arripuimus hausimus expressimus ad quam non docti sed facti non instituti sed imbuti sumus 3. A Period ought to consist at least of two Members and at most but of Four A Period is to have at least two Members because its Beauty proceeds from the equality of the Members and equality supposes at least two termes The Masters of this Art would not have four Members crowded into one period because being too long the pronunciation must be forc'd which must by consequence be displeasing to the Ear because a Discourse that is incommodious to the Speaker can never be agreeable to the hearer 4. The Members of a Period ought to be joynd close that the ear may perceive the equality of the Intervals of Respiration For this cause the Members of a Period ought to be united by the union of a single Sentence of the body of which they are Members This union is very discernable for the Voice reposes at the end of every Member only the better to continue its course It stops not quite but at the end of the whole Sentence A Period like a Circle incompasses and incloses the whole sence of a Sentence and causes the ear with ease to perceive the distinction or union of its Members 5. The Voice is elevated or depress'd in each Member The two parts where the inflexions are made ought to be equal that the degrees of Elevation and Depression may correspond In pronouncing an entire Period we raise our Voice to the middle of the Sentence and let it fall gradually afterward The two parts call'd 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 must correspond by their Equality 6. Variety may be in a Period two wayes In the sense and in the words The sense of each Member of the Period ought to differ among themselves In Discourse variety falls in of it self We cannot express the different thoughts of our mind but by different words of different significations But a Period may be compos'd of two Members of three Members and sometimes of four Members Equal Periods are not to follow one another too near it is best when Discourse flows with most liberty The exact and precise equality of the Intervals for Respiration may become troublesome IV. Examples of some Latin Periods Periods are Pronounc'd with Ease THe Cadence of the French Language being not so intelligible I shall present some passages in Cicero that I have chosen for examples of the Latin Periods An example of a Period of two Members 1. Antequam de Republica Patres conscripti diâ—am ea quae dicenda sunt hoc tempore 2. Exponam breviter Consilium profectionis reversionis The following Period has three members 1. Nam cum antea per aetatem hujus auctoritatem loci contingere non auderem 2. Statueremque nihil huc nisi perfectum industria elaboratum ingenio offerri oportere 3. Meum tempus omne amicorum temporibus transmittendum putavi This last consists of Four Members 1. Si quantum in agro locisque desertis audacia potest 2. Tantum in foro ac in Judiciis impudentia valeret 3. Non minus in causa cederet Aulus Coecinna Sexti Aebusii impâ—dentiae 4. Quantum in vi facienda cessit audaciae Sometimes we conclude the end of each member of a Period with terminations almost alike which produces an equality in the Cadences of Members and makes the Period more harmonious as may be observ'd in several examples where all the Periods are not equally studyed The care that we take to place properly the repose of the voice in the Periods makes us pronounce them without pain and it has been observ'd that things of easiest pronunciation are most grateful to the Ear. Id auribus nostris gratum est inventum quod hominum lateribus non solum tolerabile sed etiam facile esse potest This reason obliges an Orator to speak Periodically Periods maintain Discourse and are pronounc'd with certain Majesty that gives weight to the words But it is to be consider'd that this majesty is unseasonable when it follows the motions of Passion whose precipitation suffers not any regular way of ranging and composing our words A Discourse equally periodical cannot be pronounc'd but coldly Passion admits not of Rules Periods as I say'd before are not good but when we would speak with Authority or delight the Ear. We cannot run and walk in Cadence at the same time V. The Figurative ranging of Words and in what these Figures consist WE have sayd at large in the Second Book that Figures in Discourse are the characters of the agitations of the mind that words do follow upon these agitations and that when we speak naturally the passion that causes us to speak describes it self in our words The Figures of which we are speaking are different they are traced at leisure by a mind that is quiet The first are made by sally's they are violent they are strong proper to contest and vanquish a mind that opposes the truth Those of which we are speaking are without that force and unfit for any thing but Diversion I speak of those that are elaborate and studyed for it may happen that the condition of these last Figures wherewith we adorn our Discourse for Divertisement may be found by accident in those Figures which we prepare for Dispute We have shown in the first Chapter that the repetition of the same word the same letter or the same sound is unpleasant But we have observ'd in the Second Chapter that when that repetition is made with art it is not ungrateful to the ear In short the most disagreeable sounds are pleasing when deliver'd with fit Intervals The noise of a Hammer is unpleasant yet when the Smith strikes upon his Anvil with proportion it makes a kind of Consort that is pleasing to the Ear. We cannot repeat a sound a letter or word but it makes our Discourse figurative The Art of Figures consists in the repetition of a letter of the same termination of the same word by proportionated time and equality of interval sometime in the beginning sometime in the end and sometime in the middle of a Sentence as may be seen in the examples of these figures which I have drawn for the most part out of very good Poets Figures may be infinite because the repetition that makes them may be made infinite ways and all of them different We may repeat the same word simply without altering the signification as My God my God why hast thou forsaken me Or we may change the signification of the word Vn Pere est toujours Pere malgre son courroux Quand il nous veut frapper l'amour retient ses coups A Father's still a Father when his rage Prompts him to strike his Love does it asswage The Second word Father is taken for the motions of tenderness which Fathers feel for their Children Sometimes the same expression is repeated in the beginning of
