it was not to make a parade of my eloquence and ability, which I have no
temptation to do, but only to specify the pains and labour which I have
taken to improve it. After spending the five succeeding years in pleading
a variety of causes, and with the ablest Advocates of the time, I was
declared an Aedile, and undertook the patronage of the Sicilians against
Hortensius, who was then one of the Consuls elect. But as the subject of
our conversation not only requires an historical detail of Orators, but
such preceptive remarks as may be necessary to elucidate their characters;
it will not be improper to make some observations of this kind upon that
of Hortensius. After his appointment to the consulship (very probably,
because he saw none of consular dignity who were able to rival him, and
despised the competition of others of inferior rank) he began to remit
that intense application which he had hitherto persevered in from his
childhood; and having settled himself in very affluent circumstances, he
chose to live for the future what he thought an _easy_ life, but which, in
truth, was rather an indolent one. In the three succeeding years, the
beauty of his colouring was so much impaired, as to be very perceptible to
a skilful connoisseur, though not to a common observer. After that, he
grew every day more unlike himself than before, not only in other parts of
Eloquence, but by a gradual decay of the former celerity and elegant
texture of his language. I, at the same time, spared no pains to improve
and enlarge my talents, such as they were, by every exercise that was
proper for the purpose, but particularly by that of writing. Not to
mention several other advantages I derived from it, I shall only observe,
that about this time, and but a very few years after my Aedileship, I was
declared the first Praetor, by the unanimous suffrages of my fellow-
citizens. For, by my diligence and assiduity as a Pleader, and my accurate
way of speaking, which was rather superior to the ordinary style of the
Bar, the novelty of my Eloquence had engaged the attention, and secured
the good wishes of the public. But I will say nothing of myself: I will
confine my discourse to our other Speakers, among whom there is not one
who has gained more than a common acquaintance with those parts of
literature, which feed the springs of Eloquence:--not one who has been
thoroughly nurtured at the breast of Philosophy, which is the mother of
every excellence either in deed or speech:--not one who has acquired an
accurate knowledge of the Civil Law, which is so necessary for the
management even of private causes, and to direct the judgment of an
Orator:--not one who is a complete master of the Roman History, which
would enable us, on many occasions, to appeal to the venerable evidence of
the dead:--not one who can entangle his opponent in such a neat and
humourous manner, as to relax the severity of the Judges into a smile or
an open laugh:--not one who knows how to dilate and expand his subject, by
reducing it from the limited considerations of time, and person, to some
general and indefinite topic;--not one who knows how to enliven it by an
agreeable digression: not one who can rouse the indignation of the Judge,
or extort from him the tear of compassion;--or who can influence and bend
his soul (which is confessedly the capital perfection of an Orator) in
such a manner as shall best suit his purpose.
"When Hortensius, therefore, the once eloquent and admired Hortensius, had
almost vanished from the Forum, my appointment to the Consulship, which
happened about six years after his own promotion to that office, revived
his dying emulation; for he was unwilling that after I had equalled him in
rank and dignity, I should become his superior in any other respect. But
in the twelve succeeding years, by a mutual deference to each other's
abilities, we united our efforts at the Bar in the most amicable manner:
and my Consulship, which at first had given a short alarm to his jealousy,
afterward cemented our friendship, by the generous candor with which he
applauded my conduct. But our emulous efforts were exerted in the most
conspicuous manner, just before the commencement of that unhappy period,
when Eloquence herself was confounded and terrified by the din of arms
into a sudden and a total silence: for after Pompey had proposed and
carried a law, which allowed even the party accused but three hours to
make his defence, I appeared, (though comparatively as a mere _noviciate_
by this new regulation) in a number of causes which, in fact, were become
perfectly the same, or very nearly so; most of which, my Brutus, you was
present to hear, as having been my partner and fellow-advocate in many of
them, though you pleaded several by yourself; and Hortensius, though he
died a short time afterwards, bore his share in these limited efforts. He
began to plead about ten years before the time of your birth; and in his
sixty-fourth year, but a very few days before his death, he was engaged
with you in the defence of Appius, your father-in-law. As to our
respective talents, the Orations we have published will enable posterity
to form a proper judgment of them. But if we mean to inquire, why
Hortensius was more admired for his Eloquence in the younger part of his
life, than in his latter years, we shall find it owing to the following
causes. The first was, that an _Asiatic_ style is more allowable in a
young man than in an old one. Of this there are two different kinds.
