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voice, an agreeable action, and an exquifite utterance, were extremely pleasing in a young man, and at first engroffed the applaufe of all men. But afterwards this kind of gay eloquence became unfeasonable, because the weight of the public employments he had paffed through, and the maturity of his years, required fomething more grave and ferious. He was always the fame orator, had always the fame ftile, but not the fame fuccefs. Befides, as his ardor for ftudy was very much abated, and he did not take fo much pains as formerly, the thoughts which till then had brightned his pieces, having no longer their former embellishment, but appearing with a negligent air, loft most of their fplendor, and by that means made the orator fink very much in his reputation.

REFLECTIONS

Upon what has been said on this subject.

The bare relation I have made of the conduct of the greatest orators of antiquity, will fufficiently point out to youth defigned for the bar, the path they are to follow, if they propose to attain the fame end.

1. The firft and principal thing they must do, is to form a grand idea of their profeffion. For though it does not now lead to the chief employments in the ftate, as formerly at Athens and at Rome; yet what efteem does it not gain thofe who diftinguish themfelves in it, either in pleading or giving counfel? f Can

f Quid eft præclarius, quàm honoribus & reip. muneribus perfunctum fenem, poffe fuo jure dicere idem, apud Ennium dicat ille Pythius Apollo, fe eum effe, UNDE fibi, fi non

POPULI ET REGES, at omnes fui cives CONSILIUM EXPETANT,

SUARUM RERUM INCERTI: QUOS EGO MEA OPE EX INCERTIS CERTOS, COMPOTESQUE CONSILI DIMITTO, UT NE RES TEMERE TRACTENT TURBIDAS Eft enim fine dubio domus jurifconfulti totius oraculum civitatis. 1. de Orat. n. 166, 200.

Ulla-ne tanta ingentium opum ac magnæ potentiæ voluptas, quàm fpectare homines veteres & fenes & totius urbis gratia fubnixos, in fum. ma omnium rerum abundantia confitentes id quod optimum fit fe non habere. Dialog. de Orat. n. 6.

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any

any thing delight a private man more, than to fee his houfe frequented by perfons of the greatest rank, and even by Princes, who in all their doubts and neceffities refort to him as to an oracle, to pay homage to his profeffion and extraordinary abilities, and to acknowledge a fuperiority of learning and prudence which riches and grandeur cannot bestow.

Is there any finer fight than to fee a numerous auditory attentive, immoveable, and, as it were, hanging on the lips of a pleader, who manages fpeech, feemingly common to all, with fo much art, that he charms and ravishes the minds of his hearers, and makes himself abfolute master over them? But befides this glory, which would be trifling enough, were there no other motive; what folid joy is it for a virtuous man to think he has received a talent from God which makes him the fanctuary of the unfortunate, the protector of juftice; and enables him to defend the lives, fortunes, and honours of his brethren?

2. A natural confequence of this firft reflection is, that thofe defigned for the bar fhould prepare them felves for a profeffion of fuch great importance, and imitate, at least at a distance, the paffion and indefatigable warmth of Demofthenes and Cicero. I am convinced, that a genius is the first and most neceffary quality for a pleader; but I am alfo as certain, that ftudy is of great service. 'Tis like a fecond nature, and if it does not impart a genius to him who had none before, it, however, rectifies, polishes, improves, and invigorates it. And Cicero had great reafon to infift very much upon this article, and to affert, that every thing in eloquence depends on the care, the pains, the application and vigilance of the orator.

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nihil eft quod non affequatur... Reliqua funt in cura, attentione animi, cogitatione, vigilantia, affi. duitate, labore: complectar uno verbo, quo fæpè jam ufi fumus, di ligentiâ; qua una virtute omne virtutes reliquæ continentur. 2. de Orat. n. 147, 148, 150.

3. The knowledge of the law, and its different cuftoms, form properly the fcience of the lawyer; and to pretend to plead without thofe advantages, is to attempt the raising of a great building, without laying a foundation.

4. The talent of fpeaking conftitutes an orator; it is, as it were, the inftrument which enables him to make use of all the reft. But in my opinion, it is not enough cultivated. Whether it be the effect of idleness, or a confidence in ourselves, we generally think genius alone will enable us to excel in it. But Cicero is of another opinion. His endeavours to attain perfection in this particular, would seem incredible, did not he himself atteft it in feveral places. He should be the model to youth in this and every thing elfe. To imbibe rhetoric from the very fountain, to confult able masters, to read carefully the ancients and moderns, to be conftantly employed in compofing and tranflating, and to make his language a particular study: these were the exercises which Cicero thought necessary to form the great orator.

