ACT 



ACT 



A£lion is'a coHaterr.! cr fecondary mctluH! of exprcfTing our 

 ideas ; and is fulcfptible of a kind of eloquence as well as the 

 priman-. In the infancy of Language, when words were 

 tew, or not eafily conneifled, men would naturally recur to 

 aftion for explauiing and expreffing their conceptions ; and 

 they would labour to make themfelvcs underftood, by vary- 

 ing their tones of voice, and accompanying their tones with 

 the mod fignilicant gefticulations. At this day, when 

 perfons fpeak in a language which they pofTcfs iniperfcftly, 

 they have reco'.irfe to all thefe fupplemental methods, in 

 order to render themfelves more intelligible. Eefidcs, in 

 the giadual imp-.'cvement ;ii!d extenfion of language, a warm 

 imagination would introduce into diftourfe a variety of 

 tones, and a conliderable degree of aftion. Thus Dr. War- 

 burton accounts for fo much fpraking liy aftion, as we find 

 among the Old Ttllamer.t prophets. Among the northern 

 American tribes certain motions and aftions are adopted in 

 order to explain their meaning on all great occalions of in- 

 tercourfe with one another. The Cliincfe find it ifittj^eafy 

 to exprefs different ideas by a variety of Jones tlian to*<:on- 

 trive words for all their ideas. The Greek aiid Roman 

 'languages alfo were pronounced with more numerous in- 

 flexions of voice, and more animated geftures than any to 

 which we are accuftomcd. Accordingly we find, that 

 action was treated of by all the ancient critics, as the chief 

 quality in every public fpeaker ; and the orators and players'* 

 of Greece and Rome were diilinguiflied by the vehemence 

 of their a(!;tion. This is, in all cafes, an addrefs to the ex- 

 ternal fenfes ; which it endeavours to move, and bring into 

 its party by well-concerted motion and modulation ; at the 

 fame time that the reafon and underftanding are attacked by 

 force of argument. Accordingly, Tully very pertinently 

 calls it fcrmo corporis, the dijcaiirfe of the hoHy ; and corporis 

 eloquent'l.i, the eloquence of the body. — The Roman mimes and 

 pantomimes, we read, had fucli a eompafs even of mute 

 aftion, that voice and language feemed ufelefs to them : 

 they could make themfelves underftood to people of all 

 nations ; and Rofcius, the comedian, is particularly famed, 

 as being able to exprefs any fentence by his gellures, as 

 fignificantly and variouHy as Cicero with all his oratory. 

 Quinftihan gives us a fyflem of the rules of aftion ; taken 

 not only from the writings of the ancient orators, but from 

 the bell examples of the forum. 



What we ufiially attribute to eloquence, was really the 

 efieft of the aftion only, as fome of the greateft mailers in 

 that way have frankly acknowledged. — Demofihenes ex- 

 pressly Calls it, ' the beginning, the middle, and the end of 

 ' the orator's office ;' and Cicero profeffes, that it is not of 

 • fo much importance what the orator fays, as how he 

 ' fays it.' 



The Greeks, who were attentive to multiply the means of 

 influencing the pafTions, omitted nothing which might bring 

 to perfeftion this firfl language of Nature. Poeti-y and 

 mufic were always fupported by the aftion of the performers. 

 This aftion, which was acquired by a kind of dance that 

 regulated the motions and different inflexions of the body, 

 animated the difcourfes of their orators, and fomctimes the 

 leffonsof their philofophers. See Plut. in Demofl;h. torn. i. 

 p. 851. Ed. Xyland. Id. in x. Rhet. Vit. tom. ii. p. 845. 

 Plato de leg. 1. vii. tom. ii. p. 816. Ed. Serrani. Athen, 

 Deipn. 1. i. c. 17. p. 21. Ed. Cafaub. 



