The vocabulary of eloquent public speaking

[Pg 145]

The orator will recommend himself particularly by the embellishments he
adopts, securing in other ways the approbation of the learned, and in
this also the favor of popular applause.

As one has well said, "The orator is not compelled to wait
through long and weary years to reap the reward of his labors.

They
find something like an exordium, they make a narration, they prove,
refute, and their prayers and entreaties have the force of a peroration.

[Pg iii]

[Pg iv]

[Pg v]

The power of eloquence to move and persuade men is universally
recognized.

This definition is equally as faulty as that
just mentioned, and is likewise defective in another respect, as
including only invention, which, separate from elocution, can not
constitute a speech.

The great work [Pg x] of Quintilian is a complete system
of rhetoric, in twelve books, entitled De Institutione Oratoria Libre
XII , or sometimes Institutiones Oratoriæ , dedicated to his friend
Marcellus Victorius, himself a celebrated orator, and a favorite at
Court.

Its air of simplicity, the judge not being on his guard against it,
begets belief, and tho the discourse in all other parts be elaborate and
written with great accuracy, it will for the most [Pg 60] part seem an
extempore oration, the exordium evidently appearing to have nothing
premeditated.

Did Antonius, pleading the cause of M. Aquilius, trust to the force of
his reasons when he abruptly tore open his garment and exposed to view
the honorable wounds he received fighting for his country?

This it effects not only by
adding more perspicuity to what is said, but also by refreshing the
minds of the hearers by a view of each part circumscribed within its
bounds; just so milestones ease in some measure the fatigue of
travelers, it being a pleasure to know the extent of the labor they have
undergone, and to know what remains encourages them [Pg 91] to persevere, as a
thing does not necessarily seem long when there is a certainty of coming
to the end.

The orator is indebted for
what he is, not only to knowledge, which increases with his years, but
to his voice, lungs, and strength of body; and when the latter are
impaired by years, or debilitated by infirmities, it is to be feared
that something might be lacking in this great man, either from his
stopping short through fatigue, and out of breath at every effort, or by
not making himself sufficiently heard, or, lastly, by expecting, and not
finding, him to be what he formerly was.

The repetition of the matter and the collecting it together, which is
called by the Greeks recapitulation, and by some of the Latins
enumeration, serves for refreshing the judge's memory, for placing the
whole cause in one direct point of view, and for enforcing in a body
many proofs which, separately, made less impression.

And
thus it is that the art of defense, not circumscribed by any one
invariable rule, must be adapted to the nature and circumstances of the
cause.

Some, therefore, as Aristotle, setting aside the consideration of the
end, have defined rhetoric to be "The power of inventing whatever is
persuasive in a discourse."

Even the [Pg 25] precepts of moral life,
tho engraved on our hearts by the finger of nature, are more efficacious
to inspire our hearts with love for them when their beauty is displayed
by the ornaments of eloquent speech.

The reason for an exordium is to dispose the auditors to be favorable to
us in the other parts of the discourse.

Its art consists in adding,
retrenching, changing.

Nothing warms nor moistens but that which is endued with the quality of
heat or moisture, nor does [Pg 127] anything give to another a color it has not
itself.

As musicians make a
prelude for obtaining silence and attention before they play their
selections, so orators, before they begin their cause, have specified by
the same application that which they say by way of preface for securing
for themselves a kindly feeling in the listeners.

In the present
abridged and modernized form it may be read and studied with benefit by
earnest students of the art of public speaking.

All contemptuous, spiteful, haughty, calumniating expressions must be
avoided and not so much as even insinuated to the defamation of any
particular [Pg 46] person or rank, much less against those to whom an affront
would alienate the minds of the judges.

Others are captivated with
the flowery profusion of the orators of the present age, with their
delicate turns, [Pg 208] and with all the blandishments they skilfully invent to
charm the ears of an ignorant multitude.

Its air of simplicity, the judge not being on his guard against it,
begets belief, and tho the discourse in all other parts be elaborate and
written with great accuracy, it will for the most [Pg 60] part seem an
extempore oration, the exordium evidently appearing to have nothing
premeditated.

Did it not disconcert
the audacious measures of Cataline?

They
find something like an exordium, they make a narration, they prove,
refute, and their prayers and entreaties have the force of a peroration.

And again, "To stand up before a vast assembly composed of men of the
most various callings, views, passions, and prejudices, and mold them at
will; [Pg vi] to play upon their hearts and minds as a master upon the keys of
a piano; to convince their understandings by the logic, and to thrill
their feelings by the art of the orator; to see every eye watching his
face, and every ear intent on the words that drop from his lips; to see
indifference changed to breathless interest, and aversion to ...

I drew this aspersion upon myself by my endeavor
to bring over eloquence to a more austere taste, which had been
corrupted and enervated by very many softnesses and delicacies.

Oratory, in the true sense, is not
a lost art, but a potent means of imparting information, instruction,
and persuasion.

This conduct will befit plaintiffs in a much
greater degree, that they may seem to have brought their action for just
and weighty reasons, or were even compelled to do it from necessity.

I [Pg 77] would not have
this rule restricted to what is barely sufficient for pronouncing
judgment on, because the narration may be concise, yet not, on that
account, be without ornament.