but judges whether things are as great as they appear and selects convenient expressions according to the light of Reason rather than the report of Imagination which like magnifying Glasses do many times represent things greater than they are It stops the Idea's where they are too light it excites and chafes them when they are cold in a word it uses and improves many advantages that Nature has given it it prevents Faults and endeavours to correct them The good Qualities of the Mind are not always concomitant with the qualities of a good Imagination and happy Memory which causes a great difference betwixt Speaking and Writing well Oftentimes those who write well upon premeditation speak ill Ex tempore To write well there is no need of a prompt hot and fertil Imagination Unless our Wit be very bad indeed upon serious Meditation we shall find what we ought and what we might say upon any subject proposed those who speak easily and without premeditation receive that advantage from a certain fertility and fire in their Imagination which fire is extinguished by repose and cold contemplation in a Study The Qualities of the Mind are preferable to the qualities of the Body the Eloquence of those endued with these last Qualities is like a flash of Gun-powder gone in a moment this Eloquence makes a great noise and flashes for a time but 't is quickly spent and forgot A Treatise compos'd with Judgment retains its Beauty and the oftner it is read the more it is admir'd This is observ'd by Tacitus in the Fourth Book of his Annales where he speaks of one Halerius a Famous Orator whilst he lived but when dead his Writings were not so much admired his Talent lay in speaking well Ex tempore not in Writing having more flame in his Imagination than judgment in his Mind A work that is solid and elaborate says Tacitus with reflection upon the Eloquence of Halerius lives and is esteemed after the death of the Author whereas the softness and flashiness of Halerius his Eloquence expipired with him Quintus Halerius Eloquentiae quoad vixit celebratae monimenta ingenii ejus haud perinde retinentur Scilicet impetu magis quam cura vigebat utque meditatio aliorum labor in posterum valescit sic Halerii canorum illud profluens cum ipso simul extinctum est VII Diversity of Inclinations alter the Styles Every Climate every Age hath its Style DIscourse is the Character of the Mind our Humour describes it self in our words and every man incogitantly follows the style to which his disposition naturally carries him We know not only the Humor of a man by his Style but also his Country Every Clymat hath its style The Asiaticks whose Imaginations are warm and full of Images speak nothing but by Allegories Similitudes and Metaphors by which means their Style is obscure to those whose Imaginations are not so lively and prompt The Northern people have not that heat and therefore speak more plain and intelligibly Antient Rhetoricians distinguish into three Forms the different Styles recommended to the people by their different Inclinations The first form is the Asiatick high pompous and magnificent The people of Asia have been always ambitious their Discourse expresses their Humor they are lovers of Luxury and their words are accompanied with several vain Ornaments that a severe Humour cannot approve The second form of Style is the Attick the Athenians were more regular in their Lives and therefore were more exact and modest in their Discourse The Third is the Rhodian Stile the Rhodians had a touch of the Ambition and Luxury of the Asiaticks and the modesty of the Athenians their style characterizes their Humour and keeps a medium betwixt the liberty of the Asiatick and the reservedness and retention of the Attick Diversity of Styles proceeds again from another Cause that is to say from the precogitancy or pre-occupation wherewith we speak or write when we have taken a fancy to any way of Writing we make it our model and endeavour to imitate it A Style a-la-mode is followed by the whole world but as we change our Modes and those who invented them finding them common contrive new to distinguish themselves from the people there is a perpetual change and every Age has its peculiar Mode A good Critique guesses the time when an Author writ by observing his way The Style of each Age gives us to understand the Inclinations of those who lived in that Age. Commonly the Style is dry rugged without Ornament in those Ages where the people were serious and regular Luxury was introduced during the Licentiousness of Governments in Languages as well as Habits in Books as well as Buildings CHAP. II. I. The Matter of which we treat ought to determine us in the choice of our Sâ—yle THe Matter is to direct in the election of our Style Noble Expressions that render a Style Magnificent great words that fill up the mouth represent things great and argue strength of judgment in the person who speaks in so sublime a way But if the matter it self be unworthy if it be great only in the Imagination of the Author his Magnificence turns to his prejudice and shows the weakness of his judgment in putting a value upon that is only worthy of Contempt Figures and Tropes unknown to the natural order of Discourse discover likewise the motion of the heart but that these Figures may be just the passion of which they are the character