— 
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Se eee Ye 
710 
regard to political economy, the only 
truly useful result of history; let us 
cease to hate our contemporaries, our 
_neighbours, who were the first to teach 
-us the real theories of government, de- 
monstrating by an evident but simple 
series of facts and reasonings, that the 
riches consist ouly in the products of the 
earth, which feed, clothe, and lodge 
mankind ; that these products are only 
to be obtained by labour; that labour 
being accompanied with pain, is only | 
excited among free nations hy the hope 
of enjoyment, that is to say, the security. 
of property ; that in order to maintain 
this security, a public force, called go- 
vernment, becomes necessary, and that 
this. government may be defined a bank 
of uassurunce, in the preservation of 
which every one is interested in pro- 
portion to the quantum enjoyed by each, 
while those who do not possess any, na- 
turally wish to dissolve it. Let us cease 
to admit a savage doctrine, which by 
means of war, conducts every nation, 
whether victorious, or vanquished, to 
certain ruin, because the abandenment 
of cultivation and manufactures, the 
consequence of external wars, leads to | 
scarcity, to troubles, to civil wars, and 
finally to the power of the strongest. 
<< After having enfranchised ourselves 
from Jewish fanaticism, let us repel that 
Roman or Vandal fanaticism which 
places assassination itself among the 
number of the virtues, since the testi- 
mony of history proves, that assassina- 
tions have always occasioned still greater 
disasters than they were intended to re- 
medy ; because, wherever pomiards are 
unsheathed, the laws are eclipsed and 
obliterated.” 
Many of these doctrines -reflect not a 
little discredit on Bonaparte; and their. 
author, M. Volney, has been accordingly 
for some time in disgrace. 
“ Reflections on the Art of Declaim- 
ing ;” by Herault Sechelles. 
That talent so peculiarly fitted to set 
off all others, was termed by the ancients 
action, and is called by us declamation. 
its value is well known. Demosthenes, 
on being interrogated what was the first 
mérit in an orator? replied, action, The 
_ second, action? Thethird? action. He 
himself had received lessons from Satirus, 
the most celebrated actor of his age. 
Although the governments of modern 
days be less fitted for the developement 
of eloquence, yet we have not ceased to 
perceive the merit of action. Ouradvo- 
eates, players, and celebrated preachers, 
Retrospect of French Literature—Miscellanies. 
have all paid the strictest attention te 
this subject. ae 
Action consists in three things : 
1. The memory; 
2. The voice; and, 
3. The gesture ; 
all of which are cultivated by reflection 
and practice. 2 
‘© Le personnage seul nous plait et nous 
étonne, 
“«¢ Toute le charme est detruit, si l’on voit 
la personne.” 
~~ Ttmay be fairly said, that any man 
who speaks in public acts a certain 
part; on this occasion the orator ought 
to be particularly attentive not to allow 
himself, but his. character, to be visible. 
The illusion is destroyed, if he cannot 
conceal-that he is but repeating what he 
had formerly got by heart. Memory 
is therefore necessarily the first accom- 
plishment in an orator. Each phrase 
should be ready at command, and the 
-recollection ought to be prepared not 
only with what 1s wanting at a particular 
moment, but also with what may be ree 
quired afterwards. : 
The connection of ideas, as Condillac 
very justly observes is the principle of 
the memory. This therefore depends 
greatly, on the order and analysis. The- 
best.and surest kind of memory is that 
connected with the judgment. I wish 
for example to get a discourse by heart ; 
I accordingly meditate on the principal 
and accessory ideas, their number, their 
order, their connection, the plan of each 
part, the divisions, and the subdivisions 
of each subject. After this, I may 
assert, that it is impossible to be at a 
loss. If the orator forget the discourse, 
he will be enabled to recover himself in- 
stantly, . | 
The principal intention of order is to 
call forth ideas at the moment they are 
wanted, Class every thing therefore, 
make extracts from whatever you read, 
use order in your affairs, your thoughts, 
&c. There is every useful and commo- - 
‘dious custom, particularly serviceable to 
those who wish to acquire readinessand 
facility ; this to retain only the catch- 
word of each phrase. Voltaire has some- 
where observed, , 
¢¢ Les mots sont les courriers des pensées.”” 
I would use this adage in. another 
* Consult the scarce works of Servandont 
d Hannetaire, father of Madame la Rive, sur 
LP Art du Comedien. Also that of Riccobini— 
Remond de Sainte-Albines=Dufresnel, &c. 
sense, 