They surpass us in bulk, in strength, in [Pg 26] the supporting of
toil, in speed, and stand less in need of outside help.

[Pg 109] Just so, in
theatrical representations, the same voice, and the same emphatic
pronunciation, become very interesting under the masks used for
personating different characters.

Some, therefore, as Aristotle, setting aside the consideration of the
end, have defined rhetoric to be "The power of inventing whatever is
persuasive in a discourse."

It is the defendant's business to show that he has no right
to such a debt or legacy.

This
objection, therefore, can affect only those who make persuasion the end
of rhetoric; but our orator, and our definition of art, are not
restricted to events.

So it
is that a general of an army often has recourse to stratagems.

The next question is on the utility of rhetoric, and from this point of
view some direct the bitterest invectives against it, and what is very
unbecoming, exert the force of eloquence against eloquence, saying that
by it the wicked are freed from punishment, and the innocent opprest by
its artifices; that it perverts good counsel, and enforces bad; that it
foments troubles and seditions in States; that it arms nations against
each other, and makes them irreconcilable enemies; and that...

But [Pg 140] he will
lose none who first has studied a good manner of speaking, and by
reading well the best authors has furnished himself with a copious
supply of words and made himself expert in the art of placing them.

We should
likewise [Pg 157] be aware of tautology, which is a repetition of the same word
or thought, or the use of many similar words or thoughts.

It also would not be amiss to become acquainted, if possible, with his
character.

But some eternally will find fault, and
almost scan every syllable, who, even when they have found what is best,
seek after something that is more ancient, remote, and unexpected, not
understanding that the thought must suffer in a discourse, and can have
nothing of value, where only the words are commendable.

This act of
his forced streams of tears from the eyes of the Roman people, who, not
able to resist so moving a spectacle, acquitted the criminal.

So it is he will be regarded
not so much as a zealous advocate, as a faithful and irreproachable
witness.

So it is he will be regarded
not so much as a zealous advocate, as a faithful and irreproachable
witness.

Cicero has written in
many places that the duty of an orator is to speak in "a manner proper
to persuade"; and in his books of rhetoric, of which undoubtedly he does
not approve himself, he makes the end of eloquence to consist in
persuasion.

This is the vehemence of oratorical ability which
knows how to equal and even to surpass the enormity and indignity of the
facts it exposes, a quality of singular consequence to the orator, and
one in which Demosthenes excelled all others.

Let it be supposed, on the other hand, that the fact can
not be denied or excused; then the defendant, instead of narrating, will
best abide by the question of right.

It is likewise of good service in perorations, and may be used without
restriction wherever the composition requires to be set off in a
somewhat grand and noble manner, and when the judge not only has a
thorough knowledge of the matter before him, but is also captivated with
the beauty of the discourse and, trusting to the orator, allows himself
to be led away by the sense of pleasure.

And again, "To stand up before a vast assembly composed of men of the
most various callings, views, passions, and prejudices, and mold them at
will; [Pg vi] to play upon their hearts and minds as a master upon the keys of
a piano; to convince their understandings by the logic, and to thrill
their feelings by the art of the orator; to see every eye watching his
face, and every ear intent on the words that drop from his lips; to see
indifference changed to breathless interest, and avers...

London, 1774, according to the Paris edition by Professor Rollin.

It is sure, also,
of meeting with partizans [Pg 205] to espouse its cause, because, since it is
bound down to a certain necessity of feet it can not always use proper
words, and being driven out of the straight road, must turn into byways
of speaking, and be compelled to change some words, and to lengthen,
shorten, transpose and divide them.

If we have [Pg 114] executed all
other parts to advantage, here we take possession of the minds of the
judges, and having escaped all rocks, may expand all our sails for a
favorable gale; and as amplification makes a great part of the
peroration, we then may raise and embellish our style with the choicest
expressions and brightest thoughts.

The first, calculated for
ostentation, aims at nothing but the pleasure of the auditory.

This is a circumstance requiring the circumspection
of both parties, yet I think the favored advocate should behave with
great caution, for a judge of a biased disposition will sometimes choose
to pass sentence against his friends, or in favor of those to whom he
bears enmity, that he may not appear to act with injustice.

[Pg 16]

But does not money likewise persuade?

Should there be a bench, a
tribunal, an assembly of wise and learned judges whose hearts are
inaccessible to hatred, envy, hope, fear, prejudice, and the impositions
of false witnesses, there would be little occasion for the exertions of
eloquence and all that might seem requisite would be only to amuse the
ear with the harmony of cadence.

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Afterward
he may say that they did not form this plan by themselves, that they
were instigated to it by others who had more indulgent parents, that the
result clearly showed they were not capable of so unnatural an action,
that there was no necessity for binding themselves by oath if in reality
they could have had such an inclination, nor of casting lots if each did
not want to avoid the perpetration of such a crime.

Some one is accused of sacrilege
for stealing the money of a private person out of a temple.

This is evident
by only computing the time of the day, besides the advantages of the
night, of which a good part is more than sufficient for sleep.

This, as most authors agree, is
accomplished by making them friendly, attentive, and receptive, tho due
regard should be paid [Pg 44] to these three particulars throughout the whole
of a speech.

