A Dialogue Concerning Oratory Or The Causes Of Corrupt Eloquence Part 8

Section XX.

[a] Doctor Middleton says, "Of the seven excellent orations, which now remain on the subject of VERRES, the first two only were spoken; the one called, _The Divination_; the other, _The first Action_, which is nothing more than a general preface to the whole cause. The other five were published afterwards, as they were prepared and intended to be spoken, if Verres had made a regular defence: for as this was the only cause in which Cicero had yet been engaged, or ever designed to be engaged, as _an accuser_, so he was willing to leave those orations as a specimen of his abilities in that way, and the _pattern of a just and diligent impeachment of a great and corrupt magistrate." Life of Cicero_, vol. i. p. 86, 4to edit.

[b] The Digest enumerates a mult.i.tude of rules concerning _exceptions_ to persons, things, the form of the action, the niceties of pleading, and, as the phrase is, motions in arrest of judgement. _Formula_, was the set of words necessary to be used in the pleadings. See the _Digest_, lib. xliv. t.i.t. 1. _De Exceptionibus, Praescriptionibus, et Praejudiciis_. See also Cujacius, _observat._ xxiii.

[c] The oration for Marcus Tullius is highly praised by Macrobius, but is not to be found in Cicero's works. The oration for Aulus Caecina is still extant. The cause was about the right of succession to a private estate, which depended on a subtle point of law, arising from the interpretation of the praetor's interdict. It shews Cicero's exact knowledge and skill in the civil law, and that his public character and employment gave no interruption to his usual diligence in pleading causes. Middleton's _Life of Cicero_, vol. i. p. 116, 4to edit.

[d] Roscius, in the last period of the republic, was the comedian, whom all Rome admired for his talents. The great esteemed and loved him for his morals. aesop, the tragedian, was his contemporary. Horace, in the epistle to Augustus, has mentioned them both with their proper and distinctive qualities.

----Ea c.u.m reprehendere coner Quae GRAVIS aeSOPUS, quae DOCTUS ROSCIUS egit.

A certain measured gravity of elocution being requisite in tragedy, that quality is a.s.signed to the former, and the latter is called DOCTUS, because he was a complete master of his art; so truly learned in the principles of his profession, that he possessed, in a wonderful degree, the secret charm that gave inimitable graces to his voice and action. Quintilian, in a few words, has given a commentary on the pa.s.sage in Horace. Grief, he says, is expressed by slow and deliberate accents; for that reason, aesop spoke with gravity; Roscius with quickness; the former being a tragedian, the latter a comedian. _Plus autem affectus habent lentiora; ideoque Roscius citatior, aesopus gravior fuit, quod ille comdias, his tragdias egit._ Lib. xi. cap.

1. Cicero was the great friend and patron of Roscius. An elegant oration in his behalf is still extant. The cause was this: One FANNIUS had made over to Roscius a young slave, to be formed by him to the stage, on condition of a partnership in the profits which the slave should acquire by acting. The slave was afterwards killed. Roscius prosecuted the murderer for damages, and obtained, by composition, a little farm, worth about eight hundred pounds, for his particular share. FANNIUS also sued separately, and was supposed to have gained as much; but, pretending to have recovered nothing, he sued ROSCIUS for the moiety of what he had received. One cannot but observe, says Dr. Middleton, from Cicero's pleading, the wonderful esteem and reputation in which Roscius then flourished. Has Roscius, says he, defrauded his partner? Can such a stain stick upon such a man; a man who, I speak it with confidence, has more integrity than skill, more veracity than experience? a man whom the people of Rome know to be a better citizen than he is an actor; and, while he makes the first figure on the stage for his art, is worthy of a seat in the senate for his virtue. _Quem populus Roma.n.u.s meliorem virum quam histrionem esse arbitratur; qui ita dignissimus est scena propter artificium, ut dignissimus sit curia propter abstinentiam. Pro Roscio Comdo_, s. 17 In another place, Cicero says, he was such an artist, as to seem the only one fit to appear on the stage; yet such a man, as to seem the only one who should not come upon it at all. _c.u.m artifex ejusmodi sit, ut solus dignus videatur esse qui in scena spectetur; tum vir ejusmodi est, ut solus dignus videatur, qui eo non accedat. Pro Publ.

