History of Famous Orators | Page 4

discharge the obligation."--"And
I also," said Brutus, "shall expect that you perform your promise to my
friend Atticus: nay, though I am only his voluntary solicitor, I shall,
perhaps, be very pressing for the discharge of a debt, which the creditor
himself is willing to submit to your own choice."--"But I shall refuse to
pay you," said I, "unless the original creditor takes no farther part in the
suit." --"This is more than I can promise," replied he, "for I can easily
foresee, that this easy man, who disclaims all severity, will urge his
demand upon you, not indeed to distress you, but yet very closely and
seriously."--"To speak ingenuously," said Atticus, "my friend Brutus, I
believe, is not much mistaken: for as I now find you in good spirits, for
the first time, after a tedious interval of despondency, I shall soon make
bold to apply to you; and as this gentleman has promised his assistance,
to recover what you owe me, the least I can do is to solicit, in my turn,
for what is due to him."
"Explain your meaning," said I.--"I mean," replied he, "that you must
write something to amuse us; for your pen has been totally silent this
long time; and since your Treatise on Politics, we have had nothing
from you of any kind; though it was the perusal of that which fired me
with the ambition to write an Abridgment of Universal History. But we
shall, however, leave you to answer this demand, when, and in what
manner you shall think most convenient. At present, if you are not
otherwise engaged, you must give us your sentiments on a subject on
which we both desire to be better informed."--"And what is that?" said
I.--"What you gave me a hasty sketch of," replied he, "when I saw you
last at Tusculanum,--the History of Famous Orators;--when they made
their appearance, and who and what they were; which, furnished such
an agreeable train of conversation, that when I related the substance of
it to your, or I ought rather to have said our common friend, Brutus, he
expressed a violent desire to hear the whole of it from your own mouth.
Knowing you, therefore, to be at leisure, we have taken the present
opportunity to wait upon you; so that, if it is really convenient, you will
oblige us both by resuming the subject."--"Well, gentlemen," said I, "as
you are so pressing, I will endeavour to satisfy you in the best manner I

am able."-- "You are able enough," replied he; "only unbend yourself a
little, or, if you can set your mind at full liberty."--"If I remember
right," said I, "Atticus, what gave rise to the conversation, was my
observing, that the cause of Deiotarus, a most excellent Sovereign, and
a faithful ally, was pleaded by our friend Brutus, in my hearing, with
the greatest elegance and dignity."--"True," replied he, "and you took
occasion from the ill success of Brutus, to lament the loss of a fair
administration of justice in the Forum."--"I did so," answered I, "as
indeed I frequently do: and whenever I see you, my Brutus, I am
concerned to think where your wonderful genius, your finished
erudition, and unparalleled industry will find a theatre to display
themselves. For after you had thoroughly improved your abilities, by
pleading a variety of important causes; and when my declining vigour
was just giving way, and lowering the ensigns of dignity to your more
active talents; the liberty of the State received a fatal overthrow, and
that Eloquence, of which we are now to give the History, was
condemned to perpetual silence."--"Our other misfortunes," replied
Brutus, "I lament sincerely; and I think I ought to lament them:-- but as
to Eloquence, I am not so fond of the influence and the glory it bestows,
as of the study and the practice of it, which nothing can deprive me of,
while you are so well disposed to assist me: for no man can be an
eloquent speaker, who has not a clear and ready conception. Whoever,
therefore, applies himself to the study of Eloquence, is at the same time
improving his judgment, which is a talent equally necessary in all
military operations."
"Your remark," said I, "is very just; and I have a higher opinion of the
merit of eloquence, because, though there is scarcely any person so
diffident as not to persuade himself, that he either has, or may acquire
every other accomplishment which, formerly, could have given him
consequence in the State; I can find no person who has been made an
orator by the success of his military prowess.--But that we may carry
on the conversation with greater ease, let us seat ourselves."--As my
visitors had no objection to this, we accordingly took