poffibly raise him even to the confular dignity. Far more defirable, in my eftimation, was the calm retreat of Virgil: where yet he lived not unhonoured by his prince, nor unregarded by the world. If the truth of either of these affertions fhould be queftioned, the letters of Auguftus will witnefs the former; as the latter is evident from the conduct of the whole Roman people, who when fome verfes of that divine poet were repeated in the theatre, where he happened to be prefent, rofe up to a man, and faluted him with the fame respect that they would have paid to Auguftus himself. But to mention our own times: I would ask whether Secundus Pomponius is any thing inferior, either in dignity of life, or folidity of reputation, to Afer Domitius? As to Crifpus or Marcellus, to whom Aper refers me for an animating example, what is there in their prefent exalted fortunes really defirable? Is it that they pass their whole lives either in being alarmed for themselves, or in ftriking terror into others? Is it that they are daily under a neceffity of courting the very men they hate; that, hold

"availing zeal, folicit the ufelefs tribute "of pofthumous memorials!"

Maternus had fcarce finished thefe words, which he uttered with great emotion, and with an air of infpiration, when Meffalla entered the room; who, obferving much attention in our countenances, and imagining the converfation turned upon fomething of more than ordinary import- Perhaps, faid he, you are engaged in a confultation; and, I doubt, I am guilty of an unfeasonable interruption. By no means,' answered Secundus: " on the contrary, I wish you had given us your compa. ny fooner; for, I am perfuaded, you would have been extremely entertained. Our friend Aper has, with great eloquence, been exhorting Matei nus to turn the whole ftrength of his genius and his ftudies to the bufinefs of the forum: while Maternus, on the other hand, agreeably to the character of one who was pleading the caufe of the Mufes, has defended his favourite art with a boldness and elevation of ftyle more fuitable to a poet than an orator.'

It would have afforded me infinite

tion, their mafters never think them fufficiently flaves, nor the people fufficiently free? And, after all, what is this their fo much envied power? Nothing more, in ti uth, than what many a paltry freedman has frequently enjoyed. But -ME let the lovely Mufes lead" (as • Virgil fings) to filent groves and "heavenly-haunted ftreams, remote " from bufinefs and from care; and "fill fuperior to the painful neceffity of "acting in wretched oppofition to my "better heart. Nor let me more, with "anxious steps, and dangerous, pur "fue pale Fame amidst the noify fo"rum! May never clamorous fuitors,

nor panting freed man with officious "hafte, awake my peaceful flumbers! "Uncertain of futurity, and equally "unconcerned, ne'er may I bribe the "favour of the great; by rich bequests

to avarice infatiate; nor, accumula❝tion vain! amafs more wealth than I ་་ may transfer as inclination prompts, "whenever thall arrive my life's laft "fatal period: and then, not in horrid "guife of mournful pomp, but crown"ed with chaplets gay, may I be en

tombed nor let a friend, with un

'been prefent at a debate of this kind, And I cannot but exprefs my fatisfaction, in finding the moft eminent orators of our times, not confining their geniuses to points relating to their profeinon, but canvafling fuch other topics in their converfation, as give a very advantageous exercife to their faculties, at the fame time that it furnifhes an entertainment of the most inftructive kind, not only to themfelves, but to thofe who have the privilege of being joined in their party. And believe me, Secundus, the world • received with much approbation your hiftory of J. Afiaticus, as an earnest that you intend to publifh more pieces of the fame nature. On the other fide,' continued he, with an air of irony, it is obferved with equal fatisfaction, that Aper has not yet bid adieu to the questions of the schools, but employs his leisure rather after the example of the modern rhetoricians, than of the antient orators.

perceive, returned Aper, that you continue to treat the moderns with your usual derifion and contempt; while the antients alone are in full poficion

poffeffion of your esteem. It is a maxsim, indeed, I have frequently heard you advance, (and, allow me to fay, with mach injustice to yourself, and to your brother) that there is no fuch thing in the present age as an orator. This you are the lets fcrupulous to ⚫ maintain, as you imagine it cannot be imputed to a spirit of envy; fince you are willing at the fame time to exclude yourself from a chara&er which every body else is incimed to give you.'

I have hitherto,' replied Meffalla, found no reason to change my opinion: and I am perfuaded, that even you yourself, Aper, (whatever you may fometimes affect to the contrary) as well as my other two friends here, join with me in the fame fentiments. I fhould, indeed, be glad, if any of you would difcufs this matter, and account for fo remarkable a disparity, which I have often endeavoured in my " own thoughts. And what to fome appears a fatisfactory folution of this phænomenon, to me, I confefs, heightens the difficulty: for I find the very fame difference prevails among the Grecian orators; and that the priest Nicetes, together with others of the Ephefian and Mitylenean fchools, who humbly content themselves with railing the acclamations of their taftelefs auditors, deviate much farther from Æfchines or Demofthenes, than you, my friends, from Tully or Afinius.'

