My fecond authority is M. de Tourreil, who had ftudied Demofthenes long enough, to difcover his character, and the genius of his writings. "I allow, << fays he, that we do not find in Æfchines that air of "rectitude, that impetuofity of ftyle, that force of "tranfcendent veracity, which forces the confent by "the weight of conviction; a talent that leaves De"mofthenes without an equal, and which he applies "in a fingular manner. Whether he calms or ruffles "the mind, we do not find ourselves in any diforder, "but think we are obeying the dictates of nature. "Whether he perfuades or diffuades, we do not per"ceive any thing that offers violence, but we think

we are obeying the commands of reafon, and this "orator always fpeaks like nature and reafon, and has "properly no other ftyle but theirs. Whatever he "fays flows from that fpring. He avoids even the "fhadows of redundancy. He has no far-fetched em"bellishments nor flowers. He loves nothing but fire

and light. He will not employ glittering weapons, "but fuch only as will do execution. This, in my "opinion, is the foundation of that victorious impe"tuofity which fubdued the Athenians, and places "Demofthenes above all the orators who ever lived.

"A peculiar energy, fays the fame author in an"other place, conftitutes his character, and fets him above equality. His difcourfe is a series of induc❝tions, conclufions, and demonftrations, formed by common sense. His reafoning, of which the force "perpetually increases, rifes by degrees, and with pre"cipitation, to the pitch he would carry it. He at"tacks openly, he pushes forward, and at laft reduces "the auditor to fuch ftreights, that there is no further "retreat for him. But on this occafion the auditor, "far from being afhamed of his defeat, feels the plea"fure which fubmitting to reafon affords. Ifocrates, "fays Philip, pushes only with a file; but Demofthenes "fights with the fword.... We fee in him a man, who has no other enemies but thofe of the ftate, nor

"any

ce

any paffion but the love of order and juftice. A 86 man, whose aim is not to dazzle, but to inform ; "not to please, but to be useful. He employs no "other ornaments, but fuch as grow out of his fub"ject; nor any flowers, but thofe he finds in his

way. One would conclude, that he defired nothing "farther than to be understood, and that he gained "admiration without seeking it. Not that he is de"void of graces, but then they are those only of an "auftere kind, and fuch as are compatible with the "candor and ingenuity he professed. In his writings, "truth is not fet off with paint, nor does he make it "effeminate with intent to adorn it; no kind of "oftentation, or retrospect upon himself; he neither "fhews nor regards himself, but is intirely confined 16 to his caufe; and his caufe is always the preferva❝tion or advantage of his country.”

II.

Of Cicero's Eloquence compared with that of DemoAhenes.

• Two orators, though very different in ftyle and character, may yet be equally perfect; fo that it would not be easy to determine, which of them we should chufe to resemble.

Perhaps this rule, with which Cicero furnishes us, may be of service in the judgment we are to form between him and Demofthenes.

Both excelled in the three kinds of writing, as every one must do who is truly eloquent. They knew how to vary their style as their subjects varied; fometimes fimple and fubtile in caufes of fmall confequence, in narrations and proofs; and, at others, adorned and u In his oratoribus illud animad. 204. & 148. vertendum eft, poffe effe fummos, qui inter fint diffimiles ... Ita diffimiles erant interfe fe, statuere ut tamen non poffes utrius te malles fimiliorem. Brut. n.

.....

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Je me fers ici de ce mot, quoique dans notre langue il porte un autre idée que le fubtilis des Latins,

embellished,

embellished, when there was a neceffity of pleafing; fometimes elevated and fublime, when the dignity of the fubject required it. * Cicero makes this remark, and he quotes for example Demofthenes and himself. Quintilian has drawn a fine parallel between these two orators. "The qualities, fays he, on which "eloquence is founded, were alike in both; fuch as the defign, the order, the difpofition, the divifion, "the method of preparing the orders, and the prov"ing; and, in a word, every thing that is relative to "invention.

"But there is fome difference in their style. The * one is more concife, the other more diffufive; the "one pushes clofer to his adverfary, the other allows "him a larger fpot to fight upon. The one is al

ways endeavouring to pierce him, as it were, with "the vivacity of the ftyle; the other often bears him "down with the weight of his difcourfe. Nothing

can be retrenched from the one, nor added to the "other. Demofthenes has more care and study, and "Cicero more nature and genius.

"As to raillery, and the exciting commiferation, "both which are of vaft effect in eloquence, Cicero "has undoubtedly the advantage in thefe.

