42 
[Aug. 1 , 
Scarce TractSy 5sV. 
claimer, more powerful than an east 
wind, blows an array of them to any part 
of the known world, sooner than you can 
say Jack Robinson. 
Lnva,'] If you have a few barbarian 
hordes, or some ravages upon your hands, 
always let their course be marked by de¬ 
vastation, like that of the lava from Ve¬ 
suvius. It is generally believed that 
Pliny was killed by an eruption from that 
mountain: this is a mere fiction. The 
truth is, that he was an excellent scholar, 
and was so fond of this simile, that, ac¬ 
cording to the vulgar phrase, he died with 
it in his mouth. 
Antitheses^ On the beauty and conve¬ 
nience of antitheses I could dwell for an 
hour; I could compare them to “ pearls 
upon the Ethiop's arm,’' where each 
gives each a double charmThey afford a 
gladiatorial exhibition of rhetoric, where 
you may parry and thrust, thrust and 
parry, and defer the death-blow as long 
as you please. They exhibit all the va¬ 
riations of the characters in the declama¬ 
tion in the same manner as the man and 
woman in a weather-house do those of 
the weather; first, one comes forward, 
and the other moves backw'ard, and so on 
continually vice versa. JMake your sub¬ 
ject the fulcrum, and place one part of 
the antithetical sentence at one end of 
tlie beam, and the other at the other end; 
and you may keep up the rhetorical see- 
sazc for ever. All the other figures of 
rhetoric are mere common men; but 
every antithesis is a corporal; be sure, 
therefore, to let your antitheses bring up 
the rear. 
Modest Confessions.'] These prejudice 
tlie audience much in your favour. Sir 
Rd. Blackmore continually confessed, 
that he w as not so great a poet as Homer: 
be you careful very often to hint, that 
you have not the eloquence of Demos¬ 
thenes ; or you may lead the audience in¬ 
to an error. 
Mc/xsacres.] Besides the convenience 
of a massacre in its groans, murdered 
husbands, vavi-hed wives, shrieks, dead 
of the night, &c. it has this advantage: 
only once get your subject into a massa¬ 
cre, and you may lose sight of it as easi¬ 
ly as yEneas did of Creusa. 
Mountains.] You may make these bar¬ 
ren, fertile, with snowy tops, or just as 
you like ; but be sure to make them stu¬ 
pendous. If you have any thing to do 
with Hannibal, I think the Alps are to be 
preferred. Juvenal says, with a sneer, 
that Hannibal made his passage over the 
Alps merely to make a more beautiful 
passage in our Declamations. If he did 
it with this intention, let Juvenal sneer 
as he will, I am sure there are hundreds 
ready to acknowledge the favour. 
I myself I.] You cannot introduce 
yourself into a room of company without 
some ceremony : it is not so in a decla¬ 
mation. Here you may run in and out, 
now here, now there, with the precipi¬ 
tancy of Marplot in the play, vociferat¬ 
ing as you pas's—I feel myself, I conceive, 
I am far from being one of those, I feel 
myself bound to declare, I will be bold 
to say, &c. &c. but never stopping to 
say, with your leave, or by your leave. 
The youngest pupil of the w-riting-master 
knows that I myself I should always be 
written in a capital letter in his copy¬ 
book; and shall an academic sa^er 1 my¬ 
self I tube less conspicuous in a Decla¬ 
mation.? Forbid it, O, ye equal rights; 
forbid it, O, ye powers of vociferation. 
Here you have great scope 
for that figure called that 
is “ chatterboxity.’’ Never make your 
king, whoever he may be, a good man : 
because this would appear pusillanimous. 
Besides, it would make nobody stare. If 
you must mention Alfred, call him 
“ great,” and get rid of his undeclama- 
tory virtues at once; but if you have 
occasion to speak of any other, look out 
‘‘ sceleratus” in the Dictionary, collect 
all the synonimous epithets, and thunder 
condemnation upon him at once. 
Towers.] Let your tower be aged, if 
Gothic so much the better, and let it ap¬ 
pear through a mist: and then you have 
an opportunity of shewing your know¬ 
ledge of optics. Place some great or 
good man, whom you wish to abuse, un¬ 
der the same point of view', and shew* him 
off to the company. This figure is some¬ 
what similar to that called the magic 
lantern. 
Pyramids.^ T\\e pyramids have ever 
been esteemed to be useless edifices, and 
it has been disputed with what intention 
they were built. They are of infinite use 
in a Declamation; but I cannot venture 
to say that they were built wfith the sole 
intention that they should be so. A py¬ 
ramid stands on a broad base, so does 
“ public credit,” “ rights of man,” &c. 
<5c:c. place an image on the top, (for what 
are pyramids, declamations, or chimney- 
pieces, without images .?) and your w ork 
is done : though, to render it complete, 
you may as well make “ heaven it’s 
dome.” 
Dr/fi.ger.f.] Whenever you have an op¬ 
portunity to introduce tiiat figure called 
“ Assas- 
