What fhall I do? What must I then recal
My former lovers, and be made their scorn?
Shall I petition fome Numidian Prince
To be my husband; I, who erst so oft
Rejected their addreffes with difdain?
Or fhall I chace the Trojan fleet, and wait,
A duteous vaffal on their fovereign will;
And this becaufe I found fuch kind returns
For all the hofpitality I fhow'd,

And they fo well their fenfe of favour prov'd.?
But yet fuppofe I was inclin'd to go,

Would they not drive me from their haughty fhips,
And fport with my diftrefs? What, don't I know,
And don't I feel how falfe the Trojans are?
And could I brook it in a lonely flight,
Meanly to follow their triumphant fleet?
Or fhall I with all Carthage up in arms,

And breathing vengeance, drive them thro' the deep?
But will my Tyrians, who reluctant left
Their native fhores, and lanch'd into the fea,
- Be willing to embark, and fail again?

Die then as thou deferv'ft; and let the fword,
The friendly fword, for ever end thy pains

Here

Sic adeo infiftit, fecumque ita corde volutat.
En quid ago? rurfusne procos irrifa priores
Expériar? Nomadumque petam connubia fupplex,
Quos ego fum toties jam dedignata maritos?
Iliacas igitur claffes, atque ultima Teucrûm
Juffa fequar? quiane auxilio juvat ante levatos,
Et bene apud memores veteris stat gratia facti?
Quis me autein, fac velle, finet? Ratibufque fuperbis
Irrifam accipiet? Nefcis heu, perditas necdum
Laomedonteæ fentis perjuria gentis ?

Here DIDO is reprefented in the greatest perplexity, and gloomy vicifsitude of mind. Her first thought is to make her addresses to her former lovers, that, with their assistance, as we may suppose, she might be able to revenge herfelf upon ÆNEAS. Her next fuggeftion is to fly to the Trojan hips, but fhe is deterred by the fear of affront and abuse. Her third proposal is to go after the Trojans, but this by no means fuits her dignity. Prefently the changes her project to that of arming her people, and purfuing the Trojans with the whole force of her kingdom, but this fhe judges to be impracticable therefore dropping all these schemes, fhe at last proposes to kill herself, and fo put an end to her distresses.

Livy has given us a very fine example of this Figure in a fpeech of SCIPIO AFRICANUS to his foldiers, when, calling them together after a fedition, he thus bespeaks them: "I never thought "I should have been at a lofs how to addrefs

my army. Not that I have applied myself "more to words than things; but because I "have been accustomed to the genius of fol"diers, having been trained up in the camp al"ε most

Quid tum? Sola fuga nautas comitabor ovantes? L
An Tyriis, omnique manu ftipata meorum
Infequar? Et quos Sidonia vix urbe revelli,
Rurfus agam pelago, & ventis vela dare jubebo,
Quin morere, ut merita es, ferroque averte dolorem.

VIRGIL. Æneid. lib. iv. ver. 533.

"most from my childhood. But I have now "neither wisdom nor words in which to speak "to you, nor do I know what name to give you. "Shall I call you citizens, who have revolted "from your country? or shall I call you fol

diers, you who have renounced the authority "and aufpices of your General, and violated "your military oath? or fhall I ftile you ene"mies? I own you have the form, the look, "the habit of citizens; but I obferve in you the "actions, the words, the designs, and the spirit "of enemies t.

§ 3. This Figure frequently occurs in Scripture. The following inftances taken from it fhall fuffice: 1 Cor. xi. 22. "What fhall I fay ssunto you? Shall I praise you in this? I praife "you not." So Lam. ii. 13. What thing fhall " I take to witnefs for thee? What thing fhall I #liken to thee, O daughter of Jerusalem? What "fhall I equal to thee, that I may comfort thee,

Nunquam mihi defuturam orationem qua exercitum meum alloquerer credidi, non quod verba unquam potius quam res exercuerim, fed quia prope à pueritia in caftris habitus affueveram militaribus ingeniis, apud quos quemadmodum loquar, nec confilium, nec oratio fuppeditat, quos nec quo nomine quidem appellare habeam, fcio. Cives? qui à patria veftra defciviftis. An milites? qui imperatoris imperium aufpiciumque abnuiftis, facramenti religionem rupiftis. Hoftes? corpora, ora, veftitum, habitum civium agnofco: facta, dicta, confilia, animos hoftium video. Liv, lib. xxviii. cap. 27....

5. O virgin daughter of Zion? for thy breach is great, like the fea, who can heal thee?" So Pfalm cxxxix. 7." Whither fhall I go from thy

fpirit? or whither fhall I flee from thy pres fence? If I afcend up into heaven, thou art "there: if I make my bed in hell, behold thou Ss art there. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermoft parts of the ss fea; even there fhall thine hand lead me, and

thy right hand fhall hold me." The devout Pfalmift, overwhelmed with the fenfe of the divine Omniprefence, looks round the universe, and afks, whither he can fly to escape his God? but neither heaven, earth, nor hell, throughout their vaft unknown spaces, can provide him with a retreat from the all-pervading presence of Deity disorga

1

§ 4. As to the use of this Figure, when it refpects the Orator's perplexity where to begin his difcourfe, it may be a mean of making his audience more readily believe that what he says is true *, and filling them with an apprehension of the weight of his fubject. Or this Figure, at the entrance of an address, may fhew a diffidence of mind; and this is so far from being unbecoming, that it may fometimes be graceful;

and

• Affert aliquam fidem veritatis & dubitatio, cùm fimulamus quærere nos incipiendum, ubi definendum; quid po. tiffimum dicendum, an omnino dicendum fit. QUINTIL. lib, ix. cap. 2.

and, as it carries in it an air of modefty, may very much tend to engage the affections of the audience. When this Figure expresses our doubtfulness upon a pressing difficulty, it is a true picture of nature; for what is more common, than for a man in a distressing strait to take up a purpose, and then lay it aside, and afterwards to think of another expedient, as for a moment he supposes, and then as fuddenly to change it; and thus to undergo conflict and struggle, till he comes to a final determination? I will only add, that this Figure keeps the foul in eager attention, and raises the tendereft compassion and fympathy for affliction. And it is no wonder, that, as CICERO informs us, the above-mentioned fpeech of GRACCHUS, being uttered with the advantages of a proper look, voice, i and gefture, made even his enemies burft into tears t

+ Quæ fic ab illo acta effe conftabat oculis, voce, gestu, inimici ut lacrimas tenere non poffent. CICER. de Orat. lib. iii. § 56.