Studious
to please the genius of the times,
With periods, points, and tropes, he slurs his crimes.
With periods, points, and tropes, he slurs his crimes.
Tacitus
Statius, the poet, who flourished in the
reign of Domitian, knew the value of Lucretius, and, in one line,
seems to have given his true character; _et docti furor arduus
Lucreti_; but had he been to decide between him and Virgil, it is
probable, that he would say to Lucretius, as he did to himself,
----Nec tu divinam Æneida tenta,
Sed longe sequere, et vestigia semper adora.
THEBAIDOS lib. xii. ver. 816.
[f] Aufidius Bassus and Servilius Nonianus were writers of history.
Bassus, according to Quintilian, deserved great commendation,
particularly in his History of the German war. In some of his other
works he fell short of himself. Servilius Nonianus was known to
Quintilian, and, in that critic's judgement, was an author of
considerable merit, sententious in his manner, but more diffuse than
becomes the historic character. See Quintilian, lib. x. cap. 1. The
death of SERVILIUS, an eminent orator and historian, is mentioned by
Tacitus in the _Annals_, b. xiv. s. 19; but the additional name of
NONIANUS is omitted. The passage, however, is supposed to relate to
the person commended by Quintilian. He died in the reign of Nero,
A. U. C. 812; of the Christian æra 59.
[g] Varro was universally allowed to be the most learned of the
Romans. He wrote on several subjects with profound erudition.
Quintilian says, he was completely master of the Latin language, and
thoroughly conversant in the antiquities of Greece and Rome. His works
will enlarge our sphere of knowledge, but can add nothing to
eloquence. _Peritissimus linguæ Latinæ, et omnis antiquitatis, et
rerum Græcarum, nostrarumque; plus tamen scientiæ collaturus, quam
eloquentiæ. _ Lib. x. cap. 1.
Sisenna, we are told by Cicero, was a man of learning, well skilled in
the Roman language, acquainted with the laws and constitution of his
country, and possessed of no small share of wit; but eloquence was not
his element, and his practice in the forum was inconsiderable. See _De
Claris Oratoribus_, s. 228. In a subsequent part of the same work,
Cicero says, that Sisenna was of opinion, that to use uncommon words
was the perfection of style. To prove this he relates a pleasant
anecdote. One Caius Rufus carried on a prosecution. Sisenna appeared
for the defendant; and, to express his contempt of his adversary, said
that many parts of the charge deserved to be spit upon. For this
purpose he coined so strange a word, that the prosecutor implored the
protection of the judges. I do not, said he, understand Sisenna; I am
circumvented; I fear that some snare is laid for me. What does he mean
by _sputatilica? _ I know that _sputa_ is spittle: but what is
_tilica? _ The court laughed at the oddity of a word so strangely
compounded. _Rufio accusante Chritilium, Sisenna defendens dixit
quædam ejus SPUTATILICA esse crimina. Tum Caius Rufius, Circumvenior,
inquit, judices, nisi subvenitis. Sisenna quid dicat nescio; metuo
insidias. SPUTATILICA! quid est hoc? _ Sputa _quid sit, scio_; tilica
_nescio. Maximi risus, De Claris Oratoribus_, s. 260. Whether this
was the same Sisenna, who is said in the former quotation to have been
a correct speaker, does not appear with any degree of certainty.
[h] For the character of Secundus, see s. ii. note [c].
