It is also entitled BRUTUS; a work replete with the
soundest criticism, and by its variety and elegance always charming.
soundest criticism, and by its variety and elegance always charming.
Tacitus
_ _De Claris
Oratoribus_, s. 83.
Section XXVI.
[a] For an account of Caius Gracchus, see s. xviii. note [d].
[b] For Lucius Crassus, see s. xviii. note [f].
[c] The false taste of Mæcenas has been noted by the poets and critics
who flourished after his death. His affected prettinesses are compared
to the prim curls, in which women and effeminate men tricked out their
hair. Seneca, who was himself tainted with affectation, has left a
beautiful epistle on the very question that makes the main subject of
the present Dialogue. He points out the causes of the corrupt taste
that debauched the eloquence of those times and imputes the mischief
to the degeneracy of the manners. Whatever the man was, such was the
orator. _Talis oratio quails vita. _ When ancient discipline relaxed,
luxury succeeded, and language became delicate, brilliant, spangled
with conceits. Simplicity was laid aside, and quaint expressions grew
into fashion. Does the mind sink into languor, the body moves
reluctantly. Is the man softened into effeminacy, you see it in his
gait. Is he quick and eager, he walks with alacrity. The powers of the
understanding are affected in the same manner. Having laid this down
as his principle, Seneca proceeds to describe the soft delicacy of
Mæcenas, and he finds the same vice in his phraseology. He cites a
number of the lady-like terms, which the great patron of letters
considered as exquisite beauties. In all this, says he, we see the man
who walked the streets of Rome in his open and flowing robe. _Nonne
statim, cum hæc legis, occurrit hunc esse, qui solutis tunicis in urbe
semper incesserit? _ Seneca, epist. cxiv. What he has said of Mæcenas
is perfectly just. The fopperies of that celebrated minister are in
this Dialogue called CALAMISTRI; an allusion borrowed from Cicero,
who praises the beautiful simplicity of _Cæsar's Commentaries_, and
says there were men of a vicious taste, who wanted to apply the
_curling-iron_, that is, to introduce the glitter of conceit and
antithesis in the place of truth and nature. _Commentarios quosdam
scripsit rerum suarum, valde quidem probandos: nudi enim sunt, et
recti, et venusti, omni ornatu orationis, tanquam veste, detracto.
Ineptis gratum fortasse fecit, qui volunt illa_ CALAMISTRIS _inurere. _
Cicero _De Claris Orat. _ s. 262.
[d] Who Gallio was, is not clearly settled by the commentators.
Quintilian, lib. iii. cap. 1, makes mention of Gallio, who wrote a
treatise of eloquence; and in the _Annals_, b. xv. s. 73, we find
Junius Gallio, the brother of Seneca; but whether either of them is
the person here intended, remains uncertain. Whoever he was, his
eloquence was a tinkling cymbal. Quintilian says of such orators, who
are all inflated, tumid, corrupt, and jingling, that their malady does
not proceed from a full and rich constitution, but from mere
infirmity; for,
As in bodies, thus in souls we find,
What wants in blood and spirits, swell'd with wind.
_Nam tumidos, et corruptos, et tinnulos, et quocumque alio cacozeliæ
genere peccantes, certum habeo, non virium, sed infirmitatis vitio
laborare: ut corpora non robore, sed valetudine inflantur. _ Quintil.
lib. ii. cap. 3.
[e] Pliny declares, without ceremony, that he was ashamed of the
corrupt effeminate style that disgraced the courts of justice, and
made him think of withdrawing from the forum. He calls it sing-song,
and says that nothing but musical instruments could be added. _Pudet
referre, quæ quam fractâ pronunciatione dicantur; quibus quam teneris
clamoribus excipiantur. Plausus tantum, ac sola cymbala et tympana,
illis canticis desunt. _ Pliny, lib. ii. epist. 14. The chief aim of
Persius in his first satire is levelled against the bad poets of his
time, and also the spurious orators, who enervated their eloquence by
antithesis, far-fetched metaphors, and points of wit, delivered with
the softest tone of voice, and ridiculous airs of affectation.
Fur es, ait Pedio: Pedius quid? Crimina rasis
Librat in antithetis; doctus posuisse figuras
Laudatur. Bellum hoc! hoc bellum! an Romule ceves?
Men' moveat quippe, et, cantet si naufragus, assem
Protulerim? Cantas, cum fractâ te in trabe pictum
Ex humero portes?
PERSIUS, sat. i. ver. 85.
Theft, says the accuser, to thy charge I lay,
O Pedius. What does gentle Pedius say?
Studious to please the genius of the times,
With periods, points, and tropes, he slurs his crimes.
He lards with flourishes his long harangue:
'Tis fine, say'st thou. What! to be prais'd, and hang?
Effeminate Roman! shall such stuff prevail,
To tickle thee, and make thee wag thy tail?
Say, should a shipwreck'd sailor sing his woe,
Wouldst thou be mov'd to pity, and bestow
An alms? What's more prepost'rous than to see
A merry beggar? wit in misery!
DRYDEN'S PERSIUS.
[f] For Cassius Severus, see s. xix. note [a].
[g] Gabinianus was a teacher of rhetoric in the reign of Vespasian.
Eusebius, in his Chronicon, eighth of Vespasian, says that Gabinianus,
a celebrated rhetorician, was a teacher of eloquence in Gaul.
_Gabinianus, celeberrimi nominis rhetor, in Galliâ docuit. _ His
admirers deemed him another Cicero, and, after him, all such orators
were called CICERONES GABISTIANI.
Section XXVIII.
[a] In order to brand and stigmatise the Roman matrons who committed
the care of their infant children to hired nurses, Tacitus observes,
that no such custom was known among the savages of Germany. See
_Manners of the Germans_, s. xx. See also Quintilian, on the subject
of education, lib. i. cap. 2 and 3.
[b] Cornelia, the mother of the two Gracchi, was daughter to the first
Scipio Africanus. The sons, Quintilian says, owed much of their
eloquence to the care and institutions of their mother, whose taste
and learning were fully displayed in her letters, which were then in
the hands of the public. _Nam Gracchorum eloquentiæ multum contulisse
accepimus Corneliam matrem, cujus doctissimus sermo in posteros quoque
est epistolis traditus. _ Quint. lib. i. cap. 1. To the same effect
Cicero: _Fuit Gracchus diligentiâ Corneliæ matris a puero doctus, et
Græcis litteris eruditus. _ _De Claris Orat. _ s. 104. Again, Cicero says,
We have read the letters of Cornelia, the mother of the Gracchi, from
which it appears, that the sons were educated, not so much in the lap
of their mother, as her conversation. _Legimus epistolas Corneliæ,
matris Gracchorum: apparet filios non tam in gremio educatos, quam in
sermone matris. _ _De Claris Orat. _ s. 211. Pliny the elder informs us
that a statue was erected to her memory, though Cato the Censor
declaimed against shewing so much honour to women, even in the
provinces. But with all his vehemence he could not prevent it in the
city of Rome. Pliny, lib. xxxiv. s. 14.
[c] For Aurelia, the mother of Julius Cæsar, see _The Genealogical
Table of the Cæsars_, No. 2.
