The Online Library of Liberty

A project of Liberty Fund, Inc.

• Preface
• Key to Abbreviations and References
• Introduction
• 1.: The Manuscript
• 2.: The Lectures
• 3.: Considerations Concerning the First Formation of Languages
• 4.: Rhetoric and Literary Criticism
• 5.: System and Aesthetics
• Bibliographical Note
• Lectures On Rhetoric and Belles Lettres: Lecture 2D.
• Lecture 3D.: Of the Origin and Progress of Language 1
• Lecture 4tha
• Lecture 5. A
• Lecture 6.THA: Of What Is Called the Tropes and Figures of Speech. B
• Lecture. 7. A
• Lecture. 8. A
• Lecture. 9tha
• Lecture. 10tha
• Lecture. 11 a
• Lecture. 12.THA: Of Composition
• Lecture. 13 a
• | Lecture. 14 a
• Lecture 15tha
• Lecture. 16th. a
• Lecture XVII. A
• Lecture Xviii a
• Lecture. Xixth. a
• Lecture. XX.THA
• Lecture Xxist. a
• Lecture Xxiida
• Lecture Xxiiida
• Lecture Xxivtha
• Lecture XXV. A
• Lecture Xxvitha
• Lecture Xxvii a
• Lecture Xxviiitha
• Lecture Xxix a
• Lecture. Xxx a
• Considerations Concerning the First Formation of Languages,&c. &c.1
• Appendix 1 (see P. 32) the Bee, Or Literary Weekly Intelligencer, For Wednesday, May 11, 1791.
• Appendix 2 Table of Corresponding Passages

Lecture XXVII ^a

Friday Feb. 4^th 1763

The Deliberative orations of Demosthenes and Cicero are the only ones of that Sort that have come down to us either in the Greek or Latin languages. And as these are pretty much on the same occasions and designed to bring about the same ends it would be unfair to form a judgement of the Deliberative eloquence of those two nations from so small and confined a specimen. It may not therefore be improper to take also into our consideration those deliberative orations which the severall Greek and Latin Historians have inserted in their works. We are certain it is true that these orations are not genuine and those which were spoke on the occasions they are introduced. But at the same time they will serve to shew what notion those writers had formed of De| 173liberative Eloquence. They will also perhaps appear to be as perfect in their kinds as ^b those either of Demosthenes or Cicero. The Writers had more leisure to correct and polish them than those two great Orators had, who often spoke them on sudden and unexpected occasions.

I shall first consider those which Thucidides has inserted in his history. I mentiond already in treating of the Historicall writers the particular end which that author had in view in composing his history; Which was to explain the causes which brought about the severall important events that happened during this period. I observed also that it was chiefly the externall causes which he calls in to this purpose. Now all his Orations are excellently adapted to this Idea of historicall writing. ^c There are three things which are principally concerned in bringing about the great events of a war (and as it is the history of a war which he writes it is in such he is principally concerned), Viz. The Relative Strength of the conten| 174ding powers at the commencement of the war; The Strength, Fidelity and Good will of their severall allies; and the circumstances in which the ^d armies on both sides were placed, and the different incidents which influenced the success of each particular battle. The ^e whole of his orations are employed in explaining some one or other of these causes. They ^f are sometimes supposed to be deliverd before the commencement of the war and are employed either to persuade the people to enter upon the war or to dissuade them from it; or they are the orations of ^g Ambassadors either asking an Alliance, or defending the condu[e]ct of their countries, or settling the demands of the contending powers either before the war broke out or in order to bring about an accommodation; or they are those of Generalls at the head of their armies encouraging them to battle. ^h

Of about 48 Orations which there are inserted in Thucidides history, there | 175 are about 12 or 13 which are represented as the orations of those who were recommending war to their countrymen. These evidently tend to make us acquainted with the comparative strength, the valour, the designs and interests of the ⁱ contending parties. In these and indeed in all his other orations he has made chief use of those arguments which in deliberative orations are alone convincing and conclusive. The arguments as I mentioned before which may be used to persuade one to undertake any enterprise are 3 sorts; they either shew the utility ^j and the honourableness of it, or 2^dly The Practicability, or thirdly they are such as take in both these considerations together, and shew that the Undertaking is both usefull and Practicable to them in their present situation. These latter are those which are conclusive and convincing as they alone are suited to the particular occasion on which they are delivered.

