ORATORY.

great adversary and rival in oratory, iEschines ; who, when hecould not bear the disgrace of being worsted by Demosthenes inthe cause of Ctesiphon , retired to Rhodes. And being desiredby the inhabitants to recite to them his own oration upon that oc-casion, which accordingly he did the next day, they requested ofhim to let them hear that of Demosthenes ; which having pro-nounced in a most graceful manner, to the admiration of all pre-sent, “ IIow much more (says he) would you have wondered, ifyou had heard him speak it himself!” Quintdlian says, that “ itis not of so much moment what our compositions are, as how theyare pronounced; since it is the manner of the delivery, by whichthe audience is moved.” And therefore he asserts, tnat “ an in-different discourse, assisted by a lively and graceful action, willhave greater efficacy than the finest harangue, which wants'thatadvantage.” The truth of this sentiment of the ancients, con-cerning the power of pronunciation, might be proved from manyinstances. Ilortousius, a cotemporary with Cicero , and whileliving, next to him in reputation as an orator, was highly applaudedfor his action. Bui his orations after his death, as Quintilian tellsus (for there are nope extant,) did not appear answerable to hischaracter; whence he concludes, there must have been some-thing pleasing when he spoke, by which lie gained his charac-ter, which was lost in reading them. But Cicero himself affordsa decisive instance of this. After the death of Pompey , whenCaisar had got the government into his own hands, many of hisacquaintance interceded with him in behalf of their relations andfriends, who had been of the contrary party in the late wars.Among others, Cicero solicited for his friend Ligarius ; which Tu-bero understanding, who owed Ligarius a grudge, he opposed it,and undertook to represent him to Cscsar as unworthy of Ins mercy,Cassar himselt was prejudiced against Ligarius ; and therefore,when the cause was to come before him, he said, “ We may ven-ture to hear Cicero display his eloquence ; for I know the personhe pleads for to be an ill man and my enemy.” But, in thecourse of his oration, Cicero so worked upon his passions, that bythe frequent alteration of his countenance, the emotions of his mindwere very conspicuous. And when he came to touch upon thebattle of Pharsalia, which had given C®sar the empire of theworld, he represented it in that moving and lively manner, thatCaesar could no longer contain himself, but was thrown into such alit of shivering, that he dropped the papers which he held in hishand. This was the more remarkable, because Caesar was him-self one oft he greatest orators of that age, knew all the arts of ad-dress, and avenues to the passions, and consequently was betterprepared to guard against them. But neither his skill, nor reso-lution, was of sufficient force against the power of oratory ; butthe conqueror of the world became a conquest to the charms ofCicero ’s eloquence ; so that contrary to his intention, he pardonedLigarius . '\ hat oration is still extant, and appears exceedinglywell calculated to touch the tender passions ; but we believe it canscarce be discernible to any in reading it, how it should have, hadso surprising an effect; which must therefore have been chieflyowing to the wonderful address and manner of the speaker. Themore natural the pronunciation is, it will be the more moving.And therefore the ancients make.it one qualification of an orator,that lie be a good man ; because a person of this character willmake the cause he espouses his own, and the more sensibly he istouched with it himself, his action will be the more natural, andthus the more easily affect others. Cicero says, “ It is certainthat truth in every thing excels imitation ; but if that was sufficientof itself in action, we should have no occasion foYart.” In his opi-nion, therefore, art, if well managed, will assist and improve na-ture. Sometimes the force of it is so great, that, even where it iswholly counterfeit, it will work the saine effect as if it were foundedin truth : how powerful then must be the effect of a just and livelyrepresentation of what we know to be real ? As action thereforewas judged so necessary a qualification in ail orator among the an-cients, so they made use of several methods and expedients forthe better attaining of it. The principal of these we shall brieflymention. Decency of pronunciation is an habit. And as all habitsare gained by time, so the sooner they are learned, they are ge-nerally acquired with the greater ease. Quintilian was so sensibleof this, that in order to have persons trained up to it, he beginswith them in their childhood, and even gives directions how theyshould be taught to pronounce, when they first learn to read.vol. iv.— no. 1 Go.