[d] For Atia, the mother of Augustus, see _Genealogical Table of the
Cæsars_, No. 14. As another instance of maternal care, Tacitus informs
us that Julia Procilla superintended the education of her son. See
_Life of Agricola_, s. iv.
Section XXIX.
[a] Quintilian thinks the first elements of education so highly
material, that he has two long chapters on the subject. He requires,
in the first place, that the language of the nurses should be pure and
correct. Their manners are of great importance, but, he adds, let them
speak with propriety. It is to them that the infant first attends; he
listens, and endeavours to imitate them. The first colour, imbibed by
yarn or thread, is sure to last. What is bad, generally adheres
tenaciously. Let the child, therefore, not learn in his infancy, what
he must afterwards take pains to unlearn. _Ante omnia, ne sit vitiosus
sermo nutricibus. Et morum quidem in his haud dubiè prior ratio est;
rectè tamen etiam loquantur. Has primùm audiet puer; harum verba
effingere imitando conabitur. Et naturâ tenacissimi sumus eorum, quæ
rudibus annis percipimus; nec lanarum colores, quibus simplex ille
candor mutatus est, elui possunt. Et hæc ipsa magis pertinaciter
hærent, quæ deteriora sunt. Non assuescat ergo, ne dum infans quidem
est, sermoni, qui dediscendus est. _ Quint. lib. i. cap. 1. Plutarch
has a long discourse on the breeding of children, in which all
mistakes are pointed out, and the best rules enforced with great
acuteness of observation.
[b] Juvenal has one entire satire on the subject of education:
Nil dictu fœdum visuque hæc limina tangat,
Intra quæ puer est. Procul hinc, procul inde puellæ
Lenonum, et cantus pernoctantis parasiti.
Maxima debetur puero reverentia.
SAT. xiv. ver. 44.
Suffer no lewdness, no indecent speech,
Th' apartment of the tender youth to reach.
Far be from thence the glutton parasite,
Who sings his drunken catches all the night.
Boys from their parents may this rev'rence claim.
DRYDEN'S JUVENAL.
[c] The rage of the Romans for the diversions of the theatre, and
public spectacles of every kind, is often mentioned by Horace,
Juvenal, and other writers under the emperors. Seneca says, that, at
one time, three ways were wanted to as many different theatres:
_tribus eodem tempore theatris viæ postulantur_. And again, the most
illustrious of the Roman youth are no better than slaves to the
pantomimic performers. _Ostendam nobilissimos juvenes mancipia
pantomimorum. _ Epist. 47. It was for this reason that Petronius lays
it down as a rule to be observed by the young student, never to list
himself in the parties and factions of the theatre:
----Neve plausor in scenâ
Sedeat redemptus, histrioniæ addictus.
It is well known, that theatrical parties distracted the Roman
citizens, and rose almost to phrensy. They were distinguished by the
_green_ and the _blue_, Caligula, as we read in Suetonius, attached
himself to the former, and was so fond of the charioteers, who wore
green liveries, that he lived for a considerable time in the stables,
where their horses were kept. _Prasinæ factioni ita addictus et
deditus, ut cœnaret in stabulo assidue et maneret. Life of Caligula_,
s. 55. Montesquieu reckons such party-divisions among the causes that
wrought the downfall of the empire. Constantinople, he says, was split
into two factions, the _green_ and the _blue_, which owed their origin
to the inclination of the people to favour one set of charioteers in
the circus rather than another. These two parties raged in every city
throughout the empire, and their fury rose in proportion to the number
of inhabitants. Justinian favoured the _blues_, who became so elate
with pride, that they trampled on the laws. All ties of friendship,
all natural affection, and all relative duties, were extinguished.
Whole families were destroyed; and the empire was a scene of anarchy
and wild contention. He, who felt himself capable of the most
atrocious deeds, declared himself a BLUE, and the GREENS were
massacred with impunity. _Montesquieu, Grandeur et Décadence des
Romains_, chap. xx.
[d] Quintilian, in his tenth book, chap. 1. has given a full account
of the best Greek and Roman poets, orators, and historians; and in b.
ii. ch. 6, he draws up a regular scheme for the young student to
pursue in his course of reading. There are, he says, two rocks, on
which they may split. The first, by being led by some fond admirer of
antiquity to set too high a value on the manner of Cato and the
Gracchi; for, in that commerce, they will be in danger of growing dry,
harsh, and rugged. The strong conception of those men will be beyond
the reach of tender minds. Their style, indeed, may be copied; and the
youth may flatter himself, when he has contracted the rust of
antiquity, that he resembles the illustrious orators of a former age.
On the other hand, the florid decorations and false glitter of the
moderns may have a secret charm, the more dangerous, and seductive, as
the petty flourishes of our new way of writing may prove acceptable to
the youthful mind. _Duo autem genera maximè cavenda pueris puto: unum,
ne quis eos antiquitatis nimius admirator in Gracchorum, Catonisque,
et aliorum similium lectione durescere velit. Erunt enim horridi atque
jejuni. Nam neque vim eorum adhuc intellectu consequentur; et
elocutione, quæ tum sine dubio erat optima, sed nostris temporibus
aliena, contenti, quod est pessimum, similes sibi magnis viris
videbuntur. Alterum, quod huic diversum est, ne recentis hujus
lasciviæ flosculis capti, voluptate quâdam pravâ deliniantur, ut
prædulce illud genus, et puerilibus ingeniis hoc gratius, quo propius
est, adament. _ Such was the doctrine of Quintilian. His practice, we
may be sure, was consonant to his own rules. Under such a master the
youth of Rome might be initiated in science, and formed to a just
taste for eloquence and legitimate composition; but one man was not
equal to the task. The rhetoricians and pedagogues of the age
preferred the novelty and meretricious ornaments of the style then in
vogue.
Section XXX.
[a] This is the treatise, or history of the most eminent orators (DE
CLARIS ORATORIBUS), which has been so often cited in the course of
these notes.
It is also entitled BRUTUS; a work replete with the
soundest criticism, and by its variety and elegance always charming.
[b] Quintus Mucius Scævola was the great lawyer of his time. Cicero
draws a comparison between him and Crassus. They were both engaged, on
opposite sides, in a cause before the CENTUMVIRI. Crassus proved
himself the best lawyer among the orators of that day, and Scævola the
most eloquent of the lawyers. _Ut eloquentium juris peritissimus
Crassus; jurisperitorum eloquentissimus Scævola putaretur. _ _De Claris
Orat. _ s. 145. During the consulship of Sylla, A. U. C. 666, Cicero
being then in the nineteenth year of his age, and wishing to acquire a
competent knowledge of the principles of jurisprudence, attached
himself to Mucius Scævola, who did not undertake the task of
instructing pupils, but, by conversing freely with all who consulted
him, gave a fair opportunity to those who thirsted after knowledge.
_Ego autem juris civilis studio, multum operæ dabam Q. Scævolæ, qui
quamquam nemini se ad docendum dabat, tamen, consulentibus
respondendo, studiosos audiendi docebat. _ _De Claris Orat. _ s. 306.
[c] Philo was a leading philosopher of the academic school. To avoid
the fury of Mithridates, who waged a long war with the Romans, he fled
from Athens, and, with some of the most eminent of his
fellow-citizens, repaired to Rome. Cicero was struck with his
philosophy, and became his pupil. _Cùm princeps academiæ Philo, cum
Atheniensium optimatibus, Mithridatico bello, domo profugisset,
Romamque venisset, totum ei me tradidi, admirabili quodam ad
philosophiam studio concitatus. _ _De Claris Orat. _ s. 306.