The question you have started,' faid Secundus, is a very important one, and well worthy of confideration. " But who fo capable of doing juftice to it as yourself? who,.befides the advantages of a fine genius and great literature, have given, it seems, par⚫ticular attention to this enquiry.'—' I ' am very willing,' answered Messalla,

to lay before you my thoughts upon the fubject, provided you will affift me with yours as I go along. I will engage for two of us,' replied Maternus: Secundus and myself will speak to fuch points as you fhall, I do not fay omit, but, think proper to leave us. As for Aper, you just now in⚫ formed us, it is ufual with him to ⚫ diffent from you in this article: and, indeed, I fee he is already preparing to oppofe us, and will not look with indifference upon this our affociation fin support of the antients."

• Undoubtedly,' returned Aper, I 'fhall not tamely fuffer the moderns to 'be condemned, unheard and undefended. But firft let me afk, whom it is you call antients? What age of 'orators do you distinguish by that de'fignation? The word always fuggefts to me a Neftor, or an Ulyffes; men who lived above a thousand years fince: whereas you feem to apply it to Demofthenes and Hyperides, who, it is agreed, flourished fo late as the times of Philip and Alexander, and, indeed, furvived them. It appears 'from hence, that there is not much above four hundred years diftance between our age and that of Demofthenes: a portion of time, which, confidered with respect to human duration, appears, I acknowledge, extremely long; but, if compared with that immense æra which the philofophers talk of, is exceedingly contracted, and feems almoft but of yesterday. For if it be true, what Cicero obferves in his treatife infcribed to Hortenfus, that the great and genuine year is that period in which the heavenly bodies return to the fame pofition, wherein they 'were placed when they first began their refpective orbits; and this revolution 'contains 12,954 of our folar years; then Demofthenes, this antient Demofthenes of yours, lived in the fame year, or rather I might fay, in the fame month, with ourselves. But to mention the Roman orators: I prefume, you will scarcely prefer Menenius Agrippa (who may with fome propriety, indeed, be called an antient) to the men of eloquence among the moderns. It is Cicero, then, • fuppofe, together with Cœlius, Cæfar,

and Calvus, Brutus, Afinius, and 'Meffalla, to whom you give this honourable precedency: yet I am at a lofs to affign a reafon, why these 'fhould be deemed antients rather than

moderns. To inftance in Cicero: he ' was killed, as his freedman Tiro informs us, on the 26th of December, in the confulfhip of Hirtius and Panfa, in which year Auguftus and 'Pedius fucceeded them in that dignity. Now, if we take fifty-fix years for the reign of Auguftus, and add twenty-three for that of Tiberius, about four for that of Caius, fourteen a-piece for Claudius and Nero, one for Galba, Otho, and Vitellius, to

•gether

gether with the fix that our prefent ⚫ excellent prince has enjoyed the em pire, we fhall have about one hundred and twenty years from the death of Cicero to thefe times: a period to which it is not impoffible that a man's life may extend. I remember, < when I was in Britain, to have met with an old foldier, who affured me, ⚫ he had ferved in the army which oppofed Cæfar's defcent upon that ifland. If we fuppofe this perfon, by being taken prifoner, or by any other means, to have been brought to Rome, he might have heard Cæfar and Cicero, and likewife any of our contemporaries. I appeal to yourselves, whether, at the last public donative, there were not feveral of the populace ⚫ who acknowledged they had received the fame bounty, more than once, ⚫ from the hands of Auguftus? It is evident, therefore, that these people ⚫ might have been prefent at the pleadings both of Corvinus and Afinius: for Corvinus was alive in the middle of the reign of Aguftus, and Afinius ⚫ towards the latter end. Surely, then, you will not split a century, and call one orator an antient, and another a ⚫ modern, when the very fame person might be an auditor of both; and thus, as it were, render them contem'♦ poraries.

