voice, an agreeable action, and an exquifite utterance, were extremely pleafing in a young man, and at first engrofled the applaufe of all men. But afterwards this kind of gay eloquence became unfeasonable, becaufe the weight of the public employments he had paffed through, and the maturity of his years, required fomething more grave and ferious. He was always the fame orator, had always the fame ftyle, but not the fame fuccefs. Befides, as his ardor for fludy was very much abated, and he did not take so much | ans as formerly, the thoughts, which till then had brightened his pieces, having no longer their former embellifhment, but appearing with a negligent air, lost most of their fplendor, and by that means made the orator fink very much in his reputation. REFLECTIONS Upon what has been faid on this fubject. The bare relation I have made of the conduct of the greatest orators of antiquity, will fufficiently point out to youth defigned for the bar the path they are to follow, if they propofe to attain the fame end. 1. The firft and principal thing they must do is to form a grand idea of their profeffion. For though it does not now lead to the chief employments in the ftate, as formerly at Athens and at Rome; yet what efteem does it not gain those who distinguish themfelves in it, either in pleading or giving counfel? Can fQuid eft præclarius, quam honoribus & reip, muneribus per^unctum fenem poffe fuo jure dicere idem, quod apud Ennium dicat ille Pythias Apollo, fe cum effe, UNDE fibi, non POPULI ET REGES, at omnes fui cives CONSILIUM EXPEΤΑΝΤ, SUARUM RERUM INCERTI: QUOS EGO MEA OPE EX INCERTIS CERTUS, COMPOTESQUE CONSILII DIMITTO, UT NE RES TEMERE TRACTENT TURDIBAS, Eft enim fine dubio domus jurifconfulti totius oraculum covitaus. 1. de Orat. n. 166, 200. Ulla-ne tanta ingentium opum ac magnæ potentiæ voluptas, quam pectare homines veteres & fenes, & totius urbis ratia fubnixos, in fumma ombium rerum abundantia confitentes id quod optimum fit fe non habere? Dialog, de Orat. n. 6. any thing delight a private man more, than to fee his houfe frequented by perfons of the greatest rank, and even by princes, who in all their doubts and neceffities refort to him as to an oracle, to pay homage to his profeffion and extraordinary abilities, and to acknowledge a fuperiority of learning and prudence which riches and grandeur cannot beftow? Is there any finer fight than to fee a numerous auditory attentive, immoveable, and, as it were, hanging on the lips of a pleader, who manages fpeech, feemingly common to all, with fo much art, that he charms and ravishes the minds of his hearers, and makes himself abfolute. mafter over them? But befides this glory, which would be trifling enough, were there no other motive; what folid joy is it for a virtuous man to think he has received a talent from God which makes him the fanctuary of the unfortunate, the protector of jutice; and inables him to defend the lives, fortunes, and honours of his brethren? 2. A natural confequence of this firft reflection is, that those defigned for the bar fhould prepare themfelves for a profeffion of fuch great importance, and imitate, at least at a distance, the paffion and indefatigable warmth of Demofthenes and Cicero. I am convinced, that a genius is the first and most neceffary quality for a pleader; but I am also certain, that study is of great fervice. It is like a fecond nature, and, if it does not impart a genius to him who had none before, it however, rectifies, polifhes, improves, and invigorates it. And Cicero had great reafon to infift very much upon this article, and to affert, that every thing in eloquence depends on the care, the pains, the application, and vigilance of the orator. g Cum ad inveniendum in dicendo tria funt, acumen, ratio, diligentia; non poflum equidem non ingenio primas concedere: fed tamen ipfum ingenium dili-, gentia etiam ex tarditate incitat. ... Hæc præcipue colenda eft nobis; hæc femper adhibenda: hæc nihil eft quod non affequatur... 3. The knowledge of the law, and its different customs, form properly the fcience of the lawyer ; and to pretend to plead, without thofe advantages, is to attempt the raifing of a great building, without laying a foundation. 4. The talent of speaking conftitutes an orator; it is, as it were, the inftrument which inables him to make use of all the reft. But, in my opinion, it is not enough cultivated. Whether it be the effect of idleness, or a confidence in ourselves, we generally think genius alone will inable us to excel in it. But Cicero is of another opinion. His endeavours to attain perfection, in this particular, would feem incredible, did not he himself attest it in several places. He should be the model to youth in this and every thing else. To imbibe rhetoric from the very fountain, to confult able mafters, to read carefully the ancients and moderns, to be conftantly employed in compofing and tranflating, and to make his language a particular study: thefe were the exercifes which Cicero thought neceffary to form the great orator. 