lime, and terrific, the delivery ought to assume those emotions which the objects naturally excite. Where we describe passion, our pronunciation must be impassioned, and thus we shall paint or draw a picture as it were of the objects or transactions we delineate. Those who perceive the necessity and beauty of this rhetorical colouring, and yet want taste and discernment to know where to bestow it, and in what degree, generally overcharge the picture, and give such a caricature as disgusts us more than a total absence of every ornament. Great care therefore must be taken in the delivery of description, that we do not become actors instead of describers, and mimics instead of relators. Cicero's character of Catiline is a well-known instance of this figure. He had the appearance of the greatest virtues; he made use of many ill men to carry on his designs, and pretended to be in the interest of the best men; he had a very engaging behaviour, and did not want industry or application; he gave into the greatest dissoluteness, but was a good soldier. Nor do I believe there ever was the like monster in the world, made up of such jarring and repugnant qualities and inclinations. Who at one time was more acceptable to the best men, and who more intimate with the worst? Who was once a better patriot, and who a greater enemy to this state? Who more devoted to pleasures, who more patient in labours? Who more rapacious, and yet more profuse? He suited himself to the humours of all he conversed with; was serious with the reserved, and pleasant with the jocose; grave with the aged, and facetious with the young; bold with the daring, and extravagant with the profligate. This description of Catiline, though uncommonly strong and animated, contains no striking imagery, no objects of terror or surprise, no traits of passion or emotion, and therefore re Q quires nothing in the pronunciation but a plainness and distinctness; long pauses between the contrasted parts, and a somewhat higher tone of voice in the former than the latter, in order the better to show the opposition: thus the clause, Who at one time was more acceptable to the best men, should be pronounced in a more elevated tone than, and who more intimate with the worst? and so of the rest. But in his description of the behaviour of Verres to a Roman citizen in the island of Sicily, we must accompany the words with every passion excited by the objects, or we shall deprive the passage of its greatest force and beauty. The unhappy man, arrested as he was going to embark for his native country, is brought before the wicked prætor. With eyes darting fury, and a countenance distorted with cruelty, he orders the helpless victim of his rage to be stripped, and rods to be brought; accusing him, but without the least shadow of evidence, or even of suspicion, of having come to Sicily as a spy. It was in vain that the unhappy man cried out, "I am a Roman citizen! I have served under Lucius Pretius, who is now at Panormus, and will attest my innocence!" The blood-thirsty prætor, deaf to all he could urge in his own defence, ordered the infamous punishment to be inflicted. Thus, fathers, was an innocent Roman citizen publicly mangled with scourging, whilst the only words he uttered, amidst his cruel sufferings, were, "I am a Roman citizen!" With these he hoped to defend himself from violence and infamy; but of so little service was this privilege to him, that, while he was thus asserting his citizenship, the order was given for his execution for his execution upon the cross! The beginning of this passage should be accompanied with pity, and something of the dismay of a person under the unhappy circumstances described. The description of the prætor should have a tincture of that fierceness in it which is so strongly marked. It was in vain the unhappy man cried out, I am a Roman citizen! &c. should be pronounced in a loud complaining tone; and at The blood-thirsty prætor, the voice must again assume a tincture of the fierce. The address to the judges should be pronounced in a lower and more tranquil tone, partaking strongly of the grief such a scene must excite in every generous breast; and the conclusion, for his execution on the cross, must be accompanied with a low hoarse tone of voice, expressive of that horror every Roman must feel to have a citizen suffer a death destined to the meanest slaves. How little did the orator suspect that this death, the ignominy of which seems to make him shudder, was soon to become the joy and exultation of the world! INSTANCES of the Hypotyposis in verse are innumerable. Description seems the province of poetry. The scenery of nature naturally inspires us with numbers, and these numbers heighten and embellish the beauties of nature. What can be more beautiful than the picture of a country life drawn by Virgil, and copied by Dryden. Here easy quiet, a secure retreat, And, after toilsome days, a sweet repose at night. Georg. b. u. v. 467. This passage presents us with no sounding epithets, no animated strokes of passion; but a judicious reader will not therefore suppose it devoid of expression: he will consider the disposition such a scene would excite in the mind, and accompany his pronunciation with such tones as express this disposition. The tranquillity of this scene, therefore, must be expressed by a soft easy tone bordering on the plaintive; it admits of little or no variety, except dwelling a little longer than common on the word cool, the sound of which, it is presumed, is somewhat expressive of the sense. Milton's description of rural solitude is a master-piece of this kind. And when the sun begins to fling With such concert as they keep, Il Penseroso. The first line, and as far of the second as to beams, must be pronounced in a tone expressive of splendor; the succeeding part of the line, and what follows it, must assume a cool tranquil tone as far as haunt; then the voice must fall into a lower tone approaching to a monotone, and proceed softly and slowly to the end. The description of a lady's toilet, in Pope's Rape of the Lock, is superlatively fine. And now unveil'd the toilet stands display'd, This passage requires no great variety of voice, but admits of considerable variety of expression; and, as the style is mock-heroic, this expression may be much stronger than if the composition were simple and unaffected. A dignity, solemnity, and importance of voice and manner, must describe the toilet and the nymph's approach to it, in the first six lines; but the fourth couplet must be expressive of the dread and caution with which a timid servant assists a haughty beauty. |