There <is> also a good number of Orations of Am| 176bassadors, asking alliance with particular States, etc. But the far greater part of his Orations are those of Generalls at the head of their armies. There are 6 or 7 orations besides which do not touch upon either of these Subjects, but then they are very well adapted to bring about the generall end of his history. The 1^st is that which I formerly mentioned of Pericles where he draws the Characters of the Athenians and Lacedemonians. It is evident that this will tend greatly to explain the events of the war, as nothing [nothing] gives greater light into any train of actions than the characters of the actors. The Consultation of the Athenians concerning the Punishment that should be inflicted by the Athenians on the ^k who had broke their allian<c>e and were then reduced into subjection fournishes matter for 4 Orations, two of which reccommend the Greatest Severity and the other two a mitigation of their punishment. The Reduction of Mytylene also affords the Subject of two others on the head of their ^l punishment. The first day of the assembly Creon advised the putting of the whole inhabitants | 177 to the sword, which was accordingly agred to, and a boat dispatched with the orders. But the next day Democritus, a man of a milder and more humane temper, called them together and so changed the temper of the Athenians that they took the whole people again into their protection and Alliance, or more properly subjection in the same manner as they had been before. 1

The affair of the Megareans, 2 who had been attacked by the Lacedemonians as Refusing their Commerce, has been the subject of severall of his Deliberative Orations; that which Pericles is said to have delivered on this occasion may serve as an ensample of his particular manner and Stile in the Deliberative orations. In this Oration, the point he insists most upon is the practicability of succeeding in a war against the Lacedemonians. He passes over the Utility and Reasonableness of it as he had explained that in the former Orations on this head. He does not however consider those in the abstract, but has shewed the justness of the causes that influenced them | 178 to declare war and the great necessity of doing so, and in this he sets forth the great superiority the Athenians had over the Lacedemonians. In this Oration as his design is to inform the Reader of the Situation of the Athenians at that time and the motives for undertaking the war, but chiefly of their superiority over the Lacedemonians at that time, so for the better understanding of these he thought it proper to divide his oration into these seperate parts; and tho he does <not> divide the discourse into a 1^st, 2^d and 3^d part, yet the transition from the one subject to the other is distinctly marked. As the instruction of his Reader is what he has chiefly in view, so he has no occasion to introduce any ornamentall and what are called oratorial expressions; far less any exageratory or hyperbolicall ones. Plain downright strong arguments are what best suited with his design and are accordingly what is the matterialls of all his Orations. From this it procee[e]ds that his orations are all so much alike. | 179 The character of the Speaker has no influence; for as the instruction of the Reader in the causes of the chief events is what he aims at here as well as in the other parts of his book, the arguments which are deduced from these are what chiefly suit his design. {An old man and a young, a passionate and a calm, talk ^m in the same way. The ⁿand the ⁿ the Superstitious and Solemn Cleon, and the loose, merry and debauched Alcibiades harangue in the same Stile.}

The whole of the Orations therefore which are introduced in debates with regard to peace or war before the commencement of it are of the same sort. There is no more variety in those where the ambassadors of one state ^o ask the alliance of another; the arguments here all tend to shew the advantage such an alliance would be of to the parties and the dissadvantage of rejecting it; and in the same manner his orations for Generalls all tend to the same end; to set forth the necessity of engaging and the probability they had to conquer from the nature and circumstances of their situation. {The arguments he uses are in all cases such as would have most weight with the hearers, without considering what those were which would most naturally occurr to one of such a particular temper and would most strongly prompt him to such or such a scheme of conduct or particular action.} By this means tho his Orations have properly speakin[n]g no character at all which they | 180 display, yet they tend greatly to illustrate the particular incidents. His Orations on peace and war have none of those Generall expression<s> which are so common in other historians, no declamations on the Glory of Conquering or falling in the defense of liberty nor other such like. Nor his Ambassadorianones any of those highflown expressions generally used on such occasions, as the Glory and Heroism of Defending the oppressed etc.—Nor those of the generalls any one generall and commonplace expression[s] on the magnanimity of expos[s]ing themselves to the haza<r>d either of conquering or of falling in the field ^p of honour etc. By this means, tho the Orations on each Subject are of the same kind, yet those regarding one debate on peace and war could not apply to any other, nor those of one allian<c>e to the circumstances of any other in the whole Book; And tho he has above 20 Orations of Generalls, yet none of them could be interchanged without being easily perceivd.