For to be eloquent is nothing else than to be
able to set forth all the lively images you have conceived in your mind,
and to convey them to the hearers in the same rich coloring, without
which all the principles we have laid down are useless, and are like a
sword concealed and kept sheathed in its scabbard.

On these
occasions persons seem to be differently affected; one will believe the
fact, and exculpate the right; another will condemn the right, and
perhaps not credit the fact.

But as many words very often signify the same thing, and
therefore are called synonymous, some of these must be more sublime,
more bright, more agreeable, and sweeter and fuller in pronunciation
than others.

For my part I think this should depend on the
nature and exigencies of the cause, yet with this reservation, that the
discourse might not dwindle from the powerful into what is nugatory and
frivolous.

When
Hannibal perceived himself to be blocked up by Fabius, he ordered
faggots of brush-wood to be fastened about the horns of some oxen, and
fire being set to the faggots, had the cattle driven up the mountains in
the night, in order to make the enemy believe he was about to decamp.

We are ashamed to differ in opinion from others, and
by a sort of secret bashfulness are kept from believing ourselves more
intelligent than they are; tho indeed we are aware, at the same time,
that the taste of the greater number is vicious, and that sycophants,
even persons hired to applaud, praise things which can not [Pg 202] please us;
as, on the other hand, it also happens that a bad taste can have no
relish for the best things.

We shall not endeavor to enquire
into the time when rhetoric began to be taught, but this we may say,
that it is certain Homer makes mention not only of Phœnix, who was a
master, skilled in [Pg 32] both speaking and fighting, but also of many other
orators.

For my part I think this should depend on the
nature and exigencies of the cause, yet with this reservation, that the
discourse might not dwindle from the powerful into what is nugatory and
frivolous.

The great secret for moving the passions is to be moved ourselves, for
the imitation of grief, anger, indignation, will often be ridiculous if
conforming to only our words and countenance, while our heart at the
same time is estranged from them.

Another rule inculcated by the ancients is not to admit into the
exordium any strange word, too bold a metaphor, an obsolete expression,
or a poetical turn.

Sometimes we
may diversify the exposition with a variety of figures and turns; as,
"You remember"; "Perhaps it would be unnecessary to insist any longer on
this point"; "But why should I speak further when you are so well
acquainted with the matter."

[Pg 74]

This is a quality neglected by most of our orators, who, charmed by the
applause of a rabble brought together by chance, or even bribed to
applaud with admiration every word and period, can neither endure the
attentive silence of a judicious audience, nor seem to themselves to be
eloquent unless they make everything ring about them with tumultuous
clamor.

For, according as his temper is, harsh or mild, pleasant or
grave, severe or easy, the cause should be made to incline toward the
side which corresponds with his disposition, or to admit some mitigation
or softening where it runs counter to it.

I drew this aspersion upon myself by my endeavor
to bring over eloquence to a more austere taste, which had been
corrupted and enervated by very many softnesses and delicacies.

Another rule inculcated by the ancients is not to admit into the
exordium any strange word, too bold a metaphor, an obsolete expression,
or a poetical turn.

So it
is that a general of an army often has recourse to stratagems.

All agree that recapitulation may also be employed to
advantage in other parts of the pleading, if the cause is complicated
and requires many arguments to defend it, and, on the other hand, it
will admit of no doubt that many causes are so short and simple as to
have no occasion in any part of them for recapitulation.

By its easy, natural turn, it enhances the reputation of genius.

What is redundant,
disgusts; what is necessary is cut down with danger.

[Pg 164]

To throw light, also, upon things, similes have been invented, some of
which by way of proof are inserted among arguments, and others are
calculated for expressing the images of things, the point we are here
explaining.

Even the [Pg 25] precepts of moral life,
tho engraved on our hearts by the finger of nature, are more efficacious
to inspire our hearts with love for them when their beauty is displayed
by the ornaments of eloquent speech.

It is of no significance to instruct them; they must be
pleased.

But if the orator has to deal with
light, inconstant, prejudiced, and corrupt judges, and if many
embarrassments must be removed in order to throw light upon truth, then
artful stratagem must fight the battle, and set all its engines to work,
for he who is beaten out [Pg 39] of the straight road can not get into it again
except by another turnabout.

The narration will have its due brevity if we begin by explaining the
affair from the point where it is of concern to the judge; next, if we
say nothing foreign to the cause; and last, if we avoid all
superfluities, yet without curtailing anything that may give insight
into the [Pg 76] cause or be to its advantage.

If it were not so, we should exclude
medicine from the catalog of arts, the discovery of which was owing to
observations made on things conducive or harmful to public health, and
in the opinion of some it is wholly grounded on experiments.

As Cicero says of himself,
he is not unaware that [Pg 58] some will find it strange that he, who for so
many years had defended such a number of people, and had given no
offense to anyone, should undertake to accuse Verres.

The points which may seem to require
this enumeration, however, ought to be pronounced with some emphasis,
and enlivened with opposite thoughts, and diversified by figures,
otherwise nothing will be more disagreeable than a mere cursory
repetition, which would seem to show distrust of the judge's memory.

Even the [Pg 25] precepts of moral life,
tho engraved on our hearts by the finger of nature, are more efficacious
to inspire our hearts with love for them when their beauty is displayed
by the ornaments of eloquent speech.