"b But he yields to him in this refpect, viz. that "Demofthenes lived before him; and that Cicero, "though

The tranflater has thus rendered this paffage, L'on eft toujours fubtil Pans la difpute, &c. I do not think that fublility is meant þire, bur blove tha: the'm taphor is borrowed from a fword.

"though a very extraordinary man, owes part of his "merit to the Athenian orator. For my opinion is, "that, Cicero having bent all his thoughts to the "Greeks, in order to form himself upon their model, "compounded his character out of Demofthenes's "ftrength, Plato's copioufnefs, and Ifocrates's fweet"nefs. And fuch was his application, that he not only extracted every thing extraordinary from thofe great originals, but produced, as it were, by the "happy fruitfulness of his divine genius, the greatest (( part of thofe very perfections, or rather all of them. "For, to use an expreffion of Pindar, he does not "collect the waters of heaven to remedy his natural "drinefs, but finds a fpring of living water within "himself, which is ever flowing with vehemence and impetuofity; and one would conclude, that the "Gods had given him to the world, in order that "eloquence might exert her utmoft ftrength in the "perfon of this great man.

And, indeed, what man was ever more exact in "inftructing, or moved the perfons with greater force? "What orator has fuch a profufion of charms as him

we are fpeaking of? These are so great, that we "think we grant him what he forces from us ; and, "when he hurries away the judges by his impetuofity, as with a torrent, they think they follow him of

imitationem Græcorum contuliffet, effinxiffe vim Demofthenis, copiam. Platonis, jucunditatem Ifocratis. Nec vero quod in quoque optimum fuit ftudio confecutus eft tantum, fcd plurimas vel potius omnes ex fe ipfo virtutes extulit immortalis ingenii beatiffima ubertas. Non enim pluvias (ut ait Pindarus) aquas colligit, fed vivo gurgite exundat, dono quodam Providentia genitus, in quo totas vires fuas eloquentia experirerur.

Nam quis docere diligentius, movere vehementius pateft? Cui

tanta unquam jucunditas affuit? ut ipfa illa quæ extorquet, impetrare eum credas, & cum t anfverfum vi fua judicem ferat, tamen ille non rapi videatur, fed fequi. Jam in omnibus quæ dicit tan'a auctoritas ineft, ut diffentire pudeat ; nec ad. vocati ftudium, fed teftis aut judicis afferat fidem. Cum interim hæc omnia, quæ vix fingula quifquam intentiflima cura confequi poffet, fluunt illaborata: & ila, qua nihil pulchrius auditu eft, or2tio præ fe fert tamen feliciffimam facilitaten.

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"their

"their own accord, at the very time they are forced "along. Befides, he delivers himself with fo much "reafon and weight, that we are afhamed to differ " in opinion from him. We do not find in him the "zeal of the lawyer, but the integrity of a witness "and of a judge. And these feveral particulars, every 66 one of which would coft another infinite pains, flow "naturally, and as it were of them felves, from him; "that his manner of writing, though fo beautiful "and inimitable, is nevertheless fo eafy and natural, "that one would conclude it had not coft him any "pains.

His cotemporaries therefore had reason to say, "that he exercifed a kind of empire at the bar. And "it was but juftice, in those who fucceeded him, to "efteem him so highly, that the name of Cicero is 66 now less the name of a man, than of eloquence itfelf. Let us therefore keep our eyes perpetually upon him; let this orator be our model; and we may depend that we have made a great improvement, "when we love and have a tafte for Cicero."

Quintilian did not dare to form a judgment upon thefe two great orators; he however feems to have a fecret prejudice in favour of Cicero.

Father Rapin is equally cautious and referved in his comparison between thofe orators. I fhould be obliged to copy his whole treatife, were I to repeat all his beautiful reflections on this fubject. But fome short extracts inform us fufficiently of the difference to be found between them.

"Befides that folidity, fays he, fpeaking of Ci"cero, which comprifed fo much fenfe and prudence, "he had a certain beauty and quinteffence of wit, "which inabled him to embellifh all his ideas and "he heightened every thing that occurred to his ima..

Quare non immerito ab hominibus ætatis fuæ regnare in ju diciis dictus eft: apud pofteros vero id confecutus, ut Cicero jam mon hominis. fed eloquentiæ no

men habeatur. Hunc igitur fpectemus: hoc propofitum nobis fis exemplum. Ille fe profeciffe fciat, cui Cicero valde placebit.

"gination