in the greateft veneration. Temples were
eredted, and divine honours paid to Ofiris
under the fignre of an ox ; and the prielleflles
of Ifis facrihced to that goddefs under dif-
H h a. iercnt
468
ELEGANT EXTRACTS,
Book XT)
ferent (hapes, according to the purpofes for
which they were intended. And, as iable
is faid to take its origin trom the Egyptians,
it will appear, from their intercourfe v/ith
the Jews long refident in -^gypt, that a
mixture of true religion and error increafed
that falfe worfnip, which iirtt prevailed in
that country, and afterwards fpread into
Rome, and the more dillant parts of the
world, Thefe gods of the ^Egyptians were
worlhipped under various names and cha-
rafters, according to the prevailing opinion
of different countries, or fonie other inci-
dent. Thus, according to Herodotus, Ofiris
and Bacchus are the fame •, according to
Diodorus the hillorian, Ofiris is Sol, Ju-
piter, &-C. and Plutarch fays, Oliris, Se-
rapis, and Apis of the ^Egyptians, are Pluto,
Oceanus, &c. in the Roman mythology.
Ifis is faid to be the fame with the Ro-
man Cybcle, Ceres, Minerva, Luna, &c.
and Mas called the mother of the gods,
Orus alfo was the fy mbol of light, and was
figured as a winged boy. He was named
the Hermes of the Greeks, and the Apollo
and Cupid of the Pvomans.
Both in - ^gA'pt and Rome, each deity
had his peculiar temple, where the moft fo-
]emn facrifices were made to them, accord-
ing to the prevailing notion of their power
and influence. The worlliip of thefe gods
fo far prevailed among the Romans, that
they erefted to their honour a public edifice
named the Pantheon, in which, as a general
repofitory, were placed the ilatues of their
feveral deities, with their refpeftive fym-
bols : Jupiter was diftinguiflicd by a thun-
derbolt ; Juno by a crown ; Mars by a
helmet j Apollo, or the Sun, by its beams ;
Diana, or the Moon, by a crefcent ; Ceres
by a cornucopia, or horn of plenty, or an
ear of corn ; Cupid by a bundle of arrows ;
Mercury by wings on his feet, and a cadu-
ceus, or wand, in his hand; Baccli^us by
the ivy ; Venus by the beauty of her per-
fon ; and the reft had the like diftinguifliing
characters placed abo\e their ftatues, or in
their hands, according to the received opl-
xiicn of the people, or the ingenuity of the
artiii:,
O/* Oracles.
The Oracles of the ancients were
deemed the prediftions, myfterious decla-
rations of the will of the gods : it may,
with a kind of oertainty, be admitted, that
the natural bent of the mind of man to
fearch into futurity gave rife to this infti-
tuuon. .
To whatever caufe, however, the origio S
may be afcribed, the inifitution of oraclet I
became general, among the idolatrous na-
tions, and increafed over the face of the |
whole earth. Not to mention other na-
tions, the oracles of the ^Egyptians and
Greeks were numerous, efpecially of the
latter people, at leafl we have a more full
account of them. The oracle of Dodona,
a city of Epirus in Greece, was facred to
Jupiter; the oracle of Jupiter Hammon
was alfo of ancient date, and famous la
Lybia ; the oracle of Apollo at Heliopolia
was of great note; the oracle alfo of Apollo
at Delphos, if not the mofl: ancient, was the
moft celebrated of all Greece, infomuch
that it v/as called the oracle of the whole
earth. And, indeed, fo eftablifhed was the i
credit of thefe oracular declarations, that
the enadling laws, the reformation of go-
vernment, alfo peace or war, were not un-
dertaken by ftates or princes, and even iu
the more common concerns of life, no ma-
terial bufmefs was entered upon without the
fanftion of the oracle. Each Oracle had its
prieft or prieftefs, who delivered out the
anfwers of the gods. Thefe anfwers, for
the moft part, were in verfe, and couched
^nder fuch myfterious terms, that they ad-
mitted of a double interpretation ; info-
much, that whether the prediftions was
completed, or the expeftation of the fup-
plicant difapppinted, the oracle was clear
from blame. The oracle of Apollo at Del-
phos, being in the greateft reputation, was
reforted to from all parts. The prieftefs of
Apollo was named Pythia, from the ferpent
P)thon, killed by that god, as is before
mentioned. The offerings to the gods on.