[Pg 82]

It will not be amiss to intimate that nothing enhances so much the
credibility of a narration as the authority of him who makes it, and
this authority it is our duty to acquire, above all, by an
irreproachable life, and next, by the manner of enforcing it.

If this were an opinion peculiar to orators, it might be thought that
they intended it as a mark of dignity attached to their studies, but
most philosophers, stoics as well as peripatetics, concur in this
opinion.

Fear, too,
sometimes must be removed, as Cicero, in his defense of Milo, endeavors
to assure the judges that Pompey's army, drawn up about the Forum, is
for their protection; and sometimes there will be an occasion to
intimidate them, as the same orator does in one of his pleadings against
Verres.

It is of particular consequence that we should be clear
as to what ought to be amplified or diminished; whether we are to speak
with heat or moderation; in a florid or austere style; in [Pg 155] a copious or
concise manner; in words of bitter invective, or in those showing placid
and gentle disposition; with magnificence or plainness; gravity or
politeness.

Is it not the orator who strengthens the
soldier's drooping courage, who animates him amidst the greatest
dangers, and inspires him to choose a glorious death rather than a life
of infamy?

Let the young orator, for whose instruction I make these remarks,
accustom himself as much as possible to copy nature and truth.

All bombast, and
flimsiness, and studied sweetness, and redundancies, and far-fetched
thoughts, and witticisms, fall under the same denomination.

Then his mind
is to be roused and agitated by hope, fear, remonstrance, entreaty, and
even by flattery, if it is thought that will be of any use.

There are many very engaging things in an exordium which is framed from
the opponent's pleading, and this is because it does not seem to favor
of the closet, but is produced on the spot and comes from the very
thing.

He soars high above prose, and even
common poetry, which is poetry only because comprised in a certain
number of feet; and he seems to [Pg 214] me not so much endowed with the wit of
a man, as inspired by a sort of Delphic oracle.

It is of particular consequence that we should be clear
as to what ought to be amplified or diminished; whether we are to speak
with heat or moderation; in a florid or austere style; in [Pg 155] a copious or
concise manner; in words of bitter invective, or in those showing placid
and gentle disposition; with magnificence or plainness; gravity or
politeness.

For my part I think this should depend on the
nature and exigencies of the cause, yet with this reservation, that the
discourse might not dwindle from the powerful into what is nugatory and
frivolous.

How small a portion of it do we allot to our
studies!

Herein, therefore, it will be better and more suitable for an advocate [Pg 57] to act than for the person himself; because when pleading for another he
can praise without the imputation of arrogance, and sometimes can even
reprove with advantage.

[Pg 45]

As nothing else gives so great a sanction to the authority of the
speaker as to be free from all suspicion of avarice, hatred, and
ambition, so, also, there is a sort of tacit recommendation of ourselves
if we profess our weak state and inability for contending with the
superior genius and talents of the advocate of the other side.

The next question is on the utility of rhetoric, and from this point of
view some direct the bitterest invectives against it, and what is very
unbecoming, exert the force of eloquence against eloquence, saying that
by it the wicked are freed from punishment, and the innocent opprest by
its artifices; that it perverts good counsel, and enforces bad; that it
foments troubles and seditions in States; that it arms nations against
each other, and makes them irreconcilable enemies; and that...

And
thus it is that the art of defense, not circumscribed by any one
invariable rule, must be adapted to the nature and circumstances of the
cause.

The
accuser does not merely say, "You have committed that murder," but shows
reasons to evince its credibility; as, in tragedies, when Teucer imputes
the death of Ajax to Ulysses, he says that "He was found in a lonely
place, near the dead body of his enemy, with his sword all bloody."

But as many words very often signify the same thing, and
therefore are called synonymous, some of these must be more sublime,
more bright, more agreeable, and sweeter and fuller in pronunciation
than others.

They
laughed foolishly and without reason, and made others laugh by some
ridiculous gesticulation or grimace, especially when the heat of a
debate exhibited anything akin to theatrical action.

[Pg iii]

[Pg iv]

[Pg v]

The power of eloquence to move and persuade men is universally
recognized.

Second, it ought to be short, and not encumbered with any
superfluous word, because we do not enter upon the subject matter, but
only point it out.

To these may be added several examples of Greeks and Romans, and a long
list of orators whose eloquence was not only the ruin of private
persons, but even destructive to whole cities and republics; and for
this reason it was that eloquence was banished from Sparta and so
restricted at Athens that the orator was not allowed to make appeal to
the passions.

If necessity requires it, I can not say that it is the business
of the art of oratory to give directions in the matter, any more than to
lodge an appeal, tho that, too, is often of service, or to cite the [Pg 50] judge in justice before he passes sentence, for to threaten, denounce,
or indict may be done by any one else as well as the orator.

Eloquence requires a more manly temper, [Pg 137] and if its whole
body be sound and vigorous, it is quite regardless of the nicety of
paring the nails and adjusting the hair.

It will be unnecessary to
enumerate all the favorable circumstances in causes, they being easily
known from the state of facts; besides, no exact enumeration can take
place on account of the great diversity of law-suits.

To bring the matter home
to our oratorical studies, of what significance is the custom which I
see kept up by many, of declaiming so many years in schools, and of
expending so much labor on imaginary subjects, when in a moderate time
the rules of eloquence may be learned, and pursuant to their directions,
a real image framed of the contests at the bar?