| 181 The Deliberative orations of Livy have a considerable resemblance to those of Thucidides and are at the same time very different. For this reason it will perhaps tend to give us the more distinct notion of both to make a comparison betwixt their different manners. The design of Livy seems to be much the same with that of Thucidides, to wit, to explain the causes of the severall remarkable events whose history he relates. The causes too which he assigns are in generall the externall ones. But tho this be his chief plan yet he does not adhere so much by it, as not to give place to what appears to be entertaining and amusing to his Readers. Thucidides never relates any fact but what is some way connected with the principall events of the history, nor does he introduce any speeches but such as tend to illustrate the causes or circumstances of some important event or one nearly connected with them. In both of these respects he is widely different from Livy. That author | 182 never omitts any event which promises to be interesting and affecting to his Readers however little connected with the chief events he is to relate. And as he never omitts any event of this sort, so he commonly puts a speech into the mouth of the person chiefly affected expressing his sentiments on that head. As an instance of this we may observe the account he gives of the discord betwixt Demetrius and Persius, the sons of Philip of Macedon the 2^d of that Name. 3 These he tells us came to such a pitch that the one at length told his father that his brother intended to murder ^q him. The father then calls his sons before him to hear the cause, and we have a speech of his on this occasion; not after he had heard the cause as a judge summing up the arguments and ballancing them together; but before he had heard the cause expressing how greatly he was affected by his situation; being the judge betwixt his sons and obliged to discover either one guilty of an attempt of Patricide, or one who had falsely accused his brother etc. | 183 We have also the speeches of the brothers, where there is indeed some attempt to record a proof, but the far greater part is employd in expressing how greatly they were affected in being obliged to justify themselves each by accusing his brother, etc. But Philip at last concludes that he would not determine the cause by one hearing but examine into all the actions of their lives and the generall tenor of their behaviour. So that Livy has here bestowed 3 speeches 4 on an event which tends not in the least to illustrate the principall ones, nor had even any effect on the fate of the persons concerned.

There are two speeches, on<e> in Thucydides and the other in Livy, which are on very similar circumstances and in many things resemble one another so much that Brissonius affirms that Livy has copied his from Thucidides. 5 The occasion of that in Thucidides was the Embassy of the Corcyrians to Athens asking their Alliance against the Corinthians with whom the Athenians were then at war. The Reasoning here is the strongest pos| 184sible: They represent how that they were under a necessity of joining themselves to one or the other party. They were then the 2^d maritime power, as Holland; Athens the 1^st, as Britain; and Corinth the 3^d, as France. They represent therefore that if the Athenians accepted of their alliance they would without doubt <be> superior to their foes; but if they rejected it and obliged them to join with the Corinthians they would then be equall if not superior to them; and other arguments no less convincing. The Case of the Capuans and the speech of their ambassadors is exactly similar to this. The Samnites were to them as the Corinthians to the people of Corcyra. The arguments in both are so similar that it is very probable Livy borrowed those of greatest strength from Thucidides. But besides these there are many which tend only to shew how much the Ambassadors and the people of Capua were interested in it and how much they themselves were affected by it, but tend little to make it appear reasonable to the | 185 Romans. The arguments used thro the whole of his Orations are such as rather shew the great affections and desires of the speaker than tend to convince the audience; they are very strong to the speaker but not of great weight with the hearer. As his speeches are those of persons deeply and passionately interested in the cause they have consequently no set division, no transition distinctly marked from one part of the subject to another. But altho they are not thus regularly divided yet the ^r sentences follow one another in a naturall order, each one suggestin<g> that which follows it. Whereas in Thucidides there is no connection particularly observ’d in the severall sentence[e]s altho the whole be distinctly divided. The one is the naturall language of one deeply interested in the subject he spoke on, the other that of a calm sedate man who valued nothing but strong and ^s solid arguments.

