fore they loved a grofs and flovenly kind of Discourse, which the Rhodians, not far diftant from them, never approved of, and the other Greeks liked it much lefs, but the Athenians could not endure it. t There were three kinds of Style among the Greeks, the Attick, the Afiatick and the Rhodian; and Tully befides makes the Afiatick twofold. The Attick was clofe and comprehenfive; the Afiatick was quite contrary to this, and was very lofty, figurative and copious; which fome affigned to other Caufes, but Quintilian more truly thinks it proceeded from the different nature and temper of the Athenians and Afiaticks. The third kind of Style was the Rhodian, which was of a middle nature betwixt the other two, neither fo concife as the Attick, nor fo redundant as the Afiatick, but was a mixture of both; the Genius of that People inclining rather to the Afiatick, but Æschines, in his Banishment at Rhodes, reformed their Style, and fashioned it after the Attick manner, as far as the Rhodian Genius would admit of it.

It would be endless to make Obfervations upon particular Authors. Xenophon and Plato have not escaped the Cenfure of Longinus; and Demofthenes and Cicero, besides what hath been objected to them in particular, fall under the general cenfure, which " Seneca paffeth upon all Authors of the greatest Fame and Merit; but he adds, that there is no certain Rule for Style, which is continually altered by the ufe and cuftom of the place.

Both the Language and Actions of the Eastern Nations, efpecially in the earlier Ages of the World, had fomething more vehement and passionate in them, than those of these Western Countries. The Stiles and Titles of their Kings are a remarkable instance of

t

Quintil. Inftit. lib. 12. c. 10. Cic. Brut.

" Nullum fine venia placuit ingenium. Da mihi quemcunque vis magni nominis virum, dicam, quid illi ætas fua ignoverit, quid in illo fciens diffimulaverit. Sen. Epift. cxiv.

this; witness that of * Sapores, Rex Regum Sapor, particeps fiderum, frater Solis & Luna Conftantio Cafari, fratri meo, Salutem plurimam dico. And they retain the like Titles to this day; the Grand Signior's is in fome things the fame, in others more extravagant; he is stiled, God on Earth, the Shadow of God, Brother to the Sun and Moon, the Giver of all Earthly Crowns. The King of Ethiopia calls himself, the King at whofe Name the Lions tremble.

The Romans themselves, who used greater modesty of Style, and more gravity in their Actions than many other Nations, practis'd divers things in their Orations and Pleadings, which amongst us would be very strange and abfurd. Thus C. Gracchus, a great and popular Orator at Rome, was wont to have one ftand behind him with a Flute, to give him the true Key, to which he was to raise his Voice; which would go near to make the best Orator amongst us ridiculous. It was customary likewife with the Romans, to ufe all Arts to raise the Paffions, by Actions and Reprefentations, as well as by Words: Sometimes they would hang up a Picture, representing the Fact about which they were to speak, and the Accufers were wont to produce in open Court a Bloody Sword, or the Garments of the Wounded, and the Bones, if any had been taken out of their Wounds, or to unbind the Wounds, or fhew the Scars. Quarum rerum ingens plerumque vis eft, velut in rem prefentem animos hominum ducentium. These and other things more ftrange to us, were practised by the most famous Orators of their Times amongst the Romans, by which they spoke to the Eyes, as it were, of their Hearers; and therefore these may well be reckoned amongst the Figures and Modes of Rhetorick, where

с

* Ammian. Marcellin. lib. 17. c. 5. • Ricaut's Hift.lib. 1. c. 2. * Letter of David, K. of Æthiop. in Geddes Church Hift. of Ethiop. Cic. de Orat. lib. 3. Quintil. Inftitut. lib. 1. c. 10.

Cic. pro P. Sextio.

Quintil. ib. lib.6. c. I.

by

d

by they gained upon the Affections of the People. Tully tells us of himself, that he took up a Child fometimes, and held it in his Arms, to move Compaffion; and that when M. Callidius had accufed

f

ድ Gallius of an attempt to poifon him, and had made it out by clear proof, he urged this as a fufficient Objection against all that Callidius had faid, that he had not express'd any Passion in his Pleading, he had not fmote his Forehead, nor his Thigh, nor (which was the least thing he could have done, if his Accufation had been true) he had not fo much as ftamp'd with his Foot. Callidius had all the Accomplishments of an Orator, but this of moving the Paffions by fuch means; and the want of this was looked upon as a very great defect in him. Upon the Death of the two Scipio's in Spain, when the fignal of Battel was given by the new General, Livy describes the Roman Army weeping, and knocking their Heads, and throwing themselves upon the Ground. the Ground. And what could a Speech at any time have availed with fuch Men, that had been delivered in a cold and unaffecting manner? Cafar himself wept, and rent his Garment in a Speech which he made to his Soldiers, as foon as he had pafs'd the Rubicon. The like happened to Alexander and his Soldiers, upon their fubmiffion to him, after a Mutiny: And he wept upon other occafions. Weeping was fo ufual with the Warriors of ancient Times, that we need not wonder, that when they found their Wives and Children were taken captive by the Amalekites, David and the People that were with him, lift up their Voice, and wept, until they had no more power to weep, I Sam. xxx. 4. Whoever obferves their Orations, would think that the ancient Greeks