"The former is sententious and sprightly, and abounds in those turns of
sentiment which are not so much distinguished by their weight and solidity
as by their neatness and elegance; of this cast was Timaeus the Historian,
and the two Orators so much talked of in our younger days, Hierocles the
Alabandean, and his brother Menecles, but particularly the latter; both
whose Orations may be reckoned master-pieces of the kind. The other sort
is not so remarkable for the plenty and richness of its sentiments, as for
its rapid volubility of expression, which at present is the ruling taste
in Asia; but, besides it's uncommon fluency, it is recommended by a choice
of words which are peculiarly delicate and ornamental:--of this kind were
Aeschylus the Cnidian, and my cotemporary Aeschines the Milesian; for they
had an admirable command of language, with very little elegance of
sentiment. These showy kinds of eloquence are agreeable enough in young
people; but they are entirely destitute of that gravity and composure
which befits a riper age. As Hortensius therefore excelled in both, he was
heard with applause in the earlier part of his life. For he had all that
fertility and graceful variety of sentiment which distinguished the
character of Menecles: but, as in Menecles, so in him, there were many
turns of sentiment which were more delicate and entertaining than really
useful, or indeed sometimes convenient. His language also was brilliant
and rapid, and yet perfectly neat and accurate; but by no means agreeable
to men of riper years. I have often seen it received by Philippus with the
utmost derision, and, upon some occasions, with a contemptuous
indignation: but the younger part of the audience admired it, and the
populace were highly pleased with it. In his youth, therefore, he met the
warmest approbation of the public, and maintained his post with ease as
the first Orator in the Forum. For the style he chose to speak in, though
it has little weight, or authority, appeared very suitable to his age: and
as it discovered in him the most visible marks of genius and application,
and was recommended by the numerous cadence of his periods, he was heard
with universal applause. But when the honours he afterwards rose to, and
the dignity of his years required something more serious and composed, he
still continued to appear in the same character, though it no longer
became him: and as he had, for some considerable time, intermitted those
exercises, and relaxed that laborious attention which had once
distinguished him, though his former neatness of expression, and
luxuriancy of sentiment still remained, they were stripped of those
brilliant ornaments they had been used to wear. For this reason, perhaps,
my Brutus, he appeared less pleasing to you than he would have done, if
you had been old enough to hear him, when he was fired with emulation and
flourished in the full bloom of his Eloquence.
"I am perfectly sensible," said Brutus, "of the justice of your remarks;
and yet I have always looked upon Hortensius as a great Orator, but
especially when he pleaded for Messala, in the time of your absence."--"I
have often heard of it," replied I, "and his Oration, which was afterwards
published, they say, in the very same words in which he delivered it, is
no way inferior to the character you give it. Upon the whole, then, his
reputation flourished from the time of Crassus and Scaevola (reckoning
from the Consulship of the former) to the Consulship of Paullus and
Marcellus: and I held out in the same career of glory from the
Dictatorship of Sylla, to the period I have last, mentioned. Thus the
Eloquence of Hortensius was extinguished by his _own_ death, and mine by
that of the Commonwealth."--"Ominate more favourably, I beg of you,"
cried Brutus.--"As favourably as you please," said I, "and that not so
much upon my own account, as your's. But _his_ death was truly fortunate,
who did not live to behold the miseries, which he had long foreseen. For
we often lamented, between ourselves, the misfortunes which hung over the
State, when we discovered the seeds of a civil war in the insatiable
ambition of a few private Citizens, and saw every hope of an accommodation
excluded by the rashness and precipitancy of our public counsels. But the
felicity which always marked his life, seems to have exempted him, by a
seasonable death, from the calamities that followed. But, as after the
decease of Hortensius, we seem to have been left, my Brutus, as the sole
guardians of an _orphan_ Eloquence, let us cherish her, within our own
walls at least, with a generous fidelity: let us discourage the addresses
of her worthless, and impertinent suitors; let us preserve her pure and
unblemished in all her virgin charms, and secure her, to the utmost of our
ability, from the lawless violence of every armed ruffian. I must own,