The conclufion I mean to draw from this obfervation is, that whatever advantages thele orators might derive to ⚫ their characters from the period of time in which they flourished, the same ⚫ will extend to us: and, indeed, with <much more reafon than to S. Galba,

or to C. Carbomus, It cannot be denied that the compofitions of these laft are very inelegant and unpolished performances; as I could with, that not only your admired Calvus and Co.

lius, but, I will venture to add too, even Cicero himfelf, (for I fhall deli⚫ver my fentiments with great freedom) had not confidered them as the proper models of their imitation. Suffer me to premise, however, as I go along, that eloquence changes it's qualities as it runs through different ages. Thus

as Gracchus, for inftance, is much more copious and florid than old Cato, fo Cratlusrifes into a far higher train of politencts and refinement than 'Gracchus. Thus, likewile, as the (preches of Tully are more regular, and marked with fuperior elegance and fubiianity, than thofe of the two orators latt mentioned; fo Corvinus is confiderably more fniooth and harmonious in his periods, as well as more correct in his language, than Tully, I am not confidering which of them is moft eloquent: all I endeavour to prove at present is, that oratory does not manifett itself in one uniform figure, but is exhibited by the antients under a variety of different appearances. However, it is by no means a just way of reasoning, to infer that one thing must neceflarily be worfe than another, merely because it is not the fame. Yet fuch is the unaccount⚫able perversity of human nature, that whatever has antiquity to boat, is fure to be admired, as every thing novel is certainly difapproved. There are critics, I doubt not, to be found, who prefer even Appius 'Cocus to Cato; as it is well known that Cicero had his cenfurers, who objected that his ftyle was fwelling and redundant, and by no means agreeable to the elegant concifenefs of Attic eloquence. You have certainly read the letters of Calvus and Brutus to Cicero. It appears by thofe epiftolary collections, that Cicero confidered Calvus as a dry, unanimated orator, at the fame ⚫ time that he thought the ftyle of Brutus negligentand unconnected. Thele, in their turn, had their objections, it feems, to Cicero: Calvus condemned his oratorical compofitions, for being weak and enervated; as Brutus (to ufe his own expreffion) etteemed them feeble and disjointed. If I were to give my opinion, I thould fay, they each fpoke truth of one another. But I fhall examine thefe orators feparately hereafter: my prefent defign is only to confider them in a general view.

the 6th year of

fit is laid, for that the critics V.d. Fabric.

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antients as far as Caffius Severus; ( whom they affert to have been the firit 'that struck out from the plain and fim"ple manner, which till then prevailed. Now affirm that he did fo, not 'from any deficiency in point of genius or learning, bat from his fupe'rior judgment and good fenfe. 'faw it was necellary to accommodate oratory, as I oblerved before, to the 'different times and taste of the audience. Our ancestors, indeed, might 'be contented (and it was a mark of their ignorance and want of politeness that they were fo) with the immoderate and tedious length of fpeeches, 'which was in vogue in those ages; as, ' in truth, to be able to harangue for · a whole day together was itself look'ed upon, at that illiterate period, as a "talent worthy of the highest admiration. The immeasurable introduction, the circumftantial detail, the endless divifion and fubdivifion, the formal argument drawn cut into a duil variety of logical deductions, together with a thousand other impertinencies of the fame tattelefs Ramp, which you may find laid down among the precepts of thole driett of all writers, Hermagoras and Apollodorus, were then held in fupreme honour. And, to compleat all, if the orator had just dipped into philofophy, and could fprinkle his harangue with fome of the molt trite maxims of that fci nee, • they thundered cut his applaules to the skies. For thefe were new and uncommon topics to them; as indeed

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very few of the orators themfelves had the leaft acquaintance with the writings either of the philofophers or the rhetoricians. But in our more en• lightened age, where even the lowelt " part of an audience have at lealt fome general notion of literature, Eloquence is conftrained to find out new and more florid paths. She is obliged to avoid every thing that may fatigue or offend the ears of her audience; efpecially as the mutt now app ar before judges, who decide, not by law, but by authority; who yefcribe what limits they think proper to the orator's Speech nor calmly wait till he is pleased to come to the point, but call upon him to return, and openly teftity their impatience whenever he seems difpofed to wander from the question. ! Who, I beseech you, would, in our