To these are subjoined proofs, but the proofs, too, are not
without narration, the plaintiff alleging, "You were in the place where
your enemy was found killed."

The style and manner suitable on these occasions ought,
therefore, to be sweet and insinuating, never hot and imperious, never
hazarded in too elevated a strain.

We shall procure the favor of the judge not so much by praising him, [Pg 47] which ought to be done with moderation, and is common to both sides, but
rather by making his praise fitting, and connecting it with the interest
of our cause.

And, indeed, what art do we find coeval with the world, and
what is there of which the value is not enhanced by improvement?

Second, if it distinguishes exactly
things, persons, times, places, causes; all of which should be
accompanied with a suitable delivery, that the judge may retain the more
easily what is said.

Lysias and his adherents proceed afterward to vain subtleties.

From what has been said, it appears that different causes require to be
governed by different rules; and five kinds of causes are generally
specified, which are said to be, either honest, base, doubtful,
extraordinary, or obscure.

Sometimes honorable mention may be made of him, as when
we pretend to be in dread of his interest and eloquence in order to make
them suspected by the judges, and sometimes by casting odium on him,
altho this must be done very seldom.

This
opinion originated with Isocrates, if the work ascribed to him be really
his; not that he intended to dishonor his profession, tho he gives us a
generous idea of rhetoric by calling it the workmanship of persuasion.

It appears from Plato's Gorgias that he was far from regarding rhetoric
as [Pg 19] an art of ill tendency, but that, rather it is, or ought to be, if
we were to conceive an adequate idea of it inseparable from virtue.

If art, as
Cleanthes thinks, is a power which prepares a way and establishes an
order, can it be doubted that we must keep to a certain way and a
certain order for speaking well?

That which may be
spoken in a plain, direct manner we express by paraphrase; and we [Pg 138] use
repetitions where to say a thing once is enough; and what is well
signified by one word, we load with many, and most things we choose to
signify rather by circumlocution than by proper and pertinent terms.

In sacred
canticles, some airs are for elating the heart into raptures, others to
restore the mind to its former tranquillity.

Should there be an interval for study amidst
these avocations, can it be said to be proper?

Composition, therefore, in my opinion, is to thoughts and words what the
dexterous management of a bow or string may be for directing the aim of
missive weapons; and I may say that the most learned are convinced that
it is greatly conducive not only to pleasure, but also to making a good
impression on others.

To begin with
our first division, the same style will not suit [Pg 150] equally demonstrative,
deliberative, and judicial causes.

It is the cause
itself, therefore, that must teach us to find and improve these
circumstances; and, in like manner, with a circumstance that may make
against us the cause will inform us how it may either be made entirely
void, or at least invalidated.

This is what animals lack, more
than thought and understanding, of which it can not be said they are
entirely destitute.

An example of this we
have in Cicero's description of a riotous banquet; he being the only one
who can furnish us with examples of all kinds of ornaments: "I seemed to
myself to see some coming in, others going out; some tottering with
drunkenness, others yawning from yesterday's carousing.

[Pg 29]

There would be no end were I to expatiate to the limit of my inclination
on the subject of the gift of speech and its utility.

If, then, so great a power lies in musical strains and modulations, what
must it be with eloquence, the music of which is a speaking harmony?

For, according as his temper is, harsh or mild, pleasant or
grave, severe or easy, the cause should be made to incline toward the
side which corresponds with his disposition, or to admit some mitigation
or softening where it runs counter to it.

This is what animals lack, more
than thought and understanding, of which it can not be said they are
entirely destitute.

But when it is done for some
particular reason, then it becomes a figure of speech.

It is to this that Gorgias, in the book above
cited, is at last reduced [Pg 18] by Socrates.

If this were an opinion peculiar to orators, it might be thought that
they intended it as a mark of dignity attached to their studies, but
most philosophers, stoics as well as peripatetics, concur in this
opinion.

Doubts of this kind may well be entertained by
such as make "the force persuasion the end of eloquence," but we who
constitute it "The science of speaking well," resolved to acknowledge
none but the good man an orator, must naturally judge that its advantage
is very considerable.

As musicians make a
prelude for obtaining silence and attention before they play their
selections, so orators, before they begin their cause, have specified by
the same application that which they say by way of preface for securing
for themselves a kindly feeling in the listeners.

Did Antonius, pleading the cause of M. Aquilius, trust to the force of
his reasons when he abruptly tore open his garment and exposed to view
the honorable wounds he received fighting for his country?

Yet a magnificent,
and suitable, dress adds authority to man; but an effeminate dress, the
garb of luxury and softness, lays open the corruption of the heart
without adding to the ornament of the body.

But these ought to
be regulated according to the sentiments we would have the judges imbibe
from us.

The impetuous
torrent sweeps him away, and he is borne down in the current.

Is not credit, the authority of
the speaker, the dignity of a respectable person, attended with the same
effect?

It was
well known that he was assassinated; his body also lay in state, until
his funeral should take place; yet that garment, still dripping with
blood, formed so graphic a picture of the horrible murder that it seemed
to them to have been perpetrated that very instant.

