, 1896-11-14

tne secret oil some OF its EXCELLENCE
may be discovered. Many of the fine
points have passed beyond our ken an,
could be appreciated by anyone t,
whom Greek was not his native Ian
guase. but whatever lies in broad out
line may be seen and assimilated.
This was the climax of the skill
which a lifetime had developed. De.
mosthenes was now about fifty years
OF age and it has been seer how full,
prepared he came to the task. .Jebt
calls 1t the most finished. the mos
splendid, and the most pathetic work
OF ancient e~loquence. the immortal ora.
ton On the Crown"
EXAMINATION OF THE GRAFTON
ON THE CROWN.
h first inquiry concerning this
speech is What was the plan of it, the
general plan?" The answer is difficult
to find. There is a certain division OF
the subject, but there seems to have
been no effort to make harmony of the
R"i ca ihi1'oi ulit ltitult. iIitlt Is Il
formal introduction in which he seeks
to ingratiate himself into the good
will of his audience, to invoke the aid
of the gods, and repel an attempt to
~contine him to an order prescribed by
his antagonist. He is after the YER
dict, and while pursuing that object,
with ~Dea wisdom ba Saori
fees every rule that would endanger
the result. He then refutes the charges
outside the Indictment, then those
enumerated, hen he contrasts the
conduct of Aeschines with his own con-
duct, finally summing up his reasons
for being crowned, he concludes more
suddenly than might have been expect
ed. But inside those lines, Demosthenes
seems to have given very little atten-
tlon to order or arrangement. Why he
did so is not far to seek, when we re-
three ruling principles; first, continued
repetition of an important thought:
secondly, variety, in style, in the chan
mel OF approach, in form of argument.
and in blending narrative, description,
argument. and conclusion in kaleido-
scopic change. that foundation of ora
tory. which he expressed by action. ac-
tiUn, action: and lastly, accumulation
OF those advance-posts az he marches
forward to their occupation. till he can
sum them all up in one trumpet-blast
and begin the fighting again.
Certain characteristics mark his
method of impressing his audience. He
uses only the important points and
wastes no time on trivial questions. He
employs no superintendent of reason
ing or language. he avoids figures as
much as possible, and if he uses them
for emphasis, they are compact, sud
den. and brief. He presents Aeschines
in the worst possible light at every
turn of the speech. and he is exceeding
ly fond of antithesis and that form of
argument known as the dilemma as the
best method of expression and reason
ing to keep the attention and convince
the average citizen. All the time he
observes as far as possible the histori-
cal sequence of events.
This Grafton On the Crown has been
characterized as logic red-hu,' and
no better description can be given Of
the volcanic earnestness of the orator.
but the ~epigrammatic expression
might mislead one not familiar with
the peculiarities OF the method which
Demosthenes pursues. He never calls
on his audience to strain their atten-
ton by following long lines of meta
physical argument. No modern or
ancient popular audience would re-
spond to such a test, although some
preachers with frequent "firstlies and
finallies, brethren" have been deluded
in this direction. He flashes convic-
ton on his hearers by a dilemma held
a momen and then withdrawn for a
vivid description that gives place in
turn to an irresistible appeal. The ora
tor himself, while pouring out his SOU
in never ceasing variety of form, must
have writhed about the stage, as he
f1ayed his adversary and indicated
himself.
A popular audience necessarily con-
tains many people who neither by nat
ure nor training are qualified to listen
continuously, and it is the object and
study of the orator to overcome the de-
ficiency as far as possible. The de-
vices by which that result is secured
seem hardly to belong t 0 rhetoric but
to be rather within the province Of
psychology. The most natural means
of insuring the apprehension of at least
ment is to repeat it as many times as
its Importance demands and propriety
permits. Demosthenes most certainly
knew the value of what has been term
ed rhetorical repetition" and his repe-
titions are so skillfully made that each
enc seems the natural o%lrtgrowth of
that particular stage of the argument
IN which it occ1rs. For example. his
%adrohtness in this respect is displayed
by the manne in which he shifts upon
Aeschines the responsibility for the
constant reference which Demosthenes
makes to himself. He has not advanc-
ed far before he says: II shall be OBJ
liged to speak p%erpetually of myself