did. Satyrus repeated them after him, and gave them quite another grace by the tone of voice, the gesture, and vivacity with which he fpoke them; fo that Demofthenes observed they had a quite different effect. This made him fenfible of what he wanted, and he applied himself to the attainment of it.

His endeavours to correct the natural impediment in his fpeech, and to perfect himself in utterance, of the value of which his friend had made him fo fenfible, seemed almost incredible, and demonftrate, that indefatigable induftry can overcome all difficulties. b He ftammered to fucha degree, that he could not even pronounce certain letters; and among others, that which began the name of the art he ftudied; and his breath was fo fhort, that he could not utter a whole period without ftopping. However, Demofthenes overcame all these obftacles, by putting little pebbles into his mouth, and then repeating several verses one after another, without taking breath; and this even when he walked, and afcended very craggy and steep places: fo that he at laft could pronounce all the letters without hesitating,and speak the longest periods without once taking breath. But this was not all; for he used to go to the fea fhore, and fpeak his orations when the weather was moft boisterous, in order to prepare himfelf, by the confused noife of the waves, for the uproar

Orator imitetur illum, cui fine dubio fumma vis dicendi conceditur, Athenienfem Demofthehem, in quo tantum ftudium fuiffe tantufque labor dicitur, ut primùm impedimenta naturæ diligentia induftriaque fuperarer: cùmque ita balbus effet, ut ejus ipfius artis, cui ftuderet, primam literam non poffet dicere, perfecit meditando ut nemo planiùs eo locutus putaretur. Deinde cum fpiritus ejus effet anguftior, tantum continenda anima in dicendo eft affecutus, ut una continuatione verborum) id quod fcripta ejus declarant) bine ei con

с

tentiones vocis & remiffiones continerentur. Qui etiam fut memoriæ proditum eft conje&tis in os calculis, fumma voce verfus multos uno fpiri'u pronuntiare confuefcebat; neque id confiftens in loco, fed inambulans atque adfcenfu ingrediens arduo. 1. de Orat. n. 260, 261.

Propter quæ idem ille tantus amator fecreti Demofthenes, in littore, in quod fe maximo cum fono fluctus illideret, meditans confuefcebat concionum fremitus non expavefcere. Q. 1. 10, c, 13.

of

of the people, and the tumultuous cries of affemblies. He had a large glafs, which was his master for action; and before this he used to declaim, before he spoke in publick. He was well paid for his trouble, fince by this method he carried the art of declaiming to the higheft perfection of which it was capable.

His application to ftudy, in other refpects, was equal to the pains he took to conquer his natural defects. He had a closet made under ground, that he might be remote from noife and difturbance; and this was to be seen in Plutarch's time. There he shut himself up for months together, and had half his head fhaved, on purpose that he might be kept from going abroad. It was there he compofed, by the light of a small lamp, those excellent harangues which fmelt, as his enemies gave out, of the oil; to infinuate, they were too much laboured. 'Tis very plain, replied he, yours did not coft you fo much trouble. He was a very early rifer, and used to be under great concern when any artificer got to work before him. We may judge of his endeavours to perfect himself in every kind of learning, by the pains he took in copying Thucydides's history no lefs than eight times, with his own hand, in order to make his ftile more familiar to him.

CICERO.

Cicero was born with a very fine genius, and had likewise the best education, in which he was more happy than Demofthenes. His father took particular care of it, and fpared nothing to cultivate his talents. It appears that the famous Craffus, whom he fo often mentions in his works, was pleased to direct the plan of his ftudies, and affigned him fuch preceptors as were

dCui non funt auditæ Demofthenis vigilia? qui dolore fe aiebat, fi quando opificum anteluca

na victus effet induftria. 4. Tufc quæft. n. 44.

e 2. de Orat. n. 2.

M 2

capable

capable of affifting him in forming Cicero f. The poet Archias implanted in him very early the elements of taste for polite literature; which Cicero himself tells us, in the eloquent oration he made in defence of his maf

ter.

No child ever discovered more ardor for study than Cicero. Children were at that time taught by none but Greeks; and he performed fuch things in their language, as deserve to be taken notice of. Plotius was the first who altered that cuftom, and taught in Latin. He was a Gaul, and had a very famous school. People fent their children to it from all parts, and those of the best taste approved his method very much. Cicero was exceffively defirous of hearing fuch a mafter; but those who had the chief management of his education and studies, did not think proper to gratify him, because that method of teaching, which was not practifed or heard of till then, appeared to the magiftrates a dangerous innovation; and the cenfors, of whom Craffus was one, made a decree to prohibit it, without giving any other reason, but that the cuftom was contrary to the practice eftablished by their ancestors ". Craffus, or rather Cicero in his name, endeavours to juftify this decree in the best manner he could, which had given offence to people of the beft understanding; and he hints, that the new plan itself was not fo much condemned, as the method the mafters took in teaching it. And indeed, this plan prevailed at laft, and peo

3. fQuoad longiffimè poteft mens mea refpicere fpatium præteriti temporis, & pueritia memoriam recordari ultimam, inde ufque repetens, hunc video mihi principem & ad fufcipiendam & ad ingrediendam rationem horum ftudiorum extitiffe, Orat. pro Arch. n. I.

