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SECT. II.

Of the PARTS OF A THEME, with an Example.

G. TH HE PARTS of a THEME are Seven, Propofition, Reafon, Confirmation, Simile, Example, Teftimony, and Conclufion. Which may be remember'd by this Verfe.

Pono, Probo, Firma, Simil, Exemp, Tefteq; Claudo.

An Example of a THEME. The Thefis or
Text from Juvenal. Sat. 14. ver. 73.

Plurimum enim intererit, quibus Artibus, & quibus hunc tu
Moribus inftituas.

Children, like tender Oziers, take the Bow,
And as they first are fashion'd always grow :
Hence what we learn in Youth, to that alone
In Age we are by second Nature prone.

Dryden jun.

PROPOSITION. Nemo poteft illos dedif cere Mores, aut eam excutere vivendi Rationem, ad quam ab ipfis olim Incunabulis affuevit. REASON. Quoniam Impetus ille primus, te

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neræ Pueritia inditus, tam magnum habet in universâ Hominum Vitâ Momentum, ut dedifcat id ferò, quod quis didicit diu. CONFIRMA

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TION. Quæ enim longâ Annorum Serie, frequentiffimâque Actionum Iteratione acquiruntur, in alteram quafi Naturam tranfeunt. SIMIL E. Quemadmodum Avium Pulli, & Ferarum Catuli, femel manfuefacti, femper manent cicures etiam quando in grandiores evaferint: Non diffimiliter quos didicerit Mores Puerilis tas, eofdem etiam tum quando adoleverit, penitiffimè fibi infixos ufque retinebit. EXAMPLE. Ovidio, fcribendis Verfibus à teneris Annis dedito, tam familiaris ac penè naturalis facta eft Poetica Facultas, ut illi per univerfam deinceps Vitam- Sponte fua Numeros Carmen veniebat ad aptos; Nec diffimiliter contigit in reliquis Artibus vivendique Inftitutis. TESTIMONY. Ad quid enim aliud refpexit Cicero, cum dixerit, Nullum nos poffe majus meliufve Reipublicæ afferre Munus, quàm docendo & erudiendo Juventutem, nifi quòd, Recta Juventutis Inftitutio ad fummum Reipublicæ Emolumentum conducat maximè. CONCLUSION. Proinde Siquis in votis habeat, Liberos fuos ad Virtutem formare, ac bonos Mores; id imprimis Operam det, ut Virtutis atque Pietatis Odore, ab ipfis. ftatim Fafciis, intimiùs imbuantur; quem ad extremam ufque fenectutem redolebunt.

Adeo in teneris affuefcere multum eft.

ANNOTATION S.

liditas, &c. Quanta deinceps in Dividendo Prudentia, quàm fubtilis & crebra Argumenta tio: quibus Viribus infpiret, quá Fucunditate permulceat: quanta in Maledictis Afperitas, in focis Urbanitas. Ut denique do minetur in Affectibus, atque in

Virg.

See

Pectora irrumpat, Animumque Judicum fimilem iis, que dicit, efficiat. Tum in Ratione Eloquendi, quod Verbum proprium, ornatum, fublime: ubi Ampli ficatio laudanda, quæ Vitus ei contraria. Quid fpeciosè tranflatum, quæ Figura Ferborum ;

quæ

See Clark's Formule Oratorie, 1670. See alfo those Examples of Orations, Declamations, Themes, &c. from SCRIPTURE and the CLASSICS, which I have refer'd to the Head of Pronunciation, for the diligent Student to exercise himfelf in that Part of Rhetoric.

ANNOTATION S.

que lenis & quadrata, fed virilis tamen Compofitio. Nec id quidem inutile, etiam corruptas aliquando & vitiofas Orationes, quas tamen plerique Judiciorum Pravitate mirantur, legi palam Pueris, oftendique in bis, quàm multa impropria, obfcura, tumida, humilia, fordida, lafciva, effeminata fint:

quæ non laudantur modò à plerisque, fed (quod pejus eft) propter boc ipfum, quod funt prava, laudantur. Hoc Diligentia Genus aufim dicere plus collaturum difcentibus, quàm omnes omnium Artes. Nam in omnibus ferè minus valent Præcepta quàm Experimenta. Inft, lib. z. cap. 5.

