he may be frightened; if
foolish, misled; if irascible, provoked; if vain, flattered; if prolix,
drawn from the point. If, on the contrary, a witness is sensible
and self-possessed, he may be hastily dismissed as malicious and
obstinate; or he may be confuted, not with formal questioning,
but with a short address from the defendant's advocate; or he
may be put out of countenance, if opportunity offer, by a jest;
or if anything can be said against his moral character, his credit
may be overthrown by infamous charges. It has been advanta-
geous, on certain occasions, not to press too severely on men of
probity and modesty; for those who would have fought against
a determined assailant are softened by gentle treatment.
Translation in Bohn Library.
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ON ANCIENT AUTHORS
HOMER
As
S ARATUS, then, thinks that "we ought to begin with Jupi-
ter," so I think that I shall very properly commence with
Homer; for, as he says that "the might of rivers and the
courses of springs take their rise from the ocean," so has he
himself given a model and an origin for every species of elo-
quence. No man has excelled him in sublimity on great subjects,
no man in propriety on small ones. He is at once copious and
concise, pleasing and forcible; admirable at one time for exuber-
ance, and at another for brevity; eminent not only for poetic, but
for oratorical excellence. To say nothing of his laudatory, exhort-
atory, and consolatory speeches, does not the ninth book of the
Iliad, in which the deputation sent to Achilles is comprised, or
the contention between the chiefs in the first book, or the opinions.
delivered in the second, display all the arts of legal pleadings and
of councils? As to the feelings, as well the gentle as the more
impetuous, there is no one so unlearned as not to acknowledge
that he had them wholly under his control. Has he not at the
commencement of both his works-I will not say observed, but
established, the laws of oratorical exordia? for he renders his
reader well affected towards him by an invocation of the goddesses
who have been supposed to preside over poets; he makes him
attentive by setting forth the grandeur of his subjects, and desir-
ous of information by giving a brief and comprehensive view of
them. Who can state facts more concisely than he who relates
the death of Patroclus, or more forcibly than he who describes
the combat of the Curetes and Etolians? As to similes, amplifi-
cations, illustrations, digressions, indications, and proofs of things,
and all other modes of establishment and refutation, examples of
them are so numerous in him that nearly all those who have
written on the rules of rhetoric produce from him illustrations of
their precepts. What peroration of a speech will ever be thought
equal to the entreaties of Priam beseeching Achilles for the body
of his son? Does he not indeed, in words, thoughts, figures, and
the arrangement of his whole work, exceed the ordinary bounds.
of human genius? So much indeed that it requires a great man
even to follow his excellences, not with rivalry (for rivalry is
impossible) but with a just conception of them.
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VIRGIL AND OTHER ROMAN POETS
Α
CCORDINGLY, as Homer among the Greeks, so Virgil among
our own countrymen, presents the most auspicious begin-
ning; an author who of all poets of that class, Greek
or Roman, doubtless approaches nearest to Homer. I will here
repeat the very words which when I was a young man I heard
from Domitius Afer, who, when I asked him what poet he
thought came nearest to Homer, replied, "Virgil is second to
him, but nearer the first than the third. Indeed, though we must
give place to the divine and immortal genius of Homer, yet in
Virgil there is more care and exactness, for the very reason that
he was obliged to take more pains; and for what we lose in the
higher qualities we perhaps compensate in equability of excel-
lence. "
-
All our other poets will follow at a great distance. Macer
and Lucretius should be read indeed, but not in order to form
such a style as constitutes the fabric of eloquence: each is an
elegant writer on his own subject, but the one is tame and the
other difficult. Varro Atacinus, in those writings in which he
has gained a name as the interpreter of another man's work,
is not indeed to be despised, but is not rich enough in diction
to increase the power of an orator. Ennius we may venerate, as
we venerate groves sacred from their antiquity; groves in which
gigantic and aged oaks affect us not so much by their beauty as
by the religious awe with which they inspire us.
There are other poets nearer to our own times, and better
suited to promote the object of which we are speaking. Ovid
allows his imagination to wanton, even in his heroic verse, and is
too much a lover of his own conceits; but deserves praise in
certain passages.
