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Descending more into detail, the description given by Lord Herbert of Cherbury is the happiest and healthiest delineation of rhetoric that has fallen under my notice.

"It would be fit that some time be spent in learning rhetoric or oratory, to the intent that upon all occasions you may express yourself with eloquence and grace; for, as it is not enough for a man to have a diamond unless it is polished and cut out into its due angles, so it will not be sufficient for a man to have a great understanding in all matters, unless the said understanding be not only polished and clear, but underset and helped a little with those figures, tropes, and colors which rhetoric affords, where there is use of persuasion. I can by no means yet commend an affected eloquence, there being nothing so pedantical, or indeed that would give more suspicion that the truth is not intended, than to use overmuch the common forms prescribed in schools. It is well said by them, that there are two parts of eloquence necessary and commendable; one is, to speak hard things plainly, so that when a knotty or intricate business, having no method or coherence in its parts, shall be presented, it will be a singular part of oratory to take those parts asunder, set them together aptly, and so exhibit them to the understanding. And this part of rhetoric I much commend to everybody; there being no true use of speech but to make things clear, perspicuous, and manifest, which otherwise would be perplexed, doubtful, and obscure.

"The other part of oratory is to speak common things ingeniously or wittily; there being no little vigor and force added to words when they are delivered in a neat and fine way, and somewhat out of

the ordinary road, common and dull language savoring more of the clown than the gentleman. But herein also affectation must be avoided; it being better for a man by a native and clear eloquence to express himself, than by those words which may smell either of the lamp or inkhorn; so that, in general, one may observe, that men who fortify and uphold their speeches with strong and evident reasons, have ever operated more on the minds of the auditors than those who have made rhetorical excursions. Aristotle hath written a book of rhetoric, a work in my opinion not inferior to his best pieces, whom therefore with Cicero de Oratore, as also Quinctilian, you may read for your instruction how to speak; neither of which two yet I can think so exact in their orations, but that a middle style will be of more efficacy, Cicero in my opinion being too long and tedious, Quinctilian too short and concise."

"Between grammar, logic, and rhetoric there exists a close and happy connection, which reigns through all science, and extends to all the powers of eloquence.

"Grammar traces the operations of thought in known and received characters, and enables polished nations amply to confer on posterity the pleasures of intellect, the improvements of science, and the history of the world.

"Logic converses with ideas, adjusts them with propriety and truth, and gives the whole an elevation in the mind consonant to the order of nature or the flight of fancy.

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Rhetoric, lending a spontaneous aid to the defects of language, applies her warm and glowing tints to the portrait, and exhibits the grandeur of the uni

verse, the productions of genius, and all the works of art, as copies of the fair original."*

He who gives directions for the attainment of oratory is supposed, if a public speaker, to be capable of illustrating his own precepts.

"He may be thought to challenge criticism, and his own performances may be condemned by a reference to his own precepts; or, on the other hand, his precepts may be undervalued through his own failures in their application. Should this take place in the present instance, I have only to urge, with Horace in his Art of Poetry, that a whetstone, though itself incapable of cutting, is yet useful in sharpening steel. No system of instruction will completely equalize natural powers; and yet it may be of service toward their improvement. The youthful Achilles acquired skill in hurling the javelin under the instruction of Chiron, though the master could not compete with the pupil in vigor of arm.†

But there is little danger, in these days, of any serious judgment being passed upon the indifferent exemplar of the rhetorical maxims he lays down. Our orators escape as our statues do. Good public monuments are so scarce that the people are no judges of art, and great speakers so seldom arise that the people are no judges of oratory. England has not reached the age of excellence in this respect. Great events can excite it, but only a national refinement, including opulence and a liberal philosophy, can sustain it. The power of oratory requires the union of intellect, leisure, and health, discipline of thought, accuracy of expression, method, a manly spirit, an absolute taste, copiousness of information upon the *Spectator, No. 421.

+ Whately's Rhetoric, preface.

given subject, a vivid imagination and concentration. Oratory-by which term I always mean the highest efforts in the art of public persuasion-might exist in the Church but for its dread of imitating the theater.* It is suppressed among the Dissenters by the influence of evangelism. Did this not exist, their precarious pay would deter them from the pursuit of the art. The bar is too full of business and too anxious for fees, to reach much distinction where leisure and choice are necessary. The politician is generally indolent if not dependent, and if necessitous he has to struggle for himself when he should be struggling for excellence. Besides these drawbacks, there are various popular prejudices which few minds are strong enough to withstand, and which deter the young aspirant after eloquence. Under various heads, as "Premeditation," "Discipline," and others, these points of prejudice will be discussed.

CHAPTER II.

DELIVERY.

"ELOCUTION," says Walker, "in the modern sense of the word, seems to signify that pronunciation which is given to words when they are arranged into sentences, and form discourse." The power of distinct and forcible pronunciation is the basis of delivery. Between deliberate, full-toned, and energetic speaking, and feeble, indistinct, and spiritless utterance, there is the difference of live and dead oratory.

*See Note A. page 167.

The rudiments of speaking are few and simple. Vowels should have a bold, round, mellow tone. This is the basis of speaking. A slight, short, mincing pronunciation of the accented vowels is the prime fault to be avoided.

Audibility depends chiefly on articulation, and articulation depends much on the distinctness with which we hear the final consonants.

R has two sounds, a rough and a smooth one. The rough r is proper at the beginning of words, and the smooth r at the end of words, or when succeeded by a consonant. The audibility of the r in each case gives strength to the utterance.

In about twenty-two words in our language, beginning with h, the h is not sounded. These words must be carefully attended to, and all other words beginning with h must have that letter distinctly heard. In illustration of this neglect of aspiration where proper, teachers of elocution are accustomed to say, that if the Indian swallows the sword we (h)eat the poker.

A strong delivery is to be constantly cultivated— that is, an energy that shall prevent drawling, and a slowness that shall avoid mumbling words or chopping half the sounds away, as hasty speaking does. Take time to articulate fully and intonate. Speak "trippingly" without tripping. If you must be extreme, better be solemn than hasty.

Robert Hall, whose talent for extempore speaking was such that, when eleven years of age, he was set up to preach extempore to a select auditory of fullgrown men, says of himself: "To me to speak slow was ruin. You know, sir, that force or momentum is conjointly as the body and the velocity; therefore, as

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