Cicero adds, that he gave board and lodging, at his own house, to
Diodotus the stoic, and, under that master, employed himself in
various branches of literature, but particularly in the study of
logic, which may be considered as a mode of eloquence, contracted,
close, and nervous. _Eram cum stoico Diodoto: qui cum habitavisset
apud me, mecumque vixisset, nuper est domi meæ mortuus. A quo, cum in
aliis rebus, tum studiosissime in dialecticâ exercebar, quæ quasi
contracta et adstricta eloquentia putanda est. _ _De Claris Orat. _ s.
309.
[d] Cicero gives an account of his travels, which he undertook, after
having employed two years in the business of the forum, where he
gained an early reputation. At Athens, he passed six months with
Antiochus, the principal philosopher of the old academy, and, under
the direction of that able master, resumed those abstract
speculations which he had cultivated from his earliest youth. Nor did
he neglect his rhetorical exercises. In that pursuit, he was assisted
by Demetrius, the Syrian, who was allowed to be a skilful preceptor.
He passed from Greece into Asia; and, in the course of his travels
through that country, he lived in constant habits with Menippus of
Stratonica; a man eminent for his learning; who, if to be neither
frivolous, nor unintelligible, is the character of Attic eloquence,
might fairly be called a disciple of that school. He met with many
other professors of rhetoric, such as Dionysius of Magnesia, Æschylus
of Cnidos, and Zenocles of Adramytus; but not content with their
assistance, he went to Rhodes, and renewed his friendship with MOLO,
whom he had heard at Rome, and knew to be an able pleader in real
causes; a fine writer, and a judicious critic, who could, with a just
discernment of the beauties as well as the faults of a composition,
point out the road to excellence, and improve the taste of his
scholars. In his attention to the Roman orator, the point he aimed at
(Cicero will not say that he succeeded) was, to lop away superfluous
branches, and confine within its proper channel a stream of
eloquence, too apt to swell above all bounds, and overflow its banks.
After two years thus spent in the pursuit of knowledge, and
improvement in his oratorical profession, Cicero returned to Rome
almost a new man. _Is (MOLO) dedit operam (si modo id consequi potuit)
ut nimis redundantes nos, et superfluentes juvenili quadam dicendi
impunitate, et licentiâ, reprimeret, et quasi extra ripas diffluentes
cœrceret. Ita recepi me biennio post, non modo exercitatior, sed propè
mutatus. _ See _De Claris Oratoribus_, s. 315 and 316.
[e] Cicero is here said to have been a complete master of philosophy,
which, according to Quintilian, was divided into three branches,
namely, physics, ethics, and logic. It has been mentioned in this
section, note [c], that Cicero called logic a contracted and close
mode of eloquence. That observation is fully explained by Quintilian.
Speaking of logic, the use, he says, of that contentious art, consists
in just definition, which presents to the mind the precise idea; and
in nice discrimination, which marks the essential difference of
things. It is this faculty that throws a sudden light on every
difficult question, removes all ambiguity, clears up what was
doubtful, divides, develops, and separates, and then collects the
argument to a point. But the orator must not be too fond of this close
combat. The minute attention, which logic requires, will exclude what
is of higher value; while it aims at precision, the vigour of the mind
is lost in subtlety. We often see men, who argue with wonderful craft;
but, when petty controversy will no longer serve their purpose, we see
the same men without warmth or energy, cold, languid, and unequal to
the conflict; like those little animals, which are brisk in narrow
places, and by their agility baffle their pursuers, but in the open
field are soon overpowered. _Hæc pars dialectica, sive illam dicere
malimus disputatricem, ut est utilis sæpe et finitionibus, et
comprehensionibus, et separandis quæ sunt differentia, et resolvendâ
ambiguitate, et distinguendo, dividendo, illiciendo, implicando; ita
si totum sibi vindicaverit in foro certamen, obstabit melioribus, et
sectas ad tenuitatem vires ipsâ subtilitate consumet. Itaque reperias
quosdam in disputando mirè callidos; cum ab illâ verò cavillatione
discesserint, non magis sufficere in aliquo graviori actu, quam parva
quædam animalia, quæ in angustiis mobilia, campo deprehenduntur. _
Quint. lib. xii. cap. 2.
Ethics, or moral philosophy, the same great critic holds to be
indispensably requisite. _Jam quidem pars illa moralis, quæ dicitur
ethice, certè tota oratori est accommodata. Nam in tantâ causarum
varietate, nulla ferè dici potest, cujus non parte aliquâ tractatus
æqui et boni reperiantur. _ Lib. xii. Unless the mind be enriched with
a store of knowledge, there may he loquacity, but nothing that
deserves the name of oratory. Eloquence, says Lord Bolingbroke, must
flow like a stream that is fed by an abundant spring, and not spout
forth a little frothy stream, on some gaudy day, and remain dry for
the rest of the year. See _Spirit of Patriotism_.
With regard to natural philosophy, Quintilian has a sentiment so truly
sublime, that to omit it in this place would look like insensibility.
If, says he, the universe is conducted by a superintending Providence,
it follows that good men should govern the nations of the earth. And
if the soul of man is of celestial origin, it is evident that we
should tread in the paths of virtue, all aspiring to our native
source, not slaves to passion, and the pleasures of the world. These
are important topics; they often occur to the public orator, and
demand all his eloquence. _Nam si regitur providentiâ mundus,
administranda certè bonis viris erit respublica. Si divina nostris
animis origo, tendendum ad virtutem, nec voluptatibus terreni corporis
serviendum. An hoc non frequenter tractabit orator? _ Quint. lib. xii.
cap. 2.
Section XXXI.
[a] Quintilian, as well as Seneca, has left a collection of
school-declamations, but he has given his opinion of all such
performances. They are mere imitation, and, by consequence, have not
the force and spirit which a real cause inspires. In public harangues,
the subject is founded in reality; in declamations, all is fiction.
_Omnis imitatio ficta est; quo fit ut minus sanguinis ac virium
declamationes habeant, quam orationes; quod in his vera, in illis
assimulata materia est. _ Lib. x. cap. 2. Petronius has given a lively
description of the rhetoricians of his time. The consequence, he says,
of their turgid style, and the pompous swell of sounding periods, has
ever been the same: when their scholars enter the forum, they look as
if they were transported into a new world. The teachers of rhetoric
have been the bane of all true eloquence. _Hæc ipsa tolerabilia
essent, si ad eloquentiam ituris viam facerent: nunc et rerum tumore,
et sententiarum vanissimo strepitu, hoc tantum proficiunt, ut quum in
forum venerint, putent se in alium terrarum orbem delatos. Pace vestrâ
liceat dixisse, primi omnium eloquentiam perdidistis. _ Petron. _in
Satyrico_, cap. 1 and 2. That gay writer, who passed his days in
luxury and voluptuous pleasures (see his character, _Annals_, b. xvi.
s. 18), was, amidst all his dissipation, a man of learning, and, at
intervals, of deep reflection. He knew the value of true philosophy,
and, therefore, directs the young orator to the Socratic school, and
to that plan of education which we have before us in the present
Dialogue. He bids his scholar begin with Homer, and there drink deep
of the Pierian spring: after that, he recommends the moral system;
and, when his mind is thus enlarged, he allows him to wield the arms
of Demosthenes.