5. But, of all the qualifications of an orator, action and utterance are the most neglected; and yet nothing contributes more towards giving fuccefs to speeches. b That external eloquence, as Cicero calls it, which is adapted to the capacities of all auditors, in regard it fpeaks to the fenfes only, has fomething so inchanting and dazzling, that it often fupplies the place of every other merit, and fets a lawyer of no great parts above thofe of the greatest abilities. Every one has heard the celebrated answer of Demofthenes, concerning the qualification which he thought most neceflary in an h Eft actio quafi corporis quædam eloquentia. Nam et infantes, actionis dignitate, eloquentiæ fæpe ructum tulerunt: & diferti, deformitate agendi, multi infantes putati funt. Oiat. n. 55, 56. i Actio in dicendo una domimatur, Sine hac fummus orator i effe in numero nullo poteft; mudiocris, hac inftructus, fummos fæpe fuperare. Huic primas dediffe Demofthenes dicitur, cum rogaretur quid in dicendo effet primum; huic fecundas, huic tertias. 3. de Orat, n. 213. orator, orator, the want whereof could leaft be concealed, and which at the fame time was beft adapted to conceal the reft. This induced him to make incredible efforts to fucceed in it. Cicero imitated him in that, as in every thing elfe; and he was in fome measure obliged to it, from the defire he had to equal Hortenfius, who excelled in that particular. The example of both ought to have great weight with young lawyers. 6. A great many of thefe, in my opinion, want a certain quinteffence of polite literature and erudition, which embellish, however, and inrich the understanding vaftly, and diffuse a delicacy and beauty over difcourse, which it can have from no other fource. The reading of ancient authors, the Greeks, efpecially, is very much neglected. How clofely did Cicero ftudy them! Orators, poets, hiftorians, philofophers, he was acquainted with them all, and made them all of service to him; and the latter more than the reft. Young lawyers ought not to attempt pleading too foon, but should einploy their time, at their firft fetting out, in acquiring a valuable and neceflary fund of knowledge, which cannot be attained afterwards. I own the practice of the bar is the best mafter, and moft capable of making them great lawyers: but it fhould not confift, at first, in frequent pleading. There we liften affiduoufly to great orators, we study their genius, we obferve their action, we are attentive to the opinions which the learned give of them; and thus we endeavour to improve equally by their perfections and defects. 7. If it fhould be asked, what is the proper age for being called to the bar, and pleading at it? I anfwer, that it is a thing which cannot be brought to any fixed rule; and Quintilian's advice upon this matter is very prudent. A medium, fays he, muft be ob"ferved; k k Modus mihi videtur quidam ftringatur immatura frons, & tenendus, ut neque præpropere di- quicquid eft illud adhuc acerbum proferatur. "ferved; fo that a youth fhould not expofe himself in "public, before he is capable of doing it with advan tage; nor make a parade of his knowledge, whilft it is crude and indigefted, if I may ufe the expref"fion; for by that means he will defpife pains and "study; impudence takes de p root in him; and, what "is a greater misfortune, confidence and boldness "precede vigour and ftrength. But he must not, on "the other hand, wait till he grows old; for then he "will grow more timid every day; and the longer "he delays, the more fearful he will be to venture to "fpeak in public; fo that, whilft he is deliberat"ing whether it is time to begin, he finds it is too "late." 8. It were very much to be wifhed, that the custom, obferved formerly among the Romans, fhould take. place among us; and that the houfes of old lawyers. fhould be, as it were, the fchool of the youth defigned for the bar. What can be more worthy a greatorator, than to conclude the glorious courfe of his pleading by fo honourable a function? We fhall fee, fays Quintilian, a whole company of ftudious young. people frequenting his houfe, and confulting him upon the proper methods of fpeaking. He forms them, as though he were the father of eloquence; and, like an old experienced pilot, points out to themthe course they are to fteer, and the rocks they must fhun, when he fees them ready to fet fail. |