University of Virginia Library

BOOK THE THIRD. ON THE ELOQUENCE OF THE SENATE.

Ere yet the plains of Marathon were drench'd
In Persia's blood, imperial Athens hail'd
Her system of superior law; elate
With visionary views of freedom's reign.
“Behold (she cried) a system fram'd to suit
“The genius of my democratic tribes
“Whose ancestry were demigods! Behold
“My freedom, hence establish'd, on a throne
“Of adamantine strength!”—Thee, SOLON, thee
The generous transport of Minerva's sons
The universal father term'd, and kiss'd
Thy sacred code. And see, the assembled crowd
With zeal enthusiastic, while they drink
The sounds that flow divinely from the tongue
Of their hoar patriot, snatch the regal robe
And bid it fold his limbs in purple pride,
And in a momentary frenzy clasp
The trappings they had spurn'd indignant! Mark
The patriot's eye: no pleasure sparkles there,
Or darts dishonest glances centering all
In self-applause; but pure parental love,
And pity's mild benignity, and grief
Prophetic, speak him sovereign of the heart.
Presaging ill, he sees the inconstant tribes
The prey of some usurper, whose fair mien
And smooth address and sweet-distilling words
Might lure them into bondage. So disguis'd,
Erelong, PISISTRATUS appear'd. Adorn'd
By all the exterior graces which diffuse
So bright a charm o'er genius that it seems
Persuasion's self embodied, magic hung
Upon his lips—and THESEUS' godlike race
Fell crouching at his feet. The reverend sage
Wept o'er the sudden impulse; and retir'd
From each familiar scene, to distant climes;
Tho' not despairing: for he long had read
Nature's first laws; and trac'd, with curious search,
The lineaments of proud Athenian minds
Yet undefac'd by tyrants. The high sense
Of honor, deaden'd into slumberous rest,
Repos'd, as yet, unsmother'd. And its flame
Rekindling fierce, might burst in vengeful wrath
Round the pale despot; while some daring youth—
Some brave HARMODIUS might arise, to dash
The tottering throne in atoms to the ground,
And give to SOLON's worth, to SOLON's laws,
His rescued Athens. Still, the boding sigh,
And many a melancholy pause, betray'd
The legislator's mind perplex'd by doubts
His wisdom vainly struggled to resolve.
“What tho' my system hath oppos'd (he cried)
“To factious millions a distinguish'd few,
“Meet rulers; yet hath rein'd the oppressive rich
“By universal right of suffrage, lodg'd
“In convocated crowds; some demon lurks
“Beneath the specious fabric! At this hour
“Perhaps the suffering people rous'd to shame
“Murmur revolt: but scarce Minerva's self
“Can bar relapse to thraldom. Many an age
“Shall see the insidious nobles hovering o'er
“Devoted tribes—shall see, with open front,
“The dark designing demagogue arise;
“While spreads a rapid ferment through the throng
“Rais'd by the force of eloquence, whose breath
“E'er shakes tumultuous Athens!” True the sage
Foretold. Full many a revolution shook
The frail construction, whose discordant springs
An ill-communicated motion spoke;
As the fell pomp of one, exulting, crush'd
The many; and the democratic rage
Prevail'd; or aristocracy pursued
With havock its broad track, o'erwhelming all!
Nor Rome survey'd, amidst the changeful shapes
Of civil policy, the blending parts
Of one confederate whole; while senates warr'd
With popular assemblies, whether kings
Pass'd sullen by, or stern dictators frown'd,
Or a decemvirate, in dread array,
Scowl'd o'er her people. Say, when public cares
Engag'd her throng'd comitia; and the voice
Of blustring tribune, of plebeian chief,
Harangu'd the unsteady multitude—impell'd
To incidental judgment by a hint
Ambiguous, by the inflammatory phrase,
By stratagem tho' shallow yet unseen,
By shifted place, a momentary turn,
By a bird's flight—did freedom there preside,
High goddess?—Meantime (to the senate's walls
Upborne on ivory cars of curule pomp)
Her fathers, rude and unenlighten'd, felt
The bold philippic thunder in their ears;
Shuddering at each strong period that display'd
Their trampled rights, the crimes of ruffian crowds,
Their evanescent glories but the shade
Of old patrician grandeur! Thus misrule
And anarchy disclos'd the embowel'd war
Of struggling elements that rent the state.