Quinctio_, s. 78. What Cicero has said in his pleadings might be thought oratorical, introduced merely to serve the cause, if we did not find the comedian praised with equal warmth in the dialogue DE ORATORE. It is there said of Roscius, that every thing he did was perfect in the kind, and executed with consummate grace, with a secret charm, that touched, affected, and delighted the whole audience: insomuch, that when a man excelled in any other profession, it was grown into a proverb to call him, THE ROSCIUS OF HIS ART. _Videtisne, quam nihil ab eo nisi perfecte, nihil nisi c.u.m summa venustate fiat?

nihil, nisi ita ut deceat, et uti omnes moveat, atque delectet? Itaque hoc jam diu est consecutus, ut in quo quisque artificio excelleret, is in suo genere Roscius diceretur._ _De Orat._ lib. i. s. 130. After so much honourable testimony, one cannot but wonder why the DOCTUS ROSCIUS of Horace is mentioned in this Dialogue with an air of disparagement. It may be, that APER, the speaker in this pa.s.sage, was determined to degrade the orators of antiquity; and the comedian was, therefore, to expect no quarter. Dacier, in his notes on the Epistle to Augustus, observes that Roscius wrote a book, in which he undertook to prove to Cicero, that in all the stores of eloquence there were not so many different expressions for one and the same thing, as in the dramatic art there were modes of action, and casts of countenance, to mark the sentiment, and convey it to the mind with its due degree of emotion. It is to be lamented that such a book has not come down to us. It would, perhaps, be more valuable than the best treatise of rhetoric.

Ambivius Turpio acted in most of Terence's plays, and seems to have been a manager of the theatre. Cicero, in the treatise _De Senectute_, says: He, who sat near him in the first rows, received the greatest pleasure; but still, those, who were at the further end of the theatre, were delighted with him. _Turpione Ambivio magis delectatur, qui in prima cavea spectat; delectatur tamen etiam qui in ultima._

[e] ACCIUS and PACUVIUS flourished at Rome about the middle of the sixth century from the foundation of the city. Accius, according to Horace, was held to be a poet of a sublime genius, and Pacuvius (who lived to be ninety years old) was respected for his age and profound learning.

Ambigitur quoties uter utro sit prior, aufert PACUVIUS docti famam senis, ACCIUS alti.

EPIST. AD AUG. ver. 56.

Velleius Paterculus says, that ACCIUS was thought equal to the best writers of the Greek tragedy. He had not, indeed, the diligent touches of the polishing hand, which we see in the poets of Athens, but he had more spirit and vigour. _Accius usque in Graecorum comparationem erectus. In illis limae in hoc pene plus videri fuisse sanguinis._ He is often quoted by Cicero in his book _De Natura Deorum_. But after all, it is from the great critic, who gives the best account of the Roman poets, orators, and historians, that we are to take the genuine character of ACCIUS and PACUVIUS, since their works are lost in the general ma.s.s of ancient literature. They were both excellent tragic poets: elevation of sentiment, grandeur of expression, and dignity of character, stamped a value on their productions; and yet, we must not expect to find the grace and elegance of genuine composition. To give the finishing hand to their works was not their practice: the defect, however, is not to be imputed to them; it was the vice of the age.

Force and dignity are the characteristics of ACCIUS; while the critics, who wish to be thought deep and profound, admire PACUVIUS for his extensive learning. _Tragdiae scriptores Accius atque Pacuvius, clarissimi sententiarum verborumque pondere, et auctoritate personarum. Caeterum nitor, et summa in excolendis operibus ma.n.u.s, magis videri potest temporibus, quam ipsis defuisse. Virium tamen Accio plus tribuitur; Pacuvium videri doctiorem, qui esse docti affectant, volunt._ Quintil. lib. x. cap. 1. It was the fashion in Horace's time to prefer the writers of the old school to the new race that gave so much l.u.s.tre to the Augustan age. In opposition to such erroneous criticism, the poet p.r.o.nounces a decided judgement, which seems to be confirmed by the opinion of Quintilian.

Si quaedam nimis antique, si pleraque dure Dicere credit eos, ignave multa fatetur, Et sapit, et mec.u.m facit, et Jove judicat aequo.

EPIST. AD AUGUST. ver. 66.

But that sometimes their style uncouth appears, And their harsh numbers rudely hurt our ears; Or that full flatly flows the languid line, He, who owns this, has Jove's a.s.sent and mine.

FRANCIS'S HORACE.

[f] Lucan was nephew to Seneca, and a poet of great celebrity. He was born, in the reign of Caligula, at Corduba in Spain. His superior genius made Nero his mortal enemy. He was put to death by that inhuman emperor, A.U.C. 818, in the twenty-seventh year of his age. See the _Annals_, b. xv. s. 70. As a writer, Quintilian says, that he possessed an ardent genius, impetuous, rapid, and remarkable for the vigour of his sentiments: but he chooses to cla.s.s him with the orators, rather than the poets. _Luca.n.u.s ardens, et concitatus, et sententiis clarissimus; et, ut dicam quod sentio, magis oratoribus quam poetis annumerandus._ Lib. x. cap. 1. Scaliger, on the other hand, contends that Lucan was a true poet, and that the critics do but trifle, when they object that he wrote history, not an epic poem.