Cornelius Severus, though a better versifier
than poet, yet if he had finished his 'Sicilian War,' as has been
observed, in the manner of his first book, would justly have
claimed the second place in epic poetry. But an immature death
prevented his powers from being brought to perfection; yet his
youthful compositions display very great ability, and a devotion.
to a judicious mode of writing which was wonderful, especially
at such an age.
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HISTORIANS AND ORATORS
IN
N HISTORY, however, I cannot allow superiority to the Greeks:
I should neither fear to match Sallust against Thucydides,
nor should Herodotus feel indignant if Livy is thought equal
to him, an author of wonderful agreeableness and remarkable
perspicuity in his narrative, and eloquent beyond expression in
his speeches, so admirably is all that is said in his pages adapted
to particular circumstances and characters; and as to the feel-
ings (especially those of the softer kind), no historian, to speak
but with mere justice, has succeeded better in describing them.
Hence, by his varied excellences, he has equaled in merit the
immortal rapidity of Sallust: for Servilius Nonianus seems to me
to have remarked with great happiness that they were rather
equal than like,—a writer to whom I have listened while he was
reading his own histories; he was a man of great ability, and
wrote in a sententious style, but with less conciseness than the
dignity of history demands. That dignity Bassus Aufidius, who
had rather the precedence of him in time, supported with admir-
able effect, at least in his books on the German war; in his own
style of composition he is everywhere deserving of praise, but
falls in some parts below his own powers.
But our orators may, above all, set the Latin eloquence on an
equality with that of Greece; for I would confidently match Cicero
against any one of the Greek orators.
Nor am I unaware how
great an opposition I am raising against myself, especially when
it is no part of my design at present to compare him with Demos-
thenes; for it is not at all necessary, since I think that Demos-
thenes ought to be read above all other orators, or rather learned
by heart. Of their great excellences I consider that most are sim-
ilar; their method, their order of partition, their manner of pre-
paring the minds of their audience, their mode of proof, and in a
word, everything that depends on invention. In their style of
speaking there is some difference: Demosthenes is more compact,
Cicero more verbose; Demosthenes argues more closely, Cicero
with a wider sweep; Demosthenes always attacks with a sharp-
pointed weapon, Cicero often with a weapon both sharp and
weighty; from Demosthenes nothing can be taken away, to Cicero
nothing can be added; in the one there is more study, in the other
more nature. In wit and pathos, certainly, two stimulants of
the mind which have great influence in oratory, we have the
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advantage.
Perhaps the custom of his country did not allow
Demosthenes pathetic perorations; but on the other hand, the
different genius of the Latin tongue did not grant to us those
beauties which the Attics so much admire. In the epistolary
style, indeed, though there are letters written by both, and in
that of dialogue in which Demosthenes wrote nothing, there is
no comparison. We must yield the superiority, however, on one
point: that Demosthenes lived before Cicero, and made him in a
great measure the able orator that he was; for Cicero appears
to me, after he devoted himself wholly to imitate the Greeks, to
have embodied in his style the energy of Demosthenes, the copi-
ousness of Plato, and the sweetness of Isocrates. Nor did he by
zealous effort attain only what was excellent in each of these, but
drew most or rather all excellences from himself, by the felici-
tous exuberance of his immortal genius. He does not, as Pindar
says, "collect rainwater, but overflows from a living fountain;"
having been so endowed at his birth, by the special kindness of
Providence, that in him eloquence might make trial of her whole
strength. For who can instruct a judge with more exactness,
or excite him with more vehemence? What orator had ever so
pleasing a manner? The very points which he wrests from you
by force, you would think that he gained from you by entreaty;
and when he carries away the judge by his impetuosity, he yet
does not seem to be hurried along, but imagines that he is fol-
lowing of his own accord. In all that he says, indeed, there is
so much authority that we are ashamed to dissent from him; he
does not bring to a cause the mere zeal of an advocate, but the
support of a witness or a judge: and at the same time, all these
excellences, a single one of which any other man could scarcely
attain with the utmost exertion, flow from him without effort;
and that stream of language, than which nothing is more pleas
ing to the ear, carries with it the appearance of the happiest
facility. It was not without justice, therefore, that he was said
by his contemporaries "to reign supreme in the courts"; and
he has gained such esteem among his posterity, that Cicero is
now less the name of a man than that of eloquence itself. To
him, therefore, let us look; let him be kept in view as our
great example; and let that student know that he has made some
progress, to whom Cicero has become an object of admiration.
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