----Det primos versibus annos,
Mæoniumque bibat felici pectore fontem:
Mox et Socratico plenus grege mutet habenas
Liber, et ingentis quatiat Demosthenis arma.
[b] Cicero has left a book, entitled TOPICA, in which he treats at
large of the method of finding proper arguments. This, he observes,
was executed by Aristotle, whom he pronounces the great master both of
invention and judgement. _Cum omnis ratio diligens disserendi duas
habeat partes; unam INVENIENDI, alteram JUDICANDI; utriusque princeps,
ut mihi quidem videtur, Aristoteles fuit. _ Ciceronis _Topica_, s. vi.
The sources from which arguments may be drawn, are called LOCI
COMMUNES, COMMON PLACES. To supply the orator with ample materials,
and to render him copious on every subject, was the design of the
Greek preceptor, and for that purpose he gave his TOPICA. _Aristoteles
adolescentes, non ad philosophorum morem tenuiter disserendi, sed ad
copiam rhetorum in utramque partem, ut ornatius et uberius dici
posset, exercuit; idemque locos (sic enim appellat) quasi argumentorum
notas tradidit, unde omnis in utramque partem traheretur oratio. _
Cicero, _De Oratore_. Aristotle was the most eminent of Plato's
scholars: he retired to a _gymnasium_, or place of exercise, in the
neighbourhood of Athens, called the _Lyceum_, where, from a custom,
which he and his followers observed, of discussing points of
philosophy, as they walked in the _porticos_ of the place, they
obtained the name of Peripatetics, or the walking philosophers. See
Middleton's _Life of Cicero_, vol. ii. p. 537, 4to edit.
[c] The academic sect derived its origin from Socrates, and its name
from a celebrated _gymnasium_, or place of exercise, in the suburbs of
Athens, called the _Academy_, after _Ecademus_, who possessed it in
the time of the _Tyndaridæ_. It was afterwards purchased, and
dedicated to the public, for the convenience of walks and exercises
for the citizens of Athens. It was gradually improved with
plantations, groves and porticos for the particular use of the
professors or masters of the academic school; where several of them
are said to have spent their lives, and to have resided so strictly,
as scarce ever to have come within the city. See Middleton's _Life of
Cicero_, 4to edit. vol. ii. p. 536. Plato, and his followers,
continued to reside in the porticos of the academy. They chose
----The green retreats
Of Academus, and the thymy vale,
Where, oft inchanted with Socratic sounds,
Ilyssus pure devolv'd his tuneful stream
In gentle murmurs.
AKENSIDE, PLEAS. OF IMAG.
For dexterity in argument, the orator is referred to this school, for
the reason given by Quintilian, who says that the custom of supporting
an argument on either side of the question, approaches nearest to the
orator's practice in forensic causes. _Academiam quidam utilissimam
credunt, quod mos in utramque partem disserendi ad exercitationem
forensium causarum proximè accedat. _ Lib. xii. cap. 2 Quintilian
assures us that we are indebted to the academic philosophy for the
ablest orators, and it is to that school that Horace sends his poet
for instruction:
Rem tibi Socraticæ poterunt ostendere chartæ,
Verbaque provisam rem non invita sequentur.
ARS POET. ver. 310.
Good sense, that fountain of the muse's art,
Let the rich page of Socrates impart;
And if the mind with clear conception glow,
The willing words in just expressions flow.
FRANCIS'S HORACE.
[d] Epicurus made frequent use of the rhetorical figure called
exclamation; and in his life, by Diogenes Lærtius, we find a variety
of instances. It is for that manner of giving animation to a discourse
that Epicurus is mentioned in the Dialogue. For the rest, Quintilian
tells us what to think of him. Epicurus, he says, dismisses the orator
from his school, since he advises his pupil to pay no regard to
science or to method. _Epicurus imprimis nos a se ipse dimittit, qui
fugere omnem disciplinam navigatione quam velocissima jubet. _ Lib.
xii. cap. 2. Metrodorus was the favourite disciple of Epicurus.
Brotier says that a statue of the master and the scholar, with their
heads joined together, was found at Rome in the year 1743.
It is worthy of notice, that except the stoics, who, without aiming at
elegance of language, argued closely and with vigour, Quintilian
proscribes the remaining sects of philosophers. Aristippus, he says,
placed his _summum bonum_ in bodily pleasure, and therefore could be
no friend to the strict regimen of the accomplished orator. Much less
could Pyrrho be of use, since he doubted whether there was any such
thing in existence as the judges before whom the cause must be
pleaded. To him the party accused, and the senate, were alike
non-entities. _Neque vero Aristippus, summum in voluptate corpora
bonum ponens, ad hunc nos laborem adhortetur. Pyrrho quidem, quas in
hoc opere partes habere potest? cui judices esse apud quos verba
faciat, et reum pro quo loquatur, et senatum, in quo sit dicenda
sententia, non liquebat. _ Quintil. lib. xii. cap. 2.
Section XXXII.
[a] We are told by Quintilian, that Demosthenes, the great orator of
Greece, was an assiduous hearer of Plato: _Constat Demosthenem,
principem omnium Græciæ oratorum, dedisse operam Platoni. _ Lib. xii.
cap. 2. And Cicero expressly says, that, if he might venture to call
himself an orator, he was made so, not by the manufacture of the
schools of rhetoric, but in the walks of the Academy. _Fateor me
oratorem, si modo sim, aut etiam quicumque sim, non ex rhetorum
officinis, sed ex Academiæ spatiis extitisse. Ad Brutum Orator_, s.
12.
Section XXXIII.
[a] The ancient critics made a wide distinction, between a mere
facility of speech, and what they called the oratorical faculty. This
is fully explained by Asinius Pollio, who said of himself, that by
pleading at first with propriety, he succeeded so far as to be often
called upon; by pleading frequently, he began to lose the propriety
with which he set out; and the reason was, by constant practice he
acquired rashness, not a just confidence in himself; a fluent
facility, not the true faculty of an orator. _Commodè agenda factum
est, ut sæpe agerem; sæpe agenda, ut minus commodè; quia scilicet
nimia facilitas magis quam facultas, nec fiducia, sed temeritas,
paratur. _ Quintil. lib. xii.
Section XXXIV.
[a] There is in this place a trifling mistake, either in Messala, the
speaker, or in the copyists. Crassus was born A. U. C. 614. See s.
xviii. note [f]. Papirius Carbo, the person accused, was consul A. U. C.
634, and the prosecution was in the following year, when Crassus
expressly says, that he was then only one and twenty. _Quippe qui
omnium maturrimè ad publicas causas accesserim, annosque natus UNUM ET
VIGINTI, nobilissimum hominem et eloquentissimum in judicium vocârim. _
Cicero, _De Orat. _ lib. iii. s. 74. Pliny the consul was another
instance of early pleading. He says himself, that he began his career
in the forum at the age of nineteen, and, after long practice, he
could only see the functions of an orator as it were in a mist.