thefe applications were liberal, according
to the ability, or the importance of the an-
fwer required by the fupplicant ; and, it is
faid, the temple and city of Delphos efpe-
cially, was, by thefe means, filled with
immenfe treafure.
The principal oracle of the Egyptians
was at Memphis, a royal city of ^gypt,
where they ereded an altar, and worfhipped
their god Apis, under the figure of an ox.
His wife Ifis had alfo worfhip, and her
priefts were called Ifiaci.
The Sybilline Oracles were certain
women, whom the ancients believed to be
endued with the gift of prophecy. They
are faid to have been ten in number, and were
famous in all lands. They had no fixed _re-
fidence,but travelled into different countries,
and delivered their prediftions in verfe, in
the Greek tongue. One of thefe Sybils,
named
Book II. CLASSICAL AND HISTORICAL. 469
lamed Erythrsa, or Cumsea, from Cuma, door of error, and introduced an alteradon
1 city in the Ionian fca, according to Vir- in worfliip, agreeable to the foil, or rather
;;], came into Italy, and was held in the according to the humour, or fome acciden-
ligheft cfteem by the Romans, who con- tal event of the refpeftive colonies.
Lilted the oracle of the Sybil on all occafions However confufed and erroneous the ge-
hat related to the welfare of the republic. neral worfliip of man became, it is CA-idenf,
from every circumftance, that, i-ii the firft
Augury, or the art of divination by ages of the world, mankind knew but one
ilrds, the meteors of the heavens,, or the Deity, the Supreme God, and Creator
-ntrails of beafts, was held In the higheft of the univerfe; but afterwards, when men
veneration by the idolatrous nations. The abandoned thomfelves to vice, and, as is
-leople of God, the Jews, were not free
from idolatry in the time of Mofes ; ,and
i\e read alfo in holy writ, that Saul, being
vexed in fpirit, applied to the feers, or per-
sons Ikilled in the knowLdge of futurity.
But not to go fo far back, Romulus and
[Remus confulted the Auguries before they
ibuilt Rome ; and the foundation of that
icitv was determined by th' flieht of birds.
faid in Scripture, '* went a whoring after
" their own inventions," and departed from
the purity of their forefathers, their ideas
of the Divinity became weakened, and in-
ftead of the worfhip of the only Tru e God,
they fubftituted other deities, or objefts of
worihip, more agreeable to the comprehen-
fion of their own depraved nature. Thus,
by a mixture of truth and fable, one deity
no national
without firft
coi
'Ni:ma ellablifiied a college of Augurs, and became produftive of another, till atlaftthe
conrirmed his regulation of the Roman ftate iiiA^entive fancy gradually gave life to every
by their fandHoiT. It 'appears alfo, in the vifible objeft, both in the heavens, and on
earth. Thus, " having changed the glory
" of the uncorruptible God, into an image
" made like corruptible man, and to birds,
" and four-footed • beafts, and creeping
" things, and ferving the creature moro
Indeed the Augurs, aiid their declaration^" than the Creator," not only Jupiter,
were held in fo high regard by the Romans, Mars, Venus, and other falfe deities, but
that whoever contemned them was accounted ftars, rivers, and fountains, animals, reptiles,
impious and prophane. To conclude, divi- and plants, received divine adoration. At
hiitory of that people, that
concern was entered upon,
fulting the Auguries; and, according
to the propitious or bad omen, they made
Ipeace or war, and appointed magiftrates
ination, or the fpirit of prediftion, made
confiderable part of the Pagan theology, ef-
length
in any
great men and heroes, who excelled
" ful fcience, or became famous by
pecially among the Romans, thofe lords of conquefls, or a fuperior conduft of life, by
the world, who fell into the general delu- an eafy tranfition from admiration to a fu-
fion, and adopted almoft all the gods of peruitious refpefl, were deemed more than
human, and had divinehonours paid to them
alfo under different names, in diiferent
countries ; or, probably, prompted by am-
bition, they affumed to themfelves the ho-
every people they fubdued.