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And he advises, that they should then be instructed where to sus-pend their voice, and make the proper pauses; when to raise orsink their voice, or give it a proper inflection; to be slower orfaster, more vehement or sedate, as the nature of the subject mayrequire ; and that the tone of their voice be always manly andgrave, but at the sajne time mixed with an agreeable sweet-ness.

Of the Voice.

The influence of sounds, either to raise or allay our passions, isevident from music. And certainly the harmony of a fine dis-course, gracefully pronounced, is as capable to move us, if notin a way so violent and ecstatic, yet not less powerful and moreagreeable to our rational faculties. As persons are differently af-fected when they speak; so they naturally alter the tone of theirvoice. It rises, sinks, and has various inflections, according tothe state and disposition of the mind. 'When the mind is calmand sedate, the voice is moderate and even ; when the former isdejected with sorrow, the latter is languid; and when that ism?flamed by passion, this is raised and elevated. It is the orator’sbusiness, therefore, to endeavour, that the tone of his voice appearnatural and unaffected. For this end, he must suit it to the natureof the subject; but still so as to be always decent. Some delivera discourse in a low drawling manner ; others hurry on in so loudand boisterous a tone, as if they imagined their hearers were deaf.But all the harmony of speech lies in the proper temperament ofthe voice between these extremes. The principal properties ofvoice may be referred either to quantity or quality.

I. The quantity of the voice consists in its highness or lowness,swiftness or slowness, and the intermediate degrees .betweenthem.

i. Every person who speaks in public, should endeavour to fillthe place where he speaks. But still he ought to be careful not toexceed the natural key of his voice. If .he does it will neither besoft nor agreeable; but either harsh and rough, or too shrill andsqueaking. Besides, he will not be able to give every syllable itsfull and distinct sound ; which will render what he says ob-scure.

ii. The like caution is to be used against the contrary extreme,that the voice be not dropped, and suffered to sink too low. Thiswill give the speaker pain in raising it again to its proper pitch,and be no less offensive to the hearers. The medium betweenthesp two is a moderate and even voice. But this is not the samein all ; that which is moderate in one would be high in another.Every person therefore must regulate it by the natural key of his'own voice. A calm and sedate voice is generally best ; as a mo-derate sound is most pleasing to the ear, if it be clear and distinct.But this equality of the voice must also be accompanied with a va-riety, otherwise there can be no harmony. Nothing is less pleas-ing than a discourse pronounced throughout in one continued mo-notony. The gradations, whether higher or lower, should be sogentle and regular as to preserve a due proportion of the parts andharmony of the whole. An even voice is best fitted to keep themind to close attention. But the voice ought to agree with thestyle : and as the orator’s province is not only to apply to themind, but likewise to the passions; these require a great varietyof the voice, high or low, vehement or languid, according to thenature of the passions he designs to affect.

iii. The next property is swiftness. Tflat some expressionsought to be pronounced faster than others, is manifest. Gay andsprightly ideas should not only he expressed louder but also faster,than such as are sad and melancholy. And when we press an ad -versary, the voice should be brisk and quick. A precipitant aridhasty pronunciation however is culpable, as well as speaking looslow. This argues a heaviness in the speaker ; and as he appearscool himself, lie can never expect to warm his hearers ; hence theorator will guard against both these extremes.

II. The chief qualities of the voice are strength, clearness, ful-ness, and smoothness. Though it is not in our power to give our-selves what qualities of the voice we please, several defects of thevoice may be helped by care and attention. Temperance is apreservative of the voice, and all excess is greatly prejudicial toit. The voice must suffer, if the organs of speech have not theirproper lone. For this purpose they must be kept in a due tem-2 S perature ;