_Undevicessimo ætatis anno dicere in foro cœpi, et nunc demum, quid
præstare debeat orator, adhuc tamen per caliginem video.
Oratoribus_, s. 83.
Section XXVI.
[a] For an account of Caius Gracchus, see s. xviii. note [d].
[b] For Lucius Crassus, see s. xviii. note [f].
[c] The false taste of Mæcenas has been noted by the poets and critics
who flourished after his death. His affected prettinesses are compared
to the prim curls, in which women and effeminate men tricked out their
hair. Seneca, who was himself tainted with affectation, has left a
beautiful epistle on the very question that makes the main subject of
the present Dialogue. He points out the causes of the corrupt taste
that debauched the eloquence of those times and imputes the mischief
to the degeneracy of the manners. Whatever the man was, such was the
orator. _Talis oratio quails vita. _ When ancient discipline relaxed,
luxury succeeded, and language became delicate, brilliant, spangled
with conceits. Simplicity was laid aside, and quaint expressions grew
into fashion. Does the mind sink into languor, the body moves
reluctantly. Is the man softened into effeminacy, you see it in his
gait. Is he quick and eager, he walks with alacrity. The powers of the
understanding are affected in the same manner. Having laid this down
as his principle, Seneca proceeds to describe the soft delicacy of
Mæcenas, and he finds the same vice in his phraseology. He cites a
number of the lady-like terms, which the great patron of letters
considered as exquisite beauties. In all this, says he, we see the man
who walked the streets of Rome in his open and flowing robe. _Nonne
statim, cum hæc legis, occurrit hunc esse, qui solutis tunicis in urbe
semper incesserit? _ Seneca, epist. cxiv. What he has said of Mæcenas
is perfectly just. The fopperies of that celebrated minister are in
this Dialogue called CALAMISTRI; an allusion borrowed from Cicero,
who praises the beautiful simplicity of _Cæsar's Commentaries_, and
says there were men of a vicious taste, who wanted to apply the
_curling-iron_, that is, to introduce the glitter of conceit and
antithesis in the place of truth and nature. _Commentarios quosdam
scripsit rerum suarum, valde quidem probandos: nudi enim sunt, et
recti, et venusti, omni ornatu orationis, tanquam veste, detracto.
Ineptis gratum fortasse fecit, qui volunt illa_ CALAMISTRIS _inurere. _
Cicero _De Claris Orat. _ s. 262.
[d] Who Gallio was, is not clearly settled by the commentators.
Quintilian, lib. iii. cap. 1, makes mention of Gallio, who wrote a
treatise of eloquence; and in the _Annals_, b. xv. s. 73, we find
Junius Gallio, the brother of Seneca; but whether either of them is
the person here intended, remains uncertain. Whoever he was, his
eloquence was a tinkling cymbal. Quintilian says of such orators, who
are all inflated, tumid, corrupt, and jingling, that their malady does
not proceed from a full and rich constitution, but from mere
infirmity; for,
As in bodies, thus in souls we find,
What wants in blood and spirits, swell'd with wind.
_Nam tumidos, et corruptos, et tinnulos, et quocumque alio cacozeliæ
genere peccantes, certum habeo, non virium, sed infirmitatis vitio
laborare: ut corpora non robore, sed valetudine inflantur. _ Quintil.
lib. ii. cap. 3.
[e] Pliny declares, without ceremony, that he was ashamed of the
corrupt effeminate style that disgraced the courts of justice, and
made him think of withdrawing from the forum. He calls it sing-song,
and says that nothing but musical instruments could be added. _Pudet
referre, quæ quam fractâ pronunciatione dicantur; quibus quam teneris
clamoribus excipiantur. Plausus tantum, ac sola cymbala et tympana,
illis canticis desunt. _ Pliny, lib. ii. epist. 14. The chief aim of
Persius in his first satire is levelled against the bad poets of his
time, and also the spurious orators, who enervated their eloquence by
antithesis, far-fetched metaphors, and points of wit, delivered with
the softest tone of voice, and ridiculous airs of affectation.
Fur es, ait Pedio: Pedius quid? Crimina rasis
Librat in antithetis; doctus posuisse figuras
Laudatur. Bellum hoc! hoc bellum! an Romule ceves?
Men' moveat quippe, et, cantet si naufragus, assem
Protulerim? Cantas, cum fractâ te in trabe pictum
Ex humero portes?
PERSIUS, sat. i. ver. 85.
Theft, says the accuser, to thy charge I lay,
O Pedius. What does gentle Pedius say?
Studious to please the genius of the times,
With periods, points, and tropes, he slurs his crimes.
He lards with flourishes his long harangue:
'Tis fine, say'st thou. What! to be prais'd, and hang?
Effeminate Roman! shall such stuff prevail,
To tickle thee, and make thee wag thy tail?
Say, should a shipwreck'd sailor sing his woe,
Wouldst thou be mov'd to pity, and bestow
An alms? What's more prepost'rous than to see
A merry beggar? wit in misery!
DRYDEN'S PERSIUS.
[f] For Cassius Severus, see s. xix. note [a].
[g] Gabinianus was a teacher of rhetoric in the reign of Vespasian.
Eusebius, in his Chronicon, eighth of Vespasian, says that Gabinianus,
a celebrated rhetorician, was a teacher of eloquence in Gaul.
_Gabinianus, celeberrimi nominis rhetor, in Galliâ docuit. _ His
admirers deemed him another Cicero, and, after him, all such orators
were called CICERONES GABISTIANI.
Section XXVIII.
[a] In order to brand and stigmatise the Roman matrons who committed
the care of their infant children to hired nurses, Tacitus observes,
that no such custom was known among the savages of Germany. See
_Manners of the Germans_, s. xx. See also Quintilian, on the subject
of education, lib. i. cap. 2 and 3.
[b] Cornelia, the mother of the two Gracchi, was daughter to the first
Scipio Africanus. The sons, Quintilian says, owed much of their
eloquence to the care and institutions of their mother, whose taste
and learning were fully displayed in her letters, which were then in
the hands of the public. _Nam Gracchorum eloquentiæ multum contulisse
accepimus Corneliam matrem, cujus doctissimus sermo in posteros quoque
est epistolis traditus. _ Quint. lib. i. cap. 1. To the same effect
Cicero: _Fuit Gracchus diligentiâ Corneliæ matris a puero doctus, et
Græcis litteris eruditus. _ _De Claris Orat. _ s. 104. Again, Cicero says,
We have read the letters of Cornelia, the mother of the Gracchi, from
which it appears, that the sons were educated, not so much in the lap
of their mother, as her conversation. _Legimus epistolas Corneliæ,
matris Gracchorum: apparet filios non tam in gremio educatos, quam in
sermone matris. _ _De Claris Orat. _ s. 211. Pliny the elder informs us
that a statue was erected to her memory, though Cato the Censor
declaimed against shewing so much honour to women, even in the
provinces. But with all his vehemence he could not prevent it in the
city of Rome. Pliny, lib. xxxiv. s. 14.
[c] For Aurelia, the mother of Julius Cæsar, see _The Genealogical
Table of the Cæsars_, No. 2.
[d] For Atia, the mother of Augustus, see _Genealogical Table of the
Cæsars_, No. 14. As another instance of maternal care, Tacitus informs
us that Julia Procilla superintended the education of her son. See
_Life of Agricola_, s. iv.
