1 "afraid that you who have been Conful "and aveng'd the Publick of fo many "Crimes have thereby only delay'd our "Ruin for a fhort while. How can you "behold what you have done?" How weak, indecent, and mean must this Discourse have appear'd, if it had been fill'd with Witticifins and quaint Conceits. But now fhall those who ought to speak like Apoftles, gather up, with induftrious Affectation, thofe Flowers of Rhetorick that DEMOSTHENES, MANLIUS and BRUTUS trampled on? Shall we unagin that the Minifters of the Gofpel have lefs Concern for the eternal Salvation of Souls, than DEMOSTHENES for the Liberty of his Country; lefs Zeal to do good, than MANLIUS had Ambition to feduce the Multitude; or lefs Refolution than BRUTUS, who chose Death rather than to owe his Life to a Tyrant? I own, that the florid kind of Eloquence has its Beautys: but they are quite mifapply'd in those Difcourfes that ought to be animated with the nobleft Paffions; and wherein there is no room for delicate Turns of Wit. The florid fort of Rhetorick can never come up to the true fublime. What wou'd the Antients have faid of a Tragedy, wherein HECUBA laments laments her Misfortunes with Points of Wit. True Grief does not talk thus. Or what cou'd we think of a Preacher who fhou'd, in the most affected Jingle of Words, fhew Sinners the divine Judg ment hanging over their Head, and Hell open under their Feet? There is a * Decency to be obferv'd in our Language, as in our Cloaths. A difconfolate Widow does not mourn in Fringes, Ribbons, and Embroidery. And an Apoftolical Minifter ought not to preach the Word of GOD in a pompous Stile, full of affected Ornaments. The Pagans wou'd not have endur'd to see even a Comedy fo ill-acted. Ut ridentibus arrident ita flentibus adfunt HOR. de Ar. Poet. Humani vultus. Si vis me flere, dolendum eft . 101-- We must not judge fo unfavourably of Eloquence as to reckon it only a frivolous Art that a Declaimer ufes to impofe on the weak Imagination of the Multitude, Q 3 * Nunc quid aptum fit, hoc eft, quid maxime deceat in Oratione, videamus: quamquam id quidem perfpicuum eft, non omni caufæ, nec auditori, neque perfo næ, neque tempori congruere orationis unum genus Omnique in re poffe quod deceat facere, artis & naturæ eit; fcire, quid, quandoque deceat, prudentiæ. CICERO de Orat. lib. iij. §. 55. . tude, and to serve his own Ends. "Tis a very serious Art; defign'd to inftruct People; fupprefs their Paffions; and reform their Manners; to fupport the Laws; direct publick Councils; and to make Men good and happy. The more Pains an Haranguer takes to dazzle me, by the Artifices of his Discourse, the more I fhou'd despise his Vanity. His Eagerness to display his Wit wou'd in my Judgment render him unworthy of the leaft Admiration. I love a serious Preacher, who speaks for my fake; and not for his own; who feeks my Salvation, and not his own Vain-glory. He beft deferves to be heard who uses Speech only to cloath his Thoughts; and his Thoughts only to promote Truth and Virtue. Nothing is more defpicable than a profefs't Declaimer, who retails his Difcourfes, as a Quack does his Medicines. I am willing this Point fhou'd be determin'd by the very Heathen, PLATO wou'd not permit in his Republick such effeminate Notes of Mufick as the Ly dians us'd. The Lacedemonians excluded from theirs all Inftruments that were too compounded; left they fhou'd foften the People's Temper. Such Harmony as ferves merely to please the Ear, is an Amusement fit only for foft and idle Perfons; and is unworthy of a well-or der'd der'd Commonwealth. 'Tis no farther valuable than the Sounds agree to the Sense of the Words; and the Words infpire virtuous Sentiments. Painting, Sculpture, and other elegant Arts, ought to have the fame End. This ought undoubtedly to be the Defign of Eloquence too. Pleasure ought to be mixt with it only to ferve as a Counter-poife to Men's vicious Paffions; and to render Virtue amiable. I wou'd have an Orator prepare himfelf a long time by general Study, to acquire a large Stock of Knowledge; and to qualify himself for compofing well: that fo he might need the lefs Preparation for each particular Difcourfe. I wou'd have him naturally a Man of Good-Sense; and to reduce all he fays to Good-Senfe as the Standard of his Dif courfe. His Studys fhou'd be folid: he fhou'd apply himself to Reafon juftly; and industriously avoid all fubtil and over-refin'd Notions. He fhou'd distrust Q A his Cæterarum artium ftudia fere reconditis, atque abditis e fontibus hauriuntur; dicendi autem omnis ratio in medio pofita, communi quodam in ufu, atque in hominum more & fermone verfatur: ut in cæteris id maxime excellat, quod longiffimè fit ab imperitorum intelligentia fenfuque disjunctum in dicendo autem vitium vel maximum eft, a vulgari genere orationis, atque a confuetudine COMMUNIS SENSUS abhorrere. CICERO de Orat. lib. j. §. 3. Ar. Poet. *.309-- his Imagination; and not let it influence his Judgment. He fhou'd ground every Difcourfe upon fome evident Principle; and from that draw the most obvious and natural Confequences. HOR. de Scribendi rectè fapere eft & principium & fons Rem tibi Socratica poterunt oftendere chartæ : Verbaque provifam rem non invita fequentur. Qui didicit Patria, quid debeat, & quid amicis, Quo fit amore parens, quo frater amandus & ille profecto (hofpes: Reddere perfona fcit convenientia cuique. Generally speaking a florid Declaimer knows neither the Principles of found Philofophy, nor thofe of the Chriftian Doctrine, for perfecting the Manners of Men. He mind's nothing but bright Expreffions, and ingenious Turns. What he chiefly wants is folid Knowledge. He can talk handfomly without knowing what he ought to fay. He weakens the most important Truths by his vain and elaborate Turns of Fancy, or Expreffion. а On the contrary, the true Orator * dorns his Difcourfe only with bright Truths, noble Sentiments, and fuch ftrong Expreffions as are adapted to his Subject, and *Sed Ornatus (repetam enim) virilis, fortis & fanctus fit: nec effæminatam lævitatem, nec fuco eminentem colorem amet; fanguine & viribus niteat. QUINT, lib, viij. c. 39 |