DISTINCT AND VIVID CONCEPTION. § 561. Besides good sense, in addressing his audience, the orator must, for the highest excellence in his art, have the power of distinct and vivid conception, in order that he may communicate a distinct impression of the objects which he describes. It is only when he sees the objects in the past, the distant, and the future, that he can so describe them to others; that they can see them as in a picture, in their true forms and colors, as if they were actually before their eyes. Leonardo da Vinci had in his mind certain vivid and distinct conceptions of the Last Supper, which, with his pencil, by light, and shade, and color, he exhibited, in his celebrated painting in the Cathedral of Milan, in forms so true to nature that the spectator could hardly resist the impression that he was actually gazing upon breathing bodies. What are light, and shade, and color to the painter in one of the fine arts, such are words, and tones, and gestures to the orator in another and a higher art. By means of them, his own conceptions, as if pictured, are visibly set forth to the view of others. He who has the power of picturesque description has an advantage over him who has not: first, in his power of securing attention; secondly, in his power of making himself understood; thirdly, in awakening a deep interest in the speaker, such as he could not awaken if he trusted to dull generalities. It was this power of picturesque description which gave a charm to the eloquence of our countryman, Fisher Ames: "Experience," he says, "has already been the prophet of events, and the cries of our future victims have already reached us. The western inhabitants are not a silent and uncomplaining sacrifice. The voice of humanity issues from the shade of their wilderness. It exclaims, that while one hand is held out to reject the treaty, the other grasps a tomahawk! It summons our imagination to the scenes that will open. Indeed, it is no great effort of the imagination to conceive that events so near are already begun. I can fancy that I listen to the yells of sav age vengeance and the shrieks of torture. Already they seem to sigh in the west wind; already they mingle with every echo from the mountains." Every sentence here contains a distinct image; and the whole is so picturesque, that we can see the whole as if on canvas. A STRONG DESIRE TO EXPRESS EMOTION. § 562. Moreover, there must be a strong desire to express to others the emotions which the speaker feels. Strong feeling naturally seeks to express itself in words; for in doing this man finds relief, just as the brute creation show forth pleasure or pain by inarticulate sounds. In the intercourse of private life, men, under the influence of any emotion, ever seek to pour out their thoughts into the ear of private friendship, or in a more public way give vent to their feelings. Such is the strength of the social principle, that speak the orator must. He is a man of high sympathies. He has thoughts which he longs to communicate to his audience, that they may feel as he feels. He speaks because he has something which he wishes to say, and not because he wishes to say something. And when, under the influence of his emotions, he rises to address an audience, in his strong sympathy with his hearers, whom he wishes to think as he does, he is prepared to appeal directly to their hearts. Or if he uses the forms of dialectics, it is "logic set on fire" by the ardor of conviction. And if he possess the other attributes of the orator, thoughts will force their way from the well-spring of his heart up to his lips, where words, "like nimble servitors," will skip into their places to supply his wants. one. A STRONG WILL. § 563. Another attribute in the soul of the orator is a strong will, which shows itself in a fixed determination not to give up the cause which he has espoused, if he believes it to be a good Firmness of purpose has the same advantage over feebleness and fluctuation, in eloquence, that it has in any other department of human action. Let one come into an assembly determined, at all events, to carry that measure; let him act and speak in accordance with this high resolve, and the impression produced upon the audience will not only be deep, but controlling. Tenacem propositi virum Non civium ardor prava jubentium Non vultus instantis Tyranni, Mente quatit solidà. The stormy waves of debate roll round him, dashing upon him without moving him. The outbreakings of popular phrensy, the darkening frown of the tyrant, terrify him not, shake him not from his firm purpose. The influence which a man of a strong will has upon others sometimes amounts almost to fascination. He is to them a master-spirit, to be obeyed; a controlling genius, to be followed. All the energies of his nature, his reason and good sense, his imagination and taste, his social affections and passions, his voice and his hand, stand ready to obey the bidding of his will, and, as a consequence, others obey it too. An unconquerable will gave a power to the speeches of Lord Chatham in Parliament far beyond what their mere logical argumentation could have done. Men yielded to him because they saw that he would not swerve from his purpose. Opposition shrunk away because it was unavailing. Men sympathized with his mental energy, and willed and acted as he willed. The orator must have a generous, confiding spirit, if he wishes his audience