Yet TULLY's speculative eye perceiv'd
The semblance of a threefold power, combin'd
In compact such as ne'er historic pen
Had trac'd amid the nations. Nor a glimpse
Of empire to perfection brought, escap'd
The sage whose penetrating genius ken'd
The internal movements of the restless mind
In politic societies; and drew
Its features strong and luminous. His soul
Imag'd in fair idea the mixt state,
Where prince and peers in concert with the tribes
Elected from the common mass, exert
Their close-cooperating powers to frame
Man's civil union. Such the form he deem'd
Too pure for mortal eyes; or only meet
For some Atlantic isle, where PLATO's thought
Might fondly brood o'er visionary bliss;
Whose white cliffs glitter to ideal suns,
The haunt of genii! Yes! the Atlantic waves
Kiss that elysian island!—and that isle
Is Albion! Lo her guarded rocks are trod
By spirits that have drank empyreal air,
Light freedom, and philosophy, heav'n-sprung!
Hail genii of the skies! A vagrant guest,
Freedom! thy solitary steps awhile
Pac'd Albion's hills, as opening thro' the ranks
Of rude society with gradual glow,
Shone nature's simple principle, the love
Of independence; and (impell'd by thee,
At fortune's happy crisis) rais'd the state
A complex form.—Erelong, descending slow,
Philosophy her lov'd companion join'd,
And fix'd the work of liberty, on strong
Unshaken basis.—If we mark the essays
Of daring freedom, let us turn our eye
Back to the period; where the Norman, fir'd
With conquest, over Albion's vanquish'd race
And o'er his victor-armies bared the laws
In thunder—sudden, where his out-stretch'd hand
Rent into fiefs unnumber'd the wide realm,
And bade the baron and the slave, alike,
Kneel in the dust. Yet, lo! the sever'd parts
Beneath the pressure of the despot's sway
Crush'd into coalition, give their powers
To blend in one indissoluble mass!
Struck from the monarch's ponderous sceptre, flew
The co-resisting spirit, to renounce
The universal vassalage; while knights
High-helm'd, amid the proudly-scutcheon'd halls
Throng'd round their armed barons, at whose board
Nectareous mead from the full goblet glanc'd
Its amber stream—while minstrels harp'd the deeds
Of British heroes, and the vaulted roofs
Echoed the song of glory! Nor the domes
Of each inferior chieftain ceas'd to sound
That echo! Strait, in one confederate band,
Ev'n peasants, as (a vassal-troop) they rose,
To bulwark the baronial rights, entrench'd
With deepening foss, their own. And see, the chain
Of feodal tyranny thro' all its links
Relaxing, the low hamlet's brighten'd wall
Reflects the chearful blaze, at evening-close,
Nor heeds “the far-off curfew.” Village-peace
Smooths, undisturb'd, her pinions, and sits still;
Resting her eye upon the curling smoke
That blends its volume with the sapphire heaven!
But insecure and fleeting was the boon
Of civil harmony, that, scarce enjoy'd,
Fled the vain grasp. The people's threats, the torch
Of dire commotion, fields o'erslow'd with blood,
Perfidious treaties, and rekindled war,
Past, in repeated series, ere the state
Repos'd its quiet on the wills of all.
And lo! to the first HENRY the bold arm
Of popular resistance opes (tho' yet
In dim disclosure) thro' the breaking clouds
The fane of British liberty! Ev'n now
The murky remnant of the gloom rolls off,
While frowns the weak usurper; and its towers
(At the firm bidding of her chosen chiefs)
Flash on the sight! Behold, the portals wide
Expanding, her majestic mien appears!