Cic. Orator.

i

h

• Nulla perturbatio animi, nulla corporis; frons non percussa, nón femur pedis (quod minimum eft) nulla fupplofio. Cic. Brut. f Liv. lib. 25. c. 38. Suet. Jul. Cæf. c. 33. Arr. de Expedit. Alex. 1. 7.

*

Id. de Reb. Indic.

and

and Romans had Tears more at command than Men now have for the Orators wept as freely upon every occafion, as if that were true of them all, which Afchines faid of Demofthenes, that it was easier for them to weep, than for others to laugh. And fometimes not only the Orators themselves, but the Judges, and the whole Auditory, were all in Tears. The great Art of Oratory confifted in Action, (by which is to be understood both the Voice and Gesture) as Demofthenes, that best knew, declared, and therefore though nothing were more common than for Hiftorians, and Poets, and Philofophers, to read their Works to the People, yet the Orators feldom read their Orations; however, Tully fometimes did it. And from the time that Auguftus read his Speeches, which he had occafion to use in the Senate, or to the People or Soldiers; it grew into a cuftom by his Example and Encouragement, and fo continu'd, as we find by frequent inftances in Dion Caffius.

m

The common " Forms of Speech, even among the Roman Country-men, were fo Metaphorical, that they will scarce bear a literal Verfion into our Language. And the Philofophers themselves had Customs, which may seem very odd to us: It was a custom among them, when they propounded a Question, to offer with it a dried Fig, and he that accepted of the Fig, thereby undertook to answer the Question.

kÆfchin. contr. Crefiph.

Cic. pro Plancio. Pro Milon. Pro Rabirio.

Recitetur oratio, quæ propter ejus magnitudinem dicta de Scripto eft. Cic. pro Plancio. Ac ne periculum memoriæ adiret, aut in edifcendo tempus abfumeret, inftituit recitare omnia. Suet. in Auguft. c. 84. vid. ib. c. 89. Quanquam Orationes & noftri quidam & Græci lectitaverunt. Plin. lib.7. Epift. 17.

n Qua (tranflatione) frequentiffime Sermo omnis utitur non modo urbanus, fed etiam Rufticorum : : Siquidem eft eorum gemmare vites, fitire agros, lætas effe fegetes, luxuriofa frumenta. Nihil horum parum audacter, &c. Cic. Orator.

Joac. Kuhnii obfervat. ad Diog, Laert.

The

The Figurative Expreffions of the Prophets, and their Types and Parables, were fuitable to the Cuftoms of the Places and Times wherein they lived, and very fit to give a lively and affecting Representation of the Message they had to deliver. Thus for inftance, it was a customary thing in thofe Countries to rend their Garments, to pluck off their Hair, to go barefoot, and cover their Faces in time of Grief and Trouble, which would be looked upon as a certain fign of Diftraction amongst us, but was commonly done by the graveft and wifeft Men in thofe Parts of the World. And the Expreffions of their Joy and other Paffions, were proportionable to those of their Sorrow. Now it was reasonable, that the Prophets, in delivering their Prophecies, fhould accommodate themselves both in their Words and Actions, to the People to whom they were to be delivered: For elfe they would never have been regarded, or would have made little or no impreffion upon their Minds, which caufed the falfe Prophets to take the fame method, 1 Kings xxii. 2.

It is P Origen's and Maimonides's Obfervation, that the Prophets fometimes had Matters of small importance revealed to them, as when Samuel acquainted Saul, that the Affes were found, 1 Sam. ix. 20. that they might keep the People from going to falfe Prophets to be fatisfy'd in fuch things; befides that, by this means they gained Authority to be rely'd upon, when they had Affairs of the greatest confequence to foretel. And there was reafon, that in every cafe, they should make all neceflary Allowances for the Infirmities of the People with whont they had to do, and should use all fitting compliances with them, that they might the more prevail with them for their good.

Origen. contr. Celf. lib. 1. Maimon. in Seder.Zeraim. Præf. p.7.