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with Antiquity. He recommends the careful Perufal of the antient Greek Writers, efpecially the Hiftorians; both for their Stile, and for the Hiftorical Facts they relate. He particularly enjoins the the Study of the Poets: because of the great Refemblance there is betwixt the Figures of Poetry, and thofe of Eloquence. In fine, he often declares that an Orator ought to furnish his Mind with a clear comprehenfive View of Things, before he attempt to speak in publick. I fancy I cou'd almoft repeat foine of his Words on this Subject; fo often have I read them; and fo strong an Impreffion did they make on my Thoughts. You will be furpriz'd to fee

Cognofcat etiam rerum geftarum & memoriæ veteris ordinem, maximè fcilicet noftræ Civitatis; fed & imperioforum Populorum & Regum illuftrium --- nefcire enim quid antea, quàm natus fis, acciderit, id eft femper effe puerum Commemoratio autem Antiquitatis, exemplorumque prolatio fumma cum' delectatione, & auctoritatem orationi affert, & fidem. Orat. §. 34.

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Apud Gracos autem eloquentiffimi homines remoti a caufis forenfibus, cum ad cæteras res illuftres, tum ad fcribendam hiftoriam maximè fe applicaverunt. Namque & HERODOTUS & poft illum THUCYDIDES omnes dicendi artificio mea fententia facile vicit --- Denique etiam a Philofophia profectus princeps XENOPHON De Orat. lib. ij. §. 13, 14.

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Legendi etiam poeta, cognofcenda Hiftoria, omnium bonarum artium fcriptores. De Orats lib. j. §. 34. - Eft enim finitimus oratori poeta, numeris adstrictior paulò, verborum autem licentia liberior; multis verò ornandi generibus focius ac penè par; in hoc quidem certè propè idem, nullis ut terminis circumfcribat aut definiat jus fuum, quo minus ei liceat eadem illa facul tate, & copia vagari qua velit. Ibid. §. 16.

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fee how much Knowledge, and how ma* Qualities he requires. “An Orator, fays he, ought to have the Acute"nefs of Logicians, the Knowledge of "Philofophers, the Stile almoft of the "Poets; the Elocution and Gesture of "the fineft Actors." Confider now how much Application must be neceffary to attain all this.

C. I have obferv'd indeed, on several Occafions, that fome Orators, tho' they have good natural Parts, want a Fund of folid Knowledge. Their Heads feem unfurnish't: and one cannot but perceive they labour hard for Matter to fill up their Difcourfes. They do not feem to speak from the Abundance of their Hearts, as if they were full of ufeful Truths: but they talk as if they were at a lofs for the very next Thing they are to say.

A. CICERO takes notice of these kind of People; who live always,as it were, from Hand to Mouth, without laying up, any Stock

* Non quæritur mobilitas lingue, non celeritas verborum, non denique ea quæ nobis non poffumus fingere, facies, vultus, fonus. In oratore autem acumen. Dialecticorum, fententiae Philofophorum, verba prope Poetarum, memoria Juris confultorum, vox Tragoedorum, geftus penè fummorum Actorum, eft requirendus. Quamobrem nihil in hominum genere rarius perfecto oratore inveniri poteft: quæ enim fingularum rerum artifices, fingula fi mediocriter adepti funt, probantur, ea nifi omnia fumma funt in oratore, probari non poffunt. De Orat. lib. j. §i 28,

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Stock of Provision. But the Discourses of fuch Declaimers appear always thin and half-ftarv'd, whatever Pains they take about them. Tho' these Men cou'd afford three Months for studying a publick Harangue, fuch particular Preparations, however troublesome, muft needs be perfect and any judicious Hearer will eafily difcern their Defects. They ought to have imploy'd several Years in laying up a plentiful Store of folid Notions: and then after fuch a general Preparation, their particular Difcourfes wou'd coft thein but little Pains. Whereas if a Man, without this preparatory Study, lay out all his Application upon particular Subjects, he is forc'd to put off his Hearers with: * florid Expreffions, gaudy Metaphors, and jingling Antithefes. He delivers no

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*There are two Extremes to be avoided with the utmost Care, the frigid Stile, and the boyish. The former renders a Difcourfe dry and infipid, by a Languor and Flatness of Expreffion: the latter renders it ungrateful and shocking, by a fwelling Loftiness, and affected Amplification -- Thofe who use the frigid Stile, employ pompous Expreffions. when the Subject requires plain ones: and they who affect the boyish Stile, make use of low Expreffions when the Matter requires the loftieft. But our Language is become fo modeft, fo referv'd, and fo fcrupulous, that the frigid Stile includes all fuch Expreffions as are too strong, or too sparkling; too bold and hardy Metaphors, and frequent Turns of Wit. And the boyish Stile comprehends Strokes of Humour, and quaint Conceits upon ferious Subjects; too loose and beavy Repetitions in thofe Parts of a Difcourfe that ought to be clofe and concife; too violent Exaggerations, and too labori ous Figures.

M. RAPIN. Vol. II, Reflexions fur L' Eloquence.

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thing but indeterminate common-place Notions; and patches together Shreds of Learning and Rhetorick which any one fee were not made one for another. He never goes to the Bottom of Things, but ftops in fuperficial Remarks, and ofttimes in falfe ones. He is not able to fhew Truths in their proper Light, and full Extent; because all general Truths are neceffarily connected among themfelves: fo that one must understand almoft all of them, before he can treat judiciously of any one.

C. However many of our publick Speakers get Repute by thofe flight Attainments you fo much defpife.

A. It is true, they are applauded by Women and the undifcerning Multitude, who are easily dazl'd and impos'd on : but this Repute is very precarious; and cou'd not fubfift long if it were not fupported by a Cabal of Acquaintance, and the Zeal or Humour of a Party. They who know the true End and Rules of

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*Expreffion is the Drefs of Thought, and ftill
Appears more decent, as more fuitable:
A low Conceit in pompous Words expreft,
Is like a Clown in regal Purple dreft.
For different Styles with different Subjects fort,
As feveral Garbs with Country, Town, and Court.
Some by old Words to Fame have made Pretence:
Antients in Phrafe, mere Moderns in their Sense !
Such labour'd Nothings, in fo ftrange a Style,
Amaze th' Unlearn'd, and make the Learned fmile.
Mr. POPE'S Effay on Criticism.

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Eloquence, cannot hear such empty vain Haranguers without Satiety, Disgust, and Contempt.

C. It fees then you wou'd have a Man wait feveral Years before he attempt to speak in publick: For the Flower of his Age must be spent in attaining that vaft Fund of Knowledge you reckon neceffary to an Orator: and then he must be fo far advanc'd in Years, that he will have but little Time to exert his Talents.

A. I wou'd have him begin to exert them betimes: for I know very well how great the Power of Action is. But under the Pretence of exercifing his Parts, I wou'd not have him immediately engage himself in any kind of Employment that will take off his Mind from his Studies. A Youth may try his Skill, from time to time: but for feveral Years, a careful Perufal of the best Authors ought to be his main Bufinefs.

C. Your judicious Obfervation puts me in mind of a Preacher I am acquainted with, who lives, as you fay, from hand to mouth; and never thinks of any Subject till he be obliged to treat of it: and then he fhuts himself up in his Clofet, turns over his Concordance, Combefix and Polyanthea, his Collections of Sermons; and Common-place Book of feparate Sen

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