all this with the magnificent profpect which a fine country prefents us with, where we fcarce know what to admire moft; whether the gentle current of a river, that rolls its waters with majefty; or those large and agreeable meadows, which the numerous herds continually grazing in them almost animate; or the natural turf which feems to invite repofe, its lively verdure unprofaned by needlefs works of art; or those rich hillocks, fo marvellously variegated with houses, trees, vineyards, and ftill more by its uncultivated native graces; or those high mountains, which feem to be loft in the clouds; or, in a word, thofe vaft forefts, whofe trees, almost as ancient as the world, owe their beauty folely to him who created them? Such is the moft florid ftyle, in comparison of the grand and fublime eloquence.

The celebrated Atticus, fo well known by the epiftes which Cicero wrote to him, walking with him in a very agreeable ifland near one of the countryhouses, in which that orator * delighted moft, being the place of his nativity; fays to him, as he was admiring the beauty of the country: What is the magnificence of the most stately houfe, balls paved with marble, gilded roofs, vaft canals, which raise the admiration of others? How little and contemptible do all these appear, when we compare them with that

Terra veflita floribus, herbis, arboribus, frugibus. Quorum omnium incredibilis multitudo infatiabili varietate diftinguitur, Adde huc fontium gelidas perennitates, liquores perlucidos amnium, riparum veftitus viridiffimos, fpeluncarum concavas altitudines, faxo:um afperitates,impendentium montium altitudines, immenfitatefque camporum. Lib. 2. de nat, deor. n. 98.

w Virici fi margine clauderet andas herba, nec ingenuum violarent marmosa tophum. Juven. 1. r. Lat. 3.

* Hoc ipfo in loco.... fito me effe catum. Quare id eft nefcio

2

quid, & latet in animo ac fenfu meo, quo me plus hic locus fortaffe delecter. 2. de leg. n. 3.

Equidem, qui nunc primum huc venerim, fatiari non queo: magnificafque villas, & pavimenta marmorea, & laqueata tecta contemno. Ductus vero aquarum, quos ifti tubos & euripos vocant, quis non, cum hæc videat, irriferit? Itaque, ut tu paulo ante de lege & jure differens, ad naturam referebas om→ nia, fic in his ipfis rebus, quæ ad quietem animi delectationemque quæruntur, natura dominatur. Ibid, a. 2.

ifland,

ifland, that rivulet, and those delighted rural scenes before our eyes! And he obferves judiciously, that this opinion is no-ways the effect of a whimsical prepoffeffion, but founded in nature itself.

We must say the fame of works of wit; and cannot repeat it too often to youth, to put them upon their guard against a vicious taste of brilliant thoughts; witty and far-fetched turns, which seem to aim at fuperiority, and have always foretold the approaching fall of eloquence. Quintilian had reason to say, that if he were obliged to chufe either the fimplicity of the ancients whilft grofs, or the extravagant licentiousness of the moderns, he would, without hesitation, prefer the former.

I fhall conclude this article with fome extracts from a discourse, which, in my opinion, may be propofed as a complete model of this noble and fublime, and, at the fame time, natural and unaffected eloquence, of which I fhall endeavour to point out the characteristics here. This oration was spoke by M. Racine in the French academy, upon the admiffion of two members, one of whom was Thomas Corneille his brother. M. Racine, after drawing a comparison between the laft Corneille and Æfchylus, Sophocles, and Euripides, whom renowned Athens had honoured as much as it had Themiftocles, Pericles, and Alcibiades, who were cotemporaries with thofe poets, proceeds thus:

"Yes, Sir, let ignorance defpife eloquence and "poetry as much as it pleases, and treat great writers "as perfons unprofitable to the state; we will not be "afraid of faying this in favour of learning, and of "this celebrated body of which you now are a mem"ber; from the moment that fublime genius's, which

far furpass the ordinary bounds of human nature, "diftinguifh and immortalife themselves by fuch "mafter-pieces as those of your brother; whatever "ftrange inequality fortune may make between them

Si neceffe fit, veterem illum horrorem dicendi malim, quam

iftam novam licentiam, Quintil. 1. 8. c. 5.