to have the same spirit toward him. He must have a quick perception of the beautiful in nature and in art, since, in captivating the minds of his hearers, he must instrumentally use the beautiful as well as the true. He must have a heart full of kindly affections toward his audience and toward his species, if he expects his audience and men around him to give him their kindly regards and their influence, their determinations and their votes, if they have votes to give. The mind of the orator always kindles into a sympathetical feeling when brought into contact with the minds of an audience. Having Having seen what eloquence is in its matter, we can the better understand what it is in its forms and its origin. seen what eloquence is in its relation to the soul of the orator, we are prepared to understand what it is in its external manifestation, particularly what it is when expressed in language, whether written or spoken. RHETORICAL FORMS. § 564. Language being, in general, the image of the soul of man, RHETORICAL FORMS are those peculiar forms of language which express or image forth the soul of the orator, as distinguished from other men; or they are those forms of lan guage which he uses for the purpose of bringing the minds of others into the same state with his own mind. Rhetoric, it is true, employs the whole power of language for the purpose of persuasion: the power of Grammatical forms, of Logical forms, of Poetical forms, and also of its own peculiar forms. Logic would be contented with one principal form, namely, the Proposition in its various uses; and for this, Grammar would be contented to furnish two parts of speech, the Sub stantive and the Verb. But the form of a sentence that will satisfy logic, rhetoric will reject as tame and unexpressive, and demand what is vivid and striking. Logic says, "My will is that you should come." Rhetoric says, vividly, "Come!" Logic says, Men are ungrateful." Rhetoric exclaims, "O the ingratitude of men!" Logic says, "I wish to know who thou art." Rhetoric calls out, "Who art thou?" 66 THE VALUE OF RHETORICAL FORMS. § 565. Rhetorical forms are of great value as the MEDIUM OF INTELLECTION, Whether truth is to be communicated by the tongue or the pen. Thus an abstract truth, which is but shadowy in conception, and difficult of description, becomes distinct by being associated with some sensible object which illustrates it, just as a diagram illustrates a truth in Geometry. The human mind has to lean upon matter. In the communication and the reception of abstract truth, it has to depend largely upon figurative language drawn from the material world. Thus those rhetorical forms which may be regarded as equivalent to what is called Figurative Language furnish the means to the speaker and to the hearer, the one for communicating, and the other for receiving an idea, however refined or abstract it may be. By this aid, in bringing them into communication with each other, the two can become one in thought, feeling, and purpose. The watch-word in battle or in revolution often derives much of its magical power from a sentiment expressed in some rhetorical form, which, passing from lip to lip, carries the same feeling from heart to heart. Thus "England expects every man to do his duty!" which had such power in winning the battle of Trafalgar, is a rhetorical form, called Personification. THE ESTHETICAL VALUE. § 566. A familiarity with rhetorical forms is of great ÆSTHETICAL VALUE to the linguist, not only because it assists him to perceive the import and beauty of a thought, which would otherwise be concealed under its drapery, but also because it enables him at pleasure to produce similar forms in their beauty and force. Language is, to a great extent, deflected from its literal to a figurative use. He who is dull in understanding and applying it in its figurative use, can perceive and communicate only a small part of its meaning. Words arranged in rhetorical forms he can read in books, but to him they are dead forms. He can employ them in his own writings, but it may be only to disgust others. Said a sensible man, somewhat deficient in taste, "A figure is to me an edged tool, with which I always wound myself." THE INTERFERENCE OF RHETORIC WITH GRAMMAR § 567. Moreover, Rhetoric, by its disturbing force, often INTERFERES WITH THE GRAMMATICAL CONSTRUCTION AND THE LOGICAL SIGNIFICANCE OF SENTENCES. He, therefore, who does not understand that interference, can not be a good grammarian or a good logician. Many a case of anomalous syntax can be explained only upon rhetorical grounds. Many an error has gained currency from mistaking rhetoric for logic. "Take, eat; this is my body." Is this a Logical form, or is it a Rhetorical form? In the Roman Catholic faith it is the first; in the Protestant, the second. The question may often arise, Whether, in a given sentence, there is a rhetorical form? Now it must be conceded that it is not always easy to answer this question. If you go back to the most ancient usage of a given word, you would perhaps decide that it is figurative in its application; whereas, if you consult only present use, it is plain and literal. The same word may, therefore, be regarded as tropical by one person who goes back to its origin, and not tropical by another who does not thus go back to its original meaning. The number of radical words in a language is comparatively few, and are chiefly ap |