ought to be reasonable There is nothing comes nearer Folly than to be transported without Cause to put ones self into a heat for a thing that ought to be argued coolly each Motion has its Figures Figures may enrich and embellish a Style but unless the Motion that causes them be laudable the Figures cannot be worthy of Commendation I say then 't is the Matter that regulates the Style When things are great and cannot be considered without great Emotion it is necessary that the Style which describes them be sprightly full of motion and inriched with Figures and Tropes and Metaphors If in the subject of which we treat there be nothing extraordinary if we can consider it without passion the Style is to be plain The Art of Speaking having no peculiar matter every thing subject to our thoughts being matter for Discourse there are infinite diversity of Styles as the sorts of things of which we may speak are infinite Yet the Masters of that Art have reduced the peculiar matter for Writing under three kinds Sublime Mean or Indifferent There are three Kinds of Styles answerable to these three Kinds of Matters the Lofty the Plain and the Moderate Sometimes these Styles are called Characters because they denote the quality of the matter that is the subject of the discourse I shall in this Chapter huddle together the Rules to be observed in each of these three Characters When a Work is undertaken we always propose a general Idea for example when an
THE ART OF SPEAKING Written in French by MESSIEURS DU PORT ROYAL In pursuance of a former Treatise Intituled THE ART OF THINKING Rendred into ENGLISH LONDON Printed by W. GODBID and are to be Sold by M. PITT at the Angel against the little North Door of St. Paul's Church 1676. THE PREFACE OUr common Idea of Rhetorick is this That to speak Eloquently it suffices to cram our Memory with such Precepts as are prescrib'd by it In this opinion several People read with great eagerness those Books which are writ of that Subject but after all their pains and assiduity finding their improvement but small and themselves little more Eloquent than before they impute it to the Author as if he had not discover'd the Mystery of the Art according to his pretence So that not receiving the benefit they expected their disappointment turns into disgust and makes them despise all that he writes I should expect no better Fortune for this Book had not our Author avoided a particular fault that renders most Books of Rhetorick ineffectual He does not trouble the Reader with a throng and huddle of Precepts that serve only to load and incumber the Mind He endeavours to lay open the bottom of the Art he undertakes and its natural Principles which being well understood leaves us under no necessity of multitude of Rules that do but crowd one another out of the Memory as soon as they are entred To make us comprehend the true Reasons of the Principles of Rhetorick our Author begins with an explication how Speech is form'd To show from Nature it self after what manner words are to be contriv'd for the Expression of our Thoughts and the Motions of our Wills he has suppos'd a company of new Men met together who had never convers'd before nor knew how to speak He considers what these Men would do he makes it appear they would quickly find the benefit of Speech and frame a Language to themselves He considers what form they would give it and in his research discovers the Fundamentals of all Language and gives his Reasons for all Rules prescrib'd by the Grammarians It may be his Disquisition will appear inconsiderable to some who will be discourag'd from reading this Book when in the Front they find him speaking of Nouns Substantives Adjectives Declensions Verbs Conjugations c. But besides that the Consequence will easily evince that it is useful for teaching Languages with more readiness and to make us speak more exactly Order would not permit him to pass over those little things which if you will believe Quintilian as great a Master of Rhetorick as any has writ make the most important part of the Art of Speaking and this he declares by comparing them to the Foundations of a House which though laid low under ground are yet as necessary parts as any that appear When his new Men have acted their parts our Author shows what is the true Original of Language and that 't is not bare accident that supplied us with Words Nevertheless he demonstrates that Language depends upon the Will and Consent of Men and that Custom or common Consent exercises an absolute dominion over our Words and therefore he gives us Rules to know the Laws of Custom and Directions how they are to be kept And all this in his first Book In his second Book he observes that the plentifullest and most copious Languages cannot furnish proper Terms for the Expression of all our Idea's and therefore recourse is to be had to Art and we must borrow the Terms of things that bear resemblance or retain some reference or connexion with those which we would signifie other ways had common Custom afforded us Natural Terms These borrowed Expressions are called Tropes he speaks of all sorts of Tropes and of their Use He observes likewise in the same Book That as Nature has dispos'd the Body of Man so as to put it self into such postures immediately as are best proper for avoiding what is like to be hurtful and for receiving what is like to do good So Nature directs us to certain tricks and artifices in speaking able to produce in the Minds of our Hearers the Effects which we desire whether it be anger or mildness or detestation or love These ways and artifices in speaking are called Figures of which our Author treats with more than ordinary care not contenting himself with mentioning their Names and adding some few Examples as is commonly done but he discovers the Nature of each Figure and how it is to be used The easiness wherewith we speak and the pleasure we take to hear an harangue well pronounc'd as our Author has observ'd at