[i] Quintilian says, the merit of a fine writer flourishes after his
death, for envy does not go down to posterity. _Ad posteros enim
virtus durabit, nec perveniet invidia. _ Lib. iii. c. 1. Envy is always
sure to pursue living merit; and therefore, Cleo observes to
Alexander, that Hercules and Bacchus were not numbered among the gods,
till they conquered the malignity of their contemporaries. _Nec
Herculem, nec Patrem Liberum, prius dicatos deos, quàm vicissent secum
viventium invidiam. _ Quintus Curtius, lib. viii. s. 18. Pliny the
younger has a beautiful epistle on this subject. After praising, in
the highest manner, the various works of Pompeius Saturninus, he says
to his correspondent, Let it be no objection to such an author, that
he is still living. If he flourished in a distant part of the world,
we should not only procure his books, but we should have his picture
in our houses: and shall his fame be tarnished, because we have the
man before our eyes? Shall malignity make us cease to admire him,
because we see him, hear him, esteem and love him? _Neque enim debet
operibus ejus obesse, QUOD VIVIT. An si inter eos, quos nunquam
vidimus, floruisset, non solum libros ejus, verum etiam imagines
conquireremus, ejusdem nunc honor præsentis et gratia quasi satietate
languescet? At hoc pravum malignumque est, non admirari hominem
admiratione dignissimum, quia videre, alloqui, audire, complecti, nec
laudare tantum, verum etiam amare contingit. _ Lib. i. ep. 16.
Section XXIV.
[a] In the Dialogues of Plato, and others of the academic school, the
ablest philosophers occasionally supported a wrong hypothesis, in
order to provoke a thorough discussion of some important question.
[b] Cicero was killed on the seventh of December, in the consulship of
Hirtius and Pansa, A. U. C. 711; before Christ, 43. From that time to
the sixth of Vespasian the number of years is exactly 117; though in
the Dialogue said to be 120. See s. xvii. note [e].
Section XXV.
[a] See Plutarch's Lives of Lysias, Lycurgus, Demosthenes, and
Hyperides. See also the elegant translation of the Orations of Lysias,
by Dr. Gillies.
[b] For Quintilian's opinion of Cæsar's eloquence, see s. xvii. note
[b]. To what is there said may be added the authority of Cicero, who
fairly owns, that Cæsar's constant habit of speaking his language with
purity and correctness, exempted him from all the vices of the
corrupt style adopted by others. To that politeness of expression
which every well-bred citizen, though he does not aspire to be an
orator, ought to practise, when Cæsar adds the splendid ornaments of
eloquence, he may then be said to place the finest pictures in the
best light. In his manner there is nothing mechanical, nothing of
professional craft: his voice is impressive, and his action dignified.
To air these qualities he unites a certain majesty of mien and figure,
that bespeaks a noble mind. _Cæsar autem rationem adhibens,
consuetudinem vitiosam et corruptam purâ et incorruptâ consuetudine
emendat. Itaque cum ad hanc elegantiam verborum Latinorum, quæ etiam
si orator non sis, et sis ingenuus civis Romanus, tamen necessaria
est, adjungit illa oratorio, ornamenta dicendi; tum videtur tanquam
tabulas bene pictas collocare in bono lumine. Hanc cum habeat
præcipuam laudem in communibus, non video cui debeat cedere.
Splendidam quamdam, minimeque veteratoriam rationem dicendi tenet,
voce, motu: formâ etiam magnificâ, et generosâ quodammodo. _ _De Claris
Oratoribus_, s. 261.
For Cælius, see s. xvii. note [c]; and for Brutus, the same section,
note [d].
[c] Servius Galba has been already mentioned, s. xviii. note [a].
Caius Lælius was consul A. U. C. 614; before the Christian æra, 140. He
was the intimate friend of Scipio, and the patron of Lucilius, the
first Roman satirist. See Horace, lib. ii. sat. i. ver. 71.
Quin ubi se a vulgo et scenâ in secretâ remôrant
Virtus Scipiadæ, et mitis sapientia Lælî,
Nugari cum illo, et discincti ludere, donec
Decoqueretur olus, soliti.
When Scipio's virtue, and of milder vein
When Lælius' wisdom, from the busy scene
And crowd of life, the vulgar and the great.
Could with their favourite satirist retreat,
Lightly they laugh'd at many an idle jest,
Until their frugal feast of herbs was drest.
FRANCIS'S HORACE.
It is probable, that the harsh manner of Lucilius, _durus componere
versus_, infected the eloquence of Lælius, since we find in Cicero,
that his style was unpolished, and had much of the rust of antiquity.