Section XXIX.
[a] Quintilian thinks the first elements of education so highly
material, that he has two long chapters on the subject. He requires,
in the first place, that the language of the nurses should be pure and
correct. Their manners are of great importance, but, he adds, let them
speak with propriety. It is to them that the infant first attends; he
listens, and endeavours to imitate them. The first colour, imbibed by
yarn or thread, is sure to last. What is bad, generally adheres
tenaciously. Let the child, therefore, not learn in his infancy, what
he must afterwards take pains to unlearn. _Ante omnia, ne sit vitiosus
sermo nutricibus. Et morum quidem in his haud dubiè prior ratio est;
rectè tamen etiam loquantur. Has primùm audiet puer; harum verba
effingere imitando conabitur. Et naturâ tenacissimi sumus eorum, quæ
rudibus annis percipimus; nec lanarum colores, quibus simplex ille
candor mutatus est, elui possunt. Et hæc ipsa magis pertinaciter
hærent, quæ deteriora sunt. Non assuescat ergo, ne dum infans quidem
est, sermoni, qui dediscendus est. _ Quint. lib. i. cap. 1. Plutarch
has a long discourse on the breeding of children, in which all
mistakes are pointed out, and the best rules enforced with great
acuteness of observation.
[b] Juvenal has one entire satire on the subject of education:
Nil dictu fœdum visuque hæc limina tangat,
Intra quæ puer est. Procul hinc, procul inde puellæ
Lenonum, et cantus pernoctantis parasiti.
Maxima debetur puero reverentia.
SAT. xiv. ver. 44.
Suffer no lewdness, no indecent speech,
Th' apartment of the tender youth to reach.
Far be from thence the glutton parasite,
Who sings his drunken catches all the night.
Boys from their parents may this rev'rence claim.
DRYDEN'S JUVENAL.
[c] The rage of the Romans for the diversions of the theatre, and
public spectacles of every kind, is often mentioned by Horace,
Juvenal, and other writers under the emperors. Seneca says, that, at
one time, three ways were wanted to as many different theatres:
_tribus eodem tempore theatris viæ postulantur_. And again, the most
illustrious of the Roman youth are no better than slaves to the
pantomimic performers. _Ostendam nobilissimos juvenes mancipia
pantomimorum. _ Epist. 47. It was for this reason that Petronius lays
it down as a rule to be observed by the young student, never to list
himself in the parties and factions of the theatre:
----Neve plausor in scenâ
Sedeat redemptus, histrioniæ addictus.
It is well known, that theatrical parties distracted the Roman
citizens, and rose almost to phrensy. They were distinguished by the
_green_ and the _blue_, Caligula, as we read in Suetonius, attached
himself to the former, and was so fond of the charioteers, who wore
green liveries, that he lived for a considerable time in the stables,
where their horses were kept. _Prasinæ factioni ita addictus et
deditus, ut cœnaret in stabulo assidue et maneret. Life of Caligula_,
s. 55. Montesquieu reckons such party-divisions among the causes that
wrought the downfall of the empire. Constantinople, he says, was split
into two factions, the _green_ and the _blue_, which owed their origin
to the inclination of the people to favour one set of charioteers in
the circus rather than another. These two parties raged in every city
throughout the empire, and their fury rose in proportion to the number
of inhabitants. Justinian favoured the _blues_, who became so elate
with pride, that they trampled on the laws. All ties of friendship,
all natural affection, and all relative duties, were extinguished.
Whole families were destroyed; and the empire was a scene of anarchy
and wild contention. He, who felt himself capable of the most
atrocious deeds, declared himself a BLUE, and the GREENS were
massacred with impunity. _Montesquieu, Grandeur et Décadence des
Romains_, chap. xx.
[d] Quintilian, in his tenth book, chap. 1. has given a full account
of the best Greek and Roman poets, orators, and historians; and in b.
ii. ch. 6, he draws up a regular scheme for the young student to
pursue in his course of reading. There are, he says, two rocks, on
which they may split. The first, by being led by some fond admirer of
antiquity to set too high a value on the manner of Cato and the
Gracchi; for, in that commerce, they will be in danger of growing dry,
harsh, and rugged. The strong conception of those men will be beyond
the reach of tender minds. Their style, indeed, may be copied; and the
youth may flatter himself, when he has contracted the rust of
antiquity, that he resembles the illustrious orators of a former age.
On the other hand, the florid decorations and false glitter of the
moderns may have a secret charm, the more dangerous, and seductive, as
the petty flourishes of our new way of writing may prove acceptable to
the youthful mind. _Duo autem genera maximè cavenda pueris puto: unum,
ne quis eos antiquitatis nimius admirator in Gracchorum, Catonisque,
et aliorum similium lectione durescere velit. Erunt enim horridi atque
jejuni. Nam neque vim eorum adhuc intellectu consequentur; et
elocutione, quæ tum sine dubio erat optima, sed nostris temporibus
aliena, contenti, quod est pessimum, similes sibi magnis viris
videbuntur. Alterum, quod huic diversum est, ne recentis hujus
lasciviæ flosculis capti, voluptate quâdam pravâ deliniantur, ut
prædulce illud genus, et puerilibus ingeniis hoc gratius, quo propius
est, adament. _ Such was the doctrine of Quintilian. His practice, we
may be sure, was consonant to his own rules. Under such a master the
youth of Rome might be initiated in science, and formed to a just
taste for eloquence and legitimate composition; but one man was not
equal to the task. The rhetoricians and pedagogues of the age
preferred the novelty and meretricious ornaments of the style then in
vogue.
Section XXX.
[a] This is the treatise, or history of the most eminent orators (DE
CLARIS ORATORIBUS), which has been so often cited in the course of
these notes.
It is also entitled BRUTUS; a work replete with the
soundest criticism, and by its variety and elegance always charming.
[b] Quintus Mucius Scævola was the great lawyer of his time. Cicero
draws a comparison between him and Crassus. They were both engaged, on
opposite sides, in a cause before the CENTUMVIRI. Crassus proved
himself the best lawyer among the orators of that day, and Scævola the
most eloquent of the lawyers. _Ut eloquentium juris peritissimus
Crassus; jurisperitorum eloquentissimus Scævola putaretur. _ _De Claris
Orat. _ s. 145. During the consulship of Sylla, A. U. C. 666, Cicero
being then in the nineteenth year of his age, and wishing to acquire a
competent knowledge of the principles of jurisprudence, attached
himself to Mucius Scævola, who did not undertake the task of
instructing pupils, but, by conversing freely with all who consulted
him, gave a fair opportunity to those who thirsted after knowledge.
_Ego autem juris civilis studio, multum operæ dabam Q. Scævolæ, qui
quamquam nemini se ad docendum dabat, tamen, consulentibus
respondendo, studiosos audiendi docebat. _ _De Claris Orat. _ s. 306.
[c] Philo was a leading philosopher of the academic school. To avoid
the fury of Mithridates, who waged a long war with the Romans, he fled
from Athens, and, with some of the most eminent of his
fellow-citizens, repaired to Rome. Cicero was struck with his
philosophy, and became his pupil. _Cùm princeps academiæ Philo, cum
Atheniensium optimatibus, Mithridatico bello, domo profugisset,
Romamque venisset, totum ei me tradidi, admirabili quodam ad
philosophiam studio concitatus. _ _De Claris Orat. _ s. 306.
