ing to destroy them with fire and fword. To this they only returned the poor monofyllable If; that is, “Do if you can." This was a very short, but very comprehenfive reply.

CHAP. XCVII.

THE

ON THE FAULTS OF STYLE.

'HE chief faults of ftyle are, its being tumid or fwoln, frigid and puerile, dry and jejune. The tumid style abounds with fwelling words, which give it a feeming greatnefs, but within are hollow and empty. Æfchylus puts fuch into Boreas's mouth, on firing a house, viz.

Whirlpools of flames tow'rds heav'n I vomit "foon,

"Nor had I whistled yet my fav'rite tune."

These words are magnificently terrible at first fight; but if we bring whirlpools of flames, vomiting towards heaven, and the whistler Boreas, to the test of fenfe and truth, what fwoln contemptible bombaft will these images appear!

The

The frigid or puerile style, affects certain trifling ornaments, infipid jefts, remote and ftrained allufions, and redundant defcriptions. Of this frigid puerility we have a remarkable inftance in a reflection of Hegefias recorded by. Plutarch. Alexander the Great was born the fame night that the temple of Diana at Ephesus was burnt to the ground. This accident Hegefias attempted to turn to Alexander's honor, by faying, "It was no wonder the temple was burnt at that time, when the goddefs, attending at so great a birth, was not in the way to extinguish the flame.”

The following diftinction is made by fome, between the frigid and the puerile ftyle. The frigid ftyle renders a difcourfe dry and infipid, by a languor and flatnefs of expreffion; and the puerile, or boyish, makes it tire fome and disgusting, by a fwelling loftinefs and affected amplification. Thofe who use the frigid ftyle, employ pompous expreffions, when the fubject requires plain ones; and thofe who fall into the puerile, make ufe of low expreffions, when the matter requires the most fublime.

The dry or jejune ftyle is that, which is destitute of ornament, force, and spirit.

A ftyle alfo may be too fiff, or too loose, fluc-. tuating, and unconnected.

СНАР.

CHA P. XCVIII.

OF CICERO AND DEMOSTHENES.

HESE two orators, though different in ftyle,

THE

are both fo fuperlatively excellent in their kind, that it is not eafy to determine which of them we fhould chufe to imitate. "The qualities," fays Quitilian," on which eloquence is founded, were alike in both; fuch as the defign, the order, the divifion, the manner of preparing the audience, and, in a word, every thing that relates to invention. But, as to their ftyle, there is a confiderable difference. The one is more concife, the other more diffufe; the one pufhes clofer to his adverfary, the other allows him a larger spot to fight on. The one is always endeavouring to pierce him, as it were, with the vivacity of his ftyle; the other often bears him down with the weight of his difcourfe. Nothing can be retrenched from the one, nor added to the other. Demofthenes has more care and ftudy, Cicero more nature and genius.'

Another judicious critic among the moderns, thus draws their characters. "Demofthenes, from the impetuofity of his temper, the ftrength of his

reafon,

reason, and the vehemence of his action, had more force than Cicero; as Cicero, by his foft and delicate deportment, by his gentle, piercing, and paffionate emotions, and his many natural graces, was more affecting than Demofthenes. The Grecian ftruck the mind by the ftrength of his expreffion, and the ardor and violence of his declamation; the Roman reached the heart by certain charms, and imperceptible beauties, which were natural to him, and which were heightened by all the art of eloquence."

Upon the whole, it is beft for young perfons, efpecially thofe defigned for the bar, to take for their model the strong and nervous ftyle of Demofthenes, foftened and adorned with that of Cicero; so that the severity of the former may be qualified with the graces of the latter, and that the concifenefs and vivacity of the Grecian may correct the luxuriancy of the Roman orator.

CHAP.

CHAP. XCIX.

OF METALS, WITH A SHORT ACCOUNT OF GOLD AND SILVER.

THERE

HERE are fix kinds of metals, namely, gold, filver, copper, iron, lead, and tin; to which fome add mercury as a feventh.

Gold is the heaviest, purest, and most ductile of all metals. It is chiefly found in mines, though fometimes gold-duft is found in the fand and mud of rivers, particularly in Guinea; and hence the name for our largeft gold coin. There are gold mines in most countries in the world; in Europe, however, they are very fparingly scattered. The mines of Chili and Peru in America are the richest; but very fine gold is found in fome parts of the EastIndies.

Of all the properties of gold its ductility is the most surprising. A fingle ounce of gold may be extended by the gold-beater's hammer to a furface of near 150 fquare feet; and by the gold wiredrawers it will be extended to upwards of a thoufand, yet remain fo entire, as that the leaft flaw shall not be perceived, even by the help of the microscope.