Conclusion. Of Fabulous llifiory.
Notvvithftanding the origin of fable feems
uncertain, and to be loft in antiquity, it
may be faid to take its rife from truths or
facred hiftory. And, in the foregoing re-
lation of the Heathen deities, it is evident.
;e and adoration that was due only to the
Divine Creator, the Almighty Lord,
and Governor of the world. This accounts
for that multitude of deities, both in heaven
mUny particulars correfpond with the hiftory and on earthy which makes the marvellous
of the moft early tranfaftions, as thev are part of ancient ficHon, and became the objedl
recorded by Mofes in holy writ. The golden of Pagan divinity, when the earth was over-
age of Saturn, the wars'of the Giants, the wlielmed with darknefs, and, as is expreffed
deluge of Deucalion, and the repeopling of in holy writ, " the hearts of men went
the earth, declare their origin from divine " after their idols,"
truth, as received and delivered down by The fertile imagination of the poets, who
the patriarchs. celebrated the exploits of the ancient heroes.
On the confufion of tongues at the build- and expreffed the common actions of life in
ing of Babel, and the difperfion of man- figurative charaders, joined to the extrava-
kind, the tradition of the patriarchs became gance of priefts and orators in their pane-
fubjeft to variation ; and, as is obferved by gyrics on the living and the dead,_ greatly
the learned Rollin, the change of habita- forwarded the work of fable: and in time,
tion, and diverfuy of language, opened the learning being obliterated, their writings
470
ELEGANT EXTRAC X^,
Book ir.I
were looked upon as regifters of fafts. Thus
the world, grown old in error, by the folly
and credulity of mankind, fiftion got ad-
iriUHon i.ito hiftory, and became at laft a
though we have feen fome excellent poets,
and a few good painters, rife up amongft
us, yet I know not whether our nation can
fupply us with a fmgle orator of deferved
the early ages of the world.
For this caufe, an acquaintance with fa-
bulous hiftory, as is before obferved, is be-
come a neceffary part of polite learning in
the education of youth, and for the due
underftanding the Greek and Roman au-
thors ; alfo :;;e paintings, ftatues, and other
tnonuments of antiquity. By this know-
ledge, the tender mind will moreoAer be
infpired with an early abhorrence of the
abfurd ceremonies and impious tenets of the
Heathen mythology ; and, at the fame time,
be impreffed with the dcepeft fenfe and ve-
neration for the Chriftian religion, the light
of the Gofpel in Christ Je!,us, who, in
the fulnefs of time, through the tender
mercies of God, difpelkd thofe clouds of is more the effeA of accident than defign,
darknefs, ignorance, and folly, which had
long debafed human nature, and fpread over
the face of the earth the greatelt and mofl
ncceiTary part in compofmg the annals of eminence. One cannot but be furnrifed at
this, when it is confitierpd, that we have a
profeffion fet apart for the purpofes of per-
fuafion, and which not only affords the molt
animating and interefting topics of rhetoric,
but wherein a talent of this kind would
prove the likelieft, perhaps, of any other,
to obtain thofe ambitious prizes which were
thought to contribute fo much to the fuc-
cefsful prcgrefs of ancient eloquence.
Among the principal defeats of our Eng-
lifh orators, their general difregard of har-
mony lias, I think, been the leaft obferved.
It would be injufticc indeed to deny that
we iiave fome performances of this kind
amongft us tolerably mufical : but it mufl
be acknowledged at the fame time, that it i
^1
I*
and rather a proof of the power of our
guage, than of the art of our orators
abfurd fuperftitions, as is before "related,
and will tarther appear from many incidents
in the hiftories of Greece and Rome.