STRADA in his Prolusions, has given, among other imitations, a narrative in Lucan's manner; and, though he thinks that poet has not the skill of Virgil, he places him on the summit of Parna.s.sus, managing his Pegasus with difficulty, often in danger of falling from the ridge of a precipice, yet delighting his reader with the pleasure of seeing him escape. This is the true character of Lucan. The love of liberty was his ruling pa.s.sion. It is but justice to add, that his sentiments, when free from _ant.i.thesis_ and the _Ovidian_ manner, are not excelled by any poet of antiquity. From him, as well as from Virgil and Horace, the orator is required to cull such pa.s.sages as will help to enrich his discourse; and the practice is recommended by Quintilian, who observes, that Cicero, Asinius Pollio, and others, frequently cited verses from Ennius, Accius, Pacuvius, and Terence, in order to grace their speeches with polite literature, and enliven the imagination of their hearers. By those poetic insertions, the ear is relieved from the harsh monotony of the forum; and the poets, cited occasionally, serve by their authority to establish the proposition advanced by the speaker. _Nam praecipue quidem apud Ciceronem, frequenter tamen apud Asinium etiam, et caeteros, qui sunt proximi, vidimus ENNII, ACCII, PACUVII, TERENTII et aliorum inseri versus, summa non eruditionis mod gratia, sed etiam jucunditatis; c.u.m poeticis voluptatibus aures a forensi asperitate respirent, quibus accedit non mediocris utilitas, c.u.m sententiis eorum, velut quibusdam testimoniis, quae proposuere confirmant._ Quintil. lib. i. cap. 8.

Section XXI.

[a] There is in this place a blunder of the copyists, which almost makes the sentence unintelligible. The translator, without entering into minute controversies, has, upon all such occasions, adopted what appeared, from the context, to be the most probable sense. It remains, therefore, to enquire, who were the several orators here enumerated.

CANUTIUS may be the person mentioned by Suetonius _De Claris Rhetoribus_. Cicero says of ARRIUS, that he was a striking proof of what consequence it was at Rome to be useful to others, and always ready to be subservient to their honour, or to ward off danger. For, by that a.s.siduity, Arrius raised himself from a low beginning to wealth and honours, and was even ranked in the number of orators, though void of learning, and without genius, or abilities. _Loco infimo natus, et honores, et pecuniam, et gratiam consecutus, etiam in patronorum, sine doctrina, sine ingenio, aliquem numerum pervenerat.

De Claris Orat._ s. 243. FURNIUS may be supposed, not without probability, to be the person with whom Cicero corresponded. _Epist.

ad Familiares_, lib. x. ep. 25, 26. With regard to Terria.n.u.s we are left in the dark. The commentators offer various conjectures; but conjecture is often a specious amus.e.m.e.nt; the ingenious folly of men, who take pains to bewilder themselves, and reason only to shew their useless learning.

[b] The puny orators are said to be in an infirmary, like sickly men, who were nothing but skin and bone. These, says Cicero, were admirers of the Attic manner; but it were to be wished that they had the wholesome blood, not merely the bones, of their favourite declaimers.

_Attico genere dicendi se gaudere dic.u.n.t; atqui utinam imitarentur nec ossa solum, sed etiam et sanguinem._ Cicero _De Claris Oratoribus_.

[c] What is here said of Calvus is not confirmed by the judgement of Quintilian. See s. xvii. note [c]. His orations, which were extant at the time of this Dialogue, are now totally lost.

[d] For Quintilian's opinion of Caelius, see s. xvii. note [c].

[e] Here again Quintilian, that candid and able judge, has given a different opinion. See s. xvii. note [b]. It may be proper to add the testimony of Velleius Paterculus. Caesar, he says, had an elevation of soul, that towered above humanity, and was almost incredible; the rapid progress of his wars, his firmness in the hour of danger, and the grandeur of his vast conceptions, bore a near affinity to Alexander, but to Alexander neither drunk, nor mad with pa.s.sion.

_Animo super humanam et naturam, et fidem evectus, celeritate bellandi, patientia periculorum, magnitudine cogitationum; magno illi Alexandro, sed sobrio neque iracundo, simillimus. Vel. Patercul._ lib.

ii. s. 41. Even Cicero tells us, that, of all the eminent orators, he was the person who spoke the Latin language in the greatest purity, and arrived at that consummate perfection by study, by diligent application, and his thorough knowledge of all polite literature.