Equidem memoria teneo, pueris nobis primum Latinè docere coepiffe Lucium Plotium quemdam: ad quem cùm fieret concurfus, quòd

Hiofiffimus quifque apud eum ex

erceretur, dolebam mihi idem non licere. Continebar autem doctiffimorum hominum auctoritate, qui exiftimabant græcis exercitationibus ali meliùs ingenia poffe. Epft. Cicer. apud Suet. de claris Rhetoribus.

h3. de Orat. n. 93,95.

Paulatim & ipfa utilis honeftaque apparuit multique e am præfidii caufa & gloriæ appetiverunt. Sueton. Ibid.

ple

ple were fenfible of the benefit and advantages which accrued from it, as Suetonius informs us, who has preferved Cicero's epiftle, wherein he fpeaks of Plotius, the cenfor's order, and the decree of the fenate.

In the mean time, Cicero made a great progrefs under his masters, And indeed, he had fuch a genius as Plato wished a pupil; a ftrong thirst for learning, a mind fit for fciences, and that took in all things. Poetry was one of his firft paffions, and 'tis related that he fucceeded tolerably well in it. From his infant years, be diftinguished himself in so remarkable a manner among thofe of his own age, that the parents of his school-fellows, hearing of his extraordinary genius, came on purpofe to the school to be eye-witneffes of it; and were charmed with what they faw and heard. His merit must have been attended with great modefty, fince his companions were the firft who proclaimed it, and paid him fuch honours, as raised the jealousy of fome of their parents.

At fixteen, which was the time youth were allowed to wear the toga virilis, or manly gown, Cicero's ftudies became more ferious. It was a cuftom then at Rome for the father or next relation of a youth, who had attained the age we are now speaking of, and defigned for the bar, to prefent him to one of the most celebrated orators, and put him under his protection. After this, the young man devoted himfelf to his patron in a particular manner; went to hear him plead, confulted him about his ftudies, and did nothing without his advice. Being thus accustomed betimes to breathe, as it were, the air of the bar, which is the beft school for a young lawyer; and as he was the dif

* Plut. in vit. Cicer.

Ergo apud majores noftros juvenis ille, qui foro & eloquentiæ parabatur, imbutus jam domeftica difciplina, refertus honeftis ftudiis, deducebatur à patre, vel à propinquis, ad eum oratorem qui principem locum in civitate tenebat. Hunc fectari, hunc profequi, hujus

omnibus dictionibus intereffe.... Atque hercule fub ejufmodi præceptionibus juvenis ille de quo loquimur, oratorum difcipulus, fori auditor, fectator judiciorum, eruditus & affuefactus, alienis experimentis. ... folus ftatim & unus cuicumque caufæ par erat. de Orat. n. 34. M 3

Dial.

ciple

ciple of the greatest mafters, and formed on the most finifhed models, he was foon able to imitate them.

m Cicero himself tells us, this was his cuftom, and that he was a diligent hearer of the ableft orators in Rome. He devoted feveral hours every day to reading and compofition; and 'tis very probable, that what he makes Craffus fay, in his books de Oratore, he himself had practifed in his youth; that is, to tranflate the finest pieces of the Greek orators into Latin, in order to imbibe their ftile and genius.

n

• He did not confine himself barely to the study of eloquence; for that of the law appeared to him one of the most neceffary, and he devoted himself to it with uncommon application. He likewife made himself perfectly master of philofophy in all its branches P; and he proves in feveral places, that it contributed infinite ly more than rhetoric towards making him an orator. He had the best philofophers of the age for his mafters. Cicero did not begin to plead till he was about fix and twenty. The troubles of the ftate prevented him from attempting it fooner. His firft effays were fo many mafter-pieces, and they immediately gained him a reputation almoft equal to that of the oldeft lawyers. His defence of Sextus Rofcius, and efpecially the part relating to the punishment of parricides, had extraor dinary fuccefs, and gained him great applaufe; and fo much the more, as none had courage enough to undertake the caufe, on account of the exorbitant credit of Chryfogonus, freed man to Sylla the dictator, whofe power in the commonwealth was at that time unImited.