Dr. Tillotfon, who is frequently men
tioned as having carried this fpecies of elo.
<|uence to its higheft perfeftion, feem.s to;
have had no fort of notion of rhetorical
2?Q. Concermtis^ the NegleB of Oratorical StL^ \ j- i '• c /i- xi j
â– KT 1 r\i ,-^ ^ 7> rp iWit hazarding the imputation of an affetted
JSumbers, — Ub cr^vations upon Dr. liL- ,• , • s_ t ^r- i " u j
, o >' crt /■' r .r • iinL'-ularit\', that I think no man had ever
LOTSON J o/)7t. — I he Lare ryf the ancie?it , ,- ^ ,- ^ ■^-l ^i •
- -^ lels pretenhons to genuine oratory than this
celebrated preacher? If any thing coujd
raife a flame of eloquence in the brealt of aa
orator, there is no occafioii upon which one
fhould imagine it would be more likely to
break out, than in celebrating departed
merit : )'et the two fermons which he preach-
ed on the death of Mr. Gouge and Dr.
Whichcote, are as cold and languid per-
formances as were ever, perhaps, produced
upon fuch an animating fubjeft. One can-
not indeed but regret, that he, who abounds
enerous fentiments.
Orators "jjith rejpeti to Isumerous Compoji-
tmifjiatedand reco/nmended. In a Letter,
The paflage you quote is entirely in my
fentiments. I agree with that celebrated
author and yourfelf, that our oratory is bv
no means in a ftate of perleftion ; and,
though it has much llrength and folidity,
that it may yet be rendered far more po-
lilhed and affeding. The gro^vth, indeed,
of eloquence, even in thofe countries where
fhe flourilhed moft, has ever been exceed-
ingly flow. Athens had been in pofl'efiion
of ail the other polite improvements, long
before her pretenlions to the perfuafive arts
were in any degree 'confiderable; as the
cailieft orator of note among the Romans
did not appear fooner than about a century
before Tully.
That great matter of perfuafion, taking
notice cf this remarkable circumftance,
afiigns it as an evidence of the fuperior dif-
ficulty of his favourite art. Poffibly there
ipay be fome truth in the obfervation : but
whatever the caufe be, the faft, I believe,
is undeniable. Accordingly eloquence has
by no means made equal advances, in our
«5vvn country, with her liller arts; and
I
with fuch noble and
fhould want the art of letting them off with
all the advantage they deferve ; that the fu-
blime in morals fliouid not be attended with
a fuitable elevation of language. The truth
however is, his words are frequently ili-
chofen, and almoft always ill-placed : his ,!
periods are both tedious and unharmonious j
as his metaphors are generally mean, and,
often ridiculous. It were eafy to produce <^
numberlefs inftances in fupport of this afler-.
tion. Thus, in his ferm.Qn preached befores^
queen Anne, when fhe was priracefs of|
Denmark, he talks of fqueezing a parable,
thrufiing religion by, driving a ftrift bar-
gain with God, {harking fhifts* &c- ^'^^»,
fpeaking
ifiiJooK ir. CLASSICAL AND H-ISTORICAL. 47!
caking of the day of judgment, he de-
ribes the world as cracking about our ears.
cannot however but acknowledge, in juf-
ice to the oratorical charafter of this moft
Tully produces of its wonderful efFea. He
informs us, you may remember, in one of
his rhetorical treat! fes, that he was himfelf
witnefs of its influence, as Carbo was once
aluable prelate, that there is a noble fim- haranguing to the people. When that orator
licity, in fome few of his fermons ; as his
xcellent Difcourf^ on Sincerity deferves to
)e mentior\ed with particular applaufe.
