A. Cicero.

Q. What does his name suggest?

A. Every thing that is splendid in Oratory. In all his Ŏrations, is high Art. His method is clear; his language, full and flowing; his manner, magnificent; and his sentiments, highly moral.

Q. What are his chief defects?

A. Great vanity and an ostentatious parade of eloquence.

Q. Which has generally been considered the greatest orator, Cicero or Demosthenes? A. Demosthenes.

Q. Was their style of eloquence the same? A. No. The character of Demosthenes is vigour and austerity; that of Cicero, gentleness and insinuation. In the one, you find more manliness; in the other, more ornament. Q. Was eloquence cultivated after the age of Cicero ?

A. No. It soon languished under the Roman Emperors and expired.

Q. What gave rise to a new species of eloquence, in the decline of the Roman Empire ? A. The introduction of Christianity.

Q. Where was it exhibited ?

A. In the Apologies, Sermons, and Pastoral writings of the Fathers of the Church.

Q. Who, of the Latin Fathers, were most distinguished for eloquence?

A. Lactantius, Minutius Felix, Augustine. Q. Did any of them afford just models of eloquence ?

A. No. Their language was harsh; they had a love of swoln and strained thoughts and of a play of words, which was the taste of their age. Q. Who among the Greeks?

A. Crysostom. He is copious, smooth, and sometimes, pathetic.

Q. What has been the state of eloquence in modern times?

A. Far inferior to its state in Greece and Rome.

Q. Where has it been chiefly cultivated? A. In France and England.

Q. What reason can be given for the inferiority of modern to ancient eloquence ?

A. Among the moderns there is a more correct turn of thinking, which guards them against the power of Oratory; and there are no fields of eloquence, like those enjoyed by the Ancients.

Q. What curbs the Orator in the parliament of Great Britain?

A. The power of the Ministry.

Q. What, at the bar?

A. The extent and precision of the law.
Q. What, in the pulpit ?

A. The practice of reading sermons and the character of the composition ;-an English sermon being a piece of dry reasoning rather than a persuasive, animated Oration.

Q. What is the characteristical difference between the state of eloquence in France and England?

A. In France the style of orators is orna

mented with bolder figures, and carried on with more warmth and elevation than in Great Britain.

ELOQUENCE OF POPULAR ASSEM

BLIES.

Q. How did the Ancients divide all Orations?

A. Into the demonstrative; the deliberative; and the judicial.

Q. What was the scope of these?

A. That of the demonstrative was to praise or blame; that of the deliberative, to advise or dissuade; that of the judicial, to accuse or condemn.

Q. Where were these employed?

A. The first, on gratulatory and funeral occasions; the second, in matters of public concern before the Senate and people; the third, in addressing Judges.

Q. What division of eloquence does the train of modern speaking point out?

A. The eloquence of popular assemblies, of the bar, and the pulpit.

Q. What is the object of popular speaking?
A. Persuasion.

Q. What should be the basis?

A. Argument and reasoning.

What should characterize it?

A. Sincerity; earnestness and warmth; method and decorum.

Q. What should be the style?

A. Free and easy; strong and descriptive. Q. What, the delivery?

A. Determined and firm.

Q. Is it safe advocating the wrong side of a question? A. No. Seldom or never will a man be eloquent, but when he is in earnest, and uttering his own sentiments.

Q. Should public speeches be pre-composed?

A. No; but they should be well arranged in the speaker's mind. He should always, if possible, premeditate; but his premeditation should be of things rather than of words.

Q. Where are the best specimens of vigorous and spirited eloquence to be found? A. In the Orations of Demosthenes.

ELOQUENCE OF THE BAR.

Q. What is the great object of a speaker at the bar ?

A. Conviction.

To show what is true and just, rather than what is good or useful. Q. How does the eloquence of the bar differ from that of popular assemblies ?

A. It is more cool and dispassionate. No scope is allowed to the imagination. The

field of speaking is confined to precise law and statute.

Q. Are the judicial orations of Demosthenes and Cicero adapted to the present state of the bar ?

A. No; far from it. The judges, anciently formed a popular assembly; and eloquence, more than jurisprudence, was the study of those who plead.

Q. In what must the foundation of a Lawyer's reputation and success be laid ? A. In a profound knowledge of his profession.

Q. What else may be considered almost equally essential?

A. A diligent attention to every cause with which he is entrusted, so as to be thoroughly master of all the facts and circumstances relating to it.

Q. Possessed of knowledge of law, and of his case, what is now necessary to success? A. Eloquence in pleading.

Q. What kind of Eloquence?

A. Eloquence of the calm and temperate kind, and connected with close reasoning.

Q What effect have a florid style and a sparkling manner?

A. They detract from his weight and produce a suspicion of his failing in strength of argument.

Q. What is a common fault with speakers at the bar?

... A. Verbosity.