And, as she waves (the banner of her fame)
The glorious charter, her prophetic eye
Quick glancing o'er her EDWARD's laws, descries
Her infant senate rising into form;
Surveys it struggling with the Tudor race,
And many a despot; sees a STUART strive,
Mad in tyrannic impotence, to curb
Her parliament new-strung with vigorous nerve
At each vindictive stroke; and raptur'd views
Her statesmen glowing with the haughty sense
Of recent victory, which had burst the bounds
Of speech, giv'n eloquence free scope, and brav'd
All mortal check;—'till, now, her triumphs hail
That æra, when the people, peers, and prince,
Thro' acts that fix the limits of their power,
Announce her empire!—Here, 'tis here begun
The period of philosophy, who beam'd
The rising lustre on her conscript tribes;
Gave them to feel their own appropriate rights;
Develope, with precision's clearer ken,
The constitutive principles; and solve
By just analysis, what freedom's force,
Aided by various circumstance, combin'd.
Thus, then, in lineaments distinctly drawn
Prerogative and privilege appear'd;
Objects of vigilance; that claim'd, alike,
The ministerial zeal, the patriot's care.
Hence opposition's spirit, ever bold
To meet the undue preponderance of power
With poising scale: and hence the high debate,
Still with the bounding lines in view that mark
The people's freedom or the sovereign's right.
Thus too, the illuminated mind survey'd
Its own preheminence; while now the crowd
No more assembled to distract the realm
By factious strife, but trusted to a few
(Their delegated chiefs) the common cause—
A few deep-read in history's moral page,
Inform'd by institution, and refin'd
By fashion's winning ease, by luxury's charms.
Hence elegant harangues, in finish'd phrase,
Awakening chaste imagination, stole
Attention; and, that essence of thy speech,
Young pupil, ornament diffus'd its light.
If, then, thy readiest apprehension note
The genius of the state distinctly trac'd;
The groundwork of the senatorial strain
Here opens. Whilst full many a subject meets
Discussion's strength, in prospect bid it lie;
Whether the government's internal springs
Require the regulating hand, or cares
Extrinsic lead thy views to distant realms.
Nor let the genius of the senate fly
Thy search, elusive: here thy art shall build
The structure of the oration, that delights
With polish'd beauty the congenial mind.
VERS'D in forensic knowlege and the powers
Of legal oratory, patriot love—
Perhaps ambition prompts thee to pursue
The bright career of fame; and, tho' enroll'd
With delegates, aspire where Ermine points
Ennobled worth! And well thy merits claim
The proud distinction, while thy mental eye
Clearly the constitution's fabric sees.
But if thou join the British senate, rude
From thy paternal mansion—if thou vaunt
Thine independent soul, thy unbrib'd sense
Of ancient virtue, and the heroic blood
That in thy veins devolves the untainted stream,
Tho' arm'd with no preparatory skill
In legal science; ah beware the laugh
“Which scarce the firm philosopher can scorn!”
Trust not to plain integrity alone,
To plain uncultur'd talents. Many a sun
Shall o'er thy unremitted toils revolve,
Thy silent observation; ere applause
Shall hail the beauties of thy fluent speech.
Gifted with previous knowlege to discuss
The multifarious subjects that require
Deliberative skill; o'er Britain's isle
Extend thy cares, redress her wrongs, disclose
The internal sources of her wealth, and roll
Thro' broader channels its diffusive tide.
Oft, too, with accurate attention watch
The empire's hoary fabric! See, where clings
Corruption, mining deep its massy strength
With slow corrosive canker; nor remit
Thine efforts, to destroy the deadly bane.
Such the high province of the good and great
Thro' many a reign; tho' oft their fancy glow'd
With idle projects, and amusive schemes
Utopian; tho' their fond chimeric fears
Flutter'd o'er weltering Albion, as foredoom'd
To satiate many a harpy with her blood.