the beginning of his Book has dispos'd Mankind to make use of Words to signifie his Thoughts rather than of any other sign In the ordering and ranging of Words great pains has been taken to find out what it is that makes a Discourse go well off of the Tongue and prove grateful to the Hearers We have at large in his third Book what we are to avoid what we are to observe what we are to do in the ranking our Words for better pronunciation and what we are to do to make them acceptable to the Ear. In this Book it is he discourses of Periods explains the Art of Versification and after he has taught what it is in the Sound of Words that is pleasant to the Ear he shows how the Rules prescrib'd by other Masters for the Composition of Periods and Making of Verse are for no other end but to discover in Discourse the conditions that render pronunciation most agreeable and easie The last Book treats of Styles or ways of speaking which Men assume according to their natural inclinations He gives direction for regulation of our Styles and that every Subject might be treated in a convenient way he shows how our Style ought to be heightned or debased as the Matter of our Discourse is considerable or otherwise He shows how the quality of our Discourse ought to express the quality of our Subject how our Style ought to be strong or smooth severe or florid as the Nature of the Subject requires He inquires into the Style of an Orator a Poet a Philosopher and Historian and at the end of his Discourse speaking of Rhetorical Ornaments he demonstrates that they are produc'd by exact observation of the Rules which he has prescrib'd These Four Books of the Art of Speaking are followed by a Discourse in which the Author gives us an Idea of the Art of Perswasion At the Entrance of his Discourse he gives Reasons why he has separated that Art from the Art of Speaking which Reasons are not necessary to be inserted in this place Though his Discourse be short I am of opinion it affords a better Description of the Art of Perswasion than great Volumes which others have compos'd of that Subject And therefore our Author displaying the true Fundamentals of the Arts of Speaking and
Perswading both which are comprehended in our Idea of Rhetorick I do not despair but those who shall seriously peruse this Book will receive such benefit as is not to be found in the Writings of the ancient Rhetoricians who present us only with Rules without any Character or Description of their Principles Though this new Rhetorick should give us nothing but speculative Notions that contribute little to the making us Eloquent yet the reading of it would not be altogether useless because in his Discourse of the Nature of this Art he makes several important reflexions upon our Mind whereof Discourse is the Image which reflexions conduce highly to the knowledge of our selves and by consequence deserve our attention Besides this I perswade my self there is no person of any moderate curiosity but will be glad to understand Reasons for all Rules prescrib'd by the Art of Speaking When our Author tells us what is pleasing in Discourse he does not call it je ne scay quoy without a Name he names it and conducting us to the very Fountain from whence our Pleasure springs he presents to our view the Principles of those Rules that make them agreeable which must needs be more satisfactory than the Works of those who please only by the practice of the said Rules For the Pleasures of the Mind are to be preferr'd before the Pleasures of the Sense It would be absurd and irregular says St. Austin to prefer Pleasure caused by the running of a Verse before the Knowledge how to compose them Nonnulli perversè magis amant versum quà m artem ipsam qua conficitur versus quia plus auribus quam intelligentiae sese dederunt Some are so idle as to fancy a Verse more than the Art of composing them because they are more devoted to their Ear than their Understanding But this Treatise will be more particularly useful to young Men by reason our Author treats of every thing in its Natural Order and conducts the Reader to the understanding of what he teaches by such easie Reasons as are not describ'd so accurately and plainly in most other Masters It has been a daily complaint that sufficient care has not been taken to inform and fortifie the Judgments of young People who have been hitherto taught like young Parrots only by words without regarding the improvement of their Judgments by accustoming them to argue and reason upon the small things that they are taught Hence it is that Sciences many times do but trouble the Mind and corrupt the Natural Judgment that is often conspicuous in some persons who study but little Our Author thought not fit to swell up his Book with multitude of Examples though perhaps they might have been convenient for there is no Master but may supply this defect by causing his Scholars to mark such places as are excellent in the Works of such as have transcended in the Practice of this Art This Treatise is not intended for the Orator alone but in general for all that either speak or write for Poets Historians Philosophers Divines c. And though it was compos'd in French it may serve for all Languages because it inquires into the Fundamentals of Speech and the Rules prescrib'd in it are not peculiar to any one Language Jan. 19. 