236 KOMAN PHILOSOPHY. 



Caecilius, that his talents are displayed to the best advantage. To 

 both kinds his amiable and pleasant character of mind imparts 

 inexpressible grace and delicacy; historical allusions, philosophical 

 sentiments, descriptions full of life and nature, and polite raillery, 

 succeed each other in the most agreeable manner, without appearance 

 of artifice or effort. Of this nature are his pictures of the confusion 

 of the Catilinarian conspirators on detection ; l of the death of Me- 

 tellus ; 2 of Sulpicius undertaking the embassy to Antonius ; 3 the 

 character he draws of Catiline ; 4 and his fine sketch of old Appius 

 frowning on his degenerate descendant Clodia. 5 



General dis- These, however, are but incidental and occasional artifices to divert 

 lon ' and refresh the mind, as his orations are generally laid out according 

 to the plan proposed in rhetorical works; the introduction, containing 

 the ethical proof; the body of the speech, the argument, and the 

 peroration addressing itself to the passions of the judge. In opening 

 his case, he commonly makes a profession of timidity and diffidence, 

 with a view to conciliate the favour of his audience ; the eloquence, 

 for instance, of Hortensius, is so powerful, 6 or so much prejudice has 

 been excited against his client, 7 or it is his first appearance in the ros- 

 trum, 8 or he is unused to speak in an armed assembly, 9 or to plead in a 

 private apartment. 10 He proceeds to entreat the patience of his judges ; 

 drops out some generous or popular sentiment, or contrives to excite 

 prejudice against his opponent. He then states the circumstances of 

 his case, and the intended plan of his oration ; and here he is particu- 

 larly clear. But it is when he comes actually to prove his point, that 

 his oratorical powers begin to have their full play. He accounts for 

 everything so naturally, makes trivial circumstances tell so happily, so 

 adroitly converts apparent objections into confirmations of his argu- 

 ment, connects independent particulars with such ease and plausibility, 

 that it becomes impossible to entertain a question on the truth of his 

 statement. This is particularly observable in his defence of Cluentius, 

 where prejudices, suspicions, and difficulties are encountered with the 

 most triumphant ingenuity; in the antecedent probabilities of his 

 * Pro Milone ;' u in his apology for Mura^na's public, 12 and Caelius's 

 private, life, 13 and his disparagement of Verres's military services in 

 Sicily ; w it is observable in the address with which the Agrarian law 

 of Rullus, 15 and the accusation of Rabirius, 18 both popular measures, are 

 represented to be hostile to public liberty; with which Milo's impolitic 

 unconcern is made an affecting topic ; 17 and Cato's attack upon the crowd 



1 In Catil. iii. 3. 2 Pro Gael. 10. 3 Philipp. ix. 3. 



4 Pro Cael. 3. 5 Ibid. 6. 



6 Pro Quint, and pro Verr. 5. 7 Pro Cluent. 



8 Pro Leg. Manil. Pro Milon. 10 Pro Deiotar. 



11 Pro Milon. 8-10. 12 Pro Muran. 4. 13 Pro Cael. 6. 



" In Verr. v. 2, &c. 15 Contra Rull. ii. 9. l6 Pro Rabir. 3. 

 17 Pro Milon. init. et alibi. 



