What is Rhetoric? What is it's Principal End? What is it's Chief Office? What is the Subject it treats on? How many Parts bath Rhetoric? Read the Reafon. Read from whence Rhetoric derives it's Name, A. R HETORIC is the Art of Speaking or Writing well and ftruct, Perfuade, and Pleafe. It's Chief Office is to feek what may be moft conducive to Perfuafion. B. The Subject it treats on is any Thing whatever; whether it be Moral, Philofophical, or Divine. 1 The Parts it confifts of are four, viz. INVENTION, DISPOSITION, ELOCUTION, and PRONUN CIATION. Becaufe ANNOTATIONS. OBSERVATION I. RATORY will appear, if we 'Twas this that firft form'd ftated Diftinction, Human So- cere. OBS. II. II. THE HELIMITS OF ORATORY. All Arts and Sciences have · their proper Bounds, except Rhetoric and Logic; thus the Limits of Phyfic are Difeafes and Wounds: Sed Materia Logicæ & Rhetorica, funt omnia, quae in Difputationem cadere poffunt, & quævis Quæfio ad dicendum propofita. Hence it is that ARISTOTLE defines Rhetoric thus, "Esw ♪ ἡ Ῥητορική, δύναμις, περὶ έχασον, τὸ θεωρῆσαι τὸ ἐν δεχόμενον πιθανόν, Let Rhetoric then be the Faculty of perceiving Because all that an Orator has to do is, Argumenta invenire, Inventa difponere, Difpofita exornare, &, Exornata pronunciare, viz. To Invent proper Arguments; To Difpofe of 'em in a right Method; To Adorn 'em with beautiful Tropes, Figures, and fine Turns; and To Pronounce 'em with the Ornaments of Utterance and Action. ANNOTATION S. And perceiving what will be moft conducive to Perfuafion on every Subject whatever. CICERO and QUINTILIAN follow him. Quae fit Materia Rhetorices? Quidam Argumenta perfuafibilia, quidam Civiles Quæftiones, quidam Materiam ejus totam Vitam vocant. Ego judico, Omnes Res, quæcunque ei ad dicendum fubjecæ erunt. Quint. Inft. 1. 2. c. 21. c. 21. Vis Oratoris eft, ut omni de Re, quæcunque fit propofita, ornatè ab eo copioseque dicatur. Cic. de Orat. 1. 1. 6. For which PETRUS RAMUS and others cenfure them thus; Dicitis ergo Oratorem omnibus Artibus & Virtutibus ornatum effe oportere, Dialecticis, Ethicis, Phyficis, Legibus, Hiftoriis; unde non Homo ex Homine genitus, fed Deus quidam è Calo delapfus in Terras effe videatur: Sed definiendum Oratorem ex Artis ejus propriâ judico Materia. Diftinguendum igitur Rhetorice Materia à cæterarum Artium Materia. Inventio, & Difpofitio, Logicæ Artis funto; Puritas autem Sermonis, & Elegantia, Grammaticæ Quid ergo Rhetoricæ relinquetur? Elocutio & Ac tio. Hac enim Rhetoricæ Virtus propria & fola eft, ut Rhetoric poffit Treporum Luminibus variare, Infignibus Figurarum exornare, Modulatione Vocis permulcere, & Dignitate Geflüs excitare. Ram. Schol. in Cic. 7. 1. He goes on, Lib. 3. At Rhetorica, dicitis, fine his Inveniendi & Difponendi Partibus perfecta effe non poteft. Id verò falfum eft. Poteft enim Puer cum à Grammaticis difcefferit, Tropos & Figuras in Poetis & Oratoribus. intelligere, & cum Dignitate pronunciare; quod folum Rhetoricæ eft. But CICERO had before precluded the greatest Part of RAMUS's Argument thus, Si cuipiam nimis infinitum videtur, quod ita pofui, quacunque de Re, licet binc, quantum cuique videbitur, circumcidat, amputet. Cic. de Orat.1. 