After all, it is a point that will bear being controverted, 

 whether aftion ought to be praftifed and encotiraged at 

 all ? A thing that has fo much command over mankind, it is 

 certain, muft be very dangerous ; fince it is capable of being 

 turned to our difadvantage as well as to our advantage. It 

 is putting a weapon in the hands of another, whichj if he 



pleafts, he may make ufe of to fubdue and enfl.ivc us ; and 

 accordingly, .hiftory is full of the pernicious ufes made of it. 

 — For this reafon, eloquence and aftion have been unduly 

 difcouraged by modern policy ; and both the bar and the 

 pulpit have been brought to a more frigid way of deliverv. 



But this is an extreme, wiiicli no objcftion four.ded on 

 the abufc of eloquence accompanied with aftion, and no ap- 

 prehcnfion of its pernicious ellcfts, can juftify. The bcnc;its 

 accruing from it amply counterbalance the mifchief which 

 it is capable of producing. 



Perhaps the foundation of all aftion may be vicious and 

 immoral. — Voice av.d geflure, we know, will afl^tft bruUs ; 

 not as they have reafon, but as they have paffions ; fo far as 

 thefe are ufed in a difcourfe, therefore, it does not regard uu 

 aflembly of men more than it would a herd of quadrupeds : 

 tliut is, their whole eiFort is fpent, not on the rational facul- 

 ties, which are out of llie quedion, but on the animal ones, 

 which alone they endeavour to poflefs and aftuate, inde- 

 pendently of reaion. — Nay more, our reafon, and the judg- 

 ment itfclf, are intended to be biaflcd and inclined by them; 

 aftion being only ufed us an indireft way of coming at the 

 reafon, where a direft and immediate one was wanting ; i. e. 

 where the judgment cannot be taken by the proper means, 

 argument, it is to be taken indirectly by circuition and 

 llratagem. 



The natural order of things, then, is here inverted ; our 

 reafon, which ftioula^go before and direft our paffions, is 

 dragged after them : inflead of coolly confidering, and 

 taking cognizance of things ; and according to what wc 

 perceive therein, raifing ourfelves to the paffions of grief, 

 indignation, ^r the like, we are attacked the other way ; 

 the impreffion is to be earned backwards, by virtue of the 

 natural connedtion there is between the reafon and the paf- 

 fions : and thus the helm, ths principle of our aftions, is 

 taken out of our own hand and given to another. See 

 Passion. 



The cafe is much the fame here as in fenfation and ima- 

 gination : the natural and regular way of arriving at the 

 knowledge of objefts is by fenfe ; an inipreflion begun there 

 is tranfmittcd to the imagination, where the image is pro- 

 duced, fimilar to that which fiill llruck on the organ. — But 

 the procefs is fomctimes inverted : in hypocliondriac, lunatic, 

 and other delirious cafes, the image is firft excited in the 

 imagination ; and the impreffion thereof communicated back 

 to the organs of fenfe : lay which means objefts are feen 

 which have no exiftcncc. 



Upon the whole, aftion does not tend to give the mind 

 any information about the fubjeft that is difeuffed ; nor is 

 it defigned to convey any arguments or ideas which the 

 fimple ufe of language would not convey. But is it not 

 that upon which we (hould form our judgments ? And can 

 any thing help us to form a jud judgment, befide that which 

 in fome way or other enlightens and convinces our undcr- 

 flanding ? When Cicero made Cxfar tremble, turn pale, 

 and let fiill his papers, he did not apprite him of any new 

 fuilt which Ciefar did not knmv of: the effect had no de- 

 pendance on Crefar's underftanding ; nor was it any thing 

 more than might have been produced by the unmeaning 

 founds of a mufical inftrument duly applied. However, 

 aftion may be ufeful in awakening and fixing the attention, 

 provided that it be accompanied with fuit.ible argument and 

 addrefs. As there is no nation, nor hardly any perton, fo 

 phlegmatic and dellitute of feeling, as not to accompany 

 their words with fome aftions and gefticulations, whenever 

 they are much in earneft, it would be unnatural in a public 

 fpeaker, and inconfiftent with that earneftnefs and ardour 

 which he ought to manifcft in all affairs of moment, to re- 



niiun 



