Q. What is Accent? A. The ftrefs laid on a particular fyllable of a word, and is governed by cuftom. Q. What is Emphafis? A. The ftrefs laid on particular words of fentences; and is to fentences what accent is to words, and is governed by the fenfe. Q. What is Cadence? A. The lowering of the voice in proper place and manner, to give notice of an approaching conclufion. Q. What are Pauses? A. Refts or stops made in the course of speech, tó distinguish sentences and the parts thereof. Q. What duration fhould the pauses be of? A. They are proportioned in general to the nature of the fubject, and, in particular parts of the difcourfe, to their fituations in the fentence. Q. What does Action in Oratory consist in? A. An exprefsive turn of the countenance, and apt gesture of the body.. Q. What do you mean by turn of countenance? A. A certain look of the eyes, and arrangement of the muscles of the face, adapted to exprefs the affection. Q. What do you mean by gefture of the body? A. A pertinent attitude, and management of the whole, particularly of the hands. Q. How is the action of an orator to be regulated? A. By an exact and easy imitation of the workings of nature. Q. Upon the whole, what must be done to make ourselves acceptable orators ? A. To make yourselves acceptable orators,- Adorn with Tropes and Figures your Oration, In order to lay before our pupil the power, context. and propriety of the Speech of Catiline, which we have introduced, as an example of oratory; and that he may be fully informed of the artifice, plaufibility, and high colouring that appear in it, we have felected the particulars of the tranfactions that occafioned the fpeech, as given by Dr. Goldsmith, in his Roman hiftory. SERGIUS CATILINE was a patrician by birth, who refolved to build his own power on the downfal of his country. He was fingularly formed, both by art and nature, to conduct a confpiracy; being poffeffed of courage equal to the most defperate attempts, and eloquence to give a colour to his ambition; ruined in his fortune, profligate in his manners, vigilant in purfuing his aims; and infatiable after wealth, only to lavish it on guilty pleasures: in short, as Cicero defcribes him, he was a compound of oppofite paffions; intemperate to excefs, yet patient of labour to a wonder; fevere with the virtuous, debauched with the gay; fo that he had all the vicious for his friends by inclination, and he at tached even fome of the good, by the fpecious fhow of pretended virtue. However, his real character was at length very well known at Rome: He had been accused of debauching a veftal virgin; he was fufpected of murdering his fon, to gratify a criminal paffion; and it was notorious, that in the profcription of Sylla, he had killed his own brother, to make his court to the tyrant. Having contracted many debts by the loofenefs of fuch an ill-spent life, he was refolved to extricate himself from them by any means, however unlawful: his firft aim therefore was at the confulfhip, in which he hoped to repair his fhattered fortune by the plunder of the provinces; but in this he was fruftrated. This difgrace fo operated upon a mind naturally warm, that he instantly entered into an affociation with Pifo, and fome others of defperate fortunes like himfelf; in which it was refolved, to kill the confuls that had been just chofen, with feveral other fenators; and to fhare the government among themselves. These defigns however were difcovered, before they were ripe for action; and the senate took care to obviate their effects. Some time after, he again fued for the confulship, and was again difappointed; the great Cicero being preferred before him. Enraged at these repeated mortifications, he now breathed nothing but revenge: his defign was (had he then obtained the confulfhip, and with it the command of the armies of the empire) to have feized upon the liberties of his country, and govern alone. At length, im. patience under his difappointments would not permit him to wait for the ripening of his fchemes; wherefore he formed the mad refolution of ufurping the empire, though yet without means adequate to the execution.. Many of those who were in the former con fpiracy of Pifo, ftill remained attached to Catiline's. interest these he affembled, to about the number of thirty; informed them of his aims and his hopes, fettled a plan of operation, and fixed a day for the execution. It was refolved among them, that a general infurrection fhould be raised throughout Italy, the different parts of which were affigned to the different leaders. Rome was to be fired in different places at once; and Catiline, at the head of an army raised in Etruria, was in the general confufion to poffefs himself of the city, and maffacre all the fenators.. Lentulus, one of his profligate affiftants, who had been prætor or judge in the city, was to preside in their general councils: Cethegus, a man who facrificed the poffefsion of great prefent power, to the hopes of gratifying his revenge against Cicero, was to direct the maffacre through the city; it. and Cafsius was to conduct those who fired: But the vigilance of Cicero being a chief obftacle to their defigns, Catiline was very defirous to fee him taken off before he left Rome; upon which, two knights of the company under. *In the first general meeting of the confpirators, Catiline made the following fpeech, which is a remarkable instance of the power of oratory, took to kill him the next morning in an early vifit on pretence of business, while in bed. The meeting, however, was no fooner over, than Cicero had information of all that paffed in it; for, by the intrigues of a woman named Fulvia, he had gained over Curius, her lover and one of the confpirators, to fend him a punctual account of all their deliberations. Having taken proper precautions to guard himself against the defigns of his morning visitors, who were punctual to the appointment; he next took care, to provide for the defence of the city; and affembling the fenate, confulted what was beft to be done in this time of danger. The firft ftep taken was, to offer confiderable rewards for further difcoveries, and then to prepare for the defence of the state. The principal confpirators were feized, and executed; and Catiline fell in the rebel army, fighting with defperate fury. The particulars of this confpiracy are elegantly defcribed by Salluft, from whence the following fpeech is taken. EXEMPL A. ORATIO CATILINE. [@]NI Virtus Fisdesque veftra fatis spectata mihi Ι foret, nequicquam opportuna Res cecidiffet, Spes magna Dominationis in Manibus fruftra fuiffet; neque per Ignaviam aut vana Ingenia incerta pro certis captarem: fed quia multis & magnis Tem[a] Exordium, |