ner "of orators arofe afterwards, of whom Demofthe(6 nes was the chief; the ftandard which every one “must * necessarily follow who afpires to true elo66 quence. His ftile is fo ftrong, so close, and 1 "vous: 'tis every where fo juft, fo exactly concise, "that there's nothing too much or too little. Ef"chines is more diffufive; he makes a greater figure, " because he is not fo clofe: he difcovers a greater "flush of health, but his finews are not fo strong and "well compacted. "m What diftinguishes the eloquence of Demoftheσε nes is, the impetuofity of the expreffion, the "choice of words, and the beauty of the difpofition; "which being fupported throughout, and accompa"nied with force and sweetness, keeps the attention ❝of the auditors perpetually fixed. Æfchines indeed "is lefs energetic; but he diftinguishes himself by his diction, which he fometimes adorns with the most "noble and magnificent figures; and fometimes fea"fons with the moft lively and ftrong touches. We "don't discover any art or labour in them; a happy "facility, which nature only can bestow, runs "through the whole. He is bright and folid; he "enlarges and amplifies, but is often clofe; fo that "his ftile, which at first seems only flowing and "fweet, discovers itself, upon a nearer view, to be "vehement and emphatic, in which Demofthenes "only furpaffes him; fo that Æfchines juftly claims "the fecond place among orators. "I remember, fays Cicero, that I preferred Demofthenes to all other orators. He is adequate to "the idea I had formed to myfelf of eloquence; he "attained to that degree of perfection which I con"ceive in thought, but find no where, except in him ❝alone. Never had any orator more greatnefs and ftrength, more art and cunning, nor more prudence and moderation in his ornaments. He ex દ << cels in every kind of eloquence. • He poffeffes "all the qualifications neceffary for forming the ora"tor. He is perfect. Whatever penetration, whatever refinement, whatever artifice, as it were, and cunning, can fuggeft on any fubject; these he finds and employs with a juftnefs, a brevity, and clear"nefs, which give us a fatisfaction, to which nothing can add. Are elevation, greatnefs and vehemence neceffary? He furpaffes all others in the fublimity "of his thoughts, and the magnificence of his ex"preffions. He is inconteftably the firft; none equals "him. Hyperides, Æfchines, Lycurgus, Dinarchus, Demades, have no other merit but that of coming "neareft to him. "That harangue (fays Cicero in another place, fpeaking of Ctefiphon's defence) answers fo effectu"ally to the idea I have formed of perfect eloquence, that we can wifh nothing more finished." • Recordor me longè omnibus unum anteferre Demofthenem, qui vim accommodarit ad eam quam fentiam eloquentiam, non ad eam quam in aliquo ipfe cognoverim. Hoc nec gravior excitit quifquam, nec callidior, nec temperatior.... Unus eminet inter omnes in omni genere dicendi. Orat. n. 23 & 104. Plane quidem perfectum, & cui nihil admodum defit, Demofthenem facilè dixeris. Nibil acutè inveniri potuit in eis caufis quas fcripfit, nihil (ut ita dicam) fubdolè, nihil verfutè, quod ille non viderit; nihil fubtiliter dici, nihil prefsè, nihil enucleatè, quo fieri poffit aliquid limatius: nihil contra grande, nihil incitatum, nihil ornatum vel verborum gravitate, vel fententiarum, quo quidquam effet elatius, &c. Brut. n. 35. PEa profectò oratio in eam formam, quæ eft infita in mentibus noftris, includi fic poteft, ut ma jor eloquentia non quæratur. Orar, n. 133. Before Before I proceed to the character of Cicero's eloquence, I think myfelf obliged to add here fome reflections upon that of Demofthenes. It would, in my opinion, be renouncing of good fenfe and found reafon, to call in queftion the fuperior merit of the Greek orator, after the incredible fuccefs he had in his time, and the noble encomiums which the best judges have been, in a manner, contending to bestow upon him. He spoke before the most polite people that ever lived, and the moft delicate, and difficult to be pleased in point of eloquence; a people fo well acquainted with the beauties and graces of fpeech, and the purity of diction, that their orators durft not venture to use any doubtful or uncommon expreffion, or any which might be the least offenfive to fuch nice and refined ears. Befides, he lived in an age when the taste of the beautiful, the true, and the fimple was in its utmost perfection. Thrice happy age! which gave birth to a multitude of orators at the fame time, every one of whom might have been looked upon as a complete model, had not Demofthenes eclipsed them all, by the ftrength of his genius and the extraordinary fuperiority of his merit. All pofterity have done him the fame justice, which even his own age did not deny him. But Cicero's judgment alone fhould determine that of every judicious and equitable