days, endure an orator, who should open his harangue with a tedious apology for the weakness of his conftitation? Yet almost every oration of • Corvinus fets out in that manner. Would any man now have patience to hear out the five long books againit Verres? or thofe endless volumes of pleading in favour of Tully, or Cæcina? The vivacity of our modera' judges even prevents the speaker; and they are apt to conceive fome fort of prejudice againit all he utters, unless he has the addrefs to bribe their attention by the ftrength and fpirit of his arguments, the liveliness of his fentiments, or the elegance and bril-' hancy of his defcriptions. The very populace have tome notion of the beauty of language, and would no more relish the uncouthness of antiquity in a modern orator, then they would the gefture of old Rofcius or Ambivins in a modern actor. Our young students too, who are forming 'themfelves to eloquence, and for that purpose attend the courts of judicature, expect not merely to bear, but to carry home - fomething worthy of remembrance: and it is usual with them not only to canvas among themfelves, but to tranfinit to their relpective provinces whatever ingenious thought or poetical ornament-the ora tor has happily employed. For even the embellifhments of poetry are now required; and thole too, not copied from the heavy and antiquated manner of Attius or Pacuvius, busformed in the lively and elegant ípirit of Horace, Virgil, and Lucan. Agreeably, therefore, to the fuperior tatte and judgment of the prefent age, our orators appear with a more polished and graceful afpe&t. And mott certainly it cannot be thought that their ipeeches are the leis efficacious, becaufe they foothe the ears of the au'dience with the piealing modulation of harmonious periods. Has Eloquence lott her power, because she has improved her charins? Are our temples lefs durable than thofe of oki, because they are not formed of rude materials, but thine out in all the polish and fplendor of the most costly orna-ments?

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laugh or fleep. Not to mention the more ordinary race of orators, fuch as • Canutius, Arrius, or Fannius, with ⚫ fome others of the fame dry and unaffecting caft; even Calvus himself fcarce pleases me in more than one or two fhort orations: though he has left ⚫ behind him, if I mistake not, no lefs ⚫ than one and twenty volumes. And the world in general feems to join ⚫ with me in the fame opinion of them: for how few are the readers of his invectives against Ffcinius or Drufus?

every body's hands, particularly the fecond, which is indeed, both in fentiment and language, a well-written piece. It is evident, therefore, that he had an idea of just compofition, ⚫ and rather wanted genius than incli ⚫ nation, to reach a more graceful and ⚫ elevated manner. As to the orations

of Cœlius, though they are by no ⚫ means valuable upon the whole, yet they have their merit, fo far as they approach to the exalted elegance of the prefent times. Whenever, indeed, his compofition is careless and unconnected, his expreffion low, and his fentiments grofs; it is then he is truly an antient: and I will venture to affirm, ⚫ there is no one fo fond of antiquity as ❝ to admire him in that part of his cha⚫racter. We may allow Cæfar, on account of the great affairs in which he was engaged; as we may Brutus, in confideration of his philofophy; to be lefs eloquent than might other⚫ wife be expected of fuch fuperior ge⚫niufes. The truth is, even their ⚫ warmelt admirers acknowledge, that as orators they by no means fhine with the fame luftre which diftinguished every other part of their reputation. Cæfar's fpeech in favour of Decius, ¶ and that of Brutus in behalf of King Dejotarus, with fome others of the fame ⚫ coldness and languor, have scarcely, I imagine, met with any readers; unlefs, perhaps, among fuch who can relifh their verfes. For verfes, we know, they writ, (and published too) I will not fay with more fpirit, but undoubtedly with more fuccefs, tham Cicero, becaufe they had the good • fortune to fall into much fewer hands.

Afinius, one would guess, by his air, ⚫ and manner, to have been contemporary with Menenius, and Appius; £ though in fact he lived much nearer to

The next I fhall take notice of, is Cicero, who had the fame conteft with thofe of his own times, as mine, my friends, with you. They, it feems, were favourers of the antients; whilst He preferred the eloquence of his contemporaries: and, in truth, he excels the orators of his own age in nothing more remarkably, than in the folidity of his judgment. He was the first who fet a polish upon oratory; who feemed to have any notion of delicacy of expreffion, and the art of compofition. Accordingly he attempted a more florid ftyle: as he now and then breaks out into fome lively flashes of wit; particularly in his later performances, when much practice and experience (thofe best and fureft guides). had taught him a more improved manner. But his earlier compofitions are not without the blemishes of antiquity. He is tedious in his exordiums, too circumftantial in his narrations, and careless in retrenching luxuriances. He feems not easily affected, and is but rarely fired; as his periods are feldom either properly rounded, or happily pointed: he has nothing, in fine, you would wish to make your own. His fpeeches, like a rude edifice, have ftrength, indeed, and permanency; but are deftitute of that elegance and fplendor which are neceffary to render them perfectly agreeable. The orator, however, in his compofitions, as the man of wealth in his buildings, fhould confider ornament as well as ufe: his structure should be, not only fubftantial, but ftriking; and his fur niture not merely convenient, but rich, and fuch as will bear a close and frequent inspection; whilft every thing that has a mean and aukward appear ance ought to be totally banished. 'Let