Cicero adds, that he gave board and lodging, at his own house, to
Diodotus the stoic, and, under that master, employed himself in
various branches of literature, but particularly in the study of
logic, which may be considered as a mode of eloquence, contracted,
close, and nervous. _Eram cum stoico Diodoto: qui cum habitavisset
apud me, mecumque vixisset, nuper est domi meæ mortuus. A quo, cum in
aliis rebus, tum studiosissime in dialecticâ exercebar, quæ quasi
contracta et adstricta eloquentia putanda est. _ _De Claris Orat. _ s.
309.
[d] Cicero gives an account of his travels, which he undertook, after
having employed two years in the business of the forum, where he
gained an early reputation. At Athens, he passed six months with
Antiochus, the principal philosopher of the old academy, and, under
the direction of that able master, resumed those abstract
speculations which he had cultivated from his earliest youth. Nor did
he neglect his rhetorical exercises. In that pursuit, he was assisted
by Demetrius, the Syrian, who was allowed to be a skilful preceptor.
He passed from Greece into Asia; and, in the course of his travels
through that country, he lived in constant habits with Menippus of
Stratonica; a man eminent for his learning; who, if to be neither
frivolous, nor unintelligible, is the character of Attic eloquence,
might fairly be called a disciple of that school. He met with many
other professors of rhetoric, such as Dionysius of Magnesia, Æschylus
of Cnidos, and Zenocles of Adramytus; but not content with their
assistance, he went to Rhodes, and renewed his friendship with MOLO,
whom he had heard at Rome, and knew to be an able pleader in real
causes; a fine writer, and a judicious critic, who could, with a just
discernment of the beauties as well as the faults of a composition,
point out the road to excellence, and improve the taste of his
scholars. In his attention to the Roman orator, the point he aimed at
(Cicero will not say that he succeeded) was, to lop away superfluous
branches, and confine within its proper channel a stream of
eloquence, too apt to swell above all bounds, and overflow its banks.
After two years thus spent in the pursuit of knowledge, and
improvement in his oratorical profession, Cicero returned to Rome
almost a new man. _Is (MOLO) dedit operam (si modo id consequi potuit)
ut nimis redundantes nos, et superfluentes juvenili quadam dicendi
impunitate, et licentiâ, reprimeret, et quasi extra ripas diffluentes
cœrceret. Ita recepi me biennio post, non modo exercitatior, sed propè
mutatus. _ See _De Claris Oratoribus_, s. 315 and 316.
[e] Cicero is here said to have been a complete master of philosophy,
which, according to Quintilian, was divided into three branches,
namely, physics, ethics, and logic. It has been mentioned in this
section, note [c], that Cicero called logic a contracted and close
mode of eloquence. That observation is fully explained by Quintilian.
Speaking of logic, the use, he says, of that contentious art, consists
in just definition, which presents to the mind the precise idea; and
in nice discrimination, which marks the essential difference of
things. It is this faculty that throws a sudden light on every
difficult question, removes all ambiguity, clears up what was
doubtful, divides, develops, and separates, and then collects the
argument to a point. But the orator must not be too fond of this close
combat. The minute attention, which logic requires, will exclude what
is of higher value; while it aims at precision, the vigour of the mind
is lost in subtlety. We often see men, who argue with wonderful craft;
but, when petty controversy will no longer serve their purpose, we see
the same men without warmth or energy, cold, languid, and unequal to
the conflict; like those little animals, which are brisk in narrow
places, and by their agility baffle their pursuers, but in the open
field are soon overpowered. _Hæc pars dialectica, sive illam dicere
malimus disputatricem, ut est utilis sæpe et finitionibus, et
comprehensionibus, et separandis quæ sunt differentia, et resolvendâ
ambiguitate, et distinguendo, dividendo, illiciendo, implicando; ita
si totum sibi vindicaverit in foro certamen, obstabit melioribus, et
sectas ad tenuitatem vires ipsâ subtilitate consumet. Itaque reperias
quosdam in disputando mirè callidos; cum ab illâ verò cavillatione
discesserint, non magis sufficere in aliquo graviori actu, quam parva
quædam animalia, quæ in angustiis mobilia, campo deprehenduntur. _
Quint. lib. xii. cap. 2.
Ethics, or moral philosophy, the same great critic holds to be
indispensably requisite. _Jam quidem pars illa moralis, quæ dicitur
ethice, certè tota oratori est accommodata. Nam in tantâ causarum
varietate, nulla ferè dici potest, cujus non parte aliquâ tractatus
æqui et boni reperiantur. _ Lib. xii. Unless the mind be enriched with
a store of knowledge, there may he loquacity, but nothing that
deserves the name of oratory. Eloquence, says Lord Bolingbroke, must
flow like a stream that is fed by an abundant spring, and not spout
forth a little frothy stream, on some gaudy day, and remain dry for
the rest of the year. See _Spirit of Patriotism_.
With regard to natural philosophy, Quintilian has a sentiment so truly
sublime, that to omit it in this place would look like insensibility.
If, says he, the universe is conducted by a superintending Providence,
it follows that good men should govern the nations of the earth. And
if the soul of man is of celestial origin, it is evident that we
should tread in the paths of virtue, all aspiring to our native
source, not slaves to passion, and the pleasures of the world. These
are important topics; they often occur to the public orator, and
demand all his eloquence. _Nam si regitur providentiâ mundus,
administranda certè bonis viris erit respublica. Si divina nostris
animis origo, tendendum ad virtutem, nec voluptatibus terreni corporis
serviendum. An hoc non frequenter tractabit orator? _ Quint. lib. xii.
cap. 2.
Section XXXI.
[a] Quintilian, as well as Seneca, has left a collection of
school-declamations, but he has given his opinion of all such
performances. They are mere imitation, and, by consequence, have not
the force and spirit which a real cause inspires. In public harangues,
the subject is founded in reality; in declamations, all is fiction.
_Omnis imitatio ficta est; quo fit ut minus sanguinis ac virium
declamationes habeant, quam orationes; quod in his vera, in illis
assimulata materia est. _ Lib. x. cap. 2. Petronius has given a lively
description of the rhetoricians of his time. The consequence, he says,
of their turgid style, and the pompous swell of sounding periods, has
ever been the same: when their scholars enter the forum, they look as
if they were transported into a new world. The teachers of rhetoric
have been the bane of all true eloquence. _Hæc ipsa tolerabilia
essent, si ad eloquentiam ituris viam facerent: nunc et rerum tumore,
et sententiarum vanissimo strepitu, hoc tantum proficiunt, ut quum in
forum venerint, putent se in alium terrarum orbem delatos. Pace vestrâ
liceat dixisse, primi omnium eloquentiam perdidistis. _ Petron. _in
Satyrico_, cap. 1 and 2. That gay writer, who passed his days in
luxury and voluptuous pleasures (see his character, _Annals_, b. xvi.
s. 18), was, amidst all his dissipation, a man of learning, and, at
intervals, of deep reflection. He knew the value of true philosophy,
and, therefore, directs the young orator to the Socratic school, and
to that plan of education which we have before us in the present
Dialogue. He bids his scholar begin with Homer, and there drink deep
of the Pierian spring: after that, he recommends the moral system;
and, when his mind is thus enlarged, he allows him to wield the arms
of Demosthenes.