Yet hath venality, with frequent clang,
Sounded its pinions ominous, and snuff'd
The promis'd feast. And Britons long had fall'n
Its prey, but for St. AUBYN's honest pride,
And WYNDHAM's worth, and CHATHAM's glorious zeal!
For tho' full oft these patriot spirits strove,
Too feeble to exterminate the foe,
Still by reiterated force, they check'd
The venom'd pest, and dash'd its rising rage.
And see thine Albion balancing the scales
Of European politics. Survey
Her trident's strength uplifted o'er the deep;
Where fleets innumerous her wide empire own,
Couch to her passing glories, and announce
Her pride of commerce, and her pomp of war:
While, far as either India, Britain streams
The imperious pendant on the scented breeze;
To bear away the spices of the grove,
The silk's luxuriant lustre, or the pearls
Of Ormuz, softening with their rainbow tints
The diamond's blaze! Meantime, the nations shake
Ev'n to the banks of Ganges, at the shout
Of Britain's martial triumphs—Calpe's rock
Exulting, echoes back the distant sound!
But, O! beyond the riches that attend
Thy proud commercial intercourse, or all
The power of cruel arms that deluge earth;
Be thine, ingenuous senator, to prize
The empire of thy legislative sway;
Which wafts its liberal blessings like the hand
Of heaven, amid rejoicing climes! Behold
The angelic shapes thy mandate o'er the wave
Speeds to the extremer countries—candid Truth;
Unfetter'd sentiment, whose growing form
Enlarges, as her steps approach; the mien
Of portly liberty; benevolence,
Her open arms unfolding, as to clasp
Creation! Hark the dæmons of the east
Hurrying to their incarcerate abodes,
Howl at their fell dominion lost, and leave
The enlighten'd tribes to happiness and thee!
See, then, thy glorious delegacy, fraught
With high momentous subjects. 'Tis a task
That claims the intensest energies of mind!
And when thy studies are matur'd, a vein
Of quick expression may, perhaps, be thine,
At every call; since knowledge will suggest,
And ready words express perspicuous thought.
But think not readiness enough: the talk
Familiar that attends the mantling bowl
May boast such merits. 'Tis not eloquence—
Whilst neither arm'd with nervous strength, to whelm,
Nor fraught with winning softness, to seduce
The soul: old CATO's sternness would disdain
So mean a language, ev'n tho' CATO mock'd
Each artifice of elegant harangues.
But know, thou hast not CATO to address
With letter'd lore, and language unadorn'd:
For to the sage's philosophic sense
Thy audience add a delicacy, nurs'd
In soft tho' not effeminating ease.
Enter the concave senate; and behold
Its sons with an imaginative warmth,
And with a taste correct endued; a quick
Perceptive keenness in the judging power,
Averse to long and wearisome detail;
And passion's glow, tho' not the intemperate heat
That in declamatory diction burns.
Whether, enrob'd amidst the splendid tribe
Of Britain's peers, thou venerate the seats
Where long hath beam'd the hereditary pomp;
(Marking the throne of kings, now first adorn'd
By royal elocution's graceful charm);
Or whether, ranking with the inferior chiefs,
Thou sit obedient to the people's voice;
Still o'er the assembly shines that polish giv'n
By education's gentle hand, which smoothes
The roughnesses adherent oft to minds
Unfashion'd, and precludes the essays so bold
In rude uncultur'd genius—the career
Of talents supereminent and vast.
In such an age, the precepts of the schools
Would vainly to its loftier summit bring
Thy senatorial eloquence. Tho' there
Rules in exactest symmetry, deduc'd
From nature, may direct thy infant art;
'Tis not in formal lessons to mature
Its growing strength. The diction critic rules
Prescribe, deserves thine imitative aim:
Yet, tho' in just analysis thou see
The principles of language, and the means
To gain that finish'd elegance of phrase
Adapted to the genius of thy sphere;
Still is that manner wanting which defies
All definition, and is only caught
Thro' actual observation. Thine harangue
Perhaps displeases, by its frigid air,
Precision nicely studied, by a want
Of useful repetition that might seem
Obtrusive matter to the bookworm sage.