1675. Imprimatur hic Liber cui titulus The Art of Speaking c. Gul. Jane S. T. B. Rev. in Christo Patri D. HENR Episc Lond. à Sac. Domest THE FIRST PART OF THE ART OF SPEAKING CHAP. I. I. The Organs of the Voice and how our Speech is form'd WE may speak with our Eyes and our Fingers and make use of the motions of those parts to express the Idea's which are present to our Minds and the Affections of our Wills But this way of Speaking is not only imperfect but troublesom We cannot without much labour express by our Eyes or our Fingers all the variety of things which occur to our thought We move our Tongue with ease and can readily diversifie the sound of our Voice in different manners For this reason Nature has disposed Man to make use of the Organs of the Voice to give sensible signs of what he wills and conceives The disposition of these Organs is wonderful We have a natural Organ of which the aspera arteria or Wind-pipe proceeding from the Lungs to the root of our Tongue is the passage or Canal The Lungs are like Bellows drawing in the Air by their dilatation and expelling it by their contraction The part of the aspera arteria next the root of the Tongue is called the Larynx and is incompass'd with Cartilages and Muscles by which it opens and shuts When the orifice of the Larynx is straight the Air being violently forc'd out is dash'd and broken and receives a motion which makes the sound of the Voice but which is not yet articulated This Voice is received in the Mouth where the Tongue modifies it and gives it different forms according to its propulsion against the Teeth or the Palate according as it is detain'd or transmitted or according as the Mouth is more or less open This facility of expressing our Sentiments by the Voice has caused Mankind to apply themselves studiously to the consideration of all the differences which it receives from the several motions of the Organs of Pronunciation and they have distinguished every particular modification by a Letter These Letters are the Elements of Speech and though their number be not great yet they are sufficient for all the Words not only of the present but of all the past and future Languages in the World The conjunction of two or more Letters makes a Syllable one or more Syllables makes a Word so that we may say Speech is a composition of Sounds of the Voice by Men established to be the signs of their Thoughts and having the power to awaken the Idea's to which they have annexed them Their Number is but 24 yet are they capable of composing a prodigious multitude of different Words I have shown elsewhere that 24 several Letters may be so variously transposed as to make 576 several Words of two Letters That 24 times as many Words may be form'd of three several Letters that is to say 13824 Words That 24 times as many more may be made of four several Letters and so on proportionably From whence we may judge of the vast variety of Words that might be made of them all and indeed they are little less than infinite And here it is of importance to observe the distinction betwixt the soul of Words and the body betwixt that in them which is corporeal and that in them which is spiritual betwixt that which is common to us with Birds and that which is peculiar to our selves The Idea's present to our Mind when it commands the Organs of the Voice to form such Sounds as are the signs of those Idea's are the Soul of our Words The Sounds form'd by the Organs of our Voice which though
Rhodomontades This inflation of Style this affectation of Words that make a noise are rather Arguments of Weakness than force Quo quisque ingenio minus valet hoc se magis attollere dilatare conatur statura breves in digitos eriguntur plura infirmi minantur nam tumidos corruptos tinnulos quocunque alio Cacozeliae genere peccantes certum habeo non virium sed infirmitatis vitio laborare III. Of a plain simple Style THe Simple and Plain Character has its difficulties 't is true the choice of things is not so difficult because they ought to be common and ordinary But the plain character is difficult because the greatness of things dazles and conceals the faults of a Writer When we speak of things rare and extraordinary we make use of Metaphors custom not affording us expressions of sufficient strength Discourse may be inriched with figures because we seldom hear of great things without sentiments of admiration love hatred fear or hope On the contrary when common and ordinary things are to be mention'd we are constrained to imploy proper and ordinary Terms We have not liberty to use Figures in our Discourse which cannot be forborn without difficulty For in a word those who are Writers cannot be ignorant that the liberty of using Figures saves them the labour of studying for proper words which are not always at hand and that it is easier to speak by Figures than to speak Naturally When I called this Character simple I intended not to signify by that Epithete meaness of expression that is never good and always to be avoided The matter of this Style has no elevation and yet it ought not to be vile and contemptible It requires not the pomps and ornaments of Eloquence nor to be dress'd up in magnificent Habits But yet it abhors an abject way of Expression and requires that its habits be cleanly and neat IV. Of the Middle Style I Shall say little of this middle Character because it is sufficient to know that it consists in a Mediocrity that ought to participate of the grandeur of the sublime Character and of the simplicity of the plain Character Virgil has given us examples of all these three Characters his Aenead's are in the sublime Character where he speaks of nothing but Combats Sieges Wars Princes and Hero's In them all is magnificent both sentiments and words The grandeur of his Expression is suitable to the grandeur of the Subject Every thing in that Poem is extraordinary he uses no terms profan'd by the custom of the Populace When he is obliged to name common things he does it by some Trope or Circumlocution For example when he speaks of Bread he expresses it by Ceres who among the Pagans was the Goddess of Corn. The Character of his Eclogues is simple They are Shepheards who speak and entertain themselves with Love with Dialogues of their Sheep and their Fields after a plain simple manner suitable to the discouses of Shepheards His Georgicks are of the middle Character The matter of which they treat is not so sublime as the matter of his Aenead's he speaks not there of Wars and Combats and the establishment of the Roman Empire which are the subject of his Aenead's nor are his