however, though I am heartily grieved that I entered so late upon the road
of life, as to be overtaken by a gloomy night of public distress, before I
had finished my journey; that I am not a little relieved by the tender
consolation which you administered to me in your very agreeable letters;--
in which you tell me I ought to recollect my courage, since my past
transactions are such as will speak for me when I am silent, and survive
my death,--and such as, if the Gods permit, will bear an ample testimony
to the prudence and integrity of my public counsels, by the final
restoration of the Republic:--or, if otherwise, by burying me in the
ruins of my country. But when I look upon _you_, my Brutus, it fills me
with anguish to reflect that, in the vigour of your youth, and when you
was making the most rapid progress in the road to fame, your career was
suddenly stopped by the fatal overthrow of the Commonwealth. This unhappy
circumstance has stung me to the heart; and not _me_ only; but my worthy
friend here, who has the same affection for you, and the same esteem for
your merit which I have. We have the warmest wishes for your happiness,
and heartily pray that you may reap the rewards of your excellent virtues,
and live to find a Republic in which you will be able, not only to revive,
but even to add to the fame of your illustrious ancestors. For the Forum
was your birth-right, your native theatre of action; and you was the only
person that entered it, who had not only formed his Elocution by a
rigorous course of private practice, but enriched his Oratory with the
furniture of philosophical Science, and thus united the highest virtue to
the most consummate Eloquence. Your situation, therefore, wounds us with
the double anxiety, that _you_ are deprived of the _Republic_, and the
Republic of _you_. But still continue, my Brutus, (notwithstanding the
career of your genius has been checked by the rude shock of our public
distresses) continue to pursue your favourite studies, and endeavour (what
you have almost, or rather intirely effected already) to distinguish
yourself from the promiscuous crowd of Pleaders with which I have loaded
the little history I have been giving you. For it would ill befit you,
(richly furnished as you are with those liberal Arts, which, unable to
acquire at home, you imported from that celebrated city which has always
been revered as the seat of learning) to pass after all as an ordinary
Pleader. For to what purposes have you studied under Pammenes, the most
eloquent man in Greece; or what advantage have you derived from the
discipline of _the old_ Academy, and it's hereditary master Aristus (my
guest, and very intimate acquaintance) if you still rank yourself in the
common class of Orators? Have we not seen that a whole age could scarcely
furnish two Speakers who really excelled in their profession? Among a
crowd of cotemporaries, Galba, for instance, was the only Orator of
distinction: for old Cato (we are informed) was obliged to yield to his
superior merit, as were likewise his two juniors Lepidus, and Carbo. But,
in a public Harangue, the style of his successors the Gracchi was far more
easy and lively: and yet, even in their time, the Roman Eloquence had not
reached its perfection. Afterwards came Antonius, and Crassus; and then
Cotta, Sulpicius, Hortensius, and--but I say no more: I can only add, that
if I had been so fortunate, &c, &c,"--[_Caetera defunt._]
THE ORATOR,
BY MARCUS TULLIUS CICERO;
ADDRESSED TO MARCUS BRUTUS;
And now first translated from the Original Latin.
"Song charms the Sense, but Eloquence the Soul."
MILTON.
THE ORATOR.
Which, my Brutus, would be the most difficult talk,--to decline answering
a request which you have so often repeated, or to gratify it to your
satisfaction,--I have long been at a loss to determine. I should be
extremely sorry to deny any thing to a friend for whom I have the warmest
esteem, and who, I am sensible, has an equal affection for me;--
especially, as he has only desired me to undertake a subject which may
justly claim my attention. But to delineate a character, which it would be
very difficult, I will not say to _acquire_, but even to _comprehend_ in
its full extent, I thought was too bold an undertaking for him who reveres
the censure of the wife and learned. For considering the great diversity
of manner among the ablest Speakers, how exceedingly difficult must it be
to determine which is best, and give a finished model of Eloquence? This,
however, in compliance with your repeated solicitations, I shall now
attempt;--not so much from any hopes of succeeding, as from a strong
inclination to make the trial. For I had rather, by yielding to your
wishes, give you room to complain of my insufficiency; than, by a
peremptory denial, tempt you to question my friendship.