Haste, then, where easy conversation sports
With all expression's negligence, whose stream
Redundant flows, tho' fashionably free;
That by a happy mixture of the strain
To schools and living circles known, thy art
May rounded to its full perfection rise.
First, be thy efforts guided, liberal youth!
To meliorate thy language, by the laws
Of rhythmic numbers; and enrich its vein
By figurative elegance. A flow
Of clear syllabic harmony, that strikes
With every fine variety of sound
The curious ear, can give ev'n weakness strength;
Set off the tritest subject, and attach
A luring manner to each dry detail.
How few the models of a style that boasts
The veil of ease by simple nature thrown
O'er artificial beauty! TULLY's self,
Whose declamations exquisitely wrought
Melt with a soft diffusion on the ear
Or roll in deep sonorous tones, betrays
Too evident a toil; while midst the pause
Too oft repeated, pleasure's spell dissolves.
Yet study those, whose writings have approach'd
The beautiful in harmony. 'Tis thine
With just discernment to select or shun
Each imitable point, each vicious turn.
And, if thy art, that snatches, thus, a charm
From music, in her radiant sister hail
The grace of glowing figures, 'tis in thee
To spread imagination's lovely tint
O'er all thy style. Transcribe the figures meet
For ornament: explore, with studious care,
Their every source, and mark, when best applied.
Oft, in thy solitary hours, essay
To warm thy fancy with ideal scenes
That interest or delight: then give thy speech
Expansive wing; and, far retir'd, declaim
Amid thy patrimonial oaks, whose shade
Embowers thy path. Thy fervent transport fled,
Retrace each image that in rapid flight
Pass'd o'er thy mind. Thus judgment shall perceive
That all thy diction's figurative glow
Arose from purest nature, unalloy'd.
But should thy language too luxuriant seem—
Too studied or elab'rate, trust the muse,
'Tis not in cloyster'd science to correct
The blemish. 'Tis in manner'd courts alone
Where observation hangs upon the lips
Of oral elegance, to lend that aid
No philologic theorist can supply.
'Tis in the circles, where exults the power
Of pleasing, (CHESTERFIELD's much-boasted art),
Where spirit joins with gracefulness—'tis there,
Where female wit, in sparkling beauty gay,
Heightens the lustre of exterior charms;
Thy converse shall the metaphor chastize
Too glaring, and relax its stiff attire.
So shalt thou gain simplicity, that gives
The richness of the figurative term
And all the measur'd melody of sounds
A genuine ease to colleges unknown;
While every decoration shall appear
Thine own spontaneous manner, scorning art.
And so thy style, too close or too concise
For elocution's elegance (tho' meet
For a historic writer) shall acquire
The just diffusion which expands a thought
In diverse lights; impresses it on all
By frequent repetition; by the length
Of flowing periods lends an ampler scope
For ornament, of every varied kind;
And, thus expatiating at large, agrees
With senatorial subjects that demand
The copious stream, the plenitude of words.
Fear not an unconnected style, too lax
In negligent expression; since thy mind,
With previous reading stor'd, hath power to prune
The excrescent phrase familiar converse loves.
Of this accordant mixture duly mark
In many a mighty master of thine art
The beautiful result; tho', first, observe
Two great exemplars, (whom thy country views
With justest admiration), not unstain'd
By blemishes which our instructive song
Hath clearly pointed. Thro' the shade of years
If thou revert thy transitory gaze;
Where, in the British senate, wilt thou fix
Thy vagrant eye? Few are the chiefs that claim
Our homage. Tho', at CHARLES's fateful day,
Flash'd, as a light meteorous (that quick
Thro' æther passes beyond mortal ken)
The rapid blaze of eloquence; the muse
Perceives no model, who, approaching near
To finish'd oratory, can be trac'd
In lines distinctive. Not that she disdains
A SELDEN's vigor, or a HAMPDEN's rage,
Or the devoted STRAFFORD's last essay
Glorious thro' great emergence! But we haste
To catch the features of a BRUNSWICK's reign
Where, from a galaxy of speakers bright
With indiscriminated beams, broke forth
A CHATHAM's splendour! Fast the mingled rays
Of the surrounding orators grew pale—
Fainting into the skies! Ev'n WYNDHAM's star
Was dim; and PULTENEY had no lustre, there.