Even the [Pg 25] precepts of moral life,
tho engraved on our hearts by the finger of nature, are more efficacious
to inspire our hearts with love for them when their beauty is displayed
by the ornaments of eloquent speech.

Whatever is cited and argued before the third point must seem
quite unnecessary, for the judge is in haste to have you come to that
which is of most consequence, and the patient, will tacitly call upon
you to acquit yourself of your promise, or, if he has much business to
dispatch, or his dignity puts him above your tri [Pg 89] fling, or he is of a
peevish humor, he will oblige you to speak to the purpose, and perhaps
do so in disrespectful terms.

It is the master's business to require this duty,
and to commend it according as it is well executed.

Tho there is good reason for saying
that perspicuity is best suited by proper words, and ornament by
metaphorical, yet we should always know that an impropriety is never
ornamental.

[Pg 15]

Rhetoric has been commonly defined as "The power of persuading."

And again, "To stand up before a vast assembly composed of men of the
most various callings, views, passions, and prejudices, and mold them at
will; [Pg vi] to play upon their hearts and minds as a master upon the keys of
a piano; to convince their understandings by the logic, and to thrill
their feelings by the art of the orator; to see every eye watching his
face, and every ear intent on the words that drop from his lips; to see
indifference changed to breathless interest, and aversion to ...

As the confidence observable in some orators may easily pass for
arrogance, there are certain ways of behavior which, tho common, will
please, and therefore ought not to be neglected, to prevent their being
used by the opposing side: these are wishing, warding off suspicion,
supplicating, and making a show of trouble and anxiety.

And again, "To stand up before a vast assembly composed of men of the
most various callings, views, passions, and prejudices, and mold them at
will; [Pg vi] to play upon their hearts and minds as a master upon the keys of
a piano; to convince their understandings by the logic, and to thrill
their feelings by the art of the orator; to see every eye watching his
face, and every ear intent on the words that drop from his lips; to see
indifference changed to breathless interest, and avers...

[Pg 247]

The orator having distinguished himself by these perfections of
eloquence at the bar, in counsels, in the assemblies of the people, in
the senate, and in all the duties of a good citizen, ought to think,
likewise, of making an end worthy of an honest man and the sanctity of
his ministry: not that during the course of his life he ought to cease
being of service to society, or that, endowed with such integrity of
mind and such talent of eloquence, he can continue too long in the
ex...

If time can
mitigate the pangs of real grief, of course the counterfeit grief
assumed in speaking must sooner vanish; so that if we dally, the auditor
finding himself overcharged with mournful thoughts, tries to resume [Pg 110] his
tranquility, and thus ridding himself of the emotion that overpowered
him, soon returns to the exercise of cool reason.

Oratory, in the true sense, is not
a lost art, but a potent means of imparting information, instruction,
and persuasion.

The next objection is not one so much in reality as it is a mere cavil;
that "Art never assents to false opinions, because it can not be
constituted as such without [Pg 34] precepts, which are always true; but
rhetoric assents to what is false, therefore it is not an art."

The stentorian and dramatic tones, with
hand inserted in the breast of the coat, with exaggerated facial
expression, and studied posture, would make a speaker to-day an object
of ridicule.

There are many very engaging things in an exordium which is framed from
the opponent's pleading, and this is because it does not seem to favor
of the closet, but is produced on the spot and comes from the very
thing.

I am persuaded that those of
the contrary opinion were so more for the sake of exercising their wit
on the singularity of the subject than from any real conviction.

Tho geometricians and grammarians, and the professors of
other arts, spent all their lives, however long, in treating and
discussing their respective arts, does it thence follow that we must
have as many lives as there are things to be learned?

These
acts are commonly of mighty efficacy, as fully revealing the reality of
the occurrence.

The next question is on the utility of rhetoric, and from this point of
view some direct the bitterest invectives against it, and what is very
unbecoming, exert the force of eloquence against eloquence, saying that
by it the wicked are freed from punishment, and the innocent opprest by
its artifices; that it perverts good counsel, and enforces bad; that it
foments troubles and seditions in States; that it arms nations against
each other, and makes them irreconcilable enemies; and that...

To go through all of them is not my purpose, nor do I think it
possible, as most writers on arts have shown a perverse dislike for
defining things as others do or in the same terms as those who wrote
before them.

Yet the accuser is
sometimes not without tears, in deploring the distress of those in whose
behalf he sues for satisfaction, and the defendant sometimes complains
with great vehemence of the persecution raised against him by the
calumnies and conspiracy of his enemies.

He on whom the lot falls, enters his father's bed-chamber at
night, with a poniard, but has not courage to put the design into
execution.

In things that can not be denied, we must endeavor to show that they are
greatly short of what they are reported to be, or that they have been
done with a different intention, or that they do not in any wise belong
to the present question, or that repentance will make sufficient amends
for them, or that they have already received a proportionate punishment.

An
athlete whose arms from exercise show a full spring and play of the
muscles, is a beautiful sight, and he, likewise, is best fitted as a
combatant.

If some authors
weaken the subjects of which they treat, by straining them into certain
soft and lascivious measures, we must not on that account judge that
this is the fault of composition.

Its object is to narrate, and
not to prove, and its whole business neither intends action nor
contention, but to transmit facts to posterity, and enhance the
reputation of its author.