----Det primos versibus annos,
Mæoniumque bibat felici pectore fontem:
Mox et Socratico plenus grege mutet habenas
Liber, et ingentis quatiat Demosthenis arma.
[b] Cicero has left a book, entitled TOPICA, in which he treats at
large of the method of finding proper arguments. This, he observes,
was executed by Aristotle, whom he pronounces the great master both of
invention and judgement. _Cum omnis ratio diligens disserendi duas
habeat partes; unam INVENIENDI, alteram JUDICANDI; utriusque princeps,
ut mihi quidem videtur, Aristoteles fuit. _ Ciceronis _Topica_, s. vi.
The sources from which arguments may be drawn, are called LOCI
COMMUNES, COMMON PLACES. To supply the orator with ample materials,
and to render him copious on every subject, was the design of the
Greek preceptor, and for that purpose he gave his TOPICA. _Aristoteles
adolescentes, non ad philosophorum morem tenuiter disserendi, sed ad
copiam rhetorum in utramque partem, ut ornatius et uberius dici
posset, exercuit; idemque locos (sic enim appellat) quasi argumentorum
notas tradidit, unde omnis in utramque partem traheretur oratio. _
Cicero, _De Oratore_. Aristotle was the most eminent of Plato's
scholars: he retired to a _gymnasium_, or place of exercise, in the
neighbourhood of Athens, called the _Lyceum_, where, from a custom,
which he and his followers observed, of discussing points of
philosophy, as they walked in the _porticos_ of the place, they
obtained the name of Peripatetics, or the walking philosophers. See
Middleton's _Life of Cicero_, vol. ii. p. 537, 4to edit.
[c] The academic sect derived its origin from Socrates, and its name
from a celebrated _gymnasium_, or place of exercise, in the suburbs of
Athens, called the _Academy_, after _Ecademus_, who possessed it in
the time of the _Tyndaridæ_. It was afterwards purchased, and
dedicated to the public, for the convenience of walks and exercises
for the citizens of Athens. It was gradually improved with
plantations, groves and porticos for the particular use of the
professors or masters of the academic school; where several of them
are said to have spent their lives, and to have resided so strictly,
as scarce ever to have come within the city. See Middleton's _Life of
Cicero_, 4to edit. vol. ii. p. 536. Plato, and his followers,
continued to reside in the porticos of the academy. They chose
----The green retreats
Of Academus, and the thymy vale,
Where, oft inchanted with Socratic sounds,
Ilyssus pure devolv'd his tuneful stream
In gentle murmurs.
AKENSIDE, PLEAS. OF IMAG.
For dexterity in argument, the orator is referred to this school, for
the reason given by Quintilian, who says that the custom of supporting
an argument on either side of the question, approaches nearest to the
orator's practice in forensic causes. _Academiam quidam utilissimam
credunt, quod mos in utramque partem disserendi ad exercitationem
forensium causarum proximè accedat. _ Lib. xii. cap. 2 Quintilian
assures us that we are indebted to the academic philosophy for the
ablest orators, and it is to that school that Horace sends his poet
for instruction:
Rem tibi Socraticæ poterunt ostendere chartæ,
Verbaque provisam rem non invita sequentur.
ARS POET. ver. 310.
Good sense, that fountain of the muse's art,
Let the rich page of Socrates impart;
And if the mind with clear conception glow,
The willing words in just expressions flow.
FRANCIS'S HORACE.
[d] Epicurus made frequent use of the rhetorical figure called
exclamation; and in his life, by Diogenes Lærtius, we find a variety
of instances. It is for that manner of giving animation to a discourse
that Epicurus is mentioned in the Dialogue. For the rest, Quintilian
tells us what to think of him. Epicurus, he says, dismisses the orator
from his school, since he advises his pupil to pay no regard to
science or to method. _Epicurus imprimis nos a se ipse dimittit, qui
fugere omnem disciplinam navigatione quam velocissima jubet. _ Lib.
xii. cap. 2. Metrodorus was the favourite disciple of Epicurus.
Brotier says that a statue of the master and the scholar, with their
heads joined together, was found at Rome in the year 1743.
It is worthy of notice, that except the stoics, who, without aiming at
elegance of language, argued closely and with vigour, Quintilian
proscribes the remaining sects of philosophers. Aristippus, he says,
placed his _summum bonum_ in bodily pleasure, and therefore could be
no friend to the strict regimen of the accomplished orator. Much less
could Pyrrho be of use, since he doubted whether there was any such
thing in existence as the judges before whom the cause must be
pleaded. To him the party accused, and the senate, were alike
non-entities. _Neque vero Aristippus, summum in voluptate corpora
bonum ponens, ad hunc nos laborem adhortetur. Pyrrho quidem, quas in
hoc opere partes habere potest? cui judices esse apud quos verba
faciat, et reum pro quo loquatur, et senatum, in quo sit dicenda
sententia, non liquebat. _ Quintil. lib. xii. cap. 2.
Section XXXII.
[a] We are told by Quintilian, that Demosthenes, the great orator of
Greece, was an assiduous hearer of Plato: _Constat Demosthenem,
principem omnium Græciæ oratorum, dedisse operam Platoni. _ Lib. xii.
cap. 2. And Cicero expressly says, that, if he might venture to call
himself an orator, he was made so, not by the manufacture of the
schools of rhetoric, but in the walks of the Academy. _Fateor me
oratorem, si modo sim, aut etiam quicumque sim, non ex rhetorum
officinis, sed ex Academiæ spatiis extitisse. Ad Brutum Orator_, s.
12.
Section XXXIII.
[a] The ancient critics made a wide distinction, between a mere
facility of speech, and what they called the oratorical faculty. This
is fully explained by Asinius Pollio, who said of himself, that by
pleading at first with propriety, he succeeded so far as to be often
called upon; by pleading frequently, he began to lose the propriety
with which he set out; and the reason was, by constant practice he
acquired rashness, not a just confidence in himself; a fluent
facility, not the true faculty of an orator. _Commodè agenda factum
est, ut sæpe agerem; sæpe agenda, ut minus commodè; quia scilicet
nimia facilitas magis quam facultas, nec fiducia, sed temeritas,
paratur. _ Quintil. lib. xii.
Section XXXIV.
[a] There is in this place a trifling mistake, either in Messala, the
speaker, or in the copyists. Crassus was born A. U. C. 614. See s.
xviii. note [f]. Papirius Carbo, the person accused, was consul A. U. C.
634, and the prosecution was in the following year, when Crassus
expressly says, that he was then only one and twenty. _Quippe qui
omnium maturrimè ad publicas causas accesserim, annosque natus UNUM ET
VIGINTI, nobilissimum hominem et eloquentissimum in judicium vocârim. _
Cicero, _De Orat. _ lib. iii. s. 74. Pliny the consul was another
instance of early pleading. He says himself, that he began his career
in the forum at the age of nineteen, and, after long practice, he
could only see the functions of an orator as it were in a mist.
_Undevicessimo ætatis anno dicere in foro cœpi, et nunc demum, quid
præstare debeat orator, adhuc tamen per caliginem video.