PART

PART III.

52

Of ELOCUTION, or, The Adoming our Expreffions with Tropes, Figures, and Beautiful Turns.

In what doth Elocution confift, and what are it's Parts? What doth Compofition regard? What does Elegance confift in? What mean you by Dignity of Language? What's the "Difference between Tropes and Figures? §. 1. What is a Trope? How many and what are the Chief Tropes in Language? What is a Metaphor? an Allegory? a Metonymy? Synecdoche? an Irony? Hyperbole? a Catachrefis? Where are these Tropes well explain'd? Read the Explication, Meaning and Derivation of the Terms, with Examples. What Other Tropes are there? How many and what are the Faults of Tropes? §. 2. What is a Figure? How many, and what are the Principal Figures in Speech? What is an Ecphonefis? an Aporia? &c. Read the Explication, Meaning and Derivation of thefe Figures, with Examples. What Other Figures are there? How many and what are the Faults of Figures? §. 3. What are Repetitions or Fine Turns? How many and what are the Principal Repetitions? What is Anaphora? Epi

3

Stropbe?

H.

ftrophe? &c. Read the Meaning and Derivation of thefe Repetitions, with Examples. What other Repetitions are there? What is to be obferv'd in the Ufe of Repetitions?

LOCUTION confifts in

the finding out proper, polite, and ornamental Expreffions to fignify our Thoughts. Hence

it's Parts are Compofition, Elegance, and Dignity.

OBS. I.

COMPO

ANNOTATION S.

LOCUTION ποιηταῖς καὶ συγγράφευσι, φι

AND IT'S

PARTS. Omnis Oratio tres habet Virtutes, ut emendata, ut dilucida, ut ornata fit. Quint. Inft. 1. c. 5. Hinc tria in fe babere debet, Compofitionem, Elegantiam, Dignitatem. Cic. ad Her. 4. 12:

WE

1. COMPOSITION. Concerning which DIO NY SIUS Halicarnaffeus writes thus, Ετὶ τῆς Συνθέσεως ἔγα. οἰκείως εἶναι τά τε ἐνμαλα παρ' ἀλληλα, καὶ τοῖς κώλοις ἀποδῆναι τὴν πρωσήκεσαν ἁρμονίαν, καὶ ταῖς ριόδοις διαλαβεῖν αὐτὸν o τὸν λόγον, The Bufinefs of Compofition is to rank our Words in the exactest Order refpecting each other, to render to each Member it's proper harmonious Sound, and to diftinguish the whole Oration into it's moft agreeable Periods. Lib. de Comp. c. 2. He tells us alfo in chap. 5. "Ori #oran πρόνοια τοῖς ἀρχαίοις ἦν, καὶ

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λοσόφοις τε καὶ ῥήτορσι, ἰδέας ταύτης· x ivóμala τοῖς ὀνόμασιν, Tà κώλα τοῖς κώλοις, ετε τὰς περιόδες ἀλλήλαις εἰκῇ είκη ovvάTELY ovo deй, That the Ancients, as well Hiftorians as Poets, as well Philofophers as Orators, had the greatest Regard to this Part of Eloquence: being well affur'd that Words ought not to be crowded upon Words, Sentences upon Sentences, Periods upon Periods, without fuch Care and Premeditation. And in Chap. 10. Hdown' yap s τὸ καλὸν ἐπιζητεῖ ἡ ομοιόν τι πάσχεσα τῇ δράσει, For the Ears in a perfect Oration, like the Eyes in a finish'd Picture, expect to find both Beauty and Pleasure.-QUINTILIAN fays, In Compofitione laudamus Verba bene Rebus accommodata. Barbarifmi & Solacimi Faditas abfit.CICERO fays, Collocatio

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