An example of this we
have in Cicero's description of a riotous banquet; he being the only one
who can furnish us with examples of all kinds of ornaments: "I seemed to
myself to see some coming in, others going out; some tottering with
drunkenness, others yawning from yesterday's carousing.

And, indeed, I believe that those present were not completely aware of
what they were doing, and that what they did was neither spontaneous,
nor from an act of judgment, but that filled with a sort of enthusiasm,
and not considering the place they were in, they burst forth with
unrestrained excitement.

Therefore Cicero, with good reason, says in one of his
epistles to Brutus: "The eloquence which does not excite admiration, I
regard as nothing."

Cornelius Celsus, in the manner
of the Skeptics, has written a good many tracts, which are not without
elegance and perspicuity.

As one has well said, "The orator is not compelled to wait
through long and weary years to reap the reward of his labors.

The stentorian and dramatic tones, with
hand inserted in the breast of the coat, with exaggerated facial
expression, and studied posture, would make a speaker to-day an object
of ridicule.

Sometimes the exordium is applicable to the pleader of the cause, who,
tho he ought to speak very little of himself, and always modestly, will
find it of vast consequence to create a good opinion of himself and to
make himself thought to be an honest man.

The next objection is not one so much in reality as it is a mere cavil;
that "Art never assents to false opinions, because it can not be
constituted as such without [Pg 34] precepts, which are always true; but
rhetoric assents to what is false, therefore it is not an art."

It is not to be supposed that the
founders of cities could have made a united people of a vagabond
multitude without the charms of persuasive words, nor that law-givers,
without extraordinary talent for speaking, could have forced men to bend
their necks to the yoke of the laws.

[Pg 78]

The best way to make the narration probable is to first consult with
ourselves on whatever is agreeable to nature, that nothing may be said
contrary to it; next, to find causes and reasons for facts, not for all,
but for those belonging to the question; and last, to have characters
answerable to the alleged facts which we would have believed; as, if one
were guilty of theft, we should represent him as a miser; of adultery,
as addicted to impure lusts; of manslaughter, as ho...

For, as water is naturally a proper element for fish, dry
land for quadrupeds, and air for birds, so indeed it ought to be more
easy to live according to the prescript of nature than to infringe her
laws.

But to go on arguing and proving,
in the case of self-evident things, would be a piece of folly not unlike
that of bringing a candle to light us when the sun is in its greatest
splendor.

The
sight of so [Pg 17] many wretched objects melted the judges into compassion.

When Cicero boasted that
he threw darkness on the minds of the judges, in the cause of Cluentius,
could it be said that he himself was unacquainted with all the
intricacies of his method of confusing their understanding of the facts?

Both of the
contending sides, therefore, try to conciliate the judge, to make him
unfavorable to the opponent, to rouse and [Pg 104] occasionally allay his
passions; and both may find their method of procedure in this short
rule, which is, to keep in view the whole stress of the cause, and
finding what it contains that is favorable, odious, or deplorable, in
reality or in probability, to say those things which would make the
greatest impression on themselves if they sat as judges.

Paint and polish them with feminine [Pg 136] cosmetics,
and admiration ceases; the very pains taken to make them appear more
beautiful add to the dislike we conceive for them.

Physicians [Pg 23] often
administer poisons, and among philosophers some have been found guilty
of the most enormous crimes.

On these
occasions persons seem to be differently affected; one will believe the
fact, and exculpate the right; another will condemn the right, and
perhaps not credit the fact.

The narration will have its due brevity if we begin by explaining the
affair from the point where it is of concern to the judge; next, if we
say nothing foreign to the cause; and last, if we avoid all
superfluities, yet without curtailing anything that may give insight
into the [Pg 76] cause or be to its advantage.

Pericles was accustomed to wish, with good reason, that no word might
ever enter his mind which could give umbrage to the people.

But this embellishment, I must again and again repeat, ought to be
manly, noble, and modest; neither inclining to effeminate delicacy, nor
assuming a color indebted to paint, but glistening with health and
spirits.

[Pg 112]

It will not be amiss to hint that the success of the peroration depends
much on the manner of the parties in conforming themselves to the
emotions and action of their advocates.

They have on their bodies sufficient covering to guard them
against cold; all of them have their natural weapons of defense; their
food lies, in a manner, on all sides of them; and we, indigent beings!
to what anxieties are we put in securing these things?

We must, therefore,
never allow this kind of emotion to become languid, but when we have
wound up the passions to their greatest height, we must instantly drop
the subject, and not expect that any one will long bewail another's
mishap.

Of Great Worth to the Public Speaker

"I consider it a compendium of particularly valuable information to
all men who are called upon to address public
audiences."—

I am persuaded that those of
the contrary opinion were so more for the sake of exercising their wit
on the singularity of the subject than from any real conviction.

The stentorian and dramatic tones, with
hand inserted in the breast of the coat, with exaggerated facial
expression, and studied posture, would make a speaker to-day an object
of ridicule.

This is a circumstance requiring the circumspection
of both parties, yet I think the favored advocate should behave with
great caution, for a judge of a biased disposition will sometimes choose
to pass sentence against his friends, or in favor of those to whom he
bears enmity, that he may not appear to act with injustice.