But to fhow his deficiency in the article
am confidering at prefent, the following
pronounced the following fentence, Patris
diSlum fapiens, temcritas filii comprobamt , it
was aftonifhing, fays he, to obferve the ge-
neral applaufe which followed that harmo-
nious clofe. A modern ear, perhaps, would
tridure will be fufficient, among many not be much affefted upon this occafion
:)tiiers that might be cited to the fame pur-
)ofe. " One might be apt," fays he, •* to
think, atfirft view, that this parable was
over-done, and wanted fomething of a
due decorum ; it being hardly credible,
that a man, after he had been fo merci-
fully and generoufly dealt nxiithal, as
upon his humble requeft to have fo huge
a debt fo freely forgiven, (liould, whilft
the memory of fo much mercy was frefh
upon him, even in the very next moment,
" handle his fellow-fervant, who had made
[" the fam.e humble requeft to him which
r he had done to his lord, with fo much
!*' roughnefs and cruelty, for fo inconfide-
,** rahle a fum."
This whole period (not to mention other
and, indeed, it is more than probable, that
we are ignorant of the art of pronouncing
that period with its genuine emphafis and
cadence. We are certain, however, that
the mufic of it confifted in the dichoree v/ith
which it is terminated ; for Cicero himfelf
affures us, that if the linal meafure had been
changed, and the words placed in a diife-
reut order, their whole effetl would have
been abfolutely deftro}'ed.
This art M'as firft introduced among the
Greeks by Thrafymachus, though fome of
the admirers of Ifocrates attributed the in-
vention to that orator. It does not appear
to have been obferved Jiy the Romans till
near the time of Tully, and even then it was
bv no means univerfally received. The
objedions which might juftly be raifedg^ncient and lefs numerous manner of com-
againft it) is unmuficai throughout ; but the pofition had ftill many admirers, who were
concluding members, which ought to have fuch enthufiatts to anticiuity as to adopt her
been particularly flowing, are moft mifera- very defefts. Adifpofitionofthe famekind
bly loofe and disjointed. If the delicacy of may, perhaps, prevent its being received
j Tully 's ear was focxquifitely refined, as not with us; and while the archbifhop ihall
I [always to be fatisned even when he read
iDemofthenes ; how would it have been of-
j fended at the harlhnefs and diffonance of fo
unharmonious a fentence !
Nothing, perhaps, throws our eloquence
at a greater diftance from that of the an-
cients, than this Gothic arrangement; as
thofe wonderful effeds, which fometimes
attended their elocution, were, in all pro
maintain his authority as an orator, it is not
to be expected that any great advancement
will be made in this fpccies of eloquence.
That ftrength of underftanding likewife,
and folidity of reafon, which is {o emi-
nently our national charafteriftic, may add
fomewhat to the difliculty of reconciling us
to a ftudy of this kind; as at firft glance it
may feem to lead an orator from his grand
bability, chiefly owing to their fkill in mu- and principal aim, and tempt him to make a
fical concords. It was by the charm of facrifice of {zx\.{?, to found. It muft be a-
rmmbers, united with the ftrength of rea-
j fon, that Tully confounded the audacious
] Catiline, and filenced the eloquent Horten-
fius. It was this that deprived Curio of all
i power of recolleilion, v/hen he rofe up to
oppofe that great mafter of enchanting rhe-
toric : it was this, in a word, made even
C^efar himfelf tremble; nay, what is yet
more extraordinary, made Csefar alter his
knowledged, indeed, that in the times which
fucceeded the diftblution of the Roman re-
public, this art was fo perverted from its
true end, as to become the fingle ftudy of
their enervated orators. Pliny the younger
often complains of this contemptible aft'ec-
tation ; and the polite author of that elegant
dialogue which, v/ith very little |5robabi-
litv, is attributed either to Tacitus or
determined purpofe, and acquit the man he Quinft:
had refolved to condemn.