You desire to know, then, (and you have often repeated your request) what
kind of Eloquence I most approve, and can look upon to be so highly
finished, as to require no farther improvement. But should I be able to
answer your expectations, and display, in his full perfection, the Orator
you enquire after; I am afraid I shall retard the industry of many, who,
enfeebled by despair, will no longer attempt what they think themselves
incapable of attaining. It is but reasonable, however, that all those who
covet what is excellent, and which cannot be acquired without the greatest
application, should exert their utmost. But if any one is deficient in
capacity, and destitute of that admirable force of genius which Nature
bestows upon her favourites, or has been denied the advantages of a
liberal education, _let him make the progress he is able_. For while we
are driving to overtake the foremost, it is no disgrace to be found among
the _second_ class, or even the _third_. Thus, for instance, among the
poets, we respect the merit not only of a _Homer_ (that I may confine
myself to the Greeks) or of _Archilochus, Sophocles_, or _Pindar_, but of
many others who occupied the second, or even a lower place. In Philosophy
also the diffusive majesty of Plato has not deterred _Aristotle_ from
entering the list; nor has _Aristotle_ himself, with all his wonderful
knowledge and fertility of thought, disheartened the endeavours of others.
Nay, men of an elevated genius have not only disdained to be intimidated
from the pursuit of literary fame;--but the very artists and mechanics
have never relinquished their profession, because they were unable to
equal the beauty of that _Iasylus_ which we have seen at Rhodes, or of the
celebrated _Venus_ in the island of _Coos_:--nor has the noble image of
Olympian _Jove_, or the famous statue of the Man at Arms, deterred others
from making trial of their abilities, and exerting their skill to the
utmost. Accordingly, such a large number of them has appeared, and each
has performed so well in his own way, that we cannot help being pleased
with their productions, notwithstanding our admiration at the nobler
efforts of the great masters of the chissel.
But among the Orators, I mean those of Greece, it is astonishing how much
one of them has surpassed the rest:--and yet, though there was a
_Demosthenes_, there were even _then_ many other Orators of considerable
merit;--and such there were before he made his appearance, nor have they
been wanting since. There is, therefore, no reason why those who have
devoted themselves to the study of Eloquence, should suffer their hopes to
languish, or their industry to flag. For, in the first place, even that
which is most excellent is not to be despaired of;--and, in all worthy
attempts, that which is next to what is best is great and noble.
But in sketching out the character of a compleat Orator, it is possible I
may exhibit such a one as hath never _yet_ existed. For I am not to point
out the _Speaker_, but to delineate the _Eloquence_ than which nothing can
be more perfect of the kind:--an Eloquence which hath blazed forth through
a whole Harangue but seldom, and, it may be, never; but only here and
there like a transient gleam, though in some Orators more frequently, and
in others, perhaps, more sparingly.
My opinion, then, is,--that there is no human production of any kind, so
compleatly beautiful, than which there is not a _something_ still more
beautiful, from which the other is copied like a portrait from real life,
and which can be discerned neither by our eyes nor ears, nor any of our
bodily senses, but is visible only to thought and imagination. Though the
statues, therefore, of Phidias, and the other images above-mentioned, are
all so wonderfully charming, that nothing can be found which is more
excellent of the kind; we may still, however, _suppose_ a something which
is more exquisite, and more compleat. For it must not be thought that the
ingenious artist, when he was sketching out the form of a Jupiter, or a
Minerva, borrowed the likeness from any particular object;--but a certain
admirable semblance of beauty was present to his mind, which he viewed and
dwelt upon, and by which his skill and his hand were guided. As,
therefore, in mere bodily shape and figure there is a kind of perfection,
to whose ideal appearance every production which falls under the notice of
the eye is referred by imitation; so the semblance of what is perfect in
Oratory may become visible to the mind, and the ear may labour to catch a
likeness. These primary forms of thing are by Plato (the father of science
and good language) called _Ideas_; and he tells us they have neither
beginning nor end, but are co-eval with reason and intelligence; while
every thing besides has a derived, and a transitory existence, and passes
away and decays, so as to cease in a short time to be the thing it was.