It is of particular consequence that we should be clear
as to what ought to be amplified or diminished; whether we are to speak
with heat or moderation; in a florid or austere style; in [Pg 155] a copious or
concise manner; in words of bitter invective, or in those showing placid
and gentle disposition; with magnificence or plainness; gravity or
politeness.

And must he not falsely aver himself to be
the patron of the causes he undertakes, if obliged to borrow from
another what is of greatest consequence in these causes, in some measure
like those who repeat the writings of poets?

Tho there is good reason for saying
that perspicuity is best suited by proper words, and ornament by
metaphorical, yet we should always know that an impropriety is never
ornamental.

Such seems to be that of Demosthenes for
Ctesiphon, in which he requests the judges to please [Pg 53] permit him to
reply as he thinks suitable rather than to follow the rules prescribed
by the accuser.

I rather think, from the authority
of the best authors, that whatever affects the orator, affects also the
cause he patronizes, as it is natural for a judge to give more credit to
those whom he more willingly hears.

But Cicero
would pass for a harsh and barbarous author, compared to us, who make
little of [Pg 139] whatever nature dictates, who seek not ornaments, but
delicacies and refinements, as if there were any beauty in words without
an agreement with things, for if we were to labor throughout our whole
life in consulting their propriety, clearness, ornament, and due
placing, we should lose the whole fruit of our studies.

There are many instances of causes
of unseemly appearance, as when general odium is incurred by opposing a
patriot; and a like hostility ensues from acting against a father, a
wretched old man, the blind, or the orphan.

But the
eloquence of those times could well be concealed, not yet having made an
accession of so many luminaries as to break out through every
intervening obstacle to the transmission of their light.

For all I know, the happiest time in an orator's life is when he has
retired from the world to devote himself to rest; and, remote from envy,
and re [Pg 250] mote from strife, he looks back on his reputation, as from a
harbor of safety; and while still living has a sense of that veneration
which commonly awaits only the dead; thus anticipating the pleasure of
the noble impression posterity will conceive of him.

This ought to be
acknowledged by all, but more especially by us who do not separate
eloquence from the man of integrity.

This character of
goodness should invariably be maintained by those whom a mutual tie
ought to bind in strict union, whenever it may happen that they suffer
anything from each other, or pardon, or make satisfaction, or admonish,
or reprimand, but far [Pg 123] from betraying any real anger or hatred.

For, according as his temper is, harsh or mild, pleasant or
grave, severe or easy, the cause should be made to incline toward the
side which corresponds with his disposition, or to admit some mitigation
or softening where it runs counter to it.

But the listeners' passions ought to be excited, and
their attention diverted from its former bias, for it is the orator's
business not so much to instruct as to enforce his eloquence by emotion,
to which nothing can be more contrary than minute and scrupulously exact
division of a discourse into parts.

As the more clear-sounding letters communicate the same
quality to the syllables they compose, so the words composed of these
syllables become more sonorous, and the greater the force or sound of
the [Pg 153] syllables is, the more they fill or charm the ear.

The sense ought to increase and rise, which Cicero observes admirably [Pg 180] where he says: "And thou, with that voice, those lungs, and that
gladiator-like vigor of thy whole body."

We may observe likewise from Homer, that all the parts of a
discourse are found in the speech of the three captains deputed to
Achilles, that several young men dispute for the prize of eloquence, and
that among other ornaments of sculpture on the buckler of Achilles,
Vulcan did not forget law-causes and the pleaders of them.

The next question is on the utility of rhetoric, and from this point of
view some direct the bitterest invectives against it, and what is very
unbecoming, exert the force of eloquence against eloquence, saying that
by it the wicked are freed from punishment, and the innocent opprest by
its artifices; that it perverts good counsel, and enforces bad; that it
foments troubles and seditions in States; that it arms nations against
each other, and makes them irreconcilable enemies; and that...

These ornaments of speech, therefore, may be thought to contribute not a
little to the success of a cause, for they who hear willingly are more
attentive and more disposed to believe.

For my part I think this should depend on the
nature and exigencies of the cause, yet with this reservation, that the
discourse might not dwindle from the powerful into what is nugatory and
frivolous.

To explain simply the fact, appears to them too low, and common,
and too much within the reach of the illiterate, but I fancy that what
they despise as easy is not so much because of inclination as because of
inability to effect it.

It may be a general
observation that in the placing of syllables, their sound will be
harsher as they are pronounced with a like or different gaping of the
mouth.

The stentorian and dramatic tones, with
hand inserted in the breast of the coat, with exaggerated facial
expression, and studied posture, would make a speaker to-day an object
of ridicule.

This production bears throughout the impress of a clear, sound
judgment, keen discrimination, and pure taste, improved by extensive
reading, deep reflection, and long practise."

He has more flesh, but not so many sinews.

For, as water is naturally a proper element for fish, dry
land for quadrupeds, and air for birds, so indeed it ought to be more
easy to live according to the prescript of nature than to infringe her
laws.

We perceive, indeed, that its help is but weak, and its
action but languid.

Cicero says in
his oration for Murena: "They who have not a genius for playing on the
lyre, may become expert at playing on the flute (a proverbial saying
among the Greeks to specify the man who can not make himself master of
the superior sciences): so among us they who can not become orators,
turn to the study of the law."