man. He is not a ftupid admirer who gives himself up to blind prejudices without examination. But how much foever, in Cicero's opinion, Demofthenes excelled in every fpecies of eloquence, Athenienfium femper fuit prudens fincerumque judicium, nihil ut poffent nifi incorruptum audire & elegans. Eorum religioni cùm ferviret orator, nullum verbum infolens, nu lum odiofum ponere audebat.... Ad Atticorum aures teretes & religiofas q..i fe accom modant, ii funt exiftimandi Atticè dicere. Orat. n. 25. & 27. equitur oratorum ingens manus, cùm decem fimul Athenis atas una tulerit: quorum longè princeps Demofthenes, ac penè lex orandi fuit. Quintil. lib. 10. c. I. 123 The ftill particulans that he does not fatisfy him in every particular, and that he left him fomething to with for; fo delicate was he upon that point, and fo fublime and elevated was his idea of a perfect orator. However he gives his orations, and especially that for Ctefiphon, which was his mafter-piece, as the moft finished models we can propofe to ourselves. What is there then in his orations that is fo admirable, and could feize the univerfal and unanimous applaufe of all ages? Is Demofthenes an orator who amufes himself barely with tickling the ear, by the found and harmony of periods; or does he impofe upon the mind by a florid ftile and fhining thoughts? Such eloquence may indeed dazzle and charm the moment we hear it, but the impreffion it makes is of a fhort duration. What we admire in Demofthenes is the plan, the feries, and the order and difpofition of the oration; it is the ftrength of the proofs, the folidity of the arguments, the grandeur and noblenefs of the fentiments and of the ftile; the vivacity of the turns and figures, in a word, the wonderful art of reprefenting the fubjects he treats, in all their luftre, and difplaying them in all their ftrength; in which, according to Quintilian, that juft eloquence chiefly confifts, which is not fatisfied with reprefenting things as they really are, but heightens them by lively and animated touches, which only are capable of affecting and moving the paffions of the auditors. But that which diftinguishes Demofthenes ftill more, and in which no one has imitated him, is, that he drops himfelf fo entirely; is always fo fcrupulous in avoiding fUfque eò difficiles ac morofi fumus, ut nobis non fatisfaciat ipfe Demofthenes: qui, quanquam unus eminet inter omnes in omni genere dicendi, tamen non femper implet aures meas, ita funt avida & capaces, & femper aliquid immenfum infinitumque de fiderant. Orat n. 194. In hoc eloquentiæ vis eft ut judicem non ad id tantùm impel lat, in quod ipfe à rei natura du ceretur: fed aut qui non eft, aut majorem quàm eft, faciat af fectum. Hæc eft illa quæ driver vocatur, rebus indignis, afperis, invidiofis addens vim oratio: qua virtute præter alios plurimum De mofthenes valuit. Quintil. 1. 6. C. 3. every thing that might look like a fhew or parade of wit and genius; and fo careful to make the auditor attend to the cause and not to the orator; that no expreffion, turn or thought ever escape him, fuch, I mean, as are calculated merely to please or shine. This reservednefs, this moderation, in fo fine a genius as Demofthenes, and in topics fo fufceptible of graces and elegance, raises his merit to its highest pitch, and is fuperior to all encomiums. M. Tourreil's tranflation, though generally very juft, does not always preserve that inimitable character, and we fometimes meet with ornaments in it which are not found in the original. The reader will not take it amifs, if I fupport what I have declared of Demofthenes's ftile, by the opinion of two illuftrious moderns, which ought to have as much weight as thofe of the ancients. The first is from the Archbishop of Cambray's Dialogues upon Eloquence, which are very proper to form the taste, by the judicious reflections with which they abound. He thus fpeaks of Demofthenes, in his comparison between him and Ifocrates. "Ifocrates is full "of florid and effeminate orations, and with periods "laboured with infinite pains to please the ear; whilft "Demofthenes moves, warms, and feizes the heart. "The latter is too much concerned for his country, "to amufe himself, like Ifocrates, in playing upon "words: he argues closely, and his fentiments are "thofe of a foul that conceives nothing but great "ideas his difcourfe improves and gathers ftrength, "at every word, from the new arguments he employs. "It is a chain of bold and moving figures. Every "reader fees plainly, that his whole foul is fixed on "his country. Nature herself fpeaks in his tran"fports, and art is fo exquifite in what he fays, that "it does not appear. Nothing was ever equal to his "impetuofity and vehemence." I fhall foon quote another paff ge from Mr. Fenelon, which is ftill more beautiful, wherein he compares Demofthenes to Ci cero. L3 My |