Catiline himself was present, consist of a very vehement exclamation and expoftulation. "How

"long, O Catiline, will you abuse our patience? "&c." In a fpeech ascribed to Furius Capitolinus, in which he expoftulates with the plebeians upon the encroachments they were perpetually making upon the privileges of the patricians, is the following noble and spirited appeal: "In the "name of the immortal gods, what is it, Romans,

you would have? You defired tribunes; for the "fake of peace we granted them. You were eager "to have decemvirs; we consented to their creati"on: you grew weary of thefe decemvirs, we ob"liged them to abdicate, &c."

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In Cicero's oration for Milo, he exclaims, "O "that happy country which shall receive this "man! Ungrateful this if it banish him! mifera"ble if it lofe him!" Declaiming in praise of Pompey, he invokes countries, feas, havens, and iflands, as witneffes of his courage, humanity, and wifdom.

There is fomething peculiarly folemn and awful in the following apoftrophes in the fcriptures: "Hear, oh heavens, and give ear, oh earth, for the "Lord hath spoken, Isaiah 1. 2. Be astonished, "oh ye heavens, at this, Jer. ii. 12."

Whatever, likewife, hath the appearance of prefent thought, and extempore unprepared address, contributes not a little to make a person seem to be in earneft. He then feems to speak from his real feelings,

feelings, without having recourse to artificial helps. In this view it hath often a good effect to check one's felf, and retract what we were saying, or even to reject a fecond, and recur to a firft fuppofition; to stop fuddenly, and make an imperfect fenfe, as if something just then conceived had checked the course of the sentence, which was intended to have been delivered without interruption. Objections which the orator thinks proper to reply to, he may make to appear as if they occurred to his mind only the moment he mentions them; in which case the answer, not appearing to be premeditated, will be heard with the utmost advantage. It hath, likewife, the appearance of pursuing a fudden start of thought, and hath sometimes a very good effect, when opportunity is taken, as if undefignedly, to make parentheses in fentences, and to digrefs from the principal fubject or argument, and return to it again.

I think it needless to give examples of all thefe varieties of addrefs which derive their power from the resemblance they bear to unpremeditated difcourse, in which the fentiments are supposed to be natural and fincere, proceeding directly from the heart; and shall only mention one from Tillotson, in which, with a very good effect he retracts a fingle word. "What is it then can give men the heart "and courage (but I recall that word, because it "is not true courage, but fool-hardiness) to out"brave the judgments of God."

Such forms as these are most natural in great agitation of mind, when the fucceffion of ideas is uncommonly rapid, and when, confequently, it may be expected that fome thoughts should interfere with others, and occafion frequent breaks in fentences, and interruptions in a chain of reasoning. St. Paul's epiftles abound with these abruptneffes; and as they have not the least appearance of defign in them, they fhow that he wrote from his heart, and dictated his real thoughts and fentiments at the time of their compofition. They likewife throw confiderable light upon the natural temper of that great apostle. We see that he was a warm man, of a quick apprehenfion, of great ardour and vehemence in whatever he engaged in, and that he was inclined to be hafty.

The perfection of speaking is, certainly to speak extempore. All men must, in a greater or lefs degree, have tried their talent this way, and have found the difficulty of fucceeding in it. Hence people liften with a continued wonder while a perfon is delivering himself fluently without notes, and their admiration concurs with the forementioned causes to attach them to the speaker, to his fentiments and views. Can we imagine it poffible that the primitive chriftians, the first reformers, and I may add, the founders of our modern fects, such as the Independants, Quakers, and Methodists, could ever have attained to fo great a degree of popularity, without the talent of haranguing extempore?

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Can we then wonder at the fuccefs of a judicious and happy imitation of thofe extempore forms of addrefs?

As a caution against making too free with these very bold forms of addrefs, which are adapted to show that a man is in earnest, and confident of the goodness of his caufe, I would advife that no one appeal to another, unless it be morally certain that the perfon he appeals to, and boldly expoftulates with, will really take his part, or, at least, that it will be generally allowed that he ought to do it. Otherwise he exposes his own vain confidence, and betrays the cause he espouses.

Let no person venture to exclaim and apoftrophize, unless the importance, as well as the goodnefs of his caufe will juftify it. Thefe ftrong natural emotions are not to be counterfeited. To these arcana of nature it is hardly poffible that artifice fhould have accefs: and if the circumftances and occafions of the addrefs will not juftify fuch vehemence of style, a man makes himself ridiculous by attempting the impofition. Befides, direct exclamations and apoftrophes to perfons not prefent, or to things inanimate, though ever so just, ought to be used very fparingly, fince, if they produce their natural and full effect, they raise the attention to fuch a degree as cannot be kept up long.

It is, likewife, proper that all Englishmen in particular fhould be informed, that a person of a liberal

LECT. XV. liberal education in this country can hardly ever be in fuch a fituation, as will not render the imitation of fome of the boldeft, the most successful, and admired strokes of Roman, not to say Grecian eloquence, extremely improper and ridiculous. The English pulpit, the English bar, and the Englifh fenate, require an eloquence more addreffed to the reason, and lefs directly to the paffions, than the harangues of a Roman pleader, or the speech of a Roman fenator. Our hearers have generally more good fenfe and just discernment, at least they are naturally more cool and phlegmatic; both which qualities check a propensity to strong emotions: and marks of great vehemence must appear abfurd in a speaker, when the audience is unmoved, and fees nothing to occafion fuch emotion.

An audience, indeed, that is wholly illiterate, may have all their paffions actuated by means of admiration, or aftonishment, and mechanical communication; but then there are few English audiences compofed wholly of perfons of fo little reading and reflection as makes that practicable. And it is hardly poffible that a person whose reading has lain among modern English books, or has converfed with perfons of a liberal education, fhould not have acquired more delicacy of tafte, than to be taken with that grofs and direct address to the paffions, which Cicero adopted with applaufe. The refinement of modern times requires that we speak, upon all occafions, with more temper, and use more addrefs in raifing the paffions.

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