_Illum omnium fere oratorum Latine loqui elegantissime: ut esset perfecta illa bene loquendi laus, multis litteris, et iis quidem reconditis et exquisitis, summoque studio et diligentia est consecutus._ _De Claris Orat._ s. 252.

[f] Caesar's speech for Decius the Samnite, and all his other productions (except the Commentaries), are totally lost.

[g] This speech of Brutus is also lost with his other works. Cicero says, he heard him plead the cause of Dejotarus with great elegance, and a flow of harmonious periods. _Causam Dejotari, fidelissimi atque optimi regis, ornatissime et copiosissime a Bruto me audisse defensam.

De Claris Orat._ s. 21. He tells us in another place, that Caesar observed of Brutus, that whatever he desired, he desired with ardour; and therefore, in the cause of Dejotarus, he exerted himself with warmth, with vehemence, and great freedom of language. _Quidquid vult, valde vult; ideoque, c.u.m pro rege Dejotaro dixerit, valde vehementer eum visum, et libere dicere. Ad Attic._ lib. xiv. ep. 1. The same Dejotarus was afterwards defended by Cicero before Caesar himself. See the Oration _pro Rege Dejotaro_.

[h] See what is said of Asinius Pollio, s. xii. note [e].

[i] Pliny the younger has the same metaphorical allusions, which we here find in the Dialogue. Speaking of the difference between the oratorial and historical style; the latter, he says, may be content with the bones, the muscles, and the nerves; the former must have the prominence of the flesh, the brawny vigour, and the flowing mane.

_Habent quidem oratio et historia multa communia, sed plura diversa in his ipsis, quae communia videntur. Narrat sane illa, narrat haec, sed aliter. Huic pleraque humilia, et sordida, et ex medio pet.i.ta: illi omnia recondita, splendida, excelsa conveniunt. Hanc saepius ossa, musculi, nervi; illam tori quidam, et quasi jubae decent._ Lib. v. ep.

8.

[k] Messala Corvinus has been often mentioned. See for him s. xii.

note [e].

Section XXII.

[a] The words _sententia_ and _sensus_ were technical terms with the critics of antiquity. Quintilian gives the distinct meaning of each, with his usual precision. According to the established usage, the word _sensus_ signified our ideas or conceptions, as they rise in the mind: by _sententia_ was intended, a proposition, in the close of a period, so expressed, as to dart a sudden brilliancy, for that reason called _lumen orationis_. He says, these artificial ornaments, which the ancients used but sparingly, were the constant practice of the modern orators. _Consuetudo jam tenuit, ut mente concepta_, SENSUS _vocaremus; lumina autem, praecipueque in clausulis posita_, SENTENTIAS. _Quae minus crebra apud antiquos, nostris temporibus modo carent._ Lib. viii. cap. 5. These luminous sentences, Quintilian says, may be called the eyes of an oration; but eyes are not to be placed in every part, lest the other members should lose their function. _Ego vero haec lumina orationis velut oculos quosdam esse eloquentiae credo: sed neque oculos esse toto corpore velim, ne caetera membra suum officium perdant._ Lib. viii, cap. 5. As Cowley says,

Jewels at nose and lips but ill appear; Rather than all things, wit let none be there.

[b] In order to form a good style, the sentence should always be closed with variety, strength, and harmony. The ancient rhetoricians held this to be so essentially requisite, that Quintilian has given it a full discussion. That, he says, which offends the ear, will not easily gain admission to the mind. Words should be fitted to their places, so that they may aptly coalesce with one another. In building, the most ill shapen stones may be conveniently fixed; and in like manner, a good style must have proper words in proper places, all arranged in order, and closing the sentence with grace and harmony.

_Nihil intrare potest in affectum, quod in aure, velut quodam vestibulo, statim offendit. Non enim ad pedes verba dimensa sunt; ideoque ex loco transferuntur in loc.u.m, ut jungantur quo congruunt maxime; sicut in structura saxorum rudium etiam ipsa enormitas invenit cui applicari, et in quo possit insistere. Felicissimus tamen sermo est, cui et rectus ordo, et apta junctura, et c.u.m his numerus opportune cadens contingit._ Quintil. lib. ix. cap. 4.

Section XXIII.

[a] The remark in this place alludes to a pa.s.sage in the oration against PISO, where we find a frivolous stroke of false wit. Cicero reproaches Piso for his dissolute manners, and his scandalous debauchery. Who, he says, in all that time, saw you sober? Who beheld you doing any one thing, worthy of a liberal mind? Did you once appear in public? The house of your colleague resounded with songs and minstrels: he himself danced naked in the midst of his wanton company; and while he _wheeled_ about with alacrity in the _circular motion_ of the dance, he never once thought of THE WHEEL OF FORTUNE. _Quis te illis diebus sobrium, quis agentem aliquid, quod esset libero dignum?