Whatever, therefore, may be discussed by reason and method, should be
constantly reduced to the primary form or semblance of it's respective
genus.
I am sensible that this introduction, as being derived not from the
principles of Eloquence, but from the deepest recesses of Philosophy, will
excite the censure, or at least the wonder of many, who will think it both
unfashionable and intricate. For they will either be at a loss to discover
it's connection with my subject, (though they will soon be convinced by
what follows, that, if it appears to be far-fetched, it is not so without
reason;)--or they will blame me, perhaps, for deserting the beaten track,
and striking out into a new one. But I am satisfied that I often appear to
advance novelties, when I offer sentiments which are, indeed, of a much
earlier date, but happen to be generally unknown: and I frankly
acknowledge that I came forth an Orator, (if indeed I am one, or whatever
else I may be deemed) not from the school of the Rhetoricians, but from
the spacious walks of the Academy. For these are the theatres of
diversified and extensive arguments which were first impressed with the
foot-steps of Plato; and his Dissertations, with those of other
Philosophers, will be found of the greatest utility to an Orator, both for
his exercise and improvement; because all the fertility, and, as it were,
the materials of Eloquence, are to be derived from thence;--but not,
however, sufficiently prepared for the business of the Forum, which, as
themselves have frequently boasted, they abandoned to the _rustic Muses_
of the vulgar! Thus the Eloquence of the Forum, despised and rejected by
the Philosophers, was bereaved of her greatest advantages:--but,
nevertheless, being arrayed in all the brilliance of language and
sentiment, she made a figure among the populace, nor feared the censure of
the judicious few. By this means, the learned became destitute of a
popular Eloquence, and the Orators of polite learning.
We may, therefore, consider it as a capital maxim, (the truth of which
will be more easily understood in the sequel) that the eloquent Speaker we
are enquiring after, cannot be formed without the assistance of
Philosophy. I do not mean that this alone is sufficient; but only (for it
is sometimes necessary to compare great things to small) that it will
contribute to improve him in the same manner as the _Palaestra_ [Footnote:
The _Palaestra_ was a place set apart for public exercises, such as
wrestling, running, fencing, &c. the frequent performance of which
contributed much to a graceful carriage of the body, which is a necessary
accomplishment in a good Actor.] does an Actor; because without
Philosophy, no man can speak fully and copiously upon a variety of
important subjects which come under the notice of an Orator. Accordingly,
in the _Phaedrus_ of Plato, it is observed by Socrates that the great
_Pericles_ excelled all the Speakers of his time, because he had been a
hearer of _Anaxagoras_ the Naturalist, from whom he supposes that he not
only borrowed many excellent and sublime ideas, but a certain richness and
fertility of language, and (what in Eloquence is of the utmost
consequence) the various arts either of soothing or alarming each
particular passion. The same might be said of _Demosthenes_, whose letters
will satisfy us, how assiduously he attended the Lectures of Plato. For
without the instruction of Philosophy, we can neither discover what is the
_Genus_ or the _Species_ to which any thing belongs, nor explain the
nature of it by a just definition, or an accurate analysis of its parts;--
nor can we distinguish between what is true and false, or foresee the
consequences, point out the inconsistencies, and dissolve the ambiguities
which may lie in the case before us. But as to Natural Philosophy (the
knowledge of which will supply us with the richest treasures of
Elocution;)--and as to life, and it's various duties, and the great
principles of morality,--what is it possible either to express or
understand aright, without a large acquaintance with these? To such
various and important accomplishments we must add the innumerable
ornaments of language, which, at the time above mentioned, were the only
weapons which the Masters of Rhetoric could furnish. This is the reason
why that genuine, and perfect Eloquence we are speaking of, has been yet
attained by no one; because the Art of _Reasoning_ has been supposed to be
one thing, and that of _Speaking_ another; and we have had recourse to
different Instructors for the knowledge of things and words.