Georgicks so plain and simple as his Eclogues In his Georgicks he searches into the most occult and remote Causes of Nature He discovers the mysteries of the Roman Religion he mingles them with Philosophy Theology and History observing a Medium betwixt the Majesty of his Aenead's and the simplicity of his Bucolicks CHAP. III. I. Of Styles proper to certain Matters and qualities common to all Styles WE are now speaking of particular Styles peculiar to certain matters as the Styles of Poets Orators and Historians But it is not amiss to premise certain Observations relating to the Qualities that are common to all Styles Among those who use the same Style some are soft others more strong Some are gay others more severe I shall show in what these Qualities consist and how they may be attributed to a Style when they are convenient to the quality of the subject The first of these Qualities is easiness a Style is said to be easy when things are delivered with such clearness and perspicuity that the mind is put to no trouble to conceive them Thus we say the declension of a Mountain is easy when it is not hard to ascend To give this easiness to a Style we must leave nothing to the Reader 's determination we must prevent all doubts and remove every thing that may perplex it In a word we must deliver things in their necessary latitude and extent that they may be easily comprehended for small things are not so visible to the eye I have said in the precedent Book how cadence is to be sweetned and pronunciation in discourse The easiness of the number contributes strangely to the easiness of the Style This easiness may have several degrees The Style of an Author that writes with extraordinary ease is sayd to be tender and delicate I will not forget in this place that there is nothing contributes more to the softness and easiness of a Style than the careful inserting in their due places all the Particulars necessary to make the consequence and connexion of the parts of discourse perceptible and plain The second Quality is Strength and it is directly opposite to the first it strikes the mind boldly and forces attention To render a Style strong we must use short expressions that signify much and excite many Idea's The Greek and Latin Authors are full of these strong expressions They are more rare among the French who choose rather to have their Discourse natural free and with some kind of diffusion for which reason we are not to wonder that the French in their Translations of Greek and Latine Authors are more copious and verbose than the Originals because they have not those short and compact Expressions the Genius of our Language choosing rather to explain and dis-intangle those Idea's which the Greek and Latin words leave abstruse and involved St. Paul expressing his readiness to dye says very nobly in Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Latine Translation renders it Ego enim jam delibor To turn it into French it must be done thus Lar pour may je suis comme une victime qui a deja recu l'aspersion pour etre sacrifice For I am as a victim that has already received aspersion to be sacrific'd All these words do but explain the Idea's given by the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 when we consider its force with necessary attention The Third quality renders a Style pleasant and florid This Quality depends in part upon the first and ought to be preceded by it for the mind is not pleased with too strong an intention Tropes and figures are the flowers of a Style Tropes give a sensible conception of the most abstracted thoughts they are pleasant
it which is true and worthy commendations For example a Nation revolts from its lawful Soveraign forces the power out of his hands and divides it among several persons deputed to Govern Love of Liberty is reasonable and just so our Harangue is to begin with amplifications upon Liberty and at length insinuating into the people that Liberty is greater under a Monarchy than under a Common-wealth where the Tyranny is exercised by a greater number we gain the point and make use of the same passion that provok'd them to revolt to reduce them to Obedience With the same method of prudence we disintangle people from those for whom they have an unreasonable love against whom great care is to be taken that we fall not into a blunt and immediate declamation 'T is true O Romans never was man more bountiful and munificent than Spurius Milus he spent freely presented liberally and to oblige you was very profuse in his expences But have a care he be not ambitious that his Largesses be not snares and his Presents the price of your liberty Humility is the best of Virtues it is the companion of Innocence and seldom to be found in a Criminal Criminals cannot endure to be reproach'd by their faults and therefore 't is no easy matter to gain those whom we desire to correct Nevertheless when a vicious man is effectually perswaded that his crime is pernicious that love to his Interest is the cause of his reprehension when he knows the Speaker to be wiser and capable of perceiving the Consequences of his ill ways better than himself he suffers his admonition patiently as a man in a Gangreen suffers the amputation of the part That which makes admonition many times ineffectual is the insolence and imperiousness wherewith it is delivered When we would correct a guilty person and hope to reclaim him it is enough that we display before him modestly what was his duty to have done without upbraiding him by what he has actually done Some things are not ill in themselves but for want of some circumstance Such things may be commended but we must make it appear they were not done with due circumstances of place and of time That a Criminal may not be discouraged and ashamed to acknowledg his Offence it is not amiss to lessen and extenuate his Crime by comparing it with a greater For fear he should obstinately persist and justify what he has done some way is