And, lo! the flaming son of genius, bold
In native independence, and impell'd
By strong ambition, seizes at a grasp
The comprehensive subject, that appears
Infinitude to vulgar views! His mind
Original and vast, his nervous strain
Unlabour'd and irregular, his voice
Commanding, his eye cloath'd with lightnings, stern
His aspect and terrific, as the frown
Of heav'n—sublimity his every nod
Attended, proud of her ministrant powers!
'Twas thus THEMISTOCLES the Athenian tribes
Struck with amazement, as his eagle mind
Intuitive disdain'd the softer arts
Of rhetoric, trusting to its strength alone!
But CHATHAM, tho' not versatile as great,
Could ev'n effuse the insinuating tones
Of sweetness, with so exquisite a grace,
That his enchanted auditory hung
Upon his breath reposing, as the wave
In placid stillness rests upon the shore!
Yet was he not accomplish'd. Nature gave
With prodigality a mental boon,
Which every eye astonish'd. Yet was art—
Yet classic art was wanting there, to smooth
The asperities of language; to restrain
A copiousness o'erflowing the just bounds
Of order, and give method to the whole—
One dazzling emanation! Rude, verbose,
With incorrectnesses of style, and words
Inaccurately plac'd, no skill he own'd,
To treat the dry unanimated theme;
Nor, in the cooler moment, gain the assent
Of critic judgment to his harsh essays.
But, in his orb our verse unwilling points
These little spots, that almost disappear
Amidst the fadeless glory. Turn we, next,
To living politicians; where stands forth
Conspicuous in the variegated groupe,
Of rhetoric no mean master—more observ'd,
As with a CHATHAM's traits contrasted rise
His strongly-shaded lineaments. Profuse
Of florid declamation, he hath taste
That, with a relish inexpressive, feels
The finer beauties of the Grecian page—
Say, who, like BURKE, can feel them? All the train
Of classic imag'ry his mind evolves,
And quick into a new creation moulds
The race of fairy fancy!—But too fond
Of erudite allusions—too propense
To draw from antient poesy the tropes,
The figures of his speech, to truth he gives
A fabling air, and buries common sense
Beneath an heap of metaphor. His thoughts
Are methodiz'd by ARISTOTLE's rules;
And (if no rival's irritating sneer
Derange his plan) in regular array
The series of the harangue proceeds—yet stiff
Thro' regularity; and not enough
Savouring of the colloquial—an harangue
That might beseem the academy or school;
Like some inaugural oration, rich
In classic vein, beneath a pedant's eye.
Then be not CHATHAM's oratory, thine—
Nor BURKE's; but, blending their perfections, frame
Such numbers as a CHATHAM's polish'd son
Might not disdain to own! Tho' in the bloom
Of years yet wiser than maturest age,
Clear amid all the energy of speech,
Ample yet not prolix, and (as he gains
The yielding judgment o'er and captive leads
The passions) rich in figures, which he brings
With nice selection from the stores of taste
To charm imagination—lo! he towers
The pride of Albion!—Nor his active foe
In vigorous talents and a speaker's worth
Shines far inferior; as the deep debate
With well invented argument he guides,
But less embellish'd diction. To his search
While universal politics, the maze
Of European manners, and the intrigues
Of foreign courts are uninvolv'd, his skill
To illuminate his auditory, meets
No rival mind;—unless a SHERIDAN
With all his winning elocution rise—
His keenly pointed satire, and his sport
Of quick allusion! But the nobler flights
Are SHERIDAN's—the bold majestic wing.