_Multo tamen vetustior et horridior ille quam Scipio, et, cum sint in
dicendo variæ, voluntates, delectari mihi magis antiquitate videtur,
et lubenter verbis etiam uti paulo magis priscis Lælius. _ _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?
reign of Domitian, knew the value of Lucretius, and, in one line,
seems to have given his true character; _et docti furor arduus
Lucreti_; but had he been to decide between him and Virgil, it is
probable, that he would say to Lucretius, as he did to himself,
----Nec tu divinam Æneida tenta,
Sed longe sequere, et vestigia semper adora.
THEBAIDOS lib. xii. ver. 816.
[f] Aufidius Bassus and Servilius Nonianus were writers of history.
Bassus, according to Quintilian, deserved great commendation,
particularly in his History of the German war. In some of his other
works he fell short of himself. Servilius Nonianus was known to
Quintilian, and, in that critic's judgement, was an author of
considerable merit, sententious in his manner, but more diffuse than
becomes the historic character. See Quintilian, lib. x. cap. 1. The
death of SERVILIUS, an eminent orator and historian, is mentioned by
Tacitus in the _Annals_, b. xiv. s. 19; but the additional name of
NONIANUS is omitted. The passage, however, is supposed to relate to
the person commended by Quintilian. He died in the reign of Nero,
A. U. C. 812; of the Christian æra 59.
[g] Varro was universally allowed to be the most learned of the
Romans. He wrote on several subjects with profound erudition.
Quintilian says, he was completely master of the Latin language, and
thoroughly conversant in the antiquities of Greece and Rome. His works
will enlarge our sphere of knowledge, but can add nothing to
eloquence. _Peritissimus linguæ Latinæ, et omnis antiquitatis, et
rerum Græcarum, nostrarumque; plus tamen scientiæ collaturus, quam
eloquentiæ. _ Lib. x. cap. 1.
Sisenna, we are told by Cicero, was a man of learning, well skilled in
the Roman language, acquainted with the laws and constitution of his
country, and possessed of no small share of wit; but eloquence was not
his element, and his practice in the forum was inconsiderable. See _De
Claris Oratoribus_, s. 228. In a subsequent part of the same work,
Cicero says, that Sisenna was of opinion, that to use uncommon words
was the perfection of style. To prove this he relates a pleasant
anecdote. One Caius Rufus carried on a prosecution. Sisenna appeared
for the defendant; and, to express his contempt of his adversary, said
that many parts of the charge deserved to be spit upon. For this
purpose he coined so strange a word, that the prosecutor implored the
protection of the judges. I do not, said he, understand Sisenna; I am
circumvented; I fear that some snare is laid for me. What does he mean
by _sputatilica? _ I know that _sputa_ is spittle: but what is
_tilica? _ The court laughed at the oddity of a word so strangely
compounded. _Rufio accusante Chritilium, Sisenna defendens dixit
quædam ejus SPUTATILICA esse crimina. Tum Caius Rufius, Circumvenior,
inquit, judices, nisi subvenitis. Sisenna quid dicat nescio; metuo
insidias. SPUTATILICA! quid est hoc? _ Sputa _quid sit, scio_; tilica
_nescio. Maximi risus, De Claris Oratoribus_, s. 260. Whether this
was the same Sisenna, who is said in the former quotation to have been
a correct speaker, does not appear with any degree of certainty.
[h] For the character of Secundus, see s. ii. note [c].
[i] Quintilian says, the merit of a fine writer flourishes after his
death, for envy does not go down to posterity. _Ad posteros enim
virtus durabit, nec perveniet invidia. _ Lib. iii. c. 1. Envy is always
sure to pursue living merit; and therefore, Cleo observes to
Alexander, that Hercules and Bacchus were not numbered among the gods,
till they conquered the malignity of their contemporaries. _Nec
Herculem, nec Patrem Liberum, prius dicatos deos, quàm vicissent secum
viventium invidiam. _ Quintus Curtius, lib. viii. s. 18. Pliny the
younger has a beautiful epistle on this subject. After praising, in
the highest manner, the various works of Pompeius Saturninus, he says
to his correspondent, Let it be no objection to such an author, that
he is still living. If he flourished in a distant part of the world,
we should not only procure his books, but we should have his picture
in our houses: and shall his fame be tarnished, because we have the
man before our eyes? Shall malignity make us cease to admire him,
because we see him, hear him, esteem and love him? _Neque enim debet
operibus ejus obesse, QUOD VIVIT. An si inter eos, quos nunquam
vidimus, floruisset, non solum libros ejus, verum etiam imagines
conquireremus, ejusdem nunc honor præsentis et gratia quasi satietate
languescet? At hoc pravum malignumque est, non admirari hominem
admiratione dignissimum, quia videre, alloqui, audire, complecti, nec
laudare tantum, verum etiam amare contingit. _ Lib. i. ep. 16.