The Deliberative orations of Tacitus are considerably different either from those of Thucidides or of Livy. They are however very consi| 186stent with that Idea of Historicall writing which Tacitus entertaind and which we have already explained. He is at no pains in any of them to unfold the causes of events in his orations, they are altogether designed to interest and affect the reader. The arguments therefore which he brings into them are such as would have been very strong with the speaker but would have no effect with the audien<c>e. Thus in the speech which Germanicus, 6 makes to the soldiers to bring them from the sedition there is not one argument which would induce them to quit it, all that he says tends only to shew his own desire that they should leave it, and the great effects which it had on him. We will see that Tacitus carries this to a much greater length than Livy if we compare this speech with one in the 2^d Book of Livy, 7 which he puts in the mouth of Valerius Corvus addressed to the soldiers who had revolted and obliged Tit<us> Quinctius to take the command. In this speech | 187 the sedi<tio>n was far from being of such consequence as that of the Legions under Germanicus, yet there is greatly more of argument and Reasoning than in that which Tacitus gives Germanicus.

Livy, we may observe here, tho he uses a great many arguments in his Deliberative orations which could be of no weight with the audience, carefully avoids them in his Judiciall ones of which he has severall. It would be altogether absurd to introduce one defending himself barely by alledging how sorry he was to die etc. etc. etc. As Livy is a sort of Medium betwixt Tacitus and Thucidides, so is Xenophon betwixt Thucidides and Livy. In his Judiciall orations he introduces a great deal more of strong argument than Livy and more convincing Reasoning; But at the same time he has a great deal more of the affecting and interesting arguments which display the character of the speaker than is to be met with in Livy. The Oration 8 which he says he delivered himself to the soldiers | 188 when they demanded the plunder of ^t may serve to shew all these particulars. It will also serve as an instance of that ^u Simplicity and innocence of manners which is so conspicuous in all his works. ^v

[a]MS XXVI; date squeezed in as afterthought

[b]eith deleted

[c]For deleted

[d]y were deleted

[e]fa deleted

[f]either deleted

[g]the deleted

[h]one blank line follows

[i]worst o deleted

[j]of the deleted

[k]Mytilenians supplied conjecturally by JML for a blank of eight letters in MS beginning with part of M

[l]head deleted

[1 ]The Athenian debate on how to treat the defaulting Mytilenians becomes an argument between Cleon (not Creon) son of Cleaenetus, who advocates putting them to death, and Diodotus (not Democritus) son of Eucrates, who takes a humane position (Thucydides, III.xxxvi–xlviii). It therefore resembles the Roman case referred to at ii.170 n.8 above. On Cleon cf. ii.144 n.5. He appears as a ruthless demagogue with crude but effective oratorical methods; but his treatment by Aristophanes in (e.g.) the Knights is still harsher: mean, ignorant and venal. 179 below is another comment on him.

[2 ]Thucydides, I.cxl–cxliv; cf. ii.124 n.15 above.

[m]MS take

[n–n]two blanks of about ten letters each in MS

[o]are the deleted

[p]changed from bed

[3 ]Philip V of Macedon (238–179 bc).

[q]changed from murther

[4 ]The rivalry between Philip’s sons, the jealous elder Perseus and Demetrius whom he accuses before his father of being a traitor, is recorded in Livy XL.v–xv: the agonised speech of the father called on to be judge (viii), Perseus’ charge (ix–xi), Demetrius’ answer (xii–xv).

[5 ]The notes on Livy by the jurist Barnabé Brisson, President of the Parlement of Paris, were collected from his juridical works (especially De Formulis) with those of Justus Lipsius and others in the edition of Livy by the Flemish jurist François Modius (1588 and later editions). The note on Livy VII.xxx points to borrowing from the account of a similar incident by Thucydides. The latter (l.xxxii–xliii) professes to report the opposing speeches of the Corcyrean and Corinthian ambassadors to the Athenians; the Corinthians are anxious that the Athenian fleet should not join the Corcyrean. In Livy the Campanian ambassadors address to the Roman Senate a plea that Capua may be spared.

[r]arguments deleted

[s]illegible word deleted

[6 ]Annales, I.xlii–xliii: the moving speech of Germanicus grieving and indignant over the treatment of his wife and young son.

[7 ]VII.xl–xli. The scribe has misheard ‘seventh book’ as ‘second’.

[8 ]Anabasis, VII.i.25–31: the Athenians have entered on this war with the Lacedaemonians possessed of great military and material resources, and many cities, including ‘this very city of Byzantium’ and its plunder (27).

[t]blank of seven letters in MS

[u]plai deleted

[v]rest of 188 blank