Witness that unexampled strain sublime,
Which, with an influence undiminish'd, sway'd
(Long as the moon from her meridian heaven
Bends downward to the wave) the senate's sons
Unanimous—now melting into tears—
Now frowning indignation; from their gloom
While full the felonies of India rose,
Nor trembling could escape a beam of day.
Fir'd by those great ideas, can the muse
Observe the senate's cooller aspect, pleas'd
By COURTENAY's sparkling wit; or NORTH's replies—
No more to re-enliven the dull hour?
Or, can she note a STORMONT's solid sense;
A RICHMOND's high inventive talents, led
By patriot zeal, more beauteous than the blaze
Of all his ducal glories? Or the strong—
The rooted principles a THURLOW boasts,
Unbias'd guardian of our sacred rights,
Immutable—the Briton, truly free?
But let the muse to her didactic path
Reverting, the too rapturous heat allay.
If, then, ingenuous pupil, thou hast read
These rules and models, search into the bent
Of thine own native talents. Here, perchance,
Lies a peculiar bias, to create
An independent manner of thine own;
Or else in friendly unison agree
With some congenial mind, whose features fair
Take for thy just exemplar. Thus, distinct
With every trait original that shews
True genius on a perfect model form'd;
Thy elegant oration shall address
The imaginative faculty; and touch
With great effect the quick percipient taste.
And as that taste to nice precision wrought
Contemns the tricks of rhetoric, O beware,
Left in the fervor of thy kindled soul
Thou catch the imperfect word, the flippant strain,
Alas, too current with the conscript tribe;
Who oft the vulgar proverb seize, or coin
The uncouth expression. Hence new syllables
Slide off into the language, and corrupt
By vicious sounds its purity. Despise
Each low attempt at wit; nor intermix,
With legislative science, scripture-shreds.
Nor ever be it thine, correctly-dull,
To weary judgment by the meagre speech
Creeping in all the penury of words;
Whose humble merit scarce o'ershoots the mark
Of base vulgarity. And shun details,
And each prolix discussion; too remote
From the main objects of thy proper sphere,
To interest or instruct. Thus, heedless, oft,
Of yawning somnolence diffus'd around,
The speaker by political harangues
Fatigues his audience; whilst of Russia's wealth
He talks, perhaps his travels to display.
Then heed not systems never doom'd to prove
The touchstone of experience; but address
The judgment's keen perception, that delights
In the full force of nervous argument,
Tho' solid yet not tedious; tho' arrang'd
In order, from apparent art averse.
Meantime, another attribute of mind
Residing in the senate, claims thy care;
'Tis passion! But 'tis passion so subdued—
So soften'd by the manners, that it seems
All coldness to the fire of Athens' chiefs—
To her alert vivacity, which glow'd
Amidst her Areopagus—the soul
Of sensibilities awaken'd wild
To action, rapid action unconstrain'd!
Yes! 'tis a passion o'er which taste hath breath'd
Her cool soft tints; such as a STRAFFORD's air
Of plaintive eloquence might haply move,
If aided by his injur'd worth alone;
Nor borrowing ought of adventitious help
From what thy fashionable audience deems
But artificial trick. The feeling scene,
Where stood his little offspring rang'd around—
Lifting their pleading eyes—had yet impell'd
Our senatorial fathers to forgive,
(Ere fashion chas'd pure instinct from the heart)
Had not a persecuting spirit steel'd
Their breasts to momentary pardon prone.
Who could despise his unaffected strain
So arm'd by truth and goodness? Who, the pause,
The tear, the look of pity sweetly-thrown
On his dear artless innocents; the sigh
Light-rising, of a soul resign'd to heaven?