to be found out to ease him of his load Some people are so refractory they will never condemn what once they have done We must separate betwixt the crime and the person and take no notice that the Offender was guilty till we have brought him in to condemn his own Crime This was the Prophet Nathan's Method with King David when he desired to reprehend him for the Adultery he had committed he complained to him against another person that was guilty of the same Crime and when King David had pass'd his judgment upon the man then Nathan took his opportunity and admonished him that his Majesty himself was the Original and that he himself had committed that sin which his own mouth had condemn'd IV. The Qualities that we have show'd to be necessary in an Orator ought not to be counterfeit I Do not doubt very ill use may be made of this Art but that hinders not our Rules from being good One may pretend love for his Hearers to conceal some ill design that his hatred has prompted him to meditate against them One may put on the face of an Honest man only to delude those who have a reverence for the least appearance of truth yet it follows not but we may profess love to our Auditors and insinuate into their affections when our love is sincere and we have no design but the interest and propagation of truth Pagan Rhetoricians have given the same precepts as we have done and Sophisters have made use of them which obliges us to stricter and more careful application A wicked man is not to be more zealous for Error than a Christian for Truth It would be a shame that Christians should neglect their natural means for propagation of the truth whilst wicked men are so busie and industrious to deceive These ways are good and just in themselves and every man that has prudence and charity makes use of them insensibly How wicked soever men be it is our duty to love them we must have compassion for their persons and detest only their Crimes Diligite homines interficite errores Those who are really pious have no need to counterfeit their charity shows it self quite through their discourse they pitty the faults of other men and bear with them patiently They correct them gently and reflect upon them only on that side in which they are most venial Monitio acerbitate objurgatio contumelia careat says Cicero Piety finds out ways not to disgust not to afflict the persons to be reprehended Piety moderates correction and with honey-words sweetens the bitterness of her discipline In a word piety does for God whatever self-love and interest does for man So that the outward conduct of the one appears the same with the outward conduct of the other their manners of acting being distinguished only by their principles A good Christian has no less Complaisance for those whom he would perswade without any design but propagation of the truth than a worldling has for those from whom he looks for a recompence When I sayd we were not to disgust our Auditors I did not advise that we should use only a slight complaisance proceeding from a vain satisfaction we take in not being repuls'd Men love those things that entertain them with delight Loquere nobis placenta It is the business of a flatterer to entertain people of that delicate humour While a Christian Preacher has hopes of gaining upon his Auditors by gentleness 't is his duty to use it but when they are hardned and will not lay down those arms which they have taken up against truth it would not be charity but flattery to indulge them When prayers avail nothing our recourse must be to menace The conduct used always by the Fathers was to begin mildly but if that mildness was ineffectual to conclude with severity St. Austin tells us that in his first Books wrot against Pelagius he would not mention his Name that he might not leave him upon Record for the author of a Hesie But when he found the Heretick insensible of that Gentleness and that it did but contribute to the making him worse he thought the same charity that had prompted him to mildness at first oblig'd him then to remedies more violent and proportionable to the distemper of that Heretick considering that if they did not cure him they would at least give alarm to the people and let them know the danger of his communication CHAP. III. I. It is lawful to excite in those to whom we Speak such
Consequence being manifestly clear There is great difference betwixt the argumentation of a Geometrician and an Orator Maxims in Geometry depend upon a small number of Principles The proofs of an Orator cannot be illustrated but by great number of Circumstances that fortifie one another and being separated would not be capable of convincing In the most solid Arguments there are always some difficulties that afford matter of Controversy to those who are obstinate and are not to be convinced but by multitude of words and by clearing of all the difficulties and objections that may be made An Orator is to imitate a Souldier fighting with his enemy The Souldier is not satisfied with drawing his Sword he strikes and watches to take the first advantage that is given He moves up and down to avoid the insults of his Enemy and in a word assumes all the postures that Nature and practice have taught him for invasion or defence The Geometrician lays down his proofs and that is sufficient There are certain tricks and ways of proposing an Argument that are as effectual as the Argument it self which oblige the Hearer to attention which make him perceive the strength of a Reason which augment its force which dispose the mind prepare it to receive the truth disintangle it from its first Passions and supply it with new Those who understand the Mystery of Eloquence do not demur or amuse themselves with throngs of Arguments they make choice of one that is good and manage it as follows They do solidly lay down the Principle of their Argument they make it as clear and perspicuous as possible They show the connexion betwixt the Principle and