5. But of all the qualifications of an orator, action and utterance are the most neglected; and yet nothing contributes more towards giving fuccefs to fpeeches.

That external eloquence, as Cicero calls it, which is adapted to the capacities of all auditors, in regard it speaks to the fenfes only, has fomething so enchanting and dazzling, that it often fupplies the place of every other merit, and fets a lawyer of no great parts above those of the greateft abilities. Every one has heard the celebrated anfwer of Demofthenes, concerning the qualification which he thought most neceffary in an

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effe in numero nullo poteft: mediocris, hac inftructus, fummos fæpè fuperare. Huic primas dediffe Demofthenes dicitur, cùm rogaretur quid in dicendo effet primum: huic fecundas, huic tertias. 3. de Orat. n. 213.

orator,

orator, the want whereof could leaft be concealed, and which at the fame time was beft adapted to conceal the reft. This induced him to make incredible efforts to fucceed in it. Cicero imitated him in that, as in every thing else; and he was in fome measure obliged to it, from the defire he had to equal Hortenfius, who excelled in that particular. The example of both ought to have great weight with young lawyers.

6. A great many of thefe, in my opinion, want a certain quinteffence of polite literature, and erudition, which embellish however, and enrich the understanding vaftly, and diffuse a delicacy and beauty over difcourfe, which it can have from no other fource. The reading of ancient authors, the Greeks efpecially, is very much neglected. How closely did Cicero ftudy them! Orators, poets, hiftorians, philofophers, he was acquainted with them all, and made them all of fervice to him; and the latter more than the reft. Young lawyers ought not to attempt pleading too foon, but should employ their time, at their first setting out, in acquiring a valuable and neceffary fund of knowledge, which cannot be attained afterwards. I own the practice of the bar is the best mafter, and most capable of making them great lawyers: but it fhould not confift, at first, in frequent pleading. There we liften affiduoufly to great orators, we ftudy their genius, we obferve their action, we are attentive to the opinions which the learned give of them; and thus we endeavour to improve equally by their perfections and defects.

7. If it fhould be afked, what is the proper age for being called to the bar, and pleading at it? I anfwer, that 'tis a thing which cannot be brought to any fixed rule; and Quintilian's advice upon this matter is very prudent. A medium, fays he, must be ob

"ferved;

* Medus mihi videtur quidam ftringatur immatura frons, & tenendus, ut neque præproperè di- quicquid eft illud adhuc acerbum proferatur,

❝ ferved; fo that youth fhould not expofe himself in pub ❝lick before he is capable of doing it with advantage; "nor make a parade of his knowledge, whilft 'tis "crude and undigested, if I may use the expreffion: "for by that means he will despise pains and study; "imprudence takes deep root in him; and, what is 5 a greater misfortune, confidence and boldness pre"cede vigour and ftrength. But he must not, on "the other hand, wait till he grows old, for then he "will grow more timid every day; and the longer "he delays, the more fearful he will be to venture to fpeak in publick: fo that, whilft he is deliberat"ing whether it is time to begin, he finds it is too "late."

8. It were very much to be wifhed, that the cuftom, obferved formerly among the Romans, fhould take place among us; and that the houfes of old lawyers Thould be, as it were, the school of the youth defigned for the bar. What can be more worthy a great orator, than to conclude the glorious courfe of his pleading, by fo honourable a function? 1 We shall fee, fays Quintilian, a whole company of ftudious young people frequenting his houfe, and confulting him upon the proper methods of fpeaking. He forms them, as though he were the father of eloquence; and, like an old experienced pilot, points out to them the course they are to steer, and the rocks they muft fhun, when he fees them ready to fet fail.

proferatur. Nam inde & contemptus operis innafcitur, & fundamenta jaciuntur impudentiæ, & (quod eft ubique perniciofiffimum) prævenit vires fiducia. Nec rur fus differendum eft tyrocinium in fenectutem. Nam quot die metus crefcit, majufque fit femper quod aufuri fumus: &, dum deliberamus quando incipiendum fit, incipere jam ferum eft, Quintil. lib. 12, сар. 6.

! Frequentabunt ejus domum optimi juvenes more veterum; & veram dicendi viam velut ex oraculo petent. Hos ille formabit

quafi eloquentiæ parens, &, ut vetus gubernator, littora, & portus, & quæ tempeftatum figna, quod fecundis flatibus. quid adverfis ratis pofcat, docebit. Quint. 1. 12. c. 11.

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