ed all the beauty of the artift ;) and by that means the ftatue recovered its former value. ARTICLE the SECOND. TH HE fublime, or marvellous,is that which conftitutes the grand real eloquence. M. de la Mothe defines it thus, in the difcourfe perfixed to his odes. I believe, fays he, the fublime is nothing but the true, and the new, united in a grand idea, and expreffed with elegance and brevity. He afterwards affigns the reafon of every branch of this definition. The firft paffage is well worth reading, and contains very judicious reflections. I am, however, in doubt whether the last part of this difinition be entirely juft; expreffed with elegance and brevity. Are thefe two qualities then fo effential to the fublime, that it cannot fubfift without them? I thought elegance fo far from being the proper characteriftic of the fublime, that it was often the reverfe of it; and, I own, I discover nothing of it in the two examples cited by M. de la Mothe: one of them is out of Mofes; God faid, let there be light, and there was light; the other from Homer; Great God, give us but day, and then fight against us. As to brevity, it is fometimes necellary to the fublime, when it confifts in fhort and lively thought, as in the former examples; but in my opinion it does not conftitute its effence P. There are a great many paffages in Demofthenes and Cicero, which are very extenfive and much amplified, and yet very fublime, tho' no brevity appears in them. I use the freedom which M.de la Mothe gives his readers in the place in question, and only point out my p Probably it is not that fpecies of the fublime which is defined in this place. doubte doubts, fubmitting them to his better understanding. The excellent treatife of Longinus upon this fubject, would alone be fufficient to form the taste of youth. I propofe little more in this place than to draw fome reflections from it, which may ferve as fo many rules and principles. Boileau afferts, that Longinus does not understand by the fublime,what the orators call the fublime ftile, but that extraordinary, that marvellous, which ftrikes in difcourfe, and gives a work that force which ravishes and transports. The fublime stile, says he, always requires grand expreffions; but the fublime may be formed in a fingle thought, a fingle figure, a fingle turn of words. Without entering upon an examination of this remark, which admits of feveral difficulties, I think it fufficiert to obferve, that by the fublime, I here understand, as well that which is more amplified and interwoven with the body of the oration, as that which is more concise, and confifts in lively and moving ftrokes; because I find equally in both kinds, a manner of thinking and expreffion, great and noble, which is the effence of the fablime. I. The plain ftile of which I treated at first, though it be perfect in its kind, and often full of inimitable graces, is proper for inftructing, proving, and even for pleafing; but it does not produce any of those great effects, without which Cicero 1 looks upon eloquence as trifling. As thefe plain and natural beauties have nothing of the grand, and as we see the orator always ferene and calm, the equality of ftile used in that kind of eloquence does not at all warm and raise the foul; whereas the fublime fpecies produces a kind of admiration mixed with aftonishment and furprize, which is quite different from merely to pleafe or perfuade. We may fay, with regard to perfuafion, that, generally speaking, it has no more power over us than what we are willing to admit, but it is not fo with th fublime; it gives the difcourfe a noble kind of vigour an invincible force which ravishes the fouls of all who hear it. It tranfports the auditor by that grand and majestic tone, by thofe quick and lively emotions, that force and vehemence which prevail in it; and leaves him, as it were, ftruck down and dazzled with its thunder and lightning. t II. This Quintilian has obferved on occafion of a 1. bright and fublime paffage in Cicero's defence of Cornelius Balbus," where he introduced a magnificent encomium on Pompey the Great. He was not only interrupted by acclamations, but by extraordinary clapping of hands, which feemed no-way fuitable to the dignity of the place: but this would not have happened, fays our rhetorician, if his fole view had been to inform the judges; and had expressed himself merely in a plain and elegant ftile. It was no doubt, the greatnefs, pomp, and splendor of his eloquence, that forced from his auditory all thofe cries and clapping of hands, which were not free or voluntary, nor the confequence of reflections, but the fudden effect of a kind of transport, and enthufiafm, which in a manner fuperfeded their reason, and did not give them time to confider what they did, or where they were. III. This is properly the difference between the ef.fects of the mediate or embellifh kind of eloquence, of which we shall presently treat, and the fublime. *The latter moves, agitates, and raises the foul above Nec tam infolita laus effet profecuta dicentem, fi ufitata & cæteris fimilis fuiffet oratio. Atque ego illos credo, qui aderant, nec fenfifle quid facerent, nec fponte judicioque plaufiffe, fed velut mente captos, & quo effent in loco ignaros,, erupiffe in hunc voluntatis affectum. Quintil. 1. 8. c. 3. u Cicero's oration for Corn, Balbus, n. 9. 16. Longin, chap. 5. itfelf, and inftantly makes such an impreffion on the readers or hearers, as is difficult, if not impoffible, to refift: the remembrance of it continues a long time in our minds, and is not eafily obliterated; whereas the common or ordinary ftile, though full of beauties and elegances, touches only the furface of the foul, as it were, and leaves it in its natural state of tranquility. In a word, the one pleases and fooths, the other ravifhes and tranfports. Thus we do not admire little rivulets, though their waters are clear, transparent, and even useful to us; but we are actually furprised, when we view the Danube, the Nile, the Rhine, and above all the Ocean. IV. The fublime is distinguished into feveral kinds: it is not always vehement and impetuous. Plato's ftile is lofty, though it flows without rapidity or noife. 2 Demofthenes is grand, though clofe and concife; and fo is Cicero, though diffufive and copius. We may compare Demofthenes, on account of his vehemen cy, rapidity, and force, and the violence with which he ravages and carries away all before him, to a ftorm, to thunder. As to Cicero, he devours and confumes, like a great conflagration, whatever comes in his way; with a fire that never goes out, but spreads itself vari ously in his works, and receives fresh strength, as he goes on. To conclude, fays Longinus, the fublime of Demofthenes is undoubtedly much more uteful and ef ficacious in ftrong exaggerations, and violent paffions, when we must astonish, as it were, the auditors. On the other hand, copioufnefs is preferable to it, when we would, if I may ufe the figure, diffufe an agreeable dew over the minds of the people, f V. The true fublime, fays Longinus, confifts in a grand, noble, and magnificent way of thinking and he confequently supposes the 'mind of him who writes or speaks, has nothing low or groveling; but, on the contrary, that it is full of great ideas, generous fenti y Chap. 29. 2 Chap. 103 Chap 7 men ments, and I know not what noble pride, that appears in all his actions. This elevation of mind and ftile. ought to be the image and effect of greatnefs of foul. Darius offered Alexander half Afia with his daughter in marriage. For my part, fays Parmenio, if I, were Alexander, I would accept thefe offers: And I, replies Alexander, if I were Parmenio. Could any man but Alexander have made fuch an answer ? ́ I fhall here give fome examples of fublime thoughts, which will much better explain the beauty and characteristics of them than any precepts.. b Excudent alii fpirantia mollius æra . . . . Tu regere imperio populos, Romane, memento. That is, "Let others better mould the running mass "But Rome, 'tis thine alone with awful fway • Et cuncta terrarum fubacta Præter atrocem animum Catonis. "I fee the world obey; "All yield and own great Cæfar's fway, Befide the ftubborn Cato's haughty foul. } } DRYDEN. CREECH. M. Peliffon fpeaks thus in his elogium on the King. Here he abolished dueling.... Here he knew bow to pardon our faults, to bear with our weaknesses Æn. lib. 6, v. 847, &c. c Horat, Od. z. lib, 2. and |