Consequence deduced from it and desire to demonstrate it They remove all obstacles that may hinder the hearer from being perswaded They repeat their Reasons so oft that we cannot escape from its efficacy They represent their design with so many faces that we cannot but own it and they work it so effectually into our minds that at last it becomes absolute Master The Precepts of common Rhetoricians touching Proofs and Refutations are not considerable Rhetoricians advise us to place our strongest Arguments in the Van and Front of our Discourse our weakest Arguments in the Battle and keep some few of our best Arguments as Reserves The natural Order to be observ'd in the disposition of Arguments is to place them in such sort that they may serve as steps to an Auditory to arrive at the truth and make among themselves a kind of chain to stop those whom we would reduce to the truth Refutation requires no peculiar Rules When we are able to demonstrate a truth we can easily discover an Error and make it appear That which we have sayd of the care an Orator ought to have to demonstrate the force of his Principles and their connexion with the Consequences deduced ought equally to be understood of the care we are to take to make the false Principles of our Adversary remarkable or if their Principles be true to make their Consequences appear false and unnatural IV. Of the Epilogue and other Parts in the Art of Perswasion AN Orator who apprehends the things that he says may slip from the memory of his Auditors is oblig'd to repeat them before he gives over 'T is possible those to whom he speaks are distracted and perplex'd for some time and the multitude of things that he has profer'd has not had room in their minds It is fit therefore that he repeats what he said before and contracts all into such an abridgment as may not be burthensom to the memory Great number of words amplifications and repetitions are only for better explication of things and to render them more perspicuous Wherefore after we have convinc'd our Auditors of the truth of our Proposition and made them understand it clearly that the Conviction may be lasting we must contrive that our Auditory may not loose the memory of our Arguments To do this our abridgment and repetition mentioned before ought to be made in a brisk way but not so as to be troublesome We must at the same time awaken the motions that we have excited and as I may so say unbind the wounds that we made But reading of Orators among whom Cicero is excellent for Epilogues will give you a better notion than my words of the address and cunning to be us'd in ramasing and contracting in the Epilogue what in the body of our Discourse was more large and difuse I shall now finish this discourse in which my design was to give an Image or Idea of the Art of Perswasion There still remains for Explication three parts of this Art Elocution or the manner of disposing our Matter Memory and Pronunciation Of Elocution I have writ a whole Treatise Memory all the world knows is a gift of Nature not to be improv'd by any thing but exercise for which no Precepts need to be given and Pronuuciation is of such advantage to an Orator that it deserves to be treated on at large for there is a Rhetorick in the eye the motion and air of the Body that perswades as much as Arguments When an Orator with this air begins his Harangue we comply immediatly Many Sermons well pronounc'd are well receiv'd which ill pronounc'd would be despised Men are generally content with the appearance of things Those who deliver themselves with a firm and emphatical tone and are graceful in their Mine are sure to prevail Few persons make use of their Reason common recourse is to the Sense We examine not what an Orator says but judg of him by our eyes and our ears If he satisfies their eyes and pleases their ears he shall be certain of the hearts of his auditory The necessity of taking advantage of our weakness obliges an Orator if he be zealous for the truth not to despise Pronunciation We have certainly many defects Postures that are indecent ridiculous affected mean and not to be suffer'd There are likewise Imperfections in the Voice that are tiresome and unpleasant to the Ear. 'T is not necessary that we particularize every man daily observes them Every Passion has its peculiar tone its peculiar gesture its peculiar Mine which if good or bad make a good or a bad Orator If good they contribute not a little to the conception of what we would perswade and the pains that we take to pronounce things well will neither be vain nor unprofitable But in Books or Writing it will be more vain Rules for Pronunciation cannot be well taught but by experience and practice FINIS THE TABLE OF CHAPTERS The First Part. CHAP. I. I. THe Organs of the Voice how Speech is form'd p. 1. II. Before we Speak we are to form a Scheme in our minds of what we are to say p. 5. III. To mark the difference of our Thoughts there is need of Words of different Orders p. 8. IV. Of Noun Substantives Adjectives and Articles p 12. V. How we can
II. I. A second means to perswade p. 107. II. Qualities required in an Orator who would allure those to whom he speaks p. 110. III. What is to be observed in things upon which we speak and in what manner we are to insinuate into our Auditors 117 IV. The qualities that we have shown to be necessary in an Orator ought not to be counterfeit p. 124. CHAP. III. I. 'T is lawful to excite such passion in our hearers as may carry them as we design p. 128. II. What is to be done to excite these passions p. 133. III. How we may make such things contemptible as are fit to be laught at p. 141 CHAP. IV. I. Of the disposition of those parts that make up a discourse Of the Exordium p. 147. II. Proposition p. 150. III. Of Confirmation or establishment of proofs and at the same time of Refutation p. 155. IV. Of the Epilogue and other parts of the Art of perswasion p. 161. 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