Section XXIV.
[a] In the Dialogues of Plato, and others of the academic school, the
ablest philosophers occasionally supported a wrong hypothesis, in
order to provoke a thorough discussion of some important question.
[b] Cicero was killed on the seventh of December, in the consulship of
Hirtius and Pansa, A. U. C. 711; before Christ, 43. From that time to
the sixth of Vespasian the number of years is exactly 117; though in
the Dialogue said to be 120. See s. xvii. note [e].
Section XXV.
[a] See Plutarch's Lives of Lysias, Lycurgus, Demosthenes, and
Hyperides. See also the elegant translation of the Orations of Lysias,
by Dr. Gillies.
[b] For Quintilian's opinion of Cæsar's eloquence, see s. xvii. note
[b]. To what is there said may be added the authority of Cicero, who
fairly owns, that Cæsar's constant habit of speaking his language with
purity and correctness, exempted him from all the vices of the
corrupt style adopted by others. To that politeness of expression
which every well-bred citizen, though he does not aspire to be an
orator, ought to practise, when Cæsar adds the splendid ornaments of
eloquence, he may then be said to place the finest pictures in the
best light. In his manner there is nothing mechanical, nothing of
professional craft: his voice is impressive, and his action dignified.
To air these qualities he unites a certain majesty of mien and figure,
that bespeaks a noble mind. _Cæsar autem rationem adhibens,
consuetudinem vitiosam et corruptam purâ et incorruptâ consuetudine
emendat. Itaque cum ad hanc elegantiam verborum Latinorum, quæ etiam
si orator non sis, et sis ingenuus civis Romanus, tamen necessaria
est, adjungit illa oratorio, ornamenta dicendi; tum videtur tanquam
tabulas bene pictas collocare in bono lumine. Hanc cum habeat
præcipuam laudem in communibus, non video cui debeat cedere.
Splendidam quamdam, minimeque veteratoriam rationem dicendi tenet,
voce, motu: formâ etiam magnificâ, et generosâ quodammodo. _ _De Claris
Oratoribus_, s. 261.
For Cælius, see s. xvii. note [c]; and for Brutus, the same section,
note [d].
[c] Servius Galba has been already mentioned, s. xviii. note [a].
Caius Lælius was consul A. U. C. 614; before the Christian æra, 140. He
was the intimate friend of Scipio, and the patron of Lucilius, the
first Roman satirist. See Horace, lib. ii. sat. i. ver. 71.
Quin ubi se a vulgo et scenâ in secretâ remôrant
Virtus Scipiadæ, et mitis sapientia Lælî,
Nugari cum illo, et discincti ludere, donec
Decoqueretur olus, soliti.
When Scipio's virtue, and of milder vein
When Lælius' wisdom, from the busy scene
And crowd of life, the vulgar and the great.
Could with their favourite satirist retreat,
Lightly they laugh'd at many an idle jest,
Until their frugal feast of herbs was drest.
FRANCIS'S HORACE.
It is probable, that the harsh manner of Lucilius, _durus componere
versus_, infected the eloquence of Lælius, since we find in Cicero,
that his style was unpolished, and had much of the rust of antiquity.
_Multo tamen vetustior et horridior ille quam Scipio, et, cum sint in
dicendo variæ, voluntates, delectari mihi magis antiquitate videtur,
et lubenter verbis etiam uti paulo magis priscis Lælius. _ _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?
