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nay, fugitive slaves. Submit yourselves "then to toil and labour for the present. "This toil and labour will be of no long "continuance it will defeat your enemies, "and guard your freedom." The natural order was this: "O Ionians, now is the time "to submit to toil and labour, for your af"fairs are come to their crisis," &c. But as he transposed the salutation, Ionians, and after having thrown them into consternation, subjoins it; it seems as if fright had hindered him, at setting out, from paying due civility to his audience. In the next place, he inverts the order of the thoughts. Before he exhorts them to "submit to toil and la"bour" (for that is the end of his exhortation) he mentions the reason why labour and toil must be undergone. "Your affairs (says

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he) are come to their crisis,"--so that his. words seem not premeditated, but to be forced unavoidably from him.

But Thucydides is still more of a perfect master in that surprising dexterity of transposing and inverting the order of those things, which seem naturally united and inseparable. Demosthenes indeed attempts not this so often as Thucydides, yet he is more discretely liberal of this kind of Figure than

any

any other writer. 4 He seems to invert the very order of his discourse, and what is more, to utter every thing extempore; so that by means of his long Transpositions he drags his readers along, and conducts them through

* The eloquence of St. Paul, in most of his speeches and argumentations, bears a very great resemblance to that of Demosthenes, as described in this section by Longinus. Some important point being always uppermost in his view, he often leaves his subject, and flies from it with brave irregularity, and as unexpectedly again returns to his subject, when one would imagine that he had entirely lost sight of it. For instance, in his defence before king Agrippa, Acts, chap. xxvi. when, in order to wipe off the aspersions thrown upon him by the Jews, that he was a turbulent and seditious person, he sets out with clearing his character, proving the integrity of his morals, and his inoffensive unblameable behaviour, as one who hoped, by those means, to attain that happiness of another life, for which the twelve tribes served God continually in the temple; on a sudden he drops the continuation of his defence, and cries out, "Why should it be thought a thing incredible with

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you, that God should raise the dead?" It might be reasonably expected, that this would be the end of his argument; but by flying to it, in so quick and unexpected a transition, he catches his audience before they are aware, and strikes dumb his enemies, though they will not be convinced. And this point being once carried, he comes about again as unexpectedly, by, I verily thought, &c. and goes on with his defence, till it brings him again to the same point of the Resurrection, in

ver. 23.

all

all the intricate mazes of his discourse: frequently arresting his thoughts in the midst of their career, he makes excursions into different subjects, and intermingles several seemingly unnecessary incidents: By this means he gives his audience a kind of anxiety, as if he had lost his subject, and for-" gotten what he was about; and so strongly engages their concern, that they tremble for and bear their share in the dangers of the speaker: At length after a long ramble, he very pertinently, but unexpectedly, returns to his subject, and raises the surprise and admiration of all, by these daring, but happy Transpositions. The plenty of examples, which every where occur in his orations, will be my excuse for giving no particular instance.

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SECTION XXIII.

1

THOSE Figures, which are called 1 Polyp

Polyptotes.] Longinus gives no instance of this Figure: "but one may be produced from Cicero's oration for Calius, where he says: "We will contend with ar"guments, we will refute accusations by evidences

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brighter than light itself: fact shall engage with fact, cause with cause, reason with reason.' To which may be added that of Virgil, Æn. lib. x. ver. 361.

-Hæret pede pes, densusque viro vir.

DR. PEARCE.

totes,

1

1

3

totes, as also2 Collections, Changes, and 4 Gradations, are (as you know, my friend) well adapted to emotion, and serviceable in adorning, and rendering what we say, in all re

2 Collections.] The orator makes use of this Figure, when instead of the whole of a thing, he numbers up all its particulars: of which we have an instance in Cicero's oration for Marcellus: "The centurion has no share "in this honour, the lieutenant none, the cohort none, "the troop none." If Cicero had said, "The soldiers "have no share in this honour," this would have declared his meaning, but not the force of the speaker. See also Quinctilian, Instit. Orat. l. viii. c. 2. de congerie verborum ac sententiarum idem significantium.

DR. PEARCE.

3 Changes.] Quinctilian gives an instance of this Figure, Instit. Orat. l. ix. c. 3, from Cicero's oration for Sex. Roscius: "For though he is master of so much "art, as to seem the only person alive who is fit to appear upon the stage; yet he is possessed of such "noble qualities, that he seems to be the only man "alive who may seem worthy never to appear there.”

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DR. PEARCE.

Gradations.] There is an instance of this Figure in Rom. v. It is continued throughout the chapter, but the branches of the latter part appear not plainly, because of the Transpositions. It begins ver. 1. "There"fore being justified by faith, we have peace with God, "through our Lord Jesus Christ. By whom also we "have access by faith into this grace, wherein we stand, "and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. And not "only so, but we glory in tribulations also, knowing "that tribulation worketh patience; and patience, ex"perience; and experience hope; and hope maketh "not ashamed, because, &c. &c."

spects,

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spects, more grand and affecting. And to what an amazing degree do Changes either of Time, Case, Person, Number, Gender, diversify and enliven the style!

As to Change of Numbers, I assert, that in words singular in form may be discerned all the vigour and efficacy of plurals, and that such singulars are highly ornamental.

Along the shores an endless crowd appear, Whose noise and din and shouts confound the ear.

But plurals are most worthy of remark, because they impart a greater magnificence to the style, and by the copiousness of number give it more emphasis and grace. So the words of Oedipus in Sophocles'

-Oh! nuptials, nuptials!

You first produc'd, and since our fatal birth Have mix'd our blood, and all our race confounded,

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Changes of Case and Gender fall not under the district of the English tongue. On those of Time, Person, and Number, Longinus enlarges in the sequel.

"The beauty of this Figure will, I fear, be lost in the translation. But it must be observed, that the word crowd, is of the singular, and appear, of the plural number. Allowance must be made in such cases; for when the genius of another language will not retain it, the original beauty must unavoidably fly off.

* Oedip. Tyran. ver. 1417.

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