E 3

" and

"and the greatest heroes, while they are living; yet, "after their deaths, that difference ceafes. Pofterity, "who are pleafed and instructed by the works they "have left behind them, make no difficulty of put66 ting them upon a level with whatever is more im66 portant amongst men; and of ranking the excellent poet with the greateft captain.. The fame age that "is now fo highly magnified for bringing forth Au"guftus, boafts no lefs of producing Horace and Vir"gil. In like manner, when pofterity will speak "with aftonishment of the furprifing victories, and "all the great things, which will render ours the admiration of all future ages; Corneille (let us not doubt of it) Corneille will have a place among all thofe wonders. France will remember with plea"fure, that the greatest of her poets flourished in the "reign of the greateft of her kings. They will like

wife think it fome addition to the glory of our au"guft monarch, when they fhall be told, he esteem

ed and honoured that excellent genius with his "favour and munificence; that even two days before "his death, and when he was just at his last gasp, "he fent him fresh proofs of his liberality; and that the laft words of Corneille were acknowledgments to Lewis the Great."

M. de Bergeret, cabinet-secretary, having been received a member of the French academy the fame day with M. Corneille, M. Racine pronounced a magnificent elogium on Lewis XIV. part of which I fhall infert in this place :

"Who could have faid in the beginning of the laft year, and even in this feafon, when we faw fo "much animofity break out on all fides; fo many

leagues forming; and that spirit of discord and suf"picion which kindled the war in the four quarters "of Europe; who could have faid, that all would be "peaceable and quiet before the end of the fpring? "What probability was there of diffolving fuch a "number of confederacies in fo fhort a time? How

"was it poffible to reconcile fo many contrary in"terefts? How calm that croud of ftates and poten. ❝tates, who were much more irritated against our

་་

power, than the ill treatment they pretended to "have received? Would not one have thought, that

twenty years of negociation would not have fuf"ficed for putting an end to all thefe differences? "The diet of Germany, which was to examine only "a part of them, were no farther advanced than the "preliminaries, after an application of three years. “In the mean time, the King had refolved in his ❝cabinet, that for the good of Chriftendom there "fhould be no war. The night before he was to fet ❝out for his army, he writes fix lines, and fends them

་

to his ambaffador at the Hague. Upon this the "provinces enter into deliberation; the minifters of "the high allies affemble; every thing is in agita

tion, every thing in motion. Some will not comply "with any thing demanded of them; others demand "what has been taken from them; but all are de

66

termined not to lay down their arms. The King, "in the mean time, caufes Luxemburgh to be taken 66 on the one fide; and on the other marches in per"fon to the gates of Mons. Here he fends generals 66 to his allies; there he orders the bombardment of "Genoa. He forces Algiers to afk pardon. He " even applies himself to regulate the civil affairs of "his kingdom; relieves the people, and gives them an anticipation of the fruits of peace; and at length "finds his enemies, as he had forefeen, after a great "many conferences, projects, and ufelefs complaints, "reduced to accept the very conditions he had offered

66

them, without being able to retrench or add any "thing to them; or, to speak more properly, with"out being able, with all their efforts, to go one ftep "out of the narrow circle he had thought fit to pre"fcribe them."

These two paffages are certainly beautiful, grand and fublime. Every thing pleases, every thing strikes,

E 4

but

but not with affected graces, exact antithefes, or glaring thoughts; nothing of that kind is seen in them. It is the importance and greatness of the things in. themselves, and of ideas which tranfport, that conftitute the character of true and perfect eloquence, fuch as was always admired in Demofthenes. The elogium of the King concludes with a grand thought, which leaves room to imagine infinitely more than it difcovers, without being able to go one step out of the narrow circle he had thought fit to prescribe them. We imagine ourselves prefent at the conference, where Popilius, that haughty Roman, having prescribed terms of peace to Antiochus in the name of the fenate, and obferving that King endeavoured to elude them, inclosed him in a circle which he made round him with a little stick he had in his hand, and obliged him to give him a pofitive answer, before he quitted it. This hiftorical passage, which we shall leave the reader the pleasure of applying, has much more grace and ornament, than if we had cited the place from which it was taken.

SECT. II.

What must chiefly be obferved in reading and explaining of authors.

I will reduce these observations to feven or eight heads, viz. reafoning and the proofs; the thoughts; the choice of words, the manner of placing them; the figures, certain oratorial precautions, and the paffions. To thefe remarks I fhall fometimes add examples from the best authors, which will both illuftrate the precepts, and teach the art of compofing.

z Popilius virga quam in manu gerebat circumfcripfit regem, ac: priufquam boc circule excedas, inquit, redde refponfum fenatui, quad

referam. Obftupefactus tam vio◄ lento imperio, parumper cum hæ fitaffet: Faciam, inquit, quod cenfet fenatus. Liv. lib. 45. n. 12.

ARTICLE