15. And QUINTILIAN thus, Solet à quibufdam & il lud poxi, Omnium igitur Artium peritus eric Orator, fi de omnibus ei dicendum eft. Poffem hic Ciceronis refpondere verbis, Mea quidem Sententia. Nemo effe poterit omni Laude cumulatus Orator, nifi erit omnium Rerum magnarum atque Artium Scientiam confeCutus: Sed mihi fatis eft ejus effe Oratorem Rei, de qua dicet, non infcium. De quibus B 2 Rhetoric derives it's Name from pé, dico, thus: Ῥέω, ῥήσω, ἔῤῥηκα, praet. paff. ἔῤῥκομαι, σαι, ται, whence are deriv'd ῥήμα, ῥήσις, ῥήτωρ, and Ρητορικὴ, fc. Texn, Rhetorica five Oratoria Ars, The Art of Rhetoric or Speaking ornamentally. ANNOTATIONS. ergo dicet? de quibus didicit. Inft. 2. 21. In the Words therefore of the latter we fhall leave the Limits of Rhetoric and the Orator juft where we found 'em. Tria funt Oratoris, ut doceat, moveat, delectet. Sit igitur Orator Vir talis, qualis verè Sapiens appellari poffit, nec Moribus modo perfectus fed etiam Scientia; qualis adbuc fortaffe Nemo fuerit: Sed non ideo minus nobis ad fumma tendendum eft. Proem. lib. 1. MEMORY is, lib. 3. However, most of the ancient Orators, to help the Memory, recommend and give fome obfcure Hints of an Artificial or Local Memory, from what they call Locis & Imaginibus; upon which Dr. GREY's Memoria Technica, and Mr. LOWE's Mnemonics, are fingular Improvements; which fee. And obferve in general thefe RULES, 1. Si longior Oratio mandanda fuerit Memoriæ, proderit, totâ prius femel lecta & intellecta, per Partes difcere. 2. Juva OBS. III.M properly speak bit, iifdem, quibus fcripferis, ing, no Part of Rhetoric, tho' the Business of an Orator is, Invenire, difponere, eloqui, memoria completi, & pronunciare; and if TULLY calls it fo in one Place, he has omitted it in another: Hence, fays RAMUS, Dicis Oratori tria effe videnda, quid dicat, quo quidque loco, & quomodo; primo Membro Inventionem, fecundo Collocationem, tertio Elocutionem & Actionem comprehendis: Memoriam igitur in hac trium Membrorum Partitione prætermittis. Communis eft ais multarum Artium, propterea omittitur. Rhet. Chartis edifcere. 3. Tempus matutinum longè commodius eft; tamen per quam utile erit pridié vefperi, priufque dormitum concedas, femel & iterum percur rere ea, quæ poftridie funt edif cenda. 4. Si quidpiam difficilius addifcitur, illi Loco non erit inutile aliquod Signum vel Notam apponere, cujus Recor datio excitet Memoriam. 5. Præfiat non tumultuariè, fed declamando ftatim & cum Geftu, difcere. 6. Maxima tamen fabricandæ & fervanda fibi Memoria Ars eft frequens Exercitatio. PART PART I. Of INVENTION, or, The Finding out proper Arguments to inftruct, perfuade, or move. What is Invention? On what are all Arguments grounded, and from whence are they to be fought? §. 1. What kinds of Arguments are from Reafon? What Rational Arguments are call'd Artificial? How many Sorts of Topics are there? When, and of what kinds is a Topic Demonftrative? When is a Topic Deliberative? When is a Topic Juridicial? What is meant by Stating a Cafe? How many and what Ways may a Cafe be stated? What Rational Árguments are call'd Inartificial? §. 2. What is meant by Moral Arguments, or Arguments from Morals? §. 3. What is meant by Arguments from Affections? What is meant by the Affections or Paffions? Which are the four chief Paffions? What are the other Paffions? C. NVENTION is the Finding out fuch proper Arguments as are fuitable, according to the Nature of the Subject, to inftruct, perfuade, or move our Auditors to believe us. It also find, out answers to objections, All |