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and emotion of the foul have their peculiar expreffion of voice, features, and gesture; and the whole body, every variation of the face, and tone of the voice, like the ftrings of a mufical inftrument, act agreeably to the impulfe they receive from the mind. The correfpondence of paffions and emotions with expreffion, as it is fhewn in real life, must be attentively obferved, and to follow fome good living example will be highly advantageous. More fully to ftimulate his exertions let him advert to the effects which have been produced by excellence in this branch of his art. Was it not the impaffioned delivery of Demofthenes, to which his rival Efchines has left fuch a remarkable and fuch an honourable teftimony, that gave refiftlefs perfuafion to his fpeeches? Was it not the indignant countenance, the animated tone, and the judicious action of Cicero, which communicated fuch commanding influence and powerful weight to his arguments, when he confounded the audacious Catiline? And was it not the dignified air, and the perfuafive mildness of Maffillon, which added to his religious inftructions fo much force, when he drew from the Louis XIV. a confeffion of the power of facred cloquence?

He who afpires to the character of a good public fpeaker, muft make judgment the rule of his conduct; for no attainments can fecure reputation without it. Nothing ought to be carried to an

extreme;

extreme; the flights of imagination must be reftrained by difcretion, and propriety muft give laws to every effort. Thus will he take the fureft road to excellence; he will be bold, not rafh; ferious, but not fevere; gay, not licentious; copious without redundance, and fublime without extravagance or bombaft. An adherence to the proper rules of the art will be his fafeft guide, will improve every natural endowment, and add the advantages of experience to the gifts of nature.

The eloquence of the moderns has rarely, if ever, reached the standard of excellence, which was attained by the ancients. The character of each is widely different. In Greece the public speaker was bold, impetuous, and fublime. In Rome he was more declamatory, florid, and pathetic. Fenelon has thus ingeniously diftinguished the effects produced by the two great orators of Greece and Rome. "After hearing an oration of Tully, * How finely and eloquently has he expreffed himfelf!' faid the Romans. After Demofthenes had spoke, Let us rife and march against Philip,' faid the Athenians." In England the public fpeaker is temperate and cool, and addrefles himfelf more to the reafon of his audience, than to their paffions. There is ftill great fcope for the display of genius in the pulpit, at the bar, and in the houses of Parliament; and the path of fame is ftill left open to rifing orators. The rules laid down by the ancients, as the principles involved in thofe rules are of general ufe, may be ftudied to great advantage,

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advantage, although much judgment is neceffary for their proper application; and allowance muft be made for the difference in modern taite and modern manners.

There feem to be certain circumstances in the English character and genius, which are unfavourable to the perfection of eloquence, and may render our attempts to fucceed as public fpeakers in the great affemblies of the kingdom more difficult than they were in antient times. The English excel in good fenfe, which makes them fuperior to any attempt to amufe their fancy, or agitate their paffions. They are alfo very diffident, which makes them regard it as a proof of arrogance to offer any thing but the dictates of plain reafon to men, whom they may think as enlightened and well informed as themfelves. It is for thefe reafons that the public fpeakers in our Houses of Parliament confine themselves chiefly to plain ftatements of fact and folid argument. No fpeaker would be long heard with pleafure, or perhaps with patience, who fhould exactly copy the florid ftyle, circuitous arguments, and technical divifions of Cicero. Burke attempted much in this manner, but he was not often fuccefsful. Of all examples which antiquity has left, no one feems fo well adapted to an Englifhman as Demofthenes. His orations display a manly freedom of thought, a depth and clearness of judgment, a perfect infight as well into the bufinefs of the fiate, as into the character of his countrymen; and all his ideas are clothed in lan

guage

His

guage rarely figurative, but always energetic. tranfitions are bold and forcible. He was aware that his audience would have thought he was trifling with them, if he had aimed at mere pomp of declamation, or had fcattered over his fpeeches the common flowers of Rhetoric. He was too ardent to be diffufe, and too eager for action, to wafte his time upon the circuitous arts of perfuafion. It was his great object to astonish by unexpected flashes of thought, to terrify by lively images of danger, and to convince by the fhorteft and moft conclufive arguments; and what rendered him ftill more worthy of imitation, the fire of enthufiaftic patriotifin animated all his moft celebrated fpeeches".

The propriety of recommending Demofthenes is confirmed by the practice of eminent fpeakers. The Marquis of Wharton formed his fon to be one of the greateft, and at the fame time one of the readieft fpeakers then in England, by making him get by heart whole orations of Demofthenes, and repeat them with all the graces of action and pronunciation. It is a traditionary tale in Scotland, that the great Lord Mansfield was accustomed, in his early youth, to declaim upon his native mountains the moft celebrated fpeeches

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y See Hume's Effays, Vol. I. p. 109. charfis, Vol. II. p. 116. Vol. V. p. 184. to his tranflation of Demofthenes.

z Monboddo, Vol. IV. p. 244.

Travels of Ana
Leland's preface

of Cicero and Demofthenes, and his own excellent translations?. Such was the practice of the great Lord Chatham, and from the following mafterly character given of him by Lord Chefterfield, we may conclude, that he imbibed the fpirit, and caught the manner of his great original. "His eloquence was of every kind, and he excelled in the argumentative, as well as the declamatory way. But his invectives were terrible, and uttered with fuch energy of diction, and fuch dignity of action and countenance, that he intimidated thofe who were the moft willing and the beft able to encounter him. Their arms fell out of their hands, and they fhrunk under the afcendant, which his genius gained over theirs."

The young orator, if he has judgment, may catch many of the sparks of eloquence from every diftinguished example, and may borrow many useful hints and inftructions from the parliamentary debates, particularly the moft interefting which have taken place in both Houfes, during the laft and prefent reigns. But complete fuccefs in this career must be the refult of eminent talents, deep ftudy, and accurate obfervations on men and bufinefs, directed by found judgment and stimulated not fo much by a love of glory, as zeal for the good of the public. While he follows the best rules and examples of eloquence, let him avoid all fervile imitation; let him not, to use the appofite and beautiful

a Lives of eminent Lawyers.

illuftration

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