therefore he is desired, as he tenders the reputation of his ladies, to repent. Mr. Bickerstaff has received information, that an eminent and noble preacher in the chief congregation of Great Britain, for fear of being thought guilty of presbyterian fervency and extemporary prayer, lately read his, before sermon; but the same advices acknowledging that he made the congregation large amends by the shortness of his discourse, it is thought fit to make no further observation upon it.1 No. 70. [STEELE. From Saturday, Sept. 17, to Tuesday, Sept. 20, 1709. Quicquid agunt homines. . . nostri farrago libelli. -Juv., Sat. i. 85, 86. From my own Apartment, Sept. 19. The following letter, in prosecution of what I have lately asserted, has urged that matter so much better than I had, that I insert it as I received it. These testimonials are customary with us learned men, and sometimes are suspected to be written by the author; but I fear no one will suspect me of this. "SIR, London, Sept. 15, 1709. "Having read your lucubrations of the 10th instant, 8 I can't but entirely agree with you in your notions of the scarcity of men who can either read or speak. For my part, I have lived these thirty years in the world, and yet have observed but a very few who 1 See No. 66. 2 Printed in Swift's Works. 3 No. 66. could do either in any tolerable manner; among which few, you must understand that I reckon myself. How far eloquence, set off with the proper ornaments of voice and gesture, will prevail over the passions, and how cold and unaffecting the best oration in the world would be without them, there are two remarkable instances in the case of Ligarius and that of Milo. Cæsar had condemned Ligarius. He came indeed to hear what might be said; but thinking himself his own master, resolved not to be biassed by anything Cicero could say in his behalf: but in this he was mistaken; for when the orator began to speak, the hero is moved, he is vanquished, and at length the criminal absolved. It must be observed, that this famous orator was less renowned for his courage than his eloquence; for though he came at another time, prepared to defend Milo with one of the best orations that antiquity has produced; yet being seized with a sudden fear by seeing some armed men surrounding the Forum, he faltered in his speech, and became unable to exert that irresistible force and beauty of action which would have saved his client, and for want of which he was condemned to banishment. As the success the former of these orations met with, appears chiefly owing to the life and graceful manner with which it was recited (for some there are who think it may be read without transport), so the latter seems to have failed of success for no other reason, but because the orator was not in a condition to set it off with those ornaments. It must be confessed, that artful sound will with the crowd prevail even more than sense; but those who are masters of both, will ever gain the admiration of all their hearers: and there is, I think, a very natural account to be given of this matter; for the sensation of the head and heart are caused in each of these parts by the outward organs of the eye and ear: that therefore which is conveyed to the understanding and passions by only one of these organs, will not affect us so much as that which is transmitted through both. I can't but think your charge is just against a great part of the learned clergy of Great Britain, who deliver the most excellent discourses with such coldness and indifference, that it is no great wonder the unintelligent many of their congregations fall asleep. Thus it happens that their orations meet with a quite contrary fate to that of Demosthenes you mentioned; for as that lost much of its beauty and force by being repeated to the magistrates of Rhodes without the winning action of that great orator, so the performances of these gentlemen never appear with so little grace, and to so much disadvantage, as when delivered by themselves from the pulpit. Hippocrates being sent for to a patient in this city, and having felt his pulse, inquired into the symptoms of his distemper, and finding that it proceeded in great measure from want of sleep, advises his patient, with an air of gravity, to be carried to church to hear a sermon, not doubting but that it would dispose him for the rest he wanted. If some of the rules Horace gives for the theatre, were (not improperly) applied to our pulpits, we should not hear a sermon prescribed as a good opiate. "A man must himself express some concern and affection in delivering his discourse, if he expects his auditory should interest themselves in what he proposes: for 1 Cf. Rabelais, Book I., chap. xli. 2 "Ars Poet.," 102. otherwise, notwithstanding the dignity and importance of the subject he treats of, notwithstanding the weight and argument of the discourse itself, yet too many will say, 2 "If there be a deficiency in the speaker, there will not be a sufficient attention and regard paid to the things spoken: but, Mr. Bickerstaff, you know, that as too little action is cold, so too much is fulsome. Some indeed may think themselves accomplished speakers, for no other reason than because they can be loud and noisy (for surely Stentor must have some design in his vociferations). But, dear Mr. Bickerstaff, convince them, that as harsh and irregular sound is not harmony, so neither is banging a cushion, oratory; and therefore, in my humble opinion, a certain divine 3 of the first order, whom I allow otherwise to be a great man, would do well to leave this off; for I think his sermons would be more persuasive if he gave his auditory less disturbance. Though I cannot say that this action would be wholly improper to a profane oration, yet I think, in a religious assembly, it gives a man too warlike, or perhaps too theatrical a figure to be suitable to a Christian congregation. I am, "Sir, "Your humble Servant, &c." The most learned and ingenious Mr. Rosehat is also pleased to write to me on this subject. 2 See No. 54. 1 "Ars Poet.," 104. 8 Gilbert Burnet, Bishop of Salisbury, whom Dryden describes as "a portly prince, and goodly to the sight," "black-browed and bluff." “SIR, 1 "I read with great pleasure in the Tatler of Saturday last the conversation upon eloquence. Permit me to hint to you one thing the great Roman orator observes upon this subject, Caput enim arbitrabatur oratoris' (he quotes Menedemus, an Athenian), ut ipsis apud quos ageret talis qualem ipse optaret videretur, id fieri vitæ dignitate.' It is the first rule in oratory, that a man must appear such as he would persuade others to be, and that can be accomplished only by the force of his life. I believe it might be of great service to let our public orators know, that an unnatural gravity, or an unbecoming levity in their behaviour out of the pulpit, will take very much from the force of their eloquence in it. Excuse another scrap of Latin; it is from one of the Fathers: I think it will appear a just observation to all, as it may have authority with some: Qui autem docent tantum, nec faciunt, ipsi præceptis suis detrahunt pondus ; quis enim obtemperet, quum ipsi præceptores doceant non obtemperare?' I am, "Sir, "Your most humble Servant, "JONATHAN ROSEHAT. "P.S.-You were complaining in that paper, that the clergy of Great Britain had not yet learned to speak: a very great defect indeed; and therefore I shall think myself a well-deserver of the Church, in recommending all the dumb clergy to the famous speaking doctor at Kensington. This ingenious gentleman, out of com 1 Cicero, "De Oratore," i. 19. 2 James Ford. In answer to an application for advice from a stammerer, the British Apollo for Jan. 23 to 25, 1710, said: "For |