You will not fufpeft that I attribute too
much to the power of numerous compoli-
tion, v/hen you recoUeft the inftance which
ilian, alfures us it was the ridiculous
boaft of certain orators, in the time of the
declenfion of genuine eloquence, that their
harangues were capable of being fet to mufic,
and fung upon tlie ftage. But it muft be
H b 4 rtineni-
47«
ELEGANT EXTRACTS,
Book It:
lemembered, that the true end of this art
I am recommending, is to aid, not to fuper-
fede reafon ; that it is (o far from being ne-
ceflarily effeminate, that it not only adds
grace but (trength to the powers of perfua-
fion. For this purpofe TuIIy and Quinfti-
iian, thofe great mafters of numerous com-
pofition, have laid it down as a fixed and
invariable rule, that it mull never appear
the effeft of labour in the orator ; that the
tuneful flow of his periods mufl always
feem the cafual refult of their difpofition ;
happily difpofed as not to admit of the leaft
tranfpofition, without manifeft prejudice to'
the entire piece. The thoughts, the meta^
phors, the alluiions, and the diftion, fhould
appear eafy and natural, and feem to arife;
like fo many fpontaneous produ(itions, ra-
ther than as the efFe(^ls of art or labour.
Whatever, therefore, is forced or atFedled
in the fentiments ; whatever is pompous or
pedantic in the expreffion, is the very re-
verfe of Grace. Her mien is neither that
of a prude nor a coquet : fhe. is regular
and that it is the higheft offence againft the without formality, and fnrightly without he-
art, to weaken the expreffion, in order to ''""â– ' '^
give a more mufical tone to the cadence.
In fliort, that no unmeaning words are to
be thrown in merely to fill up die requifite
meafure; but that they muft ftiil rife in
fenfe as they improve in found.
Fitzoflorne,
§ 240. U^on
Grace in Writbi^
Letter.
In a
When I mentioned Grace as elTential^in
conitituting a fine writer, I rather hoped to
have found my fentiments reflected back
with a clearer liglit by yours, than imagined
you would have called upon me to exphdn
in form, what 1 only threw out by accident.
To confefs tlie truth, I know not whether,
after all that can be faid to illuftrate this
uncommon quality, it muft not at laft be
lefolved into the poet's nequeo ?nonJirare et
Jentio tantim. In cafes of this kind, where
language dees not fuppiy us with proper
words to exprefs the notions of one's mind,
we can only convey our fentiments in figu-
rative terms : a defefl which necefifarily in-
troduces fome obfcurity.
I will not, therefore, undertake to mark
out with any fort of precifion, that idea
which I would exprefs by the word Grace :
and, perhaps, it can no more be clearly de-
fcribed, than juftly defined. To give you,
however, a general intimation of what I
mean when I apply that term to compo-
fitions of genius, 1 would referable it to that
eafy air which fo remarkably diftinguiflies
certain perlons of a genteel and liberal caft.
It confills not only in the particular beauty
of fingle parts, but arifes from the general
fymmetry and ccnftrudion of the whole.
An author may be juft in his fentiments,
lively in his figures, and clear in his ex-
preflion ; yet may have no claim to be ad-
mitted into the rank of finifhed writers,
l^hofe feveral members muft be fo agreeably
united as mutually to reflect beauty upon
each other ; their arrangement mulV be fo
ing fantaftical. Grace, in fhort, is to good
writing what a proper light is to a fine pic-
ture ; it not only fliews all the figures in their
feveral proportions and relations, but fhew*
them in the moft ad^'antageous manner.
As gentility (to refume my former illuf-
tration) appears in the minutell aition, and
improves tlie moft inconfiderable gefture;
fo Grace is difcovered in the placing even a
fingle v.'ord, or the turn of a mere expletive,
Neitlicr is this inexpreiiible quality confined
to one fpecies of compofition only, but ex-
tends to all the various kinds ; to the hum-
ble paftoral as well as to the lofty epic;
from the ilighteft letter to the moft folemn
jitfcourfe.
I know not whether Sir William Temple
may not be confidered as tlie firft of our
profe authors, wlio introduced a graceful
manner into our language. At leaft that
quality does not feem to haA-e appeared
early, or fpread far, amongft us. But
wherefoever we may look for its origin, it
is certainly to be found in its higheft per-
feftion in the effays of a gentleman whofe
writings will be diftinguifhed fo long as po-