Yet, mark the calmness of thy wiser peers
Whose feelings only vibrate at the touch
Of brighten'd pathos; while the lovelier traits
Of virtue, drawn by delicacy, sink
Into the heart. Then hope not to affect—
Then fondly trust not thy pathetic powers:
Unless, sweet nature's artist, thou hast skill
To pencil her fine attitudes, her air
Attractive, her free drapery's fluid folds;
And, thro' imagination's medium, paint
To passion. Pathos cools, where fashion reigns.
Far other notions of pathetic speech
The speakers of the Roman senate form'd;
Who ne'er essay'd to steal into the heart,
By painting to the feelings. 'Twas not theirs
To touch by imagery, but to move
By sympathetic strokes—to ope the effect
Of each impression on their own warm mind;
Not shew the mental portraiture itself,
By gradual art, thro' fancy's calmer light.
Pure passion dwells not on description's hues;
But ever lives, (and trembles, as it lives),
In indistinctest energies—a look,
A tone, a gesture! Hence, the speaker's soul
Enkindled, spreads its own contagious warmth.
'Tis thus the uncultur'd know the affection's force,
Bias'd by nature to admire! to shake
With agony, with rapture! circumscrib'd
By narrow bounds; nor shap'd to scrutinize
The ideas, whose obscure effect they feel.
THO' senates scarce admit the wordy storm,
Yet slight it not: occasions will arise
To favour such a forcible display.
Oft as septennial revolutions call
The electors, gathering in a motley throng
To re-elect or spurn their chiefs; 'tis then
The torrent of thy eloquence may gain
Thy point with sway resistless, and o'erwhelm
The power of opposition, quench the rage
Of party, or repress its smother'd flame.
Image the assembled tribes—in order rang'd
The more distinguish'd commons—the set speech
Formal and faultering, that concisely tells
The subject of discussion—the still pause—
The whisperings indistinct, that circle round;
While haply an addressing friend presents
The candidate, who, wavering first, perplex'd
For utterance, now relaxes and runs o'er
(Scarce with the breathing pauses) his harangue;
Soliciting—soliciting—unheard—
The people's choice. And led by narrow zeal,
Or poor self-interest, or a patriot flame,
The partizans approach—one, character'd
By rusticated manners roughening o'er
The polish of half-educated youth;
Another, gifted with the exterior mien
More winning; tho' expressing each, in terms
Inert and stiff, his mean embarrass'd thought.
A third, of antient family, comes forth
As his own grandsire's portrait, from its frame
Escap'd, in rigid majesty supreme.
In vain the poor contentious party tries
The feebleness of hesitating tones
And broken periods: Indian pomp in vain
Flutters the ruffled honours of its plumes!
All yield—the multitude borne swift away—
Asia's high chiefs, and “yahoo-squires,” alike,
Sink in the impetuous whirl, ingulph'd and lost!
And great, indeed, that eloquence, empower'd,
Where erst dishonor triumph'd, to oppose
Skill to deep skill; give probity the charms
Which varnish over vice; and her own arts
Against herself direct with dext'rous aim—
Those colourable arts her motley spawn
Vaunt to the world's broad glare. With idle arm
Truth holds the unpolish'd targe against design
And fell oppression. No romantic muse
Would warn thee, that, beneath the senate's roof,
The blustering CLEON claims thy vigilance
Suspicious; the smooth orator, adept
In tricks theatrical; and he, who points,
Colossal plunderer, with a tyrant's air,
His gorgeous spoils. Since, then, the task were vain
Amid a cumbrous empire's wide display,
Its fashions, luxuries, its commercial pride,
Its opulence and grandeur, to restore
Thy country to primæval plainness—deem'd
Of old the close companion of pure worth;
Since idle every effort to recall
Simplicity of manners, be thy care
To bid magnificence and ornament
Subserve integrity; o'er subject earth
To spread the greatness of the British laws;
With an extensive empire co-extend
The virtues, whose kind influence softens life;
And nurture, with a patron's liberal warmth,
Fancy and taste: hence sprung thy splendid art;
And, lo, to these addrest, thy eloquence
Shall from corruption gain her host of slaves!