Quis denique in publico vidit? c.u.m collegae tui domus cantu et cymbalis personaret; c.u.mque ipse nudus in convivio saltaret, in quo ne tum quidem, c.u.m illum suum_ SALTATORIUM VERSARET ORBEM, FORTUNae ROTAM _pertimescebat. Oratio in Pisonem_, prima pars, s. 22. Delph. edit.

vol. iii.

[b] The pa.s.sage here alluded to, presents us with a double pun. The word _Verres_ is the name of a man, and also signifies a _boar pig_, as we read in Horace, _Verris obliquum meditantis ictum_. Lib. iii.

ode 22. The word _jus_ is likewise of twofold meaning, importing _law_ and _sauce_, or broth; _tepidumque ligurierit jus_. Lib. i. sat. 3. The objection to Cicero is, that playing on both the words, and taking advantage of their ambiguous meaning, he says it could not be matter of wonder that the _Verrian jus_ was such bad HOG-SOUP. The wit (if it deserves that name) is mean enough; but, in justice to Cicero, it should be remembered, that he himself calls it frigid, and says, that the men, who in their anger could be so very facetious, as to blame the priest who did not sacrifice such a hog (_Verres_), were idle and ridiculous. He adds, that he should not descend to repeat such sayings (for they were neither witty, nor worthy of notice in such a cause), had he not thought it material to shew, that the iniquity of VERRES was, in the mouth of the vulgar, a subject of ridicule, and a proverbial joke. _Hinc illi homines erant, qui etiam ridiculi inveniebantur ex dolore: quorum alii, ut audistis, negabant mirandum esse_, JUS _tam nequam esse_ VERRINUM: _alii etiam frigidiores erant; sed quia stomachabantur, ridiculi videbantur esse, c.u.m_ SACERDOTEM _execrabantur, qui_ VERREM _tam nequam reliquisset, Quae ego non commemorarem (neque enim perfacete dicta, neque porro hac severitate digna sunt) nisi vos id vellem recordari, istius nequitiam et iniquitatem tum in ore vulgi, atque communibus proverbiis esse versatam. In Verrem_, lib. i. pars tertia, s. 121.

[c] Quintilian acknowledges that the words _esse videatur (it seems to be)_ occur frequently in Cicero's Orations. He adds, that he knew several, who fancied that they had performed wonders, when they placed that phrase in the close of a sentence. _Noveram quosdam, qui se pulchre expressisse genus illud caelestis hujus in dicendo viri sibi viderentur, si in clausula posuissent esse videatur._ Quintil. lib. x.

cap. 2.

[d] The species of composition, called satire, was altogether of Roman growth. Lucilius had the honour of being the inventor; and he succeeded so well, that even in Quintilian's time, his admirers preferred him not only to the writers who followed in the same way, but to all poets of every denomination. _Lucilius quosdam ita deditos sibi adhuc habet imitatores, ut eum non ejusdem modo operis, sed omnibus poetis praeferre non dubitent._ Lib. x. cap. 1. The great critic, however, p.r.o.nounces judgement in favour of Horace, who, he says, is more terse and pure; a more acute observer of life, and qualified by nature to touch the ridicule of the manners with the nicest hand. _Multo est tersior, ac purus magis Horatius, et ad notandos hominum mores praecipuus._

[e] Lucretius is not without his partisans at this hour. Many of the French critics speak of him with rapture; and, in England, Dr. Wharton of Winchester seems to be at the head of his admirers. He does not scruple to say that Lucretius had more spirit, fire, and energy, more of the _vivida vis animi_, than any of the Roman poets. It is neither safe nor desirable to differ from so fine a genius as Dr. Wharton. The pa.s.sages which he has quoted from his favourite poet, shew great taste in the selection. It should be remembered, however, that Quintilian does not treat Lucretius with the same pa.s.sionate fondness. He places Virgil next to Homer; and the rest, he says, of the Roman poets follow at a great distance. MACER and LUCRETIUS deserve to be read: they have handled their respective subjects with taste and elegance; but Macer has no elevation, and Lucretius is not easily understood.

_Caeteri omnes longe sequuntur. Nam MACER et LUCRETIUS legendi quidem; elegantes in sua quisque materia, sed alter humilis, alter difficilis._ Lib. x. cap. 1. 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